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Debayan Gupta, Yona J, Soumaya, Krishan Sharma , Cosmic Entity , Ca Chander Shekar for sharing valuable Scientific and Vedantic information about 21-12-2012 and Raj & Ujjval Saha for his critical review of the blog.
Why Mayan Calendar is given so much importanc
The Modern world belived that the Earth was fixed and was the center of the universe and the Sun, Moon and stars rotated around Earth as stated in the Bible . For the 1st time Nicolaus_Copernicus re-wrote the astomical laws in 1543, just before his death, saying that earth was rotating the sun, by publishing his epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Galileo agreed with Copernicus and was put under house arrest.
4000 miles away in Central America, the Mayans who were far advanced in astronomy, had in 3125 BC had clear views about earth rotating the sun, the planets, stars, Galaxy, equinox etc and were maintaining the Mayan Calendar which made predictions millions of years into the future. The Mayans Culture and knowledge was destroyed by the Spanish Conquest around 1590 -1600 What ever has remained of thier knowledge has been now recognized as of great importance in the 20th Century.
The Mayan calendar suddenly ends on 21st December 2012 , which date we are fast approaching. There has been a huge amount of controversial discussion going on as to why the Mayan Calendar has ended on 21st Dec 2012 - What has destiny in store for us on that day?? The Mayan cities were abandoned by A.D. 900. Since the 19th century scholars have debated what might have caused this dramatic decline.
Why is 21st December 2012 considered so important?
As seen from the image above, our Sun and planatery system wobbles in the Milky way and once in 25800 years alingns with the Milky Way Galatic Equator. This alignment is expecected to take place on 21st December 2012. at 11.11 GMT
What does the alignment signify?
Scientists and astophysists say that the movement to wards the alignment and the alignment it-self exposes our planatery system to increased doses of radiation bombardment from our Celestial neighbours, increase in temperatures, earthquakes, tsunamies, extreme climates, droughts, very heary rainfall, snow fall etc as there will be an increase in the gavitational forces . Added to this, we are also in the middle of a Sun's Pole Shit and too an un-even polar shit on the Sun as per the Hinode Obervatory Data which is also causing increse in Solar'storms, earth quakes, volcano activity etc.
We have in fact been experiencing major earthquakes, tsunamies, exceptionally heavy rainfall, snowfall, since 2005 and some of the heaviest in the 2011-12. USA has worst drought since 1956 due to extreme climatic conditions in 2012 There is also a reported increase in the Solar flare activity.as shown in the image taken recently:Heavy solar radiation bombarments was seen on 9th March 2012 and affected flights and telecom servies as reported in the press TOI 14-07-2012 Biggest Solar Strom hits earth and more are predicted A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole will reach Earth on July 16-17th , 2012, possibly stirring geomagnetic storms. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras
Except for the Vedic scriptures (Kali Yug will last for 4,32,000 yrs and only 5,000 yrs have elasped so far ) Media is strongly publicising that calendars like Mayan, I-Ching, Hopi calendars prophesize an end on 21st December 2012 AND a new beginning there after .
The big Question is END TO WHAT? The world as we know it ?? NO NO NO is the ans,
The Web Bot Project prediction about the Twin Towers proved accurate and the Twin Towers fell on 9/11/2001. The Web Bot Project is also making predictions about 21st Dec 2012 which is worth reading. You Tube also has predictions about 21st Dec 2012 predictions. worth watching though there is more of media hype in them. Links shared by Ujjwal 21-12-2012 NASA AND MAYA
El Zotz, in what's now Guatemala, was one of the smaller kingdoms, but one apparently bent on making an big impression. By 2010 archaeologists working on a hilltop near the ancient city center had discovered 45-foot-tall (13-meter-tall) Diablo Pyramid, Atop it they found a royal palace and a tomb, believed to hold the city's first ruler, who lived around A.D. 350 to 400.
Around the same time, Houston and a colleague spotted the first hints of the Temple of the Night Sun, behind the royal tomb on Diablo Pyramid. Only recently, though, have excavations uncovered the unprecedented artworks under centuries of overgrowth.
The sides of the temple are decorated with 5-foot-tall (1.5-meter-tall) stucco masks showing the face of the sun god changing as he traverses the sky over the course of a day.
(Also See "End of World in 2012? Maya 'Doomsday' Calendar Explained."It is not a end but only a new begining.)
Does this mean :
2.Then an evolution in conscionoussness to a higher level? Possible
3. Peace & prosperity will prevail on earth ? Quite Possible
4. Day of Enlightment will dawn on 21st December 2012 ? Planetary positions are favorable for this.
SCIENTIFIC OPINION BY JOYDEEP CKRABORTHY PARTICLE PHYSICST
As a theoretical physicist, I liked your spiritual part of the blog (simply bcoz I am yet to understand the concept of conciousness) but as far as the physical details are concerned, well there is some misinfo. Firstly according to the latest data, NEITHER THE SUN NOR THE EARTH ARE GOING TO CROSS THE GALACTIC PLANE FOR THE NEXT 29 MILLION YEARS, AND THE SUN IS AROUND 100 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM THE GALACTIC PLANE. Then what is gonna happen in 2012 ??? As far as physics is concerned,nothing is gonna happen, for the only special thing that is happening will be the fact that the earth is going to cross the equatorial plane in DECEMBER 2012, a thing that happens twice a year.Nothing else is gonna happen.At the end when nothing will happen , they will just extend the date to perhaps 2034 just like they did in 1998(by the way these type of things were discussed in1998 too, when there could relatively have been a greater cause for fear as the solstice points had crossed the galactic equator, but we physicists then too knew that nothing was gonna happen, as that was only a result of the coordinate system nomenclature).For me ,the Mayan or any other calendar doesn't hold significant as any physical reaction must have a corresponding physical action, and in this case there is no such physical action. Only a few completely unnatural things,eg. a large chunk of invisible dark matter coming towards us, can cause such a strong excess gravitational field and I am 99.9999% sure about this that the Mayans could not have predicted these.We should put a limitation to our imagination if we are devoid of facts, as an evil mind is a devil's workshop. Things like extra solar flares or the shifting of poles till now are perceived to be completely normal, for newer things like these keep on appearing every year(I keep a close watch on these type of things, this year the media hype is making them noticeable to the general public).
And as for the spirituality part, I couldn't grasp it, I request u to please help me in this regard.
1 DOOMSDAY PREDICTION IS ONLY MEDIA HYPE TO MAKE MONEY.
2 INCREASE IN NATURAL CALAMITIES DUE TO GALATIC ALIGNMENT IS HAPPENING AND WILL CONTINUE TILL 2014 .
3 WE WILL BE EVOLVING TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF CONSCIONOUSSNESS PROVIDED WE MAKE THE EFFORT- Debayan Gupta & Yona
4.Lightage Masters : GIVE UP ALL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS LIKE GREED, LUST, JEALOUSY, ANGER IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP NEGATIVITY WE WILL BE AFFECTED ADVERSELY. SPREAD THE LIGHT OF LIFE IS THE MESSAGE.
Reuters : 06-08-2012 Super Solar strom will knock out power grids and casue severe damage 7% chances says Nasa
1. NASA SAYS THAT SUNS'S POLES WILL REVERES END OF 2012. WHICH WILL RELEASE HIGH ENERGY PROTONS WHICH WILL IMPACT EARTH WITH SEVERE SOLAR STROMS AND AND SOLAR FLARES, EARTH QUAKES AND VOLCANO ACTIVITY - CHECK THIS LINK.
5. BBC SAYS EVEN THOUGHT NOTHING MAY HAPPEN IT IS PRUDENT TO BE PREPARED CHECK THIS LINK
6. Mayans din't predict end of world on 21st December 2012 but only their calendar ended on that day and a new calendar began on 22nd December 2012 according to BBC News. It also marks the date of the retun of thier GOd to earth.
Reuters dt 11-05-2012: Archaeologial find at Xultan in Guatemala of Mayan Calendar and Murals of 2000 BC stun the world Does this find predict evolutoin of the human race ??? Read On >>>>.
The Xultun find is the first find where all of the cycles have been found tied mathematically together in one place, representing a calendar that stretches more than 7,000 years into the future.
The preservation of the 5000 year old artwork surprised archaeologists, given the dwelling's shallow depth
The oldest known Mayan calendar found in Xuyan on 11-05-2012 with predicitons running into million of years into the future.This calendar is dated around 2000 BC long before the new civilized world became aware of astronomy in 1543 AD.
Astronomical tables, including four long numbers that represent a cycle lasting up to 2.5 million days were found on the east wall .The astronomical cycles and corrections were used to predict cycles of Mars and Venus and the lunar eclipses far into the future.
LATEST NEWS: UPDATED ON 14-09-2012.
Samrudhi Dash 10-08-2012 :The best blog that I have ever read. And i fully agree with u.; Hats Off from me :))
Stan Dorman 05-07-2012 06:09 pm
This is the best post i've read so far on Rumors of Doomsday 21st Dec 2012!Thanks a lot for this awesome post.
Manmohan Kumar Jul 02, 2012 at 01:42 pm
Iyer, this blog literally picked from trashes 2 times at least is renovated beyond belief! Keep it up!
Atul Bafna Jun 27, 2012 at 07:21 pm
Thanks nice work . On December 21, 2012, a rare cosmic alignment – including this solar system - will experience a major event that happens only every 25.8 million years. The last time, no humans lived on Earth.
Promila Ummatt Jun 26, 2012 at 03:47 pm
Excellent blog. keeping fingers crossed. God knows BEST
Isha Singh Jun 25, 2012 at 06:10 pm
Good information...for now lets just live in the present moment...
Archana Kumar Jun 24, 2012 at 07:53 pm
Thank you sir for such a nice and informative blog.
Ameen Syed Jun 20, 2012 at 06:17 pm
Indeed the event is a fact and well explained in the blog.
Sunita Rajiv Jun 18, 2012 at 06:29 pm
Thanks a lot for sharing such valuable information with us all.It will interest my students and fascinate people like me
Priyanka Ravish Jun 18, 2012 at 03:18 pm
Sir, A very good blog to be read. I go with your finishing touch . " LETS DENY ALL RUMORS OF DOOMS DAY ".
Shiva Prasad Mb Jun 16, 2012 at 05:20 pm
I am better informed after reading the article. Many thanks for writing the article which is full of facts.
Savarnya Abhishek Jun 15, 2012 at 06:49 pm
A superb compilation of facts:)
Manoj Kumar Baranwal Jun 15, 2012 at 01:27 pm
Thanks for a great Blog Mr Subramanian Iyer......very informative..very interesting.
Partha Mahavishva Jun 14, 2012 at 06:58 pm
Very nice and Informative blog ..
HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE WORLD
The internet is abuzz with rumours that the French town of Bugarach will survive the apocalypse because of its magical mountain. The mayor wants the army brought in as we get closer to ‘the end of the world’
The Mayans said the world will end on Dec 21. So, central America is getting a sudden influx of tourists, including many from India. And, yes, sales of underground bunkers have gone up !!!!! .......................... Atul Sethi | TNN
THIS CARTOON FROM WEB BLOT SAYS ALL THAT IS TO BE SAID ABOUT 21ST DECEMBER 2012 !! | <urn:uuid:597a2813-7434-4043-ad4e-b36e981a2a23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/science-of-spirituality/is-21st-dec-2012-dday-for-humanity&sort=new | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926878 | 2,845 | 2.65625 | 3 |
The Overview Effect and the "Facebook Revolutions"
As we have watched the uprisings that began in the Middle East and have now spread around the world, much has been made of the role that Facebook, Twitter, and other online technologies have played in assisting the revolutionaries in coordinating their actions.
What hasn't been mentioned is that these capabilities depend largely on a space-based technology, i.e., satellites, for their impact. When I interviewed astronaut Jeff Hoffman for The Overview Effect, he pointed out that the "technological overview" might have greater near-term influence on society than the philosophical shifts resulting from viewing of the Earth from space. Speaking of the impact of global communications, he noted that very little could happen anywhere in the world without other people knowing about it. He said, "That is probably the biggest thing the space program has done in terms of changing human consciousness, although very few people recognize it as the space program."
The same might be said of the environmental movement, which has had an enormous influence on our society. The link between the movement and the early views of the whole Earth from the moon was noted at the time, but seems to have been ignored in recent years. Some environmentalists are even hostile to the idea of space exploration.
I detect, on the part of humanity, an unwillingness to absorb one of the key messages of the Overview Effect, which is that we are in space, we always have been in space, and we always will be in space. And as we move out into the universe, our life on Earth will forever be changed. I've begun to think that the problem might lie with the word "space." Even though the domain we call "space" is closer to the surface of the Earth than Boston is to New York, our minds tend to think of it as far away and alien in some way. I wonder if we need a new word, like Earthspace, to describe that region outside our biosphere that is still quite close to our planet's surface. Perhaps that would diminish our sense of being far away from home when we are in "space."
We could even embroider on this concept and say that as long as we are within the gravitational pull of the Earth, we are in Earthspace. If we created another Apollo vehicle like the Saturn V, and entered the moon's gravitational pull, we would be in "Moonspace." We could divide the entire solar system up this way, so that our minds would not feel so overwhelmed by the term "space," which would still be, of course, the "final frontier." | <urn:uuid:4352db4e-084a-4673-960a-e96fe18f2c83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.overviewinstitute.org/blog/item/the-overview-effect-and-the-facebook-revolutions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976465 | 526 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Higher protein levels, especially from the protein-concentrated meat foods, may contribute to kidney problems, hypertension, and an increased risk for certain cancers, although this has not been well documented. The dairy foods may also cause digestive problems because of many adults’ inability to properly utilize them (lactose intolerance), as well as common allergy or hypersensitivity reactions to milk. Another concern is with the chemicals fed to dairy cows that may then end up in our milk. Dairy foods also add more saturated fats to the diet unless only nonfat products are used. The higher calcium content of milk can be helpful, but the extra vitamin D intake can cause problems when combined with even higher phosphorus ingestion from more meats and carbonated beverages. This mixture of nutrients affects bone metabolism and may be a major factor in osteoporosis. Maintaining adequate calcium intake while keeping it in balance with phosphorus is probably important in this regard.
The three aspects of the American diet that have received the most attention in the last decade are salt, red meats, and fats. Salt restriction is often suggested for people only after they have high blood pressure, but there should be attention to avoiding high-salt foods and reducing total sodium intake (and raising potassium intake) before this problem arises. Salt contributes not only to high blood pressure but also to kid-ney disease and to heart disease as well. Salt is contained in so many foods, often hidden, that we may need to read labels and avoid certain restaurant foods to really reduce our intake of sodium.
Eating red meat, the cooked muscles (and organs) of dead cattle, sheep, or pigs, is both a nutritional and a philosophical issue. Nutritionally, these meats, especially the domesticated, overfed animals, contain a high amount of fat, and regular consumption of meats may add to an already fatty diet. Meats are also high in protein, phosphorus, and usually sodium, and are low in fiber, all of which may contribute to other difficulties. Meats, of course, do provide nourishment; we just need to moderate their intake.
The idea of an association between meat eating and war is an interesting one. Throughout history, meat eating has been correlated with hunting, fighting, conquering, and a desire for power. Eating meats seems to stimulate aggressiveness, hostility, and competitive feelings. Now that most people do not hunt for food, meat consumption may stimulate these same feelings of aggressiveness, which we now take to the streets, to our jobs, or home to our families. In contrast, the vegetarian diet has always been associated with peace and nonresistance and a general respect for life, as manifested in a spiritual sense of our connection to all living beings. This is seen in the peoples of India and exemplified by the life of Mahatma Gandhi. While many people are reducing their meat consumption for health reasons, this may have the fortunate secondary effect of improving the relationships between people and among nations, increasing the chances for peace.
Meats, as I said, also contribute to our total fat intake, as do milk products. Vegetable oils, of course, are all fat, but of greater concern are the hydrogenated fats, which may contribute more specifically to disease. The use of these fats as magarines, in cooked or fried foods, and in baked goods has greatly increased; the trend should be in the other direction. Fats in the diet contribute specifically to increased cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and many types of cancer, particularly cancer of the breast, colon, prostate, and uterus. Atherosclerosis, or clogging of the arteries with fatty plaque, is the basic process that contributes to all kinds of cardiovascular diseases. Reducing total fat intake is probably the most important step to creating a healthier diet.
Overall, we need to ask how can we make the American diet better so that it will nourish a healthy and long-lived race of people? What can we do with this diet based on quick eating, fast preparation, microwave meals, stop-and-go diets; the diet we can fit between two pieces of white bread; the diet we can eat with one hand while driving our car or working at our desk; this processed, refined, junk food, high-sodium, high-fat diet; this diet that generates death more than life? Generally, we need to reevolve back to the basics, back to nature, back to the garden.
Suggestions for Making the American Diet Healthier
Consume less fat via
Consuming less red meat, lunch meat, bacon, ham, and so on and
Consuming less milk and milk products.
Consume less fried foods and
Less hydrogenated oils.
Eat less refined flour products,
Less white sugar and simple sugars, and
Less salt and salty foods, such as crackers, pretzels, chips, and pickled foods.
Consume fewer calories.
Consume less coffee and alcohol.
Smoke less or not at all.
Eat more fresh fruit and
Eat more whole grain cereals, such as rice, whole wheat, oats, and so on.
Eat more fiber foods—the fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Eat more fresh fish and poultry to replace red meats and
More vegetable protein, such as nuts, seeds, and beans and the sprouts of these foods to replace animal proteins.
Drink more filtered or spring water.
Drink more fruit and vegetable juices and herbal teas to replace coffee, black teas, soda pops, and other stimulating beverages.
Get more regular, preferably daily exercise with some aerobics—that is, more vigorous exercise. In other words, let’s get in physical shape.
Take better care of our air.
22. Keep our waters free of pollution.
Getting back to the basics means learning to take the time again to shop for, prepare, and sit down to eat wholesome, nourishing meals—to generally be more conscious and conscientious with our diet. This is a tough request for a very busy population always trying to catch up with their bills and credit cards. Believe me, it is worth the price, because we will feel better longer and be more productive.
New Healthy American
The new healthy American diet is basically what I am clarifying in this book. It is what many of us have turned to as we realize the consequences of this refined, processed, and chemicalized American diet. The new “health food” industry and health or natural food stores are providing us with the ingredients needed to create our new diet. Hopefully our own garden will also help. More supermarkets and chain stores are supplying many of the new, more natural, less processed “health foods.” Furthermore, the use of chemical farming (see Chapter 11) brings the term “organic,” grown without chemicals, to national attention. Even animals are considered “chemical” when they are factory farmed, treated with antibiotics or hormones, and fed chemically-treated foods, or “natural”
This “new American diet” is thus more natural and really a traditional diet, but with the advantage of industrialization where we have many well-made and tasty packaged foods. However, the basis of our new diet is a return to whole, unprocessed foods—fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains. With this diet, there is an avoidance of refined flour products, refined sugar, red meats, lunch meats and sausages, high fat and high salt foods, and the regular use of dairy products and alcohol. More and more people are turning to a vegan or lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, or to one that I have followed for a few years, the “pesca-vegan” diet, which is fish added to the vegan diet. In this diet, milk and egg products are avoided as are poultry and meats. All the foods eaten are high in nutrients, and fish protein (and oils) is chosen over milk and eggs, which, in many people, are not handled as well.
My personal diet has shifted over the last two decades from standard American to this new American diet. It recently has ranged from strict vegetarianism to pesca-veganism, even with occasional organic or free-range poultry, mostly at holiDay s. Because my weight rises so easily when I eat with my usual love for foods, I focus my diet on vegetables and add other foods as needed—seeds and nuts, legumes or fish when I feel I need more protein and fuel, or fruits and juices (even to fasting) when I feel I need to lighten up and clean out.
As an example, over the winter of 1989, I was working hard, exercising less, more stressed, and consuming more foods, especially grains, which put weight on me. I organized a ten-Day fast for myself and patients in my office, which we began in early spring. It felt so good, so right for me that I continued for 16 Day s; I felt great, light, and productive with lots of energy on my lemonade diet, the “Master Cleanser” (see my first book, Staying Healthy With the Seasons). Though cleansing like this is not for everyone, it certainly works for me. (For more specifics, see the Detoxification programs and Fasting in Part Four.) Now my diet is moving slowly back into a strict vegan diet for the spring and summer and I will maintain a high-alkaline diet, consisting of green salads, fruits, sprouts, millet, soybean products, and some soaked nuts and seeds. Meals are protein/vegetable or starch/vegetable, described in the Ideal Diet of Part Three, and this spring will include a lot of green salads. I will avoid all animal products, refined foods, and wheat and other gluten grains (oats, barley and rye) as well as minimize rice and corn, which I so love. This will clearly be more strict than I have been in years, but my body and energy is already knowing the benefits, and I look forward to the final production and publishing of this monumental undertaking you now hold in your hands.
As well as a great deal of meat, the people of the down under countries eat large amounts of milk, cheese, and other dairy products. These two food categories mean a diet high in saturated fat and protein, which contribute to high blood fats and the higher incidence of atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer. Skin cancer is very prevalent in the hotter, northern climates of Australia. The high beer consumption may undermine the liver and general health of the inhabitant. Luckily, vegetables are grown by many of people and eaten in good quantities along with the other, richer foods.
The diet in Great Britain is notorious in Europe as one of the worst. The diets of surrounding Scotland and Ireland, which make up the British Isles, are very similar. Overall, there is a high amount of industrialized, processed foods consumed in England along with their classic meat-and-potatoes diet. And some claim that, unlike many cultures, the poorer people often have the worst diet with a lot of refined and fried foods.
In general, this northern, cold climate island does not have much agriculture, and therefore does not provide many fresh foods most of the year. Most of their fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts must be imported, and this is usually expensive and seasonal. It is known to be very difficult to find fresh fruits and vegetables in Great Britain; a raw green salad is a rare treat. Often, visitors from Europe will carry fresh food with them. With this situation, the British have a low intake of high-nutrient, whole foods that are so important to health.
In the British Isles, the consumption of red meat is high, with pork and mutton eaten as much as beef. Raising sheep for food is very common in the countryside. Fish is readily available for those that live near the sea, but most often it is eaten fried, with fried potatoes, a meal called fish and chips. Butter is the main cooking fat, and milk, cheese, and butter are also regularly consumed. All of these animal foods provide a high-fat diet, and since this is generally not an exercise-oriented culture, but does have a lot of smokers, cardiovascular diseases are a prevalent process of aging. With its industry-oriented culture, chemical carcinogenesis is another big concern in Great Britain. | <urn:uuid:e3877de8-1255-4ee8-98b1-f449e779f466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/Cultural_Diets/1700/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959949 | 2,577 | 2.984375 | 3 |
10/4/2012 8:03 PM ET|
4 financial terms it's safe to ignore
Wall Street has some impressive-sounding concepts meant to help investors identify risks and stay safe. Trouble is, they're not particularly effective.
Stock investors are said to be motivated by fear and greed, but after the recent rally it might feel more like fear and fear.
There is the age-old fear that share prices could fall tomorrow. Then there is the more modern fear that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates so low for so long that owning bonds and savings accounts, after subtracting for inflation, will do more harm to a portfolio than a stock decline would.
For the deeply nervous, Wall Street has a medicine chest filled with measures and terms meant to soothe. They are said to identify risky stocks, tell which ones work well together and help safeguard against declines.
Trouble is, they aren't especially effective. Here are some impressive-sounding terms investors can ignore, along with simpler ways to stay safe.
Imagine a number that quantifies stock risk. "Risky" stocks would offer greater potential returns but also increased likelihood of losses. Nervous investors would gladly settle for moderate returns with low-risk stocks.
Some investors think of "beta" as such a number. It describes how volatile a stock (or other asset) has been relative to a benchmark, like the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX). For example, U.S. Bancorp (USB) has a beta of about 1, meaning it has been as volatile as the market, while General Electric (GE), at 1.6, has been more volatile and Pfizer (PFE), at 0.7, less volatile.
As a risk measure, however, beta has flaws. It is backward-looking, so it doesn't account for how companies have recently changed. It can't measure the chance of future pitfalls, so it isn't truly a risk measure. Also, according to a 2011 study by Harvard Profesor Malcolm Baker and others, low-beta stocks have done better over the long haul -- something that isn't supposed to happen.
A better approach to spotting safe stocks is to study financial statements. Companies with modest debt and improving profits that don't vanish during periods of economic stress can be good bets. Apple (AAPL), for example, has a beta of 1.2 but prospered straight through the global financial crisis. Netflix (NFLX) has a beta of 0.7 but is expected to barely turn a profit this year.
Keep in mind that even rock-solid profits don't make an overpriced stock safe. (More on that later.)
Similar to beta, "correlation" is a statistical measure of how two assets have traded relative to each other. It ranges from 1 (perfect lock step) to minus-1 (perfect opposites). Investors can find stock correlations using online tools like the one at Select Sector SPDRs.
Find stocks that are only loosely correlated with each other, the thinking goes, and some will continue to do well even if others tumble.
But correlation is like a car's air bag that works except during collisions. During the market meltdown of 2008 and 2009, risky assets fell in unison, regardless of how they had behaved in earlier years.
As with beta, a better way to buy stocks that complement each other is to forget share-price movements and look for companies that make money in diverse ways.
That means holding some companies that sell things customers need, like power company Consolidated Edison (ED), and some that sell things they merely covet, like handbag maker Coach (COH) . Mix fast-growers like Google (GOOG) with stalwart dividend-payers, like Abbott Laboratories (ABT). Avoid holding too many companies that collect the bulk of their income from the same source. Health insurer Humana (HUM) and communications specialist Motorola Solutions (MSI) are dissimilar businesses with the same key customer: the U.S. government.
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Quote from article: "There is the age-old fear that share prices could fall tomorrow. Then there is the more modern fear that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates so low for so long that owning bonds and savings accounts, after subtracting for inflation, will do more harm to a portfolio than a stock decline would." This is the way it is and the way it is going to be. America could not pay the interest on the national debt if interest rates went a little higher. So all you money saver in CDs, money market accounts and bonds are just going to have to get used to making near nothing. This is ridiculous but it is the way it is.
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[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 settled lower by 0.8% after early strength turned into afternoon weakness.
Today's headline event came in the form of Ben Bernanke's testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. During his remarks, Chairman Bernanke said premature tightening of monetary policy could stall the pace of recovery. This followed weeks of conflicting remarks from FOMC members, which sparked speculation regarding possible changes to the Fed's policy course.
However, ... More
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|There’s a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.| | <urn:uuid:3fa2d067-78bc-4886-a734-b2a02e94c70d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.msn.com/how-to-invest/4-financial-terms-its-safe-to-ignore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947287 | 1,240 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Nature's Wonderland, a real Garden of Eden for the wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that grace the Witwater Sanctuary. The untamed atmosphere of the reserve makes it possible for animals to migrate through the beautiful mountains and plains to find habitats that tailor needs for spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Witwater is home to a wide variety of game and some of South Africa's big five roaming freely on the reserve. Graceful Giraffe wonder the landscape and are as excited to see our guest as guests are to see them. Cheetah rule the plains looking over their kingdom from elevated termite mounds while male gazelle guard their herds. Hippo and Nile Crocodiles lay in river pools, Rhino squint at every move while Buffalo stare you down and Leopard lay waiting for the cloak of darkness to start their hunt.
Bird lovers discovered over 300 bird species that also sing as an introduction to the dawn opera performed by inspired frogs and toads that line the countless streams that flow through the Waterberg Mountains. Conducted by fireflies reflecting in the water that black bass, carp, barbell swim around in.
Anyway you look at it this haven is heaven for animal and animal lovers alike... | <urn:uuid:f53ea80f-75c5-43ca-ae8d-6349eb974c2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.witwater.com/waterberg-safari/wildlife.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951955 | 250 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Keys to Excellence: Standards of Practice for Nutrition Integrity is designed to assist schools achieve nutrition integrity goals at the administrative, management, and operational levels. This tool, through its standards of practice and indicators, defines national standards for quality programs and provides a framework for continuous program review, evaluation, and improvement.
Keys to Excellence Online Self-Assessment is an online benchmarking tool that allows school nutrition directors to review and improve their programs against several indicators of top performance in each of four key areas: 1. Operations, 2. Nutrition, Nutrition Education and Physical Activity, 3. Administration and 4. Marketing and Communications.
The District of Excellence Distinction recognizes school districts that truly exemplify all best practices identified in the Keys online self-assessment by submitting a comprehensive application for peer review.
NOTE: These programs are currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Please check the website periodically for updates.
To view the current list of DOE recipients visit http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Content.aspx?id=10072 | <urn:uuid:fb320ed3-62bc-48ad-bbdc-81a850c14653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asfsa.org/Content.aspx?id=2406 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903167 | 205 | 2.296875 | 2 |
TAMPA - The woman walks into the examination room and smiles. "You know what we're going to be giving you today?" she asks the 11-year-old boy sitting nervously in the chair.
Margaret Ewen, the Immunization Program Manager at the Hillsborough County Department of Health likes to break the tension for the kids who know why they're here. School immunizations mean needles and shots.
After the first of two shots in the left arm, she voices support for the boy. "Alright. Did good. One down," Ewen says.
With most bay area students starting school early next week, officials offer a reminder: "Florida requires a school physical when you enter for the first time. And the immunization record is a certificate to show that the children are immune. Because we do get vaccine preventable diseases, and we need to know who is protected and who is not," explained Ewen.
So what will happen if your child shows up on the first day of school without the proper paperwork for both the physical and the immunizations?
"The first day of school, kids are all dressed up in their new outfits ready for school. They get to school and they get turned away," said Ewen.
Depending on the child's age, different vaccines are required at various grade levels. For parents whose beliefs do not support immunizing their children, they can obtain a religious exemption form from the Health Department.
"They must present that to the school to be able to enter. They just can't write it on a note and take it to school. They must present the 681 form, which they can only get at the Health Department," Ewen explained.
Whether it's Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco or Polk, officials say time is running out to take the all important step of vaccinating; to help prepare your kids for a successful school year.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Jurors in the Jodi Arias trial said they couldn't come up with a unanimous decision when deliberating life or death as of noon Wednesday. | <urn:uuid:1061e154-34b8-4472-80e5-dde53ee334c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/immunizations--are-required-by-the-state-of-florida-before-a-child-can-be-admitted-to-their-school | 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 | 0.965053 | 449 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Rice porridge must be Asia's most underappreciated dish. We love the stuff. Chinese congee, Vietnamese chao, Thai khao tom, Philippine arroz caldo, Malaysian and Indonesian bubur ... cook rice to mush, add savory (or sweet) ingredients, and we're there.
Our ardor runs so deep we've pondered a cross-regional rice porridge pilgrimage to target towns, cities, and states known locally for their rice porridge specialties. Maybe a book - The Bubur Chronicles, or the Khao Tom Trail. Problem is, rice porridge's poor reputation outside Asia pretty much precludes publication. Heck, I can't even sell an article on the topic.
That doesn't mean we don't continue to feed our lust for this anytime-of-the-day meal-in-a-bowl. Having first come to know the joys of an expertly made rice porridge in Hong Kong, where we lived in the early nineties, our allegiance long lay with the Cantonese version: minimally flavored (chicken and sesame oil, dried oysters), thick and smooth. These days we're firmly in the Indonesian bubur camp. So much so, in fact, that we'd wager the world's best rice porridge can be found just about anywhere in that vast island nation.
Indonesians treat rice porridge the way Italians treat soft polenta, as a blank canvas on which to paint layers of flavor. We've had spicy bubur and mild bubur, soupy bubur and stodgy, you-can-stand-a-spoon-up-in-it bubur, bubur that's mostly meat and bubur that tastes like a vegetable patch. It's all good. Every Indonesian bubur leaves us hankering for the next.
So it was last week, high in the hills above Cianjur, Java. We were up at 5 with the sun and by 6:30am our bellies were rumbling. Western Indonesia is on the cusp of its rainy season and the dampness combined with the altitude made for a bit of chill, so we were cold too. Hungry and cold - the perfect state in which to dive into a bowl of bubur.
This vendor has been dishing up bubur from this cart, in this village, since 1982. We can't imagine what this part of Java looked like more than 25 years ago, but we're pretty sure his bubur closely resembles its quarter-of-a-century-younger self.
The beauty of Indonesian bubur - or the versions we've tried, anyway - is that it's literally a sum of parts, assembled a la minute. Which means that you can always have it your way. First the rice, thick and so creamy you could moisturize your face with it,
followed by: a drizzle of soy sauce, a sort of 'curried' mixture of chopped leafy greens, onions, and snake beans, shredded chicken meat, a spoonful or three of fiery and slightly sweet cooked sambal made with green chilies, deep-fried soy beans, crumbled rice and melinjo crackers, and a flurry of chopped cilantro.
There are several possible approaches here.You can leave the assemblage intact, dipping in here and then there for mouthfuls of discreet flavors, a method adhered to by several baby-toting villagers who alternated a spoonful of plain porridge from the side of the bowl for their charge with a more challenging combination of rice, crunchy toppings, and sambal for themselves. The boys who stopped at the cart to fuel up before class (it's strategically parked right below a middle school), on the other hand, were too busy chatting to pay much attention to their bubur - their spoons haphazardly fell and scooped where they may.
I grabbed my spoon and stirred everything together, which I suppose defeats the purpose of layering ingredients one-by-one but does trigger a pleasant Rice Krispiesean snap-crackle-pop as crisps are subsumed by porridge. When I mix my bubur I tend to rescue a bit of sambal and shove it to the side of the bowl so that I can pepper my generally one-alarm meal with the occasional three-alarm mouthful.
This village bubur was so good that, having ordered one bowl to share, we followed it with another, and then returned the next morning (breathlessly - we'd been out walking and feared that Bubu Man had finished for the day) for two more. Back in Jakarta, we followed that up with tinutuan, a deliciously vegetable-heavy bubur native to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi.
And all this has me remembering an equally tasty bubur we ate on Bali last March. According to my notes it was doused with a chicken-and-turmeric broth containing noodles and batons of chayote. Seeing as we won't be back to Indonesia for a while, it may be time to get into the kitchen and experiment. | <urn:uuid:10b4152b-0d87-4680-8124-21f64689ebc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2008/11/among-foreigner.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95661 | 1,070 | 1.539063 | 2 |
NKF KDOQI GUIDELINES
I. CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR HEMODIALYSIS ADEQUACY
GUIDELINE 4. MINIMALLY ADEQUATE HEMODIALYSIS
4.1 Minimally adequate dose:
The minimally adequate dose of HD given 3 times per week to patients with Kr less than 2 mL/min/1.73 m2 should be an spKt/V (excluding RKF) of 1.2 per dialysis. For treatment times less than 5 hours, an alternative minimum dose is a URR of 65%. (A)
4.2 Target dose:
The target dose for HD given 3 times per week with Kr less than 2 mL/min/1.73 m2 should be an spKt/V of 1.4 per dialysis not including RKF, or URR of 70%. (A)
4.3 In patients with residual urea clearance (Kr) greater than or equal to 2 mL/min/1.73 m2, the minimum session spKt/V can be reduced. One method of minimum dose reduction is described in CPR 4.4. In such patients, the target spKt/V should be at least 15% greater than the minimum dose. (B)
4.4 Missed and shortened treatments:
Efforts should be made to monitor and minimize the occurrence of missed or shortened treatments. (B)
Minimally Adequate Dose (CPG 4.1)
The present adequacy guideline for a minimally adequate dose remains unchanged from the previous (2000) guidelines.6 In deciding whether this guideline needed to be changed, the committee considered 3 lines of evidence. The first was results of the primary analysis of the NIH HEMO Study, published in 2002.1 The committee also had access to as-treated results of the HEMO Study, which were published at the time the draft guidelines were released in November 2005.98 This report was judged to be of some importance because it identified a dose-targeting bias in the analysis of delivered therapy versus mortality in cross-sectional data sets, which potentially impacts on the weight of evidence derived from such data sets. The second was a series of articles suggesting that dosing of dialysis should not be based on URR or its derivative, Kt/V (which essentially is volume of blood cleared divided by the modeled urea volume, V), but on the volume of blood cleared (Kt) only.78,99-101 The third was a series of analyses of delivered dose (ie, URR) versus mortality based on either the USRDS-Medicare data set or the Fresenius Medical Care subset of these data.102-104
HEMO Clinical Study: Primary (Randomized) Results
Primary results of the HEMO Study, which randomized patients to a delivered eKt/V of 1.16 versus 1.53, equivalent to URR values of about 63% versus 75% or spKt/V values of about 1.3 versus 1.7, revealed little evidence to support increasing the dose of dialysis beyond the current (2000) KDOQI recommendations, respectively.6 The lack of benefit, without even a trend that was close to statistical significance, appeared not only in the primary outcome of mortality, but also in a variety of main secondary composite outcomes relating to various causes of hospitalization combined with mortality. Furthermore, analysis of minor secondary composite outcomes dealing with nutritional measures—including changes in weight and serum albumin levels,105 as well as QOL measures106—also failed to support a beneficial effect of increasing the dose of dialysis. Of all trials evaluated, the HEMO Study was by far the largest, and its randomized design and measurement of hard outcomes were given an enormous weight in determining whether the 2000 KDOQI HD Adequacy Guidelines needed to be changed. The Work Group realized that the recently published European guidelines recommended substantially higher minimal doses of HD based on an eKt/V measure, corresponding to spKt/V minimum targets of about 1.4 to 1.5.12
HEMO Clinical Study: As-Treated Results
The HEMO dose-versus-mortality question also was assessed within each treatment arm, measuring the effects of actual delivered dose over time versus mortality.98 This study identified a dose-targeting bias and suggested that patients in a cross-sectional analysis receiving less dialysis are also at greater risk for death. This increased death risk was of a high magnitude and was incompatible with a biological effect of dose. Although conditions of the 2 HEMO Study arms were not representative of how dialysis is prescribed in the field, documentation of such a strong potential dose-targeting bias (which may be operative in cross-sectional studies, albeit to a lesser degree) convinced the Work Group members to place less weight on dose-versus-mortality relationships derived from observational studies despite the large numbers of patients included in such studies.
Studies Advocating Alternate Measures of Urea-Based Adequacy
These studies are discussed in more detail in CPG 2, Methods for Measuring and Expressing the HD Dose. Since the 2000 KDOQI HD Adequacy Guidelines were published, 1 group of investigators in particular, using data derived from Fresenius Medical Care North America patients in the United States, argued that dose of dialysis should not be factored by modeled V.78,100,101 The arguments against using URR or its derivative Kt/V fall into 2 general categories: (1) doing so may result in relative underdialysis of women and small patients of both sexes, and (2) because modeled V is itself a predictor of mortality, use of dialysis dose factored by V may confound dialysis dose-versus-mortality relationships found in cross-sectional studies in complex and not always predictable ways. A secondary analysis of the intent-to-treat results of the HEMO Study suggested that the higher dose of dialysis may result in better survival in women, who also tended to be smaller than the men in that particular trial.13 The Work Group decided, based on suggestive evidence, that more dialysis (beyond 2000 KDOQI levels) may be better for women and, perhaps, smaller patients, but that the level of evidence did not reach a point at which the existing guideline should be changed. Hence, 2 CPRs were derived suggesting that more dialysis in women and/or in smaller patients might be beneficial (see Section II). Despite the theoretical arguments, as well as attempts to address confounding effects of V in cross-sectional data sets, the committee believed that, at present, the data are not compelling enough to depart from the 2000 recommendation to follow small-molecule clearance using Kt/V.
Given the increased use of conductivity to measure clearance during the dialysis session, the Work Group also considered using an anthropometric volume as the clearance denominator when clearance was measured by conductivity. Using an anthropometric volume as denominator was speculated to result in a more stable denominator, less affected by errors in predialysis and postdialysis urea nitrogen determinations. For example, (Kecn× T/Vant, where Vant = anthropometrically-estimated total body water distribution volume) could be used instead of Kt/V urea. The Work Group's conclusion was that there were not sufficient data comparing sequential dialysis adequacy measures by using both conductivity and urea kinetics in the same patients to make such a major revision, although it was recognized that from a quality-assurance perspective, it would be less challenging to ensure a constant dialysis dose given a more constant denominator. Concerns also were raised about altered modeled to anthropometric urea volume ratios in individual patients, although given the relative flatness of the adequacy to mortality curve, this issue may be of secondary importance.
Another potential strategy discussed was to normalize the dialysis amount to a denominator based on BSA as opposed to urea volume, whether the latter was derived from modeling or anthropometrics. For example, this is accomplished easily by multiplying the target Kt/V value by 3.27 × V/V0.667 (V raised to the 2/3 power). Such a correction method (developed by the Frequent HD Network investigators) gives the same dialysis dose when V = 35 L, but then augments the dose when V is less than this amount and reduces the dose when V is larger, giving, in effect, a dose based on BSA instead of V. Again, for lack of definitive clinical outcomes evidence supporting this approach, it was left for perhaps a future revision of the guidelines when more data might be available.
Dose-Related Mortality in Large Observational Data Sets
Since the KDOQI 2000 HD Adequacy guidelines were published, a number of studies, including analyses of USRDS Annual Data Reports, continued to examine the relationship between dose of dialysis and mortality. Most, but not all, observational studies reported dose in terms of either spKt/V or URR. The dose-versus-mortality relationship was examined as a function of race and sex57,104 and as influenced by various measures of body size102,103 and nutritional status.99 Because the general median spKt/V increased over time, these analyses included much larger samples of patients receiving higher doses of dialysis. Most of these analyses suggested that increasing the dose of dialysis above the target recommended in the 2000 guidelines to levels targeted in the high-dose arm of the HEMO Study (spKt/V ~ 1.7) should decrease mortality by a substantial amount (Table 8). However, the lack of concordance between these observational results and negative results of the HEMO Study, coupled with the dose-targeting bias identified in the as-treated analysis of HEMO Study patients, restrained the Work Group from recommending a global increase in recommended spKt/V for patients dialyzed 3 times per week.
Renal Clearance Compared With the 2000 Guidelines
The 2000 KDOQI HD Adequacy Guidelines were applied to patients with a Kr less than 5 mL/min/1.73 m2, for which Kr is defined as the average of urea and creatinine clearances. In the present guidelines, the committee decided to use urea clearances for the purpose of specifying minimally adequate urea fractional removal. This allows more accurate measurement of protein catabolism in patients with significant Kr and an opportunity to combine Kr with Kd (see CPG 2). Urea clearance of 3 mL/min corresponds approximately to an average of urea and creatinine clearances of 5 mL/min. In the present guidelines, this number was reduced to 2 mL/min of normalized urea clearance to enable some decrease in dialysis dose for patients with moderate degrees of RKF, as discussed in the accompanying CPR. A more complete discussion of why this “step” strategy was adopted, rather than the addition of residual clearance as a continuous function, is detailed in the accompanying CPR.
Target Dose (CPG 4.2)
The KDOQI 2000 HD Adequacy Guidelines specified a target spKt/V of 1.3, with a minimally adequate dose of 1.2 per dialysis given 3 times per week. During the course of measuring the dose of therapy many times in each patient enrolled in the HEMO Study, the variability of modeled volume and hence of spKt/V was determined accurately. The within-patient coefficient of variation for single-pool V in the HEMO patient data set was close to 10%. The relationship between target Kt/V and subsequent achieved Kt/V is shown in Table 9.
As shown in Table 9, the previous recommendations to target 1.3 would result in about 21% of treatments at any given time apparently being less than the Kt/V minimum target of 1.21 (the fraction > 1.2 is 0.79, so 0.21, or 21%, would be < 1.2). Thus, it appears that targeting 1.3 would result in needless prescription modifications and/or troubleshooting. Targeting therapy at an spKt/V of 1.4 and averaging results from 3 monthly measurements of adequacy results in a much greater proportion of treatments (in the range of 97%), greater than the minimum 1.2 adequacy target. Setting the target dose of dialysis to 1.4, rather than 1.3, also seemed to be justified given suggestive results (not yet qualifying for guideline-generating status) that subsets of patients might benefit from higher doses of dialysis.
Avoiding Missed Treatments (CPG 4.3)
Measurement of fractional urea removal during a single dialysis treatment obviously is not a monthly average of dialysis adequacy and has validity only if dialysis treatments are delivered reliably 3 times per week on a regular basis. A number of studies document that the number of missed and/or shortened dialysis treatments in US dialysis patients (4% missed treatments per month) is more than the number missed by their counterparts in other countries, such as Japan.107 Whereas the KDOQI 2000 HD Adequacy Guidelines suggested increasing the frequency of measuring Kt/V or URR in patients for whom treatments frequently were shortened or missed, they did not address the issue of monitoring and minimizing the occurrence of missed and shortened treatments. A number of studies suggested that poor compliance in HD, especially in terms of number of missed treatments, is an important predictor of mortality and hospitalizations.14-16 For this reason, the Work Group believed that every dialysis center should have a mechanism in place to monitor and minimize the occurrence of missed and shortened dialysis treatments.
The main limitation to recommending adequate dosing of dialysis in patients following a thrice-weekly schedule is the difficulty performing randomized studies, as well as multiple confounding issues related to analysis of dose-mortality relationships in observational studies. In the Work Group's opinion, data from the HEMO Study suggested that the dose-benefit relationship for values of spKt/V in the current clinical setting are relatively flat at greater than the recommended minimum value of 1.2 thrice weekly. Many patient subgroups and perhaps all patients might benefit from more dialysis, but it seems that benefits would be derived primarily from extending dialysis treatment time markedly or moving to a more frequent dialysis schedule, as opposed to simply increasing urea Kt/V
|© 2006 National Kidney Foundation, Inc.| | <urn:uuid:e01bb3dc-1a93-4398-8a02-ff7755f345b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidney.org/professionals/KDOQI/guideline_upHD_PD_VA/hd_guide4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939733 | 3,052 | 2.125 | 2 |
Political Philosophers on War: Arguments Inside the "Just War" Box
Calhoun, Laurie, Independent Review
For hundreds of years, intellectuals have been arguing about just war theory, attempting to determine how best to use it in thinking about contemporary war. But war is not what it used to be, and it is entirely unclear that scholars who wrote about the topic before the advent even of machine guns, much less airplanes, missiles, and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons can offer us much guidance or enlightenment. Yet many scholars interested in war continue to frame their arguments in the terms of just war theory, nearly always paying what they regard as the customary deference to its early expositors, or "fathers," as many writers fondly refer to them. In recent decades, Michael …
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Political Philosophers on War: Arguments Inside the "Just War" Box. Contributors: Calhoun, Laurie - Author. Journal title: Independent Review. Volume: 15. Issue: 3 Publication date: Winter 2011. Page number: 447+. © 2009 Independent Institute. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means. | <urn:uuid:a14ab125-58b8-4944-9729-4b26d99b7142> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.questia.com/read/1P3-2230883771/political-philosophers-on-war-arguments-inside-the | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902143 | 288 | 1.695313 | 2 |
3 Meetup Groups match “Amateur Astronomy” near Mississauga, ON
There are no upcoming Meetups.
Astronomy is a fun and engaging science that lends itself to individual discovery. This meetup group brings together astronomy activities in the GTA sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the University of Toronto, York University and other astronomical clubs and organizations. Come out to an event near you and find out "What's Up" tonight!
In reality, we have almost 100 members. We are networking through Meetup to reach out to the community in the hopes that you will become full members. Founded in 2001 the DRAA, a not-for-profit charitable organization, provides community services to encourage the interest and growth in the field of astronomy and related sciences. The Association is primarily focused around amateur astronomy activities, but welcomes professional astronomers as well. The DRAA provides the community with resources …
Are you interested in seeing the moon, planets, stars through a bunch of different telescopes? Do you want to chat with local amateur astronomers? Come out to one of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada events at the Riverwood Conservancy on Burnhamthorpe Road in Mississauga. If you come out early we should have a star chart to give you.
Get an alert email when new Meetup Groups like this start near you.
You'll get advice, help finding members, and tools to make running a Meetup Group easier. | <urn:uuid:04510011-92bc-46d7-a78e-db0cd80de21a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amateur-astronomy.meetup.com/cities/ca/on/mississauga/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929005 | 299 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Like many of their compatriots, Demba Koumbély and Amadou Sako fled Mali to escape the corporal punishment-inflicting jihadists who were advancing towards the south. And like many other Malians, they went to Ivory Coast. The neighbouring country has proven a refuge but not necessarily a place they're ready to call home.
By Selay Marius Kouassi, Abidjan
Demba Koumbély is a 27-year-old businesswoman who could once be found selling bazin, the dyed cotton fabric characteristic of fashion from her native Mali. For some time, her business operations ran between Bamako and Abidjan, but the political crisis in Mali brought her work to a halt.
“The conflict took caught me off guard,” she says, recalling her experience one day at a Bamako market. “Shots fired everywhere; I was really terrified and panicking. I lived in hiding for two weeks in Bamako before leaving the city.”
Koumbély is now living with relatives in Abidjan.
Some 43 kilometres away in the Ivorian city of Bassam, Amadou Sako is also staying with family. The computer scientist from the Malian city of Ségou used to work for a telecommunications company and is hopeful he will soon be able to return home to his job.
Meanwhile, he and Demba are monitoring developments in their native land.
Monitoring from afar
Sako mostly watches France 24 and Radio France International (RFI), though also keeps up to speed online. “I spend my days on the internet searching for news. I also chat on Facebook with friends from Bamako,” he says.
Koumbély admits spending most of the day in front of the TV. “I watch a lot of news on TV about the situation in Mali, mostly on France 24 [the French international news channel] and ORTM [Mali’s national television]. I rarely listen to the radio,” she says.
Even days after French and African troops recaptured territories previously under Islamist control, Koumbély worries about Malians living in those cities. She telephones – “an average of once every two days”, she estimates – to enquire about her family members who stayed behind.
“I have news from my parents who remained in Bamako, but I fear for those in the north. I have a friend living in Gao, for example, and I have no news of her whereabouts. Last time I spoke to her on the phone, she told me that women were not allowed to go out [without the Islamic veil],” she says.
Koumbély does not hide her desire to return to Bamako and resume her business once things are back to normal. She also praises the recent military intervention. “Without France’s support, the Malian army alone could not recapture northern Mali, even with their impressive logistics,” she says.
Sako agrees. “I am reassured by the involvement of the French Army because, without them, I doubt we would be able to get rid of those bandits,” he says.
He is optimistic that Mali will one day regain its territorial integrity. But Sako still doubts the ability of the Malian authorities to host fair and peaceful elections, allowing the people to choose, as he puts it, “someone capable of tackling Mali’s future challenges”. | <urn:uuid:7844d305-77fe-4622-8485-ded8007a479b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/ivory-coast-a-familiar-refuge-some-malians-not-home | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97094 | 728 | 1.953125 | 2 |
ASFIANIH, ASFIANIH (2008) PROSES PEMEKARAN KABUPATEN TANA TIDUNG. Other thesis, University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
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The reformation age evolves more or less than ten years involving some prescriptions of development distribution with its peak remains on the determination of Act No. 32 of 2004 on Local Government. The Act brings along fresh wind to the Regency/City to organize the government based on decentralization, by assigning the wide, actual, and responsible authority for the autonomy. Regarding to the distant region from the province capital, the Sesayap, Sesayap Hilir, and Tana Lia Subdistricts in the Bulungan Regency, and Lumbis, Sembakung, and Sebuku Subdistricts in the Nunukan Regency, take initiative to extend its region into “Tana Tidung Regency”. Here, the author uses qualitative research with descriptive type. Research takes place at the Bulungan Regency considering that the Bulungan Regency represents the host and address of the author such that it facilitates the research. The observed subject includes the Presidium Head of Court for the establishment of the Tana Tidung Regency, the Regent of the Bulungan Regency (Host Regency), the Temporary Regent for the Tana Tidung Regency, the Head of Governmental Issue for the Bulungan Regency (Host Regency) and public figures of Tidung Community. Results of research on the extension process of the Tana Tidung Regency indicate that the process goes well despite its pro and contra positions as also occurred in the other extended area. The extension process takes five years to begin in adjusting to public interest to extend its area into new regency called the Tana Tidung Regency. The representatives of this interest include tradition elders such as Prince Ismail and Drs.Hasan Basri (for Sebuku Subdistrict), Prince Kumisi (for Sembakung Subdistrict), Kausaudan (for Lumbis Subdistrict), and H. Nuh (for Sesayap Subdistrict, but also covering Sesayap Hilir and Tana Lia Subdistricts). The public interest develops from the background of the desire of getting the better service, for instance in health, education, and other fields, due to its remote position from the capital of regency. Therefore, it stimulates the establishment of Presidium Team for the Establishment of The Tana Tidung Regency (PPKTT) as the institution to accommodate and to facilitate the access to the establishment of the Tana Tidung Regency. It initiates the struggle to realize public aspiration to establish the Tana Tidung Regency through lobbies for the related officials in the Local Representative Board in Bulungan and Nunukan, the regents of Bulungan and Nunukan Regencies, Local Government of East Kalimantan Province, the Governor of East Kalimantan, and the Minister of Internal Issue. In fact, three subdistricts in Nunukan Regency stand against the extension. Meanwhile, the number of three has been enough to establish new regency. The reason behind this may be that the proposition comes up based on Act No. 22 of 1999 on Local Government. The Act mentions about the requirement of minimally three subdistricts for the establishment of new regency. The Act has been revised into Act No.32 of 2004. The revised regulation confirms that the new regency requires five subdistricts in minimum, and thus the Tana Tidung Regency proposition still remains safe. Unstoppable support enters into the government of East Kalimantan Province. At last, on July 17 of 2007, the Second Commission of Indonesian Local Representative Board verifies the Act No. 34 of 2007 on the establishment of the Tana Tidung Regency, and it finalizes the extension process of the Tana Tidung Regency. Considering these results, it may be concluded that the extension into the Tana Tidung Regency represents the public aspiration from Sesayap, Sesayap Hilir, and Tana Lia Subdistricts in the Bulungan Regency, throughout Sembakung, Sebuku and Lumbis Subdistricts in the Nunukan Regency, in order to gain better development in the public service, education, health and other fields due to its remote position from the regency capital and to the inefficient governmental service to the public. Amid the extension process for the Tana Tidung Regency, three subdistricts in the Nunukan Regency refuse to join. Taking account these conclusions, research gives some recommendations that: 1. The extension into autonomous area of the Tana Tidung Regency seems important to be followed by preparing the supporting structures such as governmental, economic, social, human resource and financial facilitates, and other infrastructures demanded by a newly autonomous area. 2. The improvement of upland facility and infrastructure should be important to afford recently inaccessible area. The expansion of transportation infrastructure must be considered because of many isolated places with its yet unexploited potential.
|Item Type:||Thesis (Other)|
|Subjects:||J Political Science > J General legislative and executive papers|
|Divisions:||Faculty of Economic > Department of Economics and Development Studies|
|Depositing User:||Anggit Aldila|
|Date Deposited:||26 Apr 2012 06:18|
|Last Modified:||26 Apr 2012 06:18|
Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:15f770fa-80cb-413f-9e74-465709d0fd4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.umm.ac.id/3087/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908435 | 1,178 | 1.6875 | 2 |
|Asheville business & community directory|
The Biltmore Village of today is as charming an area of town as anyone is likely to find. Its lovely, historically significant, old homes-turned-shops, with their characteristic pebbledash and half-timbered exteriors, are clear reminders of their beginnings as part of George W. Vanderbilt’s grand plan for the area that included his magnificent Biltmore House, the massive gardens and grounds, and the planned village at his gate that was home to many of his master craftsmen and their families. .
But this idyllic setting was dramatically and savagely disrupted one summer day in 1916 when the Swannanoa River rose up and swallowed Biltmore Village in one of the worst incidents of flooding that Western North Carolina has ever seen. Top photo on right is the Biltmore rail yard west of Biltmore Village. (Note: Top photo on right is looking south down Biltmore Avenue across the Swannanoah River in Biltmore Village. The Lipe's House is believed to be the two story white house pictured in the center of Biltmore Avenue. All Souls Church is seen at the end of the string of telephone poles on the left side of Biltmore Avenue. At the time of the flood, about 200-300 people lived in Biltmore Village)
While many photographs and newspaper accounts of the Flood of 1916 exist, personal accounts of those who survived it provide today’s generations with a much more intimate look at these long-ago events that forever changed the courses of many families who lost loved ones to the flood waters. After all, “history” is much more personal to those who live it than simply the reporting of lives and property lost, crops destroyed, and the cost of rebuilding – rather, it is life itself. These events become part of a family’s lore, passed from one generation to the next through stories told around the kitchen table, on the porch, or in front of a warm fireplace. This is the story of one of those families, and the story that has been told to the generations that followed those who lived in July 1916.
Kathleen Lipe Carter (1898-1989) (see photo below) recounted some of her recollections of her early days in Biltmore Village to her daughter, Betty Carter Brock. According to Betty Brock’s husband, C. C. Brock (who recently passed away in June 2003), this same account was given to the Heritage of Old Buncombe County in July 1986, the 70th anniversary of the flood. It provides a touching and highly personal look at life in Biltmore Village before, during, and after the Flood of 1916.
“My parents, James Cornelius and Sarah Annabella Clark Lipe, from Mooresville, NC, were among the first residents of Biltmore Village. Our two-story home had a wide front porch, shaded by vines in summer, and stood on the banks of the Swannanoa River near the old iron bridge that led to Asheville. Papa, a master carpenter and superintendent of skilled labor for the Vanderbilt estate, told me that when Biltmore Village was finished, Mr. Vanderbilt gave it to his wife as a birthday present. In those days, Mr. Vanderbilt’s dream of a model village included having the lawns moved for the residents.
The youngest of seven children, I was baptized at All Souls Church, Biltmore, and attended the parish school where Cornelia Vanderbilt was a student. The school, a one-story, stucco building, architecturally similar to homes of village residents, had the best equipment, waxed floors, and, on the walls, copies of old master paintings. My excellent teachers insisted on good manners and high standards. One day I wrote a composition about a drive up Mt. Pisgah with Papa in a buggy. Having supervised the building of the Vanderbilt lodge at the summit, he needed to inspect it. I wrote that, coming home in a buggy, we ‘hit the high spots’ all the way down the mountain. My poor grade, the teacher explained, was based on my use of a slang expression.
The school sponsored a May Day Festival on the Village Green, a special day for young and old with folk dancing and winding of the May Pole. In 1909, at the end of my fifth year, the school closed and I entered public school.
In the early days when our home had no electricity, our Christmas trees were lit by candles. My family attended Christmas parties at Biltmore House given by the Vanderbilt’s for their employees. I remember standing with Cornelia and classmates on a polished table in the banquet hall to view the presentation of gifts to each guest. Many of the gifts had been purchased by the Vanderbilt’s during their travels in Europe.
The most memorable event of my life in Biltmore occurred three weeks before my 18th birthday, on July 16, 1916, when the Swannanoa overflowed its banks. Papa, knowing the foundations of our home on the riverbank to be strong, did not expect trouble, but Mama took Nell, my crippled sister, and my Grandmother Clark to stay with friends on higher ground. (Note: The “higher ground” that Kathleen Lipe Carter was referring to was the Plaza Building, which was torn down in the 1940s to make way for a restaurant and other buildings; in its place today is the building where Talbot’s Clothing is located . Her mother, sister, and grandmother stayed in the second floor apartment of a friend in this building throughout the flood).
Before dawn on the 16th, my sister, Bess, and I found Papa securing some chickens and turkeys on the front porch. Already, sightseers from the village were wading near the house to view the swollen river. With Papa, we joined a group of forestry students and young people heading into the village. To my surprise, as we crossed the train tracks, the water became deeper, the current more swift. Our group held hands, keeping our backs to the current, and struck out across the Village Green, hoping to reach high ground beyond the lodge gate to the Biltmore Estate. By the time we reached Lodge Street, the water was almost over our heads. Torrents from broken dams upriver had changed the course of the Swannanoa. We were caught in the middle of a wide, wild river.
Some of the men swam to safety. Bess, who had waded ahead, spent the day on a pile of jammed lumber, praying it wouldn’t be swept away. Though a good swimmer, Papa helped me and three young women to grab hold of a large tree near the lodge gate. Both Vickie Foister and Charlotte Walker were nurses at the hospital; Marion Walker was only 15. None of us were strong enough to shinny up to safety in the branches far overhead. We stretched my sweater around the trunk to hold to, moving it up as the cold water rose. Papa positioned himself behind me so that I was cradled in his arms. (Note: Vickie Foister and Charlotte Walker were boarders in the Lipe home; Marion Walker, Charlotte’s sister, was visiting her sister at the time of the flood. Regarding the flood waters, photos that were taken immediately after the flood as the water was subsiding indicate that the water reached approximately nine feet at the entrance to the Biltmore Estate, see photo above).
Crowds lined the shore to watch as life guards attempted to rescue us through the swift current. Men in canoes and on horseback failed. Papa kept saying, ‘If only they would get a flat-bottomed boat!’ Our struggle to keep from being swept away by the swift, cold current was exhausting us.
At last, when a life guard reached us, we insisted he take back Marion, the youngest. Though she agreed to go, on the way back Marion panicked, fought her rescuer, and drowned. Charlotte, her sister, became hysterical, crying, ‘Marion! Marion!’ and shortly she dropped off the tree. (Note: The rescuer that Kathleen Lipe Carter referred to was a member of the Justice family, a young man – probably still a teenager at the time – who was well-known as an excellent athlete and swimmer. A generation later, another member of the same family, Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice, came along and became perhaps the area’s most successful athlete to date, playing football at the University of North Carolina, where he was named National Player of the Year in 1948).
I lost track of time. Hours must have passed before I felt Papa’s arms leave me. As he struggled to grab at the next tree, I wondered if he had had a cramp. Then I heard his familiar, ‘Shucks! Shucks!’ as he was swept away. Photo above on right is a current photograph of the railroad bridge that crosses the Swannanoa River in Biltmore located approximately fifty yards below where the Lipe house was located.
Vickie Foister gave no cry when she let go. I was praying for the strength to hang on when I missed her. Alone, I continued to pray, hoping that Papa and the girls had managed to grab another tree.
Out of nowhere, a man reached the tree where I clung and climbed into its branches. When I begged for his help to climb up, he explained that, as a father and husband, he could not take the risk. Instead, he let down a branch, offering to pull me up. Exhausted, as soon as I was raised from the water, I fell back. Frantically, I grabbed for the tree again. Now my sweater was gone. My inner thighs, gripping the rough bark, were raw. I wondered how much longer I could last.
Suddenly, I saw a life guard swimming toward me with a rope. When he reached me, he tied me to the tree. Then I knew my life had been saved.
Sometime in the afternoon, about eight or nine hours after I had left home, men reached the tree in a flat-bottomed boat. Only after I had spent several days in the hospital was I told that my father, Vickie, and Charlotte had drowned.
Our home stood until the water subsided, then collapsed into the Swannanoa.” Photo on right is a current photo of the Swannanoa River near the entrance to the Biltmore House.
Kathleen Lipe Carter recovered from the injuries she sustained on that terrible day, and went on to lead a productive and fulfilling life as a teacher, wife, and mother. She was an active participant in the passing of a NC law that requires cars to stop behind stopped school busses. She had an innate ability to cope with major life changes and stress, and was admired by those who knew her as an outgoing, practical, intelligent, kind-hearted, generous, and optimistic woman. Her husband’s career with Southern Railroad took the family to Washington, DC, in 1937, and they remained in that area the rest of their lives. She died in 1989 at the age of 90.
The freakish and terrifying culmination of a series of heavy rains and two hurricanes, one hitting the Gulf Coast and the other coming on shore at Charleston, SC, the Flood of 1916 ravaged much more than Biltmore Village. The losses from this catastrophic natural disaster were enormous and far-reaching. The Asheville Citizen newspaper from July 16, 1916, reported in a front page story, “The damage at Biltmore is frightful.” The article also stated, “With flood waters subsiding, Asheville is today carrying out relief work and taking count of the loss of life and property from the storm. Along the river fronts in the Swannanoa and French Broad valleys industrial plants have been submerged and wrecked. The damage in Asheville is estimated at $1,000,000; in Buncombe county the loss will add close to two million to this sum.” The Asheville Citizen further reported, “From the outside towns and communities come reports of death and havoc to property. In Marshall 53 houses are reported washed away in the narrow valley where the town lies. Two lives are said to be lost and two people are missing.”
According to “The Floods of July, 1916,” a report by Southern Railway Company (1917, pages 11-12), “West of the Blue Ridge all the streams flowing into the Tennessee were in severe flood, probably the most disastrous so far as loss of life and property is concerned being in the French Broad (see photo on the right). Gagings in that river are made at Asheville, NC. On the morning of the 9th, the river had reached a stage of 4.8 feet (flood stage, 4 feet) [from a Gulf Coast hurricane that came ashore near Mobile, AL], and by the morning of the 11th it had risen to a stage of 8.8 feet; it then declined until the morning of the 15th, when it stood at exactly 4 feet, or flood stage. The tremendous rains on the 15th and 16th in the watershed of the river [from an Atlantic coast hurricane that came ashore near Charleston, SC] caused it to rise with great rapidity. At 8 AM, on the 16th, it stood at 13.5 feet, 9.5 feet above flood; by 9 AM of the same day, it had risen to 18.6 feet; and at 10 AM the bridge on which the gage was located was washed away. The crest of the flood was about 21 feet; the exact figures will be determined later.”
The Southern Railway Company further reported, “The precise number of person who lost their lives in the floods will doubtless never be known, although the best information at hand places the loss of life at about 80, the great majority of whom were drowned in the streams of western North Carolina. …The property loss, as near as can be figured, was near $22,000,000 …”
George Vanderbilt’s splendid Biltmore House escaped damage from the floodwaters. While some outbuildings had minor flood damage, the only loss the Estate sustained was the Biltmore Nursery, located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, which was destroyed.
Edith Vanderbilt, George W. Vanderbilt’s widow (he had died two years earlier, after complications from appendicitis), provided some much-needed immediate relief following the flood. While remaining quietly in the background, she aided flood victims with food, blankets, and transportation.
The Lipe’s home, which collapsed the day after the flood and toppled into the river, was located where Pizza Hut is on Biltmore Avenue today. The Village Green, where the Lipe party had been headed the morning of July 16, 1916, was sited where the Biltmore Avenue McDonald’s restaurant is now located.
But what became of the tree that saved the life of Kathleen Lipe Carter? A maple (see two bottom photographs), certainly older and taller, but still as strong and healthy as it was on that summer day so many years ago, remains undisturbed by the passage of time, and quietly stands guard in its position, third on the right from the lodge gate, as thousands of visitors pass it daily on their way to the house, gardens, and winery.
The Biltmore Village Historic Museum, located at 7 Angle Street in Biltmore Village, is a free, non-profit, volunteer-staffed museum, and contains a great deal of interesting information about Biltmore Village from the late 1800s to the present, including the Flood of 1916. Photographs, maps, antique post cards, clothing, and vintage artifacts are all part of their collection. The collection also includes original maps and copies of original drawings of the Biltmore Village cottages. The museum is available to the public by appointment only. For more information, please call 828-274-9707.
For more information about the Biltmore House and Gardens, please visit their web site, www.biltmore.com.
Special thanks and sincere gratitude to Ginny Gutierrez (granddaughter of Kathleen Lipe Carter), Betty Carter Brock (daughter of Kathleen Lipe Carter) and her late husband, C. C. Brock, Mary Hyde of the Biltmore Village Museum and Sue Clark, Associate Curator of Interpretation for The Biltmore Company, for providing information and fact verification on this story.
(Story by MainStreet Online feature writer, Lyn Leslie. 1916 flood photos provided by The Biltmore Company.) | <urn:uuid:e84e5e45-6b02-45e4-9e80-574b823c1fa9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asheville.com/news/flood1916.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978454 | 3,494 | 2.171875 | 2 |
With more than one in five adults taking behavioral medications, such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, it’s not a stretch to say that it seems therapists and psychotherapists are quick to recommend medications these days—probably too quick. Read more »
Drug companies are deliberately keeping the public—and the medical community—in the dark about “unfavorable” clinical trials. Read more »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its latest West Nile Virus national surveillance data for 2012, and it’s not pretty.
In 2012, reported cases West Nile Virus were the highest we’ve seen since 2003 and related deaths exceeded the highest we’ve seen since 1999, the year the virus was first detected in the U.S.
Read more »
You know about them, and you probably try to avoid them like the plague, with good reason. Even though genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were sneaked into our food supply over 15 years ago, there have been limitations on the tests that could be performed on these foods. Read more »
Oxygen has been a critical component in the evolution of life on earth, and humans are no exception as the gas has enabled nutrients to be used more efficiently, in turn allowing for the essential generation of energy required for development and growth. But oxygenation threatens our cellular health. Read more »
Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent running errands all day, a 9-to-5 warrior pushing numbers at a desk, or a shift-worker who stands on your feet for ten hours a day, you probably feel like you need a massage. Read more » | <urn:uuid:d312cf6f-f5af-40a7-ab46-a365495ba4b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.liveinthenow.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944394 | 348 | 1.960938 | 2 |
For several years now, Roger Feldman and Scott Kolbo’s 3-D Art students have placed their end-of-the-quarter projects in the library during finals week. Below, Professor Feldman discusses the origins of the project and how the space is used to inform the art:
In 2009, I had the students in Art 1203 (Three Dimensional design) place their final projects on sites around campus that helped to inform the project. After trying out various locations around campus for this Freshman/Sophomore course assignment, Bryce Nelson, the Library Director at that time, asked if I would consider having them in the Library. We agreed on some ground-rules and decided to give it a try.
The assignment has two aspects: Create three objects that tell a story, and locate those objects near the corresponding subject area in the Library. Students have almost half of the quarter to work on this project, using simple techniques and materials including paper mache, plaster, wire, cardboard, tape, and enamel paint. After learning how to scale 3-D objects up or down in size, students go through an elaborate process of selecting a subject they are interested in and then selecting 3-D objects that would ultimately allude to their particular interest or book in the library.
From my standpoint, this has been a highly successful venture for our students. These pieces are typically displayed in the library during Finals week and removed by the end of Finals. The students feel like their work is on the line because their peers are going to see the work! We greatly appreciate the library for their willingness to take a chance with us, and hope to continue to create new works into the future.
-Roger Feldman/Professor of Art
Note from the blog editor: This quarter, Scott Kolbo is teaching the 1203 Design class. He graciously provided a sneak peek of some of the installations-in-progress that will appear in the library next week during finals. Take a look at what’s coming, and drop by the blog next week for an update to this post with pictures of the finished work:
Update (3/22): Have a look at a few of the finished products at the library: | <urn:uuid:230c9340-47c5-458a-8ecf-31520307b4ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.spu.edu/library/tag/three-dimensional-design/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972283 | 449 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Since his team was ousted from the NBA post-season, Metta World Peace, the hoopster formerly known as Ron Artest, probably used the leisure afforded to him to sleep in. On Monday, he tweeted, “Happy labour day… Enjoy it.”
Small problem, Labour Day, when work is celebrated by taking a
long weekend off for holidaying, is actually more than three months away. World Peace corrected himself soon enough: “Happy memorial day… I was still sleep:))) Bout to fire up the grill... Shout out to the veterans!!!!!!!!! (sic)”.
World Peace, who plays for the LA Lakers, officially changed his name during the off-season. Then in April, he elbowed a rival player from the Oklahoma Thunder in the head, causing a concussion. NBA’s officialdom cracked down and kicked him off court for seven games. Those antics grabbed the headline: ‘World Peace suspended.’ American President Barack Obama, an avid hoops fan and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, must have been stunned.
It took him a while to react. It usually does since he governs by committee and tends to evolve on issues. On Memorial Day, when America remembers its warriors and peacekeepers, Obama signalled he no longer wanted wars that weren’t “absolutely necessary”.
Which was all very fascinating. While his presumptive opponent for the presidency in the November election, Republican Mitt Romney, was the one making war-like noises — “The world is not safe” — Obama has sent American troops into more countries than his allegedly warmongering predecessor did. The president has burnished his Noble Peace Prize winning credentials by even sending in special forces to hunt down Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. Kony, of course, of the Kony 2012 social media meme. If social media villains are now the US administration’s targets, then Kim Kardashian is more of a threat to US security interests than North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Now, while the Obama administration does want to deflect attention from the annoying reality of a sluggish economy - more recession than recovery — an actual conflict may be just too large a distraction. And there’s the irksome fact that the last time a Democratic Party president led the US into war, it turned into humiliation for the country. That, of course, was Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam. So, a looming war could send voters scampering to the Republican camp. Thus, the peacenik politicking.
Unfortunately, the rest of the administration wasn’t quite on message. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an interviewer that when it came to Syria, “There is always a military option.” Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seems prepared to go ballistic on Iran, had his own spin on the situation: “Iran and Hezbollah are an inseparable part of the Syrian atrocities, and the world needs to act against them too.” The 2012 West Asia threat, therefore, is double barrelled.
Added to that is the Af-Pak situation, where Pakistan, America’s staunch non-Nato ally, has ensured that the drawdown will be an exercise in disarray, at best, or disaster.
These are good reasons for Obama’s campaign managers to execute a strategic retreat from reality. That’s where the recent focus on social issues and identity politics originated. To an extent, that’s been a successful gambit. Obama, after all, has been crowned America’s first gay president, since the mantle of being the country’s first black president was already taken, by Bill Clinton.
But massacres by the Assad regime, expulsion of Syrian diplomats, or Iran spawning weaponised nuclear technology undermine that spirit of gay abandon.
As the election approaches, American responses to the West Asia crises will depend on how the administration can avoid losing votes over the position it adopts, without appearing weak. When it comes to pols in full campaign mode, this quote attributed to Groucho Marx is fitting: “These are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.”
Currently based in Toronto, Anirudh Bhattacharyya has been a New York-based foreign correspondent for eight years
The views expressed by the author are personal
© Copyright © 2013 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:50389805-07d1-477c-bfe3-9b366dbf6fdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/864632.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958645 | 919 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Watershed moment for 900 young students
Friends of Tryon Creek program offers hands-on instruction in the field
When you have the great outdoors there is no problem with classroom overcrowding - even with all 900 fifth- and sixth-graders in Lake Oswego enrolled in the watershed basics class, a partnership between the Friends of Tryon Creek and Lake Oswego School District.
It is the third year for the watershed program, and this year should be the best ever.
'The first two years were a great success. We learned quite a bit,' said Matthew Collins, education director for the Friends of Tryon Creek, or FOTC. 'It's different this year. Being able to touch all 900 fifth- and sixth-graders is an incredible opportunity.'
The watershed program, offering hands-on instruction about watersheds and their importance to environmental health, was created by former FOTC education director Stephanie Wagner and was further developed by Collins. He will get a big assist this year from education coordinator Linda Koser, who has been with the program from the start.
After the opening class last week, she is greatly encouraged for this year's effort.
'I can really tell a difference this year,' said Koser, who trains and coordinates volunteers and handles the teaching. 'The first year it was hard for the students to get the concept of a watershed. Their understanding of concepts is much better. It makes us feel really good.'
This year the 900 students will take a tour of the Oswego Lake watershed, beginning with a headwaters exploration in Waluga Park all the way to its confluence with the Willamette River at George Rogers Park. Plus they will be going right into their own backyards.
Along the way the students will examine how humans affect the overall health of the watershed. Classes will continue through April.
'We want to increase the knowledge of watersheds because all things are water-based in Lake Oswego,' said Steve Mauritz, principal of Hallinan Elementary and a longtime leader of science education in the school district.
Mauritz noted that this is a crucial year for the watershed program, with the school district scheduled to close three schools. This will certainly impact the LOSD's water education curriculum.
'I'm absolutely happy with what has been accomplished in the past three years,' Mauritz said.
Some outstanding people are leading the watershed basics program, but more are needed.
'With so many students it takes lots of volunteers,' Koser said. 'If people are interested they can call Matthew or myself.'
The FOTC contact number is 503-636-4398. | <urn:uuid:80b9591a-e6a8-49fc-8fd4-ded112264a40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=14048 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959769 | 548 | 2.21875 | 2 |
The oceans are being emptied of fish. A forthcoming United Nations report lays out the stark numbers: only around 25% of commercial stocks are in a healthy or even reasonably healthy state. Some 30% of fish stocks are considered collapsed, and 90% of large predatory fish — like the bluefin tuna so prized by sushi aficionados — have disappeared since the middle of the 20th century. More than 60% of assessed fish stocks are in need of rebuilding, and some researchers estimate that if current trends hold, virtually all commercial fisheries will have collapsed by mid century.
"Fisheries across the world are being plundered, or exploited at unsustainable rates," said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
In some respects, Steiner could have stopped at "plundered," because as much damage as the legal, commercial fishing trade has wrought on the oceans, it's the illegal trade that could spell their doom. Legal fishermen — the everyday farmers of the seas — have licenses they must protect and laws they must obey. But illegal fishing — often done on the high seas where regulations are lax and catch limits can be exceeded with impunity, or in the coastal waters of developing nations, which lack the ability to fight back — abides by rules of its own. Now, a team led by Stefan Flothmann of the Pew Environment Group has published a study in the May 20 issue of Science showing just how hard stopping the illegal fishing scourge will be.
There are a lot of factors driving the rising global demand for fish. A growing global population needs ready sources of protein, and fish — generally low in fat and high in nutrients — is a natural. Plus, the worldwide explosion in the popularity of sushi means that even people who never liked fish before have developed a taste for it. Global seafood consumption has doubled over the past 40 years, and the sushi boom has tracked that trend.
But there's also a major problem with overcapacity — or the simple excess of fishermen — thanks to the $27 billion in subsidies given to the worldwide fishing industry each year. Those subsidies — especially the billions that go to cheap diesel fuel that makes factory fishing on the high seas possible at all--have created an industry bigger than the oceans can support. The U.N. estimates that the global fleet consists of more than 20 million boats, ranging from tiny subsistence outfits to massive trawlers. Together they have a fishing capacity 1.8 to 2.8 times larger than the oceans can sustainably support. Our tax money is essentially paying fishermen to strip mine the seas.
Cutting the subsidies or restricting the boats would go a long way toward solving the problem — but not if the illegal trade, which accounts for anything from 11 to 26 million tons of fish a year, or about one-fifth of the reported legal catch, can't also be brought under control. Steps in that direction have been taken. In November 2009, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) adopted the Port State Measurement Agreement (PSMA), which requires countries to close their ports to ships involved in illegal or unregulated fishing. The idea is simple: if illegal boats are denied ports where they can sell their catch and refuel, black market fishing should dry up. | <urn:uuid:9418647a-3068-436d-bb3a-72a8e91b3fe7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.marine-conservation.org/2010/05/cracking-down-on-oceans-pirate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960511 | 662 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Public Policy Center
The Public Policy Center is the policy arm for PAAIA, created to gather, maintain, and provide reliable and unbiased information on the Iranian American community, its needs and issues. The Public Policy Center will aggregate and provide access to accurate and statistically relevant data and information on the Iranian American community in the United States and the issues that impact them. Using this information, the Public Policy Center aims to:
- Educate the Iranian American community about the laws, regulations, and policies that affect their lives and to educate policymakers, lawmakers, and the general public about the views of Iranian Americans on important policy issues.
- Ensure that the Iranian American community is well informed on policy issues related to U.S.- Iran relations (such as the economic sanctions), how such policies impact their day to day lives, and have their voice on such matters heard.
- Gather and maintain relevant and statistically accurate demographic and attitudinal information about the Iranian American community and our views through independent national surveys similar to the one's PAAIA has commissioned through Zogby Research Services over the past five years.
- Accurately represent the views of the Iranian American community on a myriad of domestic, cultural, social, and other issues at public, policy, and legislative venues.
In addition, two distinct components of the Public Policy Center will be an online NewsCenter (need link) that provides select articles on issues of interest to the Iranian American community and an online Action Center, which will provide objective information on policy initiatives and allow community members to voice their views directly with their elected representatives. The Public Policy Center will be managed by PAAIA Staff and governed by its Board of Directors. Public policy advisors for the Center include prominent academicians and policy/political analysts and experts. The Public Policy Center will enable PAAIA to meet its objective of becoming the credible voice for the Iranian American community by seeking, reflecting, and advocating its views.
For more information on the Public Policy Center please feel free to PAAIA at (202) 828-8370. | <urn:uuid:039ca21f-5ceb-418c-85a9-3aa9ec521585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paaia.org/CMS/public-policy.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950215 | 418 | 2.125 | 2 |
As it drags on for a second week, the Chicago teachers' strike is so large it could distort national economic statistics, including the Labor Department's key monthly jobs report.
About 26,000 teachers and support staff are striking in Chicago, demanding higher pay, better job security and changes to a new evaluation system.
The strike's timing is key, in that it coincides with the period in which the government collects data for the national jobs report.
Last month, that report showed the economy added only 96,000 jobs. The number was seen as weak, posing a challenge for President Obama as he faces re-election.
September's report could look far worse if the strike continues.
Every month, the Labor Department surveys 141,000 employers throughout the country, during the week that includes the 12th. While the Labor Department does not release the names of the companies, CNNMoney has confirmed independently that Chicago Public Schools -- the third largest school district in the country -- is included in the sample.
Employers surveyed respond to simple questions. For example, how many employees were on their payroll during the current pay period? How many hours did they work? What wages did they earn?
In the case of Chicago Public Schools teachers are paid on a biweekly schedule. The current pay period started September 9 and runs through this Saturday, September 22. The teachers that are striking, are not receiving any pay from the school district during that time, unless they report back to work.
"Only (Chicago Teachers Union) members who we can confirm reported to work during the strike will be paid by CPS during for that timeframe," said Marielle Sainvilus, a spokeswoman for the school district.
If the teachers don't go back to work by the end of the week, they will be recorded as out of work for the entire pay period, and that could subtract roughly 26,000 jobs from the national jobs report.
"The effect it has on the national number has yet to be seen, but the strike is big enough to swing things," said Labor Department Economist John Coughlan.
It's not unusual for strikes to impact the jobs report. When 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike last year, it distorted the August 2011 jobs report so drastically, the Labor Department initially reported exactly zero jobs were created that month.
The effect was only temporary. Later, the number was revised upward and the following month's report showed Verizon employees went back to work in September.
Similarly, as long as the Chicago teachers strike is resolved soon, any impact would only be temporary.
For that reason, economists aren't too worried about the strike's impact.
"These type of events are usually built into consensus estimates and are discounted by the market well in advance so we are not very concerned about the temporary impact," said Brett Ryan, U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.
Meanwhile, the strike is unlikely to have any effect on the unemployment rate. That number is calculated from a separate survey of households, and only includes people who lost a job through no fault of their own.
When workers strike, they are not counted as unemployed.
The Labor Department plans to issue its monthly strike report on Sept. 28, which is expected to give more clarity about how the Chicago teacher dispute could impact the monthly jobs numbers.
The September jobs report will be released on October 5. | <urn:uuid:fee26139-5017-4c30-ba15-80dfe1dda946> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxly.com/news/money/Chicago-teachers-strike-could-hit-jobs-report/-/116108/16631296/-/encopfz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980167 | 688 | 1.921875 | 2 |
What is REALLY in your hamburger
U.S. defends treated meat dubbed "pink slime" in school meals
By Ian Simpson
The Department of Agriculture is defending the use of ammonium-treated beef, dubbed "pink slime" by detractors, in meals destined for schoolchildren as part of the national school lunch program.
The Internet news source The Daily reported this week that 7 million pounds (3.2 million kg) of the product -- beef trimmings treated partly with ammonium hydroxide to fight contamination -- would appear in school lunches this spring.
"All USDA ground beef purchases must meet the highest standards for food safety," the agency said in a statement.
"USDA has strengthened ground beef food safety standards in recent years and only allows products into commerce that we have confidence are safe."
Fast-food chain McDonald's stopped putting the USDA-approved ammonium-treated meat into its hamburgers in August after a number of food activists, including celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, drew attention to the additive.
The USDA, schools and school districts plan to buy the treated meat, categorized as "lean fine textured beef," from South Dakota's Beef Products Inc for the national school lunch program.
The BPI product makes up about 6.5 percent of the 112 million pounds (51 million kg) of ground beef that has been contracted for the National School Lunch Program, the USDA said.
The department oversees the program, which buys about 20 percent of products served in U.S. schools. The rest is bought directly by schools or school districts.
Read original here:
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brasscheck tv videos | <urn:uuid:949a1702-6482-41a4-8943-8674be9066e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/schools-are-prisons-1/what-is-really-in-your-hamburger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94988 | 349 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The city of Novgorod The Great (Novgorod Veliky) is located between Moscow and Saint Petersburg; its population is estimated at 230,000 people; it is one of the most culturally important cities in Russia.
Novgorod was first mentioned in the manuscripts as early as 859. Together with Kiev, Novgorod was a very important cultural, social and economical centre in Rus'.
Novgorod Airport (IATA code: NVR) is currently not operational. It was a busy airport during USSR, but then, due to country's economical situation, had to cease its operations. It has reopened in 1998 with a daily flight to Moscow's Sheremetyevo I (on Yak-40 fleet). This charter flight also came to an end in late 1999.
Train is usually the cheapest way of getting to and from Novgorod. The station is located at the west end of the city center, within 15 minutes' walk of the Detinets (Kremlin). Note that for the elektrichka trains from/to St. Petersburg (train number begins with a 6), tickets can only be purchased on the day of travel, there are no assigned seats, and the cost is about 250 Rubles.
From Saint Petersburg, two trains daily from Moskovskiy Vokzal terminal for suburban trains. The seats are not very comfortable, but there is a lot of leg-room space and the windows are there to enjoy the scenery. In between the wagons it is also allowed to smoke.
Train #6905 departs St. Petersburg at 08:13 and arrives Novgorod 11:49
Train # 801 departs St. Petersburg at 17:18 and arrives Novgorod 20:24
Train #6916 departs Novgorod at 16:55 and arrives St. Petersburg 20:54
Train # 802 departs Novgorod at 08:05 and arrives St. Petersburg 11:21
From Saint Petersburg, one daily from Vitebskiy Vokzal. It is the slowest of the trains from St. Petersburg.
Train #6685 departs St. Petersburg at 07:53 and arrives Novgorod 13:02
Train #638E departs Novgorod at 17:13 and arrives St. Petersburg 22:12
From Moscow, daily overnight train run from Leningradskii Vokzal and arrive in Novgorod early in the morning. This train is more comfortable, with seats designed for both sitting and sleeping. Personal suites for 2 or 4 are also available.
Several buses run daily from Saint Petersburg Bus Terminal to Novgorod, with a travel time of about 3.5 hours. Buses to Moscow run only during the summertime, but the trip is way too long and inconvenient.
Novgorod has both bus and trolleybus systems. Running approximately every 5 minutes, buses and trolleybuses will get you to every part of the city.
Like almost everywhere in Russia you can wave your arm and a car will stop to take you anywhere in town. You can cross the whole center for 80 roubles (3 USD).
Novgorod is a walking-friendly city, and if you like long walks, everything in the city is within walking distance. The advantage is also that you have a chance to see the beautiful architecture of the city.
Kremlin, (City Center). Novgorod's Kremlin, or Detinets, is free to visitors and includes many of the main places of interest in the city. Admission is free, and two gates (one from the footbridge on the river; the other by Sofiyskaya Square and the Lenin Statue) are open to pedestrians. A beach along the bank of the river can be accessed from a gate inside the Kremlin wall.
Monument of the Millennium of Russia, (In the Kremlin). This iron statue is located in the park in the center of the Kremlin. It was created in 1862 and is ringed by an interesting panorama of famous individuals in Russian history up to that time. Russian Tsars and Patriarchs appear on one half of the panorama, and cultural figures on the other half.
St. Sophia Cathedral, (In the Kremlin). 8am to 8pm daily. This eleventh-century cathedral is the centerpiece of Novgorod's religious buildings. The iconostasis and frescoes inside are especially interesting. On the north-west exterior of the cathedral, see the Magdeburg Doors, a bronze twelfth-century German creation with reliefs of biblical scenes and, allegedly, the doors' sculptors themselves in one of the scenes.Free..
Yaroslav's Court, (Across the river from the Kremlin). Across the footbridge from the Kremlin is the old commercial district, which is marked by a long arcade along the river bank. Within the commercial district are several churches, many of which are in typical Novgorod style: a square base topped by a dome. Some wooden houses in Yaroslav's Court also hold temporary museum exhibitions.
Fine Arts Museum, Sophiyskaya Square 2 (Across from the Lenin Statue), ☎ +7 (816 2) 73 22 65. 10am to 6pm except Monday and the first Thursday of the Month. A collection of Russian art, including Repin and other 19th and 20th Century artists.
Souvenirs, particularly wooden handicrafts and birch-bark paintings, can be found at many locations, including the souvenir market on Sennaya Square (to one's right as one faces the Kremlin from Sofiyskaya Square and the Lenin Statue).
Honey mead is a local favorite.
Beresta Palace, Ul. Studentechskaya 2 (North of the city center on the east side of the river,), ☎ +7 (8162) 94-09-10 (firstname.lastname@example.org), . Novgorod's top class hotel, with the most amenities, a moderate distance from the city center.Singles starting at 3000 Rubles.
Intourist Hotel, 16 Velikaya St (On the river north of the Kremlin), ☎ +7 (8162) 77-42-36 (email@example.com, fax: +7 (8162) 77-41-57), . Singles starting at 1500 Rubles.
Sadko Hotel, Ul. Fedorovsky Ruchei (Across the river from the Kremlin, about a 30-40 minute walk from the train station), ☎ +7 (8162) 66-09-20 (firstname.lastname@example.org, fax: +7 (8162) 60-30-17). Mid-range, clean, renovated 3-star hotel with restaurant.Price starts at about 2000 for a single, including breakfast..
Volkov Hotel, Ul. Predtechenskaya 24 (Between the train station and the Kremlin, about a 10-minute walk from each.), ☎ +7 (8162) 33-55-48 (email@example.com, fax: +7 (8162) 33-55-51). Mid-range 3-star hotel
Akron Hotel, Ul. Predtechenskaya 24 (Next to the Volkov Hotel but with a separate entrance), ☎ +7 (8162) 73-69-08, 73-69-12 (firstname.lastname@example.org, fax: +7 (8162) 73-69-18). One of the less expensive decent options in the city center, at about 1500 Rubles for a single. | <urn:uuid:400ee7d6-93b2-4a7f-b0c7-fc6b6a8668df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Novgorod&diff=890999&oldid=890997 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927296 | 1,588 | 2.0625 | 2 |
OWL 2 has just been published as a Proposed Recommendation (yay!) which means, in laymen’s term, that the technical work is done, and it is up to the membership of W3C to accept it as a full blown Recommendation.
As I already blogged before, I did some implementation work on a specific piece of OWL 2, namely the OWL 2 RL Profile. (I have also blogged about OWL 2 RL and its importance before, nothing to repeat here.) The implementation itself is not really optimized, and it would probably not stand a chance for any large scale deployment (the reader may want to look at the OWL 2 implementation report for other alternatives). But I can hope that the resulting service can be useful in getting a feel for what OWL 2 RL can give you: by just adding a few triples into the text box you can see what OWL 2 RL means. This is, by the way, an implementation of the OWL 2 RL rule set, which means that it can also accepts triples that are not mandated by the Direct Semantics of OWL 2 (a.k.a. OWL 2 DL). Put it another way, it is an implementation of a small portion of OWL 2 Full.
The core of my implementation turned out to be really easy straightforward: a forward chaining structure directly encoded in Python. I use RDFLib to handle the RDF triples and the triple store. Each triple in the RDF Graph is considered, compared to the premises of the rules; if there is a match then new triples are added to the Graph. (Well, most of the rules contain several triples to match with, and the usual approach is to pick one and explore the Graph deeper check against additional matches. Which one to pick is important, it may affect the overall speed, though.) If, through such a cycle, no additional triples are added to the Graph then we are done, the “deductive closure” of the Graph has been calculated. The rules of OWL 2 RL have been carefully chosen so that no new resources are added to the Graph (only new triples), ie, this process eventually stops.
The rules themselves are usually simple. Although it is possible and probably more efficient to encode the whole process using some sort of a rule engine (I know of implementations based on, eg, Jena’s rules or Jess), one can simply encode the rules using the usual conditional constructs of the programming language. The number of rules is relatively high but nothing that a good screen editor would not manage with copy-paste. There were only a few rules that required a somewhat more careful coding (usually to take care of lists) or many searches through the graph like, for examples, the rule for property chains (see rule prp-spo2 in the rule set). It is also important to note that the higher number of rules does really not affect the efficiency of the final system; if no triple matches a rule then, well, it just does not fire. No side effect of the mere existence of an unused rule.
So is it all easy and rosy? Not quite. First of all, this implementation is of course simplistic in so far as it generates all possible deducted triples that include a number of trivial triples (like
?x owl:sameAs ?x for all possible resources). That means that the resulting graph becomes fairly big even if the (optional) axiomatic triples are not added. If the OWL 2 RL process is bound to a query engine (eg, the new version of SPARQL will, hopefully, give a precise specification of what it means to have OWL 2 RL reasoning on the data set prior to a SPARQL query) then many of these trivial triples could be generated at query time only, thereby avoiding an extra load on the database. Well, that is one place where a proof-of-concept and simple implementation like mine looses against a more professional one:-)
The second issue was the contrast between RDF triples and “generalized” RDF triples, ie, triples where literals can appear in subject positions and bnodes can appear as properties. OWL 2 explicitly says that it works with generalized triples and the OWL 2 RL rule set also shows why that is necessary. Indeed, consider the following set of triples:
ex:X rdfs:subClassOf [ a owl:Restriction; owl:onProperty [ owl:inverseOf ex:p ]; owl:allValuesFrom ex:A ].
This is a fairly standard “idiom” even for simple ontologies; one wants to restrict, so to say, the subjects instead of the objects using an OWL property restriction. In other words that restriction combined with
ex:x rdf:type ex:X . ex:y ex:p ex:x .
ex:y rdf:type ex:A .
Well, this deduction would not occur through the rule set if non-generalized RDF triples were used. Indeed, the inverse of
ex:p is a blank node, ie, using it in a triple is not legal; but using that blank node to denote a property is necessary for the full chain of deductions. In other words, to get that deduction to work properly using RDF and rules, the author of the vocabulary would have to give an explicit URI to the inverse of
ex:p. Possible, but slightly unnatural. If generalized triples are used, then the OWL 2 RL rules yield the proper result.
It turns out that, in my case, having bnodes as properties was not really an issue, because RDFLib could handle that directly (is that a bug in RDFLib?). But similar, though slightly more complex or even pathological examples can be constructed involving literals in subject positions, and that was a problem because RDFLib refused to handle those triples. What I had to do was to exchange all literals in the graph against a new bnode, perform all the deductions using those, and exchange the bnodes “back” against their original literals at the end. (This mechanism is not my invention; it is actually described by the RDF Semantics document, in the section on Datatype entailment rules.) B.t.w., the triples returned by the system are all “legal” triples, generalized triples play a role during the deduction only (and illegal triples are filtered out at output).
Literals with datatypes were also a source of problems. This is probably where I spent most of my implementation time (I must thank Michael Schneider who, while developing the test cases for OWL 2 RDF Based Semantics, was constantly pushing me to handle those damn datatypes properly…). Indeed, the underlying RDFLib system is fairly lax on checking the typed literals against their definition by the XSD specification (eg, issues like minimum or maximum values were not checked…). As a consequence, I had to re-implement the lexical to value conversion for all datatypes. Once I found out how to do that (I had dive a bit into the internals of RDFLib but, luckily, Python is an interpretative language…) it became a relatively straightforward, repetitive, and slightly time consuming work. Actually, using bnodes instead of “real” literals made it easier to implement datatype subsumptions, too (eg, the fact that, say, an
xsd:byte is also a
xsd:integer). This became important so that the rules would work properly on property restrictions involving datatypes.
Bottom line: even for a simple implementation literals, mainly literals with datatypes, are the biggest headache. The rest is really easy. (This is hardly the discovery of the year, but is nevertheless good to remember…)
I was, actually, carried away a bit once I got a hold on how to handle datatypes, so I also implemented a small “extension” to OWL 2 RL by adding datatype restrictions (one of the really nice new features of OWL 2 but which is not mandated for OWL 2 RL). Imagine you have the following vocabulary item:
ex:RE a owl:Restriction ; owl:onProperty ex:p ; owl:someValuesFrom [ a rdfs:Datatype ; owl:onDatatype xsd:integer ; owl:withRestrictions ( [ xsd:minInclusive "1"^^xsd:integer ] [ xsd:maxInclusive "6"^^xsd:integer ] ) ] .
which defines a restriction on the property
ex:p so that some its values should be integers in the
[1,6] interval. This means that
ex:q ex:p "2"^^xsd:integer.
ex:q rdf:type ex:RE .
And this could be done by a slight extension of OWL 2 RL; no new rules, just adding the datatype restrictions to the datatypes. Nifty…
That is it. I had fun, and maybe it will be useful to others. The package can also be downloaded and used with RDFLib, by the way… | <urn:uuid:4907a00c-165c-48f3-b053-b8ade37444e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ivan-herman.name/2009/09/29/owl-2-rl-closure/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939247 | 1,947 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Amber – Theme dreams are quite common.
Part of the action of dreams is to do your ‘housework’ to keep your house – you – clean. And what causes such long term themes is that the situation that needs attending to have not be done. They can carry on for a life time is not dealt with. A woman in her 50s told me that she had been troubled since childhood by a recurring nightmare. She would be walking down a street she’d known as a child, and pass some railings. There was nothing obviously awful in the dream, yet she always woke up crying and fearful. When she was in her early 40s she told her sister about the dream. Her sister said that when the dreamer was about three they’d both been attacked by a group of boys while near those railings. To stop them, the sister had said not to hurt them because their mother was dead. At this the boys had left them alone, but the dreamer had been badly shocked.
The nightmare stopped as soon as she learnt about the childhood incident from her sister. This suggests that her troublesome dreams were an attempt to make her aware of a part of her past that held unconscious pain or fear.
The ghost and devils are a recognised part of early childhood fears put into the images of demons and haunting. But to understand why you are troubled by them I think it might help if you read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/what-we-need-to-remember-about-dreaming/
As it says in The New Dream Dictionary - In the world of dreams our most intimate fears and longings are given an exterior life of their own in the form of the people, objects and places of our dream. Therefore our sexual drive may be shown as a person and how we relate to them; or given shape and colour as an object; or given mood as a scene, something that haunts our memory shown as a ghost or demon. Our feeling of ambition might thus be portrayed as a business person in our dream - our changing emotions as the sea or a river; while the present relationship we have with our ambition or emotions is expressed in the events or plot of the dream. | <urn:uuid:3ef0cb36-cbd9-4160-945e-b9b3194e97d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dreamhawk.com/forums/index.php?topic=21.0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98404 | 458 | 1.828125 | 2 |
T he Catholic Church in North Africa was in crisis at the beginning of the fourth century. The Roman emperor Diocletian had persecuted the Christians, and many bishops and priests had collaborated with the regime. Priests had turned over Christian believers to the pagan magistrates. Bishops had surrendered Holy Scriptures to be burned in the public square. An air of corruption and lewdness hung over the church.
Two rival reform movements arose to restore the integrity of Catholicism. Those in the first movement, the Donatists, believed the church needed to purify itself and return to its core identity.
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By logging in you can see the full story. | <urn:uuid:2fe9411d-3b4a-4f69-b782-f086a4262873> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lakewalesnews.com/sunnews/portcharlotte/portcharlottecolumnist/4954961-445/sunnewspapershistoryaguidetohowmovementsrecover.html.csp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976224 | 137 | 3.34375 | 3 |
In a world filled with the products of scientific inquiry, scientific literacy has become a necessity for everyone. Everyone needs to use scientific information to make choices that arise every day. Everyone needs to be able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology. And everyone deserves to share in the excitement and personal fulfillment that can come from understanding and learning about the natural [and designed] world.
National Science Education Standards
The core purpose of the NEISD science program is to develop the abilities, knowledge, and understanding of scientific concepts and processes and habits of mind that are required for personal decision-making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.
- Investigation and inquiry.
- Careful observation and thoughtful analysis.
- Balance between openness to new ideas and skepticism.
- Collaboration and communication.
- Awareness of the need for evidence.
- Sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural world.
- Understanding of the benefits and limitations of science.
All NEISD students engage in:
To ensure that all students have some appreciation and wonder of science; possess sufficient knowledge of science to engage in public conversation on scientific issues; are careful consumers of scientific information related to their everyday lives; and have the skills to enter careers of their choice.
The NEISD Science Program:
- Is intended for all students
- Engages students actively
- Is not viewed only as an academic activity but as a way of understanding the world in which we live
- Fosters curiosity and guides students in channeling their curiosity in productive ways
- Reflects the collaborative nature of scientific work
- Concentrates on the collection and use of evidence
- Promotes an understanding of what science is, what science is not, what science can and cannot do, and how science contributes to culture | <urn:uuid:6642d4e9-cfcd-4cc6-8b49-3aa45ac34ef3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neisd.net/curriculum/SchImprov/sci/Philosophy_new.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923388 | 374 | 4.28125 | 4 |
A person with diabetes has a lot to remember when traveling.
Preparing for a road trip, family vacation, or business trip can require a lot of time and planning, but traveling with diabetes involves extra preparation. A person with diabetes has a lot to pack when traveling: a glucose meter, test strips, oral medications or insulin, and glucose tablets (all in your carry-on bag, if you're flying). You also cannot forget to consider what food you will be eating when traveling, since healthy eating is a key component in the management of diabetes.
Healthy eating on the road, though, is extremely challenging. Your normal routine is disrupted; you're exposed to many tempting meals and desserts; if you're traveling for work you may also be stressed with a busy schedule. On the other hand, if you're on vacation you may overindulge in an attempt to treat yourself.
Here are some tips for healthy and happy travels:
2. Prepare healthy snacks ahead of time. If possible, you should bring along some healthy snacks to avoid unhealthy choices at airports or convenience stores. This can also be a money-saving tip too. Here are some healthy snack examples: whole-grain crispbreads, peanut butter (can purchase in small individual containers, but they are usually sweetened), nuts, fresh fruit, protein bars, diabetes meal replacement shakes. If you are driving and will be traveling with a cooler, you can bring sliced turkey, string cheese, fresh fruit, veggies and hummus, bottled water, and unsweetened or low carb yogurt. Take note: Some common choices that are convenient, but not the healthiest choices are trail mix, dried fruit, chips, and cookies.
3. Make healthy choices when ordering out.
Breakfast. Healthier breakfast foods include scrambled eggs or omelets with veggies, oatmeal, fresh fruit with yogurt (again, unsweetened or low carb), cottage cheese, and low carb or 100-percent, whole-grain toast.
Lunch. At lunch, order salads with grilled chicken, tuna or shrimp, low carb wraps filled with chicken or turkey, and bean or vegetable soups. If meals come with chips or French fries, ask if a salad or fresh fruit can be substituted.
Dinner. Take advantage of the area you are traveling in and enjoy their specialty, if it can be made in a healthy way. If you are traveling near the ocean, order any seafood or fish, as long as it's not breaded or fried. Remember the general healthy eating rule, and try to make half of your plate deeply-colored veggies, one-quarter of your plate lean protein such as chicken, fish or lean pork and the other quarter of your plate a healthy carbohydrate such as beans, sweet potatoes, or a whole grain.
4. Bring along a handy reference book. You'll find several good books out there that will give you nutritional information for various restaurants and different types of cuisine. Two are: Guide to Healthy Restaurant Eating by Hope S. Warshaw (American Diabetes Association) and The CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter (www.calorieking.com).
Tri-Layer Dip Ooey Gooey Squares Veggie Chili (Gluten Free) Prosciutto and Peas Easy Zesty Salsa Graham-Cracker Pie Crust Grilled Corn with Chipotle-Lime Butter Sicilian Granita Tofu Coleslaw Cilantro Pesto
Glucagon is one of those things that hasn't changed much in the diabetes world, in terms of packaging, dosing, method of delivery, since the time of my diagnosis in 1982. It's also one of those items that you buy in the same vein as say a generator. You might never use it, but it sure as heck is handy to have should your lights go out. The first time I was given glucagon was on the front lawn of my childhood home. What I remember of that night was going to bed after a... | <urn:uuid:41792920-944d-4980-8e01-1183cdde2d7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dlife.com/diabetes-food-and-fitness/what_do_i_eat/meal_planning/rondinelli_july08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941233 | 822 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Leave the M74 at Junction 13 and take the B7078 north. Stop at a farm gate on the E about 0.75 miles after passing the B740.
From the gate head in an "11 o'clock" direction for the higher ground nearer the motorway. Keep the stream on your left. Once nearer the location, you should see a 2m stone lying flat. This is on the E of the circle. The other stones are either just above or in a hollow just below ground level but are all visible.
23 stones can be seen in an elipse measuring 50m x 40m. They range in length from 0.9m to 1.7m. It is estimated that the monument may have had 40 stones originally.
It is not known whether the stones were originally standing and later fell or whether they were brought to the monument but never erected. | <urn:uuid:fb64e2b2-bf0f-43fe-9207-5a397ec5c30b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://themodernantiquarian.com/site/3588/wildshaw_burn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970904 | 180 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Originally a British public-school and military slang variant of ‘new boy’, it was popularized during the U.S./Vietnam war to make reference to the 'new blood' coming 'in country'. It is hypothesized that "n00b" made the leap to popular internet usage via Usenet group talk.bizarre.
On 4chan, chats and forums, 'newbie' is used as a gently way of letting someone know they should probably read more and post less. It's usually given as a title to someone who obviously does not know much about the place which they visit. In Video games one is called a newbie (or 'newb' for short) for acting like a lost schoolboy in general, and is never used as a term of endearment. The word is often taken offensively, and much butthurt has been rationed by it's invokation.
Once a 'newbie' is declared in a public environment, other users will often gang up on the victim and proceed to troll them into adjustment.
- OMG STFU NOOB.
- I can't believe he deleted his System32 folder. What a n00b.
- Only n00bs say "n00b".
- What do you mean 'I died for no reason'? You stood right on the dynamite, newb!
- I know you're a newb but I really need someone to help with this quest.
- Read the forum rules, newbie! | <urn:uuid:bea7bfd4-e25f-4875-aaa2-1bd9103492ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ohinternet.com/N00b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971787 | 314 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Self-portrait by Motoori
|Born||21 June 1730|
|Died||5 November 1801
|Other names||本居 宣長|
Motoori Norinaga (本居 宣長, 21 June 1730 – 5 November 1801) was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.
Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka in Ise Province (now part of Mie prefecture) as the second son of an Otsu merchant house (the film director Yasujirō Ozu was a descendant of the same line). After his elder brother’s death, Norinaga succeeded to the Ozu line. At one stage he was adopted out to a paper-making family but the bookish boy was not suited to business.
It was at his mother's suggestion that, at the age of 22, Norinaga went to Kyoto to study medicine. In Kyoto, he also studied Chinese and Japanese philology under the neo-Confucianist Hori Keizan. It was at this time that Norinaga became interested in the Japanese classics and decided to enter the field of Kokugaku under the influence of Ogyū Sorai and Keichū. (With changes in the language, the ancient classics were already poorly understood by Japanese in the Edo period and texts needed philological analysis in order to be properly understood.) Life in Kyoto also instilled in the young Norinaga a love of traditional Japanese court culture.
Returning to Matsusaka, Norinaga opened a medical practice for infants while devoting his spare time to lectures on the Tale of Genji and studies of the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan). At the age of 27, he bought several books by Kamo no Mabuchi and embarked on his Kokugaku researches. As a doctor, he adopted the name of one of his samurai ancestors, Motoori.
In 1763, Norinaga met Mabuchi in person when the latter visited Matsusaka, a meeting that has come down in history as ‘the night in Matsusaka’. Norinaga took the occasion to ask Mabuchi to supervise his annotations of the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters). Mabuchi suggested that Norinaga should first tackle the annotations to the Man'yōshū in order to accustom himself to the ancient kana usage known as the man'yōgana. This was the only meeting between the two men, but they continued to correspond and, with Mabuchi’s encouragement, Norinaga later went on to full-fledged research into the Kojiki.
Norinaga’s disciples included Ishizuka Tatsumaro, Nagase Masaki, Natsume Mikamaro, Takahashi Mikiakira and Motoori Haruniwa (Norinaga’s son).
Although overshadowed by his activities as a Kokugaku scholar, Norinaga spent 40 years as a practicing doctor in Matsusaka and was seeing patients until 10 days before his death in 1801.
Norinaga’s most important works include the Kojiki-den (Commentaries on the Kojiki), made over a period of around 35 years, and his annotations on the Tale of Genji. Norinaga took the view that the heritage of ancient Japan was one of natural spontaneity in feelings and spirit, and that imported Confucianism ran counter to such natural feelings. He criticized Ogyū Sorai for his worship of Chinese civilization and thought, although it has been pointed out that his philological methodology was heavily influenced by Sorai's. His ideas were influenced by the Chinese intellectual Wang Yangming (Ō Yōmei in Japanese), who had argued for innate knowing, that mankind had a naturally intuitive (as opposed to rational) ability to distinguish good and evil.
Hitherto scholars of ancient literature had shown a preference for the grandness and masculinity of Man'yōshū poetry and an aversion to works like the Tale of Genji, which were regarded as unmanly and feminine. Norinaga resurrected the position of the Tale of Genji, which he regarded as an expression of mono no aware, a particular Japanese sensibility of "sorrow at evanescence" that Norinaga claimed forms the essence of Japanese literature.
In undertaking his textual analysis of ancient Japanese, Norinaga also made vital contributions to establishing a native Japanese grammatical tradition, in particular the analysis of clitics, particles and auxiliary verbs.
- 1730 - Born as second son
- 1748 - Norinaga is adopted by the Imaida family, reversed after only 2 years.
- 1751 - His stepbrother dies.
- 1752 - Goes to Kyoto to study medical science
- 1752-57 - Some scholars note his productivity. Motoori produces 2000 Waka and 40 books and copies 15 others.
- 1757 - Reads Kamo no Mabuchi's first book, Kanji kō. Lacking money he returns to his hometown to open a medical practice.
- 1760 - Enters arranged marriage with Murata Mika, divorced after 3 months.
- 1762 - Marries Kusubuka Tami and one year later their son Haruniwa is born.
- 1763 - Meets Kamo no Mabuchi who tells him to read the Nihonshoki and the Man'yōshū
- 1764-71 - Studies the Kojiki, and begins to spread his teachings.
- 1799 - Motoori Ōhira became his adopted son.
- 1801 - Dies.
Motoori Norinaga Commemorative Museum
Within the grounds of Matsusaka Castle in the city of Matsusaka, the house Motoori Norinaga kyu-taku (本居宣長旧宅)where Motoori Norinaga lived from age 12 to age 72 is preserved as a memorial museum Motoori Norinaga Commemoraive Museum (本居宣長記念館 Motoori Norinaga kinenkan ). The building, which was originally built as a retirement home from Norinaga’s grandfather in 1693, was moved to its present location in 1909. It was proclaimed a Special National Monument by the Japanese government in 1953. An effort has been made to preserve the interior as closely as possible to the time when it was used by Norinaga, and his writing studio on the second floor contains some examples of which original manuscripts. The museum houses many artifacts which are protected as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, of which only a small portion is on display at any time.
See also
- Japanese poetry
- Japanese nationalism
- Hagiwara Hiromichi
- Motoori Ōhira
- Motoori Haruniwa | <urn:uuid:2635c31d-3308-4266-bcad-fe9bec6139c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motoori_Norinaga | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967692 | 1,488 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Education in the United States is primarily the responsibility of states and localities. However, the federal government annually provides about 10 percent of the funding for K–12 schooling and helps students finance higher education through two major programs—one that makes loans to borrowers and one that provides grants to low-income students. Between 2000 and 2009, the volume of outstanding federal student loans more than quadrupled to reach $630 billion and annual spending for grants more than tripled to stand at $27 billion. The federal tax code also offers favorable taxation treatment to educational institutions. CBO has analyzed the costs and economic impact of these and other policies that affect education.
Use this menu to filter CBO's publications by topic. From January 2011 forward, all the agency's products are categorized by topic. Cost estimates released prior to the 112th Congress are not categorized by topic. | <urn:uuid:0a895742-da06-42dd-8cb3-e413c4bd4f77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cbo.gov/topics/education/reports?destination=topics%2Feducation%2Freports | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965725 | 169 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Twins Are Subject of Gothic Tale
The Thirteenth Tale
By Diane Setterfield
Washington Square Press, 2007, $15
The twins myth has always been something of a delicious mystery, especially to non-twins.
We have heard of a strange language only twins understand. We have heard accounts of twins doing the same things at the same time, marrying on the same date, becoming ill at the same time, never really becoming separate individuals.
In this modern Gothic tale, Diane Setterfield studies a series of issues involving twins. In particular she zeroes in on the depth of their tragedy when one dies early.
Our narrator is Margaret Lea, a quiet scholarly young English woman who helps her father operate a bookstore that concentrates on first editions, antique books and other rare and obscure volumes. She is also an accomplished biographer.
Her reclusive lifestyle is set spinning when she receives an unusual request from Vida Winter, a writer of popular bestsellers, asking Margaret to become her official biographer.
At first reluctant, Margaret finally agrees to visit Miss Winter at her Yorkshire estate and record the truth about her life.
Margaret quickly learns that the truth is far afield from the public image of the best-selling novelist, for Miss Winter has a strange and terrifying tale of growing up in one of the most seriously dysfunctional families imaginable -- and a wealthy family, at that.
For one thing, Miss Winter uses rather earthy language to describe writing and life. In fact, she likens life to compost.
"Other people call it the imagination. I think of it as a compost heap. Every so often I take an idea, plant it in the compost, and wait. It feeds on that black stuff that used to be a life, takes its energy for its own. It germinates. Takes root. Produces shoots. And so on and so forth, until one fine day I have a story, or a novel," Miss Winter says.
"The Thirteenth Tale" unfolds in the style of the great Gothic novels, leaning heavily on the likes of "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights." Although it has a modern setting, the novel is devoid of such modern amenities as telephones or computers, even typewriters. When Margaret communicates with her father while in Yorkshire, she writes a prim letter instead of placing a telephone call. It's more reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes' style than modern sleuthing.
Margaret launches an investigation of her own and uncovers startling details from Vida Winter's past and the tragedy that marked her lifestyle in later years. Mystery after mystery piles up, as Margaret learns even more about her own past and a twin she lost at birth.
Setterfield's writing style is fluid, producing a page turner so vivid that the reader can forgive the sometimes contrived and heavy Gothic setting, as if the Addams family has moved in with Heathcliffe.
Setterfield, who lives in Yorkshire, is described as a former academic specializing in 20th century French literature.
Contact Florence Gilkeson at firstname.lastname@example.org.
More like this story | <urn:uuid:5099cd24-3791-49d9-aac7-e2391d5d41f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thepilot.com/news/2008/may/18/twins-are-subject-of-gothic-tale/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949735 | 652 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Posted on Sep 6, 2011
On a New Jersey school district’s summer reading list for middle and high school: one book depicting lesbian statutory rape, and another depicting a drug-fueled homosexual orgy. How did that happen? Call it the record-setting worst excuse ever for a bad policy!
Chuck Earling, superintendent of Monroe Township Schools in Williamstown, N.J., told Fox News that the committee “didn’t feel it was inappropriate based on the language that’s used, common language used on the street.”
Their sexual/ethical decisions were based on … common language used on the street. That’s right, folks—if he wasn’t misquoted (and I checked as many news sites as I could find), that’s what the man said. Is that astonishing or what? If ethics are based on the street, then they might as well toss out their anti-bullying policy along with all sexual decency.
Yes, it does say in the Bible that “a little child shall lead them.” But it was talking about children leading wolves, leopards, calves, and lions, in the day when peace reigns through all creation. It wasn’t about responsible (?) adults letting kids at the lowest ethical denominator determine what’s right and wrong.
Educators: Act your age. | <urn:uuid:f62875db-9e5c-4822-8275-e2ccf81f2307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thinkingchristian.net/posts/2011/09/and-a-little-child-shall-lead-them/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955431 | 290 | 1.5625 | 2 |
And then I read this. Actually this release is on the same topic as the second link up there in graf one.
The release from today:
Nanotech: To know it is not necessarily to love it
Research shows cultural biases most impact opinion on nanotech
Washington, DC – Public opinion surveys report that the small fraction of people who know about nanotechnology have a favorable view of it. This finding has led many to assume that the public at large will respond favorably to nanotechnology applications as popular awareness grows, education expands and commercialization increases.
But the results of an experiment, conducted by the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School in collaboration with the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) and published Dec. 7 on the Nature Nanotechnology Web site, do not support this “familiarity hypothesis.”
The experiment found that how people react to information about nanotechnology depends on cultural predispositions. Exposed to balanced information, people with pro-commerce values tend to see the benefits of nanotechnology as outweighing any risks. However, people with egalitarian or communitarian values who are predisposed to blame commerce and industry for social inequities and environmental harm tend to see nanotechnology risks as outweighing benefits.
The study also found that people who have pro-commerce cultural values are more likely to know about nanotechnology than others. “Not surprisingly, people who are enthused by technology and believe it can be safe and beneficial tend to learn about new technologies before other people do,” said Dan Kahan, Professor at Yale Law School and lead author of the Nature Nanotechnology article. “So while various opinion polls suggest that familiarity with nanotechnology leads people to believe it is safe, they have been confusing cause with effect.”
The findings of the experiment highlight the need for any nanotechnology information and risk communication strategy to focus on message framing and to take an informed, multi-audience approach, according to PEN experts.
“The message matters. How information about nanotechnology is presented to the vast majority of the public who still know little about it can either make or break this technology,” says David Rejeski, the director of PEN. “Scientists, the government and industry generally take a simplistic, ‘just the facts’ approach to communicating with the public about a new technology. But this research shows that diverse audiences and groups react to the same information very differently.”
Because perfecting the science of nanotechnology risk communication is essential to society’s realization of the full benefits of nanotechnology itself, PEN experts believe that every major funding initiative directed at the development of nanotechnology and the study of nanotechnology risks should include a risk-communication component.
“Without investment in understanding how to explain the potential risks, as well as the potential benefits, to the public, significant innovation could be stifled,” Rejeski adds.
The study was conducted as part of a series of public opinion analyses being conducted jointly by the Cultural Cognition Project and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. Previous experiments, which also examined the influence of emotion and the identity of information providers on public attitudes, can be found at www.nanotechproject.org/yale.
Nanotechnology is the ability to measure, see, manipulate and manufacture things usually between 1 and 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; a human hair is roughly 100,000 nanometers wide. In 2007, the global market for goods incorporating nanotechnology totaled $147 billion. Lux Research projects that figure will grow to $3.1 trillion by 2015.
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies is an initiative launched by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2005. It is dedicated to helping business, government and the public anticipate and manage possible health and environmental implications of nanotechnology. For more information about the project, log on to www.nanotechproject.org. | <urn:uuid:b1feebff-9583-4bf8-9cc8-9b219812ec26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davidkirkpatrick.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/nanotechnology-needs-a-pr-campaign/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939115 | 827 | 1.734375 | 2 |
I think it's going to be -- you talked about the familiar rhetoric -- it's going to be the Bush program, which is, as he used to say, as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. He's going to say, as the Afghans stand up, we'll stand down. Meaning we're there to train them and get out.
Mr. Gibbs said at the White House, the press spokesman, we will not be there nine more years.
The problem is, the Afghans know that. And they know that the Taliban will be.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That is the problem. And let me bring Matthew Dowd in here on this question, because the president has got to speak to many different audiences on Tuesday night, and it seems on the one hand, he's going to be arguing to the Afghans, the Taliban and the Pakistanis, we are there to stay, while at the same time arguing to the American public, no, we're going to go.
DOWD: He has got a really difficult problem because he's got an international audience, as you say, that he's got to talk to, and also a domestic audience that's already flipped on him from where he was at the beginning of this presidency, when the majority of people supported what he was doing in Afghanistan. Now the majority of people oppose what he's doing in Afghanistan.
The interesting thing I find about this is that all of this thing that people said he's putting all of this thought and decisiveness, he basically -- it took him 94 days to reach the same decision George Bush would have done. Exact same decision George Bush would have done probably in two days, or three days, or a week.
ROBERTS: It took him a long time to come to the surge.
DOWD: No, to the realization that the military generals wanted to do this, and that's what I think is his biggest problem, is the American public has flipped on this, and now he's basically going to be advocating a Bush policy that failed in the last administration.
ROBERTS: I think, though, in the interim, between the time that McChrystal asked for this and Tuesday, that there's been a lot of heat. They have used this period to put a lot of heat on Karzai's government. And also that election, that peculiar election was going on in the middle of all this. And then when that got solved, as oddly as it got solved, they then were in there in full force to try to say, look, you know, you want us to do this, but for us to do this, you have to do -- you have to improve.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And that is probably going to be what's most new in the president's strategy, Dan, on Tuesday. What else, as you look at it, because the president's going to have to argue that this is a brand new strategy, that he's gotten something for this. What else should we be looking for there?
SENOR: Whether or not he sets realistic expectations. The reality is, even with this troop deployment, summer of 2010 is going to look much worse in Afghanistan than summer of 2009. Casualties, American casualties will go way up. The reality is, the fighting season, the sort of kinetic fighting patterns by the Taliban are at their peak between March and November. So that means -- and by the way, they're doing a very slow timeline here. They're deploying about a brigade a quarter. I mean, the Iraq surge was a brigade a month. So you talk to the Iraqi commanders, they say one of the most powerful imports in the Iraq deployment was within five months, you had five brigades on the ground. | <urn:uuid:74bc8ce2-5823-4583-8f63-9b0707a00eef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Politics/full-week-transcript-nov29-2009/story?id=9199179&page=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988176 | 781 | 1.59375 | 2 |
NATO Designation SS-23 "Spider"
|Entered service in||1980|
|Range||50 - 400 km|
|Weight||4 500 - 5 000 kg|
|Weight of warhead||455 - 715 kg|
|Type of warhead||nuclear (100 - 500ktons), high-explosion, cluster|
|Guidance||inertial + radiolocation|
|Number of stages||1|
|Deflection from the target||10 m|
|Carried by||BAZ-6944 high-mobility amphibious vehicle|
|Characteristics of the launching vehicle|
|Weight (empty)||24.7 t|
|Weight in combat order||29 t|
|Length||11 760 mm|
|Width||3 130 mm|
|Height in march position||3 000 mm|
|Engine power||400 hp|
|Maximum road speed||70 km/h|
|Maximum amphibious speed on water||10 km/h|
In the middle of 1970s in the Kolomna machine-building design bureau, under the leadership of S.P.Nepobedimij began development of an OTR-23 "Oka" short-range ballistic missile. It was intended to replace the 9K72 "Elbrus" ( known as "Scud") "The OTR-23 entered service in 1980. Missiles were manufactured at Botkinsk machine-building plant, while launching vehicles at Petropavlovsk heavy machine-building plant (Kazakhstan). This missile complex was designated as SS-23 "Spider" by NATO.
The 9M714 "Oka" is a single stage, solid fuel ballistic missile. It is completed with inertial guidance system with a radiolocation correction on a final stage of the flight, providing high fire accuracy. 9K714 "Spider" has a range of fire in 50 - 400 kilometers and is intended to defeat the most important enemy targets, such as command posts, anti-aircraft defense batteries, missile launching grounds, airfields, means of communication.
Missile complex uses various types of warheads including the 9M714V nuclear (100 - 500 ktons), 9M714F high-explosion, and 9M714K cluster. Missiles with the nuclear warheads were used only by Soviet strategic missile forces. Missiles with cluster warheads had a warhead weight in 715 kg and featured 95 charges. Charges were spread in the altitude of 3 000 m and covered square in 80 - 100 000 mē. It had a range of fire up to 300 kilometers.
Missile is carried and launched from the BAZ-6944 high-mobility amphibious 8 x 8 vehicle, built in Briansk. Vehicle is powered by the UTD-25 engine, reaching 400 hp. The BAZ-6944 reaches it's maximum road speed in 70 km/h and fords water obstacles in 8 - 10 km/h. The same vehicle is used as a the 9T230 transport-reloading vehicle for the SS-23 missile complex. Reloading vehicle features nearly the same characteristics.
Launching vehicle prepares missile for launch and calculates or changes in-flight trajectory by itself. Vehicle's crew prepares ballistic missile for launch from the inside of the vehicle and has no need to step outside it The BAZ-6944 has a nuclear, biological, chemical protection system with a pressurized compartments. The OTR-23 complex is prepared to fire in less than 10 minutes.
In November 1987 presidents of the Soviet Union and the United States of America signed an agreement due to limitation of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles elimination (INF Treaty). M.Gorbachiov without consultancy with the military head staff decided to include the OTR-23 "Oka" into the list of elimination as a sign of a good will. However the SS-23 "Spider" had a range of fire in 400 kilometers and the shortest range for the INF Treaty missile elimination was 500 kilometers. Executing it's part of the agreement in 1990 the Soviet Union destroyed all OTR-22 "Temp-S" (SS-22 "Scaleboard" medium range ballistic missile) and OTR-23 "Oka" missiles and launching vehicles.
After the INF Treaty the operators of the SS-23 "Spider" remained Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Bulgaria. All countries operated 72 missiles bought from the Soviet Union. East Germany refused and eliminated these missiles at the beginning of 1990s. After the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia the OTR-23 missiles were divided in proportions 2:1 between Czech Republic and Slovakia, and launching vehicles 1:1 respectively. Czech Republic decided to eliminate these missiles in a short time after they were received. Slovakia eliminated it's "Spiders" in 1997 however it still left one launching vehicle and one hollow missile of each type for museum purposes.
Some years ago the only operator of the SS-23 "Spider" was Bulgaria. However in this country missiles were also planned to be eliminated. | <urn:uuid:3e7d35ae-f5ff-43aa-acfb-2c48f307bfe7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enemyforces.net/missiles/otr_23.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93653 | 1,052 | 2.390625 | 2 |
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Master Builders Association of NSW proudly provides the following options for those wishing to pursue further learning and involvement in the sustainability and environmental fields of work.
For the Commercial sector, targeted education to address niche learning needs based on the Building Code of Australia (Section J) are planned as well as a learning Expo in early 2012 to bring together some of the most advanced thinking about both construction issues and bigger picture analysis to address macro sustainability themes.
A Sustainability Managers’ Forum is now meeting monthly to discuss sustainability and environmental issues and to provide Master Builders with strategic direction in terms of educational and training needs. The group is currently developing a constitution and a set of working objectives.
For the Residential sector, Master Builders delivers the nationally acclaimed and recognised Green Living Builder program designed to provide information about environmentally sustainable materials, techniques and drive economy and profitability in the business.
In 2004 Master Builders Australia launched the popular and topical Green Living program to provide residential builders with the necessary tools to integrate sustainability options in their building and construction activities. Builders who complete the two-day educational program and are able to demonstrate how they have integrated their learning into their current practice (an assignment-based activity which follows the classroom activity) are able to identify themselves as Master Builders Green Living builders. For more information on the Green living program click here.
For other sectors, big things are planned for 2012! Master Builders has developed a strategic plan for the Sustainability and Environment Department and your comments will be both sought out and very welcome.
For More information:
Simone CraswellPhone: 02 8586 3576 Email: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:84faaa88-dcc7-40eb-9bf9-4911b89336ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mbansw.asn.au/Services/Environment/Sustainability---the-Environment/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940835 | 369 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Doctors do not know the exact causes of inflammatory bowel disease. IBD appears to be due to an interaction of many complex factors including genetics, impaired immune system response, and environmental triggers. The result is an abnormal immune system reaction, which in turn causes an inflammatory response in the body’s intestinal regions.
The Inflammatory Response
An inflammatory response occurs when the body tries to protect itself from what it perceives as invasion by a foreign substance (antigen). Antigens may be viruses, bacteria, or other harmful substances. In Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the body mistakenly targets harmless substances (food, beneficial bacteria, or the intestinal tissue itself) as harmful. To fight infection, the body releases various chemicals and white blood cells, which in turn produce byproducts that cause chronic inflammation in the intestinal lining. Over time, the inflammation damages and permanently changes the intestinal lining.
Although the exact causes of inflammatory bowel disease are not yet known, genetic factors certainly play some role. Between 10 - 20% of people with ulcerative colitis have family members with the disease. Several identified genes and chromosome locations play a role in the development of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or both. Genetic factors appear to be more important in Crohn's disease, although there is evidence that both conditions have some genetic defects in common.
Some studies have reported that children with IBD may have had more and earlier childhood infections. The measles virus has been of particular interest. However, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many studies, the measles virus does not cause Crohn’s or IBD. In addition, studies conclusively report that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not cause Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or, for that matter, autism.
Inflammatory bowel disease is much more prevalent in industrialized nations and in higher-income groups. However, there is no strong evidence that diet or particular types of food cause Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
Review Date: 09/28/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. | <urn:uuid:95a1dc92-aa99-4012-8dab-f2c72bb3e3dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/irritable-bowel-syndrome-000069_2-145.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934335 | 502 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Six years ago, unprecedented politicking by Northwest Indiana's congressman, Indiana's governor, state legislators and even former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley produced the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.
Two weeks after the legislation creating the RDA was passed, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels came to Gary/Chicago International Airport with bill and pen in hand to tell an enthusiastic crowd of business and community leaders: "I'm signing a lot of important bills these days, but if I could only sign one, it would be this one."
The RDA was launched in fall 2005 with all the buzz and excitement of an Internet IPO. Region leaders were tripping over each other to roundly praise what they called "the best opportunity since steel" had come to the region 100 years before.
Today, with almost $90 million spent to date on a dozen major projects, verdicts on the RDA are more mixed. Still, most of its original boosters remain firmly behind the seven-member regional development group.
"I would describe their success as phenomenal," said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, a Merrillville Democrat. "They are the best game in town in Northwest Indiana in 2011."
Almost 60 percent of the RDA money already committed by vote of the seven-member board -- some $118.2 million -- is going to six lakefront projects that will be the key links in the Marquette Greenway plan, which Visclosky first proposed more than two decades ago.
People already are using the completed Portage Lakefront Park and Riverwalk in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, as well as an amphitheater overlooking Wolf Lake in Hammond. More work is under way at the Hammond lake as well as at Whiting Lakefront Park, Marquette Park in Gary, the East Chicago lakefront and the Gateway to the Indiana Dunes in Porter.
So far, the RDA has stuck mainly to what it likes to call the "four corners" of its legislative mandate: commuter rail, the Gary airport, lakefront development and regional buses.
In addition to the $118.2 million in RDA money committed to lakefront projects, another $50.3 million has been committed to expanding the Gary airport and $11.8 million to the Regional Bus Authority, according to figures supplied by the RDA and contained in project grant requests. Money already spent out of those commitments totals $63.4 million, with about $23.7 million spent on other projects.
The money it spends comes from the RDA communities' quarterly dues, which amount to $3.5 million yearly in casino money each from Hammond, East Chicago, Gary and Lake County, along with $3.5 million more from an economic development income tax in Porter County. The state of Indiana also kicks in $10 million per year from the Indiana Toll Road lease.
Detractors and criticism
That doesn't mean everyone agrees with everything the RDA has done. The Porter County Council liked it least of all, filing a lawsuit two years ago to withdraw from the organization.
The courts since have ruled that the 2005 law establishing the RDA mandates Porter County's membership. The council now is appealing to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Porter County Council at-large member Laura Blaney said she and other council members are pleased with the work being done by the RDA representative they appointed last year, hotel developer Jeff Good. She said council members now are waiting to see if the state Supreme Court will hear their appeal to withdraw from the RDA before deciding on next steps.
She said her opposition to joining with Lake County for development originally was based on the record of Lake County politicians, which could be described as spotty at best when it comes to accountability.
"From a business standpoint, I wouldn't go into business with someone that has the kind of record Lake County has, so I couldn't ask Porter County's citizens to join up with them either," Blaney said.
Others are engaging in what they call "appropriate and respectful" disagreements over the RDA's priorities.
The South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority, though a "stalwart supporter" of the RDA, nonetheless contends the organization is ignoring its fifth legislative mandate -- which is economic development projects, according to authority CEO Speros Batistatos. Under that mandate, the authority wants the RDA to support its proposal for a convention center.
"The fact of the matter is the RDA was charged with five major projects," Batistatos said. "They have a pentagon of boundaries, but they have ignored the fifth one."
The South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority also has vigorously fought any proposal for a food and beverage sales tax to fund regional bus service. It is in the power of the Lake County Council to implement the tax; but under the RDA statute, the development group gets to decide how it is spent.
Despite opposition from the Porter County Council and criticisms such as those leveled by Batistatos, the RDA six years after its creation continues to enjoy widespread support in the Northwest Indiana business community and among mayors.
Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas presides over a city that has had relatively little direct investment by the RDA, except for the $1.8 million that established its ChicaGo Dash Express bus service to the Loop. But he remains an unshakable supporter of the organization's work.
"I really feel when you look at where we've been as a region, often divided and not using our resources to secure progress, I think they have done good work," Costas said.
Five projects funded by the RDA recently were selected by the internationally recognized Urban Land Institute's Chicago chapter as "game-changing" infrastructure projects for the Chicago region. Those were the Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago and Gary lakefront projects as well as the Gary/Chicago International Airport expansion.
The RDA has been crucial in getting the Gary airport expansion back on track, and an airport strategic business plan partially funded by the RDA will be the key to growing business there, according to Mark Maassel, CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, a private economic development group that counts leading region companies among its membership.
"The RDA is just a great example of how government can invest in things that will spur economic development," Maassel said.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. says it is not a matter of how much more time lakefront park projects would have taken without the RDA; he contends most never would have happened at all without the creation of the regional development group.
"It is one decision the governor made that I really agree with," said McDermott, who is Lake County Democratic chairman and a rising star in the state Democratic Party. "It forced everyone to think regionally." | <urn:uuid:c434a5fe-dab7-4cb3-82bd-a4248d97bb4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwitimes.com/niche/inbusiness/newsletter-featured-story/article_1935c0e0-6009-59eb-af14-77bbd3a5f7ff.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970366 | 1,394 | 1.554688 | 2 |
People Of WFIT
National Teachers Initiative
Sun January 29, 2012
Dropout Has Thanks, Not Blame, For Teacher
Roger Alvarez, 22, was one of the 52 percent of students who didn't make it through his senior year at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.
He dropped out in 2007, but by the time he was in ninth grade, Alvarez says he already knew he wasn't going to graduate.
"There's a certain amount of knowledge you have to have when you enter in a specific grade, and I didn't have it," Alvarez says. "Every class I used to go in, I was like, 'Do I know this? I don't know this. Nah, I'm not going to pass this class.' "
It was a shameful attitude, he tells his former English teacher, Antero Garcia, 29.
"You were determined to help me, but what was I willing to give? I could have actually tried," Alvarez says.
For his part, Garcia wants to know how he could have reached out to Alvarez better, but Alvarez says Garcia had always been helpful.
"I mean, you could pump me up, and then I see other students doing way better," Alvarez says. "So then, I get nervous. I get stuck, and then my motivation goes to the floor." He felt the situation was hopeless.
"You talked to me like if I could do it, but inside me, I knew I couldn't," he tells Garcia. "I just didn't want you to think that I'm ... stupid."
Now, school is a life tool that Alvarez says he's missing — but his teacher isn't to blame.
"Always, I just wanted you to know ... you were a good teacher, and I always respected you," he tells Garcia. "Some teachers, I kind of felt like they only wanted to teach a certain group of people. But you looked at me and you paid attention."
"Maybe it didn't get me to graduate, but there's a lot of teachers, they don't take the time to take a look. And it was never your fault."
Alvarez now works the night shift at a loading dock. He still hopes to get his GED one day. | <urn:uuid:95dcf480-056d-43a9-b289-526cdd76d29c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfit.org/post/dropout-has-thanks-not-blame-teacher | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994711 | 467 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Used with permission from Erica Hogan
They happened upon a slice of land that was marketed as a potential harvesting site (i.e.: prime for deforestation) and decided to save it from the chopping block.
"[The land] felt really sacred from the get-go and we felt like this would be a travesty to let this be deforested," Erica told Business Insider. "It was bigger than what we were intending to purchase initially. And one night I just thought, well there are some really cool trees on that property. What if we built treehouses?"
The idea became Finca Bellavista, an epic undertaking that's become a thriving treehouse village, where the locals bounce door-to-door on ziplines and dinner is grown in everyone's backyard.
"It's a labor of love and it's more than just our business," she says. "It's our life." | <urn:uuid:be5c5139-2ce2-46bc-ba0c-0e10def2ff1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/finca-bellavista-2012-7?pundits_only=0&get_all_comments=1&no_reply_filter=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98604 | 187 | 1.625 | 2 |
First Beast Of Revelation 13
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And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Rev. 13:1-3
The key to understanding Revelation 13 is in Revelation 17: 8-13 as follows:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into (perdition): = ruin, loss or damnation, and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
The Book of Revelation was written during the time of the Roman Empire. Keep this in mind while deciphering the meaning of Revelation 17. (Five are fallen) = five empires had already fallen prior to the Roman Empire, (and one is) = the Roman Empire is the sixth, and the other is not yet come = a seventh kingdom will rise following the Roman Empire. This also proves that the Roman Empire is not the forth beast of Daniel. And the beast (that was) = a man who was empowered by the beast from the bottomless pit, and ruled one of empires that had fallen prior to the rise of the Roman Empire, (and is not) = but not the man who was ruling the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of Revelation, (and yet is) = but a man who will come to power after the rise of a seventh kingdom, even he is the (eighth) that goes into ruin or damnation. That is to say he will be the ruler of an eighth empire, and will be empowered by the same beast from the bottomless pit as the king (that was) before the time of the Roman Empire, and is also of the seven. And the ten horns are ten kings who have no kingdoms as yet (at the time of the Roman Empire), but will receive their power as kings in the future during the same period when the beast (that is) has come to power in the later days. That is to say the ten kingdoms will arise from the seventh kingdom, and continue to exist during the time of an eighth kingdom, that will be ruled by a man who is empowered by the same beast that ascended from the bottomless pit that empowered Alexander the Great. These ten kings have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Seven Kingdoms ruled over the Middle East during a period spanning thousands of years, but one kingdom in particular, that was previous to the Roman Empire, was directly empowered by the beast from the bottomless pit, through it's king whom the dragon gave his power, and his seat, and great authority.
The five fallen before the time of the Roman Empire were Babylon, Media Persia, Assyria, Egypt, and Greece. These are the first five heads of the first beast of Revelation 13. Of these five kingdoms, one was empowered by the beast that ascended from the bottomless pit. The identity of this empire is as follows:
And the beast which I saw was like unto a (leopard) = Grecian Empire, and his feet were as of the feet of a (bear) = Media Persia Empire, and his mouth as the mouth of a (lion) = Babylonian Empire, and the dragon, gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority - Revelation 13: 2.
The Fifth Head = Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great: Symbolized by the leopard, the Grecian Empire is the fifth head of the first beast of Revelation 13, that existed before the time of the Roman Empire which was the sixth head. It ruled the same territory of the Middle East as the previous Media-Persia, and Babylonian Empires, and the dragon = (the beast that ascended from the bottomless pit) - Revelation 17: 8-11, gave it's first king, Alexander the Great, his power, and his seat, and great authority.
The Seventh Head = British Empire: Following the death of Alexander the Great, the Grecian Empire was divided amongst his four generals. These became the Antigonid, Seleucid, Bactrian and Ptolemaic Empires. The Seleucid Empire represented the Middle East portion of Alexander's divided empire. After the fall of the Roman Empire, and later in the 14th century, the Turkish - Ottoman/Islamic Empire ruled over the area formerly known as the Seleucid Empire, which was greatly influenced by Mohammed and Islam, but was defeated by the British Empire during World War I. Thus, the British Empire is the seventh head empire of the First Beast of Revelation 13, because it now ruled the same area of the Middle East as the previous six empires.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.........
The Eighth Empire: The sudden death of Alexander the Great broke up the Grecian Empire, wounding the beast that ascended from the bottomless pit, by stopping it's plans for conquest and world domination using Alexander and the Grecian Empire. However, following the demise of the sixth head that was the Roman Empire, another kingdom would rise up to become a seventh head empire, and following the rise of this seventh empire, the beast from the bottomless pit would ascend once again to empower another king in the later days. Thus, the beast whose deadly wound was healed is the beast from the bottomless pit, who after being wounded by the sudden death of Alexander the Great, and the collapse of the Grecian Empire, is healed, or comes to power once again by empowering another man who rules an eighth major world empire. This eighth empire described in Revelation 13: 11-18, is an image of the beast, or a likeness of the Grecian Empire as it was during the time of Alexander the Great. A likeness of the Grecian Empire is it's form of government, a system of city states or democratic republics, ruled by a single king or president. This description in our modern world fits only the United States of America.
The Seven Mountains: The woman is the (great city) which rules over the kings of the earth - Rev. 17: 9. The seven mountains are seven heads, which means that the seven mountains are synonymous with the seven heads representing (seven empires) of the First Beast of Revelation 13, and because she is sitting on the mountains, means that the (great city) is part of an (eighth empire) subsequent to the seven empires of the First Beast, or she could not sit upon them. This is more symbolic evidence for the existence of an eighth great global empire, that follows after the seven head empires of the First Beast. This (eighth empire) is also represented by the Second Beast of Revelation 13, and can be none other than the (United States), and the (great city) is (New York City), that rules over the kings of the earth. Why not Washington D.C.? Because Revelation 18, explains that the (great city) is also central to global merchandising, and New York City & Wall Street are the center of a global economic empire, and thereby rule over the kings of the earth.
The Ten Kingdoms: Following the defeat of the Ottoman Islamic Empire by the British Empire during World War I, ten nation/provinces were established in the Middle East. These were Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Persia now called Iran, Egypt, Basrah, Baghdad and Mosul. Later, Basrah, Baghdad and Mosul were merged to form the nation of Iraq. These are the ten horns and crowns of Revelation and Daniel. Thus, just as Daniel and Revelation foretold, the ten kingdoms arise from the seventh head of the first beast, representing the British Empire. It is during the time of these ten kingdoms that the beast ascends once again from the bottomless pit to empower a ruler of an eighth empire, and also during the same time that the Kingdom of God will be established upon the Earth. That eighth empire is none other than the United States of America, an image of the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great.
Power And Strength Unto The Beast: The ten kingdoms are of one mind or one religion = Islam, and give their power and strength unto the beast. That is to say the Ten Kingdoms give power and strength to the eighth beast empire. If we look at the Middle East today we can see that this is absolutely true. Not only does the Middle East supply oil = power, to the United States, but also these same Middle East Nations entered into a pact with the United States so that the sale of oil is only denominated in U.S. Dollars. This forces the nations of the world to hold vast amounts of U.S. currency, and giving the United States it's strength, by making the U.S. Dollar the world's reserve currency. Thus another biblical prophecy has come to pass. The Ten Kingdoms do indeed give their power and strength to the eighth beast empire, which is the United States of America. This explains why successive U.S. Presidents have been so obsessed with complete military control of the region. It is a desperate attempt by the beast that covertly rules the U.S., to hold on to it's source of power and strength during the final days before the collapse of the U.S. Dollar, and the global economy, just prior to the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
Copyright © 2011
Larry A Wright | <urn:uuid:80078827-3d11-4817-b0cb-a17b62a5064b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrightworld.net/firstbeastofrevelation13.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973311 | 2,237 | 2.296875 | 2 |
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Around the Nation
Fri June 8, 2012
Hollywood Palladium Is On The Market
Originally published on Mon June 11, 2012 1:03 pm
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
OK. Let's go from the futuristic to a show biz monument from the past. The Hollywood Palladium is up for sale, according to according to the Hollywood Reporter. It's well known as a concert venue, hosting musicians ranging from James Brown to the Rolling Stones to Jay-Z. But we want to bring you back to the Palladium's beginnings as a stylish art deco ballroom back in 1940.
Here is how the Los Angeles Times remembered opening night. Quote: "Dorothy Lamour was there to snip the ribbon, spangled with orchids, as Jack Benny, Judy Garland and Lana Turner looked on, hundreds of couples danced the jitterbug on a dance floor made of maple wood."
Those couples were dancing to the music of Tommy Dorsey's big band, accompanied by a yet-little-known singer named Frank Sinatra. Well, now you can own the landmark ballroom for a mere $60 million - big price tag. But it comes with a Hollywood pedigree that few other buildings can rival. And we'll leave you now with what the music might have sounded like that night in 1940.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STARDUST")
GROUP: (Singing) And beside a garden wall, when the stars were bright, you were in my arms...
GREENE: You're dancing to NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:196e370f-5155-45f6-b31c-5c44e4961b59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krwg.org/post/hollywood-palladium-market | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944356 | 351 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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Arts & Culture
Mon January 21, 2013
How NC Celebrates MLK Jr. Day
Residents across North Carolina observe the Martin Luther King Junior holiday with calls to service and celebrations. In Greensboro, city officials host a breakfast today ahead of other holiday events. Greensboro human relations spokesman Robert Nunn says the breakfast helps residents remember the city was in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s:
"Greensboro has a long history of civil rights, and so this is just kind of one more thing that the community does, comes together, recognizes the history of civil rights in Greensboro, and also to commemorate Dr. King's legacy and his work in civil rights."
The Town of Cary hosts service projects tonight after residents join today's march in Raleigh. The Martin Luther King Junior holiday coincides with President Obama's second inauguration in Washington. | <urn:uuid:50781892-b761-4620-b15c-d3442f7a21e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wunc.org/post/how-nc-celebrates-mlk-jr-day?ft=1&f=162164682,162625249,163944450,164196465,164774503,164774664,166153358,166409935,167626708,169545257,169887079,170010964,170011951,170074142,170299210 | 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 | 0.903318 | 260 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Salinas Chávez, Eduardo; Middleton, John. 1998. La ecología del paisaje como base para el desarrollo sustentable en América Latina / Landscape ecology as a tool for sustainable development in Latin America. http://www.brocku.ca/epi/lebk/lebk.html
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, Canada, K1S 5B6
The title of this electronic volume of papers is a clear statement of the objective of the editors in assembling these papers. The background of the editors reveals the approach that is selected. Eduardo Salinas Chávez of the University of Havana knows the needs and the constraints of the region but who has engaged in frequent and intensive exchanges in other parts of the world, including Canada. John Middleton is a Canadian but has immersed himself in other cultures in east Africa, in Thailand and, significantly, in Argentina. He has a foundation in ecology and a strong synthetic knowledge of the other major elements of the activities of humans, other organisms, and their shared global environment. From this he has forged a substantial approach to environmental policy, particularly sustainable development, which is most valuable to the objective here. Chávez and Middleton have collected a starter set of papers which illustrate the application of ideas from landscape ecology to some questions seen as important, by workers from Latin America, in moving toward sustainable development in Latin America. The editors have engaged authors who know Latin America and the constraints that will be faced and who also have exchanged ideas with global sources and have encountered the potential of landscape ecology for their goal. These are researchers with a mission and the practical experience and perspective to seek applications from landscape ecology toward a more sustainable development of their homelands in a global environment.
Landscape ecology has the potential to improve the relationships of people to their lands; it has crystallized two concepts fundamental to this task. First, in order to forecast future conditions on a particular unit of space, we must study and measure a much larger plot of land. Processes from the surroundings cross any boundaries and affect things within. Second, in order to forecast future conditions, we must study and measure not only the type and amount of elements in the environment, we must do so with special attention to the spatial arrangements of those elements; we normally must be spatially-explicit. These two basics alone make landscape ecology vital in considerations of alternative futures for the land where socio-economic and cultural values of natural processes and structures are being integrated into a sustainable and socially acceptable future for the people and the land system.
Realization that important processes cross boundaries and that people and their processes cross between watersheds, leads quickly to critically selecting the appropriate scales for accurate meaning. The vital perspectives must be global and they must be local. All else follows. Realization that configuration of structure, just like qualitative composition, can affect system processes, brings with it the vital interplay of time and space for all dynamics. This frees us from the single, constant-factor arguments and the faint hope that just waiting will bring equilibrium. This set of papers explores these interactions of ideas from landscape ecology and their applications to the future relationships of humans to their lands.
By choosing an electronic book format, the editors have seized the potential of modern low-cost communication as a way to overcome any limitations on timely exchange of publications and ideas needed by workers in developing countries. This electronic volume will be available to anyone who can get online by whatever means or by exchange on disk. However, I hope that access to this e-book will lead to increased use of other sources such as Volume 1 and 2 of the IALE Studies in Landscape Ecology (published by Chapman and Hall and the International Association for Landscape Ecology), Nature Conservation volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Australian symposia (published by Surrey Beatty and Sons of Chipping Norton, NSW) as well as many other volumes of studies that have been produced by the recent development of landscape ecology.
This electronic book focuses on Latin America which not only gives a particular ecological and cultural perspective to the contributions but also allows landscape ecology to be adapted to regional questions and approaches. The timeliness of this volume for this region is highlighted by Metzger et al. in their paper on rehabilitation of riparian forests in Brazil they point out that concern about sustainability arose mainly in the last decade and in this circumstance, in their view, ". . . the landscape ecology approach, integrating social, biological and physical environmental elements at scales compatible with management of territories, shows great potential for planning toward sustainability." They note that recently in Brazil landscape ecology is used increasingly in academic research and in applied projects for territorial planning environmental impact assessment. Grez et al. use the example of the Ruil forest in the Coastal Range of Central Chile to penetrate the overburden of management complexities and assert an ecological fundamental namely, if a renewable resource is harvested at a rate inconsistent with its regenerative ability, it becomes a non-renewable resource. Sebastiani et al. develop the incorporation of landscape ecology into impact assessment for a truly non-renewable resource (oil). This is a much-needed application where developers have commonly avoided a true, long-term balance sheet for extractive resource development.
Jose Lopez Garcia applies a landscape ecological paradigm to what might have been a soils inventory but is elevated and linked to sustainable development by his working definition of landscape ecology. His work is "...based on the structure, function, and dynamics of ecosystems, by way of an understanding of the interaction of ecology ... ... and geographic factors, at a spatial and temporal scale that allows study and evaluation of natural resources, and the setting of policies for use, conservation, or restoration, to achieve a sustainable development through time to guarantee permanence for future generations." Lopez Garcia also makes the other crucial step which often has not been understood in developed countries, that sustainability must be linked to the productive and regenerative capacity of the natural system. Andres Etter et al. similarly transform a common question of production potential for palm fibre on podzol soils in Colombian Amazonia into a socioeconomic synthesis on a landscape basis. They show how sustainability can be dictated by institutional factors, policy and markets even when biophysical constraints are fully taken into the analysis. The same fundamental elements are illustrated in a different context by Lopez Garcia and Manzo Delgado in their chapter dealing with the potential of ecotourism as a protective tool for Cerro Pelon Special Biosphere Reserve for monarch butterflies in Mexico. There they apply the concept of carrying capacity to tourism and then use the limited tourism as a protection mechanism for reserves. Here again is an idea available to, but poorly used in developed countries, which may become part of a more progressive policy potential in Latin America.
In a study of participatory land use planning underway in the eastern Andes of Colombia, Andres Etter and co-authors discuss a process which could be valuable if applied in Canada and many other lands. The process is very creative in its integration of support for technical and communication elements with extensive participation by people on the land, even in diagnostic surveys. This study produced the important conclusion that self-esteem and individual negotiating capacity of the participating people on the land were the main limiting factors in developing sustainable, grass-roots stewardship. Exchange of findings in this topic could be one of the most important advances in global environmental responsibility; this is an example of the potential flow of benefits from Latin America to other parts of the globe which this book could facilitate.
Studies by DiBernardo and by Bracalenti et al. explore the concept of a landscape mosaic linked by processes and apply it to the question of sustainability of a large urban centre, Rosario, Argentina. The linkage of large cities to surrounding regions by ecological processes is a critical concept in planning for sustainability. Large numbers of people multiplied by their rate of resource demand results in an area supplying resources and environmental support to the city (an ecological footprint (Wackernagel and Rees 1995)). This ecological support area is geographically much larger than the city and is the basic process linking the city to its surrounding region, hence to its nation, and to distant nations in a hierarchy of global exchanges. This web of processes makes clear instantly the fundamental nature of the supply of food energy by photosynthesis (ecological productivity) and the synthetic economic system designed by humans to exchange economic wealth, services and goods from the city for food production from land beyond. This simple energy/wealth exchange expands easily by application of the basic resource use index (population X resource use rate) to become Wackernagel and Rees (1995) footprint analysis for the demands placed on the global system by a city (or a nation). In this electronic book, Bracalenti et al. begin the analysis of this relationship of a city to its supporting land in terms of the interfaces between the city of Rosario and its surroundings (the Parana River) and the nature and direction of flows across those interfaces. Elio DiBernardo explores a fundamental linkage between the city and its landscape, Luduena Creek, a waterway penetrating the degraded suburban periphery to connect Rosario to its surrounding landscape. DiBernardo applies a planners vision to the practical problem that the dynamics of urban expansion will not allow idealistic experimental studies of such ecological linkages in advance planning but sustainability requires something better than current degradation of the structure and linkages of landscape mosaics around urban agglomeration. He helps readers begin the adaptive evolution of a research paradigm which will give direction for improvements in sustainabiltiy of urban development under the current urban realities.
This electronic book will stimulate exchange of ideas among Latin American countries about applying landscape ecology to planning and managing for sustainable landuse. In doing that it also will help in the evolution of a particular approach best suited to the region. It is already clear from the contributions here that this approach will improve on the integration of economic, social and cultural considerations along with ideas from landscape ecology to give a more comprehensive view with appropriate temporal bases and spatial scales for the future human condition in Latin America. Almost surely, these improvements will be noticed by other nations, ideas will spread and be adapted to other regions and there will be global benefits.
Saunders, D.A., G.W. Arnold, A.A. Burbidge and A.J.M. Hopkins. 1987. Nature Conservation: The Role of Remnants of Native Vegetation. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia.
Saunders, D.A. and R.J. Hobbs. 1991. Nature Conservation 2: The Role of Corridors. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia.
Saunders, D. A., R.J. Hobbs and P.R. Ehrlich. 1993. Nature Conservation 3: The Reconstruction of Fragmented Ecosystems. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia.
Vos, C.C. and P. Opdam. 1993. Landscape Ecology of a Stressed Environment. IALE Studies in Landscape Ecology 1, Chapman and Hall, London, UK.
Wackernagel, M. and W. Rees. 1995. Our Ecological Footprint. Reducing Human Inmpact on Earth. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada. | <urn:uuid:8513563a-5450-40b8-a4ab-db377a8ccf5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brocku.ca/tren/EPI/lebk/merriam.html | 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 | 0.924796 | 2,335 | 2.609375 | 3 |
New Zealand's programme Whānau Ora takes a new approach to improving the health of the Māori population: putting communities in the driver's seat. But will it work? Ted Alcorn reports.
“Social inequalities in health are not a footnote to the problems of health; they are the problems of health”, said Michael Marmot, Chair of the UN's Commission on Social Determinants of Health, at a symposium on health equity in July in Auckland, New Zealand. His audience had reason to listen. New Zealand is characterised by some of the largest health disparities between Indigenous and non-native populations in the world.
A sixth of New Zealand's population are descendants of Māoris and are afflicted by higher rates of disease than are the non-Māori population, receive treatment later and of lower quality, and have poorer outcomes. The disparities crop up in nearly every indicator and throughout the life cycle. Incidences of many types of cancer are three to four times higher for Māori, and their survival rates are lower. Incidence of rheumatic fever in children is more than 20 times higher than in people of European descent. 22% of European-descended New Zealanders were identified as smokers in 2009 compared with 46% of Māori people. And although the disparity in life expectancy between Māori and non-Māori people has fallen since the 1950s, when it exceeded 15 years, the gap widened in the early 1990s and has remained steady since then (figure
). The life expectancy of Māori New Zealanders is roughly 8 years shorter than those of their non-Māori counterparts.
Average life expectancy at birth for Māori and non-Māori girls and boys between 1951—2005
Poverty undoubtedly plays a part. According to New Zealand's Deprivation Index (a composite of indicators including income, education, and mobility), 75% of Māori people fell in the poorer half of the distribution in 2006, and 24% were in the lowest decile. But disparities persist even within comparable income groups, and they are gravest among the poor.
Teresa Wall, deputy director-general of the Māori Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health, says that the health system has been complicit in propagating these inequalities. Especially over the past 20 years, the disparities largely indicate improvements in the health of non-Māori that have not been matched by equal progress in the Māori population. Wall says that is because public health interventions designed for the general population and delivered through mainstream service providers often failed to take into account the barriers that might prevent Māori from accessing them. The country's smoking cessation programme was exemplary of this. “It was well-evidenced, well-resourced, but we were surprised to see that actually as it was rolling out, it was increasing the inequalities between Māori and non-Māori. Because what that programme didn't do was it didn't design smoking cessation to accommodate different population groups…It ignored the fact that smoking is hugely socially determined.”
There is widespread awareness of the disparities and the government has integrated the rhetoric of equality into many of its policies. New Zealand's district health boards, which are the main mechanisms for delivering health care in the country, are explicitly mandated by the New Zealand Health and Disability Act to work to reduce health disparities. Additionally, public health care funding is linked to the deprivation index as a way of channelling additional resources to underserved groups.
But measuring disparities is much easier than reducing them, says Dale Bramley, Chief Executive Officer of the Waitemata District Health Board, the largest in the country, providing health care to 550 000 Aucklanders. “The analysis is good here and a lot of information has been produced over the years, but a lot of it tends to be…descriptive. There's a lot less evidence about the effectiveness of interventions to reduce inequalities.”
Some observers have concluded that reducing health disparities will first require that Māori communities be empowered to address their problems directly. One of them is Jean Te Huia, a Māori midwife who has been on the front lines of providing care in the city of Hastings for 20 years. “Māori want self-determination. Māori want to be able to provide health services their way: by Māori, for Māori. And I believe that's the only way we can address the disparities in the Māori population. Until that happens, we'll just continue to mop up the mess—basically, to put a band-aid over the wound.”
Mason Durie, a professor of psychiatry at Massey University, Palmerston North, who has spent his career working to improve Māori health, has come to the same conclusion. He says that although disparities in health outcomes are often the most stark, the underlying problems lie in other areas, particularly housing, education, and employment. These factors contribute to disparities by fostering illness, delaying care seeking, and discouraging good adherence to treatment. “Quite often the thing that gets pointed at is the health sector, when really the determinants of inequalities in health are largely outside the health sector—the health sector just picks up the pieces. And a different approach is required to make the next level of progress.”
Whānau Ora might be that approach. In 2008, on the invitation of Minister and co-leader of the Māori Party Tariana Turia, Durie chaired a taskforce to define the initiative. They proposed the creation of a new institution to bring the fragmented social services for Māori under a single roof. Providers and patients will be reoriented to give more attention to preventive medicine and health promotion, and wellbeing will be addressed holistically for families (whānau, in the Māori language) rather than individuals. Although improving Māori health is Whānau Ora's primary goal, it puts equal emphasis on economic security, self-management, community cohesion, and participation in Māori culture and the wider world.
In many respects, Whānau Ora asks Māori communities to develop solutions themselves. “It's a programme that shifts the focus from identifying a pathology to building capability”, says Durie, “and we have not emphasised that enough. We've gotten better at fixing up problems and doing crisis-interventions, but haven't done so well at being able to identify strengths and build on those strengths.”
Funding for the programme was announced in June, 2010, though the amount—NZ$134 million over 4 years in the 2010 budget and an additional $30 million in 2011—was far less than the $1 billion originally proposed. Providers who have begun implementing the programme remain optimistic. “We're very much trailblazing on this”, says Martin Steinmann, Whānau Ora project leader of a primary health-care organisation in Tauranga. His staff are integrating their community-based and clinical services, developing information technologies to streamline communication between providers, and soliciting feedback from families about their needs and ways to address them. “Basically we've been given a terms of reference and really it's a blank piece of paper. It's potentially turned our contracting-with-the-state model and how we interact with whānau and the individuals on its head. So it's quite exciting.”
Critics of the programme contend that it lacks clear benchmarks by which to monitor its performance; one of them is Kelvin Davis, a member of the opposition Labour Party and their Associate Spokesperson for Māori Affairs. “They've just gone for this big broad policy that's set up to fail because it actually isn't specific enough or targeted enough”, he told The Lancet, “and as a result we won't be able to measure whether it's been all that effective. Which is a real pity, because we all want it to be successful.”
Minister Turia strongly disputes that claim. “Whānau Ora has been tightly linked to a focus on outcomes; outcomes which are derived, owned and developed by whānau. How each whānau expects to achieve outcomes will be determined by them to fit their own unique set of circumstances.” Although conceding that this flexible approach is less well defined than would be a one-size-fits-all policy, she is confident that the indicators that communities ultimately develop will be sufficient to monitor performance.
Debate over this point suggests a deeper truth. Progress towards some of the programme's central goals are difficult to measure. And because many of its objectives will take years if not decades to achieve, it may prove impossible to attribute changes directly to Whānau Ora.
For some reasoned sceptics, the programme is still a risk worth taking. Tony Blakely, director of the Health Inequalities Research Programme at the University of Otago, says that all his experience working in public health tells him that a programme as devolved as Whānau Ora will end in failure. But he also concedes that the decision to move forward should belong to the Māori people, and says they might ultimately prove his instincts wrong. “Well-respected Māori leaders in our community throw it straight back at liberal white guys like me and say, ‘Well, what you've done in the past has not worked particularly well. So we're going to talk to people in our communities, and we're going to actually shape stuff for our community. Give us space, give us funding, and watch us work.’”
The outcome of their efforts—whether Whānau Ora fails to eliminate the disparities, or proves to be a new model for improving the health of marginalised groups everywhere—will be of interest to all. | <urn:uuid:95a719a7-6d0b-43d9-901b-8c585f239442> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61726-1/fulltext | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972172 | 2,050 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Art for art’s sake is an empty phrase. Art for the sake of truth, art for the sake of the good and the beautiful, that is the faith I am searching for.
»a small bouquet by frank o’hara« by natalie czech
natalie czech uses calligrams in an attempt to confront and intertwine text and image. she reverses the process established for hidden poems of inscribing a poem into an existing text structure. the source material is not a pre-existing text fragment, but a picture poem. natalie czech invited seven writers - andrew berardini, julien bismuth, maia gianakos, leslie-ann murray, mick peter, nathania rubin and alix rule - to each write a text that contains the same calligram by the american poet, frank o’hara (1926 - 66). the texts were precisely composed around the calligram, so as to embed it in their very fabric, and thus dissolve its iconicity. natalie czech presents these texts as photographs of book pages and re-presents the calligram by marking its component words in the photographs.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that | <urn:uuid:ebe8ed1f-b43d-4a30-94ae-c4b190aacf97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://awais.tumblr.com/page/2 | 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 | 0.913018 | 280 | 1.84375 | 2 |
TDOT photo The U.S. Highway 64 rock slide work continued Monday, but the highway could reopen Wednesday.
U.S. Highway 64 through the Ocoee Gorge may reopen Wednesday afternoon, a couple of days earlier than the projected Friday deadline, highway and local officials say.
"They're working like ants out there," Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said Monday. "We still have to repave the roadbed, get the bit crane out of the area, put up guardrail and paint on some roadway marking."
Friday is the deadline, "But earlier would be even better," she said.
That was welcome news to Polk County Assessor of Property Randy Yates, who on Monday was looking on the Internet at TDOT's live camera to see if an early drive on the road might be possible.
"They're paving as we talk," he said. "If it opened just right now, we'd be tickled about it. We want it open now."
ROCK SLIDE WORK
* 2,000 Holes drilled for blasting away loose and unstable rock
* 11,000 Linear feet of rock bolts
* 26,000 Tons of rock removed from the first and largest slide site
* 14,000 Tons of rock removed from the second slide on Jan. 19
* 20,000 Tons of rock removed from a trouble spot known as the 15 mph curve.
Source: Tennessee Department of Transportation
Mr. Yates said the normal drive on U.S. 64 from Benton to Ducktown, Tenn., is 28 miles, but his trips across the county by detour to review properties while the road was closed covered 88 miles and took an hour and 45 minutes, one way.
Angie Arp, manager of Ocoee Rafting, also is excited about the road reopening this week -- early or not.
"I'm just delighted. It's been a long time coming. We've been out of business for four weeks (of this year's normal rafting season)," she said.
The last two weekends have been warm and pretty, and Ms. Arp estimated her business lost $5,000 to $10,000 while the road was closed.
"I am certain there will be a lot of relieved people," she said of the road's reopening.
Contractors have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since March 8 to clear up the last of the rock slide that thundered onto U.S. 64 on Nov. 10.
Since workers began the effort, several more slide areas developed along the road, including a second major slide on Jan. 19.
Road workers also repaired the entire road and did some preventive work in hopes of stopping future slides onto the road in the narrow, steep gorge that is Polk County's major east-west link between Benton and Copperhill.
For five months travelers between those points had to take detours through Sweetwater, Tenn., or Elijay, Ga.
Mrs. Flynn said a celebration is planned Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Ocoee Whitewater Center.
James Talley, mayor of Ducktown, said he hopes a lot of people turn out for the reopening party.
"Believe me, we're excited," he said.
Ducktown's tax revenue is down 30 percent because travelers who normally stopped there to buy souvenirs or groceries on the way home were stopping somewhere else along the detours, he said.
"We're hoping everything will rebound now," Mr. Talley said.
Pam Sohn has been reporting or editing Chattanooga news for 25 years. A Walden’s Ridge native, she began her journalism career with a 10-year stint at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. She came to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 1999 after working at the Chattanooga Times for 14 years. She has been a city editor, Sunday editor, wire editor, projects team leader and assistant lifestyle editor. As a reporter, she also has covered the police, ... | <urn:uuid:5884f3f2-c5f5-49a3-a541-610cbb701ea4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/apr/13/us-64-opening-in-days/?local | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97261 | 837 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Todd Woody, Forbes Staff
I cover environmental and green technology issues from San Francisco.
That’s the pitch car buyers will hear thanks to a deal announced Wednesday between SolarCity and Honda’s U.S. division that will finance $65 million in discounted rooftop solar installations for the automaker’s customers in SolarCity’s 14-state territory.
“Early on when we were doing work launching the Fit EV, we found there was a propensity for electric car buyers to add solar to their homes,” Steve Center, American Honda’s vice president of environmental business development, said in an interview.
Going solar accelerates the return on investment for drivers of cars like the Honda Fit EV, the electric version of its popular subcompact, and owners also get to zero out their carbon emissions by fueling from the sun.
But Center says Honda is aiming the SolarCity program beyond hardcore environmentalists and seeks to appeal to the average driver.
“There’s a limited upside as electric vehicles are only going to penetrate the market to a limited degree in the immediate term,” he says. “But if you look at the consumer’s home that’s a big untapped opportunity for getting the carbon out.”
Honda and SolarCity will put up equal shares of the $65 million tax equity fund that will finance solar leases for car buyers. Honda and Acura customers will get a $400 discount off their solar arrays and will avoid the steep upfront costs of installing a rooftop photovoltaic system by paying a monthly fee over a long-term contract.
The partnership gives SolarCity access to millions of Honda and Acura customers who, as Center puts it, “have better incomes, are better educated and are concerned for the environment.”
Says Lyndon Rive, chief executive of Silicon Valley-based SolarCity, “It’s really important we address the environmental challenges we face. It’s now time for corporations to take on their C02 footprint.”
In 2011, Ford teamed up with Silicon Valley’s SunPower, the solar panel manufacturer and developer, to offer buyers of its Focus Electric a deal on a rooftop photovoltaic system sized to take into account the added electricity demand of the car.
But Center says the SolarCity partnership goes far beyond that collaboration. “I think this is exponentially bigger, broader and deeper than what they are doing,” he noted. | <urn:uuid:7cf3a5e2-6df2-4de7-805e-287a083c0189> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2013/02/20/honda-solarcity-sign-65-million-deal-to-help-drivers-go-solar/?ss=business:energy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942983 | 515 | 1.875 | 2 |
Letter To The Editor: Living Pro-Life Recommendations
Published: January 29, 2009
To the Editor:
As Mother Teresa taught us, it is more important to be faithful than to be successful.
Here are some recommendations for living a pro-life life.
Pray, pray, pray. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most familiar New World image of Mary and the only true picture of the Mother of God. As the patroness of the Americas and of the unborn, she holds a special place in the hearts of many. Let us pray through her intercession for a sweeping change of heart for protection of life at any stage.
Let’s repent of our own sins of abortion, artificial birth control, immorality, judgment of persons rather than acts, sins of omission.
Let’s make pro-life education of the children a regular feature for every year of religious education. It would be age appropriate—the life of a preborn child, the value of every human life, theology of the body, etc. Sex and abortion need not be mentioned until the children are of age.
Let’s ask our archdiocese to put together a practical guide on how to teach children sex education according to the Theology of the Body for any parent who desires it and/or sponsor speakers who can teach them and/or their children.
Let’s arm our young people with not only respect for life but practical aids in helping their peers who are pregnant. These young people in high school, college and even sometimes middle school can be the only positive voice for life.
Let’s all get Choose Life license plates (http://www.gachoose-life.org/) and be a driving billboard for life.
Christ teaches us when giving alms “never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Let’s not let this apply to our children when you give alms to the poor, the disabled, any marginalized group of people. Let them know that your family remembers women who are worried about being pregnant. Let your child know that you are doing it and why you are doing it.
Let the Respect Life Office in our churches be a busy, profitable office, busy with practical and helpful information for respect life, family education, resource referral for crisis pregnancy or post-abortion help. Post how to contact the Respect Life Committee in the bulletin every week in a prominent place.
Let’s educate the general populace (about the) abortifacient effect of much of the birth control that is being used today.
Let’s reach out to, befriend and show love and encouragement, especially to the teens and young adults.
When we show love, we are Christ’s love. We must show love especially to our children to always make them feel worthwhile and loved.
Let’s always remember our victory is in Christ.
Chris Rowe, Lilburn | <urn:uuid:a2b412d4-d612-4e93-9fec-bdc7c222736a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2009/01/29/letter5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921062 | 609 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Holidays are dangerous times of discouragement. The expectations for gladness are higher, so realities of sadness are heavier. You’re supposed to be gloomy in February; so it’s more tolerable then. But Thanksgiving and Christmas are supposed to be festive. Hence the double whammy of discouragement. May I offer some preventative medicine?
When God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he added an oath, so that through two unchangeable things (the promise and the oath), in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:17-18)
“…God desired to show more convincingly…”
This text assumes that God had already said enough to give us encouragement. But God is not a God of minimums. His aim is not to speak as few encouraging words as possible. He speaks some words to give us hope. Then, being the effusive God he is, he says to himself, “This is good. I like doing this. I think that I shall do this again.” And so he speaks some more words of encouragement.
But not just more. They are better. He moves from simple promises (which are infallible and infinitely trustworthy!) to oaths. And not just any oaths, but the best and highest kind—oaths based on himself. Why? Not because his word is weak. But because we are weak, and he is patient.
He desires to “show…prove…demonstrate…point out…represent…display…reveal… drive home” the hopefulness of our future. He really wants us to feel this. He goes the second (and third and fourth) mile to help us feel encouraged. This is what he wants. This is what he really wants. “When God desired to show more convincingly…”
“…that we might have strong encouragement…”
How encouraged does God want us to feel? He said, “Strong encouragement!” Note the word! He might have said, “great encouragement” or “big encouragement” or “deep encouragement”. They would all be true. But the word is really “strong”. Encouragement that stands against seasonal downers. Preach this to yourself: “God desires me to have strong encouragement!” “God really desires me to have strong encouragement!”
“…to seize the hope set before us…”
There are good times in this life. But let’s face it: the days are evil, our imperfections frustrate us, and we are getting old, and moving toward the grave. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ we are of all people most to be pitied. There are good times yet to come in this life. But even these are rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of gaining Christ. Even here we can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But only because there is a “hope set before us.” Reach out and seize it. God encourages you to. Take it now. Enjoy it now. Be encouraged by it now. Be strongly encouraged. Because your hope is secured with double infiniteness: the promise of God and the oath of God.
Encouraged with you by God’s desire, | <urn:uuid:827e4568-31e2-4c4b-a0cc-388445543bd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/does-god-really-want-you-to-be-encouraged?lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961491 | 735 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Some in Russia are concerned with the nation’s high abortion rate, which according to the United Nations was 53.7 abortions per 1,000 women in 2004 (in contrast, the United States had a 2004 abortion rate of 20.8 per 1,000 women). Abortion was readily available during the days of the Soviet Union and some argue it was the only form of family planning in the nation. Despite big drops in abortion in recent years (in 2009, there were 74 abortions for every 100 births down from 169 abortions per 100 births in 2000), some are concerned that the rates are still too high and are contributing to the country’s dwindling population.
The solution some lawmakers have come up with is to introduce legislation that would drastically restrict abortions and impede women’s rights to control their own bodies. The proposed law would ban free abortions at government-run clinics, prohibit the sale of the morning-after pill without a prescription, require married women to get the permission of their spouse, mandate parental consent for teenage girls, and institute a one week (yes, one week) waiting period so women can consider their decisions. (Looks like they took a page—or several—right out of the U.S. anti-choice lobby’s playbook.)
Though the legislation also includes a facsimile of our Safe Haven laws—women would be allowed to drop off infants under six months in designated locations without fearing any criminal charges—it does not include any measures designed to lower the unintended pregnancy rate (such as increased access to contraception or family planning information) nor does provide any support to women who choose to carry a pregnancy to term. (Again, sound familiar?)
It is unclear whether the measure will pass. In 2010, a bill that would have imposed criminal charges on doctors who performed late-term abortions faced government opposition and was never even put up for a vote. At least one lawmaker, thinks radical restrictions on abortion will do more harm than good: “Natalya Karpovich, a lawmaker with the dominant pro-Kremlin party United Russia, who is expecting her fifth child, said she supported stricter regulation of abortions. But she said banning the procedure in Russia was unrealistic and would only lead to more children whose parents were unwilling or unable to care for them.” | <urn:uuid:ad8313b8-7cae-48a1-bc58-c5c7404e37dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2011/06/01/lawmakers-russia-look-impose-numerous-restrictions-abortion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972828 | 465 | 2.046875 | 2 |
West Long Branch Looking to Use Red Light Cameras
Council introduces ordinance that would allow use of cameras in borough
The West Long Branch Council is taking the necessary to steps to install red light cameras throughout the borough.
The council introduced an ordinance on Wednesday night that would would allow it to put the project out for bid while other specifics, including the location of the cameras, will be determined later.
A red light camera is a traffic enforcement camera that captures an image of a vehicle which has entered an intersection against a red traffic light. By automatically photographing vehicles that run red lights, the camera produces evidence that assists police departments in their enforcement of traffic laws.
West Long Branch Clerk Lori Cole said the borough would still have to go out a request for proposal (RFP) for a vendor to install the cameras if the council adopts the ordinance at its next meeting in November. Cole said the West Long Branch Police Department would determine which interesections would use the red light cameras.
Cole said the Department of Transportation (DOT) would have to approve the borough's use of the cameras before they can be installed.
"The borough must apply to be in the DOT's pilot program for the cameras, and there only a certain number of slots," Cole said. "Most of them are already taken and there are other pending applications."
The Eatontown Council adopted a similar ordinance to bring red-light cameras to Eatontown in 2011, but is also waiting to approved by the DOT for the pilot program.
Cole said the legislation that allows the red light camera pilot program expires in December, 2014, and that it would have to be extended for more cameras to be installed throughout the state.
State Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, R-13 has introduced legislation aiming to stop the spread of the Red Light Camera program in New Jersey and said he believes they are ineffective and that camera operators manipulate data to serve their own interests and not those of the citizens. | <urn:uuid:9ec6c8ce-133d-40d1-9c42-ebd5c33a5055> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://longbranch.patch.com/articles/west-long-branch-looking-to-use-red-light-cameras | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960744 | 401 | 1.742188 | 2 |
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Two days later, May 5, 1945, jeeps arrived at Liebernau. But these were not marked with swastikas, but filled with American soldiers, Third Army, carrying American flags! It was a joyous day. And soon a big truck bursting with Red Cross packages arrived - all for us! Unfortunately, a few prisoners gobbled up the packaged food and died. Their stomachs just couldn't handle the sudden change. Our bodies had to learn how to handle food all over again, beginning with liquids just like babies.
Red Cross doctors and male nurses checked all of us for injuries. I remember that after they looked me over, I was sent to the side while they cared for others. They then came back to me to examine my leg, burned badly 1 three places, and my swollen foot. They peeled off the rust and told me that had another week gone by, they could have had to amputate. Another doctor then sent me in only my underwear, to a hospital in Laufen where and about 25 others, including my good friend, Joseph Scheineman, my painting friend, also liberated with me, were treated for typhoid.
When you have typhoid, your temperature reaches 108 degrees. If you withstand it, you recover. If not, you die.
Luckily, the German nurses there were tremendous, so kind. I well remember my bed next to a window with Joseph in the next bed. And again, by accident this time, I was able to help save his life. One night, I was hallucinating and screaming. Nurses came to give me shots to quiet me down and discovered that Joseph was unconscious and were able to save him.
After about three weeks in the hospital, we were sent back to Leibernau. While I was doing well, Joseph remained weak. Fortunately, a Czech woman, a former nurse, helped him to recuperate. After about nine months, we were transferred to Freilassing, another camp about 10 miles away with better facilities. This was not a labor or concentration camp, but a displaced person's camp eventually placed under Unrah, an American organization that supplemented displaced people's needs.
After a few months we were sent to Ainring, a much larger displaced person's camp. Aiming, a town with a small airport, had served as Hitler's stopping place on the way to Bertesgarden, his mountain villa. I, along with about 20 others, actually lived in Hitler's club, a two-story building where he had stayed many times when the roads weren't fit for travel to the villa. Ironically, it was here where we began our recovery, gradually adjusting to postwar life. Eventually, a bunch of us formed a theater group and within a few months, we began performing. For one of our productions, I played the matchmaker in "Tovia the Milkman," the play on which "Fiddler on the Roof' is based.
Most of us kept hope that relatives would find us or we would hear good news of relatives still living. It was here that my brother Jacob found me. What a joyous and heartbreaking meeting: He brought news of my family, that all but he and Adam, had been killed. That he was going to Austria. That Adam was back in Poland.
While living in Ainring, I got to know a number of American GIs, who were stationed nearby, protecting sophisticated electronics and warehouses at the airport. They were nice fellas, and they gave me my first taste of Coca-Cola. I even met Jewish GIs who spoke broken German and some Yiddish and from whom I learned some English.
During this transition time, I traveled a bit, to Munich and elsewhere. After two years, there were orders to liquidate the displaced person's camp. But according to liberation papers, I was only 17 years old and couldn't be just sent out into the world without guardians. While I was actually 22, 1 was too afraid to tell the truth. And besides, I looked more like I was 17. And so I was sent, along with my childhood friend, Michael Sherman, to an international children's camp in Prien, Germany, near the castle of crazy King Ludwig.
There, about 100 children, orphans from Latvia, Estonia and Poland, myself included, lived and were treated well. The camp was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Committee, led by Mrs. Roosevelt, who had helped lift any restrictions on children's immigration. And so, at the end of 1947 we were told that we could emigrate to Canada or the United States. About 30 of us, all Jewish boys, with supervisors from Estonia, were then sent to a huge hotel near Munich. There we played soccer, visited nearby towns and continued to be checked by doctors for diseases and lingering effects of our imprisonment. By the end of April 1948, we were ordered to pack for our journey to the United States.
Michael was sent a week before me. I had eczema at the time and was held back until it was gone.
Once ready, a handful of us were sent to Bremenhaven on the ocean, near Hamburg. I'll never forget the name of our ship: the SS Maureen Flasher, an American military ship that had been converted for passengers. With Red Cross women there as our guardians, we young men were treated like kings, given the best rooms and the best food. Although I was seasick - oh god, I was sick - for at least three days. After a week aboard, passing through the English Channel and crossing the ocean, I well remember coming into the New York harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty. I had dreamed about coming to America and here I was. I was in awe.
Because we were expected, we didn't have to go through immigration but walked off the ship and onto a large bus waiting for us. I had the clothes on my back and a little suitcase with some pajamas inside. And I had been given $1.50 as I got off the ship.
We traveled by bus into the Bronx to a hotel for children. There we were each given a suit, shirts, ties, shoes, socks, underwear and pajamas and were told to throw everything we had away. I threw away my pajamas and the clothes I had worn every day on the ship. I remember one Ukranian boy wearing a tie with his pajamas to bed the first night.
Every day we met with counselors who talked to us about schooling, what where we wanted to go, and choices for our future. We also met with psychologists to help us deal with our war experiences.
I stayed at the hotel for three weeks and while there looked up my old friend, Joseph Scheinemen. "Moniek!" he yelled into the phone when I called. A couple of times I took a nickel subway ride to Brooklyn and visited him, his wife and their first child in their third-floor apartment.
In the meantime, Michael Sherman had been assigned a foster mother, Mrs. Abramson, in Minneapolis, and he soon left for Minnesota. A week later, I had to make a decision. There was no foster family waiting in Minneapolis for me and none in New York. While a family in Baltimore was willing to have me come, I knew no one there and suddenly felt that I should return home, to Europe. But Mrs. Abramson and the Jewish Family and Children's Services came through. She agreed to take me in until foster parents could be found.
They booked me on a Northwest Airlines prop plane, my first flight ever, to Minneapolis. The stewards took good care of me, and there waiting at the airport was a member of the Jewish Family and Children's Services and Michael.
The next month, June 1948, Michael and I attended the JFCS-sponsored Herzl camp, located on Devil's Lake in Wisconsin, to get to know other young people in our situation. We attended lectures, swam, fished and sang for two weeks and then returned to Minneapolis.
About three months later, I moved to the home of another widow, my foster-mother-to-be, Mrs. Minnie Kramer. One of her sons, Ben, was married, while the other, Marvin, was in 10th grade, the grade where I would begin. My first year I attended North High School. Still speaking little English, I started going to the Emerson Library, one block away, as often as possible to read books written in English for several hours a day.
My second year, I transferred to Vocational High School, which included both standard high school classes and trade classes. I finished both 11th grade and 12th grade in one year, focusing on business administration, and graduated with honors in 1950.
After liberation: Murray and a friend pose outside Hitler's Club (left) in Ainring. Murray and Michael Sherman await a boat (above) to King Ludwig's castle during their stay at the international children's camp in Prien, Germany.
Left. Murray before coming to the United States, 1948. | <urn:uuid:3799eab0-cea5-4e06-afd0-a3f2ecba400f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chgs.umn.edu/histories/minnesotans/no133909/liberation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987842 | 1,907 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Thu June 14, 2012
Metro Police to Conduct Racial Profiling Study
The Louisville Metro Police Department will conduct a study to determine if officers are racially profiling residents when making traffic stops.
During the Metro Council budget hearings, Police Chief Steve Conrad testified that since being sworn-in he has been asked at several community meetings if officers pull over African-Americans more than whites.
Before city and county governments merged, the old city collected data on the race of individuals who were pulled over or detained, but quit analyzing the data after a few years.
Conrad requested the study because he believes that officers do not profile based on race, but the department lacks any information to support that statement.
"I am thoroughly convinced that the Louisville Metro Police Department does not racially profile. That we stop cars and stop citizens based on reasonable suspicious, which is the lawful standard that is required to stop an individual," he says. "But I don’t have the information that I need to be able to demonstrate to anybody in the community that what I’m saying is true. I believe it, but I can’t show it."
According to records from Metro Corrections, black males represented 43.6 percent of bookings in 2011 despite being 9.9 percent of the city's population.
Attorney Elizabeth Jones is an assistant Pan-African Studies professor at the University of Louisville. She says the study is needed and is encouraged the chief has taken resident's concerns seriously.
"The chief can believe officers don't racially profile, but like he said there's no data to back that up," she says. "I’ve seen numbers that show that even though African-Americans are a minority in terms of the population of Louisville Metro, in some instances they comprise the majority of particular types of arrests. There is definitely disproportionate numbers of African-Americans being arrested in the city of Louisville."
Incarceration numbers from corrections show African-Americans makeup a higher number of detentions for drug possession. Census data shows blacks are 20.8 percent of the Louisville population, but last year they were 68 percent of the bookings for cocaine possession.
"This has been the history of police departments for decades and this is nothing new," says Jones. "Particularly how the War on Drugs and changes in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence really contributed to the ability of law enforcement to in effect round people up in poor communities of color."
Racial profiling has once again become a topic nationally among civil rights advocates due to the New York City Police Department's controversial "stop-and-frisk" policy. The practice has been defended by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a way to crackdown on gun violence, but the ACLU has raised serious questions due to the high number of blacks and Hispanics being detained.
In a telephone interview with WFPL, Conrad pointed to mistrust of police in certain Louisville neighborhoods as a reason to launch the study.
The chief said in order to effectively combat the rash of shootings, it is important police create better partnerships with residents and if the study shows a pattern of bias he will take immediate action.
"If the study were to show we have problems with racial profiling, first, if a specific officers is identified as taking part in those efforts we would make sure those officers had the proper training. And if an investigation showed they had in fact violated our policies, we'd take appropriate disciplinary action," he says. "On a broader approach, if the study shows we have those problems on a large scare we will follow-up with training for the entire department to make sure officers do have information to properly do their jobs."
The study is estimated to cost around $55,000 and could begin later this year. | <urn:uuid:bd4bce96-f98e-4dd6-bfed-2007ca688c9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wfpl.org/post/metro-police-conduct-racial-profiling-study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971992 | 756 | 1.882813 | 2 |
U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle in November had blocked the voucher program in Tangipahoa. But a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a stay of the judge’s order. In a ruling Monday, the appeals court said the state has shown it is likely to win an appeal in which it argues that the judge improperly issued an injunction against the voucher program.
The voucher program, approved last year by the Legislature and strongly pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, allows the state to pay private school tuition for students attending poorly performing public schools and who are from low- to moderate-income families.
Lemelle ruled that the voucher program frustrates the parish school district’s ability to comply with its federal desegregation order by depriving the district of needed state funds and disrupting the student population projections on which the order is based.
The state had argued that a federal court cannot interfere with a state’s financial decision-making because of state sovereignty granted under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The majority’s ruling said that the state was likely to win its argument. The appeals judges noted that the ruling granting a stay would not be binding on the appeals panel that decides the merits.
Still, the majority ruling stated: “A district court is not free to interfere in state spending decisions simply because raising and lowering funding levels may have some incidental impact on a federal decree.”
All three members of the appellate panel agreed that Lemelle should have refrained from ruling in the Tangipahoa Parish case, pending the outcome of a separate challenge to the constitutionality of the voucher program’s funding mechanism. In that case, state District Judge Tim Kelley ruled Nov. 30 that the voucher program’s use of state Minimum Foundation Program funds violates the Louisiana Constitution’s dedication of those funds to public education.
Appeals panel Judge James Dennis said he would have sent the Tangipahoa Parish case back to Lemelle to await a final outcome in the state court case, which will be decided by the state Supreme Court. Circuit Judges Edith Jones and Catharina Haynes, however, stayed Lemelle’s order pending further appeals court action. | <urn:uuid:2d7afb3a-468e-4a4c-a4d7-bd1b2175fa42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stmarynow.com/view/full_story/21429656/article-Tangipahoa-voucher-program-can-continue | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956996 | 470 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis has teamed up with Hershey's for the 34th annual Hershey's Track and Field Games. The goal of the Games, which take place in 4,000 communities throughout North America, is to promote physical fitness and sportsmanship in kids ages 9 to 14.
Why is a chocolate company encouraging kids to get fit? "Everyone should get involved in helping kids to get active," Lewis says. "We should all be responsible. It's great that Hershey's stepped up to the challenge."
Lewis recently got the word out about the Games at a preview event at Chelsea Piers, in New York City. He showed kids how to stretch and then demonstrated a broad jump. Next, the kids practiced throwing softballs and ran in a relay race.
Get in the Game!
At the Games, which take place from April to August, kids compete in softball throws, long jumps, sprints and relay races. In the end, 450 winners will be chosen to take an all-expense paid trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, for the Track and Field finals. The sweetest part? Winners get a tour of the Hershey's chocolate factory and a medal awarded by Lewis himself.
So far, more than 10 million kids have participated in Hershey's Track and Field Games. You can sign up too. Find out if there are events in your community at hersheytrackandfield.com. Registration is free.
"Anyone can participate," Lewis told TFK. "It's good for you, good for your health, good for your self-esteem and it's a lot of fun."
VIDEO: Carl Lewis and Hershey's Track & Field Games | <urn:uuid:7773530d-295d-4f84-8f46-fcc279240e85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timeforkids.com/news/sweet-way-get-fit/10856 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962572 | 349 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Tenth Ohio Infantry was a mainly Irish regiment (there were also two companies of Germans) recruited in and around Cincinnati. They were a hard-drinking and hard fighting unit, who were engaged in the Western Theater for the majority of the conflict. However, it was in the 1861 West Virginia Campaign that these Irish and Germans first ‘saw the elephant’, a Civil War expression used to describe men’s first experience of combat.
The Tenth crossed the Ohio River on the 24th June 1861 to take part in the Campaign. On the 10th September they found themselves part of Brigadier-General William Starke Rosecrans command as they prepared to attack John B. Floyd’s Confederate’s at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). It was not to be an easy introduction to battle. The ‘Bloody Tenth’, as they were to become known were commanded by Mexican War veteran Colonel William Haines-Lytle, while their Major was Joseph W.Burke, an Irish immigrant who had helped to recruit the regiment.
At around 3 o’clock on the 10th September Colonel Lytle received orders to reconnoiter the enemy positions, suspected of being in the vicinity of the Gauley River. One can imagine the nervous anticipation of the men as they advanced uphill through a densely timbered forest, expecting at every step to come under fire for the first time. Having passed through the woods for half a mile the regiment’s skirmisher’s were suddenly engaged, with Lytle advancing the remainder of the men to their support. They reached clear ground on the crest of the hill, and for the first time saw the enemy- the rebel’s were in a strong fortified position behind logs and fenceposts, with twelve guns trained on the Tenth. Colonel Lytle takes up the narrative:
When the head of my column reached a point opposite the right center of their earthworks their entire battery opened on us with grape and canister with almost paralyzing effect, my men falling around me in great numbers. I ordered the colors to the front for the purpose of making an assault on their battery, perceiving which, the entire fire of the enemy was directed towards us. The men rallied gallantly on the hill-side under withering volleys of grape and canister with small-arms, and a part of three companies, A, E, and D, actually moved up within pistol-shot of the intrenchments, and for some time maintained a most unequal contest. Both my color-bearers were struck down. The bearer of the State color, Sergeant Fitzgibbons, had the staff shot away and his hand shattered, and in a few moments afterwards was shattered in both thighs while waving his colors on the broken staff. The bearer of the national color, Sergeant O’Connor, at the same time was struck down by some missile, but recovered himself in a short time, and kept waving his color in front of the enemy’s lines.
Colonel Lytle, who had advanced with the right-wing of the regiment and had remained mounted despite the tremendous fire, was also wounded when a bullet hit his leg, killing his horse. Meanwhile, Major Burke attacked on the left with Companies I, F, K and C, where they remained in position until they had expended all their ammunition before rejoining the right. Colonel Lytle commanded his men to take cover, which they did, maintaining a steady fire on the enemy positions. Much of the regiment remained where they lay throughout the night. The following day, Brigadier-General Floyd’s Confederate’s had withdrawn, and the Tenth Ohio had ‘seen the elephant’. Of their performance, Colonel Lytle remarked:
For men for the first time under fire the conduct of the regiment was highly creditable. Having been disabled in the early part of the action I was necessarily separated from a greater portion of the command, but among those who came under my own notice I would especially mention Captain S. J. McGroarty, commanding the color company; Lieutenant Jno S. Mulroy, Company D; Lieutenant Fanning, Company A. Both Lieutenant Fanning and Captain McGroarty were severely wounded, the latter while rallying his men around his colors and the former in leading his men to the attack. Captains Steele and Tiernon are also worthy of special mention for their gallantry. I would also mention the name of Corporal Sullivan, Company E, who in the midst of a galling fire went across the front of the enemy’s batteries and returned with water for the wounded.
Of the portion of the regiment under Major Burke that officer makes highly honorable mention of the names of Captain Ward, Company I; Captain Robinson, Company K; Captain Hudson and Lieutenant Hickey, Company C; Captain Moore, Company D; Sergeant-Major Knox, for their gallantry and intrepidity under a most destructive fire, and also of the chaplain, Rev. W. T. O’Higgins, who remained on the field during the action in performance of his sacred duties.
The gallant performance of the Tenth Ohio came at high cost; they suffered the worst casualties of the day, losing ten men killed and fifty wounded. Their experience of war was only beginning- they would later fight on famous battlefields such as those at Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Atlanta, before their service was completed in 1864.
References & Further Reading
Official Records 5. Report of Colonel William H. Lytle, Tenth Ohio Infantry
Carter, Ruth C. (ed) 1999. For Honor, Glory & Union: The Mexican & Civil War Letters of Brig. Gen. William Haines Lytle
Reid, Whitelaw 1868. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers Volume II | <urn:uuid:6f6dde19-7cb1-4c71-a8e3-eb2381790b12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://irishamericancivilwar.com/2010/07/25/the-10th-ohio-see-the-elephant-at-carnifex-ferry/?like=1&_wpnonce=d19428bcb3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98051 | 1,209 | 2.828125 | 3 |
That practice some employers have of demanding workers' online passwords? Facebook doesn't like it.
The social media giant weighed in via the Facebook Privacy blog on Friday, supporting proposed laws in Illinois and elsewhere that would ban companies from requiring employees or potential employees to surrender their passwords. By logging in, employers can gain access to a user's private activities that might not otherwise be viewable.
"This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user's friends," wrote Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer. "It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability."
The post went on to say that Facebook would go to court, if necessary.
"We'll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action."
In its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Facebook says it is against the company's policy for users to share or solicit passwords for its site, even when asked by an employer.
A bill introduced by state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, would ban the practice in Illinois.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday also lent its support to such a law.
"It's an invasion of privacy for private employers to insist on looking at people's private Facebook pages as a condition of employment or consideration in an application process," attorney Catherine Crump said, according to an ACLU statement. "People are entitled to their private lives." | <urn:uuid:5d558a42-43b5-4eaf-a413-0bd7994e9806> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-23/news/ct-talk-facebook-passwords-folo-0324-20120324_1_facebook-privacy-passwords-employers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961367 | 304 | 1.671875 | 2 |
There is an awful lot being written about how to make a living doing what you love. There appears, in fact, to be an entire industry being spawned around facilitating, teaching, and coaching the depressed and often despairing masses how to do just that.
Now, I'm all for spending the time and effort to discern what our gifts are and then figuring out how we can ensure we are giving them to world in the best way we can. But I feel I need to speak up and put out a slightly dissenting viewpoint. I'm going to state my position, and then spend a bit of time explaining it.
So here goes:
It is not our work that gives meaning to our lives. It is our living fully, deep in awareness of our Being, our values, and our vision, that gives meaning to our work--regardless of what that work is.
A lot of us have been conditioned to believe that our self-worth is hugely derived from what we do and how much we earn. (A University Education--is seen as the panacea and cornucopia for an abundant and meaningful life.) Many people suffer endlessly because of the pressure and force of this belief system. A simple life is devalued. Simple skills unappreciated. Much of the work that actually makes life worth living is seen as largely irrelevant and of low value in the modern marketplace (parenting, caring for the elderly, lonely, isolated, growing food, cooking daily meals, cleaning, creating celebrations and community events, mending and repairing, art, music, spirituality...)
To help explain my position further I need to dip into that last one: spirituality.
There comes a time in the life of each dedicated spiritual seeker when the bottom drops out of the world. Sometimes it's know as encountering The Void, sometimes as the state of groundlessness, sometimes as the dark night of the soul, or even The Rot. Whatever you call it, all of the underpinnings of your life, your beliefs, your values get shaken, trashed, burned, swept away. And there is this moment of profound insight that nothing matters. Nothing. None of it. It's all meaningless.
This is not a pleasant moment for anyone. It can happen at any time--and often in the most inconvenient. (Not that it's ever convenient to be rendered non-functional.) Along with it comes a natural and inherent terror and often despair and confusion that can become life-threatening. It's good to have experienced friends at a time like this. What you need to know is to keep breathing and don't resist.
For those who don't immediately pack it all back up into Pandora's little box, wrap it with chains, label it with dire warnings and stuff it the hell back down into the 'disowned things i'm not prepared to deal with' pile, there is a treasure here. For those courageous few, who are willing to simply sit with meaninglessness--to allow it into intimate contact with their souls and psyches--to be harrowed, winnowed and refined by the terror--there comes a dawning. A dawning that the opposite is equally and more compellingly true. It all matters. All of it. Equally. Endlessly. Infinitely.
In the profound illumination of that moment, all striving drops away and what is left is a pure note of choice. And the understanding that meaninglessness is the root of Freedom and that taking responsibility for what matters most--to us--is where fate, duty, and free will intersect.
So what has this all got to do with work and meaning?
When you understand that ultimately all work is inherently meaningless, you are stunningly freed to choose to imbue any and all work with absolute meaning. And where does that meaning come from? You. Your heart and soul. Where else? Your true nature, Being, shining through in each and every choice.
We have all met people who have made this choice. Some consciously, some instinctively. The janitor that cares so much that we can feel it every day when we enter our school/business/offices; the clerk at the store that always gifts you with a smile and a sense of belonging somewhere; the social worker that keeps on connecting with you as a person instead of bowing in despair to a broken and unjust system.
I've offered workshops on doing what we love for a living; I've coached people through career changes; and one of the first things i do is to look at how they can start right where they are. Once you know what you love--once you are clear about what matters most and what YOUR vision is for a better world--how can you begin, today, this very moment, to embody that?
It changes everything.
Meaning in life is created by living fully. Nothing less. No job, no work, no matter how wonderful can give us that gift. It's something we find and create for ourselves. Starting right where we are. Now. Today. With the work that is in front of us. By daring to bring all of who we are to the table every moment. No small order. There is a lot of work that needs to be done by people with heart and soul all connected.
So there you have it. My little rant for the day. You can worry and strive for years to find work you can love or that brings you meaning. Or you can start right now and begin to bring your love and your meaning to the work that you do already. And then see what happens ;-) | <urn:uuid:c090953e-d920-4392-b616-ae89598a9854> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wordgravity.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962681 | 1,138 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Law counting prisoners towards population in home community could redraw districts in Dems favor
LATFOR should use the results of the Assembly's study as they continue the redistricting process. The Daily News wrote about the study on how to count prisoners for purposes of redistricting.
ALBANY - Prisoners in New York can't vote, but they may decide which party controls the state Senate next year.
A new law now requiring prisoners to be counted toward the population of their home community - rather than where they are serving time - could dramatically alter the political landscape of more than a dozen upstate districts.
That's because state officials will redraw legislative and congressional districts based on 2010 Census Bureau population figures in time for the 2012 elections.
And prisons disproportionately dot upstate New York - while the majority of inmates committed their crimes in urban areas.
The Daily News has learned Assembly Democrats will unveil a study today showing that 12 upstate GOP Senate districts and one suburban Democratic district will each lose at least 1,000 people without the inclusion of inmates at local prisons.
"The chips fall whatever way they do," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said.
Silver defended the new prison-counting law and denied it was passed for partisan purposes last year when Democrats controlled the Senate and the Assembly. Republicans have since retaken a 32-30 advantage.
"These are the facts according to the law and not done for political partisan advantage at all," Silver insisted. "It impacts some of our closer [Democratic seats] upstate negatively."
The Senate GOP has sued to strike down the new law as unconstitutional.
"Regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit, we're absolutely confident that New Yorkers will vote to keep Republicans in the Senate majority in 2012," GOP Senate spokesman Scott Reif said.
"Why would anyone want to return to the scandals, overspending and high taxes Senate Democrats were known for?" he added.
But with each Senate district required to have at least 312,550 people, political pros say the number of districts in typically conservative rural areas - which have already been hit by population losses - could shrink dramatically.
Conversely, the number of districts would grow near urban centers, like New York City, which are dominated by Democrats.
Read the full article here.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 00:00 | <urn:uuid:39d9d875-9150-477f-bb7a-632d2ef0b5aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nysenate.gov/news/law-counting-prisoners-towards-population-home-community-could-redraw-districts-dems-favor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961944 | 473 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Letters to the editor
Readers write in about the new war crimes ambassador, the rich heritage of Muslims, and the old bible tradition of gleaning.
Tough job for point manSkip to next paragraph
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Regarding Robert Marquand's Oct. 25 article, "US point man on global justice": Unhappily, the United States is busy on other fronts seeking to prevent the enforcement of international law. The new war crimes ambassador Stephen Rapp has his work cut out for him.
Within the US, we are wrestling with the problem of investigating and punishing high Bush administration officials for crimes such as torture, a strong case being made even by Democrats for nonprosecution of "good guys." Ambassador Susan Rice's efforts to prevent prosecution of America's ally Israel for war crimes is cut from the same cloth.
Shall the US provide immunity to favored persons accused of deliberate and blatant war crimes and thus invite its own and Israel's warriors and secret services to act with impunity? Or shall the US submit itself (and Israel) to the rule of law and to the jurisdiction of qualified courts?
Muslims have rich heritage
In regard to Walter Rodgers's Nov. 1 column, "There's a reason France is one of the best places to live": As a naturalized US citizen of Christian Arab background, I take issue with the statement that "The French victory in Tours blocked the spread of a militant Arab-Islamic culture, allowing Europe to develop its own rich civilization."
To describe the Moorish armies as militant Islamists is to draw on the same stereotype utilized today to denigrate the Arab and Islamic worlds. While the French and their European counterparts were living in darkness, Arab-Islamic civilization was producing treatises on astronomy, alchemy, history, horticulture, ethnographic commentaries, cartography, medicine, scientific discoveries, and philosophical expositions that eventually became a major cornerstone upon which the Renaissance was to be founded. Their libraries brimmed with rich manuscripts. If anything, an Arab invasion of France in the 8th century might have speeded the Renaissance in France by some 700 years.
Raouf J. Halaby
Professor of English and art Arkadelphia, Ark.
Bring back gleaning
Regarding the Nov. 1 People Making a Difference feature about restoring the tradition of gleaning: As a former employee of a municipal landfill, I witnessed trailer loads of food and other goods, all perfectly usable, being buried at great expense.
Any employee found salvaging was to be fired. Many of these items could have been donated to the needy. Instead, the companies got a break on taxes and avoided lawsuits by dumping their items, which were often discarded for expired sale dates or tiny mistakes or changes in the manufacturing process.
Anyone who thinks the US is not a wasteful society needs to spend a day at their local landfill.
Newton Township, Pa | <urn:uuid:66446d3d-0ceb-4ddc-9c3f-7ef80734c46e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/1113/p09s04-coop.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945072 | 586 | 1.609375 | 2 |
John "Long John" Sorrell (January 16, 1906 in Chesterville, Ontario – November 30, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger in the NHL playing for the Detroit Falcons (later renamed the Detroit Red Wings) and the New York Americans. He later played for and coached the Indianapolis Capitals of the AHL.
Playing career
Sorrell played junior hockey for three different teams in three different leagues. In 1926 he was a young left winger for the Chesterville Colts of the Ontario Hockey Association and showed great promise. He was quickly noticed and in 1927 played forty games for the Quebec Beavers of the CAHL before being called up into the Canadian Professional Hockey League the following year for the Windsor Bulldogs. He was finally noticed by the NHL when the Montreal Canadiens signed him. He never played a game for Montreal, but was instead traded to the London Tecumsehs of the IHL on November 5, 1929. Sorrell continued to show promise and helped the Tecumsehs to a third place finish in the IHL.
On November 10, 1930 he was traded to the Detroit Falcons, and finally found a place to call home for more than a single season. He would spend the next nine years with the Detroit club helping the team to win consecutive Stanley Cups in 1936 and 1937.
On February 13, 1938, Sorrell was traded for Hap Emms to the New York Americans where he would spend the rest of his NHL career. He retired from the league in the 1940–41 season, spending his remaining playing days in the AHL with both the Hershey Bears and Indianapolis Capitals, turning to coaching in the 1945–46 season.
Awards & achievements
- Won two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings (1936 & 1937)
|This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey winger born in the 1900s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:41109635-eacf-4c21-b8a1-950825b9a393> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sorrell | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97351 | 391 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Spelling bees are filled with interesting facts about words and generate dramatic and exciting moments.
And technology has made the Scripps National Spelling Bee more accessible.
This week, I was eager to know how The Daily Star's contestant, Kristin Ratliff, 14, of Cooperstown, was doing. The bee, held near Washington, D.C., was held from Tuesday to Thursday. From the bee's website, I found out quickly after Round Two on Wednesday morning that she had successfully spelled "quonk."
Her accomplishment was happy news that made me eager to find about her next challenge. I wasn't able to watch it live on ESPN2, but Twitter told me what I really wanted to know. I couldn't see Kristin's face or hear the pronouncer say "cubitiere" at 3:50 p.m., but I knew within seconds that she had been successful in bee Round Three on Wednesday afternoon.
I needed an extra-big dictionary to look up those two words.
Kristen said she didn't score well enough on Tuesday's spelling test to qualify for semifinals Thursday. Here's a partial list of the words on that test: Doxic, somnial, urbicarian, pogonotomy, dubitante, ejido, tomalley, semelparous, anemochore, Thucydidean, neomenia, chitarrone, outrecuidance and quelea. Most of these words aren't in my computer's spell-check program.
The bee website also presented biographies of the students, including if siblings had competed in previous years. Details about bee history and statistics about participants were interesting, and some of the contestants names could be as challenging to pronounce or spell as bee words. For instance, from Twitter came the following news: "Speller 152, Eboseremhen Eigbe, spells 'exophthalmic' correctly in Round Three of the Bee."
And being a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, I was captivated to know that she misspelled "xanthophyll" in an 1880s community spelling match.
Spelling is more than the letters that comprise the word.
Food donations continued to be made weeks after a fundraising event, Fashion for Food, in April, an organizer said recently.
About 40 students with faculty from the State University College at Oneonta and three local businesses to organize the fashion show at the Elk's Club in Oneonta on April 15. Admission was by donation of nonperishable food items or a contribution in cash or by check, and contributions benefited St. Mary's Church Food Pantry in Oneonta.
Local businesses supporting the show were clothing store Transitions Boutique, Edward Teleky Jewelers and Barbara Ungerland's Arbonne International, a seller of cosmetics. The show also was a service-learning project for the college students.
About 20 people attended the show, which raised about $180, Rolana Starr Hobb, a professor in the human ecology department at SUNY Oneonta, said recently. Easter and scheduling issues were factors leading to numbers below hoped-for totals, she said, but the overall project was a valuable learning experience in organizing, presenting and promoting an event.
And interest was generated to organize the event next year, with some changes, including having the show on campus, Hobb said.
The outdoor swimming season has arrived.
Frank Russo, executive director of the Oneonta Family YMCA, has issued a reminder to children and adults about safe practices in and around water.
The Oneonta Family Y, in recognition of National Water Safety Month in May, recommended:
* Only swim when and where a lifeguard is on duty.
* If multiple adults are in the vicinity of swimming activity, name one as a designated "water watcher" so everyone knows who is "on duty."
* Adults with children who are non-swimmers or beginning level swimmers should be in the water within arm's reach of the youngster.
* Inexperienced swimmers should wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
* Children and adults shouldn't engage in breath-holding activities in the water.
The Oneonta Y offers swim programs for a variety of skills and ages. For more information, call 432-0010.
Denise Richardson can be reached at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 213, or at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:4ef823aa-350a-4d50-afc9-a7356e096d34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thedailystar.com/localnews/x1595586106/Kids-had-to-spell-words-in-contest-that-my-spell-check-didnt-recognize | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965311 | 937 | 2.234375 | 2 |
PAL VGA source conversion to NTSC VGA?
I finally picked up a VGA monitor to work with my TOOL, but my issue is that the monitor doesn't seem to like my PAL VGA signal. I also couldn't seem to find a circuit diagram, much less a simple converter box.
Is it a simple thing to do? If anyone knows a good way to convert the video signal, do tell.
Does a thing like NTSC or PAL VGA even exist?
Originally Posted by GaijinPunch
Officially no. 50hz wasn't part of the VGA standard. If somehow you manage to send that using a VGA cable, it's not "proper" VGA anymore. Of course some monitors may have enough sync range to accept it anyway.
Originally Posted by andoba
Last edited by Lum; 05-26-2012 at 03:51 PM.
Duh. I used the wrong VGA connector. Sorry for the useless thread. | <urn:uuid:a50c7a64-d861-42b1-9613-1c6a3bd1430b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?39268-PAL-VGA-source-conversion-to-NTSC-VGA&p=584647&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934625 | 206 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Right of Election:
in the burgage-holders
Number of voters:
131 in 1685
|9 Apr. 1660||RICHARD TOLSON||81|
|Roger Boyle, Baron of Broghill||521|
|15 Apr. 1661||HUGH POTTER|
|SIR WILFRED LAWSON|
|3 Mar. 1662||ROBERT SCAWEN vice Potter, deceased|
|29 Mar. 1670||JOHN CLARKE II vice Scawen, deceased|
|8 June 1675||SIR RICHARD GRAHME, Bt., vice Clarke, deceased|
|15 Feb. 1679||SIR RICHARD GRAHME, Bt.|
|28 Aug. 1679||SIR RICHARD GRAHME, Bt.|
|3 Mar. 1681||SIR RICHARD GRAHME, Bt.|
|27 Mar. 1685||(SIR) ORLANDO GEE||114|
|SIR DANIEL FLEMING||78|
|Hon. William Wharton||702|
|12 Jan. 1689||(SIR) HENRY CAPEL|
The returning officer for Cockermouth was the bailiff, who was appointed in the court leet. Hence from the restoration of the borough in 1641 one of the seats was usually reserved for the nominee of the lords of the manor, the Percy earls of Northumberland and their heirs, who also held many of the burgages. Several local magnates had property interests in the borough, notably Sir Wilfred Lawson of Isel, Sir George Fletcher of Hutton (who owned one of the principal houses in the town), Sir Richard Grahme, and Lord Wharton.
All three candidates at the general election of 1660 supported the Restoration. Northumberland recommended Lord Broghill (Roger Boyle), an accomplished turncoat and a stranger to Cockermouth. Lawson himself was returned as knight of the shire, but his son Wilfred narrowly defeated Broghill for the junior seat in the borough. Richard Tolson, the heir to a small estate in Cumberland, was top of the poll; but the figures suggest widespread abstention among the burgage-holders. Broghill found another seat at Arundel; but on 19 Jan. 1661 Hugh Potter, one of Northumberland’s most trusted servants, wrote:
The boroughsmen of Cockermouth have subscribed a handsome address to his lordship apologizing for their going against his lordship’s recommendation in their last election of burgesses [Members], and promise to make choice of any his lordship shall recommend to them for the next.
In a letter to the electors Northumberland declared:
It did not a little trouble me to see the great offices I had done you so ill requited; but now from the assurances you give me I am willing to entertain better hopes of your behaviour towards me for the future, and therefore, according to the proffers you make to me. I have recommended my officer Hugh Potter, Esq. to be by yourselves chosen one of your burgesses for the approaching Parliament.
Tolson ‘having lately by his warrants assisted the excisemen against the inhabitants hath much lost their good opinions’, and Potter was returned as senior Member, with Sir Wilfred Lawson in second place. He died in the following year, and was replaced first by Robert Scawen, Northumberland’s man of business, and then by John Clarke, his auditor. The death of the 5th Earl in 1670, leaving a two-year-old heiress, weakened the Percy interest in the borough. When Clarke died, the dowager countess ignored the application of Broghill’s cousin Lord Ranelagh (Richard Jones), and nominated another family servant, Orlando Gee. Fletcher set up Grahme, his step-son, who had strengthened his interest by founding a free school in conjunction with Wharton. Joseph Williamson wrote to Dean Smith, who was Fletcher’s stepfather:
Besides my ancient obligations to the house of Northumberland, who have in so many occasions countenanced me and my relatives, I am so particularly a servant of Mr Gee, a person principally employed in the affairs of that family, that I owe him all the little interest I have in my friends to serve him. He has now the interest and recommendation of that family to the vacant burgess-ship of Cockermouth, and I must beg your assistance to him, as far as it properly comes in your way.
But Grahme carried the day as a country candidate against the Percy interest.3
Lawson retired at the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament, and in the Exclusion Parliaments Cockermouth was represented by Grahme and Gee. The election of February 1679 was contested by a strong loyalist, William Pennington; but Gee opposed exclusion from the first and Grahme went over to the Court, so that in 1681 no opposition was expected. After the Rye House Plot the bailiff and burgesses produced a loyal address. Grahme, who had been given a Scottish peerage as Viscount Preston, stood for the county in 1685, and Fletcher nominated for the borough his son-in-law Francis Bowes, a self-confessed Whig from county Durham, ‘whose countrymen have given a very ill character of him’. On 2 Mar. Fletcher wrote to his brother-in-law Sir Daniel Fleming:
I believe I shall please [Sir Christopher Musgrave] in my choice of a Member for Cockermouth, for since they seem so much to dislike my son Bowes I intend to propose his son. ... My Lord Wharton hath sent to see if one of his sons may be acceptable there, ... but Will Benson I think will certify him that town is engaged to me.
Musgrave already had a safe seat for his son at Appleby, and urged Fletcher to nominate either his own son Henry or Fleming. But Fletcher was determined that none of his family should stand, and eventually offered the seat to Fleming. ‘You will come in at very small charge, and have an opportunity to do yourself and family good’, he wrote. The delay had greatly strengthened the Wharton interest; Gee was comfortably head of the poll, but Fleming only scraped in by eight votes. He tipped the bailiff £10, and offered £5 more ‘in case he should not get £10 from my Lord Wharton ... for entertaining of his son William Wharton’s voters against us two’. On 22 Apr. Smith, now the bishop of Carlisle, wrote to Fleming:
There is a letter lately come down from Lord Wharton, full of acknowledgments and thanks to all and every of those persons that appeared for his son in the late election; and withal he has desired them every one to subscribe his name to a paper sent them down (in the nature of a certificate) declaring that they voted accordingly, which ... they have been a-doing ever since the letter came down, and still they are very busy about it, and wondrous jovial, care being taken by some that they want no liquor. ... It looks as if meant to question the return, and bring the matter before the committee of elections, where I trow they will meet but with little favour.
The petition was introduced on 25 May, but, as the bishop predicted, never reported.4
The Duke of Somerset, who had married the Percy heiress, fortified his interest in the summer of 1688 by a visit to Cockermouth. Sunderland recommended Gee and Pennington as court candidates. On 29 Dec. Sir John Lowther II wrote: ‘Sir Orlando Gee stands, and will not engage the Duke’s interest to hazard his own election, or increase his charge’. But he probably withdrew when he realized that the family interest was to be placed at the disposal of Sir Henry Capel, who was ‘unanimously’ returned to the Convention with Henry Fletcher.5
Author: Eveline Cruickshanks
- 1. Cumb. RO D/Lec 107.
- 2. Westmld. RO, D/Ry 2890.
- 3. D/Lec 169/1660, Potter to Benson, 19 Jan. 1661, Sir Patricius Curwen to Potter, 25 Feb. 1661; D/Lec 107, Earl of Northumberland to the burgesses, 12 Mar. 1661; Essex Pprs. (Cam. Soc. (ser. 3), xxiv. 15; Cumb. RO, Lonsdale mss, Lowther to Tickel, 8 June 1675; CSP Dom. 1675-6, p. 115.
- 4. HMC 7th Rep. 370-1; Lonsdale mss, Lowther to Lowther, 22 Jan. 1681; London Gazette, 13 Sept. 1683; D/Ry 2483, Bowes to Fleming, 16 Jan. 1682; 2858, Musgrave to Fleming, 21 Feb. 1685; 2865, 2870, Fletcher to Fleming, 2 Mar. 1685; 2908, bp. of Carlisle to Fleming, 2 Apr. 1685; HMC Le Fleming, 185, 403.
- 5. D/Ry 3217, Musgrave to Fleming, 2 July 1688; CSP Dom. 1687-9, p. 273; Yale Univ. Lib. Osborn mss, Lowther to Lowther, 29 Dec. 1688. | <urn:uuid:15e1e601-408d-4965-ab87-c84f5ed61e33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/cockermouth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961196 | 2,051 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Here is an interesting twist on Romeo and Juliet that is taking shape in England: a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Mudlark, a cell phone company. They create a Twitter version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet called Such Tweet Sorrow.
It takes place in an English market town where Juliet is posting a video on YouTube, Mercutio has lost his cell phone, Nurse is a lawyer, and Romeo is too busy play Xbox to do much tweeting.
Interesting take on modernizing this love story. Remember West Side Story? That was the 1960 version. So now you can join by following any or all of ... more...
Mutual trust is a shared belief that you can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose. [How to Build Trust]
Have you joined a lot of online communities? If so, which ones are you an active member? Why? Could trust be one part of it? Each community is designed around a purpose or shared vision. If each member realizes their personal goals are in sync with the goals or purpose of the community or their goals helped design the community goals, then each person will work to keep the community going. When there is no purpose, the community falls apart. [Purpose in Learning Communities... more...
Article adapted from my column in OnCUE Winter 2009:
The world is shrinking. Boundaries are fading between schools, organizations, and countries. The Internet has changed every sector of business and education. Businesses and governments are developing strategies to address how they are using technology in their daily operations, marketing, and future planning. Why not schools?
We are in the middle of a digital revolution. Younger generations are challenging the status quo with the words íSo what?í íIím not so sure about thatí or íWell thatís one opinion among many.í
Iím using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and My eCoach for connections to family, friends and colleagues. Yet, something is happening about how my connections are working for me and My eCoach. I am noticing that when I post something to Twitter someone might retweet it. Thatís when you see RT in front of your @twittername and the information you posted earlier reposted by someone else.
Iíve uploaded a post with a link to Twitter only to have it be retweeted several times and show up on my page again but now associated with someone else. Iíve even seen it appear in my status updates and/or ... more...
Last Comment By Barbara Bray November 9, 2009 -- 07:31 AM
I have been following different social media trying to determine what works for the learning environment and to build your personal learning network. Actually - each of the different types of social media work, but they have specific purposes.
Facebook works for personal and professional purposes depending on how you connect with others and what you post.
% of participation
Family and Close Friends
Connect and catch up with only people you know Share life and travel experiences
Post pictures Comment Participate in programs like Farmville Poke
Are more people coming to your blog via Twitter? Twitter is more of a conversation aggregator. Disqus.com aggregates a connected stream of twitter conversations about your blog post.
I am trying to follow the conversations about this session at EduBlogger Con 09 about Twitter vs Blogging. Iím going to come back and try to make the conversations flow smoother.
Why do you blog? What are you trying to flush out (beginning - middle and end)? You can do this with a blog where with a twitter gets people to learn about your blog. 140 characters is just not enough to reflect on your blog. Twitter actually ... more...
Directions: Find or create an image that captures what you are most passionate for kids to learn about.
I took this picture from the air of the Hayward salt ponds. What I like about this is how you can find beauty from most anywhere. Patterns on the ground make a real quilt to enjoy. The world looks different from above and now with Google Earth, students can find these patterns and leave a placemark with facts, images, videos, and even create an audio podcast. This picture is in our eLibrary... more...
Last Comment By Andrea Hernandez February 20, 2008 -- 06:18 AM | <urn:uuid:c5466eb5-ee48-4044-a66c-4bee19957eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.my-ecoach.com/blogs.php?action=view_blog&blog=8&catid=209 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947839 | 886 | 1.773438 | 2 |
I have aded to the PL Zoo a mini prolog interpreter. It really is minimalistic, as it only handles pure Horn clauses. There is no arithmetic, lists, cuts, or disjunctions. Nevertheless, it ought to be possible to write a miniml interpreter in it… If anyone does it, please send me [...]
I have added two new languages to the PL Zoo. The minor addition is miniml+error, which is just MiniML with an error exception (raised by division by 0) that cannot be caught. The purpose is to demonstrate handling of fatal errors during runtime. The more interesting new animal is levy (written by Matija Pretnar and myself), [...]
I have added two new languages to the Programming Languages Zoo which demonstrate polymorphic type inference and type checking with subtypes.
Continue reading Sub and Poly, two new additions to the PL Zoo
I have added another language, called Boa, to the Programming Languages Zoo. It is an object-oriented language with the following features:
- integers and booleans as base types,
- first-class functions,
- dynamically typed,
- objects are extensible records with mutable fields,
- there are no classes, instead we can define “prototype” objects and extend them
to create instances.
Continue reading An object-oriented language Boa
I teach Theory of Programing Languages (page in Slovene). For the course I implemented languages which demonstrate basic concepts such as parsing, type checking, type inference, dynamic types, evaluation strategies, and compilation. My teaching assistant Iztok Kavkler contributed to the source code as well. I decided to publish the source code as a Programming Language Zoo for anyone who wants to know more about design and implementation of programming languages.
Continue reading The Programming Languages Zoo | <urn:uuid:3a35e380-0689-4188-aea8-fd9e99017a20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://math.andrej.com/category/software/plzoo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918187 | 372 | 2.046875 | 2 |
DARK ZONE TO FLOW
Few words of a wise old-man spoken to Rajendra Singh changed the path of Tarun Bharat Sangh’s approach towards development. After that TBS never look back. It is ‘Johad’ which made TBS a champion in the sphere of Rain-Water Harvesting. Till today, TBS constructed around 10,000 of johads with the contribution of villagers.
The impact of 25 years of tireless effort has brought about a significant increased from an officially marked “dark zone” to “a water surplus” zone.
Now begin with the story of the rivulet Arvari. The first step to make this stream alive was taken in 1987 by constructing a small Johad in a village Bhaota. Later seeing the advantage of johad, many villagers came forward to build such structures in their own areas. Now there was simply a craze for johads. And to this date, there are 375 RWH structures in the catchment area of the river Arvari.
Water in RWH structures raised the water table in the entire catchment area of the river. This in turn, enriched the forest in the same area. Forests and scrubs helped to retard the run-offs of monsoon waters. This way, in a decade, the river Arvari came to life from a dried up dead water-course. Today, the river-flow continues the year round.
Expert opinion R.N.Athavale, emeritus scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, assessed the work done by TBS. His aim was to gauge the changes brought about by the RWH structures through certain estimates of the water balance of a typical river in the area. Here are some of his findings:
- Before TBS’s intervention in encouraging RWH, 35 per cent of the rainwater was lost immediately as seasonal run-off. Another 50 per cent was lost due to evaporation or transpiration.
- Only 15 per cent of the rainfall naturally recharged the groundwater. Of this, 5 per cent became soil moisture, as the soil was too dry. Another 5 per cent constituted the base flow, implying the amount of groundwater returned to the surface stream or river. Of the remaining 5 per cent, some parts were tapped by wells and used, but the rest percolated to depths below the wells and stream beds.
- After RWH structures were built, there was an additional recharge of groundwater to the tune of 20 per cent.
- Though the base flow to the stream or river remained the same, there was an additional seepage (effluent seepage) of 17 per cent of rainfall to the river in non-monsoon months. This phenomenon contributed to the revival of the River Aravari and made it perennial.
- Seasonal run-off has come down from 35 per cent of the rainwater to only 10 per cent.
- There has been an increase in soil moisture: an additional 5 per cent of the rainwater is retained in the soil. Groundwater table has risen.
- In all 5 per cent of the total rainwater is being used for irrigation, one-third of which is returned to the ground. It should be noted that the villagers have not been unscrupulous in drawing out groundwater.
About 22 per cent of the run-off (excluding the 10 per cent seasonal run-off during the monsoon) is better regulated and spread out over the year. This has been crucial in reviving the Arvari. If this run-off had not been regulated, the river would not flow throughout the year. This shows how fragile the ecosystem is. | <urn:uuid:0ca603cb-f323-43e3-8131-8cd9c9e3f6c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tarunbharatsangh.org/dark%20zone%20to%20flow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962846 | 767 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Sue Rhodes is director of communications for the Commonwealth Local Government Forum
What is economic development? When we were discussing local economic development (LED) at our commonwealth local government conference last year, we defined LED as "a process which brings together different partners in a local area to work together and harness resources for sustainable economic growth". Approaches should reflect local needs and circumstances.
Councils should be community leaders: They should bring together the different sectors and expertise within their areas. They do not necessarily have to have all the skills within, but know how to lead and create the right environment to encourage business and skills development. They have local knowledge about where opportunities might arise.
Councillor Tony Samuels is cabinet member for regeneration at Surrey county council
Take equity stakes in estate assets: This would provide access to finance and allow councils to capture the market value rather than book value of new projects. It would also ensure new revenue streams to support services.
Sharing information and working together is essential: It is an ethos that must pervade into the public sector as swiftly as possible. Not only are economies of scale achievable but we reap the benefits of other councils' skills and expertise which can benefit us all.
James Doe is assistant director for planning, development and regeneration at Dacorum borough council
Securing investment: Authorities must have development and investment schemes ready to go when funding schemes are announced. The most recent example of this was through the national £0.5bn 'growing places' fund which was delegated down to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs). Not all authorities were in a position to bid. We were, because of our advance plans for the Maylands project, which came from imagination, commitment and investment upfront.
Philip Monaghan is founder of Infrangilis, a consultancy and thinktank working on resilience strategy
Low rise carbon special enterprise zones: These are one of the most interesting examples of local economic development work around the world, from Liverpool to Toronto. They are boosting local economies through smarter spatial planning and asset management, re-branding and use of local business relationships creating new areas to harness innovation and trade in low-carbon good and services – energy efficiency, water conservation, waste treatment and so on.
Central government vs local government: Central government is not always best placed to lead on the growth agenda. There are numerous examples from around the UK and the world where the local government is doing a better job. For example where local government is more strategic and innovative than the state. This means the state can do more to listen to and empower local government when formulating and delivering its national growth strategy.
Nye Cominetti is a researcher at the Work Foundation
Should local authorities compete? The new LEP structures demand co-operation. LEPs arecollections of local authority areas. Given the new competitive regime for bidding into central government money for economic development, authorities on LEPs must work together to produce successful bids if they are to secure any funding for projects at all. I've found that, within some LEPs, council represenatives are reluctant to work together in this way, and understandably (as elected politicians) want to act in the interests of their area first, rather than the wider LEP area.
Business rate retention: The new business rate retention scheme being introduced in theory gives local authorities a powerful incentive to compete for new businesses. Any business border hopping they can encourage could have a real impact on their revenue.
How can branding help? It's very important for inward investment purposes, but interestingly perhaps also for attracting public money. The Smith Institute suggested that the east midlands was failing to land much regional growth fund or capital housing money because it had no unified 'identity' or 'brand' as a region, which contributed to its not having the ear of central government.
Peter Manning is head of international trade at Essex county council
Setting up a link with another country is not difficult: Making the link work is. There are many Chinese cities and regions looking for partners in the UK, but unfortunately the outcome is usually civic incoming visits that take up time and lead nowhere. I'd advise any area looking for a link to consider how they will fund it to the point where it gets beyond civic exchanges.
Doing business with China: It takes time and [a track record of] successful projects to get to the point where real business happens as a result of the link. It must be clear at the outset where what the basis for exchange is, otherwise a link will not have any chance of producing results. Jiangsu Province is leading the development of wind energy and offshore wind in China, while Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex is leading the development of the UK offshore wind industry.
There is a basis for exchange: There are also economies of scale that you will need to consider: as you see, we are teamed up with Norfolk and Suffolk county councils on this work. If you want to use a link to promote exports, for example, there have to be enough businesses in your area that are ready and able to do business. In fact, the numbers in this category are quite small, which is one reason why we work with other counties. We then combine our advantages to put a package together.
No-one knows how to create growth at the macro level: It is also true that there is no template for local economic development and that efforts need to be built around local opportunities and the drive of willing people and organisations. Counties should be bullish about their role in attracting inward investment and promoting exports.
You can read the discussion in full here
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Join the local government network for more comment, analysis and best practice direct to you | <urn:uuid:01597b85-deaa-46cb-8c70-287d5606d183> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/local-government-network/2012/sep/29/round-up-economic-development | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955464 | 1,165 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Korean electronics giant Samsung announced this week that it would be one of the sponsors of Israel’s Olympic team, as an extension of Samsung’s sponsorship of the Summer Olympics in London.
In order to demonstrate its “commitment to the success of Israel’s 38-strong Olympic team,” Samsung has produced a smartphone app that will allow Israelis to communicate directly with the athletes. In a ceremony Sunday, the athletes received Samsung Galaxy S III phones, which they will use to get the messages of support sent by fans in Israel. The app — which aggregates messages on the athletes’ Facebook pages — will send messages in real-time, giving the athletes a morale boost when they need it most, said Barak Palachi, marketing director of Samsung Israel.
The app, made for Android phones, will be available from the Samsung website beginning next week.
The app is part of a major advertising campaign being sponsored by Samsung Israel surrounding the Olympics, on which the company is spending NIS 3 million. According to one advertising expert, that is a hefty sum for an Israeli marketing campaign that will last for about three weeks.
“Samsung already has a large presence in the Israeli market, and is considered one of the premium brands in the country today in electronics, like televisions,” said Tzach Cohen, who manages a Tel Aviv advertising firm. “The company’s biggest concern now is upending Apple in the mobile market, promoting its new S3 [smartphone] model. With the publicity from this app and advertising campaign, Samsung will certainly get attention and goodwill.”
As one of the top sponsors of the Games, Samsung “purchased” one of the eight Olympic torches, and a company representative will present it at the Games when they begin on July 27. The torch was on display in Israel last month for several days.
Although Israel is one of its smaller markets, Korean electronics giant Samsung has gone out of its way to be a good corporate citizen here. For example, the company recently sponsored a “smart house” in Jerusalem, highlighting Samsung technologies, at a cost of over a million shekels. There are also several Samsung-subsidized programs for children and youth to learn high-tech skills.
|Like us on Facebook||Get our newsletter||Follow us on Twitter| | <urn:uuid:2ba49046-bb94-464b-acf0-038842ca5f9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesofisrael.com/seeking-customers-and-goodwill-samsung-supports-israeli-olympic-hopefuls/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949599 | 486 | 1.5625 | 2 |
It's a large building full of large machines
It was built to do heavy maintenance on steam locomotives. Of course, that's all they had back then
Now The Arkansas Railroad Museum, it was once the heart of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway yard in Pine Bluff.
And on these very tracks - they built massive steam locomotives.
"In fact they had to add on to the building, says Bill McCaskill. "There are three tracks in this building that are longer than the rest of the tracks. And that's due to the fact that they had to add on to the building in able to get the engines in here."
McCaskill worked for the St. Louis Southwestern for more than 4 decades. Now he's a volunteer at the museum. And if you ask nicely, he'll give you an expert tour of the oversize exhibits.
"That's in forward, explains McCaskill. "You widen out on the throttle here. You may feel it pull a little bit and you'll back off a little bit and then you'll just gradually work on up. And that's wide open. That's doin' all she can."
But the pride of the museum is the last locomotive ever assembled here. The 819 is a massive machine. First finished in 1943, it was restored in the 80's and remained in working condition into the 90's. And for it's time, the 819 came with all the options.
McCaskill points out, "It's called a rail washer. This pipe right here would blow water on the rail to blow sand off the rail. This pipe is a sand pipe that would put sand down to get your traction. So this engine had the sand washer on it. You'd use your sand and it would wash it off."
"It's a curiosity to everyone. Nearly everyone in the building has to go in it and go inside to see how it operates, "Elizabeth Gaines is fond of the museum's snowplow.
She's one of the caretakers at the museum, watching both young and old roam among the 100 thousand ton displays.
Gaines says, "There's a lot of people that come in with a lot of memories. Then there's a lot of people who come in without a clue."
A clue about how important rail travel was in our country - about how many companies operated routes to different places - or about how luxurious a mode of transportation train travel could be.
The old Cotton Belt Route stayed in operation until 1992.
And though almost a generation ago, memories of the St. Louis Southwestern and the heyday of train travel remain alive.
The Arkansas Railroad Museum will leave you Amazed by Arkansas. | <urn:uuid:ae0da21e-3973-492f-863e-d3cffd617915> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thv11.com/featured/amazed/article/126204/198/Amazed-By-Arkansas-Arkansas-Railroad-Museum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978137 | 568 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Messages from Nancy Brown and Clyde Yancy MD
Learn how heart disease has improved – and why we still have work to do – in these videos from Clyde Yancy, MD, Past President, American Heart Association, and Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association. Find out why the American Heart Association created the simple seven steps you need to get healthy and create a life success plan, then see which steps you need to take to reach your best health potential.
See Clyde Yancy, MD
See Nancy Brown
No matter where you stand, it’s never too late to make better choices for your health and we invite you to start a new life resolution now. All you need is a goal, a plan and the desire to live better. That’s why we created My Life Check and the Simple Seven. Thanks to the science and research volunteers of the American Heart Association, we have created a simple tool so you know where you stand on your road to good health. All of us need to practice these seven steps to live a heart-healthy life, and no one achieves heart health by accident.
To find out where you stand with the Simple Seven goals, just take the My Life Check assessment. In a few minutes, you will know how you’re doing with each one of Life’s Simple Seven. You will also get your own personal heart score and life plan. Your results will show you where you stand on the seven recommended areas of focus and will create an action plan that is customized to your lifestyle and health outlook. Your last step is a promise to yourself: a resolution to start making healthy, positive changes for a long, healthy future.
Remember, you can stop heart disease before it even starts. Start small. And keep it simple. Make one change today and then you’re ready to make another. Before you know it you’ve stopped making poor choices, and started making life choices! | <urn:uuid:ba187482-de58-4419-8416-ec32d13349bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mylifecheck.heart.org/AboutUs.aspx?NavID=2&CultureCode=en-US | 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 | 0.914409 | 396 | 1.679688 | 2 |
ALPHA® Exactalloy® Tape & Reel Solder Preforms
An Ideal Assembly Solution
Tape & Reel Solder Preforms enable your ability to selectively increase solder volume using standard assembly equipment, and improve your PCB’s first pass yield, time to market, and product reliability.
Preforms In SMT Reflow
The preform is placed into the printed solder paste during PCB assembly much like a chip capacitor is placed using standard pick and place component libraries and equipment. The preform does not need to be inserted completely into the paste, which allows for greater placement flexibility during assembly.
Elimination of Wave Soldering
Many connectors and through hole devices are now available as reflow capable, which enables the reflow soldering of these devices, thus eliminating wave soldering. 100% hole fill is routinely achieved with a wide variety of pin and hole ratios, even for thick PCBs. Preforms complement printed solder paste to provide adequate solder volume. Eliminate pin shorts, inadequate hole fill, and the cost of wave soldering!
Use our Elimination of Wave Value In Use Calculator to see where you can create value in your process by eliminating wave soldering. | <urn:uuid:9faba5e0-6fdd-48fb-ad72-81004738ae45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alpha.alent.com/Products/Preforms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90533 | 245 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is complicit in crimes committed against the American people on behalf of the London-centered financial system, especially around the LIBOR rate fixing fiasco. Those crimes must be punished and Glass-Steagall must be implemented immediately.
Lyndon LaRouche issued the following remarks regarding the breaking developments coming out of Britain and their proposal that the United States join them in establishing a classical Glass-Steagall banking reorganization of the transatlantic financial system immediately. For more on LaRouche's response, click here.
The following is trailer to an upcoming documentary which tells the story of the conflict in Syria, which is a conflict not about Syria or Assad; it is about continuing an operation left unbroken by the forces behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
The real story surrounding the news that the London Interbank Offering Rate was manipulated is that the financial system that mechanism is a part has died, and a return to the Glass-Steagall Act in both London and the United States is the first step to replacing that system. For more on LIBOR see the LIBOR Package
A fundamental shift has occurred internationally which could very well mean death to the British Empire, and the LaRouche movement internationally has been at the center of it.
LPAC correspondent Tarrajna Dorsey reports from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she is part of an organizing team returning to Arizona for a second time to conduct outreach to professors and experts concerning the building of NAWAPA. | <urn:uuid:4e781126-a435-44b6-8449-514efeaa5de4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://larouchepac.com/node/16422?page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948672 | 311 | 1.539063 | 2 |
[Footnote 395: Ashley, Palmerston, II, 218-19. On October 30, Russell wrote to Gladstone expressing himself as worried about cotton but stating that the North was about to try to take New Orleans and thus release cotton. (Gladstone Papers).]
[Footnote 396: Bancroft, Seward, II, p. 219. Bancroft cites also a letter from Seward to his wife showing that he appreciated thoroughly the probability of a foreign war if France should press on in the line taken.]
[Footnote 397: F.O., America, Vol. 773. No. 623. Confidential. Lyons to Russell, Nov. 4, 1861.]
[Footnote 398: Ibid., No. 634. Confidential. Lyons to Russell, Nov. 8, 1861. In truth Lyons felt something of that suspicion of France indicated by Cowley, and for both men these suspicions date from the moment when France seemed lukewarm in support of England in the matter of Bunch.]
The Trent affair seemed to Great Britain like the climax of American arrogance. The Confederate agents sent to Europe at the outbreak of the Civil War had accomplished little, and after seven months of waiting for a more favourable turn in foreign relations, President Davis determined to replace them by two “Special Commissioners of the Confederate States of America.” These were James M. Mason of Virginia, for Great Britain, and John Slidell of Louisiana, for France. Their appointment indicated that the South had at last awakened to the need of a serious foreign policy. It was publicly and widely commented on by the Southern press, thereby arousing an excited apprehension in the North, almost as if the mere sending of two new men with instructions to secure recognition abroad were tantamount to the actual accomplishment of their object.
Mason and Slidell succeeded in running the blockade at Charleston on the night of October 12, 1861, on the Confederate steamer Theodora, and arrived at New Providence, Nassau, on the fourteenth, thence proceeded by the same vessel to Cardenas, Cuba, and from that point journeyed overland to Havana, arriving October 22. In the party there were, besides the two envoys, their secretaries, McFarland and Eustis, and the family of Slidell. On November 7 they sailed for the Danish island of St. Thomas, expecting thence to take a British steamer for Southampton. The vessel on which they left Havana was the British contract mail-packet Trent, whose captain had full knowledge of the diplomatic character of his passengers. About noon on November 8 the Trent was stopped in the Bahama Channel by the United States sloop of war, San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes commanding, by a shot across the bows, and a boarding party took from the Trent Mason and Slidell with their secretaries, transferred them to the San Jacinto, and proceeded to an American port. Protest was | <urn:uuid:f3130001-f742-4c94-a35c-dcbc62462cdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/13789/143.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960984 | 600 | 1.867188 | 2 |
PyroManiac devotes Monday space to highlights from .
Here's an excerpt one of the last sermons Spurgeon ever preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. This was preached on April 19, 1891less than a year before Spurgeon's death. Spurgeon was embroiled in a great theological conflict at the time. It was the height of the "Down-Grade Controversy."
The sermon's theme is spiritual warfare. That, of course, has also been the central motif here at PyroManiac for several days. In this introduction to his sermon, Spurgeon makes some excellent points about the Christian's weaponry, the futility of compromise, and the need to stand.
Lord willing, we'll follow up some of these thoughts in Tuesday's post. In the meantime, if you want to read more of Spurgeon's sermon, the text is Ephesians 6:17 ("take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"); the title is "The Sword of the Spirit," and you'll find the complete sermon at .
TO BE A CHRISTIAN is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, "This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition."
Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground; for the apostle, two or three times, bids us"Stand." In the rush of the fight, men are apt to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will be victorious; but if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries, everything is lost.
You are to put on the heavenly armor in order that you may stand; and you will need it to maintain the position in which your Captain has placed you. If even to stand requires all this care, judge ye what the warfare must be!
The apostle also speaks of withstanding as well as standing. We are not merely to defend, but also to assail. It is not enough that you are not conquered; you have to conquer: and hence we find, that we are to take, not only a helmet to protect the head, but also a sword, with which to annoy the foe.
Ours, therefore, is a stern conflict, standing and withstanding; and we shall want all the armor from the divine magazine, all the strength from the mighty God of Jacob.
It is clear from our text that our defense and our conquest must be obtained by sheer fighting. Many try compromise; but if you are a true Christian, you can never do this business well. The language of deceit fits not a holy tongue. The adversary is the father of lies, and those that are with him understand the art of equivocation; but saints abhor it.
If we discuss terms of peace, and attempt to gain something by policy, we have entered upon a course from which we shall return in disgrace. We have no order from our Captain to patch up a truce, and get as good terms as we can. We are not sent out to offer concessions.
It is said that if we yield a little, perhaps the world will yield a little also, and good may come of it. If we are not too strict and narrow, perhaps sin will kindly consent to be more decent. Our association with it will prevent its being so barefaced and atrocious. If we are not narrow-minded, our broad doctrine will go down with the world, and those on the other side will not be so greedy of error as they now are.
No such thing. Assuredly this is not the order which our Captain has issued. When peace is to be made, he will make it himself, or he will tell us how to behave to that end; but at present our orders are very different.
Neither may we hope to gain by being neutral, or granting an occasional truce. We are not to cease from conflict, and try to be as agreeable as we can with our Lord's foes, frequenting their assemblies, and tasting their dainties. No such orders are written here. You are to grasp your weapon, and go forth to fight.
Neither may you so much as dream of winning the battle by accident. No man was ever holy by a happy chance. Infinite damage may be done by carelessness; but no man ever won life's battle by it. To let things go on as they please, is to let them bear us down to hell. We have no orders to be quiet, and take matters easily. No; we are to pray always, and watch constantly.
The one note that rings out from the text is this:TAKE THE SWORD! TAKE THE SWORD! No longer is it, talk and debate! No longer is it, parley and compromise! The word of thunder isTake the sword. The Captain's voice is clear as a trumpetTake the sword! No Christian man here will have been obedient to our text unless with clear, sharp, and decisive firmness, courage, and resolve, he takes the sword. We must go to heaven sword in hand, all the way. "TAKE THE SWORD." On this command I would enlarge. May the Holy Spirit help me!
It is noteworthy that there is only one weapon of offense provided, although there are several pieces of armor. The Roman soldier usually carried a spear as well as a sword. We have seen frequent representations of the legionary standing upon guard as sentry, and he almost always stands with a spear in his right hand, while his sword hangs at his side. But Paul, for excellent reasons, concentrates our offensive weapon in one, because it answers for all. We are to use the sword, and that only.
Therefore, if you are going to this fight, see well to your only weapon. If you are to have no other, take care that you have this always in your hand. | <urn:uuid:014da13b-9fdb-4661-90ff-71a4a7f6a801> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977032 | 1,277 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Your Favourite Photoshop Tutorials in One Place
Create a Special Shape in Hair Style
Under Drawing Effect, Photoshop Tutorial
Different shapes can be created in different styles. It is good to be used some innovative ideas to create your design. Here this tutorial will teach you how to use hair to shape a tick style.
It is not easy to paint a nice drawing due to it requires a lot of painting and photoshop skills. To paint a portrait and image, they are more or less required similar skills. The idea is to paint them layer by layer like adding shading and shadow effects.
It is going to show you a tutorial called Future Retro for the sake. The style in pitching a poster and overall look for a night at a local club are employed. The source is very simple. Just a helmet picture, some drawing and photoshop techniques are included.
In this tutorial, it will display the process to paint and improve an art. And also, this tutorial will give you an idea to process the paint in the way you want. This art is reworked and the image is improved with these important modifications.
What do you need to design your dream car? you need to prepare a hand draft and then paint like other digital paintings. To make a special car, the look and shape cannot be similar to normal one. This tutorial will demonstrate you some enlargements for details.
This tutorial is going to show how to create some excellent lighting and fire effects for the image. It is not difficult to do. You just need to add the fire image and produce special light using brushes for the image. And these can be applied to any image you like.
Create a new document the size you want your simcards to be, select the rounded rectangle tool and draw out your rectangle, fill with your choice of color. Select the simcard layer and cut the corner off. You should then have something like this. | <urn:uuid:cd468774-00ad-40f4-b47b-b37fc173f995> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.photoshoplady.com/photoshop-tutorial/create-a-special-shape-in-hair-style/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922222 | 389 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Soleto Map. Photo from the Daily Telegraph.
The map is of the heel of Italy. You can tell because of the “ΤΑΡΑΣ” on the left of the sherd, which is the label for Taras, modern Taranto. The other places are in the local language, Messapian. It’s exciting because it dates back to around 500BC. This puts it in an era when Greek cities in Southern Italy were firmly established.
This is being taken as more evidence that the Messapians were from Illyria, a region just to the north of classical Greece. The language of the Messapi is very similar to Illyrian dialects. I’m wary of mapping linguistic groups onto ethnicities. I speak a Germanic language, but I’m pretty certain that doesn’t make me German. Also evidence from Iron Age Britain shows that language can travel without necessarily having large movements of people.
What I don’t know is who wrote it. It was in Greek, so you’d guess a Greek. But could the natives be using the Greek alphabet for their own means, just like the Greeks copied the Phoenician alphabet a few years earlier? If this is the case could this be a native map rather than a Greek map? There is a tendency to blame Pythagoras for a lot of the innovation that happens in the western colonies, while innovation in the east is the product of interaction with the Persians and Babylonians. Might mapping like this be assumed by later (Greek) historians to have been a Greek invention because of their low opinion of the natives of the west? I have a feeling this idea is wrong but it can’t just be dismissed out of hand. I’m off to email someone who will know better.
Additional: I’ve just noted, it is interesting how neatly the symbol for sea matches the symbol for Aquarius. Given that this is a conceptual symbol borrowed by the Greeks from the East it makes it more likely (to me) to be a Greek hand that scratched this than a native. The natives could have borrowed the Aquarius symbol along with the alphabet, but it’s another step to make. I suppose the symbol is also suggestive of water, but the spikiness makes it unlike the waves of the sea. The O in “Otan” does show the inscriber could have scratched curves if he wished.Google+ | <urn:uuid:0d386245-eda4-4971-8bf2-79ca720f118e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alunsalt.com/2005/11/18/oldest-western-map/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962964 | 515 | 3.453125 | 3 |
With the advent of autumn comes an annual spectacle in the regional parks and elsewhere -- the march of the mating tarantulas.
You may spot the large, hairy spiders making slow progress across parkland roads and trails. Those are likely the males. The females wait in their silk-lined boudoirs for the gentleman callers.
Tarantulas are interesting spiders. Despite their intimidating appearance, they are actually docile and reclusive. They live underground in daytime, usually emerging only at night to hunt for the small insects that comprise their diet.
Males mature between ages 7 and 10 years. Then, during September and October, they venture forth in search of females that are ready to lay eggs. Tarantula sexuality can be especially unsafe, because the girl sometimes dines on her partner afterward. Even if she doesn't, males die within a year of mating. Females can live as long as 30 years.
Neither sex lives happily ever after if there's an encounter with a tarantula hawk. This is a variety of wasp that hunts the spider, delivers a paralyzing sting, then lays eggs on the live but helpless victim to provide a meal for the wasp larvae when the eggs hatch.
If you see a tarantula while you're walking in the parks, spider-watch to your heart's content, but please don't disturb the creature in any way. One disincentive to handling tarantulas is their defense mechanism -- irritant hairs on their abdomens that they can scatter
If you'd like to learn more about tarantulas and meet one under safe circumstances, naturalist aide Morgan Evans is hosting a program from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Environmental Education Center in Tilden Nature Area, Berkeley. The center is at the north end of Central Park Drive. For more information, call 510-544-2233.
LEONA HEIGHTS: The oldest redwood tree in the East Bay is located in the Oakland Hills. It's hard to hike to, but you can see it from a distance during a walk from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday starting in Leona Canyon and continuing to Oakland's Leona Heights Park, led by naturalist Michael Charnofsky.
The free hike is a five-miler, designed for ages 8 and older. Meet at the Canyon Oaks Drive staging area off Keller Avenue in Oakland. For more information, call 510-544-3187.
CRAB COVE: Insects will be the Catch of the Day on Saturday and Sunday at Crab Cove Visitor Center in Alameda. Catch of the Day programs are scheduled there from 2 to 3 p.m. every weekend of the year, with special activities on Oct. 27 and 28 for Halloween. All "catches" are nature programs led by the visitor center staff. The fish get fed from 3 to 3:30 p.m.
Located at 1252 McKay Ave. off Central Avenue in Alameda, Crab Cove has exhibits and aquaria showcasing the wildlife of San Francisco Bay and the history of Alameda. For more information, call 510-544-3187.
ARDENWOOD: As mentioned in my last column, Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont stages its annual Harvest Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Diversions will include magic shows, cider pressing, live music, horse-drawn train rides, and corn harvesting.
Ardenwood is located at 34600 Ardenwood Boulevard, just north of Highway 84 in Fremont. Entry to the festival costs $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 62 and older, $5 for children ages 4 through 17, and free for 3 years and under. Parking is free. For information, call 888-327-2757, ext. 2797.
BLACK DIAMOND: Traces of the once-bustling 19th century mining town of Somersville will be explored during a walk from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in Antioch, led by naturalist Bob Kanagaki.
The program is free, geared for ages seven and older. Meet Bob in the parking lot at the end of Somersville Road, four miles south of Highway 4 in Antioch. For information, call 888-327-2757, ext. 2750.
BRIONES: Experience the beauty of Briones Regional Park at dusk during a short hike from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday led by naturalist James Wilson. If you come, bring water and wear comfortable hiking shoes. Meet James at the Bear Creek staging area off Bear Creek Road east of Orinda Village.
The hike is free of charge. For information, call 510-544-2233.
BROOKS ISLAND: Here's an activity for experienced boaters who can provide their own kayaks and safety gear. It's an exploration of Brooks Island off the Richmond Marina, led by naturalist "Trail Gail" Broesder.
Brooks Island has an unusual cultural and natural history, plus panoramic views from its highest point.
The trip is from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20. It's limited to ages 14 and older and parent participation is required. There's a fee of $20 per person ($22 for nondistrict residents); registration is required. For registration and information, call 888-327-2757. Select option 2 and refer to program number 30297.
GRANT DENIED: In a previous column I mentioned that the East Bay Regional Park District, in partnership with other agencies and organizations, had applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a Get Outdoors (GO!) Network for Kids Health.
Unfortunately, the district has learned that the grant application was not approved. The process was very competitive; out of 40 grants nationwide, only four were awarded in California.
Park district staff has received a lot of positive comments about the proposed GO! program, which is aimed at encouraging kids to improve their health and fitness through outdoor activity. So district staff will continue to seek other funding support for it. Partners in the effort are the Oakland Unified Schools, West Contra Costa Unified School District, Alameda County Office of Education, Children's Hospital Oakland, EcoVillage and UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health.
Ned MacKay writes a regular column about East Bay Regional Park District sites and activities. Email him at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:14d72ec7-bcb5-4383-bf63-cd2af3c5b55a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidebayarea.com/piedmont/ci_21749820/park-it-dont-disturb-its-tarantula-mating-season | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944786 | 1,363 | 2.296875 | 2 |
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 66, Issue 4, 1 April 2000, Pages 1259-1272
Roxana Moslehi, William Chu, Beth Karlan, David Fishman, Harvey Risch, Abbie Fields, David Smotkin, Yehuda Ben-David, Jacalyn Rosenblatt, Donna Russo, Peter Schwartz, Nadine Tung, Ellen Warner, Barry Rosen, Jan Friedman, Jean-Sébastien Brunet and Steven A. Narod
Ovarian cancer is a component of the autosomal-dominant hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome and may be due to a mutation in either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Two mutations in BRCA1 (185delAG and 5382insC) and one mutation in BRCA2 (6174delT) are common in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. One of these three mutations is present in ∼2% of the Jewish population. Each mutation is associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer, and it is expected that a significant proportion of Jewish women with ovarian cancer will carry one of these mutations. To estimate the proportion of ovarian cancers attributable to founding mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the Jewish population and the familial cancer risks associated with each, we interviewed 213 Jewish women with ovarian cancer at 11 medical centers in North America and Israel and offered these women genetic testing for the three founder mutations. To establish the presence of nonfounder mutations in this population, we also completed the protein-truncation test on exon 11 of BRCA1 and exons 10 and 11 of BRCA2. We obtained a detailed family history on all women we studied who had cancer and on a control population of 386 Ashkenazi Jewish women without ovarian or breast cancer. A founder mutation was present in 41.3% of the women we studied. The cumulative incidence of ovarian cancer to age 75 years was found to be 6.3% for female first-degree relatives of the patients with ovarian cancer, compared with 2.0% for the female relatives of healthy controls (relative risk 3.2; 95% CI 1.5–6.8; P=.002). The relative risk to age 75 years for breast cancer among the female first-degree relatives was 2.0 (95% CI 1.4–3.0; P=.0001). Only one nonfounder mutation was identified (in this instance, in a woman of mixed ancestry), and the three founding mutations accounted for most of the observed excess risk of ovarian and breast cancer in relatives.
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (987 kb)
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 68, Issue 3, 1 March 2001, Pages 700-710
Harvey A. Risch, John R. McLaughlin, David E.C. Cole, Barry Rosen, Linda Bradley, Elaine Kwan, Elaine Jack, Danny J. Vesprini, Graciela Kuperstein, John L.A. Abrahamson, Isabel Fan, Betty Wong and Steven A. Narod
A population-based series of 649 unselected incident cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in Ontario, Canada, during 1995–96 was screened for germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. We specifically tested for 11 of the most commonly reported mutations in the two genes. Then, cases were assessed with the protein-truncation test (PTT) for exon 11 of BRCA1, with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis for the remainder of BRCA1, and with PTT for exons 10 and 11 of BRCA2. No mutations were found in all 134 women with tumors of borderline histology. Among the 515 women with invasive cancers, we identified 60 mutations, 39 in BRCA1 and 21 in BRCA2. The total mutation frequency among women with invasive cancers, 11.7% (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 9.2%–14.8%), is higher than previous estimates. Hereditary ovarian cancers diagnosed at age <50 years were mostly (83%) due to BRCA1, whereas the majority (60%) of those diagnosed at age >60 years were due to BRCA2. Mutations were found in 19% of women reporting first-degree relatives with breast or ovarian cancer and in 6.5% of women with no affected first-degree relatives. Risks of ovarian, breast, and stomach cancers and leukemias/lymphomas were increased nine-, five-, six- and threefold, respectively, among first-degree relatives of cases carrying BRCA1 mutations, compared with relatives of noncarriers, and risk of colorectal cancer was increased threefold for relatives of cases carrying BRCA2 mutations. For carriers of BRCA1 mutations, the estimated penetrance by age 80 years was 36% for ovarian cancer and 68% for breast cancer. In breast-cancer risk for first-degree relatives, there was a strong trend according to mutation location along the coding sequence of BRCA1, with little evidence of increased risk for mutations in the 5′ fifth, but 8.8-fold increased risk for mutations in the 3′ fifth (95%CI 3.6–22.0), corresponding to a carrier penetrance of essentially 100%. Ovarian, colorectal, stomach, pancreatic, and prostate cancer occurred among first-degree relatives of carriers of BRCA2 mutations only when mutations were in the ovarian cancer–cluster region (OCCR) of exon 11, whereas an excess of breast cancer was seen when mutations were outside the OCCR. For cancers of all sites combined, the estimated penetrance of BRCA2 mutations was greater for males than for females, 53% versus 38%. Past studies may have underestimated the contribution of BRCA2 to ovarian cancer, because mutations in this gene cause predominantly late-onset cancer, and previous work has focused more on early-onset disease. If confirmed in future studies, the trend in breast-cancer penetrance, according to mutation location along the BRCA1 coding sequence, may have significant impact on treatment decisions for carriers of BRCA1-mutations. As well, BRCA2 mutations may prove to be a greater cause of cancer in male carriers than previously has been thought.
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (124 kb)
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 63, Issue 5, 1 November 1998, Pages 1341-1351
Patricia N. Tonin, Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, P. Andrew Futreal, Kenneth Morgan, Michelle Mahon, William D. Foulkes, David E.C. Cole, Diane Provencher, Parviz Ghadirian and Steven A. Narod
We have identified four mutations in each of the breast cancer–susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, in French Canadian breast cancer and breast/ovarian cancer families from Quebec. To identify founder effects, we examined independently ascertained French Canadian cancer families for the distribution of these eight mutations. Mutations were found in 41 of 97 families. Six of eight mutations were observed at least twice. The BRCA1 C4446T mutation was the most common mutation found, followed by the BRCA2 8765delAG mutation. Together, these mutations were found in 28 of 41 families identified to have a mutation. The odds of detection of any of the four BRCA1 mutations was 18.7× greater if one or more cases of ovarian cancer were also present in the family. The odds of detection of any of the four BRCA2 mutations was 5.3× greater if there were at least five cases of breast cancer in the family. Interestingly, the presence of a breast cancer case <36 years of age was strongly predictive of the presence of any of the eight mutations screened. Carriers of the same mutation, from different families, shared similar haplotypes, indicating that the mutant alleles were likely to be identical by descent for a mutation in the founder population. The identification of common BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations will facilitate carrier detection in French Canadian breast cancer and breast/ovarian cancer families.
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (449 kb)
Copyright © 1999 The American Society of Human Genetics All rights reserved.
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 64, Issue 4, 963-970, 1 April 1999
1 Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Statistics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
2 Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Three founder mutations in the cancer-associated genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 occur frequently enough among Ashkenazi Jews to warrant consideration of genetic testing outside the setting of high-risk families with multiple cases of breast or ovarian cancer. We estimated the prevalence of these founder mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the general population of Ashkenazi Jews according to age at testing, personal cancer history, and family cancer history. We compared the results of anonymous genetic testing of blood samples obtained in a survey of >5,000 Jewish participants from the Washington, DC, area with personal and family cancer histories obtained from questionnaires completed by the participants. In all subgroups defined by age and cancer history, fewer mutations were found in this community sample than in clinical series studied to date. For example, 11 (10%) of 109 Jewish women who had been given a diagnosis of breast cancer in their forties carried one of the mutations. The most important predictor of mutation status was a previous diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer. In men and in women never given a diagnosis of cancer, family history of breast cancer before age 50 years was the strongest predictor. As interest in genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the Jewish community broadens, community-based estimates such as these help guide those seeking and those offering such testing. Even with accurate estimates of the likelihood of carrying a mutation and the likelihood of developing cancer if a mutation is detected, the most vexing clinical problems remain. | <urn:uuid:a06f9bf6-0b4f-4bb6-ba4a-3a6e42545ba3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cell.com/AJHG/abstract/S0002-9297(07)63162-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947902 | 2,107 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Crime Magazine is about true crime: organized crime, celebrity crime, serial killers, corruption, sex crimes, capital punishment, prisons, assassinations, justice issues, crime books, crime films and crime studies.
Nov. 1, 2012
On this date in 1924, legendary old west lawman, William Tilghman is murdered. Known to both friends and enemies as "Uncle Billy," Tilghman was one of the most honest and effective lawmen of his day. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1854, Tilghman moved west when he was only 16 years old. Once there, he flirted with a life of crime after falling in with a crowd of disreputable young men who stole horses from Indians. After several narrow escapes with angry Indians, Tilghman decided that rustling was too dangerous and settled in Dodge City, Kansas, where he briefly served as a deputy marshal before opening a saloon. He was arrested twice for alleged train robbery and rustling, but the charges did not stick. Despite this shaky start, Tilghman gradually built a reputation as an honest and respectable young man in Dodge City. He became the deputy sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, and later, the marshal of Dodge City. Tilghman was one of the first men into the territory when Oklahoma opened to settlement in 1889, and he became a deputy U.S. marshal for the region in 1891.
In the late 19th century, lawlessness still plagued Oklahoma, and Tilghman helped restore order by capturing some of the most notorious bandits of the day. Over the years, Tilghman earned a well-deserved reputation for treating even the worst criminals fairly and protecting the rights of the unjustly accused. Any man in Tilghman's custody knew he was safe from angry vigilante mobs, because Tilghman had little tolerance for those who took the law into their own hands. In 1898, a wild mob lynched two young Indians who were falsely accused of raping and murdering a white woman. Tilghman arrested and secured prison terms for eight of the mob leaders and captured the real rapist-murderer. In 1924, after serving a term as an Oklahoma state legislator, making a movie about his frontier days, and serving as the police chief of Oklahoma City, Tilghman might well have been expected to quietly retire. However, the old lawman was unable to hang up his gun, and he accepted a job as city marshal in Cromwell, Oklahoma.
On November 1, 1924, Tilghman was shot by Wiley Lynn, a corrupt Prohibition Agent. Lynn and Tilghman had had numerous verbal confrontations because Lynn repeatedly released prisoners who were arrested by Tilghman. The incident began on Halloween night, when Tilghman and several other citizens were having coffee at a local café. Shots were heard outside, and Tilghman drew his handgun and went outside. In the street stood a drunken Wiley Lynn, with a gun in his hand. Tilghman tried to disarm Lynn but a scuffle broke out and Lynn’s gun discharged striking the lawman. Tilghman slumped forward and died early the next day. Lynn then fled the scene. Wiley Lynn was eventually acquitted of murder after several witnesses to the shooting, allegedly intimidated, failed to appear. Despite his acquittal, Lynn was dismissed from the Prohibition unit. Years later, in a shootout with another police officer, Lynn was killed.
My book - Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 can be purchased at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Visit my official author website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information | <urn:uuid:6c43d2b5-1884-4e4a-a95b-cb1f778be911> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crimemagazine.com/legendary-old-west-lawman-bill-tilghman-murdered-1924?page=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983405 | 749 | 2.515625 | 3 |
On July 14, 2010, the Departments of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), in conjunction with the Department of Labor ("DOL") and the Treasury Department, issued interim final rules for group health plans and health insurance issuers relating to coverage of preventive services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the "Health Care Reform Act"). These regulations provide guidance regarding the Health Care Reform Act requirement that group health plans, both insured and self-insured, must cover certain evidence-based preventive services and eliminate the participant cost-sharing requirements for such services.
Task Force to Recommend Preventive Services. Recommended preventive services will be identified in guidelines and recommendations developed by various agencies, including the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. The current preventive services guidelines and recommendations are set forth in the regulations. HHS will also periodically publish new guidelines and recommendations, and plans will then be required to comply with any new guidelines and recommendations as of the plan year beginning on or after the one-year anniversary of the date the guidelines or recommendations are issued. For certain guidelines and recommendations that went into effect after September 23, 2009, relevant compliance dates and additional information are available on the HHS website at:
Cost-Sharing Requirements. These rules provide guidance on the application of participant cost-sharing requirements to preventive services that are offered during an office visit. In general, if preventive services are billed separately, or if the primary purpose of the office visit is not to deliver preventive care, a plan may impose cost-sharing requirements.
Payment of Preventive Services Delivered by an Out-of-Network Provider. Plans are not required to cover preventive services provided by an out-of-network provider. However, if preventive services are covered, a plan may impose cost-sharing requirements.
Effective Date. Plans will be required to comply with the guidelines and recommendations listed in the regulations as of the first day of the plan year beginning after September 23, 2010. Grandfathered health plans are not required to comply with these interim final rules.
Employers should begin working now to comply with these regulations. Please contact one of the individuals listed below, or the Reed Smith attorney with whom you regularly work, to learn more about these regulations on preventive services under the Health Care Reform Act. | <urn:uuid:4ddd2267-10c1-47d2-b419-8476777d59d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6a059dfe-ab56-441c-98f9-c763a7b6639e | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941991 | 497 | 1.703125 | 2 |
A High School Summer in Egypt Studying Arabic
Practical Advice and Tips
Article and photo by Connie lp
Preparing to Go to Egypt
After weeks of cramming for Advanced Placement exams and finals I had finally completed them and was able to fully concentrate on my second international adventure overseas: a summer in Egypt to study Arabic with AFS Intercultural Programs, a well-established high school exchange organization that provides generous financial assistance and scholarships. I had rarely been out of the country, much less further than the borders of California, so I was very excited about my forthcoming trip. I had never been to a place that was so remote and different from my own country. The country name “Egypt” evoked many images in my mind: the cool and crisp Nile River flanked with reeds; a hot and arid desert stretched with miles of sand where travelers from afar crossed through means of camel; the Great Pyramids and the powerful pharaohs that built them; and local people dressed in long, flowing cotton robes with women covered with headscarves. Up until then, my only contact with the Middle Eastern country was largely through documentaries on “The History Channel,” novels, textbooks from my world history courses, and the “Eyewitness Series” travel guides. Naturally, I had a very romanticized and idyllic notion of what Egyptian culture and people were like.
Many questions ran through my head as I tried to figure out what and how to prepare for my time in Egypt. My first thought was to get to know the etiquette, customs, and culture before I step into the country. My study abroad program provided a list of suggested websites and books to read in order to prepare for the trip, including those from CultureGrams and Lonely Planet. So I started by perusing these sources, which proved to be helpful. They provided valuable tips on various aspects of Egypt, including the climate, standard dress, etiquette, do's and don’ts , cultural faux pas, etc., and played a large part in reducing the stress and culture shock that I felt upon entering the country. In the weeks before my departure, I also started exploring the Arabic language and reading up on Islam, which is an integral aspect of the local culture and identity. Wherever you end up going, I highly recommend doing research about your destination: know the proper etiquette and customs; start exploring the local language and religion. Know what you are getting into and, more importantly, be open-minded.
Packing: What You Need to Bring
Since I was going to spend just a month in Egypt, packing was relatively low-maintenance; I only carried what I needed in a small duffel bag. To begin packing, start with the essentials: prescription medicine (which is very expensive to ship—do yourself a favor and bring them prescriptions with you), contact lenses, or eyeglasses. My golden rule is to pack lightly: I had a friend who brought so many unnecessary clothes and other products with her that she ended up throwing some them out because she could not fit them in her luggage by the end of the summer. Just bring what you really need and what you will actually use.
Because Egypt is scorching and dry from May until October with temperatures ranging between 80 and 90 degrees minimum, pack comfortably and wear lightweight clothing to keep yourself cool. I suggest light-colored cotton t-shirts and blouses and pants which will absorb less sunlight. Wear comfortable walking shoes. A hat is also practical to protect your head from the heat.
Note to Female Travelers
Egyptians are a conservative and religious people and they dress accordingly. Ladies, please be respectful of the culture and dress modestly; this means not wearing anything tight-fitting and leaving the shorts, mini-skirts, and low-neck tops at home. Wear clothing that will cover your shoulders, arms, and legs. As a foreigner, you will attract plenty of attention (especially as a woman—more on that later) and you do not want any more by dressing inappropriately. I personally recommend buying a headscarf to blend in with the people and to demonstrate respect for the culture.
Learning the Arabic Language
Arabic has its own distinct alphabet with 28 letters and is written and read from right to left. It is written in a calligraphy style script. There are three different dialects of the language: Classical, Modern Standard, and Local (which differ by country). On top of that, Arabic is cited by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the U.S. Department of State as being one of the most difficult languages to learn for native English speakers. Indeed, of all the foreign languages I have studied, Arabic wins the prize for being the hardest and frustrating. Prior to my arrival in the Middle East, I had no knowledge of Arabic, with the exception of a few phrases such as assalaamu alaikum (“hello”) and shuk-ran (“thank you”). Even though the classes I took in-country were for complete beginners, in retrospect, I wish I had spent more time learning basic grammar and vocabulary so I would not have been as perplexed. Using language learning software like the Rosetta Stone, online sources, and listening to audiotapes are great ways to get started learning any language. At the bottom of this article, I have written up a list of great Arabic language resources that you can use to get started.
The Heat and Drinking Water
While there is no way to guarantee that you will not get sick during your stay in Egypt, there are a number of steps you can take to reduce your risk of becoming ill. First of all, make sure your immunization records are up to date before you leave the country. Also, be aware of where you are going to: a developing world country that is 97% desert. Egypt is incredibly hot during the summer months and dehydration is not uncommon, which is usually followed by fever and sickness. Drink plenty of water, wear high factor sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Otherwise, you risk heat exhaustion and sunstroke, which may require urgent medical attention. On the subject of water, I want to note that Egyptian tap water is heavily chlorinated (and in my humble opinion, tastes awful). If you are not accustomed to it, it will upset your stomach and you will get diarrhea—I have witnessed all my American comrades fall ill because of it. To avoid getting sick, drink bottled water, which is readily available and cheap.
Egypt is a relatively secure and friendly country (at least when I was there a few years ago before the revolution), but it is very important to know how to stay safe. Be as inconspicuous as you can when you are in public. For instance, speak softly when you are on a bus, train, or in the street; do not wear clothing with English writing; and do not flash items such as your passport, jewelry, or money. This is a surefire way to get mugged (but to be fair, it is so in many countries). Keep a low profile.
As I mentioned earlier, foreigners will attract unwanted attention. Wherever we went, Egyptian eyes followed us, and we were subjected to harassment, whether in broad daylight or at night. Egyptians tend to be very active in the evening since the weather is cooler, so my friends and I usually went into town after dark as well. Now, I would not advise anyone to mill around in the dark in a strange, foreign city so when you do go out, have at least one person to accompany you. Better yet, go in a group. I recall one night when I was walking around the city with my fellow Americans, we somehow ended up in a sketchy neighborhood. Before we knew it, a bunch of children and teenagers were following and staring us as if we were some kind of alien specimens. It was relatively harmless at first, before some started to grab and throw rocks at us. It would have been scary if I was alone, but sticking with several buddies eliminated that fear.
According to the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights, 98% of foreign female visitors experience sexual harassment, a widespread issue in Egypt. With such statistics, the chance of being harassed is almost inevitable.
In addition to two male students, there were three other American girls in my group, who were Caucasian and African-American, and I am Asian-American. The city where we stayed, El Minya, is five hours south of Cairo, and rarely receives tourists. So obviously, we really stood out. As a result, we had to suffer the indignities of catcalls, insults, and disgusting comments from local men wherever we went. Although it is very tempting make a retort, the best practice is to bite your tongue and ignore it. Often, the remarks are harmless and nothing will come of them. To minimize attention, do the following: do not make direct eye contact and do not smile at men on the street, as it is perceived as a come on; dress appropriately; stay in a group; do not walk in deserted areas; and if a male tries to touch you, make a scene and catch the attention of those around you. The perpetrator will usually be shocked, humiliated, and will run off.
Egypt is a very different country from the United States and you will be exposed to a new and perhaps strange environment where the practices and customs are ones you are not familiar with, and where you will perhaps encounter behavior that you find offensive. As such, culture shock will inevitably occur, but that is one form of the learning experience in studying or living abroad. As long as you stay open-minded, be understanding, observe, and respect the environment and the people when you are in Egypt, you will learn to appreciate the local culture as much as your own. Soak in everything around you and enjoy the experience.
Connie Ip is from Oakland, California and is currently a French and European Studies double major at Mount Holyoke College. She studied Arabic with AFS Intercultural Programs in Egypt during her high school summer in 2008. | <urn:uuid:c18cdab2-a2fc-492f-9635-b6345f5a5114> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/studentwritingcontest/high-school-summer-study-egypt.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975238 | 2,072 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Victims of subway gas attack still suffer
[February 2, 1999]
The Aum Shin Rikyo cult was brought into the public spotlight when they masterminded the deadly gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, which killed a dozen people and injured thousands more. That tragic incident continues to reverberate for the victims and their families, for whom nationwide concern is increasing to such a degree that it is prompting what many feel is a long overdue action within the Japanese government to upgrade its support system for crime victims.
Japan currently lags behind European countries as well as the United States in providing social and financial support systems for crime victims. The few existing examples of such programs can be found at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and police headquarters, including the Metropolitan Police Department, where they recently established offices and programs to assist crime victims. Pro-bono legal counseling services are also now available.
In response to this growing concern, Tokyo's National Police Agency (NPA) conducted a survey in 1998 of the victims of the sarin gas attack, by contacting approximately 5,300 individuals known to have been present during the attacks. Of those individuals, only 1,500 agreed to respond to the NPA survey, indicating the continuing sensitivity of the victims towards the incident.
Although limited informal surveys were conducted previously by select victims themselves and by private support groups, the NPA's 1998 report represents the first comprehensive official documentation of this case. The report, released on January 14, 1999, concluded that more than 17 percent of the pollees continue to experience mental and emotional suffering, such as flashbacks to the event and panic attacks when boarding trains.
According to the report, more than half the victims continue to suffer from such physical disorders as persistent eye strain. It was the mental trauma described by most respondents, however, that was the most serious concern. The survey found that many victims still "worry about getting involved in a similar incident"; "feel sad when I encounter something that reminds me of the incident"; and "try not to think about anything related to the incident," according to the Daily Yomiuri.
These responses reflect typical symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which mentally and physically affects those who have undergone a particularly traumatic experience. Most respondents requested the government conduct a long-term survey on the effects of the sarin gas on their health and futures. Because the long-term effects of the gas are unknown, many victims harbor strong feelings of future anxiety, and female victims in particular are concerned they may not be able to give birth to healthy babies.
Additional fear and frustration were expressed regarding the prolonged trial of Aum cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto, as well as recent reports confirming that current Aum members are involved in a major effort to rebuild and recover their organization to its former financial strength and membership size.
Seventy-one percent of the respondents expressed hope for an early conclusion of Matsumoto's trial. Others expressed indignation that the Aum cult has been sanctioned to resume their activities. In response to the gas attack, the Tokyo district court deprived Aum of its legal religious status and liquidated its assets, but the Japanese government concluded the group posed no "immediate or obvious threat" to society, rejecting a request from officials to outlaw the sect.
But alarming signs of the group's resurgence abound. Security officials note the group's allure to young scientists, engineers and other well-educated people capable of reassembling an arms arsenal, but the greater concern revolves around Aum's continuous acquisition of real estate. The group has grown to approximately 5,000 followers, 500 of which are "ordained monks" who live communally. Aum operates approximately 28 installations at 18 branches throughout the country as well as abroad. Despite the ban against them in Russia, the group remains active there, as well as in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. At its height in 1995, Aum had approximately 10,000 followers in Japan and up to 40,000 in other countries, with 30,000 of them in Russia.
Aum also maintains encrypted Web sites and chat rooms in Japanese, English, and Russian, and controls a network of electronic, computer and other stores. These holdings jointly generated about $30 million in revenue in 1997. Aum's publishing company, currently its second-largest source of income, re-opened in April of 1998 and issues at least one book or pamphlet per month.
The trial of Matsumoto, whose public hearings had totaled 100 by the end of last year, has only examined four of the 17 charges he faces. Accounts describe Matsumoto's behavior during these public hearings as consistently defiant.
Source: The Daily Yomiuri, January 31, 1999 | <urn:uuid:a8b21c95-91bf-408c-be96-8ecc9a3597c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://factnet.org/node/397/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970675 | 961 | 2.125 | 2 |
Vermonters Encourged to Report Dead Birds
Date: June 17, 2005
Contact: Patsy Tassler, Ph.D.
Vermont Department of Health
BURLINGTON – Dead birds can tell tales, if the birds are reported to the Vermont Department of Health (VDH). For the past five years, the state has collected and tested dead birds for West Nile virus, a disease contracted from the bite of an infected mosquito.
Vermonters are encouraged to report dead bird sightings to the Vermont Department of Health as part of the state’s disease surveillance efforts.
“West Nile Virus is well established in the United States and each year we carefully monitor dead bird reports to track the activity of the virus,” said Health Department Epidemiologist Patsy Tassler, Ph. D. “Monitoring bird deaths helps us to prevent human cases of the virus by identifying local areas of increased virus activity.”
Vermont’s first human case was documented in 2002, three cases were reported in 2003, and no human cases were reported last year.
The Agency of Agriculture is trapping mosquitoes to test for the virus. Even if an infected mosquito bites you, chances of illness are low, since 80 percent of people who are infected have no symptoms. About 20 percent of people who are infected become ill. The illness can range from mild to severe. Less than 1 percent of people who are infected, usually those over age 50, develop encephalitis or meningitis.
If you see a dead bird, please call and report your sighting to the local Department of Health district office or call 1-800-913-1139 (8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday). Some dead birds will be collected and tested for the virus.
The Health Department recommends that people limit their outdoor time at dawn and dusk to prevent mosquito bites, wear long sleeves and pants when possible, and use an insect repellant. In addition to DEET, two new active ingredients are also effective – Picaridin, and oil of lemon eucalyptus. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using insect repellents. Never use DEET on infants.
“It is important that Vermonters drain areas where water can collect and become mosquito breeding areas such as old tires, rain gutters and any other containers that can hold water,” Tassler said.
More information about West Nile virus can be found at the Vermont Department of Health website www.HealthyVermonters.info. | <urn:uuid:7cf2a368-1dcd-4de5-8e4f-840557260093> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthvermont.gov/news/2005/2005-06-17.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931912 | 535 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Rethink Your Life!
Finance, health, lifestyle, environment, philosophy
The Work of Art and The Art of Work
Kiko Denzer on Art
[Cob] An good example of why we need a cob building "standard"Deborah Terreson foodandart at comcast.net
Sat May 26 08:56:09 PDT 2007
Ocean, don't get all bent out of shape about cracks (Now granted, I don't know how big they are so this may seem a bit cavalier on my part - if so, my apologies). In many instances, codes aren't the panacaea for building problems, in fact they can allow for a lot of dishonesty in building quality - I've got 27 years in the building trades, working in brand new homes, the kinds being stapled together, and please believe me, you see enormous amounts of structural failure and stress in these new ticky-tacky, crap-built modular blight eyesores being foist off on the homebuying 'consumer'. Caveat Emptor. Had one house I was in some years ago - a 5,600 Sq. Ft. McMansion w/ a 500,000 dollar plus price tag on it, and TWELVE weeks after the drywall went in, the house split at the peak, front to back by 2 inches, because the front corner of the foundation, which was built over a changing layer of sand/clay substrate, compacted and settled. Cracked right through. The 'builder' fixed the problem by covering the walls with an extra layer of 1/4 inch drywall, threw a vented roof crown cap across the peak, finished the wall in the basement to hide the crack and called it 'good'. The buyer never had a clue as to the crap construction. Alas, this was/is one of the more minor building problems I've seen covered up in my time. I've seen it in multi-million dollar homes built by some of the best firms in this area (Seacoast New Hampshire). I can't even count the number of homes and developments put up in the 80's that are now falling down and in terrible shape - mostly due to poor architectural design and cheap building materials - but hey! It's got the proper number of wall studs and joists and everything to code and all hunky-dory. I mean the code enforcement officer has the plans and measured everything so it's all good, right? Hoo-boy! Never mind that they're made of pressed particle-board and mill scrap glued and sistered together to make the right length. Sub-flooring made of lightweight MDF - the kind that compresses in two years and Mr. Homeowner's got a rippled kitchen floor, or ceramic tiles popping up.. Let's not EVEN get into the damage when those materials get wet! I guess the thing is, that everyone here should realize that even buildings made to current structural codes often times are pretty shoddy. More often than not the codes are there to protect the town, NOT the buyer. I won't live in a home built after 1960, and I haven't seen decent wood go into a home since 1985. Is there a chance that you can address the cracking going on in your building? Is it structural and dangerous or unsightly and annoying? I'd love to hear what fixes you come up with for it. I think the information on repairs will prove to be the best tool to aid proper construction. Deb. On May 26, 2007, at 4:31 AM, Ocean Liff-Anderson wrote: > The following coblist post is a good example of why we need a cob > building standard and also why, lacking a standard, we should never > expect building officials to take us seriously: > > In the first paragraph, the author doesn't offer any description of > how an arch should be built, except you can have "any kind you > want". He doesn't specify the need for more straw, as Linda and > Ianto teach in their classes. The author then says you need a > "strong enough board" over windows, but doesn't help the original > poster determine what is strong enough. > > In the second paragraph, the author discounts any concerns over wind > and seismic forces, offering cute patter about the big brother > tornado. He disregards any concerns of builders who may be in high > wind locations (like the Deep South, where land is cheaper?). Later > on he does say "taller" walls need to be "thicker" for seismic > strenght. This answer is like many found on the coblist, off-the-cuff > HERESAY, which offer no specific information on just how to build > with cob! > > The cob building at Ahimsa Sanctuary has many structural cracks which > have appeared due to a foundation which lacks a concrete-rebar bond > beam, with differential settling in the soil under the walls. We > have yet to figure out how to repair it, or if the building will > eventually need to be demolished. And this was a building created > through a Cob Cottage workshop with much advice from cob "experts". > > As a result I may have become more cynical about cob than necessary, > but when I imagine folks creating homes without proper training - and > following off-the-cuff advice and heresay they find here on the > coblist - I get very nervous and concerned for their safety. > > I suggested the Independent Cob Building Standard as a way to protect > the home builder first, and second to appease the building > department. If for the moment, we abandon the quest to get building > permits and official approval, at least we should be concerned that > the cob houses we build will be strong enough so they don't collapse > on us! > > Do you think building advice given on the coblist should be so > cavalier and unfounded? > > Ocean Liff-Anderson > Steward, Ahimsa Sanctuary > http://www.peacemaking.org > > > On May 25, 2007, at 7:56 AM, Jon Kerr wrote: > >> >> On May 24, 2007, at 1:55 AM, Shody Ryon wrote: >> >>> Are any cob houses built with gothic arch windows and >>> doors? >> Yes! from the reading I've done you can have basically any kind of >> arch you want. They're just harder to make since you have to use a >> form to fill in the hole while you're layering cob up around it. With >> regular rectangular windows, you just lay a strong enough board over >> the top. There are tons of building in the middle east with arched >> windows, go for it! Here's one at Ahimsa sanctuary: >> >> http://www.peacemaking.org/ahimsawebfiles/main.html >> >> >> >>> I assume that cob walls are usually built lower >>> rather than taller so there is not usually room for a >>> lot of wall between the top of the window and the roof >>> for a gothic arch (that would not require a header), >>> and the load on the wall would increase from wind and >>> seismic forces and incresed labor of more cob which >>> would usually be more of a problem than most would >>> wish to deal with. >> Nah, wind forces on a cob wall are just going to make the cob wall >> laugh until the wind gets really pissed and comes back with it's >> tornado big brother. OTOH, seismic forces don't care how big your >> wall is, it'd be like us caring about the difference between the >> lifting the weight of a post-it or a full sheet of paper. The taller >> walls will be thicker at the bottom, so proportionally, it's the >> same. I'll see if I can find a picture of the gigantic welsh or >> english farmhouse. I think I saw a picture of it in the Hand Sculpted >> House, but it's just HUGE. Twelve foot ceilings I think. >> This isn't it, but it's a 2 story addition in UK: http:// >> www.cobcottage.com/node/121 >> >>> >>> As for up-lift on the roof, >> -snip- >> I think someone else pointed out about putting dead men in the walls >> as you build the walls. You can simply cut notches in the logs and >> insert your rafters' ends into the notches. >> >> Good luck! >> >> Jon >> >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or >> that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only >> unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American >> public." >> -- Theodore Roosevelt, speaking on President Wilson's crackdown >> on dissent after the U.S. entered W.W.I >> >> http://www.freehugscampaign.org/index.php?categoryid=1 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Coblist mailing list >> Coblist at deatech.com >> http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist > > > _______________________________________________ > Coblist mailing list > Coblist at deatech.com > http://www.deatech.com/mailman/listinfo/coblist >
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This article can also be found in the Premium Editorial Download "Storage magazine: The benefits of storage on demand."
Download it now to read this article plus other related content.
Let's take a stab at defining a few axioms for storage.
1. Density increases, but unit price stays constant
Prices tend to remain constant from generation to generation, but functionality increases with time. The average cost of capacity drops as density increases. The price of a specific disk drive model or tape cartridge starts high, and then eventually drops. But the next generation comes in at the same high initial unit cost.
Enterprise disk drives usually start at about $1,300, and then drop below $400 as they are phased out. Tape media starts at $200 and falls to $50. Consumer disk drives usually start near $500 and fall off the shelves at $80 (before rebates).
2. Backup tapes are three times larger than disks
Enterprise tape and disk units maintain a rough ratio of capacity of approximately three or four to one. In 1994, the DLT2000 had 15GB (native) capacity, and most enterprise arrays were just adopting 4GB disks. Today's 160GB to 300GB tapes map to 36GB to 140GB enterprise disks.
Backup tapes have to be somewhat larger than disks to stay in the storage game. If they fell behind, disk-based backup would take over.
3. Storage density doubles every
This axiom sounds like Moore's Law, but not really. Most computer components benefit from Moore's exponential growth of transistors, but disk doesn't rely on transistor counts for increased density. Different science and engineering allows us to put more and more on a small magnetic platter.
Disk capacity had been growing a steady 25% annually. But the introduction of the magneto resistive (MR) disk head in 1993 changed everything. Suddenly, magnetic disks were matching--and sometimes exceeding--transistor density growth. Since then, storage density has grown 60% annually, giving us the same 18-month doubling cycle as the semiconductor industry.
|Enterprise and consumer flush time|
This was first published in June 2004 | <urn:uuid:5521b711-6f66-447c-8825-d64d16103e7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/magazineContent/Five-rules-to-help-you-build-a-storage-strategy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947327 | 444 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, accompanied by Sens. Tom Harkin and Barbara Mikulski, speaks during a health care news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Schoolhouse Rockundersold the excruciating difficulty involved in making a bill a law. As the health-care reform process nears its merciful end, many important questions must still be decided, most of which have received only passing attention by the media.
If you only watch television news, you might think that the conferees tasked with merging the House and Senate bills really only need to work out the public option and the abortion provisions. The truth, though, is that those matters are pretty much settled. There will be no public option, and the Senate's incredibly restrictive language on abortion will probably win out over the appallingly restrictive House version.
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., talks with reporters following the announcement that he will support the health-care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
There is a classic economics experiment called the "ultimatum game," which demonstrates how our decision-making process isn't solely determined by rational calculations. In the experiment, one subject is usually given a small sum of money and told to divide it however he wants between himself and another subject. If the second subject accepts his offer, they both keep the cash. But if the second subject rejects the offer, neither of them gets anything. Rationality suggests that the second subject should accept any offer, since even $1 is better than nothing.
I’ll be saying more about this in my column on Tuesday, but as this new uprising among progressives like Howard Dean, Markos Moulitsas, and Keith Olbermann against the health-care bill has emerged, much of the fire has been directed at the individual mandate, the requirement for everyone to be insured. This often takes the form of “people are going to be forced to buy crappy insurance from evil insurance companies, and they won’t have a public option.” While the last part is true, and the second part (about the companies being evil) is basically true, there are elements to the first part that haven’t been addressed enough.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., talks to reporters after leaving a Democratic caucus outside of the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009.(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
The debate over health-care reform has been many things. It has been an education in both the intricacies of public policy and the ease with which fears can be activated and deception accomplished. It has been a dispiriting exercise in the limits and pathologies of American politics. And it has been a clash of values.
Because progressives think government can actually solve problems, they tend to have at least a partially technocratic view of policy. At least in theory, it should be possible to analyze a problem, assess various solutions to it, select the one most likely to solve it, and then implement that solution. Yet so often in our country, this self-evidently sensible approach ends up feeling like an unattainable ideal.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
When Rep. David Obey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, recently proposed a surtax that would pay for the Afghanistan War, the collective response from most of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle was, "Are you nuts?" Nancy Pelosi quickly put the kibosh on Obey's "Share the Sacrifice Act," and all talk of funding the war has been banished. Meanwhile, Democrats have spent untold hours debating how to finance health-care reform, all while Republicans carp about how doing so is just too darn expensive, what with our ever-climbing deficit. | <urn:uuid:a09a55c0-d643-4df4-bc60-47c087bab6ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mailto:editors@prospect.org/authors/paul-waldman?page=287 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966954 | 812 | 1.515625 | 2 |
ROCKY MOUNT — Three people with Edgecombe County ties were among the Twin County Hall of Fame's 10-member Class of 2012 — Willie Howell Fuller, Lee Rawling Hall and Frank Byrd Weaver.
The honorees were recognized Thursday night during the annual induction ceremony and banquet in the Business Center at Nash Community College.
Fuller, who died Jan. 2, 1995, was honored posthumously. His first cousin, Lois Reddrick of Greenville, accepted the honor on behalf of Fuller's daughter, who did not attend.
Willie Howell Fuller was born in 1919 and was 22-years-old when World War II began. He had graduated from Tarboro Colored High School in 1937 and attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. While at Tuskegee, Fuller joined the training for pilots and became one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He served as a second lieutenant from 1942 to 1947 as part of the 99th Fighter Squadron European Theater and flew 76 combat missions. He received an Air Medal with Oak Leaf. After the war, Fuller and his wife made their home in Georgia and Florida where he became district executive for the South Florida Council of Boy Scouts.
"It was a great honor for him to have been nominated in the Twin County Hall of Fame," Reddrick said. "With his film coming out and Veterans Day, it was very timely."
Hall made his name when he became the superintendent of Edgecombe County Schools in 1968. During his tenure as superintendent, he consolidated several county schools to establish the integrated high schools of North Edgecombe and SouthWest Edgecombe. The athletic complex at North Edgecombe was named the Lee R. Hall Complex in 1993 upon his retirement. The SouthWest Edgecombe High School athletic complex is also is named in honor of Hall. After retiring, Hall continued being active in the community by joining several civic clubs. For several years he played a vital part in building houses for Habitat For Humanity in Edgecombe County.
His work didn't go unnoticed. He was well-represented at the ceremony by his family, co-workers, former employees and members of the Kiwanis Club.
"It means that I'm so pleased to have so many wonderful friends, board members, family members — no one gets up there on their own," he said. "They are guided and pushed up there by other people. "When I looked out and saw so many wonderful people, I felt so absolutely blessed."
Weaver was born in Edgecombe County. After graduating from Fayetteville State Teachers College in 1948, he began his educational career as a teacher in Warren County. In 1950, he returned to Edgecombe County as the principal of Providence Rosenwald School. He then organized and served as principal of Roberson School from 1951-56, and then Willow Grove from 1956-62. He earned a doctorate of education from Penn State and a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Shaw University. His outstanding work with elementary education led to him becoming the State Supervisor of Elementary Education for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Weaver then became an administrator in the community college system and wrote several guidebooks on adult education. He went on to become assistant superintendent of Durham City Schools. Weaver, who lives with his wife in Raleigh, said he was honored to be inducted.
"At 85 years old it means that I'm glad to be alive," Weaver said. "It's very exciting because I never dreamed of receiving such honor. Everything I did was such fun and pleasure … such an inspiration. I never thought that anyone was watching. I got the joy from doing it. It is a double blessing for someone to recognize you for it and have a special occasion to honor you."
Nash County inductees:
• Channing Hilliard Fries Jr. served 12 years as assistant superintendent for Nash County schools and in 1961 he became the superintendent of the system. He led the system through both integration and the consolidation of the Nash County School System, which led to the creation of Northern and Southern Nash High Schools. Fries died in 2007 at the age of 92.
• Book author Jack Kerouac, who wrote about life and composed his most famous work, “On the Road,” in Rocky Mount. Kerouac is considered to be the father of the Beat Generation, a new style of writing that appeared in the 1950s. Kerouac died in 1969.
• Josephine E. Newell earned a chemical engineering degree at the age of 16 from University of South Carolina. She began her practice in Bailey in 1951 and treated patients for the next 23 years. Dr. Newell was involved in numerous state health care projects. She is one of the founders of the County Doctor’s Museum in Bailey and a published author.
• Joseph Leonard Rawls Jr. became chairman and president of a new restaurant operation in Rocky Mount, Hardee’s Food Systems in 1961. When he left the company in 1975, there were more than 900 Hardee’s across the southeast. Rawls also was founder of Canton Station restaurants, known as Management Affiliates. He died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 51.
• James Edward “Butch” Robbins joined the U.S. Army in 1967. In 1968, while deployed to fight in Vietnam, he stepped on a mine and lost both legs and an arm. He returned to North Carolina to the farm life he knew well. Later, he became an auctioneer and then owned his own auction firm. Robbins wrote “So You Think Times are Tough!” and became a motivational speaker, encouraging others to succeed as he has.
• Arthur Lynwood Tyler joined Henry Belk in 1931 and together they opened the Belk-Tyler Store in Rocky Mount, the first of 14 stores in the chain that would eventually employee hundreds and serve the southeast as one of the leading retail clothing stores of the region. Tyler died in 1978.
• Itimous “Tim” Thaddeus Valentine Jr. served in the N.C. House from 1955 to 1960 and was then elected as a U. S. Congressman for six terms from 1982 to 1994. During his services in Congress, Valentine was chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation.
The goal of the Twin County Hall of Fame is to preserve and celebrate the diverse history of Edgecombe and Nash Counties and to honor citizens who have made broad and lasting contributions to the betterment of the community or who have brought recognition to the community through their accomplishments.
Paintings are drawn of each inductee by Tarboro artist Susan Fecho. Replicas of the paintings are given to the honorees or their families. | <urn:uuid:756c5613-81b4-438c-8b9e-d71f8b87a74a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailysoutherner.com/x545596858/Honorees-include-Fuller-Hall-Weaver/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986246 | 1,377 | 1.578125 | 2 |
After spending two months in Idaho this year, I have unearthed many interesting facts about a state best known for its potatoes. To wit...
Despite its beauty, Idaho is the only state that has not staked claim to the Miss America title.
Sun Valley is considered the first winter destination resort in the United States. It was built in the 1930s by railroad magnate W. Averill Harriman.
Sun Valley was the home of the world's first chairlifts. The lifts were installed on Dollar and Proctor Mountains in 1936.
The Hokey Pokey was invented in Sun Valley during the 1940s.
Elsewhere in Idaho...
Idaho is the only state with two time zones divided north and south. The state divides between Mountain and Pacific Time just north of Riggins.
Television was invented in Rigby, Idaho in the 1920s by local science prodigy and farm boy Philo Farnsworth.
Bruneau Dunes State Park is home to North America's tallest sand dune, at 470 feet.
Calling All Spuds...
Potatoes are not the top agricultural product in Idaho. Milk is.
Potatoes are the #1 crop, but are third in the agricultural product list after dairy and cattle.
And while we are on the topic, Idaho is the country’s #1 potato producer, serving up 29% of the U.S. total. | <urn:uuid:7ed98929-6305-496b-9229-72335f2e4886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailysuitcase.blogspot.com/2011/10/after-spending-two-months-in-idaho-this.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969016 | 290 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Xoreax is out with news that their IncrediBuild-XGE software uses process virtualization to deliver supercomputing performance with existing hardware. According to the company, harnessing idle CPU cycles in your local network or public cloud enables incrediBuild-XGE to achieve processing speedups of up to 30x.
Organizations don’t realize they are sitting on a supercomputer,” said Eyal Maor, Xoreax CEO. “Process virtualization allows them to leverage their unused or underused processors across the entire network, creating HPC without purchasing a single piece of additional hardware.”
Read the Full Story. | <urn:uuid:0e4a539c-69a3-4c03-a179-0717de60512a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insidehpc.com/2012/11/01/xoreax-using-process-virtualization-to-deliver-supercomputing-performance-with-existing-hardware/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90117 | 135 | 1.867188 | 2 |
The Mary T. and
Frank L. Hoffman
Letters and Responses
From Debbie Morton about How Killing Animals Hardens the Heart - 26 Jul 2005
Re: http://www.all-creatures.org/poetry/ar-4h.html 4-H Boy
I enjoyed your poem. I have a big distaste for 4H parents and county fairs where they have children raise an animal and then have them sell it for butchering. I work with all farmers and I must say I am not real popular in my belief. My love of animals though is only part of it.
American children grow colder every day. So many seem emotionless when it comes to how they treat each other, their families, their friends, strangers, etc...... How, we as humans, treat all creatures, especially animals is a reflection of what we are truly like. We have made our children have the cold attitudes because of programs like 4H.
Reply from Frank and Mary Hoffman
Thank you very much for your letter.
You have echoed one of the major problems in our society. We look upon 4H, FFA, hunting and fishing as forms of child abuse. The churches endorsement of these problems makes them all the more insidious.
If you would like a forum, we'd be more than happy to publish any open letter, articles, or stories you may wish to write.
In the Love of the Lord,
Frank and Mary
We welcome your comments
| Home Page | Animal Issues | Archive | Art and Photos | Articles | Bible | Books | Church and Religion | Discussions | Health | Humor | Letters | Links | Nature Studies | Poetry and Stories | Quotations | Recipes | What's New? |
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org. | <urn:uuid:dbc8b3a3-66d2-424a-a185-898a40d8c5db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/letters/20050726-dm.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92875 | 370 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Auten Road Gears Up for Milestone Year
In addition to the regular school activities, the intermediate school celebrates ten years of housing the district's fifth and sixth graders.
It’s a big year for Auten Road Intermediate School, as school celebrates 10 years as a grade five and grade six school.
The school will celebrate 10 years as an intermediate level school this year, having made the switch from being an elementary school in 2002, according to Principal Chris Carey. It’s one of the first schools in the state to switch to housing its fifth and sixth grade in a separate school.
“As part of the first day back, I’ll welcome the kids,” he said. “This is something I can share with them. “
He and the school’s Home and School Association are already working on ways to commemorate the ten-year anniversary, including creating a t-shirt acknowledging the anniversary.
The goal for the year is similar to the school’s goal every year—preparing students for the future.
“This is a unique age group and this is a crucial time period,” Carey said. “We want to turn them on to learning and we want to prepare them for the middle school and the high school and beyond.”
Like all district schools, Auten Road Intermediate School saw interactive projectors installed in its classrooms this summer. Teachers at the school are already planning how to use the devices in the coming year.
“There are so many cool things we can do with it,” Ann Cartmell, a fifth-grade Social Studies teacher, said. “There is a microphone and a sound systems so you don’t have to shout. I’m a shouter, so that was cool for me.”
Jennifer Tuller, who teaches science in the same team as Cartmell, said the system’s second microphone will enhance student presentations. Since teachers can switch between their microphone and the students’ everyone in the room will be able to hear the presentations—and questions teachers might ask during them.
The ability to pull in workbook pages, videos from the Internet and other features make the classes more dynamic for students, Tuller and Cartmell added. In addition, the ability to write on the screens using a special pen for the boards will allow teachers to correct, manipulate or take notes on anything from homework to maps to videos used in science classes.
“We have a revised math program that is coming in,” Cartmell said. “Instead of making overhead (projector screens), we can use the board for workbook pages and to connect their homework in.”
Several of the initiatives for the 2011-2012 school year don’t rely on technology as greatly, though. Cartmell’s planned and hosted a team colonial day for students, and hopes to extend it to the whole school this spring.
“What happens is that it’s not done in all classes and the kids are missing out,” she said. “It’s all to immerse themselves in colonial life.”
Though the day is still being planned, Cartmell hopes to incorporate colonial trades, like candle making, tasks, like cross-stitch and churning butter, and games into it. It’s something that involves extensive planning, since the fifth grade has around 600 students and 22 teachers—and about half of the teachers don’t teach Social Studies, Cartmell said.
The school’s sixth grade teachers are preparing for the new year and using the new technology as well, though they’re still considering how to incorporate it into lessons.
“It takes PowerPoints lots further,” MaryBeth Hughes, who teaches science and social studies, said. “We didn’t know it was coming, so it was a surprise to hear about it. We are all talking about all the different ways we can use it.”
The teachers can now use the class white boards with the projectors—the traditional ones produced too much glare—allows them to pause videos, circle or draw on the areas the teachers want to highlight.
In addition to the technology, Hughes is looking forward to the professional learning communities teachers will participate in this year. The communities offer a chance to work with colleagues and connect lessons and learning strategies, she said.
“Now we are looking at collaborating and making the learning of everyone a priority,” she said.
While the year will undoubtedly bring some challenges, neither the fifth or sixth grade teachers worried about working with their students.
“I can’t imagine doing anything but sixth grade,” Hughes said. “They have great senses of humor.”
“They come in as fourth graders and we are kind of here to change them into sixth graders,” Tuller said. | <urn:uuid:57e0b0a2-7066-4366-ac78-7c32e5968691> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/auten-road-gears-up-for-milestone-year | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963231 | 1,037 | 1.609375 | 2 |
A new ice core successfully drilled from the Antarctica Peninsula last month (January) may shed new light on how the vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has responded to climate change in the past.
A seven-person team a collaboration between British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de lEnvironnement (LGGE) in France has drilled a 650 metre ice core from Fletcher Promontory. The core will show how this part of Antarctica, bordering the WAIS nick-named as Antarcticas weak underbelly, responded in the past. If the bottom of the core is as old as the last interglacial (130,000 years ago), then by comparing results with previous ice cores the team will investigate how the WAIS responded in the last interglacial (warm period) to better understand what may happen in the future.
Dr. Robert Mulvaney from BAS who led the project says, This kind of project can take years to carry out so we are delighted that we managed to reach the bedrock in less than two months. Its also very exciting to have reached the bedrock on the exact day 100 years ago that Captain Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole (17th January).
In temperatures as low as −23°C, the team spent 35 days drilling the core including 21 days when the team drilled 24 hrs a day on shifts. The cores which are bagged in 1-metre long sections are currently being stored at BAS Rothera Research Station where they will stay until they can be shipped back to the UK and France later in the year for analysis.
Ice cores are unique climate records, allowing scientists to investigate climate changes over hundreds of thousands of years. The Earth's oldest ice is found in East Antarctica. The three oldest existing ice cores were drilled at Dome C, Dome F and Vostok. The longest ice core at 3,650 metres comes from Vostok, but the oldest ice core, drilled by the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) team, contains a climate record stretching back 800,000 years. Analysis of the ice cores has revolutionized our understanding of how Antarctic climate has varied in the past. Information from ice cores is vital for testing and improving the computer models used to predict future climate.
Interglacials recur roughly every 100,000 years between ice ages. The present warm period began around 10,000 years ago and has been relatively stable.
Explore further: NCAR joins massive field campaign to examine summertime air in Southeast | <urn:uuid:d5a5b642-ef2f-49ab-95ff-61b02e01f44b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2012-02-scientists-successfully-antarctic-drilling.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93859 | 525 | 3.6875 | 4 |
How does a stop sign get installed?
Stop signs are installed at intersections based criteria established by the California Department of Transportation. Factors that are considered for installation of a stop sign are volume of traffic on the intersecting roadways, speed, restricted view and accident record. A stop sign is not a "cure-all" and is not a substitute for other traffic control devices. Stop signs are not be used for speed control.
The City Engineer evaluates traffic data at an intersection in question. If a stop sign is warranted a recommendation for installation will be presented to the Traffic and Transportation Commission and then forwarded to the City Council for approval. | <urn:uuid:bd3cff00-35de-4d47-97bc-426f15218b84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityofsancarlos.org/depts/pd/faqs/stop_signs.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938926 | 129 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Elverum (ĕlˈvərŏm) [key], town (1995 pop. 17,616), Hedmark co., SE Norway, on the Glåma River. A rail junction and an important military training center, it was badly damaged in World War II during the German invasion (1940). The Norwegian parliament held its last meeting there (Apr., 1940) before going into exile in England.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c418f3d9-a478-4796-b8be-a7261d488361> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/elverum.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90007 | 110 | 1.859375 | 2 |
The Zweibel Estate is no longer merry and gay. The weeping willows droop even lower to-day. The milk-maids' tears mix with the milk in their buckets. Even the lowliest, most tooth-less field-hand is rending his thread- bare garments and howling in the most abject agony. Miss Bernadette Fiske, my fiancée and mother of my child, is no more! Having perished from the very femininity that I treasured above all else, she now belongs to the ages.
I, the bereaved swain, whose once-tender heart is love-sick, shall for-ever don a mourning shroud. Curse this moribund, woeful orb, where all that is beautiful and good is so cruelly ephemeral! t
So wracked with anguish was I that I begged to be buried with my deceased beloved. I wished to share her very coffin and be placed on top of her eternally slumbering corpse, ideally with her legs drawn apart a little. Alas! I was denied my request, and Miss Fiske's earthly remains were, I was told, interred at sea, as stipulated by her last will and testament.
I retired to my death-bed, determined to join her in short order in Heaven above. My attempt at expiration was short-lived, how-ever, when I learned that Miss Fiske's will granted me custody of the son I have never seen, N. Aeschylus. My son! My son! The sole product of the love between Miss Fiske and I would finally be coming to the Estate at last! From the grim sepulcher of Death emerged the promise of Life!
When Standish entered my bed-chamber to announce that my son was in the main sitting-room, my melancholy heart was leavened with joy. "Bring the dear tot to my bed-chamber, Standish, perambulator and all! I wish to hold him in my lap. But since my lap was surgically extracted long-ago, perhaps you could balance him on my shoulder!"
"Sir," Standish said, "I'm afraid that N. Aeschylus has rather out-grown his perambulator, or any other trappings of infancy, for that matter."
Before I could respond, a seven-foot-tall man in a black suit lumbered in. He was very broad in the shoulders and stiff in gait. His skin was bluish and looked as though it was stretched to the breaking-point over his squarish head. His gait was very stiff, and I could have sworn I heard a metallic squeaking noise every time his joints bent.
"My son!" I cried. "How you have grown since your December birth! But there's no mistaking it: From your piercing red eyes to the heavy iron feet emerging from your trouser legs, you're every inch a Zweibel!" | <urn:uuid:3d876c75-8f5c-4efb-9401-47937fdc347b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theonion.com/articles/my-son-my-son,16307/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977392 | 622 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Academy City (学園都市 Gakuen Toshi) is the primary setting of the Toaru Majutsu no Index series and its side stories.
As the city's name suggests, it is a city of several schools and institutions of higher learning from kindergarten to university level that learn side-by-side along with the scientists who research on psychic powers and higher technology, the latter being one of the primary reasons for its establishment. It is the most advanced city in the world and its technology is said to be 30 years ahead of the world.
Academy City is composed of 23 districts, called School Districts which are simply numbered from one to twenty-three and each of these districts have a specific purpose.
In the novel series, there are only a handful of residents who know about magic, such as Kamijou Touma, Index, Accelerator, Hamazura Shiage, Aleister Crowley, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Himegami Aisa, Etzali, Misaka Mikoto, and Kazakiri Hyouka.
In 1947, a heavily injured Aleister Crowley is found by the Heaven Canceller in a remote English countryside and is nursed back to health by him. He later tells Aleister Crowley of the far away land of Japan. The city was founded by the magician Aleister Crowley to do studies and research on the development of preternatural abilities. According to Therestina, the students in Academy City are just being used to further the research and development in the achievement of a Level 6. How truthful her words are remains to be seen, however its important to note that both Aleister Crowley and Board of Directors have allowed deaths of students, and have allowed and supported further experimentation and research at the expense of many lives.
Some time later a parcel of land to the west of Tokyo in slow development was bought for the development of Academy City. The Five Elements Institution is the first research organization formed, though it is exact location or existence has been in question. However, this was merely a rumor, or more likely, a cover up, as the Imaginary Number District–Five Elements Institution was another realm in the same location as Academy City.
On October 9, Academy City formally gains independence as a city-state.
Government and PoliticsEdit
Aleister Crowley is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and holds absolute power of the city, however, he usually doesn't concern himself with government affairs and delegates them to the 12 members of the Board of Directors. According to Aleister, the members of the board of directors are expendable and can be replaced any time.
The government has absolute power regarding policies, as adults have no say regarding policies being implemented. There is no suffrage since the majority population are minors.
Located just west of Tokyo, it is apparently located in a region where there is a constant wind that flows within the city, allowing its wind turbines to generate power. Climate in Academy City is probably the same in Tokyo and other surrounding areas, though through its technological advances they are able to predict the weather much more accurately and can actually give schedules on when the weather might change. Academy City is roughly 1/3 the size of Tokyo.
As stated, Academy City is composed of 23 districts, which are simply called School Districts and are numbered from one to twenty-three. Each of these districts has a specific purpose; below lists all 23 School Districts of Academy City, including their functions and purposes:
|District Number||Functions/Specializations/Noted Locations|
|1||Where most of the city's administration is located|
|2||Training areas for Judgment and Anti-Skill, military-related facilities|
|3||Accomodations for authorized outsiders (which also includes hotels, private pools, etc.)|
|4||Food-related facilities, including experimental crop growing|
|5||Mostly filled with universities and junior colleges|
|6||Recreational facilities, which also includes an amusement park|
|7||Middle and high schools, school dormitories, boarding houses, hospitals, the "Windowless Building" where Aleister Crowley is located|
|8||Mainly for the various teaching staff of the city|
|9||Industrial arts and fine arts schools|
|10||Reformatories, nuclear energy research facilities, the city's only cemetery|
|12||Theology system schools|
|13||Kindergartens and primary schools|
|14||Accomodations and various other facilities for overseas students|
|15||A large district consisting of the city's major shopping district and mass communications facilities|
|16||Focuses on commerce|
|17||Railway cargo storage and organization, where Touma fought Accelerator to end the "Experiment". Location of a special prison for high profile criminals like Kiyama Harumi.|
|18||Kirigaoka Girls' Academy and Nagatenjouki Academy|
|19||Uncertain; has been in a decline recently|
|20||Schools focused on raising athletic students along with their esper abilities|
|21||Dams for water storage; observatory in the mountains.|
|22||The smallest district in terms of surface area; this district is mainly for developing technology for an underground town in the face of land shortages in major cities|
|23||Airline companies and aeronautics and space development|
Below is the complete map of Academy City, with notes pertaining to certain locations where events in the Toaru Majutsu no Index occur.
|Legend: Location (Volume number of first appearance)|
|A||Kamijou Touma's Student Dorm (1)||B||A Certain Highschool (1)||C||Heaven Canceller's Hospital (1)|
|D||Misawa Cram School (2)||E||The Windowless Building (2)||F||Tokiwadai Middle School (and Garden of Learning) (2)|
|G||Tokiwadai Girls' Dormitory (3)||H||Switchyard (3)||I||Kirigaoka Girls' Academy (6)|
|J||Hakumeiza/Twilight Theater (7)||K||Nagatenjouki Academy (9)||L||23rd District Terminal Station (10)|
|M||Experimental Airport (10)||N||3rd Resource Renewal Center (13)||O||Site for Special Case Espers (13)|
Academy City's total population is about 2.3 million with 80% of them being students and 1/8 of those students living in the city dorms. Of the entire student population, about 60% of them have the ability to demonstrate only a slight amount of psychic ability (these are level 0 Power Users). 20% of the of the remaining students in Academy City pursue other subjects instead of going under the Power Curriculum Program, like Tsuchimikado Maika, who studies in a maid school.
Child Errors apear to be undergoing the Power Curriculum Program even though they are no longer given any support from their guardians. As with Edasaki Banri and Haruue Erii . It is highly probable that drop-outs and gangs such as Skill-Out are part of the 20% demographic.
As the name implies, Academy City boasts the largest collection of primary, secondary, tertiary educational facilities in a single city. It can be aptly be described as a City of Schools.
Like most Japanese schools, Academy City follows a similar setup, with lessons on English, history, maths, etc. However, some schools such as Tokiwadai Middle School may have somewhat different setup than regular schools.
Similarly, the city follows a similar academic term to that outside of the city. With summer break beginning on the 20th of July up until the 1st of September. Additionally, the city boasts their own sports and cultural festivals similar to the outside, the Daihaseisai and Ichihanaransai respectively with its own unique touch that differentiates it from the outside.
Academy City is referred to as Experiment City as several experiments occur within the city established by numerous universities and research laboratories. These experiments range from vending machines to Security robots, to scientifically grown animals and plants.
One of the things that makes Academy City special technologically wise is their ability to make ground breaking technology that completely sweeps away "all mystical darkness" with the power of science , in other words, they create machines possessing specs that were completely thought of as impossible before and thus are basically a "myth buster", this speciality of Academy City is known with the term is known as Hard Science (自然科学 Shizen Kagaku?, lit, "Natural Science") .
Academy City mainly uses this as a serial number to their most advanced machinery regardless of "what it is for", which translate in equipment having an Hs within it's serial, such as the HsSSV-01 "motorcycle" power suit or the HsAFH-11 helicopter or the HsF-00 super sonic plane, it should be noted that to the reader most of the technology produced by the "Hard Science" has been put into practice for the sake of creating new weapons.
Although Academy City is stated as the dominant faction on the Science side, there are still internal conflicts with the science side, not unlike what's happening in the magic side between the various churches. Because of their stance as the most advanced city in the world and having the capability of producing supernatural powers, they are both and envied and feared by the factions on both sides. Even then before the start of the series, Academy City has remained neutral towards Magic side affairs in the city, allowing magicians to enter the city and not intervene with their business even at the cost of lives, and having other magicians deal with magicians without reporting to the magicians if there are third parties involved.
Academy City is stated to follow international laws against cloning, though with the existence of the Sister clones it is obvious they are secretly delving into illegal activity banned by international law not just cloning.
Where the city's funds comes from is probably from different countries, even the military, that have high interest in psychic research. Also, the city has other bases of operations outside of Japan such as in Russia, demonstrated when all of the Sister clones left after the Level 6 Shift Experiment except 10 are sent outside Academy City for adjustments.
Many countries/factions found out the existence of Gemstones, natural born espers, and attempted to collect them to set up a esper research institutes independent of Academy City. There are up to 50 different factions/countries, all of which targeted one of the 50 gemstones outside Academy City. It was stated the CIA had 2 moles within each faction and tried to bring all of the gemstones together under their control. Academy City's Board of Directors in the end made a deal with Heaven Canceler, and sent in the Sister clones to all 50 institutes around the world to retrieve the gemstones for their protection, and also sent Kinuhata Saiai to assassinate the mastermind behind the plan of collecting the gemstones.
Security and MilitaryEdit
Academy City's technology is thirty years ahead of its time and thus, has accessibility to a more sophisticated array of measures to ensure security across the city. The city limits leading outside are lined with walls, accessible only through entry points which require persons to have permission to enter or leave the premises. For vehicles, infrared seekers and MRI scanners a used to check vehicles. Inside the city, hidden cameras are dotted along many roads and alleyways. Not only that Aleister Crowley uses small minuscule machines known as the UNDER_LINE to gather data around the entire city. The image of safety and trustworthiness is the forefront of Academy City's concerns, but information was strictly monitored and controlled below the surface. Many systems were laid out throughout the city in the name of preventing the approach of any terrorists or spies, be they industrial or working for a nation’s government. This control and manipulation of information is exemplified during Fräulein Kreutune's escape, where not only the messageboards and the local SNSs block and manipulate information regarding her, the channels used by Anti-Skill are controlled as well.
In addition to the ground-level security protocols in Academy City, the satellite Orihime 1 (where the Tree Diagram supercomputer is located) and Hikoboshi II (a camera satellite and also a satellite laser-cannon) gathers detailed pictures of the area and relays it back to Earth. According to Kamijou Touma in the beginning of the series, there were three satellites that continually monitor the city.
People who want to register to be a denizen of the city, requires information regarding their fingerprints, voiceprints, and retinal patterns. Furthermore, a denizen of the city requires a pass if they wish to leave the city, these are countermeasures against the abduction of the students, by industrial spies and agents. To leave, a student must first write and turn in three written applications, after signing all of them, their blood has to be checked for authenticity of identity using a micro machine, and lastly, students need to have a guarantor to obtain a complete pass, such as parents or guardians. Students going out are later injected with a nanodevice that is a transmitter before allowed out of the city using a mosquito needle.
The primary peacekeeping forces in Academy City are Judgment and Anti-Skill; these two groups are composed of trained students and faculty respectively which deal with crimes and conflicts with security. They are authorized to retrieve Information from surveillance equipment within Academy City, to check if there are any crimes occurring, in addition to their constant patrol duties. Academy City also has a fire department as well as emergency response organization.
Unfortunately, security in Academy City is revealed to have severe flaws in it. Because of the destruction of Orihime 1, live feeds of satellite images are greatly reduced. Magicians can easily enter Academy City and, like Sherry Cromwell, can cause damage despite the presence of Judgment and Anti-Skill units. It has also been revealed that parts of District 10 of Academy City have been completely overrun by its inhabitants, unreachable by technology due to the Skill-Out members destroying the hidden cameras and Security robots throughout the area. Groups like MEMBER and ITEM, they are mostly politically motivated factions working for one of the 12 Board of Directors of Academy City or Aleister Crowley, and care less about security and more on furthering their (or their employer's) own interests.
Network Terminal Security RankEdit
Furthermore, the network terminals of Academy City are ranked, to which only a device or a person with the same rank with the terminal can access information therein. These networks are connected to each other, however, for example, a Rank D terminal cannot access Rank C information.
- Rank D - Cellphones
- Rank C - Library and homes
- Rank B - Teachers
- Rank A - Research Laboratories
- Rank S - General Board of Directors
Automatic Alert SystemEdit
Academy City has an automatic alert system that triggers colored codes depending on the situation.
- Code Red - Academy City's highest alert status, which indicates that a terrorist have been confirmed to have invaded Academy City. Here, the city blocks traffic flow between the inside and the outside, as well as traffic between the districts are restricted. Checkpoints are also set up on the roads, and Judgment members can request leave to help locate the terrorist and help crowd control and evacuate civilians while Anti-Skill handle the situation.
- Code Orange - Academy City's second highest alert status, indicating the potential of an incoming terrorist threat on the city. All traffic between the inside and outside of the city is blocked.
- Code Yellow - Unknown, but the city was under Code Yellow after the invasion of Vento of the Front. Presumably, the code is up when the city is under the presumption that attacks can still be possible.
- Main article: Academy City Military
Anti-Skill is used as the formal military forces of Academy City. With their advanced technology, Academy City boasts technological superiority over most military of the world, with their several Powered Suits such as the HsPS-15.
- Many scenes of Academy City from the anime are taken from Tama City and from Tachikawa City, both of which are in the Tokyo prefecture.
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Episode 01
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 13 Epilogue Part 4
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Episode 24
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Chapter 1 Part 4
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 06 Prologue
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 15 Chapter Part 1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Prologue
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Episode 01
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 03 Chapter 01 Part 02
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 03 Chapter 01 Part 05
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 20 Prologue
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2 Chapter 3
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Episode 12
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel SS2
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Chapter 1 Part 2
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04 Prologue
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 15
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion Chapter 1 Part 1
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 06 Chapter 5 Part 9
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 06 Chapter 5 Part 2
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 Chapter 2 Part 1
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Episode 06
- ↑ Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Episode 15
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 03 Chapter 2 Part 8
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 Chapter 3 Part 5
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 Chapter 3 Part 6
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 06 Between the lines 1
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS Chapter 2 Part 1 | <urn:uuid:fa27056b-13e6-4c41-b6cb-dc38c5f807db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Academy_City | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940202 | 3,900 | 1.648438 | 2 |