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The Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR) program, otherwise known as “on-the-job training,” envisaged having the government pay the salaries of unemployed individuals while they get this training in firms, for a period of six months.
The Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) said last week unemployment was down 1.2 percent in May over the same month of the preceding year, to 8.2 percent. This was the lowest level observed since the third quarter of 2001, when jobless rate stood at 7.8 percent. A critical gauge for the economy, youth unemployment also declined by 1.6 percent in May over the fifth month of 2011 to 15.9 percent.
İŞKUR Manager Nusret Yazıcı said on Friday that the organization will cover the salaries along with health insurance expenses of one worker for each firm that employs at least two workers registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK). The firms must offer on-the-job training programs. The new regulation sees unemployed trainees, who have completed their training in İŞKUR's vocational education programs, sent to on-the-job training at various firms. İŞKUR then guarantees that the interns receive net salaries of TL 740 per month from the government for the following six months.
Prior to this latest program, İŞKUR ran vocational training programs regularly; however, it did not pay any salaries for its participants. Observers said the new regulation would boost the number of applications for the courses. The program offers trainees and employers the option of continuing to work together at the end of the six months. If not, these people will have gained enough experience to seek jobs in other, similar workplaces for a regular income, Yazıcı explains. He adds the program will also help employers who are not able to find a skilled workforce to cope with the problem.
According to İŞKUR, applicants must at minimum be high school graduates, and workplaces must have at least five employees to take part in on-the-job training programs. In the course of the six months, the trainees must work a minimum of five hours and a maximum of eight hours per day, with a total of 45 hours per week. In addition, the workers are free to work in an occupation tailored to their personal talents, and employers cannot force them to work in fields they have not applied for. | <urn:uuid:7f4da07a-4ea0-4e80-b1e6-b5158c65005d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=289784 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963386 | 505 | 1.695313 | 2 |
| Much recent media attention has focused on Walmart's announcement that it is canceling Thanksgiving plans for many of its employees. These workers will now have to work on the holiday as the retail giant kicks off its holiday sale at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, rather than waiting until midnight on "Black Friday."
"The result is troubling for advocates for workers' rights, as Walmart has encroached repeatedly on a holiday that traditionally involves plenty of time spent with family and away from work," according to a statement from the Corporate Action Network. "The decision to move up the start of Black Friday sales to Thursday could be an attempt to thwart the workers' organization efforts scheduled for Black Friday. (http://corporateactionnetwork.org/2012/11/9/black-thursday-is-the-new-black-friday)
Labor, social justice and human rights groups are supporting a nationwide boycott of Walmart on Black Friday to back the strike of Walmart workers that day. (http://other98.com/pledge-to-boycott-walmart-this-black-friday)
However, less well known to the public is Walmart's ambitious campaign of corporate greenwashing in recent years.
The Walton Family Foundation proudly reported "investments" totaling more than $71.4 million in "environmental initiatives" in 2011, including contributions to corporate "environmental" NGOs pushing ocean privatization through the "catch shares" programs and so-called "marine protected areas" like those created under Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.
According to a press release from the Walmart Headquarters in Bentonville Arkansas, the foundation made grants to more than 160 organizations in the U.S. and other countries "that work to protect natural resources while strengthening the local economies that depend on them." (http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/mediacenter/walton-family-foundation-invests-71.4-million-in-environmental-conservation-initiatives-in-2011-2)
The foundation directed an overwhelming majority of the grants toward its two core environmental initiatives - "Freshwater Conservation and Marine Conservation."
"Our work is rooted in our belief that the conservation solutions that last are the ones that make economic sense," claimed Scott Burns, director of the foundation's Environment Focus Area. "The foundation and our grantees embrace 'conservationomics' - the idea that conservation efforts can and should bring economic prosperity to local communities."
The foundation donated $30.5 million to Marine Conservation, $26,842,289 to Freshwater Conservation and $14,022,907 for "Other Environment Grants."
The Top Five Grantees were Conservation International, $16,208,278; Environmental Defense Fund, $13,683,709; the Marine Stewardship Council $3,122,500; Nature Conservancy, $3,024,539; and the National Audubon Society, $2,739,859.
Conservation International features Walton and Stewart Resnick on Board
Conservation International, the top recipient with $16,208,278, is an organization noted for its top-down approach to conservation and involvement with corporate greenwashing.
The Walton Foundation press release claimed that, "Conservation International continued to implement a three-year program to empower local communities to manage and conserve fishing resources on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast."
However, the group's board features some of the most controversial corporate leaders on the planet, including Rob Walton and Stewart Resnick.
Rob Walton, Walmart Chairman, serves as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of Conservation International. Serving with him on Conservation International's Board of Directors is Stewart Resnick, the owner of Paramount Farms.
Resnick has been instrumental in campaigns to build the peripheral canal to increase water exports to agribusiness and Southern California, to eviscerate Endangered Species Act protections for Central Valley Chinook salmon and Delta smelt and to eradicate striped bass in California. The Center for Investigative Reporting describes Resnick as a "Corporate Farming Billionaire and One-Man Environmental Wrecking Crew."
Resnick is notorious for buying subsidized Delta water and then selling it back to the public for a big profit, as revealed in an article by Mike Taugher in the Contra Costa Times on May 23, 2009. (http://www.revivethesanjoaquin.org/content/pumping-water-and-cash-delta)
"As the West Coast's largest estuary plunged to the brink of collapse from 2000 to 2007, state water officials pumped unprecedented amounts of water out of the Delta only to effectively buy some of it back at taxpayer expense for a failed environmental protection plan, a MediaNews investigation has found," said Taugher.
Taugher said the "environmental water account" set up in 2000 to "improve" the Delta ecosystem spent nearly $200 million mostly to benefit water users while also creating a "cash stream for private landowners and water agencies in the Bakersfield area."
"No one appears to have benefitted more than companies owned or controlled by Stewart Resnick, a Beverly Hills billionaire, philanthropist and major political donor whose companies, including Paramount Farms, own more than 115,000 acres in Kern County," Taugher stated. "Resnick's water and farm companies collected about 20 cents of every dollar spent by the program."
Likewise, the Nature Conservancy, a group that received $3,024,539 from the Walton Family Foundation, in 2011, is also known for its strong support of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral tunnels that Resnick and other corporate agribusiness interests so avidly support. A broad coalition of fishermen, Indian Tribes, environmentalists, family farmers and elected officials opposes the construction of the tunnels because they would hasten the extinction of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt and other species.
Environmental Defense Fund's drive to privatize fisheries
Environmental Defense Fund, with the second highest donation at $13,683,709, is known for its market-based approach to conservation and its push for "catch shares" that essentially privatize the oceans. The relationship between the group and the retail giant is so close that it operates an office in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart is headquartered.
"Environmental Defense Fund released its 'Catch Shares Design Manual: A Guide for Fishermen and Managers' to provide a roadmap to catch share design, which is a focus of our Marine Conservation initiative," according to the Walton Family Foundation.
A catch share, also known as an individual fishing quota, is a transferable voucher that gives individuals or businesses the ability to access a fixed percentage of the total authorized catch of a particular species.
"Fishery management systems based on catch shares turn a public resource into private property and have lead to socioeconomic and environmental problems. Contrary to arguments by catch share proponents - namely large commercial fishing interests - this management system has exacerbated unsustainable fishing practices," according to the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
True to form, Sam Rawlings Walton, the grandson of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, serves on the Board of Trustees of EDF.
Times articles put spotlight on Walmart
Two New York Times articles in April 2012 put Walmart and the Walton family's "dirty laundry" in the international spotlight, leading to a renewed call by the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) for the public to support their boycott of Walmart. (http://myemail.constantcontact.com/RFA-Encourages-Continued-National-Boycott-of-Wal-Mart-Stores-.html?soid=1102181706823&aid=itF-3JDXPa4)
The Times articles covered Walton family support for anti-fishing, pro-privatization efforts in North America, followed by the publication's exposure of alleged $24 million worth of bribes in Central America to speed up the chain's expansion into Mexico.
"The headlines prove that Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation are no friends of local communities anywhere, and their ongoing efforts to destroy coastal fishing businesses through support of arbitrary marine reserves and privatization of fish stocks nationwide should not be supported by anglers," said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio. "We're asking coastal fishermen who support open access, under the law, to healthy and sustainable fish stocks to send a clear message to this arrogant corporation that we've had enough of their greenwashing and grafting efforts.
Donofrio noted that Walmart made world headlines following a New York Times story that charges the Bentonville, Arkansas company and its leaders of squashing an internal investigation into suspected payments of over $24 million in bribes to obtain permits to build in Mexico (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?_r=2&hp)
Reporter's lapse shows complicity of corporate media
The bribery scandal was exposed on the same day that the Gloucester Times of Massachusetts exposed a reporting lapse in another recent New York Times article about the relationship between Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Walmart partnering together for "more enlightened and sustainable operations." (http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1774445793/EDF-Wal-Mart-Walton-ties-get-major-media-brush)
The New York Times had earlier reported that EDF "does not accept contributions from Wal-Mart or other corporations it works for."
However, when confronted on the fact that the $1.3 billion Walton Family Foundation (started in 1987 by Wal-Mart's founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and directed presently by the Walton family) has been underwriting EDF's successful effort to replace the nation's mostly small-business, owner-operated fishing industry with "a catch shares model designed to cap the number of active fishermen by trading away ownership of the resource to those with the deepest pockets," the author of the New York Times report conceded by email that in her rush to meet deadlines, she had not considered the relationship between the Walton family and Wal-Mart, according to Donofrio.
"I didn't think to check the EDF board for Walton family members, or Walton Family Foundation donations," said reporter Stephanie Clifford, adding, "None of the third parties I'd spoken to had mentioned that connection, which isn't an excuse - I should have thought of it myself, but didn't."
RFA is hoping that saltwater anglers and fishing business owners help send Walmart stocks tumbling by refusing to shop at the corporate giant any longer.
"The Walton family uses their fortune to buy off friends who'll cover for their despicable business practices, whether it's corporate greenwashing with EDF, rebranding efforts through national trade association campaigns, or apparently by way of directed bribes to local officials in other countries," Donofrio said. "Don't just stop buying fishing tackle at Wal-Mart - stop supporting this company altogether and let's quit supporting complete buyouts and takeovers of local communities."
In August 2011, RFA asked fishermen to publicly boycott Walmart stores following issuance of a news release from Wal-Mart corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas where the Walton family announced investments totaling more than $71.8 million awarded to various environmental initiatives.
Over $36 million alone was handed over to "Marine Conservation" grantees including the Ocean Conservancy, Conservation International Foundation, Marine Stewardship Council, World Wildlife Fund and EDF. All of these organizations are notorious for their role in corporate greenwashing efforts across the globe. (www.counterpunch.org/2011/08/19/wal-marting-the-oceans)
The RFA pointed out that by contributing over $36 million to NGOs promoting alleged "marine protected areas" like those created under Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative and catch share programs in 2010, the Waltons were contributing to the demise of sustainable recreational and commercial fisheries and the privatization of the oceans.
Commercial fishermen back boycott
Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, supports RFA's boycott of Walmart.
"People who are concerned about our environment or labor rights should all be boycotting Walmart," said Grader. "Their polices are clearly intended to commodify our natural resources and put them under the control of large corporations."
"The Walton Family Foundation is funding the Environmental Defense Fund, which wants to commodify water through water marketing and privatize our fish through catch shares program," said Grader. "These are tools used by corporations to further the growing disparity between 1 percent and rest of us."
"I've been boycotting Walmart for decades and it's absolutely great that recreational and commercial fishermen are together on this," concluded Grader. | <urn:uuid:d3cfbb3d-f3ae-4b56-a553-a2270d9f8fc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=14690 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94611 | 2,671 | 1.8125 | 2 |
This article is about doing a best career based on our interest
Each and every one is having a dream about their career and interest in a field, if we focus our concentration in our interested field with our dedication and determination, surely we will achieve a lot with our career and become a successful person. Some people may think that doing business will help us to make a lot of money, but they are wrong, not every one is blessed to get success with their business. We must have knowledge and interest to do anything and every thing in our life. If a person started business without a proper knowledge, s/he don't have the ability to shine in the field and get success in the life.
Each and every job have the ability to give more income to us based on our hard work, efforts and determination. First of all we must find our interested job and set our career with it. Don't take other persons advice and ideas while selecting your career, you are the person to work and you know about your interest and favorite field, just select your job based on your interest and do it with full of your concentration. If you are interested with your job, surely you will give your utter most to your work and achieve a lot with it.
If a person do his work without his interest as well as knowledge, he don't have the ability to shine in the field due to the lack of knowledge as well as he is not interested in learning more, as he is not interested with the field. He can do his work without any willingness and his progress will be zero. Don't waste your life in this sort and find your job in your favorite field and face the new challenges with your interest, surely you will achieve a lot with your job and become a successful person with your career | <urn:uuid:77bf6c72-5595-49d5-b642-8d5dfe27a914> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.wikinut.com/Best-Career/ib1hlxpn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987631 | 360 | 2.125 | 2 |
You know that saying "the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing"? For people with a strange disorder called alien hand syndrome, that's literally true -- the neuropsychiatric condition makes them feel as if one of their hands has taken on a mind of its own.
"An alien hand is an arm and hand that moves when the person to whom that arm belongs does not intend it to move," says Dr. Ken Heilman, a neurologist at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla. Heilman goes on to note that there are many neurological conditions that cause an arm to move unintentionally -- like seizures or tremors, and movement disorders such as chorea, dystonia and athetosis. Here's the difference: In each of those cases, if the arm moves, it's pretty much just flailing about purposelessly, "but with an alien hand, the movement appears to be purposeful." Creepy.
Heilman recalls one patient whose hands actually fought over fashion: Her right hand took a pair of red shoes out of the closet. Her left hand -- the "alien" hand -- pulled the red shoes out of her right hand, put them back and picked up a pair of blue shoes. When the right hand went again for the red shoes, the left hand slammed the closet door on the right hand.
A German neurologist and psychiatrist named Kurt Goldstein was the first to report a case of alien hand syndrome in 1908. His patient's left hand seemed to do whatever it pleased, including, at least once, an attempt to throttle its owner. It's most commonly the result of an injury to an area of the brain called the corpus callosum, which is, as Heilman describes it, "the major cable connecting the two hemispheres." (The injury often happens during surgery, such as an attempt to curb seizures, but it can also happen in stroke victims.) That injury prevents the two hemispheres from communicating, and because each side controls different behaviors and different hands, the confusion begins.
Usually, it's the left hand that is thought to be "alien," because that's the one controlled by the right hemisphere; the left hemisphere has no control over that hand, but it does control language, which gives the person the words to think, What is happening to my left hand?!
And it's always an alien hand, never an alien leg or foot. The brain has more bilateral control over the legs than it does the arms, Heilman explains. "The hand is this thing that does purposeful movement," he says. "We don't do a lot with our feet."
In one recorded case of alien hand syndrome, while a 67-year-old man slept, his hand did not; as a 1997 medical journal article reports, his hand "crept and crawled, especially at night, which caused him to awaken by grasping his collar." He solved his problem by wearing an oven mitt as he slept. But that guy had it easy. According to a 2000 journal article, a 73-year-old man's alien hand had a humiliating favorite hobby: masturbation.
Another more common (but less creepy) version of alien hand syndrome is an uncontrollable grasp reflex, which causes a patient to reach out and grab whatever is set in front of him, just like a baby would. (It's caused by an injury to the frontal lobe, which suppresses that grasping reflex as we mature.)
Alien hand syndrome is an extremely uncommon phenomenon -- most physicians have never even heard of it, says Heilman, who has only seen two patients exhibiting the more extreme kinds of symptoms. But it's popped up from time to time in pop culture.
The condition is sometimes known as "Dr. Strangelove syndrome," named for the titular character in Stanley Kubrick's famous 1964 film, in which Dr. Strangelove's right arm repeatedly tries to give a Nazi salute, and he must beat it down again and again with his left arm. More recently, "30 Rock's" live episode on Oct. 14 took on the spirit of the alien hand idea, featuring Jon Hamm in two fake, "Saturday Night Live"-style "commercials" for hand transplants gone totally wrong. (The late-1990s horror flick "Idle Hands" also nodded to the creepiness of the uncontrollable hand concept, but unless you, too, were a 14-year-old 8th grader in 1999 with a giant crush on Devon Sawa, you probably don't remember that one.)
In the real world, there isn't anything that can "cure" or even treat alien hand syndrome, Heilman says. Patients usually just come up with creative ways to keep their own appendages in check. "I had a patient who sat on his left hand," he says. "Many others treat their alien hand as if it were a disruptive child."
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook. | <urn:uuid:d0d1be74-58ee-41f2-9343-6eaf74638b0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bodyodd.nbcnews.com/_news/2010/10/29/5354143-when-one-hand-develops-a-mind-of-its-own | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973428 | 1,023 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Now certainly feels like one of those moments when the world needs to be explained to us, and Random House believes it has found just the writer to do it: Al Gore, the former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, will write a new book about what he calls “the drivers of global change,” that connects the dots among social, economic and political forces shaping our times, Random House said on Tuesday. The book, which is planned for release next year and does not yet have a title, is the first acquisition for the publishing house by Jon Meacham, the author and former Newsweek editor, who was named an executive vice president at the Random House Publishing Group in January.
Mr. Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winner for his Andrew Jackson biography “American Lion,” and, like Mr. Gore a Tennessean, said in a telephone interview that the former vice president’s best-selling books “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Assault on Reason” had established him as an author who “has been early and right” on anticipating global trends.
“He’s proven over the last decade or more that he’s a man worth listening to,” Mr. Meacham said. “And he’s bringing now decades, plural, of thinking and experience to this book, to take his arguments beyond climate change and really look at the global future.”
In a statement, Mr. Gore said he intended for the book to “start a conversation about the large-scale drivers of change that are defining and shaping our future — from the rapid development and integration of radically new technologies to the planet-changing impact of the climate crisis, to poverty, globalization and the democratization of knowledge accompanying the emergence of a ubiquitous Internet linking ever-more-intelligent devices.” Read more… | <urn:uuid:339496be-7d0c-464b-b786-1211ee716040> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/jon-meacham/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953631 | 391 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Getty Images/National Geographic
A new University of Chicago class teaches students about traditional and modern-day pirates.
Young, eager men and women attend college to learn about a number of topics: pedology, politics, pirates...
Even after increasing the class size from 90 to 150 students, spots filled quickly. As of Tuesday, only one seat was left.
"As eggheady as our students are, they also are very much of their generation and in touch with mainstream culture," assistant anthropology professor Shannon Lee Dawdy, who teaches the class, told the Chicago Tribune.
The class will also visit the new exhibit at the Field Museum, "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship," which features the bounty of a nearly 300-year-old wrecked pirate ship.
"It is almost too fun for the University of Chicago," Dawdy joked, "so I will make sure they read a bit of theory each week."
Now students can tell their parents they're learning the three "Arrrrrrrgh"s. | <urn:uuid:f25a573d-f0c3-4c39-9450-d12ddb7bfc11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/weird/Students-Are-Hooked-on-New-Pirates-Class.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972281 | 220 | 2.484375 | 2 |
These problems are not insurmountable. However, we all know the state is in a budget crisis. Governor Quinn has announced a plan to drastically reduce spending and raise revenues for Medicaid. We understand the state budget crisis, but obviously, people in Illinois need medical services, and the state is currently struggling to provide them.
Luckily, the Affordable Care Act is there to throw a lifeline out to health service providers and state agencies and especially to the real people who need healthcare. Thanks to the ACA, the states will spend about $90 billion less on healthcare with the implementation of the law than they would have spent without it. Thousands of people will still be getting the increased services mandated by the Act, but much of the funding will be federal rather than state.
It’s important to note that these benefits are not in the distant future; Illinoisans from birth to retirement are already benefiting from the Affordable Care Act.
Assistance from the ACA starts when kids are young; the ACA has already provided:
- $10.3 million for Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs. These programs bring health professionals into individual homes to connect families to the services they need to raise happy and healthy kids. These services include prenatal care, pediatric care, education, and parenting skills.
- $191,000 for Family-to-Family Health Information Centers, organizations run by and for families with children with special health care needs.
- $4.9 million for expanding and improving school-based health centers. Illinois funds 38 school-based clinics that provide screenings, physicals, exams, and more to students.
- $555,000 to support the Personal Responsibility Education Program, which educates youth on abstinence and contraception to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
The ACA is also spending money putting people to work at improving healthcare! Illinois has received:
- $400,000 to support the National Health Service Corps, by assisting Illinois in repaying educational loans of health care professionals in return for their practice in health professional shortage areas. This program is designed to help medical, dental, and mental health providers who choose to work in needy communities to repay their student loans. This is a particularly critical program because these professionals provide medical and dental care that individuals desperately need; the program allows professionals to provide care to needy individuals without worrying about their reimbursement rates or their ability to pay back debt.
- $5.1 million for health professions workforce demonstration projects. This program is designed to supplement the workforce in areas that are either already short-staffed or expected to be in the future. The Illinois Workforce Investment Board’s report noted shortages of both registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in Illinois.
And the ACA helps elderly Illinoisans, too!
- $457,000 to support Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). ADRCs help seniors and people with disabilities understand long-term care options including community care.
So far, Illinois has received $170.7 million in grants due to the Affordable Care Act. These grants are creating tangible improvements to the physical and fiscal health of our state. Thanks, Affordable Care Act!
This article, written by Caitlin Padula, was originally posted on The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law's blog, The Shriver Brief. | <urn:uuid:52d8e219-c2f4-44e2-b472-b9ead8f1a44a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://illinoishealthmatters.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959656 | 682 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
Print version ISSN 1020-4989
HEINECK, Isabela; SCHENKEL, Eloir Paulo and VIDAL, Xavier. Over-the-counter drugs in Brazil. Rev Panam Salud Publica [online]. 1998, vol.3, n.6, pp. 385-391. ISSN 1020-4989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49891998000600004.
In this study we examined the 100 over-the-counter drugs that were most widely sold in Brazil from June 1992 to June 1993. We excluded 23 food products that were classified as medicinal. The sample, which included 77 drugs, was representative of about 67% of all sales in monetary value, and 76.8% of all units sold of the different classes of over-the-counter drugs. The anatomical-therapeutic-chemical (ATC) system was used to classify the various drugs; each class of drugs was also graded according to a scale of its intrinsic value, taking into account effectiveness and risks. Most classes of drugs (91%) showed "little intrinsic value" (that is, were of questionable or no value, of relative value, or unacceptable), and 70% were fixed-dose combinations. Only 10 classes of drugs were included in the Ministry of Health's National Drug List, and four appeared in WHO's list of essential drugs. The therapeutic classes to which the drugs belonged were, in descending order of frequency, for the digestive tract, skin, genitourinary system, musculo-skeletal system, central nervous system, parasitic diseases, respiratory tract, and sensory system. The therapeutic subgroup that commanded the highest sales was that of the non-opiate analgesics and antipyretics. Our results confirm the hypothesis that over-the-counter drugs in Brazil are of poor therapeutic quality and that the use of many such drugs is a source of unnecessary expense for the population. Some of them should not be accessible to individuals who lack current knowledge of their side effects, since 25% of all cases of poisoning in the country are related to self-medication. Modifying the public's perception of the need for taking drugs to relieve their ailments is one approach that may improve their use of medications in the long term. | <urn:uuid:b1d61857-1e89-4761-b05e-cb49c563b97b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1020-49891998000600004&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958014 | 489 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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With the presidential election as a backdrop, the Carnegie Seminar class joined forces with the Baltimore Urban Affairs class to investigate the impact of the economic downturn on working poor and lower middle class families for a multimedia journalism project. The Carnegie Seminar was directed by Deborah Nelson, senior lecturer and Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist. She co-taught with Abell Prof. Sandy Banisky, former deputy managing editor of The Baltimore Sun, who teaches the urban affairs course. The students' stories appeared in The Baltimore Sun, Patch, community papers throughout the state and was cited in The Washington Post. To see the multimedia project, click here: "Falling Behind."
The Carnegie Seminar will be renamed Investigative Reporting and offered next in Spring 2013. It will be a 3-credit course offered to graduate students, and to senior undergraduates as an advanced reporting and capstone course.
Contact Prof. Nelson with questions: firstname.lastname@example.org
Image courtesy of K. Praslowicz
SPRING 2011. How Safe is Your Food? The Carnegie Seminar tackled the science, health, politics and business of food safety in the wake of mass outbreaks of foodborne illness and Congressional action to improve federal oversight. Students discussed the issues in class with an outstanding line-up of guest speakers drawn from experts, advocates, policymakers and journalists from the nation's capital and across the country. We conducted televised, joint sessions with similar classes at Arizona State University and the University of Nebraska. Students from those classes and several other schools participated as summer fellows in a national investigative reporting project on food safety as part of the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. Fellows' stories have appeared in The Washington Post and at The Center for Public Integrity and won two national Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.
FALL 2010. The human face of immigration policy: Journalism and anthropology majors studied immigration reporting, anthropological research and video storytelling. They conducted fieldwork and produced multimedia team projects showing how immigration policy plays out in the lives of foreign-born residents. SPRING 2010. Immigrant communities: Students took an in-depth look at local enclaves from the perspectives of four academic disciplines. They collaborated on an oral history performance, researched the potential impact of a new county land use policy on the immigrant community in Langley Park, and produced a multimedia report on the issue. FALL 2009. The Economy: The economic crisis brought about profound changes that will play out on every local, national and international beat for years to come. An economic historian, a social economist and an entrepreneur provide insight into how we got here and where we may be headed. SPRING 2009. The New Voters: Latinos and other emerging voting groups participated in the fall election in historic numbers. Students worked with experts in polling, census geographic analysis and ethnography to learn how to analyze political attitudes and engagement. FALL 2008. National Politics: Students took a virtual ride on the campaign bus with a top polling expert, a former politician and a congressional aide-turned-scholar. SPRING 2008. War and peace: Experts on the U.S. military and the Middle East led a provocative semester-long discussion about the culture of war and geographic conflict. FALL 2007. Global Threats: Terrorism, nuclear proliferation and climate change – The University’s top experts lead discussions on three of the biggest stories journalists will cover in their generation. SPRING 2007: Urban issues: The seminar featured a top columnist and scholar on African-American politics, an activist and scholar on a local immigrant community, and a leading expert on crime. FALL 2006: Students explored race, gender and child development with a historian, demographer and education scholar.
Latest projects, stories & links:
Baltimore Sun: "Funds cut as number of needy Marylanders hits new high"
Los 30: Thirty Years of Salvadoran/Latino Immigration to Washington D.C. -- an oral history by Quique Aviles, based on research by students in the Spring 2010 Carnegie Seminar, Latina/o Studies 202 and Transnational Latina/o Literatures 408b, and organized by Carnegie guest lecturer Ana Patricia Rodriguez from the College of Arts and Humanities. The performance was broadcast live to gatherings in El Salvador and Los Angeles.
Transit Center Tradeoff
Filling the Gap: Community Finance Institutions
East Baltimore Development Inc
Killing by the Numbers, Salon.com
Poplar Springs, WJLA-TV | <urn:uuid:5e3aa16a-bcd1-48f0-b12f-52f70e1bee89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.merrill.umd.edu/masters/carnegie-seminar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920448 | 965 | 1.5 | 2 |
This post is an update to Error of Law, posted yesterday during a trial at the Law Courts in Halifax. In this precedent-setting case, Maurina Beadle and Pictou Landing First Nation are taking the Government of Canada to court over its failure to provide to Beadle's son the same level of health care that a child living off-reserve would receive from the province of Nova Scotia. Background links available below.
Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the equality guarantee, ensures that all people have access to equal benefit of the law. The purpose of the Charter is to entrench the goal of equality, in particular to protect those who have been historically disadvantaged.
Canadian law, including the way it is playing out for Jeremy and Maurina Beadle, argued Beadle and the Band's lawyer Paul Champ yesterday morning in his initial submissions, has served up "systemic, deeply entrenched disadvantage to First Nations people." Current systems perpetuate this historic disadvantage, a disadvantage that is based on a historic stereotype that First Nations people do not deserve the same things as other Canadians.
First Nations people have been continuously denied the same level of services on reserve that other citizens have as a matter of course. First Nations people often have to leave their homes in order to get higher level of services if they need it.
A 2009 impact evaluation report by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC, now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada--AANDC) revealed "significant gaps in services" for the assisted living program. "Children's assisted living needs are not being met by the program," which has been in place since 2003, but "no funding has accompanied this authority." In fact, INAC evaluators were told that parents were giving up custody of their children so their needs could be met off-reserve.
Part of the problem, explained Champ, is that funding relies too heavily on population, not on the needs of the community.
"The disadvantage that First Nations have historically faced on reserves has never been resolved," said Champ. "Never. Never. First Nations people do not have equal access to schools, home care, or health."
Champ read from a report by former Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who evaluated conditions on First Nations reserves in 2011. "'I am profoundly disappointed that despite federal action, a disproportionate number of First Nations people lack basic services that other people take for granted. Many problems faced are due to structural impediments, including...lack of clarity about the services available, lack of legislative base, lack of appropriate funding mechanism and lack of organizational support to provide funding.'"
"This is evidence of historical disadvantage; that is the context in which you must evaluate this case, Justice. Does the law disadvantage the claimant? We submit that it does."
Champ also asked the judge to take into consideration the "nature of the interest," in this case referring to the fact that a service provided in the home is of heightened significance to First Nations people.
Barbara Robinson was the AANDC official who denied the Beadle family the funding required to keep Jeremy Beadle living at home. In making her decision, she stated that, in the Beadle case, the Charter doesn't apply. Champ explained the exception to the guarantee of equality that excludes First Nations people who, because of their unique status, are not entitled to the equal benefit of the law.
First Nations people are the only legal group in Canada identified by race; they therefore fall into a "legal no-man's-land" because their situation can't be compared to anything--there is no comparative group with respect to which they can be discriminated. Therefore the Charter, and cases argued on the basis of "discrimination," cannot be argued. Champ submitted that this is an improper way to interpret Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The services provided by the federal government--either by Health Canada or by Aboriginal Affairs--to people on-reserve, are not provided by legal obligation, but as a matter of "policy," based on agreements and programs negotiated with First Nations band councils.
As these services are policy--and not law--they are discretionary, and provided according to the government official who interprets the policy.
These agreements use such language as "Canada has elected to provide" a given service. These services are therefore a choice, provided at the discretion of the Government of Canada, "out of the goodness of their hearts," said Champ.
One such policy, designed to prevent health services from being interrupted because of jurisdictional disputes as a result of a child's Aboriginal status, is Jordan's Principle. Jordan's Principle is named in honour of Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation, who spent all his life in hospital while the province of Manitoba and the government of Canada argued over who was responsible for funding the child's care at home. Jordan died at the age of four, having never lived at home.
Jordan's Principle was passed unanimously in the House of Commons in 2007. In many debates in the House, said Champ, there is notable lack of disagreement among political parties that the bill is about human rights and discrimination, acknowledging that children must be protected, and that all children in Canada must be provided with equal opportunities for care.
However, explained Champ, Jordan's Principle is an "expression of the House," and not legally binding. The federal government is seeking to implement the principle across the country. Where there is no formal agreement, there are dialogues premised on Jordan's Principle.
"In any other case, I would not make this argument" that Jordan's Principle legally applies, said Champ, "but in this case, there are no statutes. We have policy manuals, funding agreements that change over time in content and funding levels essentially at the whim of the federal government. Do these policies have the form of law? Yes, because there is nothing else.
"There's nothing to grab onto," said Champ. "There is no Appeal Assistance Board, no Act, not like what Brian Boudreau's mother had." The Boudreau case has been held up as a precedent in Nova Scotia where a severely disabled person was granted funding over and above the standard respite cap due to a provincial program designed specifically to allow disabled persons to remain at home. To do this, the Boudreau case used the Social Assistance Act, which helped define the "normative standard of care." (See Error of Law for details.)
"This"--Jordan's Principle--"is, in a sense, is the best that we have."
The animated purpose of Jordan's Principle, he said, is to acknowledge the fact that First Nations people are in a unique legal situation, and also to rectify the historical disadvantage of First Nations people.
A breach of Jordan's Principle is evidence of discrimination, said Champ. "When a child is denied service for one day, as a result of a jurisdictional dispute, that is a breach of Jordan's Principle, and it is always a breach of Section 15 of the Charter."
Part I from this court case, Error of Law: Historic court case in Halifax identifies gap in health services for First Nations children
Feature post with The Dominion, It's a Matter of Jordan's Principle: Canada's health care system leaves Native child behind | <urn:uuid:fde95d8b-45fc-4b39-a1bc-0e8c9d60da51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/blog/moira-peters/11309 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969039 | 1,489 | 2.4375 | 2 |
‘Kindness Car’ from Omaha to Help the Needy in Akko
The city of Akko celebrated this week as it welcomed a new van that will help thousands of people. The van will serve the Merkaz Hachessed (The Kindness Center) operated by the city’s Garin Torani (Torah nucleus group).
The Garin, a group of religious-Zionist families, works with residents of the city to operate the Kindness Center. The Center distributes 350 food packages each week to those who are elderly, ill, handicapped, or otherwise in need.
In addition, the Center distributes more than 750 sandwiches to schools each day. The sandwiches are given to children whose families struggle to afford food.
When holidays approach, the Center kicks into high gear, distributing more than 900 food packages.
The new vehicle was donated by Henry Davis of Omaha, Nebraska, with help from the Jewish Agency’s project for the Western Galilee region.
“The new car will help volunteers at the center every day… The donation of this vehicle is very important for the work of the Center, which is operated entirely by volunteers, and we would like to thank the generous donor and the Western Galilee Fund from the bottom of our heart,” said Yishai Rubin of the Garin Torani.
Mayor Shimon Lankry attended the celebration as well. “A city is measured by its ability to give hope to the weak,” he said. “A community volunteer project like the Kindness Center is one of the best examples of that kind of activity.” | <urn:uuid:ce49a0f3-f4ce-4031-8b9a-745f030f084b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/157024 | 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 | 0.955254 | 338 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Business News of Sunday, 23 December 2012
Diebedo Francis Kere, 2012 Global Holcim Gold winner, has challenged African architects to make use of the abundant materials and human resources at their disposal to create contemporary eco-friendly and community based architecture without compromising quality.
Mr Kere, who made the proposal during Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction Lecture in Accra, noted that architecture was not about designs but integrating things within the environment to create environmentally congenial architecture familiar to the indigenous African.
The lecture dubbed: “Usage of Indigenous Materials to Create Contemporary Eco-friendly, Community Based Architecture,” was under the auspices of Holcim Foundation and ArchiAfrica.
It was to drum home the need to exploit African talents and the use of local materials to create eco-friendly and community based architecture.
The 2012 Global Holcim Gold Award winner, who received US$300,000, said his aim to transform and use local materials in architecture was motivated by the use of clay to build by most people in Burkina Faso which had withstood harsh weather.
He said for African architects to make the desired impact on improving quality of lives of the people they ought to develop creativity in utilizing local materials like stones, clay, sand, and trees with the help of local talents.
Mr Kere said involving local people, tools and talents in architecture promoted ownership, aroused pride, saved money and enhanced maintenance culture and creativity.
Mr Kere called on architects to build to suit African conditions and culture and be innovative in employing local materials to suit local conditions and improve the quality of life of the people.
Edward Schwarz, General Manger of Holcim Foundation, said the organizers of the award took holistic view of the project including the use of less energy, working with the local people, social issues, economics and functionalism of the project.
He said the target issues were sustainable construction, innovation and transparency, environment and resource quality.
He praised Francis Kere for using the award money to build schools in his home village to benefit about 1000 pupils.
Rolf Soiron, chairman, Holcim Foundation, said in spite of the tremendous achievement made in the construction industry, architects should not be blind of the challenges of urbanization, demography, environment, equity, economic and the value of beauty.
He called on players in the building industry to network with schools and technical universities to encourage debate to multiply solutions.
Francis Kere, from Gando, a village in Burkina Faso, is currently engaged in building mosques, schools, opera, restaurants and museums among others in Mali, Geneva, Germany and China using indigenous African tools and materials.
He lectures at TU-Berlin on designing buildings that are ecologically and socially adequate to their environment and has recently been appointed Design Critic in Urban Planning and Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design. | <urn:uuid:d92378b2-8d36-499d-bd30-f19b8dbcf041> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=260357 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956879 | 592 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Back in August we argued that Microsoft had gotten itself a puppet state. It is able to buy support for OOXML from other companies. In other case, it uses blackmailing technique (e.g. patent terrorism) to get that support. We backed this assertion with a reference from Wikipedia.
Earlier today, the No OOXML site echoed this assessment and presented the same type of analysis. It shows that indeed, Novell is a puppet.
Wikipedia: “A puppet is a representational object manipulated by a puppeteer. It is usually but not always a depiction of a human character and is used in (a) play or a presentation. The puppet undergoes a process of transformation through being animated, and is normally manipulated by one, or sometimes more than one, puppeteer. Some puppets can be moved electronically.” Does Novell qualify as an OOXML puppet?
It does indeed. Novell has a good track record of doing things that please Microsoft. It is a Microsoft puppet in more than one way.
When Novell released a redacted version of the SEC filing (just before the holidays), Shane and I analysed it [1, 2, 3, 4] and saw what it meant to office suites, among other things. Here are some relevant bits from the filing:
(a) *** will exercise its *** to *** by no later than *** that (i) the *** OpenOffice (version 2 or later) *** does or will *** Office Open XML format (“Open XML”), and (ii) it will make a *** *** If *** does not *** it will *** within the same time frame that *** in the *** on a*** to *** Open XML. *** will provide its *** to*** at least *** in advance of *** The *** will be *** not to be *** will provide *** in the *** will *** of such *** the Term, including through *** in the *** is defined in the Business Collaboration Agreement. (b) Novell Product Support for Office Open XML. No later than *** after the Translator Project makes generally available a version of its translator for word processing, and thereafter throughout the Term, Novell will (unless commercially impracticable) make prominently available *** for word processing documents. The *** can be made prominently available to a user of *** via an easily available download or by distributing the *** with each copy of a *** . No later than *** after the Translator Project releases a final version of its translator for spreadsheets, Novell will use commercially reasonable efforts to include in the *** support for spreadsheet documents. No later than *** after the Translator Project releases a final version of its translator for presentations, Novell will use commercially reasonable efforts to include in the *** support for presentation documents. Once released, Novell will continue to make the *** commercially available for the Term. If, during the Term, the Translator Project releases an updated version of its translator to reflect a new version of the relevant ODF or Open XML specification, then no later than *** following such release, Novell will use commercially reasonable efforts to make prominently available a corresponding update to *** . (c) Spreadsheet Translator Prototype. If the Translator Project announces that it will begin development of an open source Open XML-ODF Translator for spreadsheet documents (“Spreadsheet Translator”), within fifteen (15) days after that announcement Novell will review the terms applicable to contributions and determine at its discretion whether it is appropriate to submit its existing prototype of a Spreadsheet Translator to the Translator Project on the same terms that apply to other contributors to the Translator Project. Novell will also participate in the Translator Project by periodically testing subsequent versions of the Spreadsheet Translator and providing other feedback. (d) Microsoft-Facilitated Translator Development. Microsoft will use commercially reasonable efforts to encourage development of Open XML-ODF Translators for spreadsheet and presentation documents. Novell will participate with Microsoft in such efforts at a commercially reasonable level. In addition, subject to Novell’s foregoing commitment to participate, Microsoft will manage an open source software project (which may be the Translator Project) to develop each such Translator, similar to the manner in which it currently manages the Translator Project, commencing when and continuing for such period as Microsoft reasonably deems appropriate. The translators resulting from any such project(s) will be made available under an open source license, similar to that currently being used in the Translator Project.
As you can see, Microsoft set the rules for Novell. Microsoft offered Novell a huge cash infusion and it wanted something in return. In essence, Microsoft used money to make Novell its marionette. Novell (and GNOME) could truly take a lesson from KDE, which has truly remained idealogical and pragmatic.
Three cheers for the developers and management of the K Desktop Environment. They have taken a principled stand on the divisive issue of OOXML, the Microsoft Office Open XML document format. And for this the KDE folk deserve a round of applause.
The next post will show why Novell was willing to become such a puppet for OOXML and Microsoft (possibly taking GNOME along with it). Novell is having financial trouble. To make matters worse, Microsoft potentially wishes to own more of UNIX, essentially inheriting SCO’s role as anti-Linux litigator and stealing property from a very weak Novell. █ | <urn:uuid:a2a4be0c-721e-4506-a952-f6b6c47f70e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techrights.org/2007/12/10/ooxml-puppet-novell/ | 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 | 0.926005 | 1,133 | 1.570313 | 2 |
On January 22, 2009, US President Barack Obama issued an executive order [PDF] directing that the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities be closed "as soon as practicable" and setting a deadline of January 22, 2010. The administration also undertook a review of the military commission process used to prosecute Guantanamo Bay detainees. However, the Obama administration sought to expedite the closure of the facilities by pursuing federal charges against detainees. Attorney General Eric Holder announced in October 2009 that congressional opposition and administrative setbacks could lead to the administration missing its self-imposed deadline. Ultimately, the Guantanamo Bay detention center was not closed by January 22, 2010 and remains open as of January 2012.
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MyBlogAlerts also e-mails alerts of new This Day at Law entries. It's free and fast, but ad-based. | <urn:uuid:14fc1741-a209-4a3d-8bcf-cd3ee85ba01d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jurist.org/thisday/2012/01/obama-ordered-guantanamo-prison-closed-within-one-year.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973278 | 200 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Wedged between paying your children's college expenses and providing financial support to your parents -- at the same time? Welcome to the "sandwich generation." Most of the advice out there focuses on the challenges of protecting inheritances while managing your parents' money. But an AARP study shows that only 19 percent of boomers will receive an inheritance.
If your parents are middle-class, you're in a tough spot. The wealthiest seniors can afford the high costs of aging, and those with few assets qualify for Medicaid. For seniors in the middle, though, families often have to step in to help. Bankrate's tips below focus mainly on resources to help you manage your parents' finances.
As for your kids, the best time to help them is when they're small -- by opening a 529 plan or Coverdell education savings account. If they're seniors in high school and you're already squeezed, your only assistance may be helping them get student loans. Whatever you do, don't be tempted to dip into your retirement accounts to help out Mom, Dad or the kids. That's financial suicide.
These 10 tips will help you keep your fiscal sanity during the sandwich years.
Educate yourself on the legal issues. Even if your parents don't own a home or have significant assets, arrange to meet with an elder law attorney. It's difficult to sift through such legal documents as a living will, last will and testament or living trust. And power of attorney issues are complex. For instance, there's a difference between power of attorney and durable power of attorney.
"If you have a power of attorney over a parent, but not a durable power of attorney, and your parent develops dementia, then your power is gone," says elder law attorney Craig Reaves of Reaves Law Firm in Kansas City, Mo.
To find an elder law attorney in your area, ask friends for a referral or contact the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys for recommendations. | <urn:uuid:23c0c620-6026-410f-a6d1-e74a34ac0bfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/10-ways-to-survive-the-sandwich-years-1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960165 | 400 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The Sacrament of Penance I Reconciliation I Confession
Saturday: 4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Sunday: 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also called Penance & Confession. Reconciliation denotes the effect of the sacrament: reconciliation with God and the brotherhood of Christians. Penance describes the steps the sinner takes when receiving the sacrament: personal conversion, heartfelt penance, and satisfaction. Confession indicates how the sins are made known to the confessor before they are forgiven.
The Authority to Forgive Sins
On the evening of the first day Jesus had risen from the dead, Jesus appeared to his Apostles in the Upper Room and said to them, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus then breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained" (John 20:21-23).
Jesus came to forgive sins. This is why the Father sent him. Likewise, Jesus sends his Apostles to continue his own ministry of forgiveness, and by appointing successors, the Apostles extended this ministry to the bishops who succeeded them in office. Today, throughout the historical Catholic Church Jesus established, those with the authority that has been handed down to them are able to forgive sins in the name of Jesus Christ, with his very own authority! (Learn more)
Examination of Conscience
Download and print an Examination of Conscience to read and meditate over before you receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. | <urn:uuid:161fe0a9-1066-4686-9514-289a623a7e59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presentationparish.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=101 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96176 | 334 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Humulus lupulus or, ‘wolf of the woods’ is the Latin name for the hop. It is a tall climbing plant and is “dioecious” which means that the male and female plants are separate. It is the female plant, which bears the hop cones required in the brewing process.
The plants are perennial (dying back and re-growing each year), and can be expected to remain productive for 10 – 20 years or more, sending their roots down to a depth of up to 3.75 m. With the support of a matrix of wooden poles, wirework and string they can grow to a height of at least 5 m. On the traditional system the plants are tied or trained up each string in the Spring. They reach the top of the string by July and during the month they begin to flower and their cones begin to develop. The hop cones consist of layers of soft tissue petals where the lupulin glands form and they look like large yellow pollen grains.
The Lupulin Gland for Alpha & Aroma
Each lupulin gland contains the oil resins, which confer bitterness, preservative properties plus the aroma and flavour. It is the alpha acid in the lupulin that imparts the bitterness in the beer. A stiff oily substance, Lupulin is sticky to touch and with a complex chemistry found nowhere else in the plant kingdom. It is made up of several volatile oils, which formulate the flavour used in Beer.
These subtle differences are evident in the cones of different hop varieties, which individually contribute to the flavouring of beer.
The UK hop harvesting season is the month of September, when the ‘Bines’ of the hop plants are laden with the all-important cones. The bines are cut at a height of approximately 3 feet (1 m) above ground and brought in from the field. Here they are carefully handled and fed into picking and sorting equipment, which separates the valuable cones from their leaves and stem. These cones are then dried in a Kiln or Oast house, which are a familiar sight in the English landscapes of Kent, Sussex, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
The drying of the hops enables them to be stored. Fresh hop cones will start to compost almost immediately. The moisture content of each cone is reduced from 80%+ to between 10-12% during the drying process and the final product is packed into pockets or bales, weighing approximately 85 kilograms each. They are then dispatched directly to breweries or for further processing. | <urn:uuid:47300524-364a-4c7f-905a-33cca9ee98f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britishhops.org.uk/what-is-a-hop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948783 | 521 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Love the Kennedys and Nobody Gets Hurt
IN THE WAKE OF ITZKOFF’S ARTICLE in the New York Times, History executives decided that, as The Kennedys scripts were developed, the network had to be ultracareful.
“We were in the middle of writing the shows when we got the word that we needed to make sure there wasn’t a single frame of film that didn’t meet the highest historical standard,” Joel Surnow said. “Everything had to be pretty much double-sourced by very specific scholarly writers. There was the concern that now that we’re actually here [with eight scripts in development], we have to make sure we’re bulletproof historically.”
Both Surnow and Kronish admitted to taking liberties with dialogue and dramatization, particularly with scenes involving the Kennedys’ personal affairs — there was simply no way to write scenes at, say, the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port without inventing dialogue. “There were some characters that became composites, things like that,” Kronish said. “We weren’t doing a documentary.”
Robert Greenwald, meanwhile, worried that, despite his online petition and media blitz, the “political propaganda” was marching forward. “We asked for and could not get a copy of the fixed script,” he told me. It would be unusual for an outsider with no role in the production to see a script, particularly one who’s already denounced the work. But Greenwald said that’s precisely why History should have kept him in the loop. “They were in trouble because they had a front-page story in the Times, and they needed to do damage control,” he said.
Composites and made-up dialogue notwithstanding, Surnow and Kronish told me they were serious about getting the big stuff right, even incorporating direct quotes from Kennedy White House tapes. Plus, they had help: The History Channel had asked historian Steven Gillon to work with the writers to ensure accuracy. The University of Oklahoma professor, who’d deftly handled the controversy with the network’s LBJ documentary, was well qualified for a project blending popular history and the concerns of America’s most famous family: When Gillon was a graduate student at Brown, he’d taught John Jr. , then an undergrad. The two became friends, and John had asked Gillon to write for us at George. Though I haven’t seen him since, I met Gillon during those days, and he was clearly a good friend of John’s. Gillon also had firsthand experience writing history and making television about the Kennedys. In 2009 he published The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After, the basis for a two-hour History Channel special that he hosted.
“We went through draft after draft,” Kronish said of the writing process. “Gillon recognized that we were not doing a documentary, but a historically based drama. He recognized a certain latitude. But when it came to facts about the Kennedys’ political and public lives, we had a couple of arguments because he was very insistent that our sources be academically recognized.” In the end, Kronish said, “they were.” | <urn:uuid:4912e634-ed9f-4dfb-91dc-daec0477d6f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2011/04/love-the-kennedys-and-nobody-gets-hurt/9/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979426 | 701 | 1.5 | 2 |
Lone Pine Area
Alabama Hills in California
The Alabama Hills stretch out for miles, parallel to the town of Lone Pine, CA. Only 2 1/2 miles to the west of town, this is a must see when driving Hwy 395. Many westerns and even popular films, such as Star Trek and Gladiator,were filmed in the Alabama Hills. The name was given to the area by gold seeking Southern sympathizers during the Civil War. They were so named in 1864 to honor and celebrate a Confederate cruiser named the Alabama.
To see the many oddly sized and shaped boulder and rocks, you can drive and/or hike through the hills. The main drive is paved, but very rocky and rough. The view of the many Sierra peaks, including Mt. Whitney, are enjoyed from the vantage point of the Alabama Hills. At present, it is remote with no facilities such as food, drink, restrooms, or gasoline. Be prepared before leaving the town of Lone Pine for this area.
Located in the northern part of the Alabama Hills is the Movie Flats area. “High Sierra”, “Gunga Din”, “Rawhide”, “Maverick”, and “How the West Was Won” were some of the movies that had many scenes filmed here.
Mt. Whitney Trails
At 14,497 feet, Mt. Whitney is the tallest peak in the contiguous forty eight states. It was first climbed in 1873 and was called previously Fishermen’s Peak. It was renamed later after Josiah Whitney, who determined it to be the tallest in the country, according to his 1864 geologic survey. The Portal is the entrance to the 10.7 mile hiking trail that leads to the top of Mount Whitney.
Beverly and Jim Rogers Museum of Lone Pine Film
This museum is a wonderful compliment to Lone Pine’s history. It is an awesome display of local movie history with exhibits, movie posters, costumes (worn by the actual actors), saddles, & movie vehicles such as vintage cars and wagons. Over 400 movies have been made in the area. There is an 85 seat theatre that shows a 15 minute film on film history in this area, as well as a gift shop. | <urn:uuid:bc534e2c-e244-46eb-a697-55188490447e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.panamintsprings.com/area-attractions/lone-pine-area/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971392 | 468 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Mimicry Chairs by Nendo
Japanese design studio Nendo has conceived a collection of ‘Mimicry Chairs’ composed of pressed and punched metal and lacquered white to give it a ghost-like aesthetic. The project’s philosophy is generated through reinterpreting and multiplying a single white chair in ten different ways, where the series will then appear in ten varying locations throughout the V&A Victoria & Albert Museum. During 2012 London Design Festival - the experience beginning in the main entrance of the museum. The journey then carries on throughout the space - positioning the chairs in galleries, staircases and corridors. each design has been carefully created to reflect and ‘mimic’ the location in which it is placed - poetically communicating the relationship an object shares with its environment. (via designboom)
Photos by Daici Ano. | <urn:uuid:80bb0982-d8da-4f83-ad5f-a989b42abcf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ceramicsnow.org/tagged/chairs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93361 | 181 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Good luck to all the pupils waiting for their transfer test results. The children and their parents/guardians are to be commended for their efforts. The children, not least, for being willing to have their numeracy and literacy skills tested and excerising their right to compete for a place in a grammar school. The parents/guardians for supporting the efforts of those schools determined to deliver the equality of opportunity that a transfer test affords. 2013 is the forth year that the “unregulated” tests have been organised and delivered to the highest of standards and it is testament to those who have resisted the determination of an Education Minister hellbound on removing parental choice for a grammar school education to match the needs of their children.
It is important when the results are known not to fall into the annual trap generated by opponents of selection by stressing over the marks or grades (these always remove information and should not ever be compared to the old CCEA grading system) obtained by the pupil. Expect and resist the rumour mill but instead arm yourself with the knowledge that until the admissions process is completed no one can issue a guarantee of a place at any grammar school. The marks/grades from previous years may give a reasonable indication of a school’s 2013 intake but do not be put off in listing a preference because of something someone has told you “on good authority” or “inside information”. Remember that Open Enrolment has resulted in about 42% of post-primary pupils getting a place in a grammar school.
In making a selection of preferences it is important to take into consideration future plans for the schools. There is little benefit in choosing a school which in a short period will no longer be a grammar school. The school is unlikely to inform you of their change in direction, after all they are competing for your child and relying on their marketing efforts. Your child will not benefit in the long run. Forty plus years of research evidence and data on attainment shows that mixed ability schools generally produce lower attainments at GCSE and A-Level.
Add to that the negative impact of the revised curriculum and the entitlement framework and the Education Minister's insistence in breaking parity on examinations with England and this year's cohort of parents making vital decisions on behalf of their children must be sure of their choices.
Specific information on schools will follow
February 4, 2012
Good luck to all pupils awaiting their examination results for Saturday 4th February, 2012. There are no failures among them regardless of the result or score.
The unregulated examinations have been conducted for the past three years without the threatened legal challenge promised by Sinn Fein’s Caitriona Ruane and are now established as the de facto 11-plus replacement for selection to grammar schools.
The difficulties between the two organisations AQE and PPTC are insurmountable so disregard recent utterances from politicians and their compliant friends in the media claiming that they will consolidate the groups into one testing agency. It would appear that the DUP are talking to the PPTC, “the Catholic Test” organisers and perhaps to the GBA, the Governing Bodies Association of the voluntary grammar schools but not to the AQE. As ever the politicians pretend to help but actually have done nothing but try to seize political advantage over a key concern of parents. Mervyn Storey claimed that he had been meeting with both testing groups but reliable sources confirm that no such meetings have taken place with the AQE testing agency.
Ignore all romours about the score required to gain a place at a particular grammar school.
No school principal or teacher has access to information which could allow any such claim. Previous years cut-off scores are only relevant to those years. Do not be put off making application to a school based on romour. Many will propagate disinformation in order to increase the chances of their child gaining a place at your expense.
The admission procedure is controlled by the Education & Library Boards and will not conclude until May. While this period of delay is unjustifiable it should come as no surprise to parents since all of the ELBs have an anti-academic selection and anti-testing stance. If ELBs cared about all pupils they would have taken steps to shorten the timescale.
Remember that there is no equivalency between the two tests. I.E. a particular score (or faux grade) for a GL test cannot be equated to an AQE score. This year quintiles have been dropped because of the deceptive use of the information, particularly by the media, to convert AQE scores into grades. Grades remove information and are therefore unhelpful to pupils and parents.
Top scores in the AQE test are likely to be lower than in previous years because of the availability of practice papers but median scores will be higher.
The GL Assessment test in English was harder this year. This is likely to have been in response to the widespread criticism of flaws in the GL test. With a limited bank of questions available the testing agency may have selected questions with a higher facility score (difficulty) from those available in order to suggest that they have been responsive.
More to follow
UTV broke a story on the unregulated transfer tests http://www.u.tv/News/Transfer-tests-leaked-to-parents/aa9483bf-7684-4e40-926a-e18574a0ab69 UTV decided only to mention this development on their website thereby robbing parents and pupils of an opportunity to ask pertinent questions of their school principals and teachers.
At present GL assessment have yet to deny the growing belief that questions appearing in the 2009 test may re-appear in the 2011 version. If this turns out t be the case the validity and reliability of the PPTC sponsored test is destroyed.
Parents will recall PACE’s previous warning about the lack of specification for the GL Assessment test
February 5, 2011
The Parental Alliance for Choice in Education wish to draw attention to parents of an alternative mechanism for requesting a re-marking of the GL Assessment tests conducted by the PPTC schools. The tests are multiple choice and marked by inserting the answer sheet into an Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
Instructions on remarking are provided by the PPTC as demonstrated via the Ballymena Academy website.
Parents may wish to contact CCEA, the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment and request that the official regulator of exams put their child’s test paper through their “Chemistry Exam Special” OMR machine. After all there is no independent body utilized by the PPTC to verify the work of GL Assessment.
Ofqual in their reports into the latest blunder by CCEA made the following information available on how Caitriona Ruane’s specialist organisation treated computer-marked tests last year.
Now since the PPTC fail to explain to parents on behalf of GL Assessment (a) that the computer can only produce an exact same response every time the answer sheet is fed into it and (b) any adjustment to a score can only represent an intervention by a human and would therefore require an explanation of how the error was not detected in the first instance - there is little point in requesting a remark. However it seems that CCEA adjusted the grades and marks of some pupils in an upward direction but no mention is made of the treatment of those pupils who were awarded marks incorrectly.
February 4, 2011
Tomorrow thousands of pupils from throughout Northern Ireland will be awaiting the results of their tests for a place in a grammar school. As predicted the BBC Nolan Show gave a platform for the Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane to emotionally terrorize young listeners and their parents. Having abdicated responsibility for measuring attainment in numeracy and literacy at primary school she has taken to venting her spleen at those who have demonstrated her irrelevance. It is clear that demand for places at grammar schools is as strong as ever and an equality of opportunity still exists for all who wish to do so to compete in a fair competition based on their numeracy and literacy attainment. Good luck to all those pupils.
As many parents will know there are two different tests offered by different schools (except for Victoria College, Belfast). One is marked as a script by teachers [AQE], the other is marked by a computer [GL Assessment] There has been no published information on which test is more valid and reliable but one must be. Last September PACENI highlighted a story on yet another series of errors by the Northern Ireland examinations body CCEA in which computer-based marking is used. The Education Minister must take responsibility for the failures of her regulated system that swallows £30 million per year while at the same time spending an inordinate amount of time and resources criticizing the unregulated tests.
This week Ofqual published two reports into the reasons behind mistakes which resulted in 935 out of 1024 candidates being awarded wrong scores.
PACE will be publishing an in-depth analysis of the Ofqual reports into CCEA. Please revisit the site for regular updates.
CCEA the subject organisation are not so keen to communicate the Ofqual reports.
The fact that parents have not been provided with a specification for the GL Assessment tests offered by the Post Primary Transfer Consortium is a breech of recognized International Standards on testing.
Despite an FOI request for the specification of the GL Assessment tests used by many schools last year made to the PPTC no specification has yet been provided. GL Assessment claim that a specification was agreed with PPTC.
Section 5:10 of the American Psychological Association (APA) standards address specification requirements.
decide on whether or not a school has correctly applied its admissions criteria but WILL NOT be able to question the validity of the admissions criteria themselves. * (This is because the panelists have no expertise in the matter and the DENI wish to avoid the sentinel issue of determining comparability between one test with a public specification (AQE) and one shrouded in secrecy (GL Assessment). A significant number of parents were induced into having their children sit BOTH TESTS in the belief that they were different and therefore measured different constructs. Parents should recall that it was the DENI who withdrew the regulated transfer test (11-Plus)
February 6, 2010
UPDATE for 2011. Visit the page of February 4 on the cautionary tale of exam results by computer. http://paceni.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/exam-results-a-cautionary-tale/
Today saw the delivery of results for the two very different tests used to determine entry to grammar schools. The AQE test and the GL Assessment tests. The AQE results were delivered efficiently and effectively but the GL Assessment results encountered some difficulty with attendant stress for pupils http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/school-exam-results-delivered-late-14670533.html
AQE CEA Tests
Three tests were offered with the best two scores counting. Most applicants took all three tests. The scores range from 55 to 145 with the average score set at 100.
Scores were adjusted to take account of age. The scores will be split into five bands or quintiles. The top band are marks greater than or equal to 113, followed by 106-112, 98-105, 88-97 and, less than or equal to 87.
Within each quintile fall 20% of the scores obtained by the total number of candidates – so 20% of scores fall between 145 and 113, 20% between 112 and 106 and so on.
Only once all transfer applications have been processed and places allocated will a school be in a position to publish how the application of admissions criteria arrived at final admissions decisions.
There is not a direct relationship between each quintile and the traditional Transfer grades. The advice of PACE is that parents should use the Transfer form to put down their chosen schools in order of preference rather than trying to anticipate whether or not the score is sufficient to gain admission.
It was never the intention by AQE that transfer grades (A, B1, B2, C1, C2) would be applied as CCEA did with the regulated transfer test results. Anyone suggesting otherwise is misleading you and should be challenged as to the source of their information. Parents have been conditioned into talking about grades as if they represent some form of ranking but this is not the case. A score of 123 is not the same as 113.
Admission to a grammar school based upon strict rank order is the fairest method. However some grammar schools have adopted different criteria and it is here that parents and pupils are likely to run into difficulty and may be misled. Parents should check the admission criteria published by each of the grammar schools to which the pupil has applied for admission.
The second method claims to be similar to the old 11-plus (it is not)— taking all pupils in first two score ranges (quintiles) and then using other non-academic criteria if oversubscribed within the other bands of scores.
The third method involves schools taking a proportion of available places e.g. 100 of 150 places based on scores alone. Then a pool of pupils is created (the size of which has been decided in advance) and the school will apply other non-academic criteria to all of this group to select for their final places. (social selection) Such schools undermine the principle of equality of opportunity and the purpose of the AQE CEA test. Parents should exercise caution in applying to these schools for admission since they may attempt to rely upon information from the primary school which is unreliable. Some schools have asked parents to access this information on their behalf. PACE recommend that such requests are refused.
Schools using the third method include Inst and bangor Grammar School.
The GL Assessment Tests
The GL Assessment tests are completely different. The questions were multiple choice and marked by computer. To highlight the misinformation campaign mounted by supporters of the GL Assessment campaign (remember the Catholic grammars and others refused the opportunity to use the AQE CEA tests) it has been reported that remarking can take place. If any educationalists can suggest how the computer can remark a test paper designed to be read by a computer and issue a different result PACE would be delighted to investigate this AI device. Claiming that GL Assessment remarks are “free” underscores the attempt at deception. It will recalled that the GL Assessment tests were” free” to applicants but as yet the identity of the philanthropists paying GL Assessment’s bill has not been made public. Interestingly no political party, educationalist or investigative journalist from the local media have even investigated the matter.
Today’s Irish News makes mention of Standardised Age Scores (SAS). Simon Doyle, their education correspondent must not have access to Google or other search engine because if he did he would have immediately discovered that the correct term is Age Standardised Score (ASS). If the Irish News education correspondent does not know the difference between an ASS and the SAS, readers should not rely on his counsel on important education matters It will be of great interest to learn where GL Assessment obtained their standardised scores from. Was it from template? Where did the norms come from?
Attempts to link the results of GL Assessment tests with CCEA grades only further complicates the issue but the most complicated situation of all arises at Victoria College, Belfast where pupils are to be admitted on the basis of results from both tests. The school Board of Governors was warned about the problems by PACE but refused to accept the advice.
Victoria is the only school in Northern Ireland admitting pupils using the outcome of both AQE and GL tests. Dr Darrin Barr, the school’s deputy head, has said pupils will be admitted by considering the percentile ranking in the particular assessment sat. The AQE were queried by a school principal who was concerned whenever a percentile was given as a decimal such as .68 It will concern parents to know that numeracy problems extend to primary school principals not just the pupils. Ms Slevin the principal has rightly stayed silent.
In the case of an applicant who sat both assessments, the higher percentile rank will be used. The first pupils to be accepted will be those with a percentile rank of 60 or above.
This must be the most egregious use of an apples to oranges comparison. The two tests have no useful comparison properties.
If there are more within a band (B1 and B2 are five marks apart) than places available, other non-academic criteria will be used.
Age Standardised Scores
Parents with concerns over test result information should contact PACE at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:e8a228af-eba7-4c4f-a95c-b8bd31a723ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paceni.wordpress.com/tag/gl-assessment-test-results/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961896 | 3,443 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Tomorrow, a few hundred very concerned citizens of Minnesota will gather to discuss a baffling and heartbreaking riddle: Why is the reported rate of autism among children of Somali refugees so alarmingly high (now an estimated 1-in-28 schoolchildren)?
When I first heard about this phenomenon, which some Somalis call the "Minnesota Disease," my reporter's instinct told me it could be a very big story; that a key piece of the puzzle that is autism might well lie within the bloodstreams of these poor children of the Twin Cities - whose families had already suffered through so much.
If it can be demonstrated that US-born children of Somali refugees are more prone to autism than the other kids of Minneapolis - or Somalia - then it shouldn't take too long to discover what it is about them (their genes) that clashed so terribly with the way they were conceived and raised (their environment).
It won't explain every case of autism, of course, but it might open new doors of understanding and knowledge that can be applied to combating autism worldwide.
The daylong conference on Saturday is a tribute to progressive public health and a responsive local government (plans include Somali translators, Somali food, breaks to allow time for Islamic prayer, and child care). The meeting is sponsored by a variety of Somali, autism and other community groups, as well as several State and City agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Health.
"The Somali community expressed a need for information on autism, and our duty is to respond to that, to provide as much information as possible, and in a cultural context," said state health department spokesman Doug Schultz. "The concern in the community is real, and if they have the perception that there is a high rate, then we need to talk about that."
But is there really a "high rate?" A written survey I conducted with 25 refugee parents of autistic children certainly revealed their strong belief that there is - and nearly all of them suspect the vaccine program of their adoptive country.
In August, the online newspaper MinnPost first reported that 12 percent of kindergarten and pre-school children with autism in Minneapolis speak Somali at home, and more than 17 percent of the kids in the early childhood autism program are Somali speaking.
The Minneapolis Star tribune published other staggering figures: Among Somali students in the district, 3.6 percent had autism - a rate of 360-per-10,000, (or 1 in 28). The paper said this was about twice as high as the already burgeoning district average of some 180-per-100,000 kids (or 1 in 56), and more than five times the national rate of 66-per-10,000 (1 in 150).
Virtually all of the children of Somali refugees were born in the United States, and they appear to be among the most severely affected children with autism in the district: Last year, one-in-four children in the preschool class for the most severe cases was Somali.
Reports of elevated autism rates among children of immigrants are nothing new. A small study this year showed that Swedish-born children of Somali immigrants to that country were far more likely to have autism than the general population, (Somalis there call autism the "Swedish Disease"), and another small study in 1995 found an autism rate of 15% among children in one Swedish town born to mothers from Uganda - 200 times more than the national average.
Higher than normal autism rates among children of immigrants have also been reported in Ireland, the UK and several cities in North America, especially Montreal.
Meanwhile, none of the refugees that I surveyed had ever heard of autism back in Somalia, where there isn't even a name for the disorder. In fact, no one had ever seen nor heard of a single child who displayed any of the common symptoms of autism -- though a few did report knowing kids with speech delay that eventually resolved itself.
Not everyone is convinced that there is a problem, however.
"These reports are interesting and need further review, but you don't just take something off the news as facts," cautioned Judy Punyko, an epidemiologist for the state department of health. "We need to obtain the actual data and analyze it, so I am not sure there is much of a story here at this point."
Punyko has assembled a team of experts to determine if the Somali autism rates are in fact higher than average in Minneapolis, and she was expected to release at least preliminary results at Saturday's meeting.
But on November 12, Dr. Punyko sent me an email saying she is not able to present any results yet, "only study aim, objectives, and progress to date. I am still in the process of gathering existing data and this is taking a lot more time than I had anticipated," she wrote. "These data are tough to work with."
The delay will not be welcome news to any of the Somali parents I spoke with. They know that, without proof that their children are being afflicted more than others, officials will not intervene to investigate.
One mother (who asked not to be identified due to the tremendous stigma of autism among Somalis), first approached state and city officials in April of 2007, beseeching them to look into the apparent problem. It wasn't until local reporters started snooping around, the mother said, that government stepped up to respond.
The parent refugee-activists even secured a teleconference meeting with health staffers in the DC office of Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. They told the Somalis that, if the prevalence was shown to be higher in their community, they would urge the CDC and other Federal agencies to "look under every rock" to find out why - including environmental factors like mercury, thimerosal and vaccines.
Many Somali parents began to suspect vaccines as a possible cause on their own, and well before they encountered any American media or autism groups who could put the idea in their head.
In fact, one of the most obvious "environmental" differences between Minnesota and Somalia is mass vaccination (another is sunlight, but more on that later).
There are an estimated 15,000-40,000 Somalis living in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population outside of East Africa. Most fled during or after the 1993 phase of the bloody Civil War in that country. Many spent years in often wretched refugee camps in Kenya, waiting for a chance to emigrate to Europe and North America.
A lot of the refugees got their chance in 2000, which is when the majority of Somalis arrived in Minneapolis, hoping to finally build a new life in peace and dignity.
Along the way, vaccines became an almost routine part of their life: They were often given in the camps, they were sometimes given before leaving Africa, and they were almost always given in the first year of arrival in the US (which requires a series of 10 vaccinations for all refugees, including women of child bearing age - many of those vaccines contain thimerosal).
Once they arrived in Minnesota, most refugees were welcomed by a progressive "Blue" state with a good public health infrastructure and a bureaucracy ready and willing to help. Refugees were given about a year or so of free medical and dental care, and special effort was made to ensure full compliance with the childhood vaccine schedule (though many mothers failed to keep well-baby visits, requiring lots of "catch up" vaccinations when they did bring their children in to the pediatrician).
Of the 25 refugee mothers who answered the questionnaire, most were vaccinated in refugee camps, and all but two were fully vaccinated after arriving in the US. About a third reported receiving vaccines while pregnant or shortly before becoming pregnant.
When asked what they thought was causing autism in their community, 22 respondents said that vaccines were at least partly to blame, while two were unsure, and only one said vaccines were uninvolved.
Many parents told me the same story of regression I have heard a thousand times before.
"He met all the normal milestones until he hit 18 months," lamented Abdulkadir Khalif, speaking of his three-year-old son with autism. "He was a beautiful baby, running around, saying a few words, until about the winter of 2006, right when he got his MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) shot. He got sick and we went to the hospital, and he stopped talking immediately around that time."
"Do I know it was the vaccines?" Khalif asks. "All I know is he stopped talking right around the time of those shots."
Neither Khalif nor his wife (who was given a thimerosal-containing flu shot while pregnant, even though the label instructed the doctor to administer the shot during pregnancy, "only when medically necessary"), had ever heard of autism until the day their son was diagnosed.
Khalif says, it is "not possible" that autism could be this common in Somalia. "I've been living with it on a daily basis, with my own child. And I lived in Somalia and Kenya for a long time. If it was this common, we would have had a name for it, and we don't. That tells me it does not exist."
"And these symptoms? I had never seen anything like it before. We have names for mental retardation or Down syndrome. But the mannerisms, the loss of speech, the tantrums and violence and running out of the house that comes with autism - I think we would have noticed those things. But we've never seen them before in Somalia or Kenya."
Hodan Hassan, mother to four children including four-year-old Jenny, who has autism, said she had been "a little lax and lazy" with vaccinating her first two kids, "and the doctors got mad at me." With Jenny, she vowed to get all shots on time (and dutifully got the flu shot while pregnant). But there seemed to be a problem with the record keeping, because Jenny was clearly over-vaccinated (for example, she received five Hepatitis B shots, when only three are required).
Soon after giving birth, Hassan started work at a hospital, where she received several mercury containing vaccines, even while breast feeding Jenny.
Jenny had several terrible, feverish reactions to some of her vaccines, twice requiring visits to the ER, where she was given IV fluids and Tylenol.
On Valentines Day, 2006, Hassan brought Jenny in for her 18-month well baby visit, right on time. "she was saying 'mommy' and 'daddy' and 'juice' and 'go, go let's go!'" Hassan recalls. "She was a very happy and attentive baby. She would look at you when talked to her, she would come when you called.
Then Jenny got five vaccines at once (M-M-R, Prevnar and chicken pox) at the doctor visit. She spiked a fever and returned to the hospital. "She never spoke again," Hassan said. "It was all gone right after those shots. I know the doctors don't believe it. They think we must be crazy. But these are our kids, and we were there when everything happened to them. The doctors were not."
Many of the parents I spoke with said they plan to stand up and speak out at the meeting, where Khalif and Hassan are both scheduled panel members.
"I have gathered information on 149 Somali families in Minneapolis with autistic children, and I plan on asking the experts why it is so much," Hassan said.
But she doesn't expect a ready answer. "I think they will try to cover it up at the meeting, avoid the issue, and say 'It is not what you guys think, you can trust us, this is not what it is,'" she said. "But that is not acceptable. Word of mouth went out and people are panicking, and they don't know who to trust. One American doctor told me he will not vaccinate any of his own kids, but has to vaccinate all the others. You have no idea what kind of message that sends to our community."
Khalif also plans on posing tough questions.
"I am going to make all those education and health officials feel very guilty," he said. "Where did this come from? This is a disease that's been acquired by our kids here. In each and in every case, all the children, with one exception, that have been identified with autism were born in this country. I want them to tell me directly that the vaccines are safe. I want someone to stand up and say that. And then, I want to ask that same person two years down road the same thing, and see what the percentages are like."
Khalif also wants to propose "a rescheduling of the vaccines for our Somali children, because I think there is something in our immune system that cannot handle that number of vaccines at one time. The rate is so high, that something will be found in our genes or systems. Science now has a window to find out the actual cause, and therefore the remedy, for autism."
Some doctors and researchers in Minneapolis that I spoke with were extraordinarily sympathetic toward the Somalis. "Vaccines have to be playing a role," said one very prominent pediatrician and researcher, who is working quietly behind the scenes to change attitudes at the University of Minnesota and elsewhere, and did not want to be named.
"Maybe if we start talking about the individual toxins in vaccines, and not the vaccine program as a whole, others in the medical profession will find it easier to come around," the doctor said.
Another local doctor, who did speak on the record, was willing to speculate on one possible variable that might make Somali kids more prone to autistic regression - with or without vaccines: Vitamin D deficiency.
Dr. Gregory A. Plotnikoff, medical director for the Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, said a colleague had noticed an "exceedingly high" rate of morning sickness among pregnant Somali women in Minneapolis, often requiring hospitalizations.
The doctor began checking Vitamin D levels and found that, on average, they were far below what is considered to be normal and healthy.
Somalis, he said, may start out with naturally low abilities to produce vitamin D from sunlight, (as is the case with many people with Middle Eastern blood in them). That is compounded by the fact that dark-skinned people require far more sunlight to produce vitamin D than light-skinned people and, when Somalis move to areas of higher latitude, with far less sunlight - their vitamin D stores may be virtually depleted, at least for part of the year.
"Vitamin D is crucial for normal brain development, because there are receptors for it throughout the brain," Plotnikoff said. "Vitamin D also plays a role as an anti-inflammatory agent and, besides cutting down on inflammation, it increases concentrations of glutathione, which better supports the brain's capacity to handle heavy metals and oxidative stress."
Glutathione has been found to be low or depleted in many children with autism. A lack of glutathione would make children more vulnerable to the effects of mercury and other heavy metals.
"Another problem is that Tylenol depletes glutathione, and regretfully, most kids who get a shot also get Tylenol," Plotnikoff said. "It's routinely given without considering that it can increase the risk of heavy metals, like mercury, causing oxidative injury in the brain."
"Glutathione has antioxidant properties, and it also chelates, or removes heavy metals in the body. We want a lot of it around. We need it, and we depend upon it," he added.
So, could there be a possible connection between vitamin D deficiency, glutathione depletion, heavy metal accumulation and autism?
"It's a hypothesis that absolutely needs to be tested," Plotnikoff said. "Vitamin D deficiency is crucial to study, because of its many roles in normal brain development -- including the capacity to handle oxidative stress and handle heavy metal loads. The data we have now can't say if this is the case, but it is a compelling hypothesis that deserves national attention."
"My sense is that autism is likely to be a result of a combination of many important factors," he continued. "The gift that the Somali community is giving us is about a significant awareness of the role of low vitamin D levels and other environmental issues, including immunizations and heavy metals, in autism. Severe Vitamin D deficiency could be what is behind all this. And that is what the Somali community did for us: They get no sun in Minnesota, and they have extremely low levels of vitamin D."
Finally, vitamin D deficiency in pregnant animals can lead to "dramatic" defects in mitochondrial function in offspring, according to at least one study. The role of mitochondrial dysfunction and autistic regression is only now beginning to be explored. But some researchers believe that poor mitochondrial health (perhaps exacerbated by vitamin D deficiency?) is a precursor to autistic regression in at least one subgroup of children.
All of this, of course, is speculation. There is no proof that any Somali autism cases were caused by vitamin D deficiency, lack of sunlight, mercury or vaccines. But if you look for major differences between life in Somalia and life in Minnesota, you will find that one has lots of sunlight and very few vaccines -- and the other has less sunlight, but lots of vaccines.
Is it possible that vitamin D deficiency caused glutathione depletion and mitochondrial damage to these Somali children, setting them up for regression into autism after receiving multiple simultaneous vaccines containing heavy metals (as was the case in the famous Hannah Poling Vaccine Court claim)?
No one knows. And sadly, some refugees are not waiting around for US doctors to find out.
"Some autism families have returned to Somalia," said one mother, who did not want to be identified. "They were angry and disgusted with the United States. The nation that offered them refuge was the same nation that made their children so sick," she said.
"They think that, by returning home, maybe they can make their children better." | <urn:uuid:1f5f4ef3-a095-49f0-baa6-a7076c05f039> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/minneapolis-and-the-somal_b_143967.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97933 | 3,733 | 2.546875 | 3 |
26 October 2012 – 17 February 2013
Prostor Oblik. Abstract art from the collections of the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1946, boasts an impressive, extensive collection of Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Yugoslavian art from the late 19th century to the present.
The particular artistic traditions of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 20th century are, however, practically unknown in Central Europe. This prompted Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, as national gallery of the principality of Liechtenstein, to invite its sister institution in Sarajevo to develop a presentation on the history of abstract art in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The exhibition at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein brings together nine artists with their works from the 1970s, giving the first insight into the work of the artist group «Prostor Oblik» (Space Form). Their bold approach of an art totally free of objects not only changed the tradition of Socialist Realist painting, but also added new forms of artistic expression to the culture of former Yugoslavia.
From a Central European perspective, it becomes clear that Western cultural debates and discourses were received with great interest in socialist Yugoslavia, and that this led in Bosnia – as it did in Slovenia, Croatia or Serbia – to a critical examination from which highly independent, individual artistic positions emerged. Moreover, this exhibition can thus help to add another ele-ment to the multifaceted art history of Europe after 1945, and expand its transatlantic orientation.
The exhibition presents only works held by the Art Gallery in Sarajevo, thus giving an impression of the wealth of the institution’s collections. Because the Art Gallery was forced to close to the public more than a year ago for lack of funds, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to find out more about the work of this highly committed museum.
with Vojo Dimitrijević, Tomislav Dugonjić, Bekir Misirlić, Enes Mundžić, Nikola Njirić, Edin Numankadić, Ljubomir Perčinlić, Mustafa Skopljak, Radoslav Tadić
The exhibition is a production of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, curated by Ivana Udovičić, Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Edin Numankadić, Boja Prostor Vrijeme, 1974
Enes Mundžić, Elementi Cvijeta VI, n.d.
Tomislav Dugonjić, Exodus, n.d.
A movie by Angelina Jolie, USA, 2011, 126' | <urn:uuid:d66e4aa8-959b-4228-98ba-1aea340b12e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kunstmuseum.li/?page=2129&jahr=2013&lan=en&vid=1574&aid=385&monat=1&jahr=2013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91838 | 576 | 1.59375 | 2 |
PHILADELPHIA, In CONGRESS, JUNE 14, 1777.
Resolved, that the FLAG of the United States be THIRTEEN STRIPES alternate red and white; that the union be THIRTEEN STARS white in a blue field, representing a new constellation. Extract from the minutes, CHARLES THOMSON, Sec'ry.
Virginia Gazette (Dixon & Hunter) September 19, 1777
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IN DIGITAL LIBRARY
About this entry:
No pattern was designated for the stars on the early flag; thus on one flag the 13 stars were arranged in a circle, on another, in a diamond, and yet another in lines of 3,2,3,2,3. In 1818, Congress decided that the number of stripes would remain at 13, while stars continued to be added for each state added to the union.
Sources: Ency Britannica, Micropedia, v. 11 "Stars and Stripes" | <urn:uuid:758a595c-a000-4a14-9b96-0dd72bd5efb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.org/history/todayin1770s/index.cfm?SelectedMonth=06&SelectedDay=14 | 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 | 0.911977 | 212 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Guest Author - Alissa Moy
Thanksgiving crafts are fun for your preschool crew! Here are some ideas for you and your preschooler to be thankful for:
1. Making a turkey craft is fun and festive! The site below from First-School offers an array of turkey crafts and templates you can use for free. Other ideas, such as a handprint turkey, with the palm of the hand as the body, thumb as the head and fingers as the feathers are fun too. If you choose to do a handprint turkey you can have the children draw in the legs and details on the turkey. Small google eyes might be a fun addition to glue on for a more whimsical bird. Kids can also enjoy drawing a farm themed background for their turkey picture to be pasted on to.
2. Use playdough to create a Thanksgiving cornucopia, a turkey or a fall leaf wreath. Gather a large variety of colors and host a playdough craft time for your playgroup or in your child's preschool class. Have shoeboxes or cardboard pieces on hand to display the children's creations so they won't get mushed. The preschool crew may also wish to decorate their boxes or cardboard displays, with construction paper, scenery or even wrapping paper. Playdough is safe and easy to work with, too.
3. Don't forget about the Pilgrims. These new settlers make an educational lesson artistic with the great crafts offered at DLTK. There is a cute doorknob hanger, paper bag puppet boy and girl pilgrims, and a pilgrim mouse craft using toilet paper rolls. These simple and free ideas can be found at the site below-
However you choose to celebrate and craft with your preschooler for Thanksgiving be sure to have him or her write down what you are thankful for, and share this with your family and friends. These thankful statements can also be pasted onto the crafts you create and given to family and friends as holiday gifts. | <urn:uuid:90e71928-6530-4875-b68e-ef826f4bfd51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46781.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945218 | 406 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Starting step-by-step is a good approach. When I started, I focused on working with files and
applying regular expressions to extract relevant information. And I didn't bother much that
all my control-structures looked like c. Afterward I played with hashes and then with Win::OLE and
Excel - just because that were the things I needed most.
A great way to learn is also the monastery: I often use the questions by other monks as a
challenge to produce some working code. And afterward I compare my solution with the highly optimized
ones of the more experienced monks here. And try to understand their solutions. I think I learned
very much that way. And if I look at (perfectly working!) code I wrote some months ago, I see a huge
difference in style and efficiency. :-)
If you want a collection of good exercises and other information for a beginner, you may also have a
look at the following great collection by planetscape: Re: Real Life Perl Exercises.
Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
Please read these before you post! —
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| ] || ] || | <urn:uuid:f6878241-6c04-4b34-8540-43e54b11c297> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?parent=834198;node_id=3333 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912686 | 488 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This article is a travel topic
Altitude sickness is a reaction to the lower amounts of oxygen available at high altitudes (due to the lower air pressure). Your body will respond in various ways to this: some are normal, some are illnesses. The illnesses are a serious health hazard and can result in death if ignored or left untreated.
Another risk at altitude is that it may get very cold. This article does not cover that; see Travelling in cold weather.
The further you move away from sea level up into higher altitudes, the lower the air pressure is. The body has two main problems with high altitude and the corresponding lower air pressure:
The changes to your body at altitude are complex and can be quite dramatic. The difficulty your body has maintaining a good oxygen supply and keeping related problems under control is directly related to how high up you are, and also to recent changes in your altitude. These are the two major factors that cause altitude sickness.
Hence this article talks a lot about ascent and descent. Ascending further away from sea level is the risky activity and the time you must be alert. Conversely, descending towards sea level is the single most important factor in reducing or eliminating all forms of altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness is very dangerous for four reasons: its rapid progression; its deadliness; the fact sufferers are usually some distance from medical help and are difficult to evacuate swiftly; and the fact that in many cases sufferers are reliant on their health because they're doing a lot of physical activity in dangerous environments.
How high is high?
A minority of people, about 20%, have some symptoms of altitude sickness if they ascend to about 2500 meters (8000 feet) above sea level and sleep there. However, most people will acclimatize to 3000 meters (10,000 feet) with relative ease, perhaps having symptoms after the first night.
Acclimatizing to heights of 3000–5000 meters (10,000–16,000 feet) is much more difficult, and it is here that it is absolutely necessary to ascend slowly and return to a lower altitude to sleep if you have been travelling around at a higher altitude during the day. Over 50% of people will become ill if they ascend rapidly from sea level to 3500 meters (11,000 feet) without acclimatization, and everyone will if they ascend rapidly to 5000 meters (16,000 feet).
It is thought to be impossible to permanently acclimatize to heights above 5500 meters (18,000 feet). It is possible to spend several weeks sleeping as high as 6000 meters (20,000 feet) once acclimatized, but gradual deterioration of physical well-being will still occur.
Regions above 7500 meters (25,000 feet) are referred to as the death zone: you will deteriorate noticeably while you remain at such high altitudes, some of your body's major systems will shut down and climbers will only remain there for two or three days. Death rates from altitude sickness above 7000 meters (23,000 feet) are estimated at 4% of all people who venture that high.
If your home is significantly above sea level, you gain a definite leg up on ascending to higher elevations, but that doesn't make you immune to altitude problems; it just pushes the threshold for their onset higher. Most otherwise healthy people who live at elevations of 1500 meters (5000 feet) to 2500 meters (8000 feet), an elevation range containing quite a few major cities, experience little trouble going to 3000 meters (10,000 feet) or a bit higher, but even they will be at risk of altitude problems at 5000 meters (16,000 feet).
Risk factors
Altitude sickness tends to affect men more than women, especially men between the ages of 16 and 25, for unknown reasons. It is important to remember that just because you are young and healthy, and haven't experienced altitude sickness in the past doesn't mean you are immune to it on future climbs. Physical fitness is not necessarily a good indicator, and neither are strength or good health. You may react badly to altitude despite being fit, young and healthy. In fact, the fit, young and healthy have a hidden risk: their general physical capacity leads them to believe that they should handle altitude just fine, which is not always true.
Bad health, on the other hand, is a risk factor: particularly cardiac or respiratory problems. Healthy hearts and lungs have a hard enough time getting oxygen to your tissues at high altitudes. Naturally, if you have physical problems that make exertion difficult for you, you have reason to think carefully about exertion at high altitude, where it is much harder!
Scuba diving increases risk of decompression sickness. If you have recently been diving and have not fully gotten rid of the nitrogen in your blood, you should not ascend to a higher altitude (or travel in a plane). See scuba diving for recommendations on how long to wait.
Effects of altitude
Altitude has some physiological effects on all people who are at high altitudes. These effects are not in and of themselves symptoms of illness, although they are signs of the increased difficulty that the body has getting at altitude.
You will naturally breathe faster at higher altitudes to compensate for the lower air pressure. It's possible you won't notice this: a similar effect happens during air travel.
Altitude diuresis
Increased urine output is a response to hypoxia : increased output of bicarbonate makes it possible to increase breathing. This will make you urinate a lot at altitude. If you aren't urinating much more than you usually would, then you might actually be dehydrated.
Periodic breathing
Because of the disruption to oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your blood due to the body chemistry changes and hyperventilation that occurs at altitude, your body's "when to breathe" chemical signals become confused. While you're awake you will remember to breathe, but when you sleep it is common to have interrupted breathing: holding your breath for up to fifteen seconds and then breathing very rapidly when you start breathing again.
This can be very alarming when you wake up knowing that you weren't breathing or were short of breath; or when you notice someone else has stopped breathing. But it is a normal response to altitude, and happens to almost everyone. Acclimatisation only improves it a little.
Illnesses at altitude
As well as the less dangerous physiological effects, altitude makes you susceptible to actual illnesses, several of them very dangerous. While not all the effects of altitude can be avoided, you should take sensible steps to avoid actual illness, and take it very seriously if it does occur.
You need to increase your fluid intake at high altitudes. The loss of appetite, a precursor to nausea, can lead you in to a dehydration headache. Unfortunately, it is easy to mistake dehydration headaches for AMS (below) headaches and vice versa. If a headache does not improve after drinking a liter of water it should be considered as an AMS effect. Dehydration headache can also be recognised by comparing pulse rates: if your pulse rate goes up more than 20% when standing up after lying down for five minutes, you need more fluids.
Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is the most common unhealthy response to altitude: it's a collection of signs that your body is becoming ill and has not adapted successfully to a higher altitude.
For your own safety, assume any illness at altitude is AMS. The most common reasons that people fail to descend as soon as they should are bad assumptions. They assume that having AMS is a sign of weakness; that their level of fitness means they can't have AMS; or mistake their symptoms for the flu or another illness. Assume AMS first: it happens to healthy strong people, and if it turns out you are indeed sick with something else, descending to a lower altitude will make it easier for your body to heal anyway.
In particular, if you've recently ascended, and you have a headache and any other symptom, you have AMS. The other signs of AMS vary for different people, but include:
The last three signs in particular are signs that you are becoming quite ill, but you should not wait for the onset of these symptoms before acknowledging you have AMS: they're fairly reliable indicators of the onset of HACE or HAPE.
You and your party should keep an eye on each other for signs of AMS, and if you have AMS, for signs of it worsening. Very sick people can become confused and not realise how ill they are. Loss of appetite is a particularly good sign: anyone who has been walking or climbing at altitude for a day should be hungry for a good meal in the evening.
If you have symptoms of AMS, do not ascend further. Consider descending.
If you have signs of HACE or HAPE, descend immediately. Your life may depend on it.
High altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is the end-stage of AMS (conversely AMS can be thought of as the mild form of HACE). When you have HACE, your brain swells and stops working properly.
HACE symptoms include a number of signs of mental functions failing: confusion, fatigue and weird behaviour. But the most reliable one is gait ataxia, and you can test it by walking heel to toe along a straight line on the ground. Healthy people can pass this test easily, anyone who has difficulty balancing while they do it is showing signs of HACE.
HACE is extremely serious, and you may only have a few hours to help someone with HACE. The main treatment for this is descent, but a person experiencing these symptoms will need significant help. Dexamethasone is one drug that can be used to relieve symptoms, but it is just a temporary bridge to give more time for descent.
A 2008 medical study Why Climbers Die On Mount Everest shows HACE as the leading cause of death.
High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is another severe altitude illness. It sometimes occurs in conjunction with AMS or HACE, but sometimes doesn't — it's thought to have different causes. When you have HAPE, your lungs fill with fluid. Signs include extreme fatigue; breathlessness (when not due to interrupted breathing — give yourself 30 seconds to recover upon waking); a cough, especially if it is wet and has blood in it; rattling or gurgling breath; chest congestion; very fast heart rate; very fast breathing; and blue extremities. A fever is sometimes present. It most commonly sets in at night.
HAPE is another extremely serious illness, and like HACE should be treated as a critical emergency. Nifedipine is the drug of choice for the treatment of HAPE, but it can only provide temporary relief and rapid descent is very important.
Cheyne Stokes Breathing
Above 10,000 feet (3000 meters), some people experience a periodic breathing during sleep known as Cheyne-Stokes Respirations. The pattern begins with a few shallow breaths and increases to deep sighing respirations then falls off rapidly. Respirations may cease entirely for a few seconds and then the shallow breaths begin again. During the period when breathing stops the person often becomes restless and may wake with a sudden feeling of suffocation. This can disturb sleeping patterns, exhausting the climber.
Acetazolamide is helpful in relieving the periodic breathing. This type of breathing is not considered abnormal at high altitudes. However, if it occurs first during an illness (other than altitude illnesses) or after an injury (particularly a head injury) it may be a sign of a serious disorder.
Decompression sickness (DCS, also known as the bends or caisson disease) is a severe illness in which bubbles of nitrogen forms in your blood, blocking blood supply to parts of your body. Symptoms include persistent tingling or joint pain, fatigue, itching, rashes, confusion and collapse. Decompression sickness is brought on by extremely sudden changes in air pressure (effectively an increase in altitude), such as loss of cabin pressure in a plane you are flying in. Even a fast ascent to most altitudes (such as by plane) would not normally cause decompression sickness. The exception is for anyone who has recently been scuba diving, who should avoid ascents above the altitude that their dive took place at for between 12 and 24 hours depending on dive activity. See the Scuba diving article for more information.
Keep hydrated
Remember to drink adequately - around one liter extra of fluids per day. Pushing large volumes of water does not protect against AMS , and can give the same symptoms ( headaches , nausea , vomiting and more ) as severe AMS from electrolyte imbalance.
Acclimatize to altitude gradually
Acclimatization is the process of getting your body to adapt to the lower oxygen levels by ascending slowly into higher altitudes, spending some time at each one to adapt. The most important factor is to increase your sleeping elevation (the altitude where you're spending the night) slowly. If you're on a hiking or climbing holiday, a typical strategy is to spend a day (or initially part of a day) at a higher altitude and return to a lower altitude to sleep. This also works for people doing winter sports at high altitudes: ski at the top of the resort and sleep at the bottom.
Here are the recommended maximum increases in your sleeping elevation which will stop most people from proceeding to AMS:
You can, of course, ascend more gradually than these rates. Many people ascending from sea level choose to spend several nights at 2500 meters (8000 feet) to 3000 meters (10,000 feet) before beginning acclimatization to higher altitude.
During acclimatisation, drink a lot of non-alcoholic drinks. Some people find vegetarian food slightly accelerates the acclimatisation. Local recipes like mate de coca in Peru (tea from coca leaves) are fine, but their effect is doubtful.
Avoid rapid ascents
Rapid ascents are the opposite of acclimatization; you make a rapid ascent when you're gaining altitude faster than recommended. This may mean climbing and camping higher than recommended, but you can also make an even more rapid ascent by driving to a high altitude location, and flying from low altitude to high altitude is an even more rapid ascent. For example, flying from sea level to Lhasa, Tibet, which is 3700 meters (12,000 feet) high, is distinctly unwise. Consider spending a week or so at an intermediate altitude; see Overland to Tibet for some possibilities. If you are going to travel around Tibet — where some inhabited areas are over 5000 meters (16,000 feet) and some mountains over 8000 meters (26,000 feet), so do not set out until you are thoroughly acclimatised in Lhasa.
Where possible, avoid ascents more rapid than recommended above, particularly any sudden ascent to 3000 meters (10,000 feet) or higher. Even if you are taking Acetazolamide (below) a rapid ascent makes it more likely you'll get AMS and makes AMS progress to serious illness faster, so you will have less time to respond and descend.
Be particularly wary with oxygen equipment: some tourists have died at altitude when their equipment failed and they were utterly unacclimatized.
Consider road or rail travel rather than flying directly to somewhere with a very high altitude — but remember that the surface option often involves a lot higher altitudes: the Manali-Leh road for example will take you from below 2000 meters (7000 feet) to 5000 meters (16,000 feet) in less than a day. Or fly in stages, stopping somewhere at moderate altitude in between. If you must fly to any destination about 3000 meters (10,000 feet) at least spend a few days at some intermediate destination en route. If flying to a more moderate altitude above 2500 meters (8000 feet), you will still want to spend several nights at that altitude before setting off into higher country.
Refrain from smoking and alcohol when you arrive by plane in a high altitude area from lower altitudes.
As soon as the symptoms of AMS appear, your first priority is recovering. You must not ascend any further until the symptoms have disappeared. This may take up to 48 hours, if it takes longer, descend. You could also descend on the onset of symptoms, this will make them disappear much faster, probably within hours.
If you are getting sicker or showing signs of HACE or HAPE, you must descend to a lower altitude as quickly as possible. If it is nighttime, do not wait for morning if you have a choice at all. You should descend at least as far as you were the last night you had no AMS symptoms. You may need to seek hospital care.
People with HACE and HAPE are frequently confused or exhausted, and are likely to need help with the descent. Help them down!
There is some equipment available to treat people with HACE or HAPE at high altitudes, including hyperbaric bags in which the sufferer can lie in a higher pressure atmosphere. Likewise, because the main cause of these illnesses is a lack of oxygen, breathing oxygen from a tank will slow their onset and may provide some temporary relief of symptoms. Either treatment buys some time if it is too dangerous to descend, but they are not a substitute for descent.
Sufferers of DCS needed to be hospitalised and treated in a recompression chamber: descent to sea level is not sufficient to alleviate DCS symptoms. As with HACE and HAPE, breathing oxygen may provide some temporary relief of symptoms allowing for rescue. Scuba diving organisations can advise further.
This drug (sold as Diamox) stimulates your breathing. The drug was originally designed as a treatment for glaucoma, but a side effect of increased breathing rates and depth have proven useful to climbers. It has the effect of increasing acclimatisation rates; improving periodic breathing; and helping people recover from AMS more quickly. There are some side effects. The drug has a mild to moderate diuretic effect , so adequate amounts of fluids is important. This drug can be useful for people who have had AMS in the past; people on a forced ascent (for example, flying into Lhasa); or taking the landroute there from Kathmandu , and anyone who has AMS, particularly if they are choosing not to descend. Many climbers also take it as a prophylaxis.
Acetazolamide is not an absolute preventative measure, particularly in the case of forced ascents. A prescription is necessary, and a doctor should be consulted about proper dosages. | <urn:uuid:c79e8f1f-498a-43f9-8a86-6f9c63137bf5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikitravel.org/en/Altitude_sickness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954945 | 3,863 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Ways You Make A Difference, Dad
In his book It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men, Truett Cathy cites startling statistics which show that kids from fatherless homes face a world of hurt and trouble (and maybe you know firsthand about this kind of heartache). These children are:
- 5 times more likely to commit suicide.
- 32 times more likely to run away.
- 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders.
- 9 times more likely to drop out of school.
- 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances.
- 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
Aren’t those disturbing statistics?
And yet, there’s hope…when a dad shows up and gets involved in his kid’s life. Everything changes then! Dad, you have an influence to help your child avoid the difficult life choices that so many fatherless boys and girls have made.
In my book, First Time Dad, I suggest some easy ways to spend time with your son or daughter – time that’ll make a difference in his or her life. Things like:
- Taking him along when you run to the home improvement store. I can remember walking the aisles, answering Qs, and just hanging out with my sons. Good stuff.
- Being part of their bedtime routines. This is something I’ve tried to be really involved with…not always easy but almost always rich and rewarding.
- Letting them help you around the house (I know, I know, it is usually easier to just do it yourself. Resist that urge and let the kid help out!)
- Reading books
- Going to a local playground or park
- Take a walk around the block
- Teach him to ride a bike
- Volunteer together during the holidays to ring the Red Kettle bell, deliver meals, or visit a nursing home.
And the list can go on and on. These don’t have to be big getaways, or super-fancy celebrations. Just time together, so you are THERE and INVESTING. | <urn:uuid:f8ae15ca-558e-44f0-8278-3b97f666013b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://johnfullerblog.com/2012/11/16/ways-you-make-a-difference-dad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943945 | 437 | 2.109375 | 2 |
9 Secrets Tanning Salons Don't Want You to Know
Indoor tanning can cost you your healthy skin and your life, so how are these salons staying in business? Find out
The only safe tan is a spray tanSorry, but the fact of the matter is, a tan is really just cumulative skin damage, says Dr. Bank. "The bottom line -- any time your skin gets darker, it means you've done ultraviolet damage to the skin," he says. It's ultraviolet damage that stimulates your melanocytes, or pigment-producing cells, to start making more melanin (which is what we view as a tan) in attempt for the skin to protect itself, says the doctor. "There is no way around the simple biological fact that if you are darker at the end of the day, you have done some degree of damage to your skin."
And what does "damage to the skin" (aka a tan) translate to? Oh you know, just squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma -- all technical words for skin cancer. So the doctor says that if you want to be darker, the only way to do it safely is with a spray tan. | <urn:uuid:681eb62d-87b8-4225-972d-5adc55a94cec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/tanning-salon-secrets/p91012/7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92501 | 246 | 2.015625 | 2 |
These days, most of us forget about the brilliance of Peanuts until Christmastime, when A Charlie Brown Christmas (or its oft-neglected but in this writer’s opinion just as good younger cousin, It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown) is on heavy rotation on TV. That doesn’t necessarily make Thursday’s news that Peanuts creator Charles Schultz had an affair with a woman 23 years his junior while he was still married topical, but it’s good timing nonetheless.
According to The Associated Press, a selection of letters written by Schulz and sent to Tracey Claudius, at the time 23 years his junior, are set to be auctioned by Claudius on Dec. 14 by Sothebys.
The letters, written to Claudius after she met the cartoonist in 1970, to thank him “for all the enjoyment Charlie Brown and that ‘stupid beagle’ provide,” were written during an affair that took place between the two from 1970-72, while Schulz was still married to his first wife, Joyce Halverson. In one letter, a cartoon shows Snoopy visiting Lucy Van Pelt’s psychiatric booth to ask “Do you think monogamy is possible for humans, given how we’re wired?”
Schulz was 48 at the time of the affair; Claudius was 25. Schultz apparently proposed to Claudius twice, but was turned down on both occasions. He remarried — to Jean Forsyth Clyde — in 1973.
There are 44 letters in total set to be auctioned by Tracey, who is reportedly ill at home, and they are anticipated to fetch up to US$350,000.
I'm having separation anxiety from my old Twitter avatar.
Carole King the first woman to be awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Music.Retweeted by shinan govani
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Powered by WordPress.com VIP | <urn:uuid:afdab3a3-b1d1-4fa3-8e06-03bba5ffb39a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/12/06/its-a-scandal-charlie-brown-charles-schulz-wrote-love-letters-to-younger-woman-while-still-married-letters-now-on-auction-block/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972168 | 412 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Google Execs Want to Restore, Use Hangar One
December 15, 2011 – Three top executives at Google have offered to cover the $33 million cost of preserving the iconic Hangar One on Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, but the executives also want to hangar their eight private jets there, according to a report from Mercury News.
Built in 1932 for the U.S. Navy’s USS Macon airship, the monstrous structure measures 1,138 feet by 308 feet and is nearly 200 feet tall. NASA, the hangar owner whose Ames Research Center is located on Moffett Field, is reportedly mulling over the offer from CEO Larry Page, co-founder Sergey Brin, and executive chairman Eric Schmidt. Google headquarters is in Mountain View.
They own H211, the company that manages the aircraft operations. Ken Ambrose, H211 director of operations, says NASA is considering the offer. At a meeting last week of the Hangar One Subcommittee of the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board, Ambrose expressed his frustration about NASA’s delayed response. “A decision should have been made by now,” he said, according to the Mercury News. “It’s quarter to midnight as far as I can see.”
Adding further urgency is that fact that NASA has begun removing Hangar One’s PCB-filled exterior paneling, leaving the interior of the building exposed to the elements. Ambrose stated that they need start getting the necessary approvals to start gathering consultants, permits, and other necessities to get the restoration up and running by next summer.
The offer allows NASA to retain ownership of the hangar and lease out space to others. | <urn:uuid:d24cebb6-a1dd-490f-8b43-1ecd9d162c0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-12-15_hangarone.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951043 | 342 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Data item and content
Here,we explain specification and contents about each of the whole sentence report picture, a title index, and a whole sentence text offered in digital version Newspaper Article.
The unit of one reportIn principle, the series report is not divided for every series time, but it's regarded as one report collectively.
The whole sentence report pictureThe clipping report recorded on Newspaper Article is clipped the report portion from stencil paper, stuck on pasteboard for every report in principle, and given a newspaper name and a date to the beginning and saved.
We considers as one picture for every pasteboard in principle, trim the report with a small area in accordance with the report.
All pictures have been changed into GIF form what was scanned in G4 compression of TIFF(monochrome 2 value) form.
Title index data"Title index data" is the report display information of each as a reference result or a browsing list.
- Report title
- "Report title" is the title and the subtitle in the report beginning. In the case of a series report, it is the title and the subtitle of the whole series, and each time title does not contain.
- Author information
- In the case of a signed article, we describe "Author Information" in the form of "full-name : role display : affiliation and a title" behind a report title.
- Newspaper name
- In Newspaper Article, we don't leave the title of stencil paper etc., but sticks the piece of paper by printing or handwriting on the report beginning, and shows the newspaper name and the date. Although there is a doubtful example that it's newspaper name only with 1 another time in a series report rarely, either, it has been inputted as a scrapbook.
- Report date
- Although there're dates in the piece of paper stuck on the report beginning like a newspaper name, many of them are handwriting and difficult to read. From the order relation within a scrapbook, they may be guessed somewhat boldly and have been inputted. Please confirm a picture too.
In addition, in the case of a series report, it has been carried by "from-to".
- Report classification
- 「繊維工業３巻の10番目の記事」is displayed as [繊維工業 03-010].
Report whole sentence textA whole sentence serves as a candidate for reference, and, as for a report whole sentence text, an indication is also given with a picture.
The following disposal has been performed to the text currently offered. | <urn:uuid:0aa1fc43-cdcc-4fbb-9960-8e280925210f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/sinbun/e-data.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95089 | 551 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Population: 777 (inc. New Berrima; 2006 census)
|Berrima is a unique and historic village. Established in 1831, it is the only example of an existing and largely preserved Australian Georgian colonial town.|
Located in a picturesque valley on a bend of the Wingecarribee River, Berrima was chosen by Governor Bourke to be the adminstrative centre of the County of Camden, which comprised new lands discovered and settled to the south of the new colony from Cowpastures (Camden) to Argyle (Goulburn).
The original government settlement in the Highlands was moved to Berrima in the 1830s, and work began on a Court House (1838), Gaol (1839), and buildings to house officials and police.
By this time there were already a number of inns (Berrima Inn, 1834; Surveyor General Inn, 1835), residences, and other businesses catering to travellers on the new line of road surveyed by Thomas Mitchell from Mittagong to Paddy's River.
In later years a number of other fine colonial Georgian and Victorian buildings were erected (churches, schools, inns, stores, residences), many of which have been restored under the supervision of the National Trust.
Surveyor General Inn (1835) - Australia's oldest continuouosly licensed inn
Berrima did not remain for long the centre it was intended to be. As new settlements opened in the interior, the focus of administration (and justice) moved to Goulburn and further inland.
Several major events have helped preserve the unique heritage of Berrima.
The first, and probably most important, was the building of the southern railway which bypassed Berrima and resulted in the development of new towns to the east which became the main centres of population in the Highlands. Continual development has seen few of these retain much of their earliest heritage or character.
Secondly was the formation of an heritage group in the 1960s which began the work of preserving and restoring some of Berrima's most significant buildings. The village today owes much to this work.
Finally, the construction of the freeway bypass (1992) has allowed the village to return to a more tranquil and beautiful setting, and countless thousands of cars and trucks no longer rumble through its streets as in the days of its position on the main southern highway.
The White Horse Inn (1832)
Today Berrima village is a vast combination living museum, playground, and social centre, not too spoilt by the masses of tourists it attracts. There is more than enough to interest and amuse all (even the kids) for a whole day - well into the night!
Explore the village square, streets, and lanes and admire the picturesque buildings. (Not all are open to the public - many are private homes and to be admired from outside.) Cringe beneath the walls of the Gaol, which still houses (low security) prisoners. Visit the museums, art galleries, and antique shops.
There are dozens of art & craft, souvenir, and specialty shops; boutiques; cafes, restaurants, and Australia's oldest continuously licensed inn.
Berrima is only an hour and a half from Sydney, Canberra, and the South Coast, and perfect for a day trip. Those in search of a quiet escape might stay a few nights at the many good accommodation houses.
Weekends are busy at Berrima throughout the year (when there is even more to see and do), and public and school holidays very busy. The astute traveller might like to visit midweek (Tuesday to Thursday) when they can browse and relax over a fine meal or refreshments at leisure, away from the bustling crowds and while the kids are still in school.
More information can be obtained from the Tourist Information Centre about what to see and do, including guided walking tours and visits to the nearby Joadja ghost town.
Harper's Mansion (1830s) - a national Trust property.
For further details see our Past and Present pages.
Berrima Gaol (1839)
|Major Events & Festivals|
- January: Australia Day - ceremony, parade, and fair in the village square
- Village market - 2nd Sunday of every month
|What to See and Do |
The Berrima Tourist Information Centre at the Court House (next to Gaol) is the main tourist information bureau for Berrima: a stop here is a must for what to see and do.
Regular guided walking tours can be booked (and for groups), and there are horse & coach rides (weekends and holidays).
Berrima has a dozens of very good shops and galleries: antiques, art gallery, crafts, souvenirs, clothing, gourmet foods, confectionery, nurseries, toys, collectables. Crafts and toys also available at the shop at the Gaol, with the added frisson that they were made by prisoners!
Berkelouws, the famous rare bookshop, is 5 minutes away, and has a picnic area.
The famous Surveyor General Inn has a bistro, bars, beer garden, and live entertainment on weekends. Numerous cafes, take-aways, and good restaurants inluding White Horse Inn - which are not only renowned for their Georgian decor, but fine cuisine (but you will need to book ahead here on busy weekends and holidays).
Plenty of motel, hotel, self- contained and good B&B accommodation - some in heritage buildings, and a camping area. Parks, barbecues, and large covered picnic areas (suitable for coaches).
The village square is surrounded by historic buildings, some now businesses. Visitors should see the Berrima and Courthouse museums - as a visit inside here helps to preserve the heritage of the area. Wander through the streets around the court house to see some interesting and fine old buildings. Several attractive churches, but no longer regularly open. Harper's Mansion, a National Trust property is open weekends and public holidays.
Emu & Ostrich farm, and wineries nearby. Platypus, wombats, wallabies and abundant birdlife in the reserves along the river further out of town.
Breens Commercial Inn (c.1840) - now a restaurant
Several parks, good playground; walking and exploring the streets and shops. Talk to the alpacas at the Alpaca Centre (weekends). Good craft and toy shops and heaps of things to see and buy in little shops. Curious things to see in Peppergreen antiques (including kids clothes and toys from olden days). Ride in a horse-drawn cart or coach.
See what life was like in grandma's day at the Berrima Museum; see the inside of a prison cell. Harper's grand mansion will give you an idea of what a home looked like almost 2 centuries ago - lose yourself in its baffling maze!
Peer up at the spooky walls of the Gaol inside of which many bushrangers were hanged; find the buildings where ghosts are known to haunt (White Horse Inn, Old Breens - now Eschallot).
Best lolly shop this side of heaven. Horse riding nearby. Visit the emu farm at Joadja. | <urn:uuid:cfdc90e4-a75b-4010-a64e-8dfdcccb06ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.highlandsnsw.com.au/towns/berrima.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959974 | 1,509 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Letter to the Editor: New words sometimes needed
Coryza, mondegreen, bonhomie and manumit. Yes these are all English words found in most dictionaries. Each word has a very specific and unique meaning. For example, mondegreen is the improper singing of lyrics to songs. We have all done it, but it took someone to attach a word to the meaning.
Etymology has always been a hobby of mine. How many times have I stumbled across a word and consulted Mr. Noah Webster himself on the definition. The New York Times crossword puzzle will educate you beyond all means.
Recently perusing the editorial page of a national newspaper, a word smacked me in the face like a head slap in a Three Stooges routine. There it was in bold letters: Neologism. What in the world of William F. Buckley did that mean? I urgently consulted my favorite lexicon and there it was: Neologism, the practice of coining or creating new words or phrases.
Didn't I coin the word hydraphonaphobia, the fear of having the phone ring while you are taking a bath or a shower? Tell me it hasn't happened to you?
Or the word ignogram, a profound, brilliant, intelligent statement made by a completely ignorant person, strictly by chance. We all have heard one. And what about ecromantics, the symbiotic relationship between two people to share expenses and romance. Very common today. These words are phonetic, succinct and represent a valid idea, but they are absent in all dictionaries.
Then the thought occurred to me that a common expression I have used for years was deserving of proper recognition. What word could I attach to the expression, "the uncanny ability to mix bad taste with poor judgment"? If you're not familiar with this expression, simply consult your local police blotter. Then in a moment of unadulterated inspiration the word popped into my head. I'm sure each and every one of you could come up with an appropriate title. I have mine. Do you want to know what it is? I'll give you a hint. It's an eponym that begins with letter "O".
Victor Metal, Inc.
Location, ST | website.com
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As Northeast Ohio gears up for a local election, get the latest on what's happening behind the scenes.
News-Herald writers, editors and photographers share the inside stories of today's headlines and what goes on behind the scenes. | <urn:uuid:a56396d8-d1b6-47c1-9847-73a8108280a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/02/26/opinion/nh6543765.txt?viewmode=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937804 | 826 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Windows 8 will have two versions of Internet Explorer 10: a conventional browser that lives on the legacy desktop, and a new Metro-style, touch-friendly browser that lives in the Metro world. The second of these, the Metro browser, will not support any plugins. Whether Flash, Silverlight, or some custom business app, sites that need plugins will only be accessible in the non-touch, desktop-based browser.
Should one ever come across a page that needs a plugin, the Metro browser has a button to go to that page within the desktop browser. This yanks you out of the Metro experience and places you on the traditional desktop.
The rationale is a familiar one: plugin-based content shortens battery life, and comes with security, reliability, and privacy problems. Sites that currently depend on the capabilities provided by Flash or Silverlight should switch to HTML5.
Microsoft has been vigorously promoting HTML5 for the last year and a half as the best way of providing rich interactivity on the Web. HTML5 potentially has reach far beyond that of Flash, since it can target both conventional browsers and closed ecosystems (such as iOS) alike. However, until now, Microsoft's messaging has been tempered somewhat: use HTML5 when you can, but if you can't—if you need support for DRM-protected media streaming, for example—then it's reasonable to switch to an alternative, plugin-based technology.
With Windows 8, however, those reasonable decisions to use Flash or Silverlight will now be heavily penalized. Technically, there's nothing wrong with the desktop browser, of course; the rendering engine and performance will be identical between both Metro and desktop. But the experience will be substantially inferior. The desktop browser isn't designed for touch inputs, meaning that users will either have to switch to a mouse and keyboard, or fumble around with an interface that wasn't built for fingers. The switch to the desktop browser also appears to discard things like back button history and current page state.
This puts the Metro browser in a peculiar position. Microsoft has positioned tablets as merely a different kind of PC. That, the company argues, affords capabilities and features not possible on iPad-style devices. But PCs have browser plugins—more generally, they have the ability to use the right technology for the job. If Metro doesn't include that flexibility, that could be seen as diminishing the "PCness" of the platform.
HTML5 still isn't a total replacement for plugin technologies, either. The gap is certainly narrowing: Web Sockets, Web Workers, built-in support for webcams and microphones, and more, are all coming to HTML5 browsers (or are available already), and these features will obviate the need for plugins for many applications. But certain corners are likely to remain; DRM-protected video, for example, might forever be impossible in HTML5, and while many people find DRM distasteful, many broadcasters feel they have little choice but to use it.
The solution to this conundrum on the iOS platform has been the app: companies like Netflix and the BBC have applications to watch video on these devices. The result is that in the desire to push an open, plugin-free Web, companies are being forced to migrate away from the Web entirely. Silverlight developers, at least, will have an easy migration path available to them: the new Metro development environment, used for producing native Metro applications, borrows heavily from Silverlight, and making the switch from an in-browser plugin-based application to a standalone Metro application should be relatively easier. Flash developers will have to wait to see what tools Adobe delivers.
HTML5 design and developer tools also remain weak, though this situation is improving with the creation of products like Adobe Edge.
With Microsoft's promotion of HTML5, and the precedent set by iOS, the decision to get rid of plugins in the Metro browser is perhaps unsurprising. But it's not clear that this will truly help Windows 8; the awkward user experience penalizes users who, for no fault of their own, need to use plugins, and detracts from Windows 8's PC claims. A switch to a more HTML5-powered Web will happen regardless—does Microsoft really need to force the issue like this? | <urn:uuid:5e28ec3d-aacd-4066-b769-d7d37b834175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/09/metro-style-internet-explorer-10-ditches-flash-plugins/?comments=1&post=22064444 | 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 | 0.942535 | 868 | 1.953125 | 2 |
I think it’s fair to say that most businesses lock their doors at night to make sure that thieves can’t just walk in and take what they want. Many also have alarm systems and some of these link to CC TVs and even security companies that can be at the premises in minutes.
Most companies also have a number of insurance policies in place to pay out if equipment is stolen or if their premises are damaged, say through fire or flood.
In general, this is all seen as sensible and in the case of some insurance policies it’s viewed as so important that it’s a legal requirement.
To me this seems fairly ironic as all this protection and risk management is not protecting the most valuable asset… the company’s data!
Provided a business has insurance to cover the cost of replacing equipment and machinery it can immediately purchase replacements and carry on operating. It can set up temporary premises and, in time find new permanent ones. It won’t be easy but business will go on.
The same cannot be said when data is permanently lost or corrupted. If a business loses its data; the information about its customers, suppliers, financial transactions, stock holding, orders, prospects, etc, it could be catastrophic. Most company data cannot be replaced and is essential to run the business.
Even if the data isn’t permanently lost, the lack of access to this for even a day could lose a company thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds.
So why do so many company’s treat their data as if it has no value?
I don’t really have an answer but I think it must be that historically we are used to placing value on physical things.
In our new digital age every company needs to seriously consider how they could operate without any of their data and therefore what value they place on this. | <urn:uuid:4dae6615-a010-4759-9415-15cbf2b43271> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcsupportgroup.com/blog/business/how-valuable-is-your-data/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965681 | 384 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Prosecutors for saleBruce Green in The National Law Journal, October 01, 2012
Article written by Professor Bruce Green.
Hundreds of district attorneys across the country routinely sell their letterhead to debt-collection agencies to use in correspondence with debtors who bounce checks. According to The New York Times, the collection agencies mail letters threatening to prosecute the debtors if they do not make good on their bad checks. The local prosecutors whose stationery is used do not review the letters in advance. The prosecutors' offices reportedly receive a percentage of payments collected.
The district attorneys participating in this scheme have committed a gross abuse of power.
Imagine if underfunded courts participated in a similar scheme to raise money for their operations — selling judicial letterhead so that collection agencies could threaten judicial sanctions against individuals alleged to have unpaid debts without the individuals having their day in court and without a disinterested judge making a ruling against them. There would be outrage.
Prosecutors' sale of their authority is no better. The district attorneys' arrangement with debt collectors is improper for five reasons.
First, not everyone who bounces a check is a potential criminal. Most probably are not. Writing a bad check may be a crime if the person writing the check knew she had insufficient funds in her bank account and intended to defraud the vendor. But many people write bad checks innocently. Before threatening to bring charges, a prosecutor must review the evidence and conclude that there would be a fair basis for bringing charges. Otherwise, the threat is baseless and unjustified. But under the prosecutors' arrangement, no prosecutor ever reviews the evidence. Consequently, many recipients of threatening letters will have acted lawfully: They may not have meant to write a bad check, they may have paid what was owed, or they may have stopped the check over a legitimate dispute with the vendor. Threatening to prosecute someone to collect money he or she does not owe would ordinarily be considered extortion. At the very least, it is an abuse of power.
Second, the decision to send a threatening letter must be made by a disinterested prosecutor, not by a self-interested contractor who is unsupervised by the district attorney. Prosecutors are said to be "ministers of justice." In the courtroom, they are advocates, but prosecutors act almost like judges when they exercise power to decide whom to investigate, whom to charge or threaten to charge with a crime, when to offer a lenient deal, and the like. The prosecutors who make decisions such as these are required to exercise independent judgment. Like judges, they must be disinterested. If a company claims it has been defrauded, the district attorney cannot — as a money-saving measure — assign the company's lawyer to prosecute the defendant. Under the district attorneys' deal with the debt collectors, no prosecutor decides whom to threaten, and the collection agency, which makes the decision, is self-interested.
Third, it is an abuse of power for a prosecutor to decide whom to charge, or threaten to charge, in exchange for payment from a private party — even if the party is an alleged victim and even if the money goes into the office's coffers, not the prosecutor's own pocket. District attorneys in this country do not charge every wrongdoer. They are selective. They make distinctions based on many factors, including the seriousness of the wrongdoing. District attorneys might be expected to prosecute every murderer but not everyone who deliberately bounces a check. If some bad check writers are occasionally to be prosecuted or threatened, the decision should be based on legitimate factors such as the amount of the check or whether the debtors are repeat offenders, not on the willingness of a particular creditor or collection agency to help fund the prosecutor's work.
Fourth, prosecutors are supposed to serve public ends. Although prosecutors legitimately should and must take victims' interests into account along with other important interests, prosecutors may not defer entirely to victims — or, as in this case, alleged victims. Thus, prosecutors may not bring charges, or threaten to do so, solely to benefit a private creditor in a civil dispute. District attorneys rarely prosecute people who deliberately write bad checks. This problem is usually left to civil litigation, because most bad check writers, acting under financial stress, do not deserve to be labeled criminals and punished. When prosecutors (whose letters are ghostwritten by collection agencies) threaten debtors, they are either making an idle threat — impermissibly misleading the debtor — or altering their internal charging policies simply to advantage the private collection agencies.
Finally, prosecutors have an equal obligation to police everyone, including debt-collection agencies. Collection agencies may engage in practices that are not just abusive but criminal — for example, defrauding consumers or submitting false information to the courts in civil collection cases. Prosecutors need to be able to investigate and, when appropriate, bring charges against collection agencies that engage in criminal acts. But the district attorneys have a conflict of interest: They cannot objectively oversee collection agencies with whom they partner.
The district attorneys' deal with debt collectors is not just bad public policy. It is professional misconduct. That hundreds of district attorneys nationally have made this deal, evidently convinced that it is acceptable, does not make it so.
Bruce A. Green, the Stein Professor at Fordham University School of Law, teaches and writes on prosecutors' ethics. | <urn:uuid:a77c15ca-5b1e-4756-90c5-86e15f520b33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.fordham.edu/faculty/28053.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957527 | 1,070 | 1.601563 | 2 |
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Click Photo For Product Pricing And Details | <urn:uuid:760e4a3c-8e81-426e-93ec-79a590feac3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therapyshoppe.com/category/1423-sensory-integration | 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 | 0.916607 | 170 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Survex is a software suite for processing, viewing, and printing cave survey data. It is multi-platform and multi-lingual, can deal with extremely large and complex datasets, and can read survey data from many sources. A sophisticated GUI visualization tool (Aven) is included as well as the data processing tool (Cavern) and a data entry tool (Survex-edit). There are also printing and data conversion tools. Printing for HPGL, Postscript, PCL (Laser/inkjet), and Dot-matrix printers is supported. Output converters to DXF and extended elevation form are included. Survey data can be read in native Survex form, or Compass or CMAP files. Conversion from other formats such as SMAPS is easily accommodated.
Gri is an extensible plotting program designed for scientists. It can draw x-y plots, contour plots, and image plots, and has rudimentary programming capabilities. Output is PostScript. Gri is not mouse driven, nor GUI-based; it is a language. Users regard it as an analogue to the LaTeX document formatting language: users gain considerable power, at the price of a moderate learning curve. | <urn:uuid:8a34994d-78c5-47fc-a888-b211b5cfb3ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freecode.com/tags/visualization?sort=popularity&with=2999&without= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927955 | 244 | 2.109375 | 2 |
BEST OF OPERETTA, VOL. 1 (Alfred Walter/ Hungarian Operetta Orchestra/ Ingrid Kertesi/ Janos Berkes/ Laszlo Kovacs/ Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra/ Tamas Benedek/ Zsuzsa Csonka) (Naxos: 8.550941)
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The Best of Operetta Vol. 1
Operetta developed in the second half of the nineteenth century from very similar antecedents, the opera comique of France and the more light-hearted Singspiel of German-speaking countries. In Paris Offenbach, son of a Cologne synagogue cantor, established himself with his series of operas bouffes and it was initally with performances of these in Vienna that the genre took root there, inspiring work by Suppé and, at the earlier suggestion of Offenbach himself, Johann Strauss. Viennese operetta was in essence coterminous with the Habsburg Empire. After 1918 Berlin assumed the position once held by Vienna in operetta, and as popular musical tastes diverged more and more with the passing of time, the genre became something of the past, displaced by the commercial products of Broadway and its imitators.
The first volume of The Best of Operetta includes excerpts from operettas by Johann Strauss, Franz Lehár and Imre Kálmán. Strauss himself had followed his father's example, in spite of the latter's expressed desire, establishing his own dance-orchestra and later recruiting his two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard, into the family enterprise. The Strauss reputation extended far beyond the confines of Vienna and Strauss orchestras appeared in different cities of Europe, providing an entertainment that suited very well the spirit of the time. Johann Strauss first turned his attention to operetta partly at the suggestion of Offenbach and more immediately at the urging of his first wife, the singer Henriette Chaputzky. The first result was Indigo and the Forty Thieves in 1871, its performance relying for its inevitable success on the great popularity of its composer and the political feelings of the time, as Vienna seemed now to prove a match for Paris.
Johann Strauss was not always happy in his librettists. Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), however, was an undoubted success in both music and text. The libretto by Ignaz Schnitzler was derived from a novel by the Hungarian writer Mór Jókai. Set in the middle of the eighteenth century it deals with the return of Sandor Barinkay to his native Temesvár from which his father had been exiled twenty years before. The drama concerns Barinkay's desire to regain his property, with its hidden treasure, and win the hand of the gypsy girl Sáffi, one of the gypsy company that has welcomed him as their lost leader, a true gypsy baron. Barinkay's varied earlier occupations are described in Ais flotter Geist (As a cheerful spirit) . In Wer uns getraut (Who married us) he explains to the unimpressed Royal Commissioner how he has been married to Sáffi in the gypsy manner, the ceremony conducted by a bullfinch and witnessed by two storks, with music provided by a nightingale. The present release opens with the Overture , which, at the first performance, was interrupted by the applause of the audience at each theme.
The appearance of Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring) in the theatre was purely accidental. Written for the coloratura soprano Bianca Bianchi, with words by Richard Genée, it was later included by her in a performance of Le Roi l'a dit by Delibes at the Vienna Court Theatre and subsequently won much greater popularity as an orchestral waltz and in a piano version.
Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice), with an indifferent libretto by Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Genée, was first staged in Berlin at the Friedrich-Wilhelm Stadtischer Theater in 1883. Komm'in die Condole (Come into the gondola) is sung by Caramello, barber to the Duke of Urbino, who thinks he is welcoming the Duke's betrothed, although the girl is, in fact, his own mistress.
Franz Lehár, in operetta the true successor to Strauss, was the son of a Hungarian bandmaster and for a time followed his father's example, before winning success in Vienna with what was in fact his eighth attempt at operetta, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), first staged at the Theater an der Wien in January 1905. The libretto was by Victor Leon and Leo Stein, based on a French original by Meilhac, Offenbach's collaborator. The plot concerns the widow of the title, Hanna Glawari, relict of a rich Pontevedrin banker, and the endeavours of the Pontevedrin envoy to Paris, Baron Zeta, to keep her fortune for Pontevedro by compelling a junior diplomat, Danilo, to marry her, before her money goes to some French husband. Previous difficulties engendered by various intrigues are resolved in the third act Lippen schweigen (Lips are silent) between Hanna and Danilo.
Lehár's Giuditta realised for the composer an outstanding ambition, staged, as it was, at the Vienna staatsoper in 1934, making use of the full resources of the house. With a libretto by Fritz Löhner and Paul Kepler, the opera-operetta deals with the love of Giuditta, a role taken by Jarmila Novotna, tired of her husband Manuele, for the army captain Octavio, a role for Richard Tauber. It is Octavio who expresses his joy in living in Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert (Friends, life is worth living). She goes with him, when his regiment is posted to North Africa, and they live together in happiness until Octavio's duties call him away. Giuditta now becomes a dancer in a night club, where she attracts many rich customers, as is clear from Meine Lippen, sie küssen sa heiß (My lips, so hot are their kisses). She prospers in her new profession, while Octavio eventually deserts from the army. By the time that they meet again he is a night-club pianist, while she continues as a successful dancer.
Friederike, written in 1928, is based on the life of Goethe. O Mädchen, mein Mädchen (Girl, my girl) was written for Richard Tauber, who ensured its success. It was for the same singer that Lehár wrote Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles), with a libretto by Ludwig Herzer and Fritz Löhner. A revised version of the earlier Die gelbe Jacke (The Yellow Jacket), with a libretto by Victor Léon, this was first mounted at the Berlin Metropoltheater in 1929. The plot deals with the love between the Chinese Prince Sou-Chong, sung by Tauber, and Lisa, daughter of Count Lichtenfels. The best known of all songs is Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (Thine is my heart), Tauber's signature tune, in which Sou-Chong protests his love for Lisa, when urged by Chinese custom to take four wives. The love of Lisa and Sou-Chong, after his return to China as prime minister, is expressed in Wer hat die Liebe uns ins Herz gesenkt? (Who has planted this love deep in our hearts?). From the first act, set in Vienna, comes Immer nur lächeln (Always only smiling), a reference to Sou-Chong's alleged inscrutability, and his description of courting customs in China, Van Apfelblüten einen Kranz (A garland of apple-blossom).
The Hungarian composer Imre (Emmerich) Kalman, once a fellow-student of Bartók and Kodály in Budapest, gave up his more serious ambitions to achieve success after 1918 as a composer of operetta, winning particular popularity in 1924 with Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritsa), with a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. Komm mit nach Varasdin (Come with me to Varasdin) is a duet between the rich Hungarian countess of the title and Zsupan, who has turned up unexpectedly to claim her as his bride. Maritsa had tried to fend off suitors by claiming a certain Zsupan as her betrothed, taking the name from | <urn:uuid:8e7d3f50-9f8e-4089-95c4-91785bca2e79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naxosdirect.co.uk/items/best-of-operetta-vol.-1-alfred-walter-hungarian-operetta-orchestra-ingrid-kertesi-janos-berkes-laszlo-kovacs-slovak-state-philharmonic-orchestra-tamas-benedek-zsuzsa-csonka-naxos-8.550941-144804 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954309 | 1,916 | 1.601563 | 2 |
If you live in an apartment or older home, your bathroom is probably hurting for space. A sink, a shower stall, and a toilet in your bathroom leave but a few extra square feet to turn around.
You could enlarge the bathroom at the expense of reducing your bedroom? Or...
I know! Get a vertical bathroom! The new Vertebrae®, by Paul Hernon of Design Odyssey Ltd, was made to let you do more with less space (but watch your money).
This stylish aluminum sculpture of seven stacked modules that rotate from the center "spinal column," has every basic item you need in a bathroom, plus it leaves you some room to bend down to touch your toes without hitting your head on the way up.
With a toilet, sink and two shower modules (one for children), the Vertibrae gives most of the space in your bathroom right back to you. And the Vertebrae even provides some storage space for shower, bath, shaving, and cosmetic products right along the column. Cleaning supplies and your favorite toilet paper... in the cupboards under the toilet seat. Really smart design!
The Vertebrae fits into any room that the plumbing goes to. It can be installed in a corner of a room or in the center, but corner installation will limit the pivoting ability of the Vertebrae modules to 100 degree rotation, whereas center placement of the Vertebrae will allow up to 200 degrees of rotation -- better for use by two persons at a time.
A few closeups of the fixtures...
Currently the basic model of the Vertebrae, shown in this column, goes for about £10,000, but you can order it in one of hundreds of matt, semi-gloss, and gloss colors. The "luxury" version of the Vertebrae will have a mirror and a television on the outside of the cistern (tank) module.
via Le Blog Deco, source Design Odyssey Limited | <urn:uuid:6a2018f5-3bae-432e-944c-93bc71e91abe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inventorspot.com/articles/vertebrae_18120 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914824 | 409 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The cervical nerves are eight pairs of nerves that are part of the peripheral nervous system of the body. They emerge from the spinal cord through the seven cervical vertebrae. The cervical vertebrae are the spinal bones just below the skull. Below the cervical vertebrae are the thoracic vertebrae, which are attached to the ribs, so the cervical nerves are located between the ribs and the skull. The nerves emerge from the spine over the top of each vertebrae, except for the eighth, which comes out of the spine under the seventh cervical vertebrae. They connect the central nervous system to the body's limbs and organs. The first four cervical nerves split and combine again to make a series of nerves that govern the back of the head and the neck. The next four cervical nerves, together with the first thoracic nerve, form the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a very complicated structure, with nerves splitting and recombining to provide nerve functions to the muscles and skin of the hands, arms, shoulders, and chest.
Written and medically reviewed by the Healthline Editorial Team
In Depth: Cervical nerves | <urn:uuid:9f81e9eb-a6e7-4523-b9b4-30732320b682> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/cervical-nerves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947221 | 239 | 3.859375 | 4 |
KL Bird Park is well known worldwide as "The World's Largest Covered Bird Park" or "The World's Largest Free Flight Aviary", home to more than 3000 birds from approximately 200 species of local and worldwide birds.The KL Bird Park was established in 1991 and was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen of Malaysia, Tunku Bainun. It was since managed by DBKL (City Hall) until 1st July 2001 whereby it was taken over by Safari Bird Park & Wonderland Sdn Bhd as the New Management of KL Bird Park.
Sprawling approximately 20.9 acres of verdant valley terrain, visitors will have an exciting experience of watching colourful and melodic birds perching and winging about freely while relaxing in a natural and beautifully landscaped surrounding.One of KL Bird Park's most extraordinary feature is all birds are let free in the aviary which resemble the natural habitat. There are more than 3000 birds from hundreds of species with a variety of shapes, sizes, colours and sounds perching and winging about freely - in a totally natural and beautifully lanscaped environment.
Canon EOS 60D |
Original size: 5113x3329 |
Current: 800x521 | | <urn:uuid:b3270b2c-ca60-4879-8c06-0c7b38fd6766> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dradelina.com/Animals/mis-amigos-de-aves/23823146_f8rnww/1/1930853042_tGj646D | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95628 | 254 | 1.8125 | 2 |
For more than 90 years, Raytheon has helped enable countless missions by remaining committed to a single one: customer success. We deliver innovative environmental solutions across sensing, communications, processing, visualization and decision support solutions and technologies; solutions that quickly and reliably provide forecasters, disaster managers and even our warfighters with accurate land, sea, sky and space environmental information. Read more >>
There are few forces on earth more powerful than the forces of nature. 2012 marked another year of extreme weather, with the latest Superstorm Sandy only adding to the economic loss and property damage resulting from earlier events, including the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history; record-breaking temperatures across the nation; and severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the Midwest.
For more than 40 years, Raytheon’s innovative sensing, communications, processing, visualization and decision support solutions and technologies have provided decision makers and disaster managers with environmental information to solve specific problems such as tracking storm forecasts, climate change, ocean temperature anomalies and atmospheric disturbances.
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Raytheon understands power comes from knowledge. Our systems translate environmental data into meaningful weather and climate information to help predict, monitor and forecast weather and climate changes efficiently and effectively.
Raytheon's environmental solutions and innovative technology capabilities provide a complete source of powerful tools that can help manage the uncertainties of our planet's environment. | <urn:uuid:d0cb6c08-84d2-4acb-9b64-12f3d5d987f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/environmental_solutions/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913374 | 380 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Environment: Extreme Twister! American Catastrophe!
2011 Tornado Outbreak Death Toll Hits 337, Second-Deadliest Day From Twister In U.S. History
Southerners found their emergency safety net shredded Friday as they tried to emerge from the second-deadliest day of a twister outbreak in U.S. history.
The Holy Quran says: "Verily, those who, out of fear of their Lord, always stand guard against sins. And those who believe in the Signs of their Lord," (23:58-59)
The Holy Quran also states that these believers do not only remember God in hard times. On the contrary, they are constantly remembering him in times of peace and adversity. They turn to God with greater intensity and focus, in times of difficulties and climatic changes.
Emergency buildings after the twister are wiped out. Bodies were stored in refrigerated trucks. Authorities are begging for such basics as flashlights. In one neighborhood, the storms even left firefighters to work without a truck.
At least one tornado, a 205 mph monster that left at least 13 people dead in Smithville, ranked in the National Weather Service's most devastating category EF-5. Meteorologist Jim LaDue said he expects "many more" of Wednesday's tornadoes to receive that same rating, with winds topping 200 mph.
Tornadoes struck with unexpected speed in several states, and it was difficult to identify citiznes. Four people died in Bledsoe County, but a family survived being tossed across a road in their modular home, which was destroyed, Mayor Bobby Collier said.
The Holy Quran says: "There befalls not any calamity either in the earth or in your own persons, but it is recorded in a Book before we bring it into being — surely, that is easy for Allah" (57:23)
The death toll from Wednesday's storms reached 337 across seven states, including at least 246 in Alabama. This tremendous calamity forces one to reflect, that no human, society or government can stand in the way of nature.
The Holy Quran: "Therefore remember me, and I will remember you; and be thankful to me and do not be ungrateful to Me." (2:153)
We must all pray for the suffering, their families, their children and their nation. We pray that God allows them to rebuild their homes, villages, cities and lives with alacrity. You are in our prayers and our hearts.
Extracts taken from: The Huffington. By Jay Reeves and Greg Bluestein, 29 April 2011
Zubair A. Hayat - Founder of THE AHMADIYYA POST | <urn:uuid:dd33ded4-afc6-4e75-a346-d93c68ed601d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ahmadiyyapost.com/2011/04/environment-extreme-twister-american.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961748 | 551 | 1.515625 | 2 |
One Step Closer to an Optical Computer!
From Science Daily:
ETH Zurich researchers have successfully created an optical transistor from a single molecule. This has brought them one step closer to an optical computer.
Internet connections and computers need to be ever faster and more powerful nowadays. However, conventional central processing units (CPUs) limit the performance of computers, for example because they produce an enormous amount of heat. The millions of transistors that switch and amplify the electronic signals in the CPUs are responsible for this. One square centimeter of CPU can emit up to 125 watts of heat, which is more than ten times as much as a square centimeter of an electric hotplate.
Photons instead of electrons
This is why scientists have been trying for some time to find ways to produce integrated circuits that operate on the basis of photons instead of electrons. The reason is that photons do not only generate much less heat than electrons, but they also enable considerably higher data transfer rates.
Although a large part of telecommunications engineering nowadays is based on optical signal transmission, the necessary encoding of the information is generated using electronically controlled switches. A compact optical transistor is still a long way off. Vahid Sandoghdar, Professor at the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of ETH Zurich, explains that, “Comparing the current state of this technology with that of electronics, we are somewhat closer to the vacuum tube amplifiers that were around in the fifties than we are to today’s integrated circuits.”
However, his research group has now achieved a decisive breakthrough by successfully creating an optical transistor with a single molecule. For this, they have made use of the fact that a molecule’s energy is quantized: when laser light strikes a molecule that is in its ground state, the light is absorbed. As a result, the laser beam is quenched. Conversely, it is possible to release the absorbed energy again in a targeted way with a second light beam. This occurs because the beam changes the molecule’s quantum state, with the result that the light beam is amplified. This so-called stimulated emission, which Albert Einstein described over 90 years ago, also forms the basis for the principle of the laser.
Focusing on a nano scale
Jaesuk Hwang, first author of the study and a scientific member of Sandoghdar’s nano-optics group, explains that, “Amplification in a conventional laser is achieved by an enormous number of molecules.” By focusing a laser beam on only a single tiny molecule, the ETH Zurich scientists have now been able to generate stimulated emission using just one molecule. They were helped in this by the fact that, at low temperatures, molecules seem to increase their apparent surface area for interaction with light . The researchers therefore needed to cool the molecule down to minus 272 degrees Celsius (minus 457.6 degrees Fahrenheit), i.e. one degree above absolute zero. In this case, the enlarged surface area corresponded approximately to the diameter of the focused laser beam.
Switching light with light
By using one laser beam to prepare the quantum state of a single molecule in a controlled fashion, scientists could significantly attenuate or amplify a second laser beam. This mode of operation is identical to that of a conventional transistor, in which electrical potential can be used to modulate a second signal.
Thus component parts such as the new single molecule transistor may also pave the way for a quantum computer. Sandoghdar says, “Many more years of research will still be needed before photons replace electrons in transistors. In the meantime, scientists will learn to manipulate and control quantum systems in a targeted way, moving them closer to the dream of a quantum computer.” | <urn:uuid:baac4d1b-8803-4201-b70a-64d200a41ac1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ghostradio.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/one-step-closer-to-an-optical-computer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940178 | 758 | 3.546875 | 4 |
[Python-il] Python/OSS education
choo at actcom.co.il
Fri Oct 8 23:16:36 IST 2010
Rani Hod wrote:
> Now, the most Utopian thing would be if the Ministry of Education
> would suddenly decide that the 5-unit Bagrut in computers would
> consist of learning Python/OSS, including all the skills I mentioned
> above, and then the big universities will teach Python in their
> introductory programming courses instead of C and Java. That would
> be heaven, and in my opinion this will greatly improve Israel's tech
> scene in 5-10 years.
> But it would be very hard to make it happen, as the Ministry of
> Education is very conservative, and so are universities.
> Update: Tel-Aviv University is having a pilot next semester (the spring
> one) of teaching Introduction to Computer Science (for CS students) in
> Python (rather than in Scheme, which is a variant of lisp).
> I happen to be the TA in this class, so I would be happy to hear
> Note that this is NOT an Introduction to Programming course. I do not
> expect students to know Python's ins and outs. I'll mention
> documentation and debugging, but won't go into licensing.
One thing of importance: one of the problems with high-level languages,
is that they hide efficiency issues very well - e.g. people start using
lists, dictionaries and such, with little awareness to what goes under
the hood - and as a result don't get the feel for how efficient (or not)
some of the data structures are.
are you going to tackle this issue in this course? i got a feeling you
won't be using python in the data structures course - and many people
may miss the connection.
More information about the Python-il | <urn:uuid:04f025d0-1a9f-4b94-b410-c68c089e30de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hamakor.org.il/pipermail/python-il/2010-October/001133.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941279 | 401 | 1.523438 | 2 |
HEALTH Declares Flu to Be Widespread in Rhode Island
Surgical masks now required for all unimmunized healthcare workers.
The following was provided by the Rhode Island Department of Health
PROVIDENCE – Michael Fine, MD, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH), has issued a Declaration of Widespread Flu Incidence Statewide. This declaration triggers Rhode Island’s new regulations requiring all healthcare workers who have not been immunized against influenza to wear a surgical mask during all times of direct patient contact.
“Flu is here in Rhode Island, and all signs indicate that this flu season is expected to be more severe than those in recent past,” said Dr. Fine. “We encourage all Rhode Islanders to protect themselves and those around them by being immunized against influenza. Our healthcare workers have an obligation to protect those they care for by getting immunized or wearing a mask as required by the Department of Health’s regulations.”
“Direct patient contact” is defined as routinely anticipated face-to-face contact with patients, such as when entering a patient’s room, serving food to patients or participating in group patient activities.
Vaccines are one of the best ways to prevent the flu, and to avoid spreading it to people at high risk of flu-related complications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this year’s flu vaccine is well matched to the current strain of influenza (H3N2). HEALTH is urging all Rhode Islanders to be immunized this week for maximum protection against illness. In addition, HEALTH urges all healthcare workers and healthcare facilities to encourage hand washing and continue infection control measures.
Flu vaccine is generally recommended for people ages six months and older. It is especially important for healthcare workers, pregnant women, people over the age of 50, nursing or group home residents, and people with chronic conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease, diabetes, asthma, anemia, blood disorders, or weakened immune systems to be immunized against flu. In particular, those who live with or care for those who are at high risk of flu-related complications should also be immunized.
Symptoms of influenza can include fever, cough, head and body aches, fatigue and runny nose. Some people also have vomiting and diarrhea.
Immunizations are available throughout Rhode Island, including through your primary care provider, at flu vaccination clinics, and at local pharmacies.
For more information about influenza or to find a vaccination clinic near you, visit www.health.ri.gov/flu | <urn:uuid:2aaed0d1-57b1-4733-b9d3-88389c85d518> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://middletown.patch.com/articles/health-declares-flu-to-be-widespread-in-rhode-island?logout=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955501 | 535 | 2.5625 | 3 |
An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue.
Chazen Museum of Art expansion to open today
Wisconsin's newest art museum will be unveiled today. Actually, it is an old museum made new.
The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will unveil its $43 million addition, an 86,000-square-foot building that doubles the museum's size.
A tour and ribbon cutting will be conducted for media and students today and the doors will open to the public at noon Saturday. The university's chancellor and Madison's mayor will be in attendance for the public events on the weekend.
The new limestone and copper-clad building, designed by Boston-based Machado + Silvetti Architects, is in a visible spot on University Avenue and connects to the Chazen's existing building, designed by Henry Weese in 1968.
A $25 million gift from Simona and Jerome Chazen made the expansion project possible.
The larger exhibition spaces make it possible for the Chazen to exhibit more of its permanent collection and to host larger -- and perhaps more significant -- shows.
Combined with the opening of a new wing at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006, also in the heart of the city, Madison has certainly heightened its profile in terms of the visual arts.
The inaugural exhibition in the Chazen's new structure will feature abstract works by renowned artist Sean Scully.
Continuum Architects + Planners in Milwaukee served as the managing architect on the project.
Images courtesy the Chazen Museum of Art. | <urn:uuid:af6c132d-b6c2-4c34-8c05-eb4ea9eb80f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/132205683.html?_escaped_fragment_=page=1%26viewAll=0%26sort=oldestfirst%26pageSize=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938874 | 352 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Photos and VideosMore Photos and Videos
Julie Tam, NBCDFW.com
Denton police want to know why it took a newspaper photo to bring Gino the police dog's low weight to their attention.
Denton police say a police dog photographed last weekend with protruding ribs is healthy and within his normal weight range.
"That's something that we're going to have to look into -- why it took a photograph to notice his condition," Capt. Lenn Carter said. "It was alarming to us also to see the photograph."
Officer Russ Weier, who handles Gino, took him to a veterinarian Thursday, where the dog got a clean bill of health. Weier said the vet told him the dog's weight is within the normal range.
Gino had not been to a veterinarian since he overcame a tapeworm infection in August.
Weier, who takes the dog in for regular checkups, said the vet told him Gino is a high-energy dog that burns calories fast. He has been feeding the police dog a diet recommended for his breed but is switching to a higher-calorie diet to get Gino back into shape. | <urn:uuid:392b2a65-b259-4c18-8f55-6bbbe22c91e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Photo-of-Skinny-Police-Dog-Causes-Alarm-107323093.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985266 | 240 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Since the year 2000, Payson has grown by nearly 10 percent, according to new census data released last week.
In July 2006, the population of Payson was 15,257 -- a jump of more than 1,500 people since July 2000, when the population was 13,690.
Based on the same census information, Arizona's population has increased by about 20 percent in the same time period, or by a little more than 1.03 million people.
Mayor Bob Edwards said he was not surprised at Payson's growth.
"Payson is one of the premiere locations in the state, so it is going to grow fast," he said.
Edwards said that what is more important is the way in which Payson grows.
"We now have Payson on a smart path of growth," he said.
"The key is how (Payson) grows to that."
Barbara Ganz, executive director of Payson Regional Economic Development Corporation, said the growth adds to the town's tax base.
Ganz said that although the increase is nearly 10 percent, the age of the additional population may cause it to be economically misleading.
"Yes, growth positively impacts the economy, but we need to look at the age of the growth and what services are necessary for that population and what retail services we need to attract for that community," she said.
Ganz said she is proud of the way that Payson has grown.
"We work every day to grow smart," she said. "We've done an excellent job in managing growth in Payson. We've done an excellent job looking at smart growth rather than popular growth. We've made sure we've had a good infrastructure for growth." | <urn:uuid:181c56cd-946c-437b-ab12-ba5beac5d259> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2007/jul/02/payson_population_up/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982426 | 352 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Up (prep) – in, at or to a higher level (adv) indicate thoroughness or completion of an action; coming out or through some medium; rising above or seeming to rise, above or over something. – Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary
After three years of being my first reader, my husband, Brian, may need to give up his solitary role of sojourning through many drafts of my writing before the finished product is due. When he gives me feedback, sometimes he is tactful and other times he is not. Now, I think he's totally fed up with his role.
"What's up with your use of the word 'up'?" Brian asked. "Can't you write anything without using the word up or is this a Pennsylvania thing, since you were born and raised there? Do Pennsylvanians use up a lot?"
"What's up with you?" I asked. "I was really feeling up until this very moment. Why are you bringing this up?" I challenged, shrugging off the condescending tone of his question.
"Because I think you ought to try giving up using the word up," he quipped.
"Oh, you do," I said defensively. "It sounds like you are fed up."
"If it were up to me, I'd come up with another way to say what you want to say without using 'up' so much," he said emphatically.
"Can we talk about this another time?" I said. "I'm busy redding up the house, and I can't put up with this right now."
"Sorry I brought it up," he said.
"Do you know that your voice goes up when you disagree with me," I observed. "Now, would you please leave the literary criticism up to me?"
"I was just pointing out that you have a tendency to use up in uncommon places," he pressed, as our discussion began heat up. "It's like you can't help yourself. You use up in every way you can think up."
"I guess I didn't realize it," I backed off.
"Well, it's true," he came back. "Just look how many times you used 'up' in the last week's column: 'Dishing UP little bit of sugar…There is much more to her life growing UP in America's heartland…You lift people UP …before we hang up…'"
"Wow, you are really turning up the volume," I said defensively. I briefly pondered his observation of my use of the word up. "The only reason I can think up for my overuse of up is because it has up-teen uses," I justified. "When I looked it up, I found six column inches in the dictionary dedicated to defining the word up. Just think of it, six column inches of up! There are very few words with such wide meaning."
"Not to change the subject," I said, trying to change the subject. "Did you call in our reservations for the annual steak fry? I've been so tied up with work I haven't had a chance to call."
"I give up," Brian sighed exhaustively.
"What's up with him?" I mumbled as walked up the stairs, wondering who else might be up to the task as my first reader.
Note to Plain Talk Readers: Paula Damon is seriously considering calling up an alternate first reader, since her husband is giving up on her excessive use of the word up. If you think you are up to the task of staying up late to read her drafts, look her up at 712- 301-9792. Or post a note up on her Facebook page or at firstname.lastname@example.org. Seriously, she thinks he is fed up.
Paula Damon. A resident of Southeast South Dakota, Paula Damon is a national award-winning columnist. Her columns have won first-place in National Federation of Press Women, South Dakota Press Women and Iowa Press Women Communications Contests. In the 2009 South Dakota Press Women Communications Contest, Paula's columns took three first-place awards. To contact Paula, email email@example.com, follow her blog at www.my-story-your-story.blogspot.com and find her on Facebook.
2009© Paula Damon | <urn:uuid:b388ad50-23d9-48ed-8335-1c1af2a1ee5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://plaintalk.net/2009/09/fed-up-with-up-dont-bring-it-up/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982394 | 892 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Acupuncture Network, Insurance Company Work Together for Better Patient Care
Information Campaign Leads Insurer to Reconsider its Position
By Editorial Staff
While some health care practitioners and health insurance providers feel that they often coexist on an adversarial level, it doesn't always have to be that way.
A recent incident in California highlights what can happen when the two groups put their patients' well-being ahead of their own philosophies.
On January 17, 2001, Cigna Healthcare, one of the largest health insurers in the nation, informed a California-based acupuncture network, Acu-Care, that it had changed its policy toward acupuncture services. Instead of covering a wide range of conditions for which acupuncture has been shown to be effective, Cigna issued a statement to Acu-Care saying that only three diagnoses indicating the use of acupuncture - nausea resulting from chemotherapy; nausea due to pregnancy; and adult postoperative dental pain - would be accepted for coverage and reimbursement.
In response to Cigna's policy change, the president of Acu-Care, Ilan Migdali, LAc, contacted the organization's national medical director. The director explained that Cigna's accepted diagnoses stemmed from the 1997 National Institutes of Health's consensus statement on acupuncture, which states that "there is clear evidence that needle acupuncture is efficacious for adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and probably for the nausea of pregnancy" and that "there is evidence of efficacy for postoperative dental pain." The director also expressed a willingness to work with Acu-Care, and offered to review any information and scientific research Acu-Care presented about acupuncture in order to consider adding conditions to be covered.
While an early part of the consensus statement does indeed mention the efficacy of acupuncture for nausea, vomiting and postoperative dental pain, other parts discuss more than a dozen conditions for which acupuncture could be useful. For instance, a section on the use of acupuncture in comparison to (or in combination with) other forms of care states that "musculoskeletal conditions, such as fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and tennis elbow, or epicondylitis, are conditions for which acupuncture may be beneficial." It further states that there is either "ample clinical experience, supported by some research data," or "positive clinical trials" suggesting that acupuncture could be a reasonable option for a number of clinical conditions, including myofasacial pain; postoperative pain; low back pain; stroke rehabilitation; carpal tunnel syndrome; osteoarthritis; asthma; addiction; and headache.
In response to Cigna's stance, Acu-Care instituted an information campaign designed to educate and inform the insurance giant about acupuncture's benefits. First, Acu-Care contacted its network members, who in turn informed their patients of Cigna's decision. Acu-Care members also began collecting scientific abstracts, articles from peer-reviewed journals, and other information explaining acupuncture's efficacy in treating a variety of conditions, so that they could be presented to Cigna for review.
The information campaign worked better than anyone had expected. On January 25, 2001, Acu-Care was contacted by Cigna. The network was told that several patients had called Cigna to report on the benefits they had received from acupuncture, and that they demanded continuation of treatment. As a result of the response from patients and practitioners, Cigna ended up issuing a clarification to Acu-Care, informing them that the policy revision would apply only to a very limited number of HMO and point-of-service plans. Cigna also reaffirmed its position toward acupuncture, informing Acu-Care that the diagnosis guidelines for their PPO policies would remain as broad and as comprehensive as they were previously, and that PPO patients would continue to be covered for approximately 20 conditions, including back pain, bursitis, sciatica, tendonitis and tennis elbow.
"This outcome demonstrates the important role that practitioners and patients have in requesting and receiving desired health benefits," said Dr. Migdali upon hearing of Cigna's clarification.
"The results people receive from our medicine, and the type of relationship that develops between us, are both strong and influential," he continued. "I would like to see this energy used to further enhance insurance coverage and improve the reimbursement rates acupuncturists receive. Remembering this strength, accessing it and channeling it will help practitioners stand for their rights and their vision of how our medicine will be practiced. It will ultimately result in better health care."
Acu-Care's ability to develop an effective information campaign in a short amount of time provides an excellent (and all-too-rare) example of what an acupuncture organization can do if its members band together to work for a common good. Cigna's willingness to work with Acu-Care, meanwhile - and its clarification of what diagnoses would and would not be covered - shows what can happen when insurers and provider networks cooperate to try and deliver the best possible care for their patients.
Editor's note: While Cigna has clarified its position as to what diagnoses will be covered under its health care plans, Acu-Care has decided to continue gathering research and information about acupuncture. To find out more about Acu-Care, or to become involved in the network's information campaign, please contact:
Acu-Care 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 306 Hollywood, CA 90028 Tel: (323) 962-6294 Fax: (323) 962-2518 | <urn:uuid:4f2f1518-62ea-422b-8ead-8ca713554669> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27694 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956918 | 1,135 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Tide Pools in San Diego County
Although much of the San Diego coast is lined with long stretches of sandy beaches, there are also many rocky areas that offer excellent opportunities to explore tide pools. Some of the best places to go tidepooling are within minutes of downtown San Diego. These rocky areas are conveniently located for classes of biology students from local colleges and high schools. North of Torrey Pines State Park, rocky areas are more scattered along the miles of predominantly sandy coastline, and they are generally smaller in size than are rocky beaches to the south.
Make sure the tide is low when you are there. A 1.0 foot tide or lower is OK, but you will have a better chance of seeing more marine plants and animals when the tide is minus. Check the newspaper or use the tide calendar or tide tables available at surf shops, fishing supply stores, and online (See links below.) If the weather is stormy or the surf is otherwise high, it is best to postpone visiting the tide pools until calm weather, since you won't see much, even at low tide.
The following are a few examples of good beaches where you can observe tide pool life in San Diego County. They have been chosen in most cases for their close proximity to parking. Please respect the rocky shore environment, and make sure you follow the rules of conservation when you go:
San Diego Metropolitan Area
Cabrillo National Monument: There has been some concern that the thousands of visitors to Cabrillo National Monument have damaged the tide pools. That is probably true, but the rocky shore at this park still has a lot to offer, and if you visit on a good low minus tide it will be worth the entrance fee. In the mid-intertidal zone you can see very large Great Owl Limpets. Hermit crabs are abundant here. During a museum tide pool class for kids this last spring, a girl found a homeless hermit crab (no shell) and some other girls hunted for and found an empty snail shell. We watched in excitement as the crab promptly accepted and fit into this shell. On the same day we watched a fairly large octopus walk in plain view on top of the surf grass for several minutes. Be sure you follow park regulations; the tide pool area is policed by park rangers. The rangers are helpful and will explain marine life and help visitors observe the animals.
Ocean Beach: There is a small tide pool area at the foot of Newport Avenue under the Ocean Beach pier. Compared to the other tide pool areas mentioned in this guide, there is relatively little to see during the average low tide. However, there are shore crabs, hermit crabs, and sea anemones, and lots of small chitons in depressions in the sandstone rocks. I once observed a small, brightly colored fish in a tide pool at this location. On another visit, I found a small hydromedusa jellyfish, Polyorchis sp., which I had never seen before, in a pool. There are other rocky areas in Ocean Beach at the ends of the streets to the south of the business district, but the one at the end of Newport Avenue is the most accessible. There are rocky areas all along Sunset Cliffs Drive, but the cliffs are dangerous, and tide pool exploring is not recommended here. For many years you could access the shore from a steep cement stairway at the south end of Sunset Cliffs Drive, but recent winter storms have severely damaged it and it has been closed.
Tourmaline Surfing Park: This is a favorite spot for classes of biology students. You can reach it by walking north along the beach from the parking area west of La Jolla Boulevard at the north end of Pacific Beach. There are many tide pools nestled in the sandstone which is full of cobblestones. Hermit crabs and sea snails are very common here. On a good low tide, you will have a chance to see sea urchins and brittle stars, or an octopus if you are lucky. Don't forget that you are one of thousands of people who visit this beach; do your part to protect the marine life.
Shell Beach, La Jolla: This little beach has a fairly good tide pool area at low tide. It is at the south end of Ellen Browning Scripps Park in La Jolla at the bottom of a small cement stairway. But the surf is fairly strong here, and you won't be able to see much sea life, unless you come when the tide is really low, preferably a minus tide. The big attraction of this beach is Seal Rock Reserve, a big rock offshore where seals and sea lions come to rest and sun themselves. A few years ago the reserve was expanded to include the sandy cove just to the south of Shell Beach.
Dike Rock: Another favorite of Biology students, this is a rocky area just to the north of Scripps Pier in La Jolla. The name of this beach refers to a volcanic bench of rock that has extruded through a large gap in the sedimentary rocks and runs perpendicular to the beach. To reach this area, you must walk a ways along the sandy beach, then walk over a rocky area until you reach the dike, which is located on a slight point. The best tide pools are over the dike to the north side. Here you may have a good chance of spotting a star fish or an octopus on a good minus tide. This tide pool area is located on UCSD property and is part of the La Jolla Underwater Park marine reserve.
North County Beaches
Cardiff State Beach: There is a nice tide pool area by the bluffs at the south end of the parking lot at Cardiff State Beach. You can get here on Pacific Coast Highway just north of Lomas Santa Fe Drive. Before you walk down to the rocky area you will see an information sign with illustrations of tide pool life. There is a box that is periodically stocked with a colorful brochure about tide pools. The rocks at this park are interesting sedimentary rocks about 45 million years old that contain fossil clams firmly embedded within. There are good tide pools here, as well as at San Elijo State Park and campground just to the north.
Seacliff Park, or Swami's: North on Pacific Coast Highway from Cardiff State Park is Swami's, which can be recognized by the gold colored domes of the Self-Realization Center. The parking lot is small, and there is a lot of competition for space on a sunny day. However, you can park along the highway to the south if the lot is full. There is a strong wooden stairway that allows access from the parking lot to the beach at the bottom of the cliffs. The rocky area is a short distance to the north. As at Cardiff State Beach, there are 45 million year old fossil shells in the hard sedimentary rock, oysters being the most common ones here. During a good low tide, the tide pools are revealed on an extensive flat area, and you have a good chance of seeing sea hares, brittle stars, and octopi.
San Onofre State Park: Reached by Basilone Road off Interstate 5 just north of the border checkpoint, you will find a cobblestone tide pool area north of the campground. To the south and at the base of the bluffs below the campground, there is a small rocky area that consists of a fascinating formation of steeply tilted sedimentary rocks exposed at low tide. Hermit crabs are common, and in the mid-intertidal zone there is a dense mussel bed. With some luck, you may observe an Ochre Starfish.
Photos from a San Diego Natural History Museum field trip. Purple Dwarf Olive (Olivella biplicata) shells with hermit crabs (See crab in lower right shell.) Girl in orange jacket is holding kelp holdfast stuck to rock.
Text by Scott Rugh. Photos by Liz Paegel. | <urn:uuid:a1e35f04-2816-49fd-b3cd-cd84a596e4ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sdnhm.org/archive/fieldguide/places/tidepooling.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946298 | 1,643 | 2.265625 | 2 |
September 16, 2010
- City-State Groundwater Working Group - The Working Group will meet again on October 28.
- Well Installation - We have been reimbursed by the contractor for the well that we had to install on Huntington Avenue to replace one destroyed during sidewalk installation work there.
- MBTA - The MBTA continues to go forward with plans for the long term solution for low groundwater issues in the South End in the vicinity of Back Bay Station. They received letters of interest from six engineering firms for the tunnel rehabilitation project that includes the groundwater related work on July 14. They expect to complete the selection process and award a contract by September. Because the groundwater related work is one of the first items to be completed under the contract, they expect construction could start by Spring 2011.
- BWSC - BWSC has completed repairs on the sewer on Richmond Street in the North End. Our initial readings of the observation wells after the repair are encouraging, with all of those in the immediate area rising generally more than others in the North End. We continue to work with BWSC and area businesses and residents to understand the reason for high groundwater levels in a section of the South End south of Washington Street; it appears from our data and anecdotal information that there is substantial tidal influence, and BWSC has identified a tide gate that appears to be leaking.
- MWRA - MWRA has substantially completed their major sewer project in East Boston, including the siphon that goes under the Blue Line near Porter Street. We continue to see some improvements in groundwater levels in the area and will be watching this closely over the next few months.
- DCR - The groundwater levels at the observation wells along Back Street that had dropped when DCR needed to turn off the recharge have largely recovered.
- GCOD - In what is hopefully a sign of an improving economy, we are beginning to see an increase in cases coming before the Board of Appeals under GCOD. Compliance remains virtually 100%, thanks to the efforts of the Board, BWSC, and ISD.
- Research Projects - We have received a draft report and briefing from the researchers at Tufts on our funded research. They have identified a significant increase in groundwater levels from what would be otherwise expected that is associated with the GCOD mandated recharge. The effect clearly increases with the density of recharge.
- Christian Science Center - Christian and I met with representatives of the CSC to go over the groundwater situation there. CSC has now pledged to share their internal readings with us.
- Website - Traffic to the website was unusually high in August. We continue to receive positive comments on the site.
- Meetings - I attended a scoping session on the revised project at 93 Massachusetts Avenue and also met with the proponents of 350 Boylston Street to make sure that their GCOD work was in order before they went before the Board of Appeals.
- Comment Letters - I filed comments on the 93 Massachusetts Avenue Notice of Project Change. As always, they are posted on our website. | <urn:uuid:65e015ed-52f3-4140-ae2e-a3f965650eb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bostongroundwater.org/edr091610.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958548 | 612 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Creation, cursed though it may be, still reveals God’s glory and nature. In our fast-paced world, families tend to spend so much time indoors—whether it’s watching television, chatting online, playing video games, attending school, or going to the mall—that we miss some of the wonder of God’s creation and thus, something of God Himself.
So how can we get outside and away from the many empty distractions of our modern world? First, we must reduce time spent on such things as computers, televisions, and video games. We need to schedule outdoor time, whether in the backyard, at a park, or on a walk. Tending a garden—even one simple tomato plant in a sunny spot—will yield many interesting observations about nurturing, growth, and fruit. An astonishing amount of creation is there for everyone to observe—even in the suburbs. When was the last time you paused to enjoy the beauty of a sunrise or sunset?
Camping is another way not only to experience creation but also to build special bonds. Families, churches, or youth groups may rent space at local camps and plan a camping experience that combines sporting activities, Bible study, discipleship, worship, and relationship-building. There is something about getting away from the ordinary that prepares our hearts to experience the Lord in a fresh way.
Walking through a quiet forest, wading in the pounding ocean, standing on a mountain peak, or sitting silently before a crackling fire can turn our minds to thoughts of eternity, the meaning of life, and the greatness of God. Let’s take time to meditate on these things and join the psalmist in declaring, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).
Visit www.answersmagazine.com/go/creation-adventures for a list of creation-based adventures and camps.
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Building a Biblical Worldview
ISSN: 1937-9056 | © 2013 Answers in Genesis | <urn:uuid:2871a655-74b8-4c59-85da-abb2143a0d93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n3/experience-creation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922812 | 524 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Fights erupt over Chris Dodd's reform bill
- In unveiling the measure, Sen. Chris Dodd (left) has immediately picked a fight with his House counterpart, Rep. Barney Frank. Reuters
Shelby vs. the White House
Any hope for bipartisanship goes through Sen. Richard Shelby, the wily Alabama Republican.
Where he goes, most of the Republican votes are likely to follow. And Shelby has been as vocal about what’s in the bill — the consumer financial protection agency — as what’s not in the bill: a serious overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
President Barack Obama himself has put a lot of political capital on the line in pushing for the creation of the consumer financial protection agency, but Shelby calls the establishment of a separate agency an “obstacle” to his support. When asked by reporters about the White House’s strong support for the CFPA, Shelby observed that the administration doesn’t get a vote in the Senate.
Shelby, the top Republican on the banking panel, is balking at the idea of moving financial regulatory overhaul legislation without addressing the future of the companies, which were taken over by the government following the housing collapse last fall.
“And so the question is, what is it going to take; what are the fights going to be to try to bring enough Republicans along to get the bill done?” said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Washington Research Group.
Big banks vs. little banks
The two lobbies have been tussling over numerous aspects of financial reform, but Dodd’s bill sparked a brand-new fight.
Dodd wants the FDIC to collect its fees based on assets rather than deposits as it does under current law.
This would make business much cheaper for the smaller banks, which tend to have much lower assets but higher deposits. And it would make larger banks, which tend to have assets far in excess of deposits, pay more into the FDIC.
The two camps continue to fight over who pays into a “too big to fail” fund that would grant the federal government “resolution authority” to wind down large financial firms. Community banks want the big banks to prepay into this emergency fund. The big banks prefer the approach taken by Dodd’s bill: the FDIC collecting money from big firms after the crisis has passed. But the community banks won the day on the House side on this issue.
Apple Inc. & Coca-Cola vs. Democrats
Why would Apple and Coke — or, for that matter, Harley- Davidson and Ford Motor Co. — lobby so hard on derivatives legislation?
These companies live at the retail end of these complex financial tools, using them to hedge their futures on commodities like fuel, foreign currency rates and raw materials for their products. And they’re not happy about being lumped into the wide-ranging proposals to heavily regulate the derivatives market.
These big companies aren’t the speculators who caused the derivatives market meltdown, this group argues, and they’ll be seeking exemptions from Dodd’s tougher crackdown on the derivatives market. But some Senate Democrats have criticized the House bill for making the changes these companies asked for. | <urn:uuid:3d4a551d-96b7-4ab6-bbf4-22a2eff1809d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29549_Page2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951241 | 672 | 1.5625 | 2 |
WASHINGTON - The House voted 216-177 today to restore $10 million of the $16.8 million proposed by President Barack Obama for the first phase of construction under the Louisiana Coastal Area Program.
House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee had voted to strip the $16.8 million from an energy and water spending bill. Reps. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson and Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, offered the amendment to restore $10 million of that amount and it easily passed.
Scalise said the program is badly needed and has been backlogged and stalled because Congress hasn't provided any constructions money for the Coastal Area Program, approved five years ago by Congress.
"The reason this is critical is because it allows us to move forward on infrastructure improvements, something that we have been trying to do to restore our coast" for many years, Scalise said.
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., who headed the House Appropriations Subcommittee that wrote the water and energy bill, urged a no vote, saying the Corps doesn't have enough money to make a dent in projects already underway.
"It would not be prudent to begin another major new project while we have so many existing commitments," he said.
Richmond said his state can't wait any longer to begin work on projects designed to protect ecosystems and wetlands that are critical to the environment and flood protection.
"The coast of Louisiana since 1950 had sent to the American treasury almost $150 billion, and up until 2006, we didn't receive any revenues back from the federal government for drilling on our out outer continental shelf," Richmond said. "What we do today is ask for the ability to help ourselves, protect our citizens, and make this country safer."
Louisiana congressional members are also seeking congressional approval of legislation that would designate billions of dollars in Clean Water Act fines for the 2010 BP oil spill to the five Gulf states with the expectation the money would fund key ecosystem restoration work in Louisiana. But there's no firm date when the fine money will start flowing and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., among others, says it's important to get the first construction funding enacted, as the president's budget advocates.
The bill, now pending on the House floor, would spend $32.1 billion on energy and water programs, $965 million less than the president's budget request.
Still, The White House Office of Management and Budget said the bill adds some funding on areas the president proposed to cut, meaning less money available for other key domestic programs under a $2 trillion deficit reduction agreement negotiated by the White House and congressional Republicans last December.
Here's part of the OMB statement:
"Passing H.R. 5325 at its current funding level would mean that when the Congress constructs other appropriations bills, it would necessitate significant and harmful cuts to critical national priorities such as education, research and development, job training, and health care. Furthermore, this bill undermines key investments in clean energy and scientific research and development, building blocks of our Nation's future economy.
"Investing in these areas is critical to the Nation's economic growth, security, and global competitiveness. The Administration also strongly objects to the inclusion of ideological and political provisions that are beyond the scope of funding legislation." | <urn:uuid:1db12bec-51aa-4bd1-839b-14898bb530e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/06/post_473.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959167 | 674 | 1.53125 | 2 |
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it will appeal a federal judge’s July ruling that it overreached by setting up water-quality criteria for mountaintop removal mining operations in several Appalachia states.
EPA filed notice of intent Thursday to appeal the ruling by Judge Reggie Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Last year, the EPA revised 2010 standards by tightening guidelines on the practice of dumping waste from surface mine blasting into valley waterway. The National Mining Association sued, and West Virginia and Kentucky joined the lawsuit.
Walton found the EPA infringed on state regulators’ authority to permit mines using federal clean-water and surface-mining laws.
His ruling was one of several setbacks to the EPA in its attempt to crack down on mountaintop removal coal mining. | <urn:uuid:195a61ef-aeb6-4cf6-be16-a15884db4335> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loganbanner.com/view/full_story/20320802/article-EPA-to-appeal-ruling-on-mining-water-quality-rules | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943459 | 178 | 1.695313 | 2 |
After I spent the morning of Saturday, January 8th exploring the new world of Nordic Skating at the Lake Morey Skate-A-Thon, I was intrigued by an afternoon class offered in the Winter Skills Day series at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont called Emergency Survival and Self-Sufficiency Skills. I didn’t go to prepare myself for overnight treks in the winter wilderness, sleeping in hand crafted snow huts at 10 degrees! But I do sometimes venture into the backcountry for day-long treks on skis, so I thought it might be useful to expand my knowledge on this topic beyond what I gleaned from my Girl Scout days of yesteryore. What I learned: how to stay warm if I got lost, or what the best emergency items are best to carry along in a pack might just save me from trouble . . .
Frank Grindrod, our instructor from Earthwork Wilderness Survival School, a kind and gentle man, set the scene for his class of seven by showing us a video of a woman who cross-country skied alone with her dog in unknown territory, got lost, then broke through ice and fell in a river and shivered with the pooch until they were found hours later. Scary!
But by the time our class was over we had a new awareness of how to take care of ourselves at home or in the woods, and had learned about the most important thing of all – being prepared. From the dozens of tips we learned, here are the top ones that I personally took with me from our class:
Outdoors – Always take with you a small kit of essentials, no matter how near or far you plan to roam, Here’s what Frank recommended:
- A signal mirror, large plastic bag as a rain protector or container for water, a magnesium striker for starting a fire and a space blanket. Why? Hypothermia (low body temperature) is the #1 winter killer.
- A tin cup to heat water in or to melt snow into water
- Extra clothing such as gloves, scarf, socks, goggles, upper body layer
- Duct tape – the universal fix-it
- A pocket knife
At home – Frank recommended stocking up a couple of days before a storm is forecast:
- Flashlight and/or headlamps plus extra batteries. Matches and candles – the ones that burn for 9 hours that you can purchase at a camping outfitter. To increase the light effect through reflection, place a mirror behind or underneath these light sources.
- Canned and dry foods, especially lentils. Soak overnight and allow to sprout for increased protein punch and green food. Soak rice and beans overnight for quicker cooking. Store in food-grade plastic containers along with powdered milk and honey.
- A small stove and fuel.
- A crank-operated radio and a crank lantern could be called essential gear.
- Store water in food-safe plastic containers, cooking pots, and your washing machine. Because your water source may not be treated when the electricity goes out, purify water by bringing it to a ‘dancing boil’.
- Create a ‘warm room’ by draping plastic over doors and openings to trap the heat of a woodstove or other heat source – though be sure it is ventilated.
In the car – carry these items:
- A wool army/navy blanket which can be used to sleep in, as a coat, to keep an injured person warm. Wool continues to keep a body warm even if wet.
- A metal cup, duct tape and Yaktrax for traction on your feet if you walk for help.
- Water in a metal container (could be heated), or in plastic. Fill only 3/4 full to allow space for freezing.
- A bunch of asphalt shingles to provide tire traction if your car is stuck in the snow or on ice.
Visit Frank’s website for lots more good advice on this topic of how to be prepared to deal with hypothermia and other winter emergencies as well as a listing of programs and classes he offers.
Two weeks after I took this course my husband and I were on a vigorous backcountry skiing tour near our home in northern Vermont. We were only 15 minutes into the initial uphill part when the snap attachment on the kicker climbing skin of Bob’s right ski broke apart. Then the whole skin peeled off the base of his ski and lay in the snow behind him. Luckily we were able to secure the skin again with the duct tape I now carried in my pack!
“Thank you, Frank!”, I thought many times as we continued the rest of our nine mile trek without a further glitch.
P.S. I carry the duct tape wound around a pencil. The pencil can be handy to write with or punch a hole, and it makes it easy to unwind the tape. Plus, you can carry a reasonable amount without the bulk of a duct tape roll.
Editor Note: Most old hands at backcountry skiing carry duct tape in their pack emergency kit as Barbara suggests, but also wrap 25 feet of it around a ski pole just below the grip. You never know it’s there until you need it . . . | <urn:uuid:77f06996-01d8-4890-80db-51ef8596cfe8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.easternslopes.com/2011/02/06/how-to-a-primer-on-winter-emergency-skills/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948943 | 1,095 | 2.078125 | 2 |
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By Aurora Eastwood What is the cost of a divot? It’s not just Wimbledon and Lords that are affected by rain. The UK has experienced an unprecedented and record breaking amount of rainfall in the last six weeks. The day after many water suppliers announced a hosepipe ban, the heavens opened. The wettest April in recorded history has been followed by what seems to the wettest May. At the time of writing, it hasn’t stopped and if the weather forecast is anything to go by, it’s not about to. What has this meant for polo? Well, it’s a washout. Many clubs have yet to start at all, several weeks after chukkas would normally be well under way. Cowdray, with grounds on arguably the most free-draining soil in the UK, has cancelled scores of games, and have decided to cancel the Young England game that was due to take place before the St Regis test match on the 19thMay. Even though it is over a week away, they already know the ground will be too wet to support two games. Guards too, have had to cancel game after game - and these busy clubs then suffer due to scheduling - trying to fit the rest of the tournament in before the next starts, and with pros all having no play days...I don’t envy polo managers right now. Pity any clubs based in the Berkshire area - the soil there is predominantly clay - standing water and utterly saturated fields are the order of the day. Private grounds have fared no better- Martin Brown’s beautiful field at Witley, home to Talandracas, has seen only the webbed feet of ducks and geese rather than the neatly shod feet of high goal ponies . "In 35 years of polo I’ve never seen anything like it" said Martin, glumly. Talandracas needed to give their horses an outing, but finding a field was tricky. "It’s easier to ask someone if you can sleep with their wife than it is to ask them to borrow their polo field!". When it comes to turf, nature has us beat. If the weather is too dry, provided the surface is very sandy and there is plenty of water with which to irrigate, we win. However in situations like this, with incessant rainfall, no amount of drains and sandy soil will make a surface playable - or even if it is, it will be destroyed and the repair costs astronomical - at least 1,000 pounds per field per game. Not to mention lasting damage that persists for the whole season. This is one situation no one can buy their way out of. We just have to hope for sunshine. However, we few, we lucky few who have arenas (or access to arenas) can at least keep the horses fit and play chukkas. It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing. | <urn:uuid:9b6fc581-f322-4b69-bb21-b3e05a7bb29a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pololine.com/index.php?lang=1&sec=1¬e=1556&pag=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976271 | 618 | 1.671875 | 2 |
FAUX meat, allergen-free foods and yoghurt shops are tipped to be among the biggest food trends of 2013.
In its annual ''Things to Watch'' list, global marketing group JWT is also predicting a move towards more food sharing services and an increase in the number of vegan babies.
The authors of the list say meat substitutes are already gaining popularity as people cut back on meat for budget, health or environmental reasons and as faux meat products improve in taste.
The trend, which was spearheaded by two-year-old Dutch restaurant the Vegetarian Butcher, is spreading across the globe. Sydney's Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher, which also delivers to Melbourne, sells a range of faux meat, including replacement chicken, sausage, burger and schnitzel products.
Footscray eatery Bo de Trai, which is run by Buddhist monks, also serves mock meat and seafood.
Allergen-free foods, which some predict could soon become as ubiquitous as gluten-free products, are also on the rise.
With food allergies increasing worldwide, food manufacturers are scrambling to produce foods free of allergens such as dairy, peanuts, egg, soy and shellfish.
Sharing home-cooked meals with strangers is also tipped to be a booming trend in 2013, with predictions that copycat versions of online meal co-op services, Mealku in New York and Super Marmite in Paris, will soon spring up in other cities.
The services work by connecting home cooks who trade meals with other home chefs. It is particularly popular among single and couple households who are often laden with leftovers or who loathe cooking for one.
Meanwhile, yoghurt shops - selling non-frozen yoghurt - could soon become the new ice-cream parlour. Health-conscious consumers have been flocking to yoghurt boutiques in New York for cups of traditional and Greek yoghurt with healthy toppings such as fresh fruit, seeds and nuts.
In more good news for those watching their weight, food scientists are busy perfecting mid-calorie foods - products with reduced or medium calories but more taste than diet or low calorie products. | <urn:uuid:6fb04347-7025-4a87-9c8f-2d2b6ace1495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1213078/sharing-a-fake-steak-the-next-food-fad/?cs=7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967954 | 446 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Primus E. King (1900-1986)
King's challenge to the white primary had been planned by a group of Columbus African American civil rights activists led by Dr. Thomas Brewer. By prearrangement King, after his rejection, walked several blocks to the office of Oscar D. Smith Sr., a white attorney, who prepared a lawsuit against members of the Muscogee County Democratic Party Executive Committee, chaired by Joseph E. Chapman, for denying King his right, as a citizen of the United States, to vote. In September 1945 the arguments in King v. Chapman et al. commenced in a federal district court in Macon. Smith and King's other principal lawyer, Harry S. Strozier of Macon, argued that their client's right to vote under the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution had been violated. They asked for $5,000 in damages for the plaintiff.
On October 12, 1945, Federal Judge T. Hoyt Davis ruled in King's favor and awarded him $100 at 7 percent interest, since it was clear that the defense attorneys would appeal the decision. Because the U.S. Supreme Court had recently declared Texas's whites-only primary unconstitutional on the grounds that the Texas Democratic Party was part of the state government, the defense had argued that the Democratic Party in Georgia was a private entity.
On March 6, 1946, in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, Judge Samuel H. Sibley, a Georgia native, denied the contention of the defense in King v. Chapman, arguing that Georgia's election laws "associated" the state with the Democratic Party primary and that the state, therefore, "puts its power behind the rules of the party." (Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who later orchestrated the famed school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, served as amicus curiae for King before the appeals court.)
The Muscogee County Democratic Party refused to let the case drop. Chapman's attorneys then requested that the U.S. Supreme Court review and overturn Sibley's decision. The high court declined to hear the case on April 1, 1946. In March 1945 the state of Georgia had abolished the three-dollar poll tax, thereby removing the economic impediment to voting in the state. Primus King's almost two-year-long struggle against the white primary, paid for by more than $10,000 dollars raised by Brewer and others in the Columbus chapter of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP), now finally eliminated the legal barriers that had stood in the way of black Georgians' right to cast ballots in state and local elections.
King was courageous in his confrontation with law officers on Independence Day 1944, and brave in his determination to pursue the case despite threats made against his life. King was not, however, a political activist. He was born on February 5, 1900, to Lucy and Ed King near Hatchechubbee in Russell County, Alabama, where his father was a sharecropper. King never received any formal education. As a boy, he moved with his family to Columbus, where he worked with his father on a crew building the Meritas cotton mill. In 1921 he married Genie Mae King, who later taught for many years in public schools. The couple had one daughter. In his early twenties King worked as a chauffeur and butler for a prominent white family in Columbus. He suffered humiliation in his work as a servant and encountered discrimination as a customer at white-owned eating establishments; these experiences later played a role in his decision to work with Brewer to demand his right to vote.
As a young man King sought to lessen the pain of discrimination by becoming economically independent. He quickly learned barbering by watching others practice the trade and was able to purchase his own shop with his small savings. After his conversion to Christianity during a revival meeting, he became a pastor at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in 1939 and later ministered at Salem Baptist Church. King's religious faith, he later noted, fortified him for his assault on the white primary. King barbered and ministered long before and after the legal case that put his name in newspapers around the country. He sold the barber shop and retired in 1963. On November 3, 1986, he died in Columbus.
Eventually, honors came to King from the political establishment that had once spurned him. In 1973 Mayor Bob Hydrick proclaimed June 28 as Primus E. King Day in Columbus; in 1977 the Democratic Executive Committee of Muscogee County paid King the $100 plus interest ($324.70) that they owed him; and in 2000 Governor Roy Barnes signed into law a bill naming a stretch of state road in Columbus as the Primus King Highway.
Laughlin McDonald, A Voting Rights Odyssey: Black Enfranchisement in Georgia (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Stephen G. N. Tuck, Beyond Atlanta: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Georgia, 1940-1980 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001).
Craig Lloyd, Columbus State University
A project of the Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, and the Office of the Governor. | <urn:uuid:430b92fa-48bc-4745-8383-eb35b39c01d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/HistoryArchaeology/TheProgressiveEraandWorldWarI/People-6&id=h-2921 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978048 | 1,091 | 3.25 | 3 |
Posted: Dec 10, 2012 10:45 PM by KBZK MEDIA CENTER
Bozeman City Commissioners tackle the complicated issue of impact fees, voting unanimously to move ahead on cutting some fees anywhere from 30 to 60 percent, while several others could go up.
Public comment from some builders and the Southwest Montana Builders Association talked about high fees that chase away money and development.
One man told commissioners people can go elsewhere, including crossing city lines into the county to save money.
Because of the different kinds of fees, and whether they're residential, retail, or restaurants, commissioners want more discussion in January.
That additional talk will include the date fees would go into effect.
One person on the impact fee advisory committee, David Graham told the commission he thinks fees are fair, but the future should not to be paid for with 100 percent impact fee money.
Graham says Bozeman fees are much higher than comparable size cities, about double Missoula and Billings. | <urn:uuid:5fc88230-9432-463d-84e9-10d07858a153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/news/bozeman-city-commissioners-talk-impact-fees/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955848 | 202 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Digital Document Management
Source: SoluSoft Technology
The Chartered Bank of Nepal gathers vast amounts documents everyday. The bank is keen to manage loan documents which range from 10 to 20 files entry each day and each file consists of 25 to 200 pages. Also, each file consumes physical space within the bank, thus it is not cost-effective and will eventually lead to a crisis of space. Also, staff members go through time consuming processes to locate desired file. In order to resolve the challenges listed, digitizing documents is the apt solution for the bank. The solution has two phases: Scanning the physical documents & Managing digital documents. The loan documents are scanned, essentially allowing physical documents to be moved to some offsite location for storage. | <urn:uuid:60813ee3-a455-4f15-a3ab-268eeda79534> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techrepublic.com/whitepapers/digital-document-management/2119941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921207 | 149 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Gum disease, also known was periodontal disease, is an infection of the tissues and bones surrounding and supporting the teeth. The shallow v-shaped crevice between the tooth and the gums is called a sulcus, and gum diseases attack right below the gum line in the sulcus, where it causes the tissues to break down. The sulcus can develop into a pocket as the tissues break down.
There are two stages. Gingivitis is reversible and milder than the periodontitis stage, since it only affects the gums. Gingivitis generally involves having swollen, red gums that bleed easily when one flosses/brushes. Generally it does not cause pain. Gingivitis can turn into periodontitis, which is a much serious and destructive version of periodontal disease. Periodontitis involves the gums pulling away from the teeth, leaving deep pockets where the bacteria can grow and damage the bone that supports the teeth. The gums also shrink back from the teeth, and the teeth may need to be pulled out, or may become loose and fall out.
Gum Disease Causes
People’s mouths are always creating plaque, which is a clear and sticky substance that contains bacteria. The bacteria contains toxins that can irritate the gums and cause gum infection. It is necessary to remove plaque from one’s teeth regularly otherwise the plaque can spread below the gums and damage the tooth-supporting bone. Hardened plaque is known as tartar and has to be removed by a dentist/dental hygienist.
Here are some factors that increase the risk of gum disease occurring:
- Chewing or smoking tobacco
- Certain medications (Steroids, some types of anti-epilepsy drugs, cancer therapy drugs, calcium channel blockers and oral contraceptives)
- Uneven teeth
- Bridges that do not fit properly
- Pregnancy/hormonal changes
- Defective fillings
- Poor oral hygiene
- Genetic predisposition
- Weak immunity system, possibly caused by:
*Excessive amounts of stress
*Diabetes and/or other systemic diseases
Gum Disease Warning Signs
- Gums that easily bleed
- Tender/bright red/swollen gums
- Pus between teeth and gums
- Gums pulling away from the teeth
- Chronic bad breath/foul tastes
- Permanent teeth that are becoming loose/separating
- Change in the way that one’s dentures fit
- Change in the way one’s teeth fit together when biting
How is Gum Disease Diagnosed?
An oral care expert will know to look for the following:
- Bleeding gums
- Plaque/tartar buildup above and below the gum line
- Areas where the gum tissue is pulling away from the teeth
- Growing pockets between the gums and teeth
Gum Disease Treatment
If the gum disease is mild, simply brushing, flossing, and going to the dentist regularly should be enough to get rid of it.
If the gum disease becomes worse and one has periodontitis, root planing and scaling may be in order. This rids the mouth of plaque and tartar buildup. Antibiotics might be recommended, and surgery could be necessary depending on how severe the disease is.
One can have periodontal disease without having any symptoms. This makes dental visits and examinations important. The type of treatment one should get depends on the type and severity of gum disease. Good dental hygiene should be practiced in order to prevent the disease from occurring, becoming worse, or recurring. Periodontal disease does not mean you will lose your teeth. In order to maintain good oral hygiene, one should brush, floss, use mouthwash, eat a healthy diet, and schedule regular dental examinations.
Source: ADA, Web MD | <urn:uuid:e73f6940-6383-4cb7-9673-4ca344d31344> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therabreath.com/gum-disease.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91962 | 795 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Approximately one third of all road accidents are estimated to be work related, this suggests that in Great Britain 610 people were killed, and 7500 were seriously injured, in work-related road collisions in 2010. (1)
1. Department for Transport - Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2010 Annual Report
"In 2010, there were 1,850 people killed and 22,660 were seriously injured." | <urn:uuid:77d01a6c-4819-4cd6-80cf-369da577257c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orsa.org.uk/facts-figures/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990004 | 83 | 1.992188 | 2 |
This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
It’s no secret that the landscape of rural America and the ways in which farmers and ranchers do business is evolving. These changes are happening not only in the fields, in terms of what is produced and how, but also in the office and home with how producers access information and conduct business.
Within the past 10 years, Internet access on farms in the United States has increased 19 percent. According to the just released Farm Computer Usage and Ownership report, today 62 percent of U.S. farms now have access to the World Wide Web, up from 43 percent in 2001. In stark contrast, the report also revealed that only 7 percent of agricultural operations use the Internet to access reports from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and only 5 percent use the Web to conduct business with USDA.
While more than half of America’s farms now have access to the Internet, this resource is being greatly underutilized to connect producers with NASS tools and resources. That’s why NASS is working to improve the way we connect with farmers and ranchers via the Web and to inform them about the value of information available online. From responding to a survey, to viewing satellite imagery and accessing current and historical data, NASS is trying to get valuable information back in the hands of producers with the help of the Internet.
Did you know you can subscribe to receive NASS reports free via email on the NASS website? That you can view the newest cropland data layer online through CropScape – a new service that eliminates the need for specialized expertise or equipment in order to view satellite images? Or that with a simple click of a mouse, you can access data from the agricultural census dating back as far as 1840?
These are only a few examples of the online resources provided to America’s farmers and ranchers on the NASS website. The Internet has paved the way for NASS to communicate more information and in a more timely manner to the agricultural community. Now is the time for producers to take advantage of the online resources available at their fingertips and get connected to NASS. | <urn:uuid:0fab4db3-16e3-4fc0-8dc3-4d00b40f68f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.usda.gov/2011/08/16/farm-internet-access-on-the-rise-now-let%E2%80%99s-connect/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940593 | 471 | 3 | 3 |
Press freedom leads to happiness and environmental quality
Freedom of the press is viewed by many as a cornerstone of democracy. But can it actually help improve people’s lives and make them happy? Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that citizens of countries with press freedom tend to be much happier than citizens of countries without free presses. Edson Tandoc, Jr., a doctoral student in the MU School of Journalism, says that press freedom directly predicts life satisfaction across the world.
“We already know that having reliable, objective news sources can benefit democracy, but in this study, we found that press freedom also benefits communities by helping improve the overall quality of life of citizens and, in the process, by also making them happier,” Tandoc said. “People enjoy having an element of choice about where they get their news. Citizens of countries without a free press are forced to rely on the government for information, when what people really want is diversity in content where they are free to get the information they want from the source of their choosing.”
Tandoc and his co-author, Bruno Takahashi from Michigan State University, analyzed data from 161 countries using a 2010 Gallup Poll evaluating happiness levels around the world. Tandoc and Takahashi compared those happiness levels with Freedom House’s press freedom index which rates the level of each country’s press freedom. They also examined human development statistics gathered by the United Nations as well as the Environmental Performance Index created by researchers at Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. Tandoc found that the more press freedom a country enjoyed, the higher the levels of life satisfaction, or happiness, of its citizens tended to be.
“The road to happiness isn’t direct; it is a complex path or web that includes many different influences and interrelationships,” Tandoc said. “Things like improving the economy alone are insufficient for increasing happiness. Protecting press freedom is also an important component of the happiness web.”
Tandoc also found that countries with higher levels of press freedom enjoyed better environmental quality and higher levels of human development, both of which also contribute to life satisfaction. He credits this to the watchdog function of the press, which helps expose corruption of all levels in a community.
“A country with a free press is expected to be more open about what is wrong in their societies and with their environments,” Tandoc said. “A free press is likely to report about poor human conditions and environmental degradation, bringing problems to the attention of decision-makers. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that press freedom is positively related to both environmental quality and human development.”
This study was published in the Social Indicators Research journal and presented at the International Communication Association 2012 conference in Phoenix. | <urn:uuid:b195c13d-33a7-4755-85ea-f1219e8ef71f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psypost.org/2012/08/press-freedom-leads-to-happiness-and-environmental-quality-13191 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953193 | 581 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Calling all astronauts, dreamers and little boys everywhere. Virgin Galactic is looking for pilot-astronauts and they want YOU to be part of their team.
So what does this gig exactly entail? Well, the position is based in Mojave, California, where you will be working with the development of a spaceflight system test. Once the project reaches new ground, the pilot-astronaut-in-training will be relocated to Spaceport America in New Mexico. NASA, who? (More on Time.com: See a special report on the highs and lows of space exploration)
The commercial project is looking for candidates who have completed pilot school, and substantial experience above the ground. Being able to work within a team helps as well. Of course, the ad notes that prior spaceflight experience is an edge, if you just happen to have some experience we don’t know about behind your belt.
Virgin Galactic wants to become the world’s first private spaceline. Which means, the ideal candidate should be ready to go by June of this summer. There are three slots open, but the company plans to eventually recruit future pilot-astronauts if things progress accordingly. (More on Time.com: See photos of the Hubble Telescope’s greatest hits)
The first batch of pilot-astronauts will also help “establish the recruitment standard for future Pilot-Astronauts,” so go, go, apply now. Never too late to make your childhood dreams come true, thanks to space tourism.
More on TIME.com: | <urn:uuid:34e797e5-7de3-437a-8ed5-8a85e48274b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techland.time.com/2011/04/12/common-folk-can-apply-to-be-a-virgin-galactic-pilot-astronaut/ | 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 | 0.931749 | 322 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Could one unthinkable action be followed by another? It may be, if Formula 1 heads get their wish for a standard engine for the racing series. Both Toyota, a team near the bottom of the standings, and Ferrari, which is up near the top as it usually is, have expressed their concerns about such a plan, with both entities threatening to pull out of the racing series if such a path were taken. A Formula 1 world without Ferrari is practically unfathomable, as is seeing a Prancing Horse powered by a McLaren/Mercedes powerplant.
Does one knee-jerk reaction deserve another? Probably not. Our guess is that cooler heads will prevail and the FIA will come up with another alternative to lower the costs of competing in F1. This is, after all, the path that the FIA often takes when it comes to making major rules changes. Thanks for the tip, everyone!
[Source: F1-Live, Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty] | <urn:uuid:30ded9cf-9aa0-4807-8e73-60b01c2c2d79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/28/ferrari-may-leave-f1-if-standard-engine-approved/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957781 | 202 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Brussels - The European Union predicted Friday that the economy of the 17 member countries that use the euro will see its fortunes improve as the year goes by even though it expects the recession to last longer than it previously thought.
In its winter forecast, the EU Commission, the EU's executive arm, said the eurozone is likely to contract a further 0.3 percent this year, in contrast to its prediction last November of 0.1 percent growth.
Across the eurozone, the Commission said the debt crisis and the associated budget tightening continue to weigh on activity - figures last week showed the eurozone contracted by 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from the previous three-month period. The eurozone has been in recession - officially defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth - since the second quarter of 2012, when concerns about the future of the euro currency were particularly acute.
Despite what it terms "headwinds," the Commission said it expects the recession to bottom out over the first half of 2013. By the fourth quarter, it forecast that the eurozone economy will be 0.7 percent bigger than the same period in 2012. In 2014, growth of 1.4 percent has been penciled in. | <urn:uuid:1305ec7b-9409-4843-a480-e7203589c17b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shorepublishing.com/article/20130223/BIZ03/302239941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964502 | 243 | 2.109375 | 2 |
This month’s lesson is about judgment and perception.
After several emergency surgeries about eighteen months ago, I’ve been ill, suffering, for the most part, in silence. I’ve felt dizzy, had panic attacks, and a whole host of symptoms that are not worth outlining here and now. Suffice it to say, I’ve not been in good health for a while. But when I go out and about and visit with friends, most of the time nobody that I come across has any idea how bad I’m feeling. After all, life goes on and we all have to keep going and “deal” as best we can.
The last thing that most people, and certainly I want is to complain about their situation endlessly. What a bore and how annoying would we become if we did. So we keep quiet and that's how it should be...as long as we all have special people and, or ways to talk about our situations in private and in the right way.
Relatively to many other people, people who we all may come across on an average day, my symptoms and situation is extremely minor and my Mum and I try to count our blessing everyday. But my situation, as well as those that Mum comes accross on a daily basis with her work inspired us for this month's lesson.
What of the lady who has terminal cancer, the one that you that you pass on the street and don't even look at, and have no idea of her plight?
What about the man who just lost his only son and can hardly get out of bed in the morning--but he does?
What of the elderly lady who has arthritis so badly that she can hardly function?
What of the person who isn't performing 110% at work, as they usually do, because they're going through a divorce--can't get pregnant.are dealing with an illness?
There are so many people that we come across in our daily lives who are suffering, dealing with some kind of terrible situation, whether it be physical, or emotional and we have no real perception of what they're going through and more to the point, very often don't even know.
How many times have you seen someone snap, or take out a bad mood on perhaps a store attendant, or a stranger on the street? Have you judged them for it? Did you ever think that perhaps they may just have lost a loved one?
It's no excuse for being mean, but would you have judged them differently if you had known their situation?
Perhaps you would have been more tolerant, less judgmental?
We've all done it, haven't we? Snapped when we've been in a bad mood, or been less than pleasant when we haven't meant to be.
This week's lesson is about perception, judgments and tolerance.
Make a list, whether mental, or on paper, of the times that you have snapped, or been mean not been completely up to par because of a situation you were dealing with that the average Joe on the street would have no clue about?
Then, make a list of the times you have seen such a situation and try to think back to whether you judged that person. If you did judge them, how did you do so?
What did you do?
What did you think?
How tolerant were you?
Then take some of those situations and imagine that if you'd known then that the person had just lost a loved one, was very ill, going through a divorce, bankrupt, etc, the list is endless...
Would you have judged them differently?
Talk with community members about your thoughts on this month's lesson, or write us an account of your progress. We'd love to post it in our spotlight section for everyone to read.
Good luck and be ready for next month's lesson...
For more lessons and insights check back next month and also see our "Weekly Actions," posted, every week here in Own Your Power. Try, too, Rosemary's book, "You Own the Power." for more lessons about owning your power. Get this book and other Books and tapes by Rosemary in our online store.
And again, don't forget to chat with others taking Rosemary's lessons in our Own Your Power, (lessons & insights) message board. Visit our community and compare notes, NOW. | <urn:uuid:54037596-5859-4f53-a5da-76014fe069e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rosemaryaltea.com/power/weekly_lesson47.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984167 | 903 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The current financial and economic crisis is throwing millions of people into poverty, especially the most vulnerable in the developing world. This is happening amidst the ongoing food, water, energy, ecosystem, and climate crises. Together, these crises are undermining the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and setting back development progress of the past few decades.
The financial and economic crisis requires a collective response from the international community. Leading economies should continue and further strengthen the coordination of their stimulus programmes to revive global economic growth. Apart from addressing urgent needs in such areas as social safety nets, health, and education, programmes should lay a solid foundation for shared growth and sustainable development. Furthermore, the international community should ensure that developing countries have not only the fiscal space to launch their own stimulus programmes but also access to international markets for a rapid resumption of trade.
Central to the new economic foundation are new growth poles that can potentially contribute to economic recovery, decent job creation, and reduced threats of food, water, energy, ecosystem and climate crises, which have disproportionate impacts on the poor. Investing stimulus funds in such sectors as energy efficient technologies, renewable energy, public transport, sustainable agriculture, environmentally friendly tourism, and the sustainable management of natural resources including ecosystems and biodiversity, reflects the conviction that a green economy can create dynamic new industries, quality jobs, and income growth while mitigating and adapting to climate change and arresting biodiversity decline.
Such investments should be scaled up significantly in all countries and be supported by national and international policy instruments and incentives such as updating building codes and enforcement of internationally agreed environmentally friendly shipping regulations. It is also essential to have green investments at the community level to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience. Major events such as the climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 and the 2010 High Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Biodiversity are opportunities for urging the expansion of green investments.
To be able to scale up such investments, many developing countries will require financial support. It is imperative, therefore, that the world’s leaders resolve to deliver on commitments, including those made by G8 and G20 leaders, to support developing countries, especially the most vulnerable, in coping with the effects of the current crisis. This includes augmented balance-of-payments support, trade finance, lending by the multilateral banks, and concessional finance for the poorest countries.
Fiscal reforms can shift the burden of taxation from jobs, income and savings to the overuse of resources, resource depletion and environmental degradation, thereby encouraging green investments. Carbon pricing can advance these aims. There is also a need for phasing out perverse subsidies that encourage excessive use of fossil fuel based production inputs in agriculture and fishing sectors. Both carbon pricing and the reform of perverse subsidies, however, must be accompanied by measures to protect the access by the poor to food security and energy. The revenues saved by phasing out such subsidies could be reallocated towards the development of green job skills, the provision of clean, affordable energy alternatives for the poor, and support to other green sectors with broad economic benefits.
Trade needs to be revived and trade policies need to support both development and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. These include technologies to make clean energy affordable to developing countries as well as to support climate change mitigation and adaptation including ecosystem-based adaptation. It is important to avoid any measures that could result in new protectionism, including measures in stimulus packages. Early conclusion of the Doha Round trade negotiations can facilitate a green recovery, in particular the negotiations on environmental goods and services, fisheries subsidies, and reforming agriculture rules that would be conducive to fostering food security for all. The Aid for Trade mandate should be fulfilled. Reliable finance should be provided to small and medium-sized enterprises for investment in green businesses.
The shift towards a green economy requires education for sustainable development including training in new job skills and newly required health systems. All stakeholders must double efforts to provide training on a range of skills for decent and remunerative jobs protected by adequate health care. A particular focus should be given to the poor, vulnerable groups including women, youth, and to small and medium sized enterprises and farms. These green jobs training programmes can be integrated into both formal and informal education schemes. Similarly, green jobs related health issues should be taken into account by formal health systems. These efforts will assist developing countries in leapfrogging to a greener and inclusive economic development path. Skill transfer and the sharing of experience in labour health protection is an area ripe for international – both North-South, South-South, and triangular - cooperation.
Capacity of national and local governments should be strengthened to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology, including by exploring and using intellectual property related mechanisms for the benefit of developing countries. The various parts of the United Nations System through the United Nations Development Group should coordinate their efforts to formulate guidance to UN Country Teams on mainstreaming green economic principles into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the Regional Coordination Mechanism. National development agencies could be encouraged to do the same. Significant additional financial and technical assistance should be mobilised to support the efforts of Member States to shift their economies towards a green path. To be efficient and coherent, an integrated approach should be adopted when pursuing a green economy. Green investments in transport, renewable energy, tourism and long-term investment in agriculture, for example, should aim to generate environmental and health co-benefits and to expand agriculture and food production.
To ensure that short-term emergency actions do not undermine the longer-term sustainability of interventions, stimulus plans should avoid lock-in to business-as-usual patterns of consumption and production. In addition, a sound monitoring and accounting system is essential. There is a need for a rapid standardization and operationalisation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and additional systems that adequately capture the social and environmental dimensions of economic transformations.
The solidarity of the international community is being tested. Let this economic recovery be the turning point for an ambitious and effective international response to the multiple crises facing humanity. The most representative test case is when governments meet to seal the deal on climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009. Let Copenhagen be the turning point for ushering in a global green economy.
List of agencies that have already backed this statement:
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (BASEL CONVENTION)
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
World Bank Group
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0) 22 917 44 44
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 05 05
Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged. | <urn:uuid:dba98038-b17f-460a-b3e2-6dc98e8ffe42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unece.org/press/pr2009/09env_p15e.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913714 | 1,583 | 3.09375 | 3 |
IMFSurvey Magazine: In the News
GLOBAL FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT
Year After Subprime Crash, Risks Remain Elevated, Says IMF
IMF Survey online
July 28, 2008
- Banks under renewed stress, making raising capital hard
- Increased likelihood of spillovers into real economy
- Resilience of emerging markets now being tested
A year after the subprime market crisis erupted in the United States, triggering financial market turmoil around the world, global financial markets continue to be fragile and systemic risks remain elevated, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest assessment.
"Credit quality across many loan classes has begun to deteriorate with declining house prices and slowing economic growth. Although banks have succeeded in raising additional capital, balance sheets are under renewed stress and bank equity prices have fallen sharply," the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report Market Update, released on July 28, said.
The Update notes that banks have been fairly successful in raising equity so far, amounting to about three-fourths of the writedowns to date, adding that IMF analysts had little reason to change earlier estimates of aggregate potential losses from the crisis of $945 billion published in April. However, the renewed stress has made raising additional capital more difficult and increased the likelihood of a negative interaction between banking system adjustment and the real economy, the report added.
"At the same time, policy trade-offs between inflation, growth, and financial stability are becoming increasingly difficult. The resilience of emerging markets to the global turmoil is being tested as external financing conditions tighten and policymakers face rising inflation," it added.
Slowing global growth
The update was released 11 days after the IMF published its latest forecast for the world economy—now clouded by the impact of high energy prices and anxieties about rising inflation.
The IMF expects global growth to slow significantly from 5 percent in 2007 to 4.1 percent in 2008 and 3.9 percent in 2009. Updated forecasts in the IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) also raised inflation projections, particularly for emerging markets and developing countries.
The IMF's market assessment said that as banks seek to deleverage and economize on capital, assets are being sold and lending conditions are tightening, which will result in slower credit growth in the United States and euro area.
With inflation risks on the rise, the scope for monetary policy to be supportive of financial stability has become more constrained. In the first quarter of 2008, total U.S. private sector borrowing growth fell to 5.2 percent—a level last seen after the 2001 recession. With continuing pressures on banks to deleverage, this growth might slow further.
Emerging markets remain relatively resilient to the credit turmoil thus far. However, as the crisis remains protracted, external funding conditions are tightening, and some emerging markets are coming under increased scrutiny.
The progression of the crisis has underscored the importance of moving forward with needed reforms, the report said,
Growing U.S. problems
The report stressed the need to stem the decline in the U.S housing market to help both households and financial institutions to recover. "At the moment, a bottom for the housing market is not visible," the IMF report said.
House prices are softening in a number of other European economies, prompting concerns over future loan losses in the mortgage, construction, and commercial property areas.
Uncertainty about their future losses and capital needs have prompted a sharp decline in the share prices of the U.S. housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). The wide investor base in GSE debt (both domestic and foreign) and the current reliance of U.S. mortgage lending on agency securitization meant that systemic consequences would have arisen if confidence in GSE debt had seriously come into question. The recently passed legislation will support the GSEs and create an independent regulator. "The policy challenge is now to find a clear and permanent solution." the report said.
At a press briefing, Jaime Caruana, Director of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department said that extraordinary steps by central banks in mature markets had succeeded in capping systemic risk. "However, in the context of the deleveraging process and uncertainty about asset valuations, credit risks remain elevated, indicating that further raising of capital may be needed in a number of financial institutions," Caruana stated.
"In this phase of the crisis, the nature of resolution strategies and the extent of government support have come into sharper focus. Financial market disruptions will still need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and there is no iron-clad rule-book as to how to handle such instances in today's more global environment. Prompt and transparent government responses, however, will go a long way to relieving the uncertainties."
Comments on this article should be sent to email@example.com | <urn:uuid:dcf307da-9a66-4547-b609-42958417624a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2008/NEW072808A.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951133 | 995 | 1.84375 | 2 |
You're sitting at your home PC. You have a browser window open with about a dozen tabs, you're writing and updating a couple of text documents and reading through a PDF or two.
To ward off the midday slump, you decide to go for a little walk, but what do you do with your open workspace?
To protect your machine from prying eyes, you can either close all the apps and shut down the machine, activate a password-protected screensaver, or take it with you.
The first of these options is time-consuming and tedious, while the second leaves you vulnerable to shoulder surfers and the third might not be feasible, especially if you're working on a desktop computer.
Engage the Predator
This is where something like Predator comes in. It's designed for situations where you need to leave your computer switched on and unattended.
The tool turns any USB key into a physical key, which you can use to lock and unlock your system. Not only does it save you the hassle of rummaging in menus or fiddling with shortcut keys to lock your session, Predator also includes security features to ensure privacy and let you keep an eye on unattended PCs remotely.
Creating a USB key with Predator is a walk in the park. Follow the walkthough below to get started. The software doesn't wipe existing data off the key, and you can continue using the key, writing and reading data from it while you're using it with Predator.
When you've created the key, insert it and launch Predator if it isn't already running. A green icon will begin flashing in your taskbar. Depending on your settings, the icon will periodically change to red to indicate that Predator is updating your key. Whenever it's green, you can pull the key out to lock your desktop. When you return, simply re-insert the key to reactivate your desktop session.
For added security, you can also configure the software to prompt for a password. If anyone without access to the key tries to use the desktop while you're away, Predator will challenge them to enter a password or enter the key within 20 seconds. If they fail to do so, Predator will display an 'Access denied' message and flood the room with a noxious gas that will incapacitate anyone within five seconds…
OK, it only sounds an alarm. It also records the intrusion attempt in its log, and depending on your edition of the app, alerts you via email or SMS.
The good thing about Predator is that when the key is removed, it blanks your screen, freezes the keyboard and the mouse, and disables the Windows autorun facility. This will prevent someone from installing malware on your locked computer by exploiting the autorun feature, which lets you install software from removable media without the need to touch the keyboard.
Tinkering the setup
To minimise the learning curve, Predator comes with default settings that will work for most users, and there are some settings you should tinker with after you get comfortable with the program and understand basic usage.
You can access Predator's settings easily by right-clicking its flashing icon in the taskbar and then selecting the 'Preferences' option from the menu. The Preferences window is divided into two tabs that house the main options and more advanced parameters.
In the 'Main options' tab you'll see monitoring options like the read and write intervals. The read interval is the number of seconds after which Predator looks for the key. For example, if this is set to 30, Predator will look for the key every half minute. If you remove it, the Pred will lock your session until you reinsert the key.
The write interval is handy if you're particularly security conscious. This is the time after which Predator changes the security code for the USB key. If someone makes a copy of your key while you're away, the copy will be useless once Predator generates the new code for the original key.
Backups and new access
If you want to give another user access to your computer, or you find that you need to generate a backup key, you can do this by plugging in the new pen drive and selecting it under the 'Flash drives' section. Then click the 'Create key' button to create an additional key. The original and new keys will now be listed.
If you create a backup key, it's prudent to temporarily disable it by unchecking the 'Enabled' checkbox. You can then re-enable it if you lose your primary key. If you lose a key, make sure you revoke it permanently by selecting that key's entry and then clicking the 'Revoke key' button. Now Predator won't allow anyone with this key to unlock your PC.
You can unlock a session without a key by entering the password. When you unlock the session without the key, Predator automatically pauses monitoring. This gives you time to open the Preferences window, revoke the lost key and create a new one.
Also remember that while the Preferences window is open, monitoring is paused. It can also be paused manually from the context menu of the icon in the taskbar. If the 'Show notifications' checkbox is ticked, Predator will periodically remind you that you ought to resume monitoring.
The 'Multiple monitors' checkbox is selected by default. You should leave this option as it is even if you don't have an additional monitor. With this option toggled, if an attacker connects an additional monitor while you're away, Predator will lock the extra display as well.
The other options in the screen are self-explanatory. There are options to change the alarm sound, set its volume, and control the display of the 'Access denied' screen. You can also change the password, and even force Predator to ask you for it.
You can only reset the password from within Predator if you know the existing password, so what do you do if you forget your password? If that happens, you need to use the Predator Administration tool installed alongside Predator. Besides resetting the password, the tool can also be used to reset Predator's settings to their default values, and revoke all USB keys.
If you aren't too concerned about someone accessing your PC while you're taking a stroll, all you need Predator to do is keep a local log of failed intrusion attempts. Just head to the 'Advanced options' tab in the Preferences window and make sure the 'Enable local log' checkbox is toggled, along with the 'Open log after alarm' box. If someone has tried logging into your PC while you were away, the log will display the log as soon as you reactivate the session.
Hook Predator up to Twitter
If you want to be alerted when someone tries to activate your session, the professional version of Predator can use Twitter to alert you via email or an SMS.
To make this work, you need to register two Twitter accounts. Predator will send log events to one, which will then send a direct message to the other, which will notify you via email or SMS.
The two accounts we registered were predLogAC to log all events, and predDMAC to notify us of intrusions. Ensure the DM account (predDMAC) is following the log account (predACLog). This will let one account send DMs to the other.
Once the accounts are set up, head to the 'Advanced options' tab and toggle the 'Enable Twitter log' box. Click the 'Request Twitter PIN' box, which will open your browser and take you to Twitter's authorisation website. Now log into your Twitter log account (predLogAC). This will display the Twitter PIN, which you should type into the text box in Predator before clicking 'Enter PIN'.
When you've logged into your account, select a filtering level from the pull-down menu. You can choose 'Information', which copies all events from the log; 'Warning', which copies only major events; 'Alert', which copies messages Predator thinks are critical; or 'None', which effectively disables log replication. The default level is 'Warning', but you can change it to 'Information' for more detail.
Now enter the name of the DM recipient (predDMAC, in this case) and select its filtering level. It's wise to keep the log level for the DM account equal to or lower than that of the log account, which notifies you of only a subset of log events. By default, you are notified of only critical alerts.
Log into the Twitter account for your DM user (predDMAC). Head to its Settings page and click the 'Notifications' tab. Make sure Twitter sends you an email when you receive a DM.
For text messages, head to the 'Mobile' tab and enter the mobile phone number Twitter should use. Save the settings and restart Predator, then in the Preferences menu click 'Test'. If it can communicate with Twitter, Predator will display a 'Test successful' message. | <urn:uuid:753de131-b035-4f82-8743-9f106635f80a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techradar.com/news/software/how-to-lock-your-pc-with-a-usb-drive-1040051 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90432 | 1,839 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Note: Let’s start off by agreeing that no matter how this post turns out, this is clearly the best post-title I’ve come up with yet.
OK, time to stop dinking around. I’ve been blogging on and on about Costa Rica, the desert, and whatever else while pretty much totally ignoring the Wasatch. And so here we are, half-way through April, Spring-type things are happening right & left, and I haven’t blogged beans about it. So let’s get busy!
When I came home from Costa Rica, the Globe Willows (pic left, a block from my office) were already leafing out (blogged about them last year, you can come up to speed here.) And in the foothills, a little yellow “micro-flower” is blooming all over the place that I’ll blog about tomorrow. There are also all kinds of interesting things going on with the birds in my yard, in the foothills, and in my office parking lot.
But first, let’s back up for a moment. Last year, when I kicked off this blog, one of the first things I did was profile a flower. The flower was a Glacier Lily (pic right), which any day now should start popping up alongside the foothill trails. Doing that post was a good way for me to learn about the basic parts of a flower, and how “traditional” flowers work. A Lily was a good choice because it’s pretty simple, all the parts are clearly visible, and it’s nice to look at. It’s a hermaphroditic flower, so it’s got male and female parts, both of which are real easy to see.
Side Note: That said, Lilies have a couple “non-standard” features to make them interesting. First, 3 of the “petals” are actually sepals, which becomes obvious as you look at the base of the “petals”, and how they’re attached to the stem. And second, because Lilies are monocots, so that the leaf and petal growth occurs at the vase of the leaf/petal/sepal, rather than at the tip, as in a dicot.
So let’s kick off the season with another flower, one that is blooming like crazy right now, all across the Salt Lake Valley. Ready? Here it is:
What?? That’s not a flower! That’s just some random doohickey hanging off a tree. Actually, it is a flower, specifically the male flower of a Fremont Cottonwood, Populus fremontii, growing about 50 feet from my office.
Tangent: I hemmed and hawed a bit before selecting this tree/flower. Although Fremont Cottonwoods are native to Utah, I’m pretty sure they’re not native to the Salt Lake Valley. (Our native cottonwood is the Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Populus angustifolia.) But Fremonts have long been naturalized along many watercourses in the valley, and I walk by this tree ~1/2 dozen times/week, so it’s one I tend to keep an eye on.
When we think of wildflowers, we think of things that look like, well flowers, like the ones we buy in a floral shop (or wish our lazy, good-for-nothing, take-us-for-granted husband/boyfriend would get off his ass and go buy for us.) Flowers that are colorful and eye-catching. The reason of course that so many flowers are eye-catching is to attract pollinators- bees, flies, birds, bats, etc.- to disperse their pollen and/or bring them pollen from other flowers. But many, many angiosperms are wind-pollinated, and the flowers of these plants are structured not to look good, but to efficiently catch a breeze.
This type of dangly, cylindrical flower is called a catkin, and it’s actually a cluster of many, many separate flowers, analogous to the composite agent-pollinated flowers we looked at last year such as Dandelions, Mules Ears and Balsamroots. This one is male, but many plants (including Cottonwoods) have female catkins as well. Cottonwoods are dioecious, so each tree has only male or female flowers, unlike Oaks, which are also wind-pollinated, but are monoecious, bearing both separate male catkins and female flowers on the same tree. (Female Oak flowers are not catkins, but rather single flowers.)
The architecture of a catkin differs not only in form, but also in the sheer quantity of pollen it’s structured to deliver. A Glacier Lily has 6 stamens, each topped by one, pollen-filled anther.
A Cottonwood catkin bears… well, each one of those red nodules is an unopened anther. I can’t count that high, but we’re clearly into 4 figures (I’d guess 3,000+) anthers are on that catkin. Why the huge difference?
Glacier Lilies are pollinated by Bumblebees. They need to produce enough pollen to make sure that when a Bumblebee crawls inside to collect some nectar, it can’t help but rub up against some pollen, which it will then carry to the successive flowers it visits, one or more of which may also be Glacier Lilies.
But no Bumblebees are visiting Cottonwood catkins, which like pretty much all wind-pollinated flowers don’t even bother to produce nectar (or flashy petals.) The Cottonwood is simply blasting out into the wind as much pollen as it possibly can, on the “bet” that if it blasts out enough pollen grains, some tiny fraction of the them will eventually get blown/carried onto a female Cottonwood catkin. That’s why catkins are built the way they are; they’re pollen-machines on overdrive. The photo above is of a catkin I picked and left on my desk for a day; about a third of the anthers have opened, showing the yellow pollen within.
Tangent: As if on cue last week, I awoke Tuesday with a tell-tale itch in my eyes. It’s always the exact same place- the inside corner of each eye. The more I rub it, the worse it gets. Depending on the year, the weather, that may be it, or it may affect my sinuses, even my lungs. And when you think about how much pollen there is in the air, from so many trees, it’s a miracle we don’t all choke to death.
Later that day I picked the catkin in the photo, and left it on my desk at work. (I have a habit of plucking interesting seeds, flowers, cones, etc., and leaving them around for a couple of days, checking them out while on phone calls, etc.) By Wednesday afternoon my symptoms had expanded to include a runny nose and watery eyes. Then- and only then- did it occur to me that sitting all day 3 feet away from a pollen-bomb in a closed office was probably not my brightest idea.
This, right here, is why I could never get a job handling hazardous materials- because I am a Complete Idiot.
The Part About Testicles
There’s a fascinating analogy here that may hit a lot closer to home for you: testicles. Different species of primates have wildly varying-sized testicles, or more specifically, varying testicle weight to body weight ratios. Chimpanzees for example weigh ~60 kg and ~119 gram* testicles. Male gorillas on the other hand weigh ~170 kg and yet have only ~30 gram* testicles. Why the huge difference?
When a female Chimpanzee comes into estrus, she mates with multiple males in her troop, often with all of them. The greater the quantity of sperm that a male Chimpanzee is able to deliver when mating, the greater likelihood that it will be one of his sperm cells that impregnates the female. In this environment, it’s not hard to see how natural selection would favor males who produce more sperm, and that means larger testicles.
But gorillas have a different mating system. A male Gorilla guards a “harem”, typically of 3 or 4 females, whom he vigorously “defends” from other male Gorillas. As a result, a female Gorilla in estrus practically always mates with exactly 1 male Gorilla, and so that male needs only to produce enough sperm cells to have a decent chance that one will do the job.
Side Note: This is a greatly simplified version of the mechanics of primate mating, as it completely glosses over sperm competition or “warfare” as it is sometimes characterized, but a full description would certainly merit a post of its own. I should also mention that although the evidence for real sperm “warfare” in primates is mixed, the sperm competition/warfare mechanisms of many insects are both well-documented and way more sophisticated and fascinating than anything suggested in primates, but I picked primates because most of us can relate to them better.
…And speaking of relating, where do we humans* fall on the testicle-to-body-weight scale? About mid-way; our testicles are roughly 4X larger than they need to be to get the job done, suggesting a significant level of sperm competition in our recent evolutionary past, though not at the level of Chimpanzees.
*This stuff is somewhat top of mind for me right now, as I was recently toying with doing a post on male human genitalia and bicycling. I bounced it off Cory and Colin last weekend and they sort of talked me out of it, on the basis that it might exceed the generally PG rating of this blog…
Just as certainly as selection pressures drive the size of our own sexual organs, selection also drives those of a flower.
Clarification: I recognize of course that this analogy is imperfect; wind-pollinated and agent-pollinated flowers deliver their pollen via radically different mechanisms, while Chimpanzees, Gorillas (and people) use pretty much the same “delivery mechanism.” But I maintain that the analogy is valid; in each case, different environmental selection pressures are have radically affected the size of the organ in question.
Back To Wind
On the surface, it seems strange that any angiosperm is wind-pollinated. Agent-pollination is the crowning achievement of angiosperms. While they didn’t invent it (Cycads probably did) they’ve clearly taken it to levels of complexity and sophistication unmatched by the gymnosperms. But strangely, in temperate forests around the world, it’s wind-pollinated trees that dominate. Here in the Wasatch, Cottonwoods, Maples, Oaks, Aspens and of course all the conifers are wind-pollinated. What does that leave us?
It leaves us Willows and Mountain Mahogany. Willows are a special case that we’ll come back to in a moment. Mountain Mahogany seems to be pollinated by insects (bees and flies) as well as wind.
Tangent: Oddly, many (most?) common native shrubs around here tend to be agent-pollinated, examples being Rabbitbrush, Snakeweed, Bitterbrush, Serviceberry and Chokecherry. (Although Sagebrush is wind-pollinated.) I have no idea why the trees of the Wasatch should tend toward wind-pollination, while shrubs tend to employ agents. I wondered if height could make wind a more effective agent, but that seems a stretch. In any case, it’s worth noting that the three most common angiosperm trees in the Wasatch- Aspen, Gambel Oak and Bigtooth Maple- all are able to reproduce asexually as well, and for the first 2, the vast majority of reproduction in the Wasatch (virtually all for Aspen) is asexual.
It’s particularly weird because we know that wind-pollinated (and water-pollinated) plants existed for millions of years before agent-pollination came about. And we’re pretty sure that all angiosperms evolved from a common ancestor, and that that ancestor was agent-pollinated.
Side Note: Why do we “know” this? Botanists believe angiosperms evolved from a common ancestor because the hallmark mechanism of angiosperm reproduction- double fertilization- is so complex and weird that it’s thought to have only occurred once. (For a simple, clear and excellent description* of double fertilization, see here.) And all flowers share enough basic common structure that it appears almost certain that wind-pollinated flowers evolved from agent-pollinated flowers.
*OK I’m a little biased.
So it seems puzzling that some angiosperms should then evolve the other way back toward wind-pollination, which seems more “primitive”, but when we step back and think about it, it’s only puzzling when we think of evolution as “going somewhere”. But evolution isn’t going anywhere (as I explained in the Darwin-Aeneid-Days-Of-Our-Lives post. Man, I loved doing that post.) It’s just always adapting to whatever selection pressures organisms find themselves facing at any particular place and time. And when we see it that way, the re-evolution of wind-pollination makes perfect sense, particular in windy areas with a dearth of effective pollinator-agents. Furthermore, we shouldn’t be surprised if some of these wind-pollinated plants re-re-evolved agent-pollination if conditions warranted, and in fact this appears to be exactly what happened in Willows (whose pollination-strategy-evolution I described in this post.)
So fine. The re-evolution of wind-pollination by angiosperms makes sense, at least at a cerebral level. But at an intuitive level, no matter how hard I try, I can’t quite get my head around wind pollination overall. Think about it: That Cottonwood is just going to spray pollen out into the air, and “hope” that one of those little grains of glorified dust is going to land in- of all places- a tree. And that the tree it lands on will be- of all possible trees- a Fremont Cottonwood (specifically a female Fremont Cottonwood.) And that of all the possible parts of that tree to land on, it’s going to land on the catkin of that female Fremont Cottonwood.
Seriously, what are the chances of that happening? Surely the likelihood that any one wind-blown pollen grain will make it to a female flower of the same species is fantastically less than the chances of any one of us winning the lottery. It just seems so impossible.
The Part About Cold-Calling
When I think of wind-pollination, I sometimes think of cold-calling. As longtime readers know, I’ve worked in sales for many years. For a period of roughly a decade, I made many, many cold-calls*. And though my personal work-duties today no longer involve making cold-calls, I still manage a team of people who regularly make them. And cold-calls, no matter what you think of them, work. Every year my company- and thousands of other companies- sells services to many new clients, clients who would never have heard of us if they hadn’t received a cold-call (or cold-email) from one of our salespeople. So it’s somewhat comforting sometimes for me to think of wind-pollination as a form of natural cold-calling, whose success is ensured through sheer power of numbers.
*I once calculated that I have made roughly 18,000 cold calls. If you worked in IT application development in New England in the late 1980’s or Northern California in the early-to-mid 1990’s, there’s a good chance I cold-called you.
But when I think it through, even the cold-calling analogy falters. Though I describe our prospecting calls and emails as “cold”, that’s somewhat of an overstatement. Like every sales organization, we direct our prospecting calls to particular organizations (Fortune 1000 companies, universities, govt agencies) that we know use services like ours (technology research services) and to specific individuals within those organizations (CIOs, CISOs, technology architects, etc.) who we know are actively trying to solve many of the problems our services address. Furthermore, we use various resources and tools (Hoovers, RainKing, Jigsaw) to help us identify those organizations and prospective contacts within them.
But imagine that one day I came into the office and threw out all of those tools, our Internet access, and even our paper telephone directories, and told our salespeople to cold-call by picking up the phone and dialing random numbers, in the hope that some portion of random numbers they dialed would be valid phone numbers, that some portion of those valid phone numbers would be extensions at F1000 companies, and that some portion of those numbers would be F1000 CIOs. How many cold-calls would they have to make before they got an F1000 CIO on the line?
That’s more like the scale of wind-pollination. It seems just utterly and completely impossible. And yet it so obviously works; the world is filled with wind-pollinated plants. (pic left = Fremont Cottonwood leaves, last May, Twin Corral Box Canyon) That’s what blows me away about wind-pollination: that something so wildly scattershot and improbable can work so reliably well. If that doesn’t convince you that the world we live in is just unbelievably incredible, amazing and outright astounding, I don’t know what will.
Post-script: Know what else is like that? The fact that bicycles stay upright. Yes, I ride a bicycle every day, and yes, I know all about the physics behind it and the angular momentum of the wheels and all that. But when I really, really think about it, I just can’t quite get that it stays upright. I try not to think about that too long while track-standing at traffic lights. | <urn:uuid:c3d6e981-c94d-4dea-9a92-3fa0f973c658> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://watchingtheworldwakeup.blogspot.com/2009/04/flowers-20-wind-pollination-testicles.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 | 0.952049 | 3,953 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Gifts, Party Favors, and More
In keeping with the green theme, ask guests to carefully consider the type of present they choose to welcome the new baby—and how the gift is presented.
"Gifts for a green baby shower are ideally purchased or made with the baby and the planet in mind," says Colwell-Lipson. "Organic cotton, wool, silk, or hemp clothing and bedding, sustainably sourced toys and furniture and eco-wise accessories are easy to find online and come in a spectrum of prices. Before buying baby lotions and potions, check with Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database to be sure the products you're giving are gentle and nontoxic. Even products labeled as organic and natural may contain ingredients you may want to think twice about giving."
Colwell-Lipson recommends parents make it easier for guests by signing up for one of many green gift registries available online. Or for those who already have everything they need, a gift card from TisBest.com allows the family to donate to a charity of their choice.
Other wonderful—and highly covetable gifts—include gift certificates for cloth diaper service, a green housecleaning service, or organic food delivery, Colwell says. "Guests talented with a needle and thread can make a quilt from squares of baby clothes that were worn by their babies or make a baby bonnet from a vintage hankie," she says. "Instructions for how to make a hankie bonnet are on CelebrateGreen.net. But also don't forget the gift of you: babysitting, meals, photography, helping an older child, etc."
"Ask for gently used gifts, such as books and toys, instead of having everyone buy brand-new things," says Miles Terry. "And ask guests to either not wrap their presents or reuse wrapping or gift bags."
Colwell-Lipson loves it when guests opt to wrap gifts in 100-percent recycled paper (EcoJot.com is a favorite), or use seed-embedded paper, which will bloom into flowers when planted. "There is also tree-free wrapping paper made from sources like banana peels, and of course, saved/salvaged paper," she says. "Online, you also can find a wonderful selection of sustainable cloth and jute bags. We like those from BringitinaBag.com."
Then don't neglect to thank your company in a thoughtful, green manner. Miles Terry advises sending your guests home with the gift of green—perhaps a sapling tree they can plant, or some seeds for their garden—in a canvas tote, of course.
Colwell-Lipson also likes customized organic seed packets (such as baby carrots or baby bok choy), handmade sachets crafted from gently used baby clothes and filled with dried lavender or baby rose plants in customized tin cans or baby food jars. "My favorite? Send guests home with a 100-percent beeswax votive in a glass jar," she says. "Customize the jar with a poem, a blessing, or whatever you like, and let guests know that someone will notify them when the baby is born so that all of the candles can be lit in unison."
Beyond the Baby Shower
But once your happy guests and mom-to-be have departed, don't let the green stop there. "Cleaning green is important to the environment, not to mention to your family members and guests," Colwell-Lipson says. "Steer clear of toxic cleaners and air fresheners. Instead choose all-natural cleaners from trusted companies such as Seventh Generation, or make your own cleaners and use do-it-yourself natural air fresheners, such as boiled lemon slices and vanilla extract or spritzing lavender or rose water." | <urn:uuid:9c7f17e7-d335-4c34-80dd-cd17af8b047e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babyzone.com/mom/green-living/green-baby-shower_71606-page-3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955261 | 791 | 1.609375 | 2 |
May 7, 2012
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is excited to announce the launch of our new Facebook page, GR8by8, an online community where our Education & Learning grantees and early learning stakeholders can go for the latest early childhood news, exchange stories, discuss issues and build a common platform for early education advocates.
Making sure that all children — especially those most vulnerable — are ready to learn when they start school and armed with the tools to become proficient in reading and math is a key goal for the foundation. This is why we’ve created GR8by8, an initiative to facilitate a forward-thinking, online discussion about the importance of a good start and success by age 8. GR8by8 will also be used to showcase what’s working in communities to support early learning.
We have developed a social media guide to help you engage with the early childhood education online community. The guide, which can be downloaded by clicking on the link below, contains resources on when to use Facebook vs. Twitter, how to publish content online, tips on analytics and reporting tools, and how to manage multiple social media accounts.
Download the Guide
To get started and stay engaged download the GR8by8 Social Media Guide.
Spread the Word and Join the GR8by8 community
We hope everyone will help spread the word! | <urn:uuid:fb594bbc-4382-4198-aa02-f1e4b85b587f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wkkf.org/news/articles/2012/05/wk-kellogg-foundation-launches-gr8by8.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923056 | 277 | 2.203125 | 2 |
I have an image in photoshop I want to print at 200%, and right now it's 48x18 inches, and the resolution is 72 dpi. I read somewhere that changing it to 600dpi would allow me to scale it by 200% at ...
Possible Duplicate: Does the dpi number reported by camera in JPG have any meaning? I am investigating on the size and resolution of the photographs posted on the Internet. I have visited ...
Possible Duplicate: What does DPI mean? I have a hard time understanding the concept of dots per inch. I've looked the wikipedia article and I am still unsure. Say I have a 4"x6" photograph ...
Having an photo of 4000x3000 resolution with 240ppi. Is it possible get a resolution of 400x300 resolution but with higher ppi?If possible how to do that?
I want to scan a paper shown below. Actually I need the photo of the jets taking off, I dont need the entire newspaper. This is what I have - I have to do color scanning, I have a HP scanner which ...
I need to have an image printed as a poster 32″ by 18″ (about 80x45 cm) at 300 DPI, but I am unsure of how big the file must be. Also, what file format is best?
There are numerous applications for reducing filesize. Most of them reduce resolution (e.g. from 300dpi to 72dpi) or reduce height and width. I tried http://www.imageoptimizer.net/ Surprisingly, when ...
What size images do I need for common print sizes, such as wallet size, 8x10, and 16x20? Is there a general formula? How could that size change if, for example, a 16x20 was printed on canvas rather ... | <urn:uuid:56a87056-d7bf-46c5-bc80-c441f54b0c33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/dpi+resolution | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941898 | 380 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Adding new solar panels to a home in a remodel is still quite expensive. If you are looking into adding solar panels to your home or even a backyard greenhouse, then consider going to commercial installers and asking them to let you have the solar panels they have replaced in commercial buildings. Panels that become chipped or scratched in commercial buildings are swapped out for new panels. Yet, even damaged solar panels can deliver most of their original output and still be perfectly safe for a home project or renovation.
Be prepared to ask politely and it is good form to offer to pay something. Getting rid of old solar panels will save commercial installers the recycling and disposal fees, but it is still good business to acknowledge their helpfulness.
You can purchase a multimeter that measures amps and watts and attach it to the used solar panels while they are in the sun to determine if they are still producing energy.
© The Dawn Thomas Team
The Dawn Thomas Team
Intero Real Estate Services
496 First Street, Suite 200
Los Altos CA 94022
CA DRE License: 01860743
This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-701-7822. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose! | <urn:uuid:93613fcd-2359-44ba-8de9-0fff4f8901e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://siliconvalleyandbeyond.com/blog/free-solar-panels/ | 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 | 0.93944 | 277 | 2 | 2 |
Highway signs along many Texas roads flash the same dire warning: extreme wildfire danger. Burn bans and local disaster declarations are spreading across the state in an attempt to keep scorching temperatures, high winds and low precipitation from erupting into wildfires. Use our interactive map to see which parts of the state have been hardest hit.
So far this year, the Texas Forest Service and local fire departments have responded to roughly 1,500 wildfires across Texas, the damage of which spreads across 2.5 million acres. (They’re currently fighting five uncontained fires statewide.) Local fire departments have responded to an additional 9,317 fires affecting 740,000 acres, bringing state totals for the year to approximately 11,000 fires damaging more than 3 million acres. To date, 1,339 structures have been destroyed, and fighting the fires has cost the state millions of dollars.
The leading contributor? A dearth of rain. Nearly 97 percent of the state is suffering some level of drought. Seventy percent of the state is at an ‘exceptional’ drought level, the U.S. Drought Monitor’s highest and most severe ranking, based on widespread crop and pasture losses, and shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells.
On Tuesday, Texas received a national disaster declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The declaration categorized 213 counties in Texas as primary natural disaster areas due to high winds, fires, heat and loss of crops. Farmers in the counties under the USDA's natural disaster declaration qualify for low interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency, and have up to eight months to apply for the assistance.
Meanwhile, the Texas Forest Service is reporting that all but 19 of Texas’ 254 counties have enacted burn bans, the most at any given time, and that local disaster declarations are mounting with the July 4 holiday approaching.
Burn bans prohibit certain types of outdoor fires, whereas local disaster declarations include prohibiting the sale and use of fireworks in addition to potentially banning certain activities such as outdoor grilling. Local disaster declarations generally last for 60 hours, but with a long, hot summer remaining, counties are looking to keep restrictions in place even longer. Recent disaster declarations have typically been accompanied by a letter to Gov. Rick Perry requesting an extension, often through July 5.
Several large urban counties, from Travis to Harris to El Paso, have issued local disaster declarations, keeping the possibility of July 4 fireworks sales at bay. (Local communities can still decide whether to have public displays.) Others have only banned certain types of fireworks.
Hays County issued its own disaster declaration June 15, banning the sale of all fireworks to its residents, but still intending to hold a public fireworks display. But when cities like Austin and San Antonio cancelled their public fireworks, Hays was forced to follow suit, for fear of being overrun with tourists from those two cities.
Hardin County declared a local state of disaster June 20. Hardin County includes Silsbee, home to Texas Fireworks Co., and their business is taking a hit now that use of their products has been curbed in so many regions.
“The bans are affecting us tremendously,” said Jeff Hunt, warehouse manager of Texas Fireworks. “It’s breaking a lot of people, and there’s lot of money invested in this. It’s going to be devastating.”
Texas Fireworks Co. also distributes wholesale fireworks to Louisiana and Arkansas, but Hunt estimated 85 percent of its sales come from Texas. Hunt said his business should survive despite being unable to sell to the majority of its customers during their busiest time of the year.
“It [isn’t] enough to pay the bills, but we’ve made just a little money,” Hunt said. “I have a half million dollar pay roll every year and it’s [going to] be hard — I owe the bank over a million dollars, and if I can’t sell this stuff, I can’t pay the bank.”
Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here. | <urn:uuid:986250ba-89cb-464f-bbf7-a5cf7fba1f9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texastribune.org/texas-environmental-news/environmental-problems-and-policies/wildfires-burn-bans-rage-across-texas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955993 | 866 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Let us not forget that the battle to stop al Qaeda and its affiliates does not end with one death,” she said at a joint press conference in Rome with Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini.
“We have to renew our resolve, not just in Afghanistan and Pakistan but around the world. The US will track down and where necessary kill or capture those who are directing actions against our troops. Criminals who indiscriminately murder innocent people will be brought to justice.
Visiting European officials on her first foreign visit since US commandos killed Osama in a Pakistani military compound; Clinton said the former terror chief was the sworn enemy of the United States and a danger to all humanity… The crimes that he committed, from London to Madrid, Istanbul to Bali, left thousands of people dead and maimed.”
She emphasized that while the murder of Osama represented a significant blow to al Qaeda, she cautioned that our resolve is even stronger following bin Laden's death because we know it will have an impact on those who are on the battlefield in Afghanistan.
However, Clinton also assured that her government would continue its close ties with Pakistan, despite the questions and suspicions raised by the discovery of Osama in a military compound in that country.
It is not always an easy relationship [with Pakistan], you know that, she said. On the other hand it is a productive one for both our countries and we are going to continue to cooperate between our governments, our militaries, our law-enforcement agencies but most importantly between the American and Pakistani people.
Clinton also made comments about the ongoing revolutions in much of the Arab world and how little they had to do with Osama’s philosophy.
His ideology of hatred and violence is thankfully being rejected in what we see going on in the Middle East and [North] Africa,” she stated. “People are protesting for a better future for themselves and their children. His death will make our country and the world safer. We are builders not destroyers. But this is not the end.
Clinton refused to divulge any further details of the commando raid on Osama’s compound, nor would she answer a question on whether or not the US would launch a similar attack on Moammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya.
Finally, referring to the now-famous photograph of White House officials watching a live video of US Navy SEALs storming Osama’s compound and killing him, Clinton described it the most intense 38 minutes of her life. | <urn:uuid:e3d32fdb-29e4-4cd4-86b8-157e7167e7eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibtimes.com/battle-against-al-qaeda-doesnt-end-osamas-demise-clinton-282387 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965876 | 514 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Come to our first ever Mod Squad meeting this Thursday!
We will talk about what it takes to become a moderator on the Darien Library Minecraft Server.
We will also discuss our Minecraft Olympics Summer Reading Program.
Don't miss it!
We want to help you play a better game! We know that you may have questions or run into problems while playing Minecraft so we've created a list of videos to help you work through them.
Check out these videos explaining the simple plugins we've enabled to help you with some problems you might experience while crafting.
1) Grief Prevention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA-Eb_PD4SQ
This tutorial shows you how to prevent all forms of grief including theft, spam, and break-ins. We've installed the Grief Prevention plugin to help. Grief Prevention stops grief before it starts automatically without any effort from administrators, and with very little effort from players.
2) iConomy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxIrztvwYs
iConomy helps you create a thriving economy on the server. This plugin allows you to customize every aspect of your currency as well as control supply and demand and hold auctions among other things.
3) Lockette: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvp8kF46QnM
This plugin allows you to restrict access to the contents in your chests, dispensers, furnaces, and doors. All you have to do is post a sign directly beside the contatiner you want locked.
4) Simple Spleef: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI0DZ-6aPN4
Get your Spleef on! We've got a spleef arena already set up, build your skills and get spleefing!
5) Mob Repellent: http://dev.bukkit.org/server-mods/mobrepellent/
Repel those angry mobs with Mob Repellent. Construct repellers that prevent hostile mobs from spawning within a certain distance of your structure. While it doesnt guarentee mobs won't spawn, it can be helpful!
6) Minecraft Wiki: http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki
Wikipedia for Minecraft! For all your Minecrafting needs, Minecraftwiki has all the answers.
7) Darien Library's World Map: http://minecraft.darienlibrary.org:8123/
Know where you are in the world. Check out this arial view of the entire Darien Library Minecraft server and see what corners you may not have had a chance to explore yet!
Know of any other plugins you think we should have? Do you have any other ideas on how we could improve our Minecraft world here at the library? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!
The Library is happy to announce you can now find your favorite young adult books from the Teen Lounge on the shelves of Main Street. The new teen books are located to the right of the Welcome desk in the display bay with the Library's catalogs. The Main Street teen collection consists of only the most popular, newest, and noteworthy titles that the industry has to offer. Check some out today, they are going fast!
Thank you to all the teens who have submitted their works to the 3rd Annual Teen Writing Competition. Please join us on March 31st at 2 p.m. in the Library's Community Room for an award ceremony with judges Dulcy Brainard, Melissa Crandall, and Marc Aronson. Enjoy refreshments and fun while we announce the eighteen winners across all catagories. Winners will take home a published copy of the book complete with all contest entries printed on an Espresso Book Machine. Please contact On Demand Books for information about the Espresso Book Machine
Last week our MineCraft Tech Time Building Competition was a great success.
Teens set out to create everything from a replica of the library to giant Creeper statues that exploded!
Check out our Flickr stream to see screenshots of the amazing designs they came up with.
Watch this space and our Flickr stream for more awesome creations each week!
On Tuesday, March 13th at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Library we welcome you to the Hunger Games...trivia contest at Darien Library. Teens between the ages of 12-18 are cordially invited to form teams and challenge opponents in this battle to the "death". Think you know the Hunger Games? This is the Hunger Games like you've never seen them before. All trivia questions are based on the first book of the trilogy so you need not have read the the last two books to partake in the festivities.
Everyone who participates gets a box set of The Hunger Games trilogy. Winner takes home two free movie tickets to the premiere showing of the film and a sweet poster from the movie! In addition, we will also have a raffle for two Hunger Games T-shirts for everyone who comes to watch.
*Refreshments and Pizza will be served!
MineCraft is taking over Tech Time!
Get your craft skills together and come join us this Thursday at 3:30 for a Minecraft building competition!!
The rules are...there are no rules. Use all your skills and creativity to create the coolest Minecraft buildings, mazes, landscapes, anything you want!
Creations will be judged through the following categories: most creative, coolest individual component, most complex, most realistic, and best overall concept.
Each week we will post the winners in all their crafty glory right here on the teen site.
Watch this space and you might see your own Minecraft creations!
Want to know me?
Want to see me?
Want to call me?
Want to trust me?
Want to love me?
Want to go private?
It's the summer after 8th grade and Abby Johnson is about to enter high school. That should be exciting enough, but Abby is bored with her life. She is pretty much good at everything she does and nothing is really a challenge. She is beautiful, athletic, smart, and gets prefect grades in school.
Faith is Abby's bestfriend and has been since childhood. They spend all day together in classes and the minute they get home from school they meet up in online chatrooms at Chezteen.com, a new virtual second-life-type website for teens.
Today is like any other day chatting online to Faith except today she starts chatting with someone else in the chatroom, someone she doesn't know. It's not long before "Kyle" wants "to go private" with Abby claiming they have some much in common to talk about. This would be cool except that Kyle is 27 and Abby is only 14. | <urn:uuid:c5e52d3f-1f12-40f9-b41f-88f46d368b3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.darienlibrary.org/teens?page=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930324 | 1,416 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Three days after the genome for the virus that causes SARS was released, biologists at Johns Hopkins identified a protein made by the virus that may provide a good target for drug development. Work is currently under way to produce the protein in recombinant form in sufficient amounts for drug design studies to begin.
The researchers found a protease, a protein essential to viral reproduction, encoded in the genome of the SARS virus, one of a class of viruses known as coronaviruses. Proteases usually act as a kind of scissors, cutting viral proteins into their active forms and enabling new viral particles to form and infect other cells. Several existing HIV treatments and other HIV treatments in development work by inhibiting the activity of HIV proteases.
"Not all viral proteases are the same. They have different structures and mechanisms of action," cautioned Ernesto Freire, the Henry Walters Professor of Biology in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. "It is necessary to characterize very precisely the SARS-associated coronavirus protease to validate its value as a drug development target.
"This basic characterization is necessary because the SARS-associated coronavirus protease belongs to a different family of proteases than the [proteases] from HIV, hepatitis C or herpes viruses, which have been vigorously studied and validated as targets for drug development," Freire noted.
Freire said he is delighted that he and other scientists are homing in on potential SARS vulnerabilities a mere six months after the disease first appeared in humans in the Guangdong province of China.
"It's been like a great detective novel, this race to find and stop the culprit behind this new disease," Freire said. "It's amazing how quickly we've made progress, from no one working on it two to three months ago, to having the bug identified and having its genome sequenced. This is the first epidemic of the 21st century, and the response from the public health community and the scientific community has been very good so far."
Freire has been working for several years to improve the way scientists design new drugs to treat HIV and other diseases. He advocates a combination of analytical approaches that, when applied to proteins essential to a pathogen, can reveal precise areas on the proteins that cannot genetically change without killing the microbes or destroying their ability to reproduce. With these areas identified, researchers can work to develop new drugs that bind to the critical areas, making it much more difficult for pathogens to develop resistance to the drugs.
Stephanie Leavitt, a graduate student in Freire's group, identified on April 17 a SARS protease encoded in the SARS genome, which had been compiled a few days earlier by several Canadian laboratories and was later published on May 1. Freire noted that it hasn't been conclusively shown that the protease Leavitt found is essential to SARS' survival. But scientists have found that inhibiting similar proteases can kill other coronaviruses.
Adrian Velazquez-Campoy, an associate research scientist in Freire's group, is working on the production of the recombinant protease.
Freire's group was recently awarded a supplement to its National Institutes of Health grant to allow the researchers to expand their work with HIV and drug development to SARS. They will take a closer look at the structural and thermodynamic properties of the protease, seeking the key areas that enable the protease to do its job. These areas may one day become targets for development of new drugs to stop SARS. | <urn:uuid:3ff4af6f-a321-42bc-937d-12800c9b65cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2003/09jun03/09sars.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96679 | 723 | 3.34375 | 3 |
First Risk Genes Found for Bone Marrow Cancer
Sunday 27 November 2011
A team of scientists led by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has shown for the first time that a person’s genes influences their risk of developing multiple myeloma, according to a paper publishing today in Nature Genetics.
Relatives of multiple myeloma patients were known to have a two- to fourfold increased risk of suffering the disease themselves, but until now scientists had not identified any genes responsible.
Using a technique called a genome wide association study, the scientists scanned the DNA of 1,675 patients with multiple myeloma and compared them to around 5,900 healthy controls. They found two regions of the genome* that were more common in people with multiple myeloma and were therefore linked to a higher chance of developing the disease.
While the additional risk from carrying any of the genes is modest – around a 30 per cent increased risk – the genes are common in the population. The authors therefore estimate the genes found play a role in around 37 per cent of multiple myeloma cases in European countries.
Joint senior author Professor Richard Houlston from the ICR says: “This is a very exciting development in our understanding of multiple myeloma. This study is the first to confirm that some people are genetically predisposed to multiple myeloma. Compared to other cancer types, relatively little is known about the biological processes that cause multiple myeloma. By identifying these genetic variants, we are closer to understanding how this cancer develops. Ultimately, this could lead to improvements in diagnosis and treatment.”
Joint senior author Professor Gareth Morgan from the ICR and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust says: “Multiple myeloma is an aggressive cancer that sadly has poor survival rates. By learning more about the biology of multiple myeloma development, we hope to identify new drug targets – or even existing drugs – that could improve patient outcomes. Multiple myeloma is becoming more common as the population ages, and so it is even more important that we find new treatments.”
The team have started a larger study and expect to find further genetic factors.
Myeloma UK provided principal funding for the study, with additional support from Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
Eric Low, Chief Executive of Myeloma UK, says: “Myeloma UK welcomes the publication of this important work. Understanding the biological and genetic basis for the onset and progression of myeloma is extremely important and will lead to better screening, earlier diagnosis and treatment in the future. Despite the implications that this may have for families, the overall risk of myeloma remains very low.”
Around 4,000 people in the UK are diagnosed each year with multiple myeloma, an aggressive cancer that affects a type of white blood cell in the bone marrow called plasma cells. Average survival after diagnosis is just three to five years, despite patients receiving intensive treatment with a combination of drugs.
Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “While the genes discovered in this study have a relatively small impact on the risk of multiple myeloma, this research is the first to show exactly how faulty genes can affect a person’s risk of the disease. We know relatively little about the causes of multiple myeloma and it’s likely that there are many more factors at play here, but this takes us a step forward in increasing our knowledge of the disease.”
Media Contact: ICR Science Communications Manager Jane Bunce on 0207 153 5106 or after hours 077217 47900
Notes to editors:
* The two confirmed genetic variants were found on chromosome three (3p22.1, near ULK4 and TRAK1 genes) and seven (7p15.3, near DNAH11 and CDCA7L genes), while a promising association was observed on chromosome two (2p23.3, DTNB gene).
Common variation at 3p22.1 and 7p15.3 influences multiple myeloma risk with first authors Peter Broderick, Daniel Chubb, David C Johnson and Niels Weinhold is publishing in Nature Genetics on November 27 2011.
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)
- The ICR is Europe’s leading cancer research centre
- The ICR has been ranked the UK’s top academic research centre, based on the results of the Higher Education Funding Council’s Research Assessment Exercise
- The ICR works closely with partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust to ensure patients immediately benefit from new research. Together the two organisations form the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe
- The ICR has charitable status and relies on voluntary income
- As a college of the University of London, the ICR also provides postgraduate higher education of international distinction
- Over its 100-year history, the ICR’s achievements include identifying the potential link between smoking and lung cancer which was subsequently confirmed, discovering that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer and isolating more cancer-related genes than any other organisation in the world
- The ICR is home to the world’s leading academic cancer drug development team. Several important anti-cancer drugs used worldwide were synthesised at the ICR and it has discovered an average of two preclinical candidates each year over the past five years.
For more information, visit www.icr.ac.uk
The Royal Marsden opened its doors in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and education.
Today, together with its academic partner, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), it is the largest and most comprehensive cancer centre in Europe treating over 44,000 patients every year. It is a centre of excellence with an international reputation for groundbreaking research and pioneering the very latest in cancer treatments and technologies. The Royal Marsden also provides community services in the London boroughs of Sutton and Merton and in June 2010, along with the ICR, the Trust launched a new academic partnership with Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Middlesex.
Since 2004, the hospital’s charity, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, has helped raise over £50 million to build theatres, diagnostic centres, and drug development units. Prince William became President of The Royal Marsden in 2007, following a long royal connection with the hospital.
For more information, visit www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk
MyelomaUK informs and supports people affected by myeloma, and helps improve treatment and standards of care through research, education, campaigning and raising awareness. Myeloma UK is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with myeloma.
For more information, visit http://www.myeloma.org.uk/
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.
• The charity’s groundbreaking work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. This work is funded entirely by the public.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates double in the last forty years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to beat cancer.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7121 6699 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org | <urn:uuid:835fa97f-80f2-4e6f-8864-257fa160e24c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icr.ac.uk/press/press_archive/press_releases_2011/21952.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941067 | 1,583 | 2.609375 | 3 |
July 19th, 2006 | researchmaterial
Scientists believe a small population of migrants from Germany, Holland and Denmark established a segregated society when they arrived in England. The researchers think the incomers changed the local gene pool by using their economic advantage to out-breed the native population.
Estimates range between 10,000 and 200,000 Anglo-Saxons migrating into England between 5th and 7th Century AD, compared with a native population of about two million.
To understand what might have happened all of those years ago, UK scientists used computer simulations to model the gene pool changes that would have occurred with the arrival of such small numbers of migrants.
The team used historical evidence that suggested native Britons were at a substantial economic and social disadvantage compared to the Anglo-Saxon settlers. The researchers believe this may have led to a reproductive imbalance giving rise to an ethnic divide. Ancient texts, such as the laws of Ine, reveal that the life of an Anglo-Saxon was valued more than that of a native’s… | <urn:uuid:e36bd05a-6f83-4623-85d5-ff36db6b3004> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=2815 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964571 | 211 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Home Training Requirements
Parents may choose to train their 16/17 year old through home training instead of using a commercial driving school for all of the required 30 classroom hours and 40 hours of on the road instruction. Home trained teens must first obtain a Learner Permit, and complete the 8 hour Safe Driving Practices Class at a licensed commercial or secondary driving school.
If a parent/guardian chooses to provide home training for any portion of the required hours of training, the following requirements must be met:
- The equivalent of 30 hours classroom training which must include the 8-hour Safe Driving Practices Class offered at commercial and secondary driving schools, including a 2-hour Mandatory Parent Training.
- 40 hours of practice driving with a “Qualified Trainer.” | <urn:uuid:f323d083-bc38-4080-8cb2-0da6f42859c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ct.gov/teendriving/cwp/view.asp?a=3715&q=435240&teendrivingPNavCtr=%7C | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943814 | 155 | 2.0625 | 2 |
News & Policies >
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 23, 2008
Fact Sheet: Expanding Economic Opportunities Through Free and Fair Trade
Expanding Markets Is Good For American Workers And Helps Keep Businesses Growing
Today, President Bush highlighted the importance of trade in promoting prosperity and freedom in the United States and around the world. At the White House, the President discussed a display of products from businesses that would benefit from trade liberalization, and urged Congress to approve our free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. The companies represented at the White House have created jobs, increased prosperity, and proven that they can compete in the global market. In order for these and other U.S. businesses to continue growing, the government needs to keep working to reduce foreign trade barriers, enabling companies to compete on a level playing field.
Approval and implementation of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement would eliminate tariffs on goods produced by several of the companies attending today's event, including:
Failure To Approve The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Would Be Bad For American Workers, Farmers, Ranchers, And Business Owners
Earlier this year, President Bush sent Congress a bill to implement the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement. Unfortunately, rather than hold the up or down vote that Congress committed to, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to block it. If this decision stands, it will kill the agreement and hurt American small business owners and workers.
Approving the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement would strengthen America's economy and level the playing field for U.S. businesses and workers. Today, over 90 percent of Colombia's exports to the United States enter duty-free, but American businesses that export to Colombia including nearly 8,000 small and mid-sized firms face tariffs of up to 35 percent on industrial and consumer products and much higher tariffs on many agricultural goods. If Congress approves the Colombia free trade agreement, upon entry into force, it would immediately eliminate tariffs on more than 80 percent of American exports of industrial and consumer goods, on more than half of U.S. agricultural exports, and, over time, on 100 percent of American goods exports.
Congress Should Also Help Sustain Economic Growth By Approving Our Pending Free Trade Agreements With Panama And South Korea
Last year, exports made up more than 40 percent of America's total economic growth. It is estimated that more than 5.5 million American jobs are related to manufacturing exports. At a time when our economy is facing challenges, our commitment to trade is more important than ever.
The free trade agreement with Panama will increase U.S. access to one of the fastest-growing economies in Central America and support a key democratic partner. In 2007, Panama and the United States exchanged more than $4 billion worth of goods nearly twice as much as just four years ago. The U.S.-Panama free trade agreement will build on this vibrant trade relationship by immediately eliminating tariffs on 88 percent of U.S. industrial and consumer goods exported to Panama and on more than 60 percent of U.S. agricultural exports.
The free trade agreement with South Korea (KORUS FTA) has the potential to boost annual U.S. exports by more than $10 billion while cementing ties with a vital ally. The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates the reduction of Korean tariffs and tariff-rate quota provisions on goods market access alone would add $10-12 billion to annual U.S. GDP.
# # # | <urn:uuid:869b1939-7924-453e-a95a-c5061ab3d6ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080523-5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936785 | 734 | 2.375 | 2 |
If you are sexually active, which let's admit it, most men are or at least wish they were, then you will want to know about HPV. HPV stands for human papilloma virus. It is a sexually transmitted disease that is transmitted the most because most of the people who are infected do not know they have it. And, there are 40 different kinds of HPV.
HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is most frequently passed from one person to another through intercourse and anal sex. HPV can be passed between both heterosexual and homosexual people. It is fast spreading because the symptoms generally do not present themselves so the infected go undiagnosed.
Symptoms of HPV can be genital warts. These can appear as small bumps or larger raised ones. Cervical cancer can be caused by HPV but is also considered a symptom since HPV can be undiagnosed for years or even never diagnosed at all if there are not any visible problems. Warts in the throat are also a symptom of HPV called Recurrent Respitory Papillomatosis or RRP.
HPV is preventable by receiving a vaccination. The vaccine is recommended for females between the ages of eleven and 26. It is also now available for males ages nine to 26. The vaccine is given in a series of three shots. The risk of catching HPV along with other sexually transmitted can also be lowered with the use of condoms during sexual intercourse. HPV can be passed on to a partner in areas that are not covered by the condom. | <urn:uuid:0a84e53a-1cf2-45a5-926e-e63ec9f4332e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mademan.com/mm/about-hpv.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973705 | 307 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Lethal liquid stored in tank hit by snowplough - Flickr.com / Chalky Lives
Nearly five tonnes of liquid waste containing an estimated 120,000 lethal doses of sodium cyanide has leaked from a Japanese factory in the northern Japanese city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture.
The deadly liquid seeped out following an accident. A snowplough had mistakenly hit a tank containing the liquid while clearing snow in the region, said officials.
The Tokyo-based firm, Kurosaka Planting, has been involved in the removal of nickel plating from surfaces and said the leak has so far not created any health issues for nearby residents.
"Fortunately, snow absorbed most of the liquid and we have been able to collect the contaminated snow. The leak has not reached a nearby river and we have not received any reports of impact on people," said a spokesperson for the company.
Japan had witnessed heavy snowfall in the previous week and piles of snow had blanketed the site. A valve in the tank in which the liquid was stored was damaged when workers were cleaning the area.
Officials have initiated a probe into the incident. Compounds of cyanide are highly toxic to humans, and are used in murders and suicides.
Japan has recorded nearly 70 deaths this winter following bad weather.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:
To contact the editor, e-mail: | <urn:uuid:b9f507f1-7659-49ff-ae3a-8eb1ca42b444> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/440012/20130227/japan-liquid-cyanide-leak-iwate-prefecture-hanamaki.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974742 | 292 | 1.921875 | 2 |
I became an ice hockey fan when a new franchise was started in the Washington, DC, area when I was 10 years old. There were low expectations for this team, and indeed, their inaugural season was the worst ever in the NHL. Nevertheless, I celebrated each of their eight wins, and I savored my satisfaction with the better-performing teams in the Washington area (football and basketball). This year’s Washington Capitals exceeded expectations, playing better in the playoffs than they did during the regular season. In each case (the 1974 team and the 2012 team), my experience was framed by my expectations.
Pros and cons of routines
The goaltender for this year’s Capitals team, Braden Holtby, has many rituals before each game, one of which involves taping his stick in the same exact way and at the same exact time before the start of the game. In oncology, we have our own rituals. Maybe you do certain things before or after you write chemotherapy orders or before you dictate your clinical notes, for example. The argument in favor of Holtby’s ritual (and other rituals, perhaps) is that taking the variation out of some aspects of his preparation helps him focus on key aspects of the game at hand. The downside is that disruption of his routine, if it were to occur, might be unsettling for him. Some of Holtby’s coaches deliberately disrupt some aspects of his routine to help him develop sufficient flexibility in his preparation so he is ready to perform under any circumstances.
Using buoyancy to combat stress
Rituals are put in place to help us find a comfort zone with common activities, but they can also create expectations that make us vulnerable to stress. For the ASCO Annual Meeting this year, I was invited to contribute on the topic of stress and burnout. In medicine and science, we rely on conceptual models to further our understanding of complex topics, and I sought to find a conceptual model that helped me make sense of this topic. Rather than a model of stress and burnout, I sought to model the opposite—that force, “buoyancy,” that holds us up and keeps us from sinking in the face of the inevitable stressors that life and work send our way on a daily basis. I thought about buoyancy as if it were the dependent variable in a multivariable model and tried to imagine what the key parameters of such a model might be. I also imagined the model to be dynamic, such that one’s buoyancy was constantly changing (usually in very small ways) and each parameter weight also varied. I have included the buoyancy model here; more information on the model and its parameters can be found in the article I authored for the 2012 Educational Book, “Buoyancy: A Model for Self-Reflection about Stress and Burnout in Oncology Providers.”
Buoyancy model from ASCO's 2012 Educational Book
The buoyancy parameter that the hockey example brings to my mind is “appreciation of change.” We are confronted with this issue in our lives and careers regularly, and also with our patients as they face uncertainty, grief, and loss if the face of illness. In professional life, here are some examples of statements related to expectation that might resonate with you:
- When I came here, they told me I’d have five half-day clinics per week but now I have seven.
- When I began dictating my notes in between patients rather than at the end of clinic, I was very unsettled.
- When we recruited that fellow with an MD, PhD, we expected to be developing a physician-scientist, but now he/she is asking for more clinical rotations and wants to go into clinical practice after fellowship.
- I expected my career to advance when that program leader retired, but the retirement hasn’t happened and my career is stuck in the mud.
- [From a patient] I thought that I heard that most people were still able to work while taking this more gentle oral cancer therapy, and I am totally wiped out.
It seems impossible to proceed in life without developing a myriad of expectations. But whether you are a clinician, fellowship director, physician-scientist, or patient, the way you handle expectations and adjust to change can make a major difference in your buoyancy and your risk of burnout.
I have no antidote that will provide me or anyone else with immunity to disappointment in the face of change. But here are three small steps that might be useful:
- Simply notice your expectations and their impact on your experiences. Take pause before you respond to the situation at hand;
- Reflect on what options are available and what is reasonable. For the goaltender, Holtby, this might mean reflecting on how he might respond to having his stick taped up at the last minute. For the patient starting cancer therapy, this might involve rehearsing in his/her mind possible impacts of starting new therapy, some much better or worse than one usually expects; and
- Keep in mind the broader concept of buoyancy. Notice that “appreciation of change” is but one parameter in your personal buoyancy model. When that “stock” takes a downturn, even transiently, you may find that you can shift other parameters upwards (like those related to gratitude, key relationships, autonomy, etc.) and thus maintain your buoyancy. It is not simply “counting your blessings,” but also dynamically adjusting the parameter weights of the various blessings that constitute your buoyancy model—in essence, striving towards mindfulness, reflection, and resilience.
For more information, please read the complete 2012 Educational Book article, “Buoyancy: A Model for Self-Reflection about Stress and Burnout in Oncology Providers.” | <urn:uuid:308e9d6b-cc07-44dc-8331-1c756cd8a39a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://connection.asco.org/Commentary/Article/id/3218/From-Ice-Hockey-to-Oncology-Remaining-Buoyant-in-the-Face-of-Change.aspx | 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 | 0.962841 | 1,196 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A could is a visible aggregate of minute water droplets or ice particles in the atmosphere above the Earth's surface. Clouds are classified according to their height above and appearance (texture) from the ground.
Clouds form when air is cooled to its dewpoint—or the temperature at which, if the air is cooled, it reaches saturation with water. Air can reach saturation in a number of ways. The most common way is through lifting.
As a bubble or parcel of air rises it moves into an area of lower pressure (pressure decreases with height). As this occurs the parcel expands. This requires energy, or work, which takes heat away from the parcel. So as air rises it cools. This is called an adiabatic process.
The rate at which the parcel cools with increasing elevation is called the "lapse rate". The lapse rate of unsaturated air (air with relative humidity <100%) is 5.4 °F per 1000 feet (9.8 °C per kilometer). This is called the dry lapse rate. This means for each 1000 feet increase in elevation, the air temperature will decrease 5.4°F.
Since cold air can hold less water vapor than warm air, some of the vapor will condense onto tiny clay and salt particles called condensation nuclei. The reverse is also true. As a parcel of air sinks it encounters increasing pressure so it is squeezed inward.
This adds heat to the parcel so it warms as it sinks. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air, so clouds tend to evaporate as air sinks.
Types of Clouds
There are four basic cloud categories observed in our atmosphere:
Cirrus cloud. (Source: NOAA)
|High-level clouds which form above 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) and are usually composed of ice crystals. High-level clouds are typically thin and white in appearance, but can create an array of colors when the sun is low on the horizon. Cirrus generally occur in fair weather and point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.|
Nimbus cloud. (Source: NOAA)
|Nimbus comes from the Latin word meaning "rain". These clouds typically form between 7,000 and 15,000 feet (2,100 to 4,600 meters) and bring steady precipitation. As the clouds thicken and precipitation begins to fall, the bases of the clouds tend to lower toward the groun|
Cumulus cloud. (Source: NOAA)
|Clouds look like white fluffy cotton balls or heaps and show the vertical motion or thermal uplift of air taking place in the atmosphere. The level at which condensation and cloud formation begins is indicated by a flat cloud base, and its height will depend upon the humidity of the rising air. The more humid the air, the lower the cloud base. The tops of these clouds can reach over 60,000 feet (18,000 meters).|
Stratus cloud. (Source: NOAA)
|"Stratus" is Latin for layer or blanket. The clouds consist of a feature-less low layer that can cover the entire sky like a blanket, bringing generally gray and dull weather. The cloud bases are usually only a few hundred feet above the ground. Over hills and mountains they can reach ground level when they may be called fog. Also, as fog "lifts" off the ground due to daytime heating, the fog forms a layer of low stratus clouds.|
- National Weather Service — Clouds.
- Also, see: Cloud Classification and Characteristics. | <urn:uuid:bb3944b7-0837-472d-8b1b-51e52168cc4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eoearth.org/article/Clouds?topic=49664 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908575 | 736 | 4.75 | 5 |
Nicholas or Nikolay Onufriyevich Lossky (Russian: Никола́й Ону́фриевич Ло́сский; December 6 [O.S. November 24] 1870 – January 24, 1965) was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher. His work expressed aspects of neo-idealism and metaphysical libertarianism from the Silver Age of Russian pre-Revolutionary and post-Revolution emigré philosophy, in what he termed intuitive-personalism, but deeply influenced by his conversion as an adult to Orthodox Christianity and his engagement with its influence in modern Russian thought. His book History of Russian Philosophy is a classic intellectual history of nineteenth- and early-to-mid-twentieth-century Russian philosophy from an Orthodox Christian perspective. His most famous students were his son Vladimir Lossky, an Orthodox theological writer, and the atheist-libertarian writer and Russian emigré Ayn Rand.
Born in Latvia to an Orthodox Christian father and a Catholic mother, he was expelled from school for promoting atheism. But shortly after the Russian Revolution, in 1918, after what he considered a miraculous escape from an elevator accident, he became an Orthodox Christian under the guidance of his friend and fellow philosopher Fr. Pavel Florensky.
Forced out of his university faculty position in St. Petersburg due to his Christian faith, he emigrated to Czechoslovakia at the invitation of Tomáš Masaryk, and as a professor at the Russian University of Prague in Bratislava became part of a vibrant network of ex-Marxist Russian Orthodox emigré intellectuals in Europe between the wars. After World War II he joined the faculty of St. Vladimir's Seminary, then in New York City, in America, and later moved to Paris where he died.
Drawing on German philosophical discourse with which he became engaged while working on his doctorate in Germany before World War I, he sought to articulate Orthodox Christian traditions of personhood, epistemology, and cosmology in the discourses of modern Western philosophy. His History of Russian Philosophy (1952) is an intellectual history of nineteenth- and early-to-mid-twentieth-century Russian philosophy. It includes a brief but in-depth survey of the philosophical works of Fr. Florensky and Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, examining in particular how the latter's sophic philosophy both drew on Orthodox traditions and came in part to obscure their ontological outlook. It also includes a summary of his own work and that of his son, Vladimir Lossy, and contrasts Soviet dialectical materialism with traditions of Russian philosophy rooted in Christianity.
Prof. Lossky's legacy includes the work of his son Vladimir Lossky, a prominent modern Orthodox theological writer, whose background in philosophy and Orthodoxy he helped to shape. His most famous university student, while he was still teaching in St. Petersburg after the Revolution, was the writer and atheist-libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand, who also became an emigré settling in America. She later appreciatively recalled the elder Lossky as the only one of her university professors in the newly communist Russia whom she remembered, for the influence of his teaching on classical philosophy on her work, but criticized what she considered to be his otherworldly Christian mysticism. (Despite the connection with Rand, and the classification of Lossky's philosophy as reflecting in part metaphysical libertarianism, his later political views after his rejection of Marxism and atheism have nonetheless been described as Fabian Socialist.) | <urn:uuid:76887c79-ebce-42b6-b5a7-41de144370e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orthodoxwiki.org/index.php?title=Nicholas_Lossky&oldid=113424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968159 | 731 | 2.46875 | 2 |
But serious concerns remain about safety, accuracy, misuse and lack of regulation
A majority of Americans believes it is appropriate to use reproductive genetic testing to avoid having a child with a life-threatening disease, or to test embryos to see if they will be a good match to provide cells to help a sick sibling, a new report of the Genetics and Public Policy Center reveals. However, most Americans believe it would be wrong to use genetic testing to select the sex or other non-health related, genetic characteristics of a child.
"Public debate and media coverage of reproductive genetic technologies hide a surprising level of concordance among Americans for using genetic testing to identify risks of disease," says Kathy Hudson, director of the Johns Hopkins University-affiliated Center, which evaluated the study. "But we also found that Americans fear a world where using genetic technologies may compromise many of the values our society holds sacred."
The results of what is believed to be the largest public opinion survey ever conducted of American attitudes toward genetic testing reveal that more than 67 percent of Americans approve of genetic testing of embryos during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures to select those embryos free of a fatal disease-causing gene mutation to transfer to a woman's uterus. High levels of support for this application are shared across most demographic groups - men, women and different racial and ethnic groups; lowest levels of support (49 percent) are found among fundamentalist and evangelical Christians. Perhaps surprisingly, a majority (52 percent) of those who assign human embryos maximum "moral worth" - deserving of utmost respect and protection - also approve of this application.
The report includes results from qualitative and quantitative studies of how Americans feel and think about reproductive genetic testing and how these technologies might best be regulated. Supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Center's research included 21 focus groups, 62 in-depth interviews, two surveys with a combined sample size of more than 6,000 people, and both in-person and online town halls meetings. The studies probed the use of testing embryos, fetuses and adults. Information from genetic tests can be used to decide whether to attempt, continue or terminate a pregnancy, or to select which embryos produced through IVF to use to try to start a pregnancy.
While most participants had heard of genetic testing at some level, the pace of technology in this field rapidly has outstripped public awareness, the study found. Awareness about some of the more advanced technologies available - such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) performed on embryos in the lab before they are placed in the mother's uterus - was very low among all demographic groups.
A Slippery Slope?
"The specter of unchecked advances raises many fears, such as designer babies, eugenics and genetically modified human beings," the report notes. Fully three-quarters of all survey respondents, for example, agreed with the statement, "Technology will inevitably lead to genetic enhancement and designer babies." Focus groups and town hall meetings, which allowed researchers to explore participants' responses in more depth, revealed that Americans don't fear the technologies per se, but rather fear that "unrestrained human selfishness and vanity will drive people to use reproductive genetic testing inappropriately," such as to select for non-medical but socially desirable characteristics.
Many focus group participants mentioned that use of reproductive genetic technologies represents a "slippery slope" on the way to "treating children like products." This concern was shared by fully 70 percent of survey respondents.
According to the report, Americans "fear a world in which children are expected to be perfect, and parents are expected to do everything possible to prevent children with genetic disease from being born." For many participants, these technologies raise concerns about how society might treat individuals with disabilities in a world where the birth of disabled persons might be preventable, and where the cost of testing and treatment might lead to disparities in who can afford them.
A Need for Regulation
The study reports that 84 percent of survey respondents are "concerned about unregulated reproductive technology getting out of control." A majority of surveyed Americans "wants and expects oversight to ensure safety, accuracy and quality of reproductive genetic testing." For example, 61 percent of respondents agreed that the safety and quality of PGD should be regulated.
But 70 percent of survey respondents also are "concerned about government regulators invading private reproductive decisions." Indeed, only 38 percent support the idea of the government regulating PGD based on ethics and morality.
"These exceptionally nuanced attitudes of the American public are not mirrored in the polarized political debates that currently paralyze public policy," Hudson notes.
A companion report, Reproductive Genetic Testing: Issues and Options for Policymakers, explores a variety of possible actions that public and private sector decision makers could take to oversee appropriate use, cost, access and safety of reproductive genetic testing, issues that arose in focus group discussions and town hall meetings.
"Many observers believe new policies - governmental or private - are needed to keep pace with the rapid changes in reproductive genetic testing," the companion report notes, ranging from enacting limits or bans on these technologies to leaving decisions about them up to parents and their physicians. The report outlines the full range of policy options to address the scientific, legal, regulatory, ethical, moral and societal issues raised by carrier testing, prenatal genetic testing, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis of embryos generated during IVF and presents the pros and cons for each. "Our purpose in this report is not to advocate on behalf of any particular policy, but to guide policy makers through the difficult issues that complicate all the available regulatory options," Hudson explains. "Any decisions - including the decision to maintain the status quo - should be undertaken with clear-eyed understanding of their potential impact."
The report concludes with a call for more research and a need for critical data - the number of people likely to use reproductive genetic tests, how people currently access the tests, and the safety and accuracy of currently available tests, among them - to develop appropriate and effective evidence-based policy.
Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
Men will always be mad, and those that think they can cure them are the maddest of them all. | <urn:uuid:9aa7269f-a60f-497e-9894-736a768a1e15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2005-02/jhmi-asm021705.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935571 | 1,284 | 2.4375 | 2 |
WPI to Host 9th Annual BattleCry Robotics Competition May 9-10
Students from 60 high schools around the Northeast will compete May 9 and 10 in BattleCry@WPI 9, one of the largest robotics contests in New England. The competition, held in WPI's Harrington Auditorium, offers high school FIRST robotics teams the chance to test their skills and technical expertise in postseason competition.
High School Students from Across Northeast to Compete in FIRST Event
Students from 60 high schools around the Northeast will compete in BattleCry@WPI 9, one of the largest robotics contests in New England. The competition, which is hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and cosponsored by SolidWorks, BAE Systems, and FIRST, offers high school FIRST robotics teams the chance to test their skills and technical expertise in postseason competition.
Forty-eight student teams from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
Friday, May 9: 5 to 9 p.m.
Saturday, May 10: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Harrington Auditorium, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, Mass.
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational contest in which teams of professionals and young people build robots using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules, and enter them in a series of competitions designed by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers.
In each BattleCry match, two three-robot alliances, called Red and Blue, will attempt to score points by completing counterclockwise laps around the field with their robots. Additional points may be scored by maneuvering large balls around the field. Extra points are awarded if the ball passes over a 6.5-foot-tall overpass while a robot completes a lap. Each match begins with a 15-second "robocoach" period, during which the robots must operate autonomously with limited input from a student "robocoach." At the end of the match, balls left on the overpass and robots stopped on designated bonus circles earn extra points. | <urn:uuid:f76cc9ff-04c6-4eaf-aa53-4185815442d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wpi.edu/news/20078/battlecry2008.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941067 | 454 | 1.96875 | 2 |
"National Drinking Water Week is a chance for water utilities and the consuming public to pause and consider the immeasurable value that a safe, reliable water supply plays in our daily lives," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director for the American Water Works Assn. "North America has some of the highest-quality water in the world, and this week offers us an opportunity to remind ourselves of all that tap water delivers."
The drinking water in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa is of excellent quality. As a matter of fact, the Mesa Consolidated Water District's reports show that their tap water is better than most bottled water.
The water-saving tips from the water association will not only save our fresh water supply, they'll also help reduce the volume of urban runoff and water treatment plant effluent reaching our harbor and ocean. These are the issues the city of Newport Beach's coastal and bay water quality committee has been working on for years, and it's been very successful cleaning up our harbor.
The water association has many tips, but I will only remind you of three that could affect Newport Harbor. Let's start with not over-watering your lawn: Not only does it waste water, but the runoff also carries fertilizer and trash into the storm drains. Remember the saying, "What starts at the drain, feeds the harbor when it rains."
Second, fully load the dishwasher and clothes washer before running them to reduce water use. This water is sent to the water treatment plant, with a pipe emptying treated sewage into the ocean.
Lastly, you can help preserve the quality of the available water supply by not overusing pesticides and fertilizers, avoiding flushing medications down the toilet and disposing of hazardous materials properly.
So, let's tip together a glass of tap water and make a smooth transition from National Drinking Water Week into National River Cleanup Week, which starts Saturday.
"The public's increased awareness of the trash accumulating in our rivers and streams has resulted in more volunteer participants in 2006 than any previous year," said David Brown, chairman of the river week.
The tip of the week is for you to help protect our waterways as we enter boating season. Be careful not to let any cleaning solutions rinse off your boat into the harbor when you are washing your vessel. The majority of boaters are doing a fantastic job of protecting our waterways, and adapting to new environmental concerns.
Join us at our next live remote radio broadcast at the Lake Arrowhead Boat Show on May 20. Most of the dealers will be offering demo rides on Lake Arrowhead.
Remember to tune in to the No. 1 boating talk radio show in the nation every Saturday at noon. "Capt. Mike Whitehead's Boathouse Radio Show" is on KCBQ-AM (1170) and can be heard online at www.boathouseradio.com. | <urn:uuid:bd6838c8-a1e1-4d12-b478-ae29bb713253> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.dailypilot.com/2006-05-12/news/dpt-harbor12_1_water-treatment-plant-water-supply-bottled-water | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952853 | 590 | 2.421875 | 2 |
ICampus Application for OWW
The MIT-Microsoft Alliance has provided funds for the development of tools to help research in technology education. This page will be used to collaboratively develop an application for funds to push OWW to be a more useful tool. Please put your input below. This is still in the early draft stages, so please put ideas down.
We've been doing a lot of editing--deleting comments etc--working towards a final draft.
Please edit for grammar, spelling, and small stylistic issues. The Goals section is need of better content and editing. Other than that, we hope not to make large-scale changes to the structure. But please, feel free to suggest stuff.
Preliminary Student Proposal Questions
Title for this proposal
Give a short, descriptive title for this project
OpenWetWare: A collaborative information tool for the biological research community
Name and email address of proposer
- Jason Kelly: jasonk AT mit DOT edu
Please provide a brief (a few paragraphs at most) description of the proposed project.
OpenWetWare ( http://openwetware.org ) is a collaborative environment designed to foster the sharing of expertise, information, and ideas among researchers in biological science and engineering. Inspired both by Wikipedia and MIT OpenCourseWare, OpenWetWare is a wiki where content related to research laboratories can be generated and disseminated quickly and efficiently by any individual. We propose to expand the user community, develop tools to encourage contribution, and integrate content development with educational programs in hope of creating a critical mass of users that will lead to a self-sustaining resource for the biological community.
Describe, as succinctly and as compellingly as you can, why you think this project is significant - from an educational perspective, a technical perspective, or other.
We designed OpenWetWare to address two problems that we, as students entering the field of biology, have had to struggle with:
- Information resources are inaccessible, not easily searchable, and frequently out of date. This problem is often magnified by the absence of experimental details that are typically only communicated as "lore" passed between members in individual research labs.
- Barriers to collaboration exist due to infrequent opportunities for communication, little knowledge about other researcher’s ongoing work (prior to publication), and a lack of a common “intellectual space” to share ideas and hold informal discussions.
OpenWetWare allows all members to freely create, organize, and edit webpage contents, and is an attempt to alleviate these problems. For example, by providing a means for researchers to contribute to a commons of biological information, "lore" could be disseminated to the community, evaluated, and stored electronically. In addition, opportunities for collaboration that currently take place on rare occasions will be dramatically increased by sharing an online space.
Improving Information Resources
By serving as an information repository, OpenWetWare can improve educational and research experiences in a variety of ways, both educational and technical. One example is information concerning biological protocols, such as the OpenWetWare entry on DNA ligation (http://openwetware.mit.edu/wiki/DNA_Ligation), which includes an explanation of the relevant biology, a general procedure, lab specific protocols, and notes with experimental nuances. A discussion section accompanying the entry enables researchers to pose questions and troubleshoot their approach. Additionally, by enabling cross-linking between protocols and background information we expect the protocols themselves to become learning tools. Towards that goal, we will be working to integrate student contributions to the protocol collection into the biological engineering project lab. We feel this will encourage students to gain a deeper understanding of the biology underlying each step in a protocol, as well as to encourage a mindset of collaboration and contribution. However, protocols are just one example, other information resources benefiting from collaborative development include: equipment, strains, vectors, safety, useful facts, FAQs, and computing. Specifically, wiki pages for equipment have proven to be very useful technical resources housing maintenance logs, usage notes, and results from control experiments.
Reducing barriers to collaboration
OpenWetWare has great potential to enhance collaborative experience between researchers. One example of how disparate groups can use OpenWetWare to enhance collaboration and information flow is by looking at the Synthetic Biology Working Group. This group compromises students from several labs and individuals at three schools. Looking at their wiki page ( http://openwetware.org/wiki/Synthetic_Biology ), you can find:
- Listing of news in the field (e.g., recent talks and lectures in the field)
- Collaborative discussions (e.g., Abstraction hierarchy and a synthetic biology ontology)
- Listings of resources available (e.g., Press articles, conferences, and online tools)
- Collaborative initiatives (e.g., The BioBricks Foundation and the Synthetic Genomics Study)
- Projects currently in progress (e.g., Biological Barcodes and Rebuilding T7)
- Outreach Programs (e.g., courses and competitions)
All of this information is updated continuously by all members of the community. OpenWetWare allows members to communicate efficiently over a vast range of projects, and perhaps more importantly, gives others real-time information about what ideas and research the group is currently pursuing.
Who are the key participants in this project? What year are they at MIT? Will they all still be students through the fall semester 2006?
- Barry Canton -- 3rd year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Sean Clarke -- 1st-year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Danielle France -- 4th year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Jeff Gritton -- 4th year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Jason Kelly -- 3rd year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Sriram Kosuri -- 5th year graduate student (hopefully will not be a student in Fall 2006)
- Alex Mallet -- 2nd-year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Reshma Shetty -- 4th year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Ty Thomson -- 4th-year graduate student (will be a student in Fall 2006)
- Ilya Sytchev -- 4th year graduate student at Northeastern University, bioinformatics intern at MIT
Goals for the spring
List two or three specific milestones to be achieved in the project by May 2006.
- Double number of users
- Hold X tutorial luncheons on MIT's campus
- Mapping of wiki to static webpages software tool
- Design of protocol templates?
- get 'Jason Kelly' of endy lab fame to achieve #1 google hit for 'Jason Kelly' over punk ass "best little guide to investing" author Jason Kelly.
Goals for the one-year project
List two or three specific milestones to be achieved in the project by December 2006.
- Integration with a few lab classes at MIT.
- Double number of institutions on OpenWetWare.
- Double number of protocol pages
- Software tools for simplifying data entry into the wiki
- Integrating OpenWetWare with Dspace in a forbidden dance
- Develop institution-specific information hubs
- Investigate possible uses of other Web 2.0 techologies (mashups, AJAX, etc) for scientific collaboration
- Integrate with other online research tools/databases
What kinds of things are you requesting funding for (e.g., what equipment, UROP positions, other)?
In order to facilitate user interactions with OpenWetWare, we would like to establish UROP positions to work on a variety of software tools:
- Tools to simplify data entry into the wiki (e.g., direct import of Excel/Word/Latex documents into the wiki).
- Tools for the mapping of wiki pages onto static websites. We have already begun to explore such possibilities ( see http://syntheticbiology.org ), and would be interested in making such tools easier to use and more widely available.
- Exploring the relationship between permanent and evolving documents. For example, what is the best interface between MIT's DSpace ( http://dspace.mit.edu ) and OpenWetWare?
Ideally, we hope to coordinate with the MediaWiki open source community on tools that are likely to be of general use to the community (MediaWiki is the open source software that OpenWetWare is based on).
Cultivation of User Base
The success of OpenWetWare depends critically on cultivating and maintaining an active user base. We plan to dedicate funds to enable tutorials, conference visits, advertising, and other mechanisms for recruiting new users to OpenWetWare.
In the long term, the success of OpenWetWare relies on the assumption that the number of users actively curating the informational resources will scale with the amount of content generated. However, there has been little work in examining how collaborative tools such as OpenWetWare are best used to develop informational resources, such as a protocol collections. We feel the project would benefit dramatically from people actively establishing community norms and standards of practice for organizing content on OpenWetWare. We will consider establishing a UROP position (perhaps an anthropology major) to evaluate and implement different templates or other methods for organizing information on the wiki.
Who is your project advisor?
Any other comments or questions.
OpenWetWare is far more than simply a wiki for scientists. It represents a conscious departure from standard operating procedure in biological science and engineering in that it enables the sharing of methods, ideas and work. OpenWetWare has a strong potential to make inroads into the highly competitive culture of biology for several reasons.
- Despite only being six months old, OpenWetWare already has 265 users, 2725 pages and ~1000 visits per day (statistics current as of November 10, 2005).
- OpenWetWare already has many undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral scientists and professors that contribute to content. Regular users include people from Biological Engineering, Biology, and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT and the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. Finally, based on the initial successes of OpenWetWare, the BioMicro Center at MIT recently has generously provided hardware and support to host the site.
- OpenWetWare is attracting more and more attention from scientists outside MIT. We receive regular requests for accounts from users that happen across the site (often when searching for useful protocols) and want to participate.
Despite this initial success, if OpenWetWare is to reach its full potential, substantial investement of both time and money is needed. An MIT iCampus grant would be a significant step towards that goal. | <urn:uuid:97d921bb-e82e-4b7b-9561-ae4f01e4fa7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.openwetware.org/index.php?title=ICampus_Application_for_OWW&oldid=8842 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910715 | 2,264 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Men of Action - Art “The Chief” Rooney
Founding Owner of Pittsburgh Steelers Won Millions Playing the Horses
by Bob Pajich | Published: Oct 17, 2012
Welcome to Card Player’s new series, Men of Action, which will explore the lives of some of history’s greatest gamblers and sportsmen.
It started with a desire to see his favorite horse, Seabiscuit, run and ended back home in Art Rooney’s living room in Pittsburgh telling his astounded wife, making her believe it with bank bags full of cash, that they will never have to worry about money ever again because in 1937, $300,000, $4.5 million in today’s money, was a whole lot of loot.
Rooney, known as the Chief, is most famous as the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but in a time so long ago it may as well have taken place on another planet, he was known as one of the greatest horseplayers and sportsmen who ever lived. He was so good newspaper men would shadow him and write national dispatches about his betting days.
This big-lipped, stogie chomping, gregarious “everyday man” became friends with America after having a week every gambler searches for while day dreaming their way through their day jobs.
Rooney bought an NFL franchise in 1933 for $2,500, encouraged by friend and owner of the New York Giants, Tim Mara. Mara was a major horse race bookmaker and knew him from tracks like Monmount, Pimlico, Jamaica and Belmont.
July 24, 1937. Seabiscuit was running at Empire City in New York and Rooney wanted to see him. Rooney and his friend, Buck Crouse, left a plumber’s union meeting in Harrisburg and drove through the night to Empire City, now known as Yonkers Raceway. Crouse was a former middle weight boxer who fought in and around Pittsburgh from 1908 to 1921.
The pair made it to the track Saturday morning and Crouse most likely did all the driving.
The winning streak actually started in May after Mara vouched for him to the other bookmakers at Belmont. According to Rooney, Mara suggested a horse named “Fly Me.” Rooney took him for $1,000 at 7-to-1. That was his first big hit that year.
Thirty-five years later, Rooney told the sports writer Red Smith about the day at Empire City. First, he won $800 on a four-to-one shot. He told Smith he kept betting with the same bookie to give him a chance to come back, but “had three or four winners and wound up knocking him out of the box.”
Rooney, now up $5,000, put the “whole gob” on a 5-to-1 shot. He won again.
“Right there and then,” Mara said, according to Rooney: A Sporting Life, “I told him to quit, go home, get away.”
But Rooney couldn’t do that. The horse he came to see, Seabiscuit, raced next. He took him for $10,000. Seabiscuit broke the track record and paid $19,000.
Art missed a huge payday the next race because the bookies wouldn’t take his action on a horse that was 12-to-1. He suggested that he and the bookie flip a coin. If Art won, he’d take the 12-to-1 shot, if he lost, he’d take a 4-to-1 shot. Rooney lost, bet $10,000 on a horse that lost to the 12-to-1 shot. Rooney then lost $20,000 on an 8-to-1 shot.
Here’s what Journal American’s Bill Corum wrote about the day, via Rooney: A Sporting Life:
“Here are the exact figures on ‘Roll ‘em Rooney’s’ play. These are honest figures. They’re the kind an honest man writes down on his income tax blank, between sobs.”
Corum had Rooney ahead $19,000. Mara thought it was more like $25,000, but no matter, it all started with $200.
Rooney was satisfied. He headed into New York for dinner at Joe Madden’s Broadway Saloon. Sportswriter John Lardner said Joe Madden, a former prizefighter turned writer and restaurateur, served Crouse and Rooney steaks and asked: “What’s your next move, Artie?”
Art told him he was heading back home to Pittsburgh. Rooney’s wife, Catherine, was home alone, pregnant, taking care of three toddlers. Madden, in no certain terms, told Rooney he had to be crazy to give up a winning streak like this. It probably didn’t take much convincing with all that money in his pocket. The next day, a Sunday, Rooney, Crouse and Madden left the next for the racetrack at Saratoga Springs. The races started on Monday.
Rooney got up early and went to Catholic mass. After, he visited the stables and had breakfast with the trainers, stable boys and jockeys, and to get an early look at the horses and jockeys warming up to run that day. This is where Rooney excelled. He not only was an excellent handicapper with a gift for crunching multiple layers of information, he was an accurate judge of people.
Right before the races began, a lightning bolt shot through the stables, knocking out several horses, killing one. The bookies should’ve sensed something freaky and devastating was about to occur. If Rooney thought anything about it, he never said.
Wrote Corum: “The bolt that struck the bookies in their fancy new betting enclosure was far more destructive in its results. The lightning took a form of a young man from Pittsburgh named Art Rooney.”
After studying his racing form, it was time to talk to his mentor, Mara. Mara’s advice was to wait until the end of the week when the track would be better and the horses easier to read.
“He gets me to mark his card for him,” Mara later said, according to Rooney: A Sporting Life. “I said ‘All right, sucker, go ahead and blow your dough. I’ll be here when the races are over if you want car fare back home.”
Corum’s article about Rooney’s day at Empire City had already hit the stands, and Rooney, already known to the bookies, started getting recognized by the fans as well. A buzz was in the air.
Rooney started where he left off at Empire City, picking the winners in the first two races. Nobody knows the exact amounts Rooney bet each race, but it wasn’t chump change. He had $6,500 on at least one race. Later that summer, Rooney would be making bets of $25,000-$50,000 on single races.
Depending on the source, he missed one or two races on Monday, and people in the crowd began to follow him around. Rooney seemed unfazed. He always stayed even-keeled and had the attitude that once the bet was made, everything was out of his hands. He always tried to remain steady and level.
Corum, the Journal American reporter, put Rooney’s total Monday at $90,000. Mara said Rooney told him it was $108,600.
Corum, as well as the other turf reporters, now had their weekly assignments. Here was a working-class church-going Irish Catholic, nonchalantly betting so much money with such great success that the bookies were starting to back away from his action. He filed another story that ran Tuesday, calling it It’s Art But They Don’t Like It.
Tuesday morning, Rooney woke early, hit mass, and then it was back to work mining for information in the stables and paddock. His sleuthing again paid off.
Rooney won another supposed $100,000 or so on Tuesday by running off winners in the first four races, and kept rolling Wednesday. His boxing buddy Buck Crouse begged Rooney to go home, even telling Rooney that he was forced to pray for him to lose so he could still get into Heaven, to the delight of the reporters within earshot.
Kent Hunter of the Evening Journal and New York American put Rooney’s haul that week at $300,000, a figure Rooney never confirmed or denied. That’s worth about $4.7 million in today’s dollars.
That week, Rooney got the reputation as a man who could not be fazed.
“He’s got the perfect disposition for a plunger,” Tim Mara told the New York Post’s Toney Betts. “He’s a good sport and he’s got ice water in his nerves. He had $12,000 bet on Seabiscuit the last time it was out, and he was standing right over there talking football with some guy when a fellow ran up to him and yelled that Seabiscuit won but was disqualified. Rooney never batted an eyelash, but kept right on talking football.”
During the Depression, when so many people were out of work, out of money, and out of hope, tales of guile and victory became instant hits.
Here’s how syndicated columnist Bob Considine put it:
“Mr. Rooney is the gentleman who apparently is doing what the average citizen would rather do than eat. He is, to all accounts, making a quick fortune by driving the horse park bookmakers to the poor house. If you are up on your horse racing and your legends, you will remember that young Mr. Rooney first leaped into our national prominence when he emerged from the haze of Pittsburgh with a lumpy roll of coarse cash … and proceeded to give the boys who sit on the stools beneath the stands a merry walloping.”
Rooney’s second oldest son, Art Jr., claimed in his self-published book “Ruanaidh,” that the winning estimates are wildly off. In “Ruanaidh” (Rooney in Gaelic), Art Jr. wrote:
“Madden and Lardner wrote that AJR cleared $256,000 at Saratoga that day. AJR told me it was more, but did not say precisely how much more. A friend of his, the director of racing at our Yonkers track, put the figure at $380,000. Other estimates are higher. Whatever he won, and the officials at Saratoga offered him a Brink’s armored truck to carry the money back to New York City, he won it at a time when working men were supporting wives and children on as little as twenty dollars a week.”
An unknown amount headed to his brother in China, a pile went to his mother, and $10,000 went to his church. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, when the priest asked Rooney if the money came from ill-begotten ways, Rooney said: “Why no, Father, I won that money at the race track.”
The New York Post’s Toney Betts quoted Rooney, “When you’re losing pull up. And when you’re winning, send it along.”
Following his own rule, Rooney returned to Saratoga the next week, where he continued blow down the bookies, leaving a very pregnant wife in Pittsburgh. By the end of the week, Catherine went into labor with their fourth son. Rooney named him after Tim Mara.
Rooney kept “sending it along” that year, and, according to Rooney: A Sporting Life had at least two more $100,000-plus days and he started to place bets in the stratosphere, bets so big they help sell newspapers. Rooney prowess at the track ended when more and more tracks got rid of the independent bookmakers and universally started using the pari-mutuel system that took account of everyone’s wagers and adjusted the odds on the fly. Rooney hated it.
Rooney spent the next 30 years ruining his reputation as a winner owning the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn’t until his eldest son, Dan, took over operations that the team began to win and came into the modern era. One of the first things Dan suggested to his dad is they should probably stop hiring Art’s friend’s as coaches. Art could never fire one of his friends.
The Rooney family bought Yonkers for $52 million in 1972. Tim, the son born that weekend and named after a bookie, was assigned to run it. The family also owns the Palm Beach Kennel Club and their business interests are as diversified as any super-family. In 2008, the NFL forced the Steelers to restructure their ownership stakes because of their gambling investments and the sons that own the tracks, no longer own the Steelers.
Art Rooney died Aug. 25, 1988.
The Inside Straight
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