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Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
Are you reducing your impacts on the environment?
Climate change, emissions management, and environmental sustainability – these are pressing issues faced by businesses today. The urgency to address these issues and implement programs to reduce environmental impacts requires people and businesses to make serious changes to their operational behavior. This is balanced by the need to ensure that those changes are relevant and offer a true long-term benefit to stakeholders, communities, and ultimately the planet.
A credible policy for addressing climate change - verified by a trust, independent body - better prepares your business for the future and raises your reputation as an industry leader.
LRQA Can Help You
At LRQA, our focus is on helping our clients to verify their sustainability strategies, environmental and emissions management assertions are trustworthy, credible and accurate – throughout their supply chain. In turn, this helps ensure our clients are able to receive fair recognition for their sustainability improvements from financial markets, regulators, customers and consumers.
At an organizational, site or event project level, LRQA can help assure that your environmental and emissions management programs are verifiable, accurate and reliable. Most importantly, we deliver independent, impartial and trustworthy opinions – vital to the long term credibility and success of your programs.
Our strong record in environmental assurance provides the foundation for a range of assessment, certification and verification services around the world, including services for ISO 14001 and ISO 14064.
|"Our LRQA assessor has perhaps the most extensive knowledge and insight of the ISO 14001 standard than any other auditor I have worked with."
Corporate Manager Sustainability & HSE Process Innovation
In addition, through our sister company LRQA Americas Sustainability, we offer you access to experienced capabilities in North-American Climate Change Schemes, Carbon Emissions Verification, Climate Action, Clean Vehicles, Air Quality, and Safety & Risk Management.
In addition, LRQA is a recognized partner of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and our team of experts are ready to help you with verification to add credibility to your CDP reported data.
Choose one of the actions below. | <urn:uuid:98c8bbf3-2854-43e7-9260-24110023aa55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lrqausa.com/business%2Dchallenges/climate%2Dchange/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938322 | 437 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Mumbai, Jan 26: Veterans like Shekhar Kapur and Kabir Bedi went down memory lane remembering the colourful parade they saw as kids, while actresses like Nandita Das and Raveena Tandon wished for safer and better times for the country on its 64th Republic Day Saturday.
Here’s what the celebrities have to say:
Sharmila Tagore: Let’s strive for equality, liberty and a feeling of oneness.
Shekhar Kapur: Republic Day to me signifies cold winter mornings watching the parade with my parents.
Nandita Das: It is the day the Constitution of India was formalised, so an extremely important day in the history of our country. But then we are constantly disrespecting the Constitution by abusing the rights of so many people that it protects with its vision. Now all such days have merely become holidays. I hope that will change as we begin to be more mindful of all the injustices that happen around us.
Shabana Azmi: As a child, I remember being bundled into trucks on Republic Day to see the lights at Chowpatty. It was only later that I understood how wonderful our Constitution was. Republic Day should become our definitive national festival so that every Indian irrespective of religion can celebrate it. This Republic Day, I hope and pray that a fair and just rehabilitation policy is put in place for those displaced because of development projects or environmental disasters.
Prasoon Joshi: Republic Day is a reaffirmation of our principles as a secular vibrant democracy. In the last couple of years, we are seeing a move towards a more participative democracy rather than a mere ballot one. The democratic principles enshrined in our constitution need to live and breathe. The onus for this is very much on us – the citizens, the public, as on the government that upholds the Constitution.
Irrfan: Days celebrating nationalism, costumes signifying oneness, traditions and beliefs should all be re-examined. We must search within ourselves to see what the Republic Day means to us today.
Subhash Ghai: Let’s implement the Constutition of India. This according to me is the best Constitution in the world. But it needs to be implemented better.
Raveena Tandon: Look around. None of us feels safe. My children are not safe. I am not safe. This Republic Day, let us ensure safety for women and children before we think of cleansing the political system. If I as a citizen cannot feel safe on the roads, how and why would I go out and vote?
Kabir Bedi: For me as a child in Delhi, the Republic Day Parade was the most exciting day of the year. Military bands, marching regiments with camels, sleek planes and tanks, costumed dancers and colourful floats, acrobatic displays and a thrilling fly-past by jets…wow! Symbolically, Republic Day should also embrace India’s new generation.
Himesh Reshammiya: Republic Day makes me realise the value of my freedom. We’re truly blessed to live in an independent democratic country where everyone has the right to say and do what he likes. On this day, we genuinely need to pay tributes to every person who has contributed to independent India. I dream of India becoming the richest country in the world and that there is not a single citizen living without food, shelter and clothing.
Mahesh Bhatt: There’s a magical childhood memory of a time when the city would glitter with lights. My one dream is for the nation to show zero tolerance for female infanticide.
Shankar Mahadevan: When I look at the tri-colour, I feel so happy that I stayed back in my country instead of leaving for the US, as many of my engineering colleagues did. With all that is going on around us today I feel that my house, my motherland and my people need a little bit of self-awareness individually. It could go a long way in making a collective difference.I think every citizen should realise that in spite of the clouds of negativity there is room for rays of sunshine. | <urn:uuid:71f5ab12-ccfc-4db5-922d-bcf5e3ab0bbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indiatalkies.com/2013/01/btown-shares-rday-musings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943977 | 858 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Bill Demby, who gained fame playing basketball on artificial legs in a DuPont commercial, will present a lecture, "A Profile in Courage," at 7 p.m. April 10 in the Multipurpose Room of the Student Union Building, Kutztown University.
A high school basketball star, Demby wanted to attend college and eventually play professional basketball. He was told he was not college material. Instead, he was drafted and went to Vietnam.
In 1971, Demby lost both of his legs from the knees down when the truck he was driving was hit by a rocket. After rehabilitation, he began to pick up the pieces of his life. He joined the Achilles Track Club and competed as a wheelchair athlete in marathons, 10K races and in the 1988 U.S. Amputee Athletic Association Paralympics in Korea.
Demby was one of the first testers of an artificial limb called the Seattle Foot, originally developed for the U.S. Veterans Administration. Demby began to play basketball again and in 1987 was featured in the award-winning DuPont commercial.
Call the student activities hotline at 683-4098 for information. | <urn:uuid:c3b1373a-ee27-46ec-bc00-e4fbdf79d462> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.mcall.com/1995-03-30/news/3013976_1_dupont-student-union-building-athlete | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984753 | 238 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Pleather controversy in ORGANIC STYLE magazine
From the Oct. 2004 issue of ORGANIC STYLE magazine,
"The other day, this guy protested about a pleather
bag we featured in our Sept. issue. I couldn't understand his problem -
it's a marvelous Stella McCartney tote!
Seriously, he argued, as some would (ask Peta and
they'll say pleather is better for the planet than leather; Greenpeace
disagrees), that the toxic run-off generated while making pleather is
worse than the cruel, chemical-laden production of leather goods. Pick
your poison...As it happens, pleather works for many
Todd Oldham says, "Firstly, it is humane, not cruel!
It's easier to clean, less expensive, cooler to the touch, impermeable to
liquid - and resists pet hair..."
On page 24 is a leather/pleather PRO & CON, with the
"Avoid products made of pvc (they are usually very
shiny or labeled VINYL) and choose pleather made from less toxic plastics,
such as polyurethane, polypropylene, and polyethylene. Opt for leather
for classic pieces you plan to keep for years."
Letters to the editor: email@example.com
incl name, address, and phone #, appx 150 wds or less. My .02
on the subject:
on this planet is currently made from plastic of some kind or another;
making a cruelty choice based on this logic is just an excuse. Buying all
animal-based clothing will change or improve NOTHING in the environment.
They also once featured an article about Oprah eating foie gras, and
there's nothing 'organic' about that.
Fair Use Notice:
This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this
not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the
copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own
that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright | <urn:uuid:fe64d406-b1a2-4da2-82db-8403207cc5f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/act-20041002-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916146 | 474 | 1.671875 | 2 |
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Re: V3 #499 and Low pH problem
Like Jim Capelle, I received only the beginning of this morning's
The APD archive contains two letters regarding use of alum and/or pyrite
to lower pH. I don't know of any accepted method for using either of these
for controlled reduction of pH.
If I were to experiment with either one then I might experiment with alum.
You can get it in the grocery store where it's usually stocked with the
spices. When mixed with water alum should precipitate aluminum hydroxide
and leave potassium sulfate and sulfuric acid in solution. The acid will
attack bicarbonate in the water and lower the water's buffer capacity and
pH. The precipitating aluminum hydroxide may also remove phosphate from
Between dropping pH, reducing buffer capacity, adding potassium and
removing phosphate it seems that some people could see several gains from
treating water with alum. On the down side, I expect this will be a
pretty expensive way to do anything.
I HAVE NOT tried this. As always, experiment outside any aquarium and
apply it to an aquarium only with great care.
I wouldn't experiment with pyrite. If pyrite oxidation caused the low pH
problem that started this thread, then it did so only because of that
gentleman's low buffer capacity. Pyrite oxidation under water is normally
biologically remediated and without the right bacteria it probably won't
work. Probably the only way to get it to work at a rate high enough to
make a significant difference in well-buffered water would be to powder
the pyrite and to use it in fairly large quantities. Under those
conditions the rate of the reaction would be unpredictable.
The reaction probably would proceed in two different stages. The initial
reaction happens in the solid state and probably will release sulfuric
acid and produce soluble ferrous sulfate. Under water the ferrous sulfate
can leach out of the original site before the iron is oxidized and
precipitated, probably as the oxyhydroxide. That could put iron stains on
other ornaments in the tank, but it would also have the side effect of
pulling phosphate out of the water.
Again, I haven't done this, I don't advise it, and I wouldn't even want
to experiment with it.
If you have heavily buffered water and need to lower your pH then there is
only one means I can actually advise you to use. Mix your water supply
with RO or distilled water to reduce the alkalinity. Afterwords, lower
the pH with CO2 additions and increase the pH with aeration and water | <urn:uuid:85a88152-9888-4a49-bb2b-8420a297754a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9809/msg00070.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941273 | 588 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The Problem: A Medical Shortage of Epidemic Proportions
Imagine the challenge of obtaining medical care where just a few thousand physicians serve millions of people. Where hospitals are so overcrowded that patients share the spaces under the beds.
Imagine living where endless civil wars have created massive shortages of crutches and wheelchairs. Where infectious diseases like Bubonic Plague - long extinct in North America - run unchecked. And where virulent diseases like AIDS are decimating young and old alike.
Imagine trying to cope with these and other overwhelming medical needs without even the most basic equipment and supplies.
This grim portrait is the reality in many parts of the world, a reality witnessed first-hand by visiting Rotarians from Wisconsin's Fox River Valley. Their compassion and commitment led to the formation of Rotary's Southern Africa Medical Project (SAMP). A realization that the problem extended beyond Southern Africa spurred the club to rename the project Sharing Around (the World) Medical Project.
The Sharing Around (the World) Medical Project today is a recycling program for the salvage of reusable medical equipment, blankets and supplies. These materials are being collected by Rotary District 6220 in northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. The Rotary Clubs in District 6220 who collect medical supplies inlcude: Appleton Downtown, Marquette, Sturgeon Bay and Shawano. Supplies are being sent to Rotarians in many parts of the world, including southern Africa, Russia, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Honduras and other locations. A list of shipments and their locations is available here.
The challenge of the world's medical shortage is bigger than any one person or any one organization. Rotary has set the wheels in motion, but your help is critical to continuing the momentum. We invite you to learn more about the volunteer opportunities available, and how you, your business, church, school, or civic organization can help. There are dozens of ways to become part of the solution, from organizing a blanket drive to packing supplies to soliciting donations of equipment and goods.
It takes all of us to keep the wheel turning. | <urn:uuid:5a0018c9-669f-425c-bb38-30c72fede8e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.focol.org/aprotary/Sampweb/index.asp | 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 | 0.9382 | 424 | 2.578125 | 3 |
“I'm in a new long distance relationship, and I think this dream is telling me something. I was with my boyfriend; we were standing on a dock. In front of us in the water was a huge koi fish, so we didn’t want to go in. But I turned around to go the other way and a huge bright green snake slithered up and bit me on the tip of my finger. I tried not to worry, and then my boyfriend found a picture of a mambo snake and said that was what bit me. I started to get scared I would die but he seemed like it wasn’t a big deal. Then I woke up.”
This dream is a good example of how dream symbols must be taken into context with other symbols as well as the dreamer’s emotions felt during the dream. Snakes can have completely polar opposite meanings. Positive or negative. They can represent healing, renewal, wisdom or deceit, enemies and jealousy. Which is it? Let’s take a look at all the symbols of this dream:
The Dream symbols
On a dock. When dreamers are on a dock, they have either arrived or are preparing to depart.
Huge koi fish. The koi fish is a gentle, sociable, friendly fish. Its large size indicates that the friendship relationship is deep.
Didn’t want to go in. The dreamer does not want something.
Turned around to go the other way. The dreamer wanted the opposite.
Huge bright green snake. Green can be a healing color, but in this case, it more likely resembles the proverbial “green-eyed monster” which is the emotion of jealousy.
Bit dreamer on tip of finger. Dreamer will be bitten by the snake of jealousy. She will become jealous. That it bit her on the tip of her index finger indicates that jealousy will affect her judgment.
Mambo snake. The mambo snake is the largest and most poisonous of North American snakes.
Got scared and thought she would die. Dreamer is frightened she will be consumed by her own jealousy.
Boyfriend was unconcerned. Boyfriend does not care how this is affecting her.
This dream is reflecting your fears about your new relationship. Standing on the dock symbolizes how you and he are preparing for your long-distance relationship. The huge koi fish represents the fact that you both, instead, could enjoy a deeply satisfying friendship but by turning away from it, you both refuse to keep it at that. Neither of you wants to keep this a strictly friend relationship.
As you proceed with your romantic relationship, however, you will be faced with fears. You will become jealous and worry if other women are a threat. Your jealousy will threaten to poison you and this relationship. Your boyfriend believes that your jealousy is way out of line, but he is not concerned at all by how it is affecting you.
I encourage this dreamer to recognize that this dream is warning her of possible problems with jealousy in the future. Her own fears can poison her thinking, and she can become jealous and suspicious without cause. This can have a negative effect on her relationship as she will think he is uncaring when she voices her worries and he shows no concern. He will see it as paranoia and distrust; neither are attractive qualities in a mate. Every couple in a long-distance relationship must come to terms with trust and fidelity, but do not create problems where there are none. | <urn:uuid:a5a970ea-3291-4b56-acc5-ad1874a3eb5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art17268.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972409 | 721 | 1.710938 | 2 |
In the aftermath of apartheid, sport has proved a powerful tool in uniting South Africa. Johannesburg Cubs was set up to bring children of different races, cultures, classes and beliefs together. The vision of the programme is to create an environment free from any form of discrimination.
Disadvantaged, mostly black participants, are chosen from the 2,500 school children actively involved in Gauteng Cricket Board development areas. Privileged, mostly white participants, are recruited via parents and are assisted with integration and social awareness by project leaders.
The split between the two groups is kept at 50:50. And, by playing sport together and travelling to each group’s home area, integration and social awareness is directly encouraged.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation South Africa funds the social development aspect of the project, with special focus on racial integration through cricket, and social upliftment of the disadvantaged children, which includes educational development and allows them to enjoy experiences which they would not normally encounter. The funding also assists in the recruiting of more young people to attend the project from poorer communities. | <urn:uuid:c622c9a5-f851-411a-b43e-91ff6dfafcdd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laureus.com/projects/africa/johannesburg-cubs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959074 | 220 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Mayor Don Wesely today recommended that the Lincoln Fire Department provide emergency ambulance service to the city, saying the department will provide residents with the best possible emergency medical services at a lower cost. His recommendation also supports independent medical oversight of the ambulance provider. Wesely also recommends that non-emergency basic ambulance transportation, which accounts for at least 25 percent of all ambulance uses, be delivered by a private provider.
"We all want the best emergency medical service possible, and patient care is the central issue in this matter," Mayor Wesely said. "My recommendation is based on experience, capability, continuity, accountability and cost as well as meeting the needs of our growing city. The Fire Department proposal offers lower rates and could result in $500,000 in additional annual revenue being generated for the city."
The current Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for ambulance service, held by Rural/Metro Medical Service, expires at the end of this year. Mayor Wesely appointed a five-member Ambulance Review Committee to gather information, review responses from those seeking to provide ambulance services and report to the Mayor. The Mayor's recommendation goes to the City Council, which will make a decision on the issuance of a new certificate. The public hearing on ambulance service is set for the June 26th City Council meeting.
Under the Fire Department's proposal, it would provide a Quick Response Team (QRT) and the transport to all calls in the 911 service area. The QRT would be provided with a firefighter/paramedic assigned to each of the 14 engine companies. Each of the ambulances would be staffed with a senior firefighter/paramedic and a firefighter/emergency medical technician. The Fire Department says this system would result in a response time of 3.5 minutes by the QRT and faster arrival times by the ambulances. The ambulance units would be housed in existing Fire Department facilities.
Mayor Wesely thanked those entities submitting proposals, members of the medical community and citizens who expressed their opinions on the issue, and the Ambulance Review Committee. Members of the committee were Finance Director Don Herz; Purchasing Agent Vince Mejer; Dr. Regina Robinson-Noble of the Lancaster County Medical Society; City Council member Jerry Shoecraft; and Leon Vinci, Health Director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.
CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE
Lincoln Fire Department proposes a 20% decrease in response time by arriving at the scene in 6 minutes 90% of the time.
Increased ability by the Lincoln Fire Department to change stationing of ambulances to adjust to changing needs within the city and county
Increased utilization of current Fire Department facilities
Impoves stability of emergency ambulance service by making it a core public service within the city
Cheaper more Cost effective Service
Lower emergency ambulance rates for citizens. Savings up to $125 per ambulance service call at the 6 minute response rate.
The ambulance service generates revenues that pay for itself and potentially generate up to $540,000 annually and $3.4 million in revenues over the term of the contract that can help offset the city funds needed to operate the Fire and emergency services.
Continued public-private cooperative venture with private provider(s) performing all nonemergency ambulance transfers.
PATIENT CARE, CONTINUITY & ACCOUNTABILITY
Better Patient Care Service
Will operate all advanced Type III ambulances
EMS from 14 locations, x more than currently operating resulting in a 24% increase in coverage over the current service
24 paramedics performing advanced procedures
A seamless emergency ambulance service under one authority and one line of supervision increasing accountability and coordination of patient care.
Independent medical oversight to help ensure ongoing training to maintain proficiency and establish procedures | <urn:uuid:b806ab3d-05e8-48fd-9a7c-0b75965c50ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/mayor/media/2000/060800.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935668 | 763 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Muslims all over the world are heading home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and celebrates the spirituality of the previous month. The holiday falls on the first day when the new moon becomes visible and is typically shared with close friends and family members. That makes the three day holiday one of the busiest travel days of the year, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, where Eid celebrations are exceptionally lavish.
Eid al-Fitr is also an occasion for gift giving, so the malls and markets of heavily Muslim countries like Bangladesh have been and will be clogged. Though some countries will celebrate the holiday on Wednesday, timing tends to vary for place to place.
- Internet customers trying to find Matsuda, Pottermore and Ramadan
- Somali refugees: No food to interrupt Ramadan fast
- Travelers wait for flights to resume after Irene
- Philippine troops hunt militants despite Ramadan
- Bangladesh urged to stop extrajudicial killings
There are no comments yet. Why not be the first to speak your mind. | <urn:uuid:2fceb214-7f0d-464b-af9f-46d1298d6853> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tambapress.com/massive-crowds-of-travelers-head-home-for-end-of-ramadan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905794 | 211 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Habits for Smart People is a site which emerged on the Internet in August 2009. Yes, this particular site is new, but it is coming from a person who is an experienced Web Publisher and Internet Entrepreneur.
Hello, My name is Bob Martin. I am the owner, writer and publisher of this site. I have been publishing on the Internet, though, since the Web was in it’s infancy. My first Website started in 1994, and I haven’t stopped since then. There have been times over the past decade and a half that I have published more than 200 different websites at a single time. These days, though, I have pared it back mostly to only include things that I am indeed passionate about.
I am a firm believer that in life you should always do the things that you are passionate about. A lot of people worry about having a job, making money and such. In my case, I have always found that when you do something that you are passionate about, money will follow. I do not really believe in “having a job” and that sort of thing. It works for me. At most times of my life, my philosophy has paid off nicely, and I have not worried about things like earning money. Sometimes, my philosophy is challenged, and I have to try a little harder, but in the end, it just works.
I am a smart person. There, I said it. I do not believe that it is boastful or conceited to say that, I simply believe that it is true. Being smart is not necessarily good or bad. I believe that it is both, in different ways. Being smart does not necessarily make you better than those who are not smart, but it can give you a choice of whether you want to be better or not in many cases.
Even if you are smart, you can fall into bad habits. Being smart, though, you also are able to decide which habits are good, and which are bad, and it is your choice which habits you choose to get into. Sometimes all of us get into bad habits, and as smart people we can choose to change those patterns, and make ourselves better people by getting into the habit of doing good things.
Let me say, in the short time that I have owned this Internet Domain name, there are people who have questioned it. Some people have said that I am “trying to copy somebody else” and that kind of thing. It is not my intention to copy anybody with the name of this site. Funny thing is that different people have said I am copying people, but several different names have been mentioned of who I am trying to emulate! Let’s just lay it out. There are people who have “this or that for smart people,” there are others who have “habits” in their name. Still others have “this or that for dummies.” All of these are independent from each other, as is this site. The name, Habits for Smart People is simply a name that describes what I want to do on this site, nothing else. It is not copied from anybody, nor is it intended to ride anybody’s coattails.
Believe me, just because I have chosen to publish this site, I don’t think that I only have good habits! Far from it! I do, however, want to examine habits – good and bad. As part of this examination, I want to analyze those habits and change my habits. I also want to examine what it is to be smart, what habits will help us be smarter, and instill a desire in myself and others to follow the path toward discovery when it comes to habits, and set ourselves on the path toward positive habits in our lives. | <urn:uuid:0a1365be-6e31-44c1-aae4-fd3400980450> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://habitsforsmartpeople.com/content/about/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978099 | 784 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Egyptian Revolution of January 25th 2011 has been recognized worldwide as a model for its peaceful success, which brought down the previous authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak.
The young Egyptians not only inspired the uprising but also were the vanguard of the revolution. Their political success has inspired younger generations globally to rise up and challenge their governments, even in democratic societies, demanding political and economic reforms. Such political movements have been going on in many cities, particularly in the U.S., Spain, Italy, Germany, China and India.
It is regrettable to say that the Egyptian Higher Military Council, who played a positive role in protecting the revolution during its first stage of uprising, began to change its original strategy.
Many of the demands set by the protestors were not met. Furthermore, many of the supporters and followers of the previous regimes are still part of the functioning government, especially in the areas of the judicial system, the media both electronic and print and the political security system. Also, the emergency law that was supposed to be lifted is still in use. According to the Egyptian press, more than twelve thousand Egyptians have been arrested and many consists of young political activists who have defied the military power and continue their protests to achieve their goal. However, during the past few weeks, several prominent members of the leadership of the young group who played an active role in the Egyptian uprising have been arrested and are waiting to be tried by an Egyptian military court.
The latest well-known political activist is Alaa Abed il-Fatah, who has been accused by the military security as a criminal who stole weapons from the Egyptian military security and was calling on young Egyptians to attack the military security forces during the Copts’ protest in front of Maspero TV station in Cairo last October 9th. Alaa has denied the accusation and he has been in prison pending further investigation by the Egyptian military court. The Egyptian press has revealed a rumor that Alaa was offered release if he stopped attacking General Tantawi, the head of the Egyptian Higher Military Council, but he refused to do so and said that his supporters will continue the struggle for the liberation of Egyptians from the authoritarian rulers. The Egyptian press reported (11/9/2011) that Alaa’s mother, Dr. Liala Sueif began a hunger strike in protest of the jailing of her son. Another young Egyptian individual has joined the protest with Alaa’s mother to send a message to the Military Council demanding that he be tried in front of a civil court instead of a military one.
The supporters of Alaa marched with his mother to protest in front of the Turah prison and were attacked by a group of hoodlums to disperse their protest. I wonder who sent such hoodlums to do the dirty job for the military.
In the meantime, international press such as the British Guardian newspaper, the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post and other newspapers have criticized the Egyptian Military Council for their un-democratic ruling and the suppression of free press and free speech. After all, the Egyptian revolution objectives were not only the removal of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, but also to restore democracy, justice, freedom and free expression. The emergency military law should be abolished and civilian, not military, courts should try suspected violations of the law. Torture of suspects is still taking place in Egyptian prisons. The security officers who killed Khalid Saeed received seven-year jail sentences. Such light sentences encourage some security investigators to continue with their inhumane torture of prisoners. The latest murder case that was reported a few days ago was the death of Issam Atta. Reports revealed that the security found a cellular phone in the possession of Atta and that led to his torture and death. If they are found guilty, those security officers should receive death sentences in order to set a new standard for others. It is regrettable to point out that many indications going on reflect on the changing policy of the Egyptian Higher Military council. The military commands are drifting away from the Egyptian public and want to maintain their authority and control of the Egyptian society. After all, they were part of the previous three regimes from 1952 until January 25th, 2011.
It will be a miracle if the Egyptian Military Council will surrender their authority to a civilian government after the forthcoming election, which is scheduled at the end of November 2011. After all the main objectives of the January 25th Revolution were democracy, justice, equality and freedom of expression. Let us hope that such demands will finally be accomplished without more bloodsh | <urn:uuid:7a34fbb4-8937-495c-9b7d-300fe2ff1cb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mid-east-today.blogspot.com/2011/11/fate-of-young-political-activists.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97828 | 920 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to act kind and loving when you are mad, afraid, or just plain freaked out?
I am reading Ezekiel. In chapter 20, God is talking to Ezekiel, telling him what to say to the Israelites.
Several times in this chapter God says ‘I acted out of who I am, not what I felt.
God got good and mad at the Israelites, but instead of wiping them out, He chose to act from His character rather than His emotions. This means a couple of things:
1. Our emotions don’t define us, our actions do. You don’t have to be beat up by your failures and fears. Your existence is much more complex than how you feel right now.
2. If God has to choose not to act from His emotions, how can we expect to not struggle with the complexity of what is vs. what we feel?
With every act, we are becoming, yet with every act we have the opportunity to be the person we want to be- the person we were created to be.
No wonder Paul cries out ‘I do that which I don’t want to do, and that which I want to do, I don’t.’ (Kim’s paraphrase)
Here’s the awesome part: we don’t have a God who sits outside our struggles wondering why we can’t get it right. God understands the complexity of our nature. He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and to teach and guide us. Who better to learn from than someone who knows the way?
Are you tired of blowing it? God sees you as you really are, and as you can be. If you ask Him, He will teach you how to overcome and be the person you were created to be. | <urn:uuid:a4234ffb-755c-43f4-9384-15020fc14567> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/2010/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972282 | 384 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) is the largest applied research institution, consultancy, and technical support service provider in Jordan and is a regional leader in the fields of science & technology.
RSS provides expert testing services via over 25 specialised locally & internationally accredited laboratories and prides itself on offering both the public and private sectors a unique scientific resource and a wide range of project expertise. Supported by more than 500 science specialists, researchers, technical support staff, highly skilled management, and faculty, the RSS has truly become recognized as a local, regional and international research and development hub.
Born out of the great heart and spirit of His Majesty the Late King Hussein and HRH Prince Hassan in 1970, the Royal Scientific Society has, since day one, aimed high to be the local and regional reference point of knowledge for science and technology using modern engineering research as a base to power economic development and social progress.
RSS proactively guides, supports and strengthens large governmental research projects and commercial incubators for both small and medium enterprises. Industrial firms contract RSS to assess potential impacts on the environment and to recommend practical solutions to minimize and control pollutants. RSS conducts standardised laboratory inspections on many of the foods and products consumed daily by Jordanians.
A wide range of products are continuously inspected & tested including: detergents, paints, textiles, paper products, lubricants, industrial and medicinal gases, in addition to building materials to ensure conformity with national and international standards.
In order to ensure compliance with the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) mandatory equipment servicing requirements as well as guarantee that all the equipment is in proper working order, the (MOH) contracts the RSS to manage, service and maintain the Kingdom’s vast supply of medical equipment.
Since its inception, RSS has led by example. As an independent industry leader, RSS has been at the forefront of Jordanian renewable energy development and research, from wind powered water pumps and aerial generators to solar water heater panels and solar receptors.
With the vast expertise accumulated by the Society over the years, it has established itself as a pioneer within the broader international scientific community. RSS laboratories enjoy close personal co-operative ties with local, regional, and international scientific organizations.
At RSS being customer–centric simply means having an unwavering commitment to the people of Jordan. The RSS continuously strives to improve its standing as a point of reference for scientific knowledge and technical awareness, where quality standards and public health become equal and totally uncompromised. RSS is unequivocally committed to testing with guaranteed accuracy, and is dedicated to research and development.
As Jordan’s business and industry march into a modern 21st century, The Royal Scientific Society is reaching out, building credibility by providing unique services with distinction and preparing Jordan for all the challenges of tomorrow. | <urn:uuid:f6a6db50-b176-46b0-9666-759ebd228966> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rss.jo/page/114 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934598 | 565 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Presented at the 4th Inter-University Graduate Student Conference at Cornell Law School, March 2008.
The idea of human rights protection, historically, has been considered as a domestic matter, to be realized by individual states within their domestic law and national institutions. The protection and promotion of human rights, however, have become one of the most important issues for the international community as a whole. Yet, with time, it has become increasingly difficult for the international community to address human rights problems collectively. Despite a significant development in the human rights norms, effective protection of fundamental human rights and their legal enforcement has a long way to go.
This paper will argue that economic sanctions can contribute to a decrease in individual states’ human rights violations and can be an effective enforcement tool for international law. The international community, including the U.N., should impose effective economic sanctions against states where gross human rights violators are. Economic sanctions have been widely used by the U.N. since the end of the Cold War. Their purpose is generally not to punish the individual state but to modify its behavior. However, such sanctions conflict with other fundamental principles of international law, namely the principle of non-intervention and state sovereignty. Economic sanctions can also conflict with the WTO’s first agenda: free trade. Even worse, economic sanctions are criticized because these sanctions are, arguably, targeted at the people at large, not to the regime, a violator of international norms.
This paper will review the role of economic sanctions in international human rights law. Chapter II examines the principle of non-intervention and whether its exceptions are in international human rights law. Chapter III reviews the doctrines and practices of economic sanctions for human rights protection by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S., and the E.U. Chapter IV examines the legality of the economic sanctions against human rights violations under the WTO system and reviews the possibility of the harmonization of international economic law with international human rights law. Lastly, Chapter V concludes by emphasizing the importance of economic sanctions against human rights violations.
Based on the research outlined above, this paper concludes as follows: Chapter II maintains that the relationship between human rights and state sovereignty should and can be complementary. The protection and promotion of human rights can be enhanced with a respect for state sovereignty. In other words, each individual state has a responsibility to protect and promote the human rights of its own nationals based upon the principle of sovereignty. State sovereignty and independence should serve not as a hurdle to, but as a guarantee for the realization of the fundamental human rights of the state’s nationals. Chapter II also concludes that the concept of human rights has been expanded and the core human rights are inalienable and legally enforceable ones. The evolvement of international human rights law is one of the most remarkable innovations in modern international law. If gross human rights violations, especially those established by the status of Jus Cogens or obligations Erga Omnes, are not solved by a state itself, it is no longer solely the problem of the state concerned. Fundamental human rights have acquired a status of universality and the international community should accept this.
Chapter III reviews the doctrines and practices of economic sanctions for human rights protection by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S., and the E.U. All cases of economic sanctions against gross human rights violations discussed, ten by the Security Council, five by the U.S. and seven by the E.U., were provided as samples to illustrate the idea that economic sanctions by the international community as a whole bolster fundamental human rights. This paper concludes that the sanctions by the Security Council, the U.S. and the E.U. have at least some positive effects on international human rights law. They build international human rights norms. This development also leads to the growing willingness of the international community to impose economic sanctions for human rights protection.
Undeniably, economic sanctions have had some negative effects on the targeted states. In numerous reports and articles, scholars and human rights advocates have constantly argued that economic sanctions hurt large numbers of innocent civilians in the targeted states. Economic sanctions, however, cannot be the sole cause of civilian suffering in the targeted states. The targeted states should bear the heavy burden of responsibility for this suffering. It is undeniable that economic sanctions have inherent flaws. But, this paper disagrees with arguments for opposing the use of economic sanctions because of such flaws and negative effects. The problem is not in the sanctions themselves, but in their effect. Therefore, the criticism on economic sanctions should focus on finding a way to decrease their negative effects, rather than arguing for not imposing them without providing a better alternative. Overall, this chapter concludes that economic sanctions have become part of a collective effort by the international community to develop current human rights norms and to protect and promote fundamental human rights in the targeted states. Chapter IV concludes that while economic sanctions are inherently against the free trade provisions of the GATT, economic sanctions against gross human rights violations are allowed under the exceptional provisions of the GATT in the WTO system. This paper also argues that the GATT should be interpreted consistently with international law. That is, trade restriction measures against gross human rights violations are compatible with the GATT. As discussed in Chapter II and III, fundamental human rights violations are no longer just the domestic concern of each individual state. The evolvement of international human rights law demonstrates that, first, international human rights norms recognized as Jus Cogens provide the legality for the international community’s intervention in offending states; and second, the Erga Omnes status of international human rights norms shows that every state has an interest in other states observing these human rights norms. Overall, while some economic sanctions may conflict with the main goal of the WTO, i.e. free trade, economic sanctions against human rights violations do not undermine the WTO system itself. Rather, they can be adapted to the WTO’s free trade framework under international law.
Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there has been a significant evolution toward the universality of human rights. However, international legal enforcement systems for human rights norms are still underdeveloped despite the considerable progress in international human rights law. This paper concludes that economic sanctions can contribute to a decrease in individual states’ human rights violations and can be an effective enforcement tool for international law.
Date of Authorship for this Version
Baek, Buhm Suk, "Economic Sanctions Against Human Rights Violations" (2008). Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers. Paper 11. | <urn:uuid:eb32f51f-8307-464c-93ab-7f4efcbfeed0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/lps_clacp/11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939239 | 1,331 | 2.75 | 3 |
Fleeing the Flu: MCES creates innovative flu-fighting plan
Story by Meg Ferrante
Elementary school parents worried about flu epidemic this fall can rest assured their kids’ principal has been up at night thinking about it too.
“I just kept wondering what we could do to have the children wash their hands more frequently,” says Jean Triplett, MCES principal, “so we can be proactive with anything that comes up in the flu season. I thought maybe if we make a big deal of it… Get everyone involved… And what if we have one of those huge bottles of hand sanitizer in every classroom? Get the kids in the habit. It’s there, so let’s use it.”
Armed with enthusiasm and the desire to protect the kids, Triplett took her idea to her staff. And the staff has responded like a germ warfare specialty team: with a multi-front attack.
Coaches Dusty Hawkins and Kathy Hubbard are beefing up their hygiene lessons in health class. Students will have an opportunity to run their hands in dust and view the dirt under a black light to see what germs look like.
Art teacher Laura Rice is using the Smart Boards to create a bacteria and virus presentation, showing shapes and colors and having students draw their own colorful germs. She created a new slogan-- "Drown a Germ: Wash Your Hands”--which students are using to illustrate their own flu-fighting reminder bookmarks.
Music teacher Kathy Ellis has a group of kids working on anti-germ ditties to popular songs. One favorite: "Who Washed the Germs Out?" (to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out?). Several students will have an opportunity to act in videos to be used on the morning news as a reminder to cover coughs and wash hands afterwards.
School nurse, Jill Cooper, has a direct stake in the effort as she will be the one getting sneezed on most when the season kicks into high gear. She embraced Triplett’s proactive efforts, especially after seeing a news report of a school in Dunwoody discussing elaborate plans to expedite the sick out of school. While important, she agrees, there was no discussion about prevention.
Cooper sees the students getting on board with the plan as quickly as teachers did. At this age, she says, it’s fairly easy to instill good habits.
“And they all like germs. Germs are cool," she says. "With the videos we’re making, the grosser the better. We’re planning on a really wet sneeze.”
Clips will be played on an ongoing basis throughout the year. And bookmark use will be encouraged, to keep the germ reminder close at hand.
“Our goal is to talk about it," Triplett says, "and say to kids ‘Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands….’ It’s the best way to protect yourself from getting sick.”
Triplett presented the plan to the PTO who asked how they could get involved. The board readily agreed to buy some of the industrial-sized sanitizer bottles for the classrooms.
Timing for this project is good, as the Centers for Disease Control just released updated action guidelines for schools to prevent the spread of flu. The guide is chock-a-block full of steps for educating, preventing and cleaning. But leave it to Morgan County Schools to take things a step further -- nowhere in the guide does it mention having fun in the process. | <urn:uuid:78b2e89c-ca03-400b-b389-ec83216381e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://morgancountycitizen.com/?q=node/11005 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958441 | 750 | 2.84375 | 3 |
TALLINN - At a key address on Estonia's independence day, President Toomas Hendrick Ilves has said that battling unemployment is the country's top priority.
"The most troubling problem currently we need to solve is unemployment. In the good years of economic growth, we came to believe that the unemployed themselves were to blame. This is no longer the case. Companies laid off people not because of poor performance but because of their own economic problems," Ilves said.
"I currently see no other option but to prepare for the worst and do everything in our power to ease the economic impact of unemployment, and particularly its social impact. A substantial amount has been done, but it is not enough," he said.
The president was speaking at Vanemuine Theater in a high-profile annual address that takes stock of the state of the nation and outlines future priorities.
Ilves also mentioned a deteriorating education system as one of the main problems that needs to be addressed in the country.
"I note with growing concern that the desire to modernize Estonia’s educational system and the education we provide is becoming bogged down in political conflict and opposition from interest groups," he said. | <urn:uuid:dd6f2da3-8fec-4a08-86f0-3985b4ed061d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/24735/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978111 | 242 | 1.578125 | 2 |
It’s been over a year since natural disaster ravaged a nuclear plant in Fukushima and interrupted the lives of millions of Japanese. Scientists now fear though that contaminated water is on course to America, and it could be more toxic than thought.
Researchers have released the findings of an intense study into the aftermath of last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster and warn that the United States isn’t exactly spared just yet. In fact, scientists now fear that incredibly contaminated ocean waters could be reaching the West Coast of the US in a matter of only five years, and the toxicity of those waves could eventually be worse than what was seen in Japan.
A team of scientists led by Joke F Lübbecke of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory have published the findings of an experiment recently conducted to measure the impact of last year’s nuclear disaster and the results are eye-opening to say the least. By simulating the spreading of contaminated ocean waters and seeing how currents could carry them across the Pacific from Japan to the US, scientists believe that the worst might be still on the way.
“Within one year it will have spread over the entire western half of the North Pacific and in five years we predict it will reach the US West Coast.” Claus Böning, co-author of the study, tells the website Environmentalresearchweb.
Böning adds that “The levels of radiation that hit the US coast will be small relative to the levels released by Fukushima,” yet fails to exactly stand by that statement in the fullest. “But we cannot estimate accurately what those levels will be because we do not know for certain what was released by Fukushima,” the doctor adds.
In fact, others fear that contaminated ocean waters may collect in packets and produce waves of highly concentrated nuclear toxins that could pose a dangerous toll to Americans. | <urn:uuid:7a35b12a-fc9b-44d9-a4be-8cc4948abfeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://truthisscary.com/2012/07/us-west-coast-to-receive-dangerous-levels-of-fukushima-radiation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956036 | 392 | 3.25 | 3 |
A key ability of a referee is to be able to put themselves in the shoes of the NPCs and look at the world from their point of view. One day while working on the one of the histories of the Majestic Wilderlands I wondered what do they know about their own history?
See in our history much has been preserved and much has been lost. We know that the roman emperor Claudius wrote a history of Rome up to his reign. But so far no copies have been found. It was mentioned and quoted in other works that have been preserved, so we know it exists.
The central drama of the history of Majestic Wilderlands is the rise, and fall of the Ghinorians. They noted for believing that they are the chosen people of the goddess of justice and honor, Mitra.
Their history in brief involves escape from slavery at the hand of Set Worshippers, the estabilshment of the seven tribal principalites, the Kingdom of Ghinor, it's fall, the estabilshment of the Ghinorian Empire under the Imperial Prince, the estabilshed of several colonies throughout the wilderlands, the fall of the Empire, and finally the histories of the individual successor states. Whew! Over four thousand years compressed there.
My inspiration for the Ghinorians is a mash up of Old Testament Hebrews and Rome. So when I was thinking of the Ghinorians it natural to think they have holy books chronicling their early history.
These books are Beginnings, Exodus, Judges, Kingdom, and Chronicle. Detailing the history of the Ghinorian People from Creation to the foundation of the Empire. Like the Bible it not what we consider a straight historical account but rather the story of the Ghinorians relationship of Mitra throughout the centuries. Like the Hebrews of the Bible, when they are adhere to Mitra's principles they prosper, when they don't bad things happen.
Along with the Five Books, there is also the Commentaries of Loris. Loris was the second Patriarch of Mitra. The commentaris function as a catcheism, outlining the beliefs and rituals of the Church of Mitra. Unlike the Five Books the Commentaries can and have been updated. Although never excised. Older entries are noted as being no longer in force.
The Five Books and the Commentaries were first written after the foundation of the Empire. It is believed the first Imperial Prince, Palanon, was instrumental in collecting the oral traditions and scattered writing into their final form.
There are probably over 200 books that have been preserved from the days of the Empire. Four dozen of them are considered the classics are found in nearly all the Ghinorian Successor states. The rest are scattered in different libraries. The collections are those of Lenap-Tlan, and of Modron-Nome-(City-State)-Nomar-Tarantis. The Ghinor Homeland has a smaller collection as much was lost during the invasion of the Ionian Barbarian and the Great Harrowing of the Church of Mitra. The Karian Isle have a fourth collection but much of it has been altered to conform with the belief that the Imperial Prince of the Karian Isles is the divine son of Mitra.
The Elves preserved their history through oral traditions. They have honed the art of memory to a science. The various ballads, and poems have been honed through the age to maximize both accuracy and ease of memorization.
To aid this Elves craft pattern stones. The pattern stones don't preserve the actual words but rather the rhyme or meter of the associated poem. Much like the opening theme of Star Wars or Indiana Jones brings up the stories that the movies tell so does the inscriptions on the pattern stones.
The Elves apply this to much of their record keeping using physical objects as mnemonics to bring up the memory of the desired information. This includes spell casting.
Occasionally an Elf will create inscriptions or a scribe a scroll as a gift to one of the mortal races.
Like the Elves the Dwarves use a oral tradition to preserve their history. In their holds they have memory halls were the poems, epics, and ballads are inscribed for apprentices to learn off of. Minor works typically only have the first line of each part inscription and only the greatest works are inscribed in full.
The loss of the Majestic Fastness was a particular tragedy for the Dwarves of Thunderhold. There was no time to record the memory hall of the Majestic Fastness. Due to the many death in Ancelgorn's wake of destruction only half was able to be recovered through the memories of the survivors.
The Gnomes use sound as memory aids. They construct different wind instruments that are unique in their notes. When played they allow the Gnomes to recall the the poem.
That pretty much all I got for now on this topic.
17 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:b5274977-da5d-4fb2-84b4-c61f3955eab1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://batintheattic.blogspot.ca/2010/04/remembering-history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960761 | 1,014 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Hackers Release 1 Million iOS Device UDIDs Obtained from FBI Laptop
During the second week of March 2012, a Dell Vostro notebook, used by Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K. Stangl from FBI Regional Cyber Action Team and New York FBI Office Evidence Response Team was breached using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability on Java, during the shell session some files were downloaded from his Desktop folder one of them with the name of "NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv" turned to be a list of 12,367,232 Apple iOS devices including Unique Device Identifiers (UDID), user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers, addresses, etc. the personal details fields referring to people appears many times empty leaving the whole list incompleted on many parts. no other file on the same folder makes mention about this list or its purpose.The file that was found was said to contain over 12 million device records, including Apple UDIDs, usernames, push notification tokens, and in some instances, names, cell phone numbers, addresses and zip codes.
The group released 1 million of these records but stripped most personal information. The final release includes Apple UDIDs, APNS (push notification) Tokens, Device Name (e.g. "Arnold's iPhone") and Device Type (e.g. "iPhone"). MacRumors has been able to confirm that the UDIDs appear to be legitimate.
The source of the data is not entirely clear, though the type of data is typical for the kind of information an iOS app developer would collect to deliver push notifications to users. It seems an App developer or developers are the original likely source of the information, though no specific information is yet available. Right now there's no easy way to determine if your device's UDID was included in the list, beyond downloading the list yourself.
The actual implications of the leak, even if your UDID is found, aren't entirely clear. The UDIDs themselves are rather harmless in isolation. Apple has previously come under fire for the use of these globally identifying ids. The privacy risks, however, typically come from these ids being used across ad networks and apps to piece together a more complete picture of activity and interests of the user. But it was reported back in 2011 that by leveraging existing networks, information and even login access can be obtained from UDIDs. It's not yet clear if the released push tokens can be used in any manner. | <urn:uuid:15e49c12-f1ce-407f-8ea9-5b82126b9cc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/04/hackers-release-1-million-ios-device-udids-obtained-from-fbi-laptop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947311 | 513 | 1.796875 | 2 |
During the second year of the study's data collection, program administrators indicated that their major objectives for programs serving middle school students were to help students improve academically and to provide a safe place for them after school. About 80 percent of centers offered homework sessions and 60 percent offered other types of academic assistance, such as additional help in language arts or mathematics. The emphasis on academics increased from the first to second year, according to site visitors, principals, center coordinators, and project directors. While our site visit data cannot confirm this shift, there clearly was a perception that centers were focusing more on academic activities.
Programs experienced considerable staff turnover during the 2 years of the study. Two-thirds of the staff did not return in the second year; almost one-third of the schools where centers were located had a new principal, and one-third had a new center coordinator. Only about 20 percent of programs had a new project director. Staff most commonly cited the demands on time that after-school work posed rather than pay as the reason for not returning.
Program attendance was much lower in the second year, averaging just 8.8 days. This was in large part because many students—59 percent of the program group—transferred to high schools or other middle schools that had no 21st Century programs. Among the 41 percent of the program group who had access to the program in the second year, 47 percent attended at least 1 day; for the year, their attendance averaged 30 days. This is similar to the average number of days attended in the first year (33 days). Ten percent of participating students attended more than 75 days and 59 percent of participating students attended fewer than 26 days (Figure 3). Week-to-week attendance patterns also were similar to first-year patterns.
Supervision After School. The program group was less likely to be with siblings than the comparison group. There were no differences in self-care, with roughly 19 percent of participants and nonparticipants indicating that they were not with an adult or older sibling three or more days a week after school.
Academic Achievement. There were few differences between the program and comparison groups on academic outcomes (Figure 4). The program group had higher grades in social studies. Other outcomes—including grades in mathematics, science, and English, as well as teacher reports of achievement—did not differ. The level of homework completion also did not differ.
Safety After School. There were no differences between the program group and comparison group in feelings of safety after school.
Developmental Outcomes. The program group was more likely than the comparison group—82 percent versus 79 percent—to expect to graduate from college. No differences were observed in other developmental areas.
Negative Behaviors. Findings on one of several drug-use questions indicated that the program group had a higher incidence of drug use (use for both groups was low). There were no differences on the other measures of drug use. There were mixed findings on other measures of behavior. Treatment students were more likely than comparison students to report breaking things on purpose and had higher values on an index of negative behaviors, but there were no differences on other outcomes such as punching someone, stealing, selling drugs, or getting arrested.
Parent Outcomes. No differences were found in parent involvement.
Subgroup Impacts. The study examined six subgroups: (1) grade level, (2) whether students had low or high reading test scores at baseline, (3) whether students had low or high discipline problems at baseline, (4) student race and ethnicity, (5) student gender, and (6) whether students lived in two-parent or one-parent households. None showed distinct patterns of difference, with one exception: students with low grades (at baseline) had more positive impacts than did students with high grades. Reasons for the difference were not clear.Comparison of Findings of the First and Second Reports
The comparison below is presented separately for elementary and middle school students because the basis for differences in findings differs for the two groups. For elementary school students, differences in findings between the first and second reports are due to the addition of new sites to the study; for middle school students, differences in findings relate to an additional follow-up year.
Supervision and Location After School. Both reports found that elementary school students attending programs were less likely to be supervised by parents and siblings and more likely to be supervised by other adults. They also were more likely to be at school and less likely to be at home during after-school hours.
Academic Achievement. Both reports found that programs generally did not improve academic outcomes such as grades or test scores. In the first report, elementary school students had higher grades in social studies but not in English, mathematics, or science. In the second report, grades were not higher in any of the four subjects. Both reports found no difference in reading test scores. Both reports found homework completion was lower; the second report's finding was statistically significant.
Safety After School. Both reports found that students reported feeling safer after school; only the second report's finding (based on a larger sample size) was statistically significant.
Social, Emotional, and Developmental Outcomes. Both reports found that students were more likely to help other students after school. There were no differences in other outcomes, such as the extent to which students reported getting along with others or setting goals and working toward them.
Negative Behaviors. Students were equally likely to be disciplined for bad behavior, be suspended, or receive detention.
Parent Outcomes. Both reports found that parents were more likely to attend after-school events, to help their children with homework, and to ask their children about class.
Subgroup Outcomes. Neither report found noteworthy patterns of subgroup outcomes. In the second report, students from two-parent households had larger impacts on some outcomes than students from single-parent households, but these differences were no longer significant after controlling for students' membership in other subgroups. This subgroup was not examined in the first report.
Supervision and Location After School. The first report found that program students were more likely than comparison-group students to be supervised by other adults and less likely to be supervised by parents or siblings. Students also were more likely to be at school and less likely to be at home during the after-school hours. In the second report, the only significant findings were a reduction in being supervised by siblings and an increase in being at school during the after-school hours.
Academic Achievement. Both reports found few differences in academic outcomes. In the first report, students had higher grades in math but not in English, science, or social studies. In the second report, students had higher grades in social studies but not in English, math, or science. Both reports found no differences in homework completion. School absences were lower for treatment students relative to comparison students in both reports.
Safety After School. Both reports found no differences in feelings of safety after school.
Social, Emotional, and Developmental Outcomes. Both reports found an increase in students who expected to go to college.
Negative Behaviors. Both reports found mixed evidence on negative behaviors. Some estimates indicated that program students were more likely to engage in negative behaviors and others showed no difference.
Parent Outcomes. The first report indicated that parents were more likely to attend open houses, parent/teacher organization meetings, and after-school events, and more likely to volunteer at school. The second report found no differences in parent involvement.
Subgroup Outcomes. The first report found some increases in academic outcomes for black and Hispanic middle school students. The second report did not find such increases. | <urn:uuid:6b244f38-54b3-4413-8ff0-803b84b53a5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/clc2004/summ3.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983494 | 1,570 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Heinkel He 343
The Heinkel He 343 was a four-engined jet bomber project, based on an enlarged Arado Ar 234 design.
Four versions were planned: the He 343A-1 bomber, the A-2 reconnaissance aircraft, and the A-3 and B-1 Zerstorer types.
Twenty aircraft were ordered in early 1944, but late in the year the project was cancelled. There are rumoured that one aircraft was completed, but it was destroyed before it could be test-flown.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:5d81b752-50ef-4e16-bab2-732cef7de3b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Heinkel_He_343 | 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 | 0.967524 | 144 | 2.71875 | 3 |
New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Saturday that the authorities should spread awareness about government health schemes and asked poor people to take advantage of such medical programmes.
"Now people run to hospitals even for small injuries. However, the main problem is that not everyone is following the trend. There is a large section of society who thinks that hospitals are not affordable because they are not aware of schemes for the poor," Dikshit said at the inauguration of a private hospital in west Delhi.
The chief minister asked Delhi Health Minister A.K Walia to start a new awareness campaign on spreading the message for such public health initiatives.
"There is a scheme called Rashtriya Swasthaya Bima Yojna (RSBY) for people falling below poverty line it is just that people need to know about the schemes," Dikshit added.
The centrally-sponsored RSBY provides health insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL)families. | <urn:uuid:ef76e04a-6110-41d0-a5fa-2b2eb77df6ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/spread-awareness-health-schemes-dikshit-111515768.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969975 | 204 | 2.125 | 2 |
In Mary, Humanity and Divinity Are at HomeSunday Mass Readings Vigil Mass ReadingsPodcast of Readings Video Reflections Lecturas y Comentarios Sunday Readings Bible StudyPrayer of the HoursBurning Question: Do Catholics "worship" the Virgin Mary?"
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Aug. 15, 2010 (AssumptionC)
By Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
TORONTO, JULY 30, 2010 (www.Zenit.org
).- It is not often that the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on a Sunday. I would like to offer a few reflections on the historical and pastoral significance of this important feast, and its relevance for our own life. The Assumption of Mary, Mother of the Lord, into heaven is a consoling sign of our hope. In looking to her, carried up amid the rejoicing of angels, human life is opened to the perspective of eternal happiness. Our own death is not the end but rather the entrance into life that knows no death.Immaculate Conception
For Catholic Christians, the belief in the Assumption of Mary flows from our belief in and understanding of Mary's Immaculate Conception. We believe that if Mary was preserved from sin by the free gift of God, she would not be bound to experience the consequences of sin and death in the same way that we do. We believe that because of the obedience and fidelity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, she was assumed both body and soul into heavenly glory.History
For several centuries in the early Church, there is no mention by the church fathers of the bodily Assumption of Mary. Irenaeus, Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose and the others Church Fathers said nothing about it. Writing in 377 A.D., church father Epiphanius states that no one knows Mary's end.
As early as the 5th century, the feast of the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in Syria. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the Apocryphal Books were testimony of the unwillingness of the Church to accept the fact that the body of the Mother of God should lie in a grave. In the 6th century, the feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Jerusalem and perhaps even in Alexandria.
The first "genuine" written references to the Assumption come from authors who lived in the sixth to the eighth centuries. It is mentioned in the sermons of St. Andrew of Crete, St. John Damascene, St. Modestus of Jerusalem and others. In the West, St. Gregory of Tours mentions it first. St. Gregory lived in the sixth century, while St John Damascene belongs to the eighth century.
In the 9th century, the feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Spain. From the 10th to the 12th centuries, there was no dispute over the celebration of the feast in the Western Church. In the 12th century, the feast of was celebrated in the city of Rome and in France.
From the 13th century to the present, there is certain and undisputed faith in the Assumption of Mary in the universal Church. In 1950, Pope Pius XII taught infallibly ("Munificentissimus Deus"): "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory."Assumption or Dormition?
The Catholic feast of the Assumption is celebrated on Aug. 15, and Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos (the falling asleep of the Mother of God) on or around the same date. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Mary died a natural death, that her soul was received by Christ upon death, and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her death and that she was taken up into heaven bodily in anticipation of the general resurrection. Her tomb was found empty on the third day. (One can visit the Orthodox tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem. It is located near the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane.)Sign of the Kingdom
In presenting the "great sign" of the "woman clothed with the sun," the first reading from the Book of Revelation (11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10) says that she "was with child and ... cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery" (12:2). Just as the risen Christ who has ascended into heaven forever bears the wounds of his redemptive death within his glorious body, so his Mother brings to eternity "the pangs" and "anguish for delivery" (12:2). We could say that Mary, as the new Eve, continues from generation to generation to give birth to the new man, "created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). This is the Church's eschatological image, which is present and active in the Virgin Mary.Unless Christ is risen
In the second reading for today's feast (1 Corinthians 15:20-27), St. Paul addresses a problem among the Corinthians: their denial of the resurrection of the dead (12) apparently because of their inability to imagine how any kind of bodily existence could be possible after death (35). Paul affirms both the essential corporeity of the resurrection and its future orientation. His response moves through three steps: a recall of the basic "kerygma" about Jesus' resurrection (15:1-11), an assertion of the logical inconsistencies involved in denial of the resurrection (12-34), and an attempt to perceive theologically what the properties of the resurrected body must be (35-58).
Denial of the resurrection (15:12) involves logical inconsistencies. The basic one, stated twice (15:13, 16), is that if there is no such thing as (bodily) resurrection, then it has not taken place even in Christ's case. The consequences for the Corinthians are grave: both forgiveness of sins and salvation are an illusion, despite their strong convictions about both. Unless Christ is risen, their faith does not save.
Christ's definitive victory over death, which came into the world because of Adam's sin, shines out in Mary, assumed into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. It was Christ, the "new" Adam, who conquered death, offering himself as a sacrifice on Calvary in loving obedience to the Father. In this way he redeemed us from the slavery of sin and evil. In Mary's triumph, the Church contemplates her whom the Father chose as the true Mother of his Only-begotten Son, closely associating her with the saving plan of Redemption.Life from barren wombs and empty tombs
The Gospel for today's feast (Luke 1:39-56) invites us into the extraordinary story of two women sharing their faith, hope, and happiness as they prepare for motherhood. It is an occasion for celebration between Elizabeth, who is old and barren, and Mary, a young betrothed virgin -- a story of God's ability to both give and sustain life. Our God causes life to surge forth from barren wombs and empty tombs. Mary's trip to the hill country of Judah is also a manifestation of the coming kingdom.
Mary is a model for each of us, and her Assumption into heaven reminds us that there is hope for you and me. What happens to the Virgin daughter of Nazareth at the end of her earthly pilgrimage will happen to each of us if we are faithful and obedient as she was.
Taken up into heaven, Mary shows us the way to God, the way to heaven, the way to life. She shows it to her children baptized in Christ and to all people of good will. She opens this way especially to the little ones and to the poor, those who are open to divine mercy. The Queen of the world reveals to individuals and to nations the power of the love of God whose plan upsets that of the proud, pulls down the mighty from their thrones and exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich empty away (Luke 1:51-53).Marian triptych
We celebrate three great moments of Mary's life knowing that they represent all of our lives. When Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 with the Bull "Ineffabilis," he referred explicitly to the biblical story of the Annunciation in Luke's Gospel. The angel Gabriel's salutation, "Hail, full of grace," is understood as recognizing that Mary must always have been free from sin. God was present and moving in Mary's life from the earliest moments. God's grace is greater than sin; it overpowers sin and death. Through her Immaculate Conception, Mary was called for a special mission.
The second moment of Mary's life is the Incarnation. Through the virginal birth of Jesus we are reminded that God moves powerfully in our lives too. Our response to that movement must be one of recognition, gratitude, humility, openness and welcome. Through the Incarnation, Mary was gifted with the Word made Flesh.
The Church celebrates Mary's final journey into the fullness of God's Kingdom with the dogma of the Assumption promulgated by Pius XII in 1950. As with her beginnings, so too, with the end of her life, God fulfilled in her all of the promises that he has given to us. We, too, shall be raised up into heaven as she was. In Mary we have an image of humanity and divinity at home. God is indeed comfortable in our presence and we in God's. Through her Assumption, Mary was chosen to have a special place of honor in the Godhead.Mary follows our footsteps
Let me conclude these reflections on Mary's Assumption with the moving words of Benedict XVI, spoken at his weekly General Audience at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 16, 2006.
He said: "By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful. Consequently, we must not lose our serenity and peace even amid the thousands of daily difficulties. The luminous sign of Our Lady taken up into Heaven shines out even more brightly when sad shadows of suffering and violence seem to loom on the horizon.
"We may be sure of it: from on high, Mary follows our footsteps with gentle concern, dispels the gloom in moments of darkness and distress, reassures us with her motherly hand. Supported by awareness of this, let us continue confidently on our path of Christian commitment wherever Providence may lead us. Let us forge ahead in our lives under Mary's guidance."
[The readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary are Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56]
* * *Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, chief executive officer of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network in Canada, is a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
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On the Net:
Salt and Light: www.saltandlighttv.org | <urn:uuid:7f0ab7e7-d232-45ea-998c-87aca4350f51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parishworld.net/con_KnowingOurFaith.cfm?contentUUID=66F8B5D5-24E8-690A-7A90AB6DA2163D99%7C201008&arcView=Aug_2010 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955324 | 2,368 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Pecker’s Revenge And Other Stories From The Frontier’s Edge
Lori Van Pelt’s short western stories have won awards, been printed in anthologies and read at the Autry Museum. Pecker’s Revenge is her first collection of short fiction.
Several stories in this collection follow one of two patterns: 1) the first half tells a fictionalized version of a legend or piece of history from the American West, then jumps ahead to a modern-day tour guide or teacher giving exposition (“And that’s the story of [whatever].”) Or 2) the story begins in the middle of the action, and then jumps immediately to exposition about what has led up to this moment (sometimes about what happened before that as well). Van Pelt works hard to establish a sense of place, with mixed results. Ironically, the stories that are most successful at evoking believable characters and emotion are set in the present day (“The Apology Tree,” “The Upholsterer’s Apprentice”), with glimpses of the historical back-story shown through diary entries, local color and the like. The stories themselves are heavily plot-driven, as short stories usually are, but some have more story to them than others. Some are engaging, some suspenseful; others attempt suspense and gritty realism but end up dull and/or anticlimactic. At least one story’s title gives away the ending (“Lover’s Leap”—does anyone not know?). A few have author’s notes at the end, though these don’t really seem to add any information or insight to the story in question.
There’s a lot of “telling” of action and emotion, rather than “showing,” and many of the characters fit easily into the familiar Western archetypes. The best story in the collection is “Prairie Music,” a haunting tale that stays with the reader after some of the others fade. Though there’s much here that is good, the collection is uneven at best. | <urn:uuid:1534c7bb-a276-4ca5-9ace-94d888424bb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/peckers-revenge-and-other-stories-from-the-frontiers-edge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936713 | 444 | 1.625 | 2 |
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Though it's only been three years since Byriah Loper took up the art of paper folding, or origami, the 18-year-old has already created an impressive portfolio of works. Specializing in modular origami, which involves folding multiple pieces of paper together and then assembling them without any glue or thread to create a complex geometric shape, Loper, along with fellow origami hobbyists Daniel Kwan, Tom Hull, and Robert Lang are leading the exciting movement.
Though he's designed over 175 original pieces to date, Loper's favorite piece is The Alphabet (shown immediately above) which was made up of 26 interlocking 25 sided polygon stars. It was constructed from 650 individually folded pieces of paper and took a whopping 27 hours to make. As he told Discover Paper, "The Alphabet name comes from the fact that it represents a planar form that has every letter of the alphabet. (hence 26 stars- 26 letters in the alphabet). I like it because of the simple, yet immensely impressive result. It is a one of a kind that exists nowhere else."
Loper will be releasing his first book, called Dynamic Modular Origami, in the spring of 2015. Stellar work!
Add a Comment | <urn:uuid:ed55f51b-6925-44b0-b694-f975c7ef1748> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/byriah-loper-origami-art | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960589 | 251 | 2.59375 | 3 |
At the eastern end of Tulamben Bay, a Hindu Temple perches on a cliff of sharp, black volcanic rock that drops into the sea to form a rocky reef-top that parallels the shore from whence 3 solid coral growth ‘spurs’ or fingers descend to well below 70m depth. The western side of the spur facing Tulamben bay forms what is known as ‘The Wall’; a sheer vertical drop of 30m and more. Life forms here are essentially the same you would find on the wreck, albeit in less concentration due to much more open space. Fish congregations would increase in density on the outer reaches of the three spurs where currents bring higher concentrations of nutrients. A classic ‘Tulamben Wall Dive’ would have you enter the water at the beach just below the temple and head away from shore with the reef to your right, over coral outcrops past two huge barrel sponges at 12m and 15m respectively to the beginning of the wall which has several caverns and is richly overgrown with sea fans of many colors, various sponges and black coral bushes. Several enormous ear sponges dot the area; sadly two of those have the names of diving morons engraved in them. You would gradually descend, wall on your right shoulder, to your predetermined maximum depth (30m is recommended) where you would turn right 90 degrees, gradually ascending to about 20m as you continue your dive parallel to shore, with the ‘Drop Off’ now sloping at an approximately 45 degrees angle below you, the blue yonder on your left shoulder. At this turning point, at 29m depth, is the ‘Drop Off’s’ signature highlight: a huge, purple Gorgonian sea fan that would out-span an adult diver, arms and fins outstretched! It is the home of an extended family of shy Longnose Hawk fish, a relatively uncommon deep water specimen. On a sadder note it must be said,however, that at the time of this writing, the size of this fabulous fan that had been known to divers since time memoriam has withered to about one third of its known size and appears to be slowly dying. No foul play seems to be at work, and storms do not cause surges this deep. During my last visit, I removed some algae growth and clams that appeared to suffocate it; but I have no illusion of being able to save it. Probably, a time comes for all things living, and change is inevitable.
It is here that, unless you have the luxury of a dive boat following your progress so that you won’t have to return to Tulamben Bay, some planning is required: should the current run to the east, don’t follow it too far, as you will have to fight it on your way back, drastically upping your air consumption even if you return at a shallower depth until you can take shelter in the lee of the current when you reach the wall again. But currents here are mostly mild, increasing a bit at the outer reaches of the 3 spurs, and run towards the bay more often than not, taking you home again comfortably.
The entire ‘Drop Off’ area is covered with a filigreed, rusty-red and white carpet of fire (hard) coral, consisting of small trees and branches about the size of a human hand. Up to the ‘La Nina’ year of 1998, that carpet extended all the way to the surface. It now forms a clearly defined navigation mark at 12m depth as hard coral couldn’t survive water temperature warmer than 31 degrees, but which prevailed during that year. True to fashion that most living things underwater are constantly engaged in a tug of war, it appears that in several places fire coral – in a quest for the surface and the sun – is attempting to regain the space it had vacated in the zone above the 12m line and that had been occupied by soft coral since then.
A word of caution : Although the Drop Off is an easy dive, the formation of the wall combined with the clarity of the water, coral extending down forever and promises of ‘big dogs that lurk at depth’ are very tempting to go deep. Please stay within the safe limits you have been taught by your instructor. Divers do get bent at the drop off! I had an ‘out of air’ situation many years back when doing a decompression dive to find out for myself where the reef really ends. In October 2008, a European solo diver did lose his life; his body was found floating on the surface near the wall, tank empty. Enjoy the spectacular beauty of the Drop Off – don’t push it! | <urn:uuid:7ea56d72-c166-4273-b56f-79dd8e30da96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scubaseraya.com/diving/dive-sites/drop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966674 | 979 | 2.21875 | 2 |
With International Competition, students build their vocabulary, develop and enhance their organization and acquisition of information, and enrich their perspective of the world in
Eric Heiden breaks records in Men's speed skating, Romania births a champion in Nadia Comanici. The Olympics: then and now. Underdogs - the 1980 U.S. Hockey team. Native American Jim Thorpe sets new records in bids for championships.
The Reading Comprehension Series for Grades 3-9 is designed to reinforce main idea and sequence identification, use context to identify words, recognize cause and effect, and develop many other skills taught in the classroom. The series builds reading comprehension by emphasizing kinesthetic learning, listening skills, decision making, syntactic understanding and evaluation.
Benefits and Features
The topics, chosen from among high interest and curriculum compatible areas, appeal to students and foster lively discussion.
Multiple choice and essay questions are included with each selection and the students' progress reports may be printed.
These open-ended programs are versatile and easy to use. Teachers may add their own stories and questions at any time.
Lesson Plans are designed to reinforce comprehension, analysis and evaluation of any selection in the series. Lesson Plans and Supplemental Materials are included with multiple-copy versions.
Minimum System Requirements:
Will run on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista as well as Mac PowerPC or Intel machines with OS X 10.4 or higher. They install directly on the hard drive and after installation, the CD is no longer needed to run the program. | <urn:uuid:61185e21-d77a-453c-9460-fadb42d53974> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swexpress.com/item/B11EFAAF4EEE72CA852573E50054897C?opendocument&title=Reading-Comprehension:-International-Competition--Stand-Alone-Hybrid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931983 | 312 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Brockville is one of three Ontario communities selected by the Ontario Government to implement programming associated with supporting the building of immigration capacity for rural communities in the province.
Fostering a welcoming climate for immigration is a primary first step towards advancing an aggressive immigration attraction and recruitment strategy. Brockville will assist with the coordination of settlement needs of new immigrations and endeavour to enhance the cultural diversity of the Brockville and Leeds Grenville region.
For more information: http://www.newcomersinfo.ca/
Multicultural and Immigration
Brockville and District Multicultural Council
The Brockville and District Multicultural Council is an umbrella organization for ethno-cultural groups. Every May it hosts its annual multicultural festival to bring together people from various backgrounds for good food, entertainment and goodwill. For more details on this year's festival visit the Council's website. The council also provides settlement counseling and community get-togethers. Translation and interpretation services in Chinese, Mandarin, French, Greek, German, English, Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish and Turkish are available.
The Brockville and District Multicultural Council is a multicultural heritage group which holds an annual festival each year on the first weekend in May.
Immigrant Resources / Settlement Services
For those who are of immigrant status, new Canadian, temporary visitor/worker/student. They assist the afore mentioned with a variety of issues both in settlement (where/how to rent, where to get a driver’s license, health card, stores that meet specific dietary needs, etc.) and immigration, such as filling out applications for permanent residence, sponsorship, Canadian citizenship, etc.
The Brockville Immigrant Resource Centre is located at T.R. Leger School at St. Lawrence College. It is operated by the Upper Canada District School Board and funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. CIRC states it is a one-stop centre for information about settlement services, education, employment, health services, job search workshops, DVDs and multi-lingual information for newcomers to Canada. The website is www.welcometrleger.ca and there you will find contact and other information on Canadian citizenship. For additional information e-mail program manager firstname.lastname@example.org. The local settlement worker is Julie Case and she can be reached at 613-330-0102 or at email@example.com or visit the website.
The Cornwall Immigrant Resource Centre (CIRC) in nearby Cornwall assists new Canadians, temporary visitors, workers and students. The centre, because of demand, has outreach services to the surrounding eastern Ontario community, including a site in Brockville for people settling in the Leeds Grenville area.
Telephone: 613-342-1127 or 613-930-2486 | <urn:uuid:a7418884-518c-4510-a6ff-e3dddf68e26d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brockville.com/economicdevelopment/index.cfm?ID=285 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9169 | 589 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Great retailers know they must be in the rhythm of societal trends. We know how contemporary Apple stores, Abercrombie, Sephora's, and Coach stores feel. But I want to talk about plain old grocery shopping.
Like a CSI episode, where the evidence at first is invisible but then magically becomes apparent to the talented investigator throughout the crime scene, the forensic evidence about what people want from retail and what keeps them up at night is right there in their shopping cart.
- Concern for our planet and our bodies. Ten years ago, grocery retailers didn't offer reusable, sustainable bags. Entenmann's cakes greeted the shopper while today, even in mainstream supermarkets, it's fresh organic produce. Now, concerns for the environment are built into mainstream offerings and their packaging.
- Concern for making ends meet. Wal-Mart gains market share. Coupon use is way up. Store brands are gaining share. Obviously, shoppers are worried about money and at retail, we can observe them making the tradeoffs to make ends meet.
- The need for simplifying life. Convenience stores are how gas stations make money. Prepared meals in supermarkets make life grab n' go. Many people don't even enter the store, they order online.
- Small indulgences. As we rush to get through a shopping trip as fast as possible, suddenly we slow down as we pass the artisan cheeses and breads. We stop at the olive bar. We can't pass up the tasting stations. We might buy the cheapest coffee but we also get a bag of something special.
- The rise of multi-cultural America. Smart grocery retailers now have culturally relevant store formats. Publix stores in Hispanic and Anglo-white neighborhoods are designed to look nothing like each other.
- Diversity of lifestyles. Out of the 40,000 products in a typical supermarket, an average shopper buys only 400 items in a year, so it's no surprise that no two market baskets are exactly alike.
DunnHumby is a consulting firm that turned shopper forensics into a high science. They code each product a shopper buys into life traits and then infer a lot about that shopper by analyzing their purchases over time. For example, it's easy to tell who the young mothers are and who is on a diet. This approach made U.K. also-ran Tesco number one by telling them much more about their shoppers than any retailer ever knew before.
While forensic analysis is good, retailers shouldn't only analyze the crime scene, they need to look for manufacturers who can help them anticipate society and translate that into merchandising action. For example, Kimberly-Clark partnered with Walgreens to help them understand the shopping experience for the elderly and what they can do about it. Executives wore glasses that blurred and yellowed their vision, and put tape on their hands in a way that mimicked the restrictions from arthritis. This program led to new merchandising concepts. I imagine we'll see products on lower shelving, big letter labeling, and perhaps personal shoppers.
Manufacturers and retailers must see people as the full human ... theatre in the round. It's all there if you know what to look for as during the course of a big shopping trip, a shopper's life is put on display. Ask Bill Peterson or Paco Underhill.
Joel Rubinson is Chief Research Officer at The ARF, where he directs the organization's priorities and initiatives on behalf of 400+ advertisers, advertising agencies, associations, research firms, and media companies. Joel is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and an active blogger. He holds an MBA in statistics and economics from the University of Chicago and a BS from NYU and never leaves home without his harmonica. Follow him on Twitter: @joelrubinson. | <urn:uuid:74fbfa69-d019-4b57-b2aa-f7811596ef05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcompany.com/1459841/what-csi-can-teach-us-about-shopper-behavior | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960305 | 781 | 1.96875 | 2 |
We in this generation have seen miracle after miracle unfold. We have watched a battered people return to their homeland. We have tasted of the fruits that have blossomed in a land that had lain barren for centuries. We had experienced one miraculous battle after another of a small and gifted army. More recently we see a small state whose economy continues to flourish despite the financial ravages all around them. We see the nations planning and conspiring to destroy this land fall into disarray and confusion. So much unfolding in such a short time.
Yet the majority of the nations in the world simply does not understand or accept this land and this people as a prophetic reality. On the other hand there is a smaller but increasing number of people that are growing in this understanding. What can explain such a diversity of vision and experience?
The commentator Ibn Ezra suggests that the placement of the story of Yitro ( Jethro) coming to join the people of Israel right after the story of the battle with Amalek is not a function of chronology. Rather it’s placement becomes a prototype for describing two opposing reactions to G-d’s involvement in this world and His involvement with the people of Israel.
We read in the beginning of this Parsha that ” Now Moshe’s’ father in law, Yitro , the chieftain of Midian, heard all that G-d had done for Moshe and for Israel, His people that HaShem had taken Israel out of Egypt.” ( Exodus 18:1) What exactly did he hear that moved him so that he would leave his kingdom of Midian and wander into the wilderness to meet this ragged group of freed slaves?
Rashi asks the same question and responds that ” he heard of the splitting of the Red Sea and the war against Amalek.
Yitro was not the only man who heard of these great events. We read earlier ” People heard, they trembled; a shudder seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chieftains of Edom were startled; the powerful men of Moab, trembling seized them; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted. May dread and fright fall upon them; with the arm of Your greatness may they become as still as a stone, until Your people cross over, O HaShem until this nation that You have acquired crosses over. “( Exodus 15: 14-16)
We also will read in the book of Joshua the following;
“And she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt; ( Joshua 2:9-10)
Yet with all that miraculous activity the nations remained separate and distant. What did Yitro understand that the others did not?
Yitro had conceived of G-d as the “All High G-d ( Kel Elyon) ” that remained just out of touch with the real world. It was that same perception that led many of the nations into idolatry as they tried to fashion a god in their own image to replace He who could not be related to. Yet now, Yitro perceived how a nation of mortals were being asked to act in mortal ways and succeeded in stirring the heavens to respond. G-d tells Moshe at the edge of the Red Sea ” Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them move forwardl. ( Exodus 14:15 ) When Amalek attacks the Children of Israel at Rephidim we read “Moshe said to Joshua, Pick men for us, and go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of G-d in my hand ( exodus 17:9). This was a new spiritual understanding.
The actions of human beings had the power to stir and release Divine intervention. This is what led Yitro to declare; “Blessed is HaShem, Who has rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, … Now I know that HaShem is greater than all the deities…” ( Exodus 18:10-11)
On the other hand we are witness to Amalek and its reaction to the same events. Despite the miraculous events in Egypt and the cataclysmic experience at the Red sea we read ” Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.”(Exodus 17:8 ). Regardless of all the “facts on the ground ”Amalek , the descendant of Esau could not countenance the success of Jacob’s descendants. Everything would be ignored on the altar of hatred for this people.
It is that exact unending passion of the descendants of Esav (Esau) to replace and destroy the descendants of Jacob that led to the divine declaration ” And he said, For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal, and there shall be a war for HaShem against Amalek from generation to generation. (ibid 16) .
This is the reality we see unfolding before us in our days as well. There will be many of the nations in this world who will ignore the signs, dismiss the facts and hold on to their illusions. They will do all this in their passionate but futile urge to replace and destroy the people of Israel.
Yet we are also witness to a growing group of people who are being filled with the heart of Yitro and comprehend and see the destiny laden hand of G-d in our days. These are those in the nations who will stand firm with the people of Israel. The important issue is to develop the discerning eye to identify which is which. | <urn:uuid:700fd49b-0e00-4557-a227-70dd872e5d19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shorashim.com/blog/2012/02/israel-and-the-nations/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966318 | 1,225 | 2 | 2 |
Its source is Petros, a Greek name meaning "Rock."
This boy's name is used in Romanian.
Petros, the source of Peter, was a Greek translation of Cephus the Aramaic nickname of one of Jesus' disciples. It was used to distinguish him from another disciple also named Simon, who was known as ''The Zealot.''
Simon the Rock became one of the founders of the Christian religion and, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the first Pope. These achievements, along with Jesus' pun on his name -- ''Upon this Rock I will build my church'' -- assured the evolution of this nickname into a primary name form. | <urn:uuid:3aa30adc-dd45-4c10-9131-837c71b6c88b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babynamer.com/Petre | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968294 | 133 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Pro-Pharmaceuticals is collaborating with Chemwerth to scale up production of its lead drug candidate, Davanat®, to 100 kilograms for initial marketing needs.
Davant is a carbohydrate polymer composed of mannose and galactose (galactomannan). Pro-Pharmaceuticals believes that its mechanism of action is based upon binding to lectins on the cell surface. It thus theorizes that the product targets specific lectin receptors that are over-expressed on cancer cells.
Current research indicates that Galectins affect cell development and play important roles in cancer, including tumor cell survival, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis, according to a Pro-Pharmaceuticals. The company hence believes that this form of targeted delivery may allow for higher doses of chemotherapy administration with no increase in toxicity. | <urn:uuid:0c1fc0bf-0f15-4dc8-8a53-13c497f7cc8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/pro-pharmaceuticals-works-with-chemwerth-to-scale-up-davanat/13142373/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934331 | 170 | 1.859375 | 2 |
—To identify and evaluate the systems failures that underlie errors causing adverse drug events (ADEs) and potential ADEs.
—Systems analysis of events from a prospective cohort study.
—All admissions to 11 medical and surgical units in two tertiary care hospitals over a 6-month period.
Main Outcome Measures.
—Errors, proximal causes, and systems failures.
—Errors were detected by interviews of those involved. Errors were classified according to proximal cause and underlying systems failure by multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and systems analysts.
—During this period, 334 errors were detected as the causes of 264 preventable ADEs and potential ADEs. Sixteen major systems failures were identified as the underlying causes of the errors. The most common systems failure was in the dissemination of drug knowledge, particularly to physicians, accounting for 29% of the 334 errors. Inadequate availability of patient information, such as the results of laboratory tests, was associated with 18% of errors. Seven systems failures accounted for 78% of the errors; all could be improved by better information systems.
—Hospital personnel willingly participated in the detection and investigation of drug use errors and were able to identify underlying systems failures. The most common defects were in systems to disseminate knowledge about drugs and to make drug and patient information readily accessible at the time it is needed. Systems changes to improve dissemination and display of drug and patient data should make errors in the use of drugs less likely.(JAMA. 1995;274:35-43) | <urn:uuid:9039bc08-2e75-47e3-85ea-8cdde058f48a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=389137 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955846 | 318 | 2.671875 | 3 |
With the US supreme court upholding SB1070′s notorious racial-profiling measure, the immigration reform movement goes local
This week, while some pro-migrant supporters embraced the SB1070 supreme court ruling like a sports victory (three provisions struck down, one to go!), others in Phoenix, Arizona, who were angered that the court upheld the racial profiling provision, protested in front of the federal building of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement put it, “Life is worse today for migrants than it was yesterday. Why would we call that victory?”
The battle in Arizona over immigration has become symbolic of a broader struggle to overcome racial discrimination, mass incarceration, and systemic exclusion in the United States. The supreme court’s narrow ruling on constitutional structure left the country still debating the morality of SB1070, while the trial judge begins to grapple with civil rights questions not yet before the high court. Above all, what Arizona represents is a fight over national identity, waged at the local level.
Immigrant communities bearing the brunt of record deportations and detentions are demanding local officials roll back the country’s “Arizonification” in their own cities and states. Over the last few years, fights over immigration have become hyper-local, in part because Congress has failed to enact immigration reform, but also because the federal government itself has conscripted local police to enforce broken immigration laws. Through the “secure communities” (S-Comm) deportation program, the Obama administration has, in effect, made every police officer in America an agent of deportation. Just like Arizona’s SB1070, the feds’ S-Comm program allows police to hunt down immigrants: it opens the door to racial profiling and pre-textual arrests, and it creates a rule of fear.
It turns out the supreme court justices agree. The fact that the court could not tell whether SB1070′s notorious racial-profiling provisions conflicts with federal policy (the only question at issue in the case) means federal policy is far too similar to Arizona policy. In essence, the disgraced S-Comm deportation program is the sibling of Arizona’s law.
This may all seem confusing because, well, it is. This president and both political parties speak from both sides of their mouths when it comes to immigration – at times, paying lip service to immigrants’ contributions to the US and their earned right to remain, while also being relentless enforcers and deporters. Communities that are the daily causalities of this political quagmire are turning to their local governments to alleviate the suffering of the average 1,500 daily deportations. They’re asking their officials and elected representatives: which side of history are you on?
A day after the supreme court ruling, the Mayor of Los Angeles endorsed state legislation that would dramatically reduce the state’s nearly 31,000 annual deportations under the promise of “No More Arizonas”. The California bill, known as the Trust Act (AB 1081), would create a barrier between the police and immigration authorities and could emerge as the antidote to Arizona’s SB1070.
In two weeks, immigrant communities from across the country are launching the Restoring Trust campaign to urge local officials to stop co-operating with federal agents in deporting mothers, fathers, students, and workers – undocumented Americans. Already, a number of local governments including Washington, DC and Cook County, Illinois (which includes Chicago) have already adopted policies similar to California’s pending Trust Act.
These cities and states are siding with immigrant families by no longer being accomplices in the broken deportation and detention system. They are choosing to restore trust, which is critical to improving crime-reporting and everyone‘s public safety. There is no doubt that the country needs federal-level immigration reform, rather than a balkanized approach that allows room for hate bills like Arizona’s SB1070. But with the lack of leadership and paralysis in Washington, communities are not waiting to turn the tide locally.
Raw Story is a progressive news site that focuses on stories often ignored in the mainstream media. While giving coverage to the big stories of the day, we also bring our readers' attention to policy, politics, legal and human rights stories that get ignored in an infotainment culture driven solely by pageviews.
Founded in 2004, Raw Story reaches 5 million unique readers per month and serves more than 19 million pageviews. | <urn:uuid:e7390396-1558-4279-8a6f-0e33b354c9b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/30/after-sb1070-ruling-undocumented-americans-say-no-more-arizonas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947233 | 930 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Last week I talked about the murder of my friend Ahmed Najeeb. Knowing him well as I did I sought to rationalize how we as a society should respond to such a senseless act. I felt it was the least I could do to honour his memory and make some sense of this tragedy.
by Dr Hassan Saeed
It is also right that we consider our emotions too. As well as sadness there is anger. That anger can drive us to seek retribution as a form of justice. Seeking an equivalent penalty from the murderer could be seen as a form of fairness and has a long history across religions and cultures throughout the world. It is not just particular to us in the Maldives.
I have seen the use of execution with my own eyes. As a teenager I witnessed two people being hanged in Faisalabaad, Pakistan. I was close to the platform setup for the hanging. The hanging was announced in advance. I went to see the event. And found a space reasonably close to the platform. It was a vast open field and the whole place was full. I have never seen such a huge crowd.
I saw the two men brought to the place of execution.When the two of were brought in front of the crowd the public cursed. Their hands and legs were tied. Their faces were covered in a sack like cloth piece. When they were hanged I saw them struggling. There was deafening silence. Finally their struggle came to an end. Doctors checked and the bodies were taken away.
The military ruler of Pakistan General Ziyaul Haqq clearly knew what he was doing. He was carrying out Quranic punishment. He believed pubic execution would be the best form of deterrence.
It certainly affected me. Even some 27 years later I still have clear memories of that day. I am sure lot of others who witnessed that event would remember that too.
But I haven’t committed murder because of that experience. It was because I believe it is wrong. It is an offence. One of my neighbours who also witnessed the hanging was arrested shortly afterwards for attempted murder! Apparently the incident did not deter him.
Following the murder of lawyer Najeeb lots of people are calling for the death penalty. Perhaps the loudest argument in favour of it is that it would deter offenders. I will come back to the issue of deterrence, but there are a lot of issues in this debate, which in a short article, one cannot do full justice to.
Some are legal issues that I am aware of from my professional work. The death penalty is very expensive to administer. It is a lucrative area for lawyers as appeals will take years. Do we want a justice system that costs the Maldivian people even more than imprisonment? It can also be arbitrary where the quality of the defence counsel will determine the outcome as much as the actual guilt of the suspect. Evidence from other countries is that, irrespective of guilt, it will be poor people who will be the ones to be executed, not the rich. That issue could also be complicated by nationality. Europeans will most likely have their sentence commuted through embassy and international pressure, so there will be a form of unfairness depending on nationality, where some people are threatened with execution and some are not.
However if it is the deterrence we want, then probably the best way to deter is to carry executions out in publicas ZiyaulHaqq did in Pakistan. A live telecast would probably deter even more people! But can we honestly do that – considering that ours is a tourism-based economy. The biggest spenders here come from Europe. And we are fully aware of EU’s anti-death penalty policy. Also lots of foreign tourists may consider execution – even more so public execution - as a cruel form of punishment.
Some international conventions prohibit states which do not carry out death penalty from introducing them. The Maldives is a party to such conventions. In the same way we demand countries to act in response to the threat of climate change to us, we also have to ensure that our international obligations are met.
While some see death penalty as an effective deterrent, others use this as an opportunity to push Sharia-based punishments.
We should be clear on why want to carry out death penalty. Do we want it as deterrence or as a discharge of a divine obligation? If it is because of its divine nature then there is no reason why we should not introduce other divine punishments such as stoning to death of adulterers and the chopping off thieves hands should also follow as we cannot pick and choose from divine punishments.
Note: Dr Hassan Saeed is currently the Special Advisor to President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik | <urn:uuid:aa44f23d-0bcc-4783-96ac-262424f4166f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haveeru.com.mv/murder/43354 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984597 | 953 | 2.140625 | 2 |
WELLINGTON (Reuters Life!) - New Zealand scientists are developing an ice cream that is so good for you, it could come with a doctor's prescription.
Researchers at the University of Auckland are working with dairy giant Fonterra to create a "medical dessert" which has shown encouraging signs in combating the side effects of chemotherapy in cancer sufferers.
The ice cream, called ReCharge, is using active ingredients from dairy products to relieve diarrhoea, anemia and lack of appetite in people undergoing chemotherapy.
Participants in a trial have been eating a 100 gram tub of the strawberry-flavoured ice cream each day.
"The two bio-active milk components developed for ReCharge have the unique potential to assist the body in coping with the side effects of chemotherapy," Fonterra's chief technology office Jeremy Hill said in a statement.
The #1 daily resource for health and lifestyle news!
Your daily resource for losing weight and staying fit.
We could all use some encouragement now and then - we're human!
Explore your destiny as you discover what's written in your stars.
The latest news, tips and recipes for people with diabetes.
Healthy food that tastes delicious too? No kidding.
Yoga for Back Pain
Pets HelpYour Heart
Are YouMoney Smart? | <urn:uuid:37e9bac9-19ac-4345-b03c-7e8404070b21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/crohns/news/2009/10/29/using_ice_cream_to_combat_side_effects_of_chemo.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919394 | 270 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Austin, Texas, this week became second U.S. community to be chosen to receive Google Fiber. In Austin, people are excited about the potential for innovation and to bridge the digital access divide. But an academic in Kansas City, where Google Fiber started, says their experience has been different.
Researchers at Brown University are putting people to sleep -- in the name of research. They're trying to determine what people dream, and what it means, by subjecting people to MRI scans as they dream, and then waking them up and asking what they were dreaming about.
Peugeot's hoping to revolutionize the hybrid car market with a little bit of air. Rather than storing energy in a complex system of batteries, Peugeot is building a car that will store energy in an air tank. And they're seeing strong results in fuel savings.
The U.S. federal courts are being forced to apply 1976 law to modern digital innovations. With respect to two new digital services, judges took two different paths, ruling one was compliant with federal copyright law, while another was not.
A bill to keep the government operating through the end of September contained an unrelated provision that protects genetically modified food. While some say it's unconstitutional, a provision of the bill prohibits the courts from pulling an unsafe genetically modified product from the market.
A cyber attack hit South Korean broadcasters and banks Wednesday, causing computers to crash, display an error message, or worse. Though the origin of the attack could take weeks, intelligence officials aren't ruling out North Korea as the culprit.
As technology miniaturizes and becomes more powerful, it's becoming increasingly capable of helping with everyday tasks. Both professional and amateur athletes are becoming increasingly interested in tracking their workouts with technology.
Though people are capable of telling a lot of lies, it's often difficult to tell when others are the ones stretching the truth. A group of engineers have developed a lie-detecting kiosk that uses facial landmarks to detect deception. The technology could become the newest form of border security.
A 3-dimensional printer has aided a group of bioengineers in creating a life-like human ear, which could revolutionize bioengineering. But the possibilities stretch far and wide, with one start-up creating 3-D printer for the public it hopes will encourage creativity.
A detailed report from an American computer security firm links members of a sophisticated Chinese cyber hacking group to the Chinese military. Chinese officials have rejected any allegations of involvement, but U.S. authorities are hoping China's new leaders will take a new path. | <urn:uuid:30a8617e-dec9-4ce3-9fe4-e67a3c5e6b4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pri.org/keywords/technology/index.2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962481 | 521 | 2.125 | 2 |
Howard said the free performance is held each year to thank local people for their support of the park and the orchestra, and as a tip of the hat to independence.
It's a tradition held each year on the Saturday nearest July 4. Each year, people spread out blankets, have picnics and enjoy the day at the battlefield.
People can start arriving Saturday morning, and Howard suggested they get to the park by 5 p.m. because of the anticipated crowd.
"They can come at sunrise if they like," Howard said.
The main routes into the park are Md. 65 and Md. 34.
People can put down blankets to reserve spaces for the show, although they can do that no earlier than 6 a.m. Saturday, Howard said.
About 90 portable toilets have been brought in for the show, and an estimated 60 park workers and about 15 park rangers from other national parks in the region will be at the event, Howard said.
About 60 to 80 volunteers will help pass out pamphlets, pick up trash and help with other duties, Howard said.
No grilling is allowed during the event, although people are welcome to bring chilled food, and coolers are allowed, Howard said.
People who want to pick up food and drinks at the park can do so at a booth the Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Co. will set up near the visitors center, Howard said.
Although playing Frisbee is generally discouraged at the park, people can do so at Saturday's event while they are waiting for the orchestra to begin playing, Howard said.
Workers begin arriving at the park at about 8 a.m. Saturday and are there until about 1:30 a.m. Sunday picking up trash, Howard said.
Antietam was the site of the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War. A total of 23,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were reported killed, wounded or missing in the Sept. 17, 1862, battle. | <urn:uuid:514970fb-b4bd-447c-b34e-3ceb56339b49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.herald-mail.com/2009-07-02/news/25175316_1_park-rangers-national-parks-park-workers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968912 | 407 | 1.992188 | 2 |
The Electric Power Research Institute recently announced that it would be testing a plug-in hybrid electric cargo tractor at the SSA Container Terminal on Pier A at the Port of Long Beach. Responding to increased interest in the technology for cargo operations, EPRI plans to focus on airport locations in the near future.
The hybrid vehicle — which was converted by the US Hybrid Corporation — has an electric motor with a lithium 33-kilowatt battery. The tractor will be capable of pulling loads of up to 96,000 pounds.
The institute will be testing the vehicle at the port of Long Beach for three months, all the while gathering performance data including efficiency, emissions, cost, charging times and fuel reduction. The vehicle will be tested for one year, with testing rotating at additional ports.
According to the institute, the vehicle will not idle its engine when not in use, which will present significant emissions savings. The institute projects that the vehicle will use 3,000 fewer gallons of fuel in a year than a traditional diesel model.
Also, the institute expects that the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle will produce 80 percent fewer nitrogen oxides and 50 percent less carbon dioxide.
According to the institute, the cost of retrofitting a diesel tractor is about $80,000. And, according to the institute’s fuel savings estimates, the projected return on investment is six years.
Hybrid technology has been available and gaining recognition in many industries. The institute has planned on projects specifically geared toward cargo operations at airports.
“Something that EPRI is going to be researching further is the cargo side,” says Andra Rogers, senior project manager of electric transportation at EPRI.
“We are also looking at other types of cargo equipment such as intermodal facilities which will relate to airports and ports,” she says.
Rogers says the institute has not yet done in-depth research regarding the use of hybrids specifically at airports, but says work may be done on the concept within the next six months.
Future Projects with Electric GSE
EPRI has done work in the area of electrification of GSE at airports, working with such carriers as American Airlines. And its research into the electrification of additional types of GSE at airports is still ongoing. According to Rogers, as more issues have been resolved concerning electric equipment, it has opened up the possibility of expanding into nontraditional types of GSE.
“I think that a lot challenges have been overcome,” Rogers says. “A lot of the infrastructure issues have been overcome.
“I would say something that I’m interested in pursuing is electrifying more of the nontraditional electric equipment at airports, such as the APU,” she says. “That uses a tremendous amount of fuel and it’s not something that’s traditionally electrified.”
Other types of GSE that the institute is interested in pursuing in the future are pushback tractors and container loaders, Rogers says.
Features Green and Mean By Richard Rowe June 2001 Richard Rowe reports on the quest for alternate fuel vehicles that really do make an operational difference in the challenging airport... | <urn:uuid:96a727ed-2245-4b5b-a1f2-990ef255d9d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationpros.com/article/10372630/epri-takes-a-look-at-plug-in-hybrid-electric-technology-for-cargo-operations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956904 | 656 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Periodically, brushfires sweep through the sequoia forests of California. Rangers once feared that the fires would harm the sequoias; instead, the fires not only cleared out the smaller trees and underbrush; they actually strengthened the sequoias. Such is the case with John Milton in the contemporary culture wars.
Born 495 years ago on December 9th, he continues to tower like a sequoia in the landscape that is Western Literary History. For the last 30-40 years, the English literature curriculum has been the site of a raging fire. Whom should we include in the canon? Whom should we exclude? John Milton has often been at the center of this debate.
Some academics regard John Milton as the most distasteful of all writers in the traditional canon, so much so that they pound a steady drumbeat of criticism: he’s a misogynist! he’s a Puritan prude! he writes about biblical material! and he’s no longer relevant! Some would even like to see him extirpated from the curriculum. It is as though they have splashed kerosene against the base of this sequoia and danced around it, hoping the tree would burn.
But to no avail. The fire has only strengthened it, and, like that 300 foot sequoia, Milton towers over above them, impervious to their attacks. Milton’s detractors will come and go like the underbrush that periodic fires clear away, but he continues to endure.
Why? Quite simply, Milton is one of the most talented–and certainly the most erudite–writers in the English language. Like a colossus, he strides over literary history past and future. His work preserves and promotes the towering writers of Western Civilization who preceded him, such as Homer, Virgil, and Dante. At the same time, subsequent writers must learn from him and pay homage to his achievement. Here are three of his greatest accomplishments:
Milton’s masterpiece is Paradise Lost (first edition, 1667). It is a history of the universe synthesized from the Bible, then retold in the format of an epic poem. It deals primarily with the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve at the hands of the fallen angel, Satan. Although Milton’s theology requires that Satan be the villain, Satan remains one of the most complex, intriguing, and fascinating characters ever created.
Paradise Regained (1671) adapts the story of the temptation of Christ in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). The poem emphasizes Jesus’ humanity. As Jesus overcomes each temptation, the poem shows him gradually realizing that his role is to be the Savior of humankind
Samson Agonistes (1671) adapts the story of Samson (Judges 13-16) into a play modeled after that of the ancient Greeks, complete with a chorus. It picks up the action after Samson has been shorn of his hair, blinded, and imprisoned. The play focuses upon Samson’s victory over his own despair and his pulling the Philistine theater down upon himself and the Philistines inside it. It is ultimately a story of triumph.
Despite the efforts of his detractors, Milton still thrives. Entire graduate seminars are devoted to his works alone. Anthologies of English literature, the staple of undergraduates, still include many of his minor poems and, of course, sections of Paradise Lost. And Milton scholars continue to produce books, scholarly articles, and conference presentations. Why? It’s simple: He is second only to Shakespeare as the best writer in English. Perhaps C.S. Lewis said it best: “in Milton is everything you get everywhere else, only better.” | <urn:uuid:f79a0344-890e-44fd-bc10-1ddd1f669fcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visionandvalues.org/2003/09/celebrating-john-milton-a-sequoia-among-shrubs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95703 | 780 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Posts Tagged Mock Trial
The Tufts Mock Trial team is heading to the national championship in St. Paul, Minnesota this month to battle it out for the national title.
Members of the mock trial team each play the role of attorney or witness and together act out their version of a criminal or civil case. During the year, the group travels around the US taking on some of the top schools in the country, preparing for the Nationals. Each fall, they look for new members who are interested in law, are good at thinking on their feet, and want to challenge themselves. They’ve created this video to show new and interested students what mock trial is all about.
Tufts Mock Trial (TMT) took first place at the 16th Annual Yale Mock Trial Invitational this December. With a 9-3 victory, the team improved upon their impressive 3rd place slot from the previous year. The team also expects a bid at Nationals, a competition in which they placed 3rd last year.
TMT is a student-run organization composed of 6-8 members each semester that competes based on America’s Federal Rules of Evidence. For more information on the team’s practices or how to become involved, browse their official website. You can also follow TMT in the media through their active Twitter Feed and Facebook page. | <urn:uuid:b46f78cd-6811-43cc-a52d-58d663b2423e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sites.tufts.edu/jumble/tag/mock-trial/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965894 | 274 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
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Jim Rogers: S&P Could Go To 50,000 Joe Weisenthal|Jun. 3, 2009.Ahh, Jim Rogers, always good for a nice headline (see: above). In an interview with the Economic Times of India, the famously dramatic and bearish investor, hits on all his favorite themes, like the collapse of the West, the appeal of commodities and farmland, and of course inflation and the collapse of the dollar. While he's negative on US assets -- he says he's gotten rid of all of his dollars, for the most part -- he advises against shorting this market. It's a bear market rally. I was going to say I don't think S&P 500 will see new highs. But I have to quickly temper that by saying against the dollar because the S&P 500 could triple from here if they print enough money and the value of the US dollar collapses, then S&P could go to 50,000, Dow Jones can go to 1,000,000. Which is one reason why I am not shorting stocks right now. Because there is a possibility of this sort of a thing. There is a possibility that stocks could go through unheard of levels, but would be in worthless currency. And here's his advice to would-be money managers: Become a farmer. The world has tens of thousands of hotshot fund managers right now. If I am correct, the financial community is not going to be a great place to be in for the next 30 years. We have many periods in history when financial people were in charge, we had many periods when people who produced real goods were in charge — miners, farmers, etc. The world, in my view, is changing and is shifting away from the financial types to producers of real goods, and this is going to last for several decades as it always has. This may sound strange but it always happens this way. Ten years from now, it may be farmers who will drive the Lamborghinis and the stock brokers will drive tractors or taxis at best. Sounding very much like Marc Faber, also an advocate of farming, who recently said he's 100%(!) sure that the US will experience Zimbabwe-like hyperinflation. Jim Rogers greatest strength is identifying long-wave business cycles, and other long-term trends (I find it interesting, he's bullish on China, but won't live there, because it's too polluted). The next long-wave bust period (similar to the 1870s, 1930s, and 1970s) should begin in 2029, when the last of the Baby Boomers (born between 1946-64) reach 65. However, Obamanomics may cause an earlier bust wave. More info on Jim Rogers (the accuracy of his predictions seem mixed): Jim Rogers is an expatriate American, who lives in Singapore. He has a BA degree from Yale University in 1964, and a second BA from Balliol College, Oxford University in 1966. In 1970, Rogers joined Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, where he met George Soros. That same year, Rogers and Soros founded the Quantum Fund. During the following 10 years the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. In 1980, Rogers decided to "retire", and traveled on a motorcycle around the world. Asked about his net worth -- a guessing game on Wall Street (is it $100 million or more like $1 billion, money managers wonder?) -- he sternly says, "Of course I'm not going to answer that."
A Jim Rogers Blog: http://jimrogers1.blogspot.com/Rogers majored in politics, philosophy, and economics, while Soros majored in economics and specialized in international trade.Here's a Rogers's interview:The Financial Times interviewed Jim Rogers in late 2007. They were trying to get an idea of where he thought the US economy was headed in 2008 and beyond.FT: You said you’re selling US assets. So what makes you so bearish on the dollar?Rogers: The central bank in America has said that they’re going to print as many dollars has they have to drive down the value of the currency. The secretary of the treasury is trying to drive down the value of the currency. I mean it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s a currency that’s going to be going down for some time to come. They want to debase the currency. The head of the central bank has been printing money since he got there for two years. He’s printing money very rapidly now, especially since this summer. This is a man who his whole intellectual career has been spent studying the printing of money. Now America is giving the printing presses. I don’t want to be in a currency like that.FT: So what’s your assessment of Bernanke’s performance so far?Rogers: Well it’s been a disaster. I mean he’s been printing much too much money, since the beginning. Last summer he bailed out his friends on Wall Street, said there was some kind of problem. I mean the stock market was down 6%. If a 6% decline in the stock market causes the man to go and cut interest rates by a half a percent, when inflation is running rampant, when the dollar is under pressure anyway, what’s he going to do when the market is down 36%? What’s he going to do when they have a real crisis? I mean he’s going to print money until we run out of trees! I don’t want to own US dollars in an environment like that. I don’t know why you would. I don’t know why anybody would.FT: So is the US already in a recession?Rogers: In my view yes. We know that housing is in worse than recession. We know that automobiles are in worse than recession. We know that many parts of the financial community are in worse than recession. We know that machinery — Caterpillar Tractor, one of the largest machinery companies in the world, has said it’s the worse they’ve seen in 50 years. There are a lot of sectors of the American economy that are in serious trouble, shall we say. The government says it’s not a recession. I’d like to know from them, what’s keeping it up, that if all these other sectors — and you know housing and automobiles are two of the very largest sectors — what is not in recession? Retail sales are down; I could go on and on.FT: So what’s next? What do you think is coming?Rogers: Well for the dollar? Well probably the dollar is going to have a big rally about now, because everybody in the world is short the dollar. In my experience in the investment markets, when everyone is on one side of the boat, you’d better think about going to the other side of the boat for a while. I suspect there’ll be a rally; I have no idea what will cause it. And if there’s a rally, for a few weeks, a few months, I would urge you to sell that rally — that’s my plan — to get the rest of my money out of US dollars.
In the name of all the is holy, please stop repeating the ignorant crap on CNBC and Fox Business by calling the VIX a "fear index". It is not a fear index.
Size. Great call.
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Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan.
Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University near Washington, D.C. In addition, he holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. In addition to a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan-Flint, Perry is also a visiting scholar at The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
View my complete profile | <urn:uuid:ce162c81-d8d0-4615-b6df-49ae5c1df348> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/06/fear-index-drops-to-9-month-low.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966785 | 1,719 | 1.5625 | 2 |
By Trevor MoggProvided by
If an elevator ride of more than 30 seconds leaves you feeling antsy, then a ride in the elevator proposed by a Japanese construction firm is probably not for you.
Obayashi Corp. this week outlined its plans to build an elevator that would take its occupants just over seven days to reach its destination. The reason for the long ride? The terminal station would be located 22,400 miles (36,000 km) above Earth.
The Tokyo-based company said its so-called space elevator could be ready by 2050. Engineers hope to make steady progress with the project "so that it won't end up as simply a dream," an Obayashi official told The Daily Yomiuri.
The company said that such a feat has been made possible thanks to the 1991 discovery of carbon nanotubes, which are around 20 times stronger than steel. These would be used to produce the necessary cables for the space elevator.
Obayashi's plan involves sending a cable 60,000 miles (96,000 km) into space, roughly a quarter of the distance between Earth and the moon. One end of the cable would be fixed to the ground around which a spaceport would be built, while the other would be fitted with a counterweight, an official said.
The elevator, containing up to 30 people and traveling at a speed of 125 mph (200 kph), would be powered using magnetic linear motors. The terminal station, containing laboratories and a living area, would be located 22,400 miles (36,000 km) up.
The idea of a space elevator is not as far fetched as it might initially sound, with the Daily Yomiuri reporting other organizations, such as the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, taking an interest in such a project.
Officials at Obayashi say the viability of the project rests on the cost of carbon nanotubes and whether the firm can get the cooperation of other companies from around the world.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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In a recent column on Mr Robinson's autobiography, I noted that autobiographies and memoirs—in which the author writes the story of his/her own life, or part of it—can be valuable sources for understanding the past. And in my last piece I wrote about Lawrence Scott's fictional reconstruction of the life of Michel-Jean Cazabon, Trinidad's great 19th-century painter. Scott shows how he made his native island his primary source of artistic inspiration.
Both points resonate in the recently published What Things Are True by celebrated T&T artist Jackie Hinkson. It's "a Memoir of Becoming an Artist" (the sub-title), covering his first 28 years (to 1970). It explains why he decided to become an artist, what formed his talents and his skills, and how he too made T&T and the Caribbean his primary source of inspiration.
As in most memoirs, there is rich social history in Hinkson's finely written book. Hinkson grew up in Port of Spain in the post-World War II period (he was born in 1942). He belonged to the city's mixed-race, but definitely Creole, middle class. (Describing his encounter with MP Alladin's work, Hinkson comments on his "shameful ignorance" of Indo-Trinidadian culture and lifeways.)
Long noted for his fine drawings and paintings of older buildings in T&T, Hinkson gives us lovingly written pen portraits of the gracious Port of Spain houses in which he grew up, in the heart of the city—first on Shine Street, then Richmond Street. These old style wooden houses were like so many "that seemed to have sprung gracefully from our soil and culture", he writes.
His Richmond Street family home had been built around 1900, then a desirable middle-class residential area. Though it had become less so by 1950, it "still maintained some of its air of gentility and prosperity". The house, like so many of its era, was built of masonry and wood, with a long porch, a portico with fretwork decorations, wooden Demerara windows and jalousies. The inner walls and floors were of local wood. Cool and shady indoors, the house "embodied certain evolved tropical architectural values", Hinkson writes, characterised by the use of local materials and "graceful, understated simplicity".
This house, where Hinkson spent much of his childhood, was located in Cobo Town, a district with many poor people in barrack yards, a few wealthy families, and others "in between", like the Hinksons. The big yard of the family home was a meeting point for boys from all these groups, but Hinkson records that as a child, he felt closer to the poorer families and envied the greater freedoms of the barrack-yard boys.
As we would expect in a "growing-up" memoir, Hinkson writes about his school days, first at the well-respected Richmond Street Boys EC (that is, Anglican) school, then at Queen's Royal College. The boys at his primary school were socially (though not ethnically) mixed, with middle-class boys like himself, and many from "Behind the Bridge" and the barrack yards. He was one of three from the school in his year to win a coveted "exhibition" to QRC, which Hinkson describes as "a democracy of the elite", fully multi-ethnic by 1955 when he entered, representing the array of Trinidad's diversity (though less so in terms of class).
While he attended QRC (he was far from a stellar student) he discovered art at the Public and Central libraries. And the rest of the memoir focuses on Hinkson's evolution as an artist. He writes about the local art scene around 1960 and his encounters with the island's artists, from the established ones like Sybil Atteck and Carlisle Chang, to his contemporary and close friend, Peter Minshall—whose influence on the young Hinkson was profound, though not always straight-forward. The "5 Young Painters" exhibition in 1961, featuring Minshall, Pat Bishop, himself and two others—first made him known as an aspiring artist, when still at school.
Hinkson spent a difficult but rewarding year in Paris (1963-64), taking desultory art classes, but mainly absorbing the great European art tradition in the city's fabled museums and galleries. Here he first wrestled with a dilemma very familiar to Cazabon: where did he stand in that great tradition, a novice painter from the Caribbean, what could he take from it and what could he offer to it? Was it all too "white", too foreign, too European, to be useful to a Caribbean artist in the era of independence?
"We had to add and broaden our knowledge of the world, not shrink it", Hinkson concluded; "we could not be ashamed of Africa and India, but neither should we chuck out our European heritage in the name of nationalism"—or, for that matter, ethnicity (blackness). Like Cazabon, he searched for "the right art for the little piece of the earth to which I belonged", and insisted that the scenes and people of his own region were as worthy of great art as those of Europe.
And so, after university studies in art in Canada, Hinkson determined to live and work in T&T, to find in the realities of his country and region his primary source of artistic inspiration, to be content to be known as a Caribbean artist.
• Bridget Brereton is emerita professor of history at UWI,
St Augustine, and has studied and written about the history of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean for many decades. | <urn:uuid:3ae38b88-e530-49f7-b9e3-897d1371d642> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/What_things_are_true-185492401.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98054 | 1,202 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Greece on Tuesday reclaimed scores of ancient objects dating to the fifth century BC that Belgian, British and German authorities returned, the culture ministry said.
The list includes over 100 clay fragments and coins held by the Belgian Archaeological School, 70 ancient funerary offerings seized by German customs officials in Nuremberg in 2007 and a marble decorative fragment from a Byzantine church donated by a British ceramist, the ministry said.
"Today societies increasingly realise that cultural goods are not just art objects...but vital links of peoples' historic identities and continuity," Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said.
The ancient clay fragments and coins returned by the Belgian government came from digs at Thoriko, south of Athens, and the island of Salamis. They were taken out of Greece 40 years ago and were found at the museum of Ghent during an inventory check.
The Byzantine church fragment had been picked up in the 1950s by a British tourist from the Athenian Agora, the city's ancient marketplace, Greece's cultural attache Victoria Solomonidou told AFP.
"After his death his wife offered it to a British ceramist who delivered it to the Greek embassy in London," she said.
In recent years Greece has stepped up efforts to recover ancient objects that illegally left the country and ended up in the possession of foreign museums and collectors.
The capital's new Acropolis museum that will be inaugurated on June 20 has a special section reserved for the disputed friezes.
Source: AFP Global Edition | <urn:uuid:6c66acba-35a9-4bb4-b64b-e2fe772b1000> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blnz.com/news/2009/05/19/Fifth_century_objects_returned_Greece_4771.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970266 | 307 | 2.34375 | 2 |
A Different Life
Career timeline for psychiatry
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As commissioning arrangements in England change, there is a real
opportunity to provide needs-led integrated services for people
with physical symptoms where the underlying medical and
psychological causation is incompletely or poorly understood. This
report, written by members of the College and the RCGPs, is a
practical guide to the management of individuals with physical
symptoms and an associated psychological component. It focuses upon
the person, the practitioner and the process. It is jargon-free,
yet full of useful professional guidance and advice.
Physical illness is stressful and places
great demands on patients and their families. A GP is usually the
first health professional to whom people turn when they develop
symptoms. Careful and sensitive handling of such consultations can
result in positive outcomes with the resolution of symptoms and the
person feeling understood.
Liaison psychiatrists specialise in the
interface between physical and psychological illness. They have
expertise in the treatment of psychological symptoms that develop
in the context of physical disease and also physical symptoms for
which there does not appear to be an underlying organic explanation
(so-called ‘medically unexplained symptoms’). Liaison psychiatry
services can provide valuable support to GPs, pre-hospital care and
out of hospital work in addition to their work in hospitals.
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Set in 1906 in the Adirondack Mountains, and based on the actual murder of a woman named Grace Brown, this book will appeal to fans of both historical fiction and murder mysteries. Chapters alternate between the past and the present, as narrated by sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey. In the chapters about the past, we learn about Mattie’s life on her family’s farm and her hope to attend Barnard College in New York City to become a writer. In the chapters about her present, we learn about Mattie’s work at The Glenmore Hotel on Big Moose Lake and how it brought her into contact with Grace Brown shortly before she was murdered.
I think what I liked best about this story is that it was about so much more than Grace Brown’s murder. It was also a coming-of-age story about a young woman (Mattie) who was determined to blaze her own path and to fight for her dreams despite the wishes of her father and the lack of women’s rights at the time. With how seamlessly Jennifer Donnelly wove together the true story of Grace Brown and the fictional story of Mattie Gokey, it’s no wonder this book won the 2003 Carnegie Medal in Literature [under the UK title A Gathering Light].
Happy Teen Read Week! | <urn:uuid:76fac196-7a9e-48ee-8dde-fe0176cd590f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://librarina.wordpress.com/tag/a-northern-light/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968519 | 273 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Optician Education Requirements, Job Duties and Employment Outlook
Opticians are eye care professionals who select and fit contacts and eyeglasses for patients. After an ophthalmologist writes a prescription, dispensing opticians take eye measurements and determine how a patient's occupation, lifestyle and facial features affect his or her eyewear needs.
Educational Requirements for Opticians
While there are no specific educational requirements for an optician, a 2-year associate degree or 4-year bachelor degree in opticianry may offer a competitive advantage. Opticianry courses educate students in the anatomy and physiology of the human eye, optical fundamentals and refraction. Through clinical training, students also have opportunities to learn about polishing, hand beveling, heat treatment, tinting and fitting glasses.
While licensing requirements vary by state, some states mandate that applicants pass a practical or written examination. Employers may require prospective opticians to be certified by the American Board of Opticianry and National Contact Lens Examiners.
Optician Job Duties
Opticians are responsible for using precision equipment to measure various eye features, including corneal thickness and pupil distance. Patient information is then provided to lab technicians to create properly fitted frames.
Opticians also make suggestions about frame shapes, styles and colors, lenses and special lens coatings, such as anti-glare materials. Some opticians are also responsible for grinding and tinting lenses, repairing glasses and fitting contacts.
Some offices may require opticians to perform front-desk duties and fill out insurance claims. Strong customer services and a professional appearance are also mandatory.
Employment Outlook for Opticians
Opticians work in eyeglass stores or with ophthalmologists in medical offices. While many offices are generally open during normal business hours, some retail outlets may require employees to work nights and weekends.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), job prospects are expected to rise 13%, because of the aging U.S. population and their need for eyewear (www.bls.gov). As of 2008, the BLS reports that the median salary for dispensing opticians was $32,810.
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- Top Ranked University with a Marketing Degree Program - Charlotte, NC
- Top Ranked School for a Degree in Health Care Administration - Bakersfield, CA
- Top Ranked University for a Master's Degree in Business Finance - San Francisco, CA | <urn:uuid:ebb77220-e84b-4e7d-9351-35e5fae75038> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://education-portal.com/optician.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920266 | 725 | 3.0625 | 3 |
On this day in 1981, Reds, a movie about an American Communist and the Russian Revolution written by, directed and starring Warren Beatty--an actor who became a prominent Hollywood leading man in the 1960s with such movies as Bonnie and Clyde--premieres in U.S. theaters. Reds, based on a true story, received 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Beatty) and Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor for Beatty's co-stars Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Beatty took home an Oscar for Best Director, his inaugural win in that category. He had received his first Best Director Oscar nomination several years earlier for his directorial debut, 1978's Heaven Can Wait.
Beatty was born on March 30, 1937, in Richmond, Virginia, and studied acting at Northwestern University and later with the legendary teacher Stella Adler in New York City. After a string of early roles in TV and theater, he made his big-screen debut in 1961's Splendor in the Grass, directed by Elia Kazan and co-starring Natalie Wood. In 1967, he and Faye Dunaway co-starred as the notorious outlaw lovers portrayed in the box-office hit Bonnie and Clyde. During the 1970s, Beatty appeared in such films as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), with Julie Christie; Shampoo (1975), a satire he co-wrote about a womanizing Beverly Hills hairdresser; and Heaven Can Wait (1978), in which he portrayed a pro football player who inhabits another man's body following an accident. The film, which Beatty directed, was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Beatty), Best Supporting Actor (Jack Warden) and Best Supporting Actress (Dyan Cannon).
Beatty's next movie was 1981's ambitious Reds, a historical epic running more than three hours in which he played the real-life radical journalist John Reed. Diane Keaton co-starred as Reed's colleague and wife Louise Bryant, while Jack Nicholson played the playwright Eugene O'Neill and Maureen Stapleton (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance) was the anarchist Emma Goldman. Beatty followed Reds, which lost the Best Picture Oscar to Chariots of Fire, with the now-infamous big-budget box-office bomb Ishtar (1987), in which he and Dustin Hoffman starred as lounge singers who travel to Morocco.
During the 1990s, Beatty appeared in such films as Dick Tracy (1991), Bugsy (1992), in which he played the title role of the real-life gangster, and the political satire Bulworth (1998), which featured Halle Berry. Off screen, the actor was known for his political activism and his high-profile romances with such actresses as Julie Christie, Diane Keaton and Madonna. Beatty appears briefly in the pop star's 1991 documentary Madonna: True or Dare. Since 1992, he has been married to the actress Annette Bening (The Grifters, American Beauty), his co-star in Bugsy and 1994's An Affair to Remember. Beatty is the younger sibling of the actress Shirley MacLaine, the Oscar-winning star of Terms of Endearment (1984) and such films as The Apartment (1960), Steel Magnolias (1989) and Bewitched (2005). | <urn:uuid:3ebd25bf-2072-4db8-acf3-a17f26e440ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/warren-beatty-writes-directs-stars-in-oscar-winning-reds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976351 | 690 | 1.820313 | 2 |
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- All Balkan Countries
A new exhibition in Skopje aims to highlight Macedonia's neglect of its cultural heritage - at a time when large sums of public money are being pumped into the 'Skopje 2014' project.
The exhibition, entitled "The state of cultural heritage 2012-2014", opened on January 29 at Culture and Information Centre in Skopje.
Some 50 photographs, selected by a citizens association, the Centre for Cultural Heritage, reveal "the inadequate, unprofessional, negligent and unethical" treatment of Macedonia's heritage, according to Donka Badzijeva Trajkovska, a university professor.
"The reason for this is not lack of funds, small budgets, or a lack of skilled employees," Trajkovska, who is also the president of the Centre for Cultural Heritage, said.
She added that the exhibition aims to present "the catastrophic negligence" of cultural heritage - at a time when large amounts of money are being invested in culture.
Such misplaced investments were "replacing the heritage that is clearly decaying in front of our own eyes", she lamented.
The exhibition is the result of research conducted on 58 individual objects and sites in Skopje, Ohrid, Bitola, Prilep, Prespa, Stip, Veles, Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka, and forms part of a project financed by the Open Society Foundation in Macedonia, FOOM.
The president of the Foundation, Vladimir Milcin, said the exhibition should appeal to the consciences of all its visitors, and remind them of their responsibility.
Macedonia's authentic heritage was "decaying and rotting while a false Baroque is built instead", he said, referring to the expensive government-funded "Skopje 2014" project, which aims to revamp the city largely in a mock-Baroque style.
The exhibition will remain open in Skopje only until February 1.
Donors spent hundreds of thousands of euro building a new museum in Gjirokastra - but the results were questionable and it ultimately closed over an ideological dispute.
Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin… | <urn:uuid:62403630-b913-4941-9281-0c77a65ea0e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/skopje-photo-puts-heritage-in-spotlight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94539 | 454 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Internet spamsters are often nigh-artistic with the fraudulent tales they weave—an exiled prince! Hidden treasure!—but scamming them can be even more creative. The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal tells one revenge story of a conman duped into carving wooden sculptures.
When anti-spam hero Mike Berry received an obviously false email promise of African millions, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes and delete—and instead strung the criminal into an unwitting career in art. Sort of.
To keep the spammer's interest—and waste a ton of his time—Berry upped the lie ante, claiming to represent an art gallery that was looking for submissions (and offering a scholarship—a nice little reverse-con in itself). The spammer took the bait, following Berry's detailed directions, and shipped miniature sculptures of dogs and cats all the way from Africa. When Berry informed him these pieces weren't up to snuff (the nerve!), the spammer produced his pièce de résistance—a hand-carved model of a Commodore 64.
Sadly, this replica failed to impress Berry's gallery persona as well, and the carving conman failed to get a scholarship that never existed in the first place. Which I think is kind of a shame, because, really! Look at that thing! He might have been able to restart his life as a sculptor, rather than as a petty internet crook. But at least many, many hours of his time as the latter were wasted during the ruse. [The Atlantic] | <urn:uuid:d5bd3a55-3ffe-4d7c-8295-80394176d55a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5651117/tricking-an-internet-conman-into-sculpting-you-a-wooden-commodore-64 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972125 | 318 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here is a great dialogue for all those that love using sports metaphors to explain ourselves in relationships, link and summary below....
Man: "Alright, this is what you don't understand. I love you. I want to make this work. But you got to let me be LeBron."
Man: "It's a metaphor for our relationship; you got to let me be LeBron. You're big Z and I'm Lebron. Big Z is essential to the team's success. He does a lot of great things. He is a good free throw shooter. He can get offense rebounds. He has great range for a big man. But when the game's on the line, LeBron gets the ball."
Women: "You think I look like Zydrunas Ilgauskas?"
Man: "No, you don't look anything like Big Z. You are real sexy. You got a nice body. And your face is pretty. Your hair smells nice. Your head is a little big but besides that you don't look anything like Z. It's a metaphor. I am trying to find a way to explain our complex relationship in simpler terms."
Women: "This is stupid."
Man: "It's not stupid. You're stupid."
Women: "You are so mean."
Man: "You're not stupid. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. Let me try it again. If our relationship was a professional basketball team, it would be the Cavs, and on that team I would be LeBron James and you would be big Z. LeBron loves and appreciates big Z and knows that the team is better off with Z. Sometimes when Z is shooting free throws he can't believe how lucky he is to be with Z. When Z was a free agent people where saying let him go there are better centers out there. Z is slow, and he doesn't play great defense, and he never shuts up when him and LeBron are watching TV and when LeBron went to Blockbuster to rent a DVD there was another center there that he went to high school with and the center gave LeBron her phone number and said call her and then that centers cell phone rang and her ring tone was Lollipop by Lil' Wayne so you know she doesn't mind doing something. But LeBron didn't care. He said I don't care about all those other centers or their ring tones. I want Z. I am committed to Z. And Z appreciated that, and even though maybe Z could have gone somewhere else and made a little more money and had better individual numbers he knew if stayed with LeBron he would have the best chance to win a championship."
Women: "What about the other players on the Cavs? Who is Boobie Gibson in our relationship?"
Man: "Nobody's Boobie Gibson in our relationship. Why do you care about Boobie Gibson? You think he's cute? You want to make out with him?Forget Boobie Gibson. He is not even gonna start this year."
Women: "I was just trying to understand the metaphor better."
Man: "Bullshit. Why didn't you ask, who Delonte West was in our relationship? Do you think about Boobie Gibson winning the three point contest when we're having sex? Does the fact that he set a record with eleven threes in the Rookie/Sophomore Game turn you on?"
Women: "No I was just trying to understand. I'm a little lost."
Man: "I'm friggin tired of all this Boobie Gibson talk."
Women: "I've never mentioned him before; I'm just trying to understand it better. Can you try one more time?"
Man: "Okay. Bottom line- you try and be Kobe too much. Telling me what to do. How to act. What to wear. You're always trying to be the boss. Kobe and LeBron can't coexist over the long haul. They may play great in the Olympics but over a whole season and a career, it wouldn't work. LeBron wants and needs Z. He doesn't want Kobe. You see what I'm saying. I want you to be my Z. Will you be my Z?"
Women: "I'll try and be your Z."
Man: "I'm not asking you to try. Will you or won't you be my Z?"
Women: "I'm going to be your Z." | <urn:uuid:a943c50a-5a0b-465c-b473-07016e8d3e2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.nola.com/scoopshots/2008/09/girlfriends_and_metaphors.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983137 | 920 | 1.585938 | 2 |
D.C. - U.S. Senator James Inhofe
(R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee,
today issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) new rule that will raise Clean Water Act fees.
"I'm very disappointed in Assistant
Administrator Grumble's decision to defy Congressional wishes by unilaterally
creating a program aimed to raise Clean Water Act fees,"
Senator Inhofe said. "I,
along with several of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, have asked that
EPA work with Congress to establish any new National Pollution Discharge
Elimination Permit fee or incentive program and they simply have ignored our
request. States should continue to have the ability to make their own financial
decisions without the fear that future federal funding will be withheld. It is
Congress's job to make tax decisions, not the federal bureaucracy."
26, 2007, Senator Inhofe, along with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Ron
Wyden (D-OR), sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, requesting
"that the EPA reconsider promulgating a rule proposing changes in the manner
that Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 106 funding is allocated to the states.”
This rule, the Senators write, “would fundamentally alter the way that Section
106 grants flow to the states and penalize those that fail to fund at least 75%
of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit programs
through user fees."
the full text of the letter:
writing to request that the EPA reconsider promulgating a rule proposing changes
in the manner that Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 106 funding is allocated to the
states (72 Federal Register 293, January 4, 2007). This rule would
fundamentally alter the way that Section 106 grants flow to the states and
penalize those that fail to fund at least 75% of their National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit programs through user fees.
CWA is a federal mandate, states are primarily responsible for permitting,
monitoring and enforcing their water quality management programs. Today, each
state's NPDES program receives a portion of its funding from CWA Section 106
grants, based on the extent of the water quality problems in each state. States
supplement EPA's 106 grants to meet their overall administrative funding needs
with user fees and other discretionary funding.
EPA's authority to execute the proposed change. The Clean Water Act does not
require the use of fees to fund state NPDES programs. While states may charge
fees to pay for the cost of administering their programs, the authority to
require such fees is under the jurisdiction of Congress, not EPA. In addition,
EPA does not unilaterally have the authority to establish a national policy
encouraging states to levy user fees on or tax municipal governments. Nor does
EPA have the authority to divert program funds for a purpose - such as creating
a set-aside for the sole purpose of promoting user fees --- that is not
authorized by the Act.
proposed rule also strongly suggests that EPA plans to discontinue funding for
state NPDES programs in the future. The proposed rule diverts funding above FY
2006 levels to a set-aside account. States could compete for a share of this
set-aside only if more than 75% of their program costs are funded through permit
fees. To receive the maximum incentive, states must fund 100% of their program
costs through permit fees. It appears that the point of the incentive program
is to wean states from federal funding for their NPDES programs. We recognize
that the federal government cannot bear the entire burden of the NPDES permit
program; however, it is not appropriate to ask the states to fully fund a
federally-mandated program through a single "acceptable" mechanism - user
stakeholders have approached us with their concerns about EPA's proposed rule.
Although the rule is currently in a public comment period, it is our
understanding that they contacted the Agency earlier in the process to explain
the undue burden it would impose on businesses and communities faced with higher
user fees. EPA's proposal makes it clear that these concerns were not taken
therefore, respectfully request that EPA reconsider continued work on the
proposed rule. If the Agency seeks to change the manner in which Clean Water
Act programs are funded, then EPA has the burden of submitting a legislative
proposal to Congress for its review and consideration. | <urn:uuid:f0ff93d6-a30c-4181-b9b8-a88a51144baf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=33429f1d-802a-23ad-40f7-173a8fd5e591&Region_id=&Issue_id=&IsTextOnly=False | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938187 | 970 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Tora, Tora, Tora!
Simply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article.
Once you are finished and click submit, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.
contribution by Kurosawa
...result, Kurosawa attempted to work with Hollywood producers, but each of the projects ended in failure. At the Kyōto studio in 1968, for 20th Century Fox, he started shooting Tora, Tora, Tora!, a war film dealing with the air attack on Pearl Harbor. The work progressed slowly, however, and the producer, fearing an excess in estimated cost, dismissed Kurosawa and...
What made you want to look up "Tora, Tora, Tora!"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:85a10606-0422-46df-8d61-4b2611e48811> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/676183/Tora-Tora-Tora | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900534 | 164 | 2.125 | 2 |
The Monday Morning Rouser:
1) CROWDSOURCING A DAY IN THE LIFE
I've always been a huge fan of specific-time media from multiple locations that shows us the breathtaking diversity of life at a single moment. One Day on Earth premiered at the U.N. and other locales around the world yesterday afternoon. It was entirely crowdsourced project based on the experiences of volunteer filmmakers on November 11, 2011.
Using the map at the website, you can choose anyplace in the world, and see the produced video for that date, at that location. A few were produced in the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, none were produced outside of the metro area. What's wrong with you, outstate? Does nothing interesting happen there?
2) KID CAINE
A few weeks ago, I posted the video of Caine Monroy and the game arcade made out of cardboard in East LA. You've probably seen it; it's been everywhere (if not, go here). The Los Angeles Times follows up with a look at how the dad who watched it unfold ended up with a great kid.
There's a lesson of some sort in the answer:
"I didn't have a baby sitter," Monroy said. His wife works at a restaurant; his two older sons are teenagers. "So Caine goes where I go." And while Dad works, the boy has to amuse himself.
What grabs me in the video is a single tale: Caine asks his dad to buy a mini arcade game, where a claw is maneuvered on a chain through a slot to pluck a prize from a toy-filled box.
That request would have had me reaching for my wallet, feeling guilty that my child was hanging around my work yard, stuck in such an uninspiring environment.
But Caine's father waved him off: Build it yourself. So Caine did -- with a hook, a piece of yarn and a cardboard box, and a track cut through the top.
It's amazing what our children can do when we let them think for themselves.
3) WHO ARE THE NEW POOR?
Grab six people and the odds are one is using food stamps. Fifty million Americans need food assistance, which is has now eclipsed cash assistance -- by 10 times -- as the most common form of welfare assistance.
"Some people would say it is bad because dependency is on the rise because people are on food stamps," New York Times reporter Jason DeParle tells NPR. "I think there's also a strong case to be made in the opposite direction, that this is a safety net program that has responded to the worst economy since the great depression."
4) THROWING IDENTITY AWAY
There's a sign on the garbage cans at Carlos Car Wash and Laundromat i n Alexandria that's pretty clear: "No household garbage." People toss bags of trash there anyway, and if the owner wanted to, he says, he could easily steal the identity of the evil-doers, the Alexandria Echo Press says.
One man's H&R Block income tax return documents, his Progressive insurance card and motor vehicle registration card were recovered from the garbage at Carlos Car Wash and Laundromat. Other days it's bank statements, phone records and hospital bills - all complete with names, addresses and account numbers.
"People are always complaining that people are stealing their identity," said Greg Dropik, co-owner of Carlos Car Wash and Laundromat. "They're giving it away."
5) SMELT HEAVEN
The smelt are running at the mouth of the Lester River along Lake Superior.
Duluth held its smelt festival over the weekend, culminating in last night's naming of the smelt queen.
(h/t: Duluth Outdoors)
Bonus I:Some people's Mondays are more interesting than others'.
Bonus II: We cut the cable at my house last year. We watch less TV now and life seems just fine. A Wired.com reporter tried the same thing five months ago and has been providing updates. Today, he posts another.
Bonus III: In southeast Minnesota -- Zumbrota, specifically -- artists have taken the work of local poets, and created a visual medium around it. What happens when one artist interprets another's?
The Twin Cities population is expected to grow larger, older and more diverse over the next three decades. A new report from the Metropolitan Council forecasts growth of nearly 900,000 residents and a population that is more than 40 percent people of color. Today's Question: How will a larger, older and more diverse population affect life in the Twin Cities?
WHAT WE'RE DOING
Daily Circuit (9-12 p.m.) - First hour: The cost of ending a presidential campaign.
Second hour: Using the arts to develop community.
Third hour: Rebecca Skloot, author of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." It's the story of a collision between ethics, race, medicine, and faith.
MPR News Presents (12-1 pm): Westminster Town Hall Forum, featuring Parker Palmer, author of "Healing the Heart of Democracy."
Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: Egyptians elect a president next month, for the first time since the Arab spring. And it's already a messy affair.
Second hour: TBA
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - The Sibley County commissioners will vote tomorrow on whether to join what could end up being a $70 million publicly-owned broadband project. Many residents in central Minnesota and other rural parts of the state, deal with less-than-modern Internet speeds. MPR's Dan Wilson will have the story.
In politics, campaigns often need unflattering footage of their rivals. Enter: the political operative with a camera in hand -- the video-tracker. Some hide and ambush candidates. Others make no secret of their presence. Wherever there are politicians, video-trackers are not far behind. NPR reports on the dangers and rewards of stalking the opposition.(5 Comments)
Early reports (by way of the Star Tribune) say the amount of media coverage in the Amy Senser case was the focus today as jury selection got underway.
As the trial got underway at about 9:20 Monday morning, Hennepin County District Judge Daniel Mabley told potential jurors that there has been a lot of media coverage of the case. He then mentioned a questionnaire that had been sent to the jurors last week about that coverage.
In court, he asked how many people had seen or heard news coverage of the case since the questionnaire was sent out. Mabley took note of the ones who raised their hands.
Jury selection is tough on people whose careers involve telling people what's going on because the answer to the judge's question usually confirms that many people -- sometimes most people -- aren't paying attention.
Of the people who raised their hand in answer to the judge's question, most said they hadn't seen much media coverage.
One who had acknowledged seeing a lot of coverage is still in the jury pool, after promising he could make a fair decision on the facts. We'll see if someone who pays attention to the news is judged worthy or whether the ones who don't know much about the biggest criminal story of 2011 make it.
Either way, the question of who makes a good juror is the stuff science is made of, or --as one lawyer puts it -- "speed dating for justice."
In most cases, lawyers look for the basics: people who are smart, can understand what's going on in court and can make decisions. They have their eye out for people who will be able to control things when deliberations start. After that, it's often a free-for-all, and many lawyers have their own preferences.
"I love mailmen. I don't know what it is. They are all nice, friendly, talkative souls. They just seem to be happy, warm human beings," says Keith Mitnik, of Morgan & Morgan, P.A., who has selected some 100 juries in his career. He has received multiple verdicts over $1 million and teaches the art of jury selection.
Engineers? Teachers? Military? Young? Old? Men? Women?
"I like engineers," Mansbach said. "They tend to think logically and won't be swayed by emotion."
Some lawyers see teachers as more liberal and lenient because they deal with children. Military folks are sometimes favored because they know how to follow instructions and the law. Young people might be easily swayed by older jurors. Older people may be more conservative. Men might be good for a female client, but in general older men may be grouchier than younger men. Women may be good for clients suffering from breast cancer but may be tougher on a female rape victim who may appear to them to have acted inappropriately.
Jamie Harrison, who writes a blog at the University of Maryland, argues the system is antiquated.
Who is the perfect juror? Lawyers search for jurors who are so dimly aware of, and participate so infrequently in, their society that they have never come into contact with anything that might have provided them with information that they might use to form an intelligent and informed decision. This is because the attorneys want the jurors to only be conscious of information provided to them in court. A perfect juror, in their eyes, is a blank slate who can be effectively swayed by the words of lawyers. It makes no difference that adults who are "blank slates" are in this condition for a reason. So, by the process of negative selection, we arrive at a jury that is populated with individuals who are the least likely to employ complicated, nuanced reasoning when presented with evidence in court.
Having a jury of simple folk may have been workable in an age where the Cotton Gin represented the height of ingenuity, but is simply inadequate in modern times. Much of the physical evidence that jurors are expected to interpret today is highly technical, and many of the terms that will eventually decide guilt or innocence have definitions with multiple layers that require a depth of understanding to apply in real life. If the jury, during deliberations, recognizes this dilemma and asks for clarification or explanation of terms, they are usually told that this assistance would be inappropriate. This leaves them to grope about for a verdict with the same utter ignorance with which they first came to the courtroom. Confused jurors tend to ignore evidence, which favors the defendant
Question: Do you think you could sit on the Senser jury?
Images from the last 24 hours of protests around the world:
American Airlines and American Eagle employees march to U.S. Bankruptcy Court to protest against American's plans to cut jobs and labor costs . (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Demonstrators in London protest at the proposed site of a new Abercrombie & Fitch childrens clothing store on Savile Row. They claim that the chain store's presence would signal the demise of a street dedicated to the bespoke tailoring trade. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)
In Mumbai, Indian Bollywood actress and model Rozlyn Khan bathes in red water to protest animal testing. The event was held to mark the eve of World Day for Animals in Laboratories. (Photo STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
A Palestinian woman holds a portrait of a jailed loved one at a protest outside the Red Cross offices in Gaza City. She's calling for the released of Palestlinian prisoners held in Israel.(Photo: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
An activist wearing a bull mask holds a sign reading "We are the voice of those who do not have one. Abolition!" as she takes part in protest against bullfighting in Mexico City. (Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)
In South Korea, a man takes a picture of the sign of a Christian protester who is calling for the cancellation a Lady Gaga concert in Seoul. Church groups say she promotes homosexuality. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
This handout photo provided by NationalADAPT shows handcuffed actor Noah Wyle arrested during a protest at the Capitol in Washington. The group ADAPT protested proposed cuts in Medicaid. (AP Photo/NationalADAPT)(3 Comments)
We're generally loathe to pass along any details of the latest Facebook app, but we're making a NewsCut exception in this case:
The campaign, however, is only underway in Australia. Mashable reports:
Users, both men and women, can send these replacement messages to their friends using the Facebook application. We're not exactly sure how the app works -- namely, we're not sure how the app is able to buy up ad space for specific users. Dove nor its agency, Ogilvy UK, could not be reached for clarification on the matter.
Update 5:15 p.m. 4/25/12 - An update and correction from Facebook. The ads do not actually replace or cover other ads.
According to ClickZ:
Though a video describing the app suggests it "lets you replace those feel-bad ads with messages designed to make women feel good instead," it doesn't actually obscure other ads from being seen. Rather, the more people who download the app and create ads, the more Facebook ad impressions are used to promote the Dove-branded messages.
Colleague Julia Schrenkler and I came across this sign at the Hamm Building branch of the Post Office today (the best Post Office branch in the country by the way).
Everybody's got a "cellphone guy (or woman)" story. What's yours?
(Photo: Julia Schrenkler)(4 Comments) | <urn:uuid:006af5a7-1663-44cf-b5c6-91b7fbb0e6be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2012/04/23/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962425 | 2,856 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Sometime in 1898 my great-grandfather, George Ernest and his father in law, my great, great-grandfather (who everyone called Dad) purchased a tiny island on a lake in Northern Wisconsin. On the island they built a small, serviceable summer cottage. We have been traveling there each summer ever since.
Dad in his canoe
Our society has, I think, lost some of it’s grounded-ness; that sort of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz kind of going home to Kansas-ness, if that makes sense. I guess you could call it the philosophy of ‘click your heels and you are there.’ People who are fortunate to have a ‘click your heels’ location to return to are more than merely fortunate, they are rich.
Now, my little family cottage is not swanky as many modern cottages are. It has been left in the swanky dust by all of the big, peeled log beauties that have sprung up all over the lake. We have bizarre plumbing arrangements, no big screen TV – actually, we do not have TV. It is furnished exactly as my great grandparents left it, complete with their collections of Dickens and selected Thackeray. This last visit, I pulled ol’ George Ernest’s copy of Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ from the bookshelf. I have seen the movie many times, but I never read the actual book and the book is wonderful. Lew Wallace, the author, did tremendous research when writing it. He was a bored general in the Middle East when he started writing it. It is worth reading for the description of the wise men and the cultural conditions of Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth. You will learn many obscure anthropological facts. Please visit the website about Lew Wallace and his ‘study’ in Crawfordsville, Indiana. I did not get there this trip, but I will next time.
Whenever life seems to be over the top, I know I can click my heels and go home again.
I know this will make for a long post, but this next bit is something I once wrote for the possible start of … something, not sure what – I think it is a mystery. Anyway, it is intended to be fictional … but I used lots of autobiographical sense memories based on this place I love.
The Indian Mounds seem smaller each year, especially now that I am a grown woman. When I was a little girl the only way to reach the mounds was by boat. We would arrive in the throaty Chris-craft my grandfather had happened upon at an estate auction, throw the anchor into the golden sandy floor of the lake and wade in. Some years the water was so cold the drop into the knee deep water took my breath away leaving me in a blue lipped state of shivering that didn’t abate until I was able climb into a warm bath when we returned to the cottage.
My grandfather always putted around a bit in search of a rock to latch on to. For some macabre reason I was always drawn to the mounds. The thought of them silently waiting haunted me from one June to the next and I couldn’t wait for the first sunny day after we arrived at the island to make the trip to the boat beach, as it was known to my family.
I remember my mother taking me by the hand, leading me along the pine needle path away from the sunny stretch of beach and the rhythmic sound of the waves rolling in from the darkest center of the lake. Here, the forest deepened and the sounds of the woods mimicked the sound of the air after a deep snowfall; an intense quiet suffused with a sense of peace. I became conscious of the muffled slap, slap of my pink flip-flops against the densely packed pine needles. I was mindful of the sun streaking through the trees in slanting rays and it reminded me of the religious cards my catholic cousins showed me picturing Jesus looking up toward the sky, thin beams of sunlight streaming from a cloud creating a heavenly aura. Maybe this is how I latched on to the idea that the mounds were a holy place requiring the same reverence reserved for church interiors and the quiet whispers accorded public libraries.
My mother wove her own version of an old legend that loosely resembled the official history of the area. She told a story about a final battle fought by the ancestors of the Ojibwa Indians who, as recently as 100 years earlier, had been the original inhabitants of the boat beach. Her voice barely above a whisper, leaning down to reach my ear as we walked along, she told how the feuding tribes finally culminated their bitter warring by burying the Tomahawk on the shores of the boat beach. My mother was a bit of a history buff and while she had read the scarce amount of scholarship which existed about the mounds, like a true story-teller she used the best bits from both the legend and the research to create a romantic portrait. In hushed tones she told me the brave warriors of the feuding tribes are together, their blood cleansed in the cool lake waters, ceremoniously layered in peace. Their numbers are recorded in the mounds rising gently from the ground, a visible mingling of souls for all eternity.
It was a fairly brutal tale to recount to a four-year old, but her descriptions of the blood running into the lake water like satin ribbons blowing in the breeze made it tantalizing romantic. All the Braves were handsome, all the women Indian princesses. In my mind, I pictured those handsome young braves lying entwined after the final battle, the tears of Indian princesses cleansing the blood from their wounds, (my mother’s description) and secretly dreamed of finding the tomahawk that had finally put an end to the brutality which lay beneath the fern covered mounds. Later in life I tried to find out the details of these Indian battles, as if by confirming them I could prove that the Tomahawk legend was true, but the great Indian battle remained shrouded in mystery with only the silent mounds providing exculpatory evidence of the grain of truth contained in the legend.
All of this was before the State cut a road in behind the forest which was the Indian’s sepulchral ground…before the campers came with the kids eager to scamper on the mounds, causing them diminish in a manner quicker than anything the previous 500 years had accomplished. This was all before the state sold the land to developers. It was before the full force of civilization arrived in the Northwoods.
Read Full Post » | <urn:uuid:2b4a7b9d-f9a4-44e6-9ad6-2109d5da2788> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lacegrl130.wordpress.com/category/reflection-memoir-happiness/ | 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 | 0.970601 | 1,378 | 1.554688 | 2 |
"Their districts are echo chambers of their world view," said Daniel F. McElhatton, a Democratic political consultant in Philadelphia who formerly was chief of staff to Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.). "Most of the House Republicans, especially in the Class of 2010, have no capacity or interest in compromise."
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R., Ohio) got just 85 of 236 Republicans to vote for the compromise, a deal negotiated the old-fashioned bipartisan way by two old Washington hands, Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).
And Boehner did not even have the luxury of earmarks to coax votes from recalcitrant representatives, as his predecessors could - the practice of special appropriations for pet projects is now banned.
Illustrating the political danger for lawmakers, the conservative advocacy group Americans for Limited Government issued statements Wednesday threatening 2014 primary challenges to Republican congressmen who voted for the deal - including Jim Gerlach in Philadelphia's western suburbs and South Jersey's Jon Runyan.
"There really is no way out" of Washington's cycle of brinkmanship, except "an economy that is growing steadily enough to keep Congress from having to make tough decisions," said Michael Federici, political scientist at Mercyhurst University in Erie. "What are the chances that we're going to get back there any time soon?"
When the economy was booming during portions of Ronald Reagan's and Bill Clinton's presidencies, it was easier to cut taxes and keep on spending because government revenue was growing, Federici said Wednesday. "This latest recession was a game-changer."
Federici agrees that less-competitive House districts are to blame for much of the political polarization, as members fear primary challenges from the right or left in their parties. Adding to the dilemma, though, is a fear that the shock of either a large tax increase or deep spending cuts would be damaging to a fragile economic recovery, he said - thus reinforcing the ideological tendencies of Republicans to resist raising revenue, and Democrats to resist cuts to entitlements.
"This one deal is nothing compared to the deals that are going to have to be made in the future," Federici said.
Poll after poll finds that most Americans crave bipartisanship and at least the idea of compromise - though they also hate their taxes and love government benefits such as Social Security.
The demand for compromise is about to intensify for an institution ill-equipped to do it.
By March 1, Congress will have to find an alternative to the deep automatic cuts to the Pentagon and other programs that were to be triggered if lawmakers could not reach agreement on a deficit-reduction plan.
Around the same time comes the expiration of the debt ceiling, the statutory limitation on the amount the nation can borrow. Battle lines are already being drawn again - for the fight over raising the ceiling to account for money already borrowed and spent.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said his side must be willing to shut down the government. Toomey is among the conservatives who believe they need to use the leverage of their votes to force the White House and Democrats to accept deep spending cuts, including to entitlements.
"We Republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary partial government shutdown, which is what that could mean," Toomey said on MSNBC's Morning Joe, "and insist that we get off the road to Greece."
He said that halting some government programs would not be a good thing, "but it's a hell of a lot better than the path that we're on and the crisis we're going to have if we think that we can just keep giving this president unlimited debt."
And those weren't the only fighting words on the day after the deal. By dinnertime, Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason sent out a statement boasting that "if not for Republican leaders in the Senate and House, President Obama would have gotten all of the destructive tax hikes he asked for. ..."
So much for kumbayas.
Contact Thomas Fitzgerald
at 215-854-2718 or email@example.com, or follow on Twitter @tomfitzgerald.
Read his blog, "The Big Tent," | <urn:uuid:b25a2b24-f683-4ebd-aa03-34caf9160339> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-04/news/36132736_1_house-republicans-primary-challenges-cuts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964935 | 868 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Obama won't go after marijuana use in 2 states
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says the federal government won't go after recreational marijuana use in Washington state and Colorado, where voters have legalized it.
In a Barbara Walters interview airing Friday on ABC, Obama was asked whether he supports making pot legal.
"I wouldn't go that far," Obama replied. "But what I think is that, at this point, Washington and Colorado, you've seen the voters speak on this issue."
But the president said he won't pursue the issue in the two states where voters legalized the use of marijuana in the November elections. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
"... as it is, the federal government has a lot to do when it comes to criminal prosecutions," Obama said. "It does not make sense, from a prioritization point of view, for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that under state law, that's legal."
Marijuana officially became legal in Washington state and Colorado this month.
The Justice Department hasn't targeted recreational marijuana users for decades. With limited resources, its focus has been to go after major drug traffickers instead.
Nonetheless, the Justice Department has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it is reviewing the legalization initiatives passed in Colorado and Washington state. The states have expressed concern that the federal government might sue over the issue. Department officials have said they are waiting to see what regulations the two states adopt to implement the initiatives.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday the president believes there are "bigger fish to fry" in prioritizing law enforcement goals. Carney noted Obama's comments were similar to his remarks about the use of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.
"But the law is the law, and that is why he has directed the Department of Justice to review these ballot initiatives and make some assessments about how to proceed," Carney said.
In the department's most recent statement on the issue, the U.S. attorney for Colorado said Monday that the department's responsibility to enforce the federal Controlled Substances Act "remains unchanged."
"Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress," U.S. Attorney John Walsh said. "Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on Dec. 10 in Colorado, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law."
Walsh added: "Members of the public are also advised to remember that it remains against federal law to bring any amount of marijuana onto federal property, including all federal buildings, national parks and forests, military installations, and courthouses."
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:2d69ccae-27de-41b8-b14b-1192e3e57ddb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ktar.com/44/1595266/Obama-wont-go-after-marijuana-use-in-2-states | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972871 | 568 | 1.5625 | 2 |
In the morning aerial support will join the fight against a 200-acre wildfire burning in the foothills northwest of Livermore, the Larimer County Sheriff's Department said.
One structure has been lost in the blaze, but officials said it would be Tuesday morning before they could say whether it was a home or an outbuilding.
Thirteen homes were evacuated in the Boxer Ranch Road area, and 53 others are on standby to evacuate if conditions worsen.
Tuesday, ground crews from several northern Colorado fire departments will be joined by a helicopter and a fixed-wing heavy tanker. They will join a single engine air tanker that fought the fire this afternoon, the Sheriff's Department stated.
The cause of the blaze which started about 12:30 p.m., is not yet known.
Large animals and livestock evacuated from the fire can be taken to the west barn at the Budweiser Events Center at the Ranch in Loveland.
The fire, burning in timber, grass and other fuels in the foothills on private land, is in the vicinity of the Milton Seaman Reservoir, near where the Hewlett fire burned 7,685 acres over eight days last month.
Some of the smoke attributed to the fire turned out to be smoldering areas within the Hewlett fire burn area, the Larimer County Sheriff's Department stated.
Pre-evacuation calls have been made to homes on each side of Larimer County Road 82E between Larimer County Road 80C and Larimer County Road 67J, including Cherokee Meadows Road.
Those leaving the fire area should go to the Livermore Community Hall at 1985 West Larimer County Road 74, about 1 ½ miles west of Red Feather Road.
Earlier Monday, the Larimer County commission extended a two-month-old ban on open fires, which was due to expire June 15, according to the Loveland Reporter Herald reported.
Several small wildland fires were reported across the state this afternoon, and weather forecasters say Tuesday could be ripe conditions for fast-growing blazes on the Western Slope.
The Little Sand Fire, 13 miles northwest of Pagosa Springs, has burned 5,073 acres since it was started by lightning May 13 . The fire continues to smolder and creep in "rugged and inaccessible terrain," the U.S. Forest Service says.
Fire conditions, however, are expected to worsen across most of western Colorado Tuesday.
There is a "red flag" critical fire danger warning from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday with humidities between 8 and 13 percent and wind gusts up to 30 mph.
Thunderstorms expected in Colorado could lightning with accompanying rain and erratic wind gusts, forecasters warned. | <urn:uuid:a294e3a9-1c75-4124-a51e-10256a4f0216> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20780040/new-fire-burning-larimer-county?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957364 | 555 | 1.679688 | 2 |
In a November 25 editorial (“Prop. 11′s point”), the Los Angeles Times stated, “California is supposed to end up with a lot more of those evenly balanced districts.” The Times does not understand of the process of gerrymandering. Balanced districts must not be our goal.
The Times did point to the close State Senate District 19 race as an example of mudslinging in balanced districts. The problems of balanced districts, however, go much deeper.
There is no evidence that balanced districts have ever led to the election of more moderate representatives. Balanced districts do not produce moderates, and District 19 is just one of many examples. There are many close races still undecided around the country in which the candidates are nowhere near having the same positions.
The District 19 race split 49.8% to 50.2%. That means that just short of 50% of the voters are disappointed with the result. About half of the people in the district will have a representative who will not represent them, who will not fight for what they believe in, and who will disregard their ideas. A close race may be more interesting and help sell more newspapers, but it does not help the People.
Districts should be built out of like-minded people. If a candidate wins 80% of the general election vote, that is a good sign that the vast majority of the people in the district will have their interests fairly represented in Sacramento. Does it really matter if the primary election is the more interesting battle?
The belief in balanced districts misconstrues the process of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering for political gain is not accomplished by creating lopsided districts. It is accomplished by creating nearly balanced districts.
For example, California has significantly more Democrats than Republicans. If someone wanted to gerrymander in favor of Democrats, they could create every single district with 55% Democrats and 45% Republicans. The 10% margin would be enough to keep almost every district safe, and the Democrats would hold almost every seat, far surpassing their actual proportion of the population. Not a single imbalanced district is needed.
On the other hand, if you want to gerrymander in favor of Republicans despite the Democratic majority, you shape as many districts as possible with 55% Republicans and 45% Democrats. The remainder of the Democrats get lumped into a small number of heavily Democratic districts. That gives a small number of safe seats to Democrats, but it leaves the majority of seats for the minority party.
Similarly, gerrymandering for racial discrimination has been accomplished by ensuring that no district has a substantial proportion of minority voters. African Americans, Latinos, and others have seen their votes diluted by having them spread across many districts. All of the districts have a racial balance, which causes the minority to be denied their fair representation.
Gerrymandering thus works by diluting the minority’s vote and thus making them come up just a bit short in many districts. It works by forcing large numbers of the opposition into districts in which their views are not properly represented by those who get elected.
If every district were made out of nothing but like-minded people, every group would have representation corresponding to their proportion of the general population. That would much better serve the interests of all of the people.
Central city voters should find themselves in districts with other central cities, even if that means gerrymandering the district to connect to nearby cities. Rural voters should find themselves in districts with other rural voters, even if it means gerrymandering should be used to wind the district around various cities. Democrats together with other Democrats. Republicans together with other Republicans. Every group would be fully empowered and fairly represented.
We do not know yet how well Proposition 11 will work. It puts more power in the hands of Republicans and independents than their share of the population, but whether they use that power for our benefit or our harm is yet to be seen. It puts the power in the hands of novices, who we must hope have the wisdom to see through the mirage created by “fair” and balanced districts.
Richard M. Mathews
Richard M. Mathews is an Elected Member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee and Vice President of the North Valley Democratic Club. He is an Executive Board Member of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, which presented him with the 2008 Truman Award for Outstanding Volunteer of the Year. | <urn:uuid:2c8ab9f9-55e7-4028-beae-c54f5b93f693> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laprogressive.com/fair-and-balanced-districts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968094 | 913 | 2.71875 | 3 |
One more note about the ISO performance - the main goal was to compare the S100 to the S95, not to examine 'real world' high-ISO performance of the S100. There is certainly less ISO noise with the S100 than the S95 - but they are still using 1/1.7" sensors - and since ISO noise is determined primarily by total light gathered, even the 'better' S100 will be beaten soundly by a dSLR.
It's worth noting that almost every ISO noise test out there on the internet fails to look at 'real world' high-ISO performance, at least in terms of when you usually think of using high ISOs - in low light. Granted, higher ISOs can come in handy to push up shutter speed in decent light, too. But the problem with ISO noise tests is that when you increase ISO during the test, you have to decrease something else to keep the exposure the same. Most commonly, what is changed is shutter speed, so your high ISO shots are short exposures, which reduces the impact of read noise, the main noise component in low-light shooting. Although I shot my S100/S95 comparisons in the 'traditional' way (increase ISO and decrease shutter speed to compensate), when I ran my 5DII/7D tests
, I kept aperture and
shutter speed constant as I increased ISO, instead decreasing the illumination with ND filters. In that test, the noise at high ISO on both cameras looked worse than other published noise tests, because high ISOs were used in low-light situations (like the 'real world' but unlike most tests).
Why not cover sharpness and distortions?
Lack of time, mostly.
I might test those, at some point. But, while relative sensor performance was an unknown, about differential sharpness and distortion performance we can make some pretty educated guesses.
Sharpness will be slightly higher with the S100 than the S95, based on it's 12 MP sensor vs. the 10 MP sensor. Lots of comparative data to support that assertion - take any lens you like, and use DxOMark to compare resolution on different cameras with sensors of the same size (5DII/5D, or 7D/50D/40D, etc.). Resolution goes up with increasing MP.
Distortion will be higher on the S100 - it's got a 5x zoom range with a 5.2mm wide end, vs. a 3.8x range with a 6.0mm wide end. That's almost certain to mean more barrel distortion at the wide end, and probably more pincushion at the long end.
The battery drains so FAST. Picture quality is NOT much difference compared with S95 under low light.
I'll try to do some bettery life testing over the weekend. For me, this isn't normally an issue - I have two batteries (for all my cameras, actually), and I swap them out either at the end of the day or before I take the camera out the next time. That's really the best method, IMO. Li-based batteries perform best and last longest when they are used frequently and lightly - that's true for cell phones, laptops, and cameras. I find that having a pair of batteries and swapping them is the best approach, because I always have a spare battery ready.
Over the coming weekend, I'll try taking some 'real world' shots to compare the S95 and S100 in low light. Perhaps I'll even shoot the same scene with my dSLRs, for comparison.
For home use then, which can be GREATLY expanded if you could shoot kids on the move, and any other moving objects, I would NOT look at the S100...
Ahhh...the irony. Actually, the very first place I took my S100 to shoot something other than a test setup was my daughter's ballet and tap class. I wanted to see how it would do in exactly that situation. It performed pretty well, getting a few decent shots from the short class. No, it's not a dSLR. I shot a class with one, and of course the results were better (and no, I didn't mind the looks from other parents when I pulled out a gripped body with a 70-200mm f/2.8L
IS II, but the S100 didn't get any looks...). But it does ok, given that the reason I have one is for times when I simply cannot bring a dSLR. In those situations, compactness is key - for me, there's a big difference between the S100/S95 and a G12-m4/3, and a much smaller difference between the G12-m4/3 and my 5DII/7D. For others, that might not be the case, but my requirement is for the smallest possible camera giving usable results in RAW format. Anyway, here's a sample, 13mm (60mm FF equivalent), f/4, 1/100 s, ISO 800. | <urn:uuid:9aab5bee-7efb-4f9f-bfd5-d6ef95fd4750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=2102.msg42851 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955672 | 1,045 | 1.5 | 2 |
Lou Colombo (1927 - 2012)
In the 1940's, Lou Colombo began playing trumpet in a guitar and mandolin group
at weddings and town events and remembers earning 67 cents for his first job. After
playing the local circuit for a few years, in the
to start his own band, with Dick Johnson and Dave McKenna, and they worked in
Lou Colombo went on the road with Buddy Morrow, Prez Prado, and Dick Johnson
and The Artie Shaw Orchestra. Next, he spent 15 years traveling back and forth playing
East to West coasts on his trumpet, flugel horn, baritone horn and "pocket trumpet" a tiny,
eye-catching trumpet only 8-10 inches long.
He was part of the Cape
Cod jazz scene since 1950's, when he commuted from
to play big band dates at the Mill Hill Club in
jazz scene was still strong on Cape Cod so
He started off at the top,
playing the Velvet Hammer in
McKenna. One of his
idols, Bobby Hackett, relocated to
Bobby," recorded with McKenna and Gray Sargent on guitar.
Lou performed at the 2007 Provincetown Jazz Festival. | <urn:uuid:7bd6896f-9de2-48f3-945d-493cd18aac53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.provincetownjazzfestival.org/LouColombo.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957479 | 254 | 1.5625 | 2 |
EASTON, PETER, once a loyal English seaman, later turned pirate, whose well-equipped fleet of warlike ships and intensive raids on both English and foreign ships earned him the appellation “arch-pirate”; fl. 1610–20.
Easton arrived in Newfoundland 1612 “with ten sayle of good ships well furnished and very rich” and proceeded with impunity to raid coastal harbours from Trinity Bay to Ferryland at his own good pleasure. He made Harbour Grace his headquarters, where he repaired his ships, built a fort, and added men to his crews by persuasion, and, if necessary, by force. In addition to his depredations in the waters adjacent to Harbour Grace, where he took two ships, 100 men, and provisions from every ship, Easton plundered 30 English vessels in the harbour of St. John’s and raided French and Portuguese ships at Ferryland. The total damage inflicted by Easton on the fishing fleets was estimated at £20,400.
Easton’s peripatetic exploits brought him into personal contact with Richard Whitbourne (afterwards Sir Richard), a long-time, legitimate trader, and John Guy, governor of the colony at Cuper’s (now Cupids) Cove. It must be said in Easton’s favour that he did no actual harm to the settlement. Indeed, on one occasion, the settlers gave him two pigs. There was only one clash with the colonists, in which one of them was wounded by error. Easton did, however, capture Whitbourne, whom he kept on board his ship for 11 weeks, attempting all the while to convert him to piracy. He only released Whitbourne on condition that the latter should go to England and seek a royal pardon for him.
When Whitbourne arrived in England, he found that a pardon had already been granted to the pirate, February 1612, but that it had never reached him. It was re-granted 26 November. Capt. Roger Middleton was commissioned to deliver the pardon to Easton in Barbary, as the pirate had left Newfoundland to sail to the Mediterranean in search of Spanish treasure-ships. According to Whitbourne, Easton, consumed “with a longing desire and full expectation to be called home, lost that hope by too much delaying of time by him who carried the pardon.”
Easton’s pardon had still not reached him in March 1613, whereupon he sailed into Villefranche, Savoy, free port of the pirates. Because of his reputed wealth – two million pounds of “gold” – he was warmly welcomed by the Duke of Savoy, whose finances were then at a low ebb. At Villefranche Easton bought a palace, set up a warehouse for his booty, lived in luxury, and acquired the title “Marquis of Savoy.” Being at that time a handsome man around 40, according to contemporary descriptions, he crowned his career by marrying a very wealthy lady. He remained in the service of the Duke of Savoy until 1620, when he is lost to history.
Easton was the leading corsair of his day and one of the most famous in the whole annals of piracy. He possessed all the requisite skills for his infamous trade but he was neither a blood-thirsty monster nor a swashbuckling cut-throat. On the contrary, he proved himself an outstanding navigator, an able, brave, and bold seaman, an expert tactician, and highly competent in gun-laying. He controlled such seapower that no sovereign or state could afford to ignore him and he was never overtaken or captured by any fleet commissioned to hunt him down.
Nottingham University, Middleton MSS, Mi X 1/1–66. PRO, H.C.A. 1/47, 14/42 give details of his raids on English and French vessels returning from Newfoundland in 1610 and on the French in Newfoundland in 1612 (on the latter see also PRO, P.C.2/27 and CSP, Ireland, 1611–14, 383); H.C.A. 13/42 concerns his raids on the Dutch, 1612; H.C.A. 24/76, no.160; C.O.1/1, no.179; CSP, Dom., 1611–18, 119, 158; CSP, Venice, 1610–13; 1613–15; 1619–21. The life and works of Sir Henry Mainwaring, ed. G. E. Manwaring (2v., Navy Records Soc., LIV, 1920, LVI, 1922), I. Purchas, Pilgrimes (1905–7), XIX, 417. Westward hoe for Avalon in the New-found-land as described by Captain Richard Whitbourne, of Exmouth, Devon, 1622, ed. T. Whitburn (London, 1870). Richard Whitbourne, A discourse and discovery of New-found-land (London, 1620).
Cite This Article
E. Hunt , “EASTON, PETER,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 18, 2013, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/easton_peter_1E.html.
Information to be used in other citation formatsPermalink: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/easton_peter_1E.html
|Author of Article:||E. Hunt|
|Title of Article:||EASTON, PETER|
|Publication Name:||Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1|
|Publisher:||University of Toronto/Université Laval|
|Year of publication:||1966|
|Year of revision:||1966|
|Access Date:||June 18, 2013| | <urn:uuid:cb6cc3fd-3b89-46a3-a3cc-8a207a17d9ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=203 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966554 | 1,267 | 3.078125 | 3 |
do you guys know eco Christmas gifts?
Christmas is a time for celebration. A fun time with family and friends where enjoy good food, good company and lots of presents. But along with this comes a pretty heavy carbon footprint.Christmas, and gift giving in particular, has the potential to be the least environmentally-friendly time of year. How many Christmas gifts have your received or even given which have been unwanted, thrown away or stored in the bottom of the wardrobe? Do you have exclusive Christmas Gift Ideas for a splendid celebration?
Choosing a ‘green' Christmas gift is one of the easiest things you can to do to reduce your carbon footprint. Of course, the greenest Christmas gift is the one not given. But giving is one of the great joys of Christmas. We all love the feeling of making family and friends feel loved and appreciated. You don't need to give that up to have a greener Christmas. By making a few small changes you can give the environment a happy Christmas too!
Choosing Christmas gifts can be extremely easy in some aspects but it can also be extremely difficult in other aspects. | <urn:uuid:9970f3ab-2ccf-4f0c-ae39-4f5c1b9321c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allthingschristmas.com/forum/threads/5646-do-you-guys-know-eco-Christmas-gifts?p=71559 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947086 | 227 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Etosha National Park in Namibia is one of the top game viewing sites in Africa. The park was created over 100 years ago and is huge, larger than the state of New Jersey. We spent three days driving around the park during dry season. That’s the best time to visit since the animals must come out of hiding and flock to the waterholes to drink.
On any given day a visitor will spot zebras, giraffes, elephants, springbok, oryx and more. With a bit of luck a rhino or lion will come sauntering by. We were lucky to see both of those as well.
Namibia is a prime destination for self-drive tours in Africa. With the second lowest population density in the world (after only Mongolia) there were times when we were the only car for miles as we gazed upon the animals.
The zebras sort of surprised us. To begin with, they’re not all black and white. Some of them have a fair amount of tan coloring which we hadn’t expected. They also pretty much just stand around all day without much to do.
Pictures of Zebras at Etosha National Park in Namibia
They also seem pretty dense, just standing in the road staring us without a thought of moving. In that way they were sort of like donkeys with stripes.
Larissa just loved how many of the zebras stood around all day doing the zebra version of spooning.
The lone springbok (the one that looks like a deer) seems a bit lost among all the zebras at this waterhole in Etosha.
These zebras don’t realize it yet but they’re about to get kicked out of the waterhole by the big, bad elephant.
There’s always somebody who’s the last one to get the memo.
Here’s a short video of zebras moseying around the park: | <urn:uuid:b9503b53-ee44-4723-90da-c0e7e270f822> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.changesinlongitude.com/pictures-of-zebras-at-etosha-national-park/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964022 | 418 | 1.570313 | 2 |
About two years ago, when Anne Tierney learned she had type 2 diabetes, it
galvanized her. “My diagnosis came as a shock,” says Tierney, who was then
about 40 pounds overweight. “I used to eat chocolate all the time. The day I
was diagnosed, I quit.” She also consulted a nutritionist and hired a personal
trainer. “I knew I had to take action,” recalls Tierney, 51, director of
corporate gifts for Halls Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Her action plan was in keeping with the latest research on...
The good news: A healthy lifestyle and solid medical care can halt those risks.
Here's what every woman with type 2 diabetes needs to know.
The Heart of the Matter
Type 2 diabetes makes heart disease -- the top killer of U.S. women -- more likely.
Women with diabetes are as likely to have a heart attack as someone who has already had a heart attack. Compared to men, women with diabetes are more likely to have a heart attack and to die from it. And they tend to have a poorer quality of life than men.
“Nobody knows for sure why these heart risks are different for women than men - whether it’s hormones or socioeconomic factors or some combination of those two,” says ob-gyn and diabetes educator Cassandra Henderson, MD, of New York’s Montefiore Medical Center.
If you’re a woman with type 2 diabetes, your blood pressure needs to be closely monitored, Henderson says. High blood pressure also makes stroke, kidney disease, and vision problems more likely, so it’s a key part of diabetes management. Keeping your cholesterol levels in check will also help protect your heart.
Planning on Getting Pregnant?
Type 2 diabetes usually strikes after age 40. But it's on the rise in younger women, mainly because of obesity.
That means many women now have type 2 diabetes during their childbearing years. And that can be risky.
If you have type 2 diabetes and plan to get pregnant, see your doctor. You need a plan to keep your blood sugar level under control. That will help your odds of a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. High blood sugar levels, particularly early in pregnancy, can increase risk of birth defects.
A healthy pregnancy is possible when you have type 2 diabetes. But it takes work.
A woman with a high blood sugar level is more likely to give birth to a baby with low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) and jaundice. She's also more likely to have a larger baby, which makes for a more difficult delivery.
You may need to see an ob-gyn who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Your doctor should check on your diabetes drugs, because some shouldn't be taken during pregnancy. As a result, you may need to take insulin.
Of course, a healthy diet and exercise are a must. That's true for everyone, but for pregnant women with type 2 diabetes, it's especially important to help control blood sugar levels.
You'll also need to check your blood sugar level frequently -- up to eight times daily -- while you're pregnant, to flag any blood sugar level spikes.
Get the latest Diabetes newsletter delivered to your inbox!
Your level is currently
If the level is below 70 and you are experiencing symptoms such as shaking, sweating or difficulty thinking, you will need to raise the number immediately. A quick solution is to eat a few pieces of hard candy or 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey. Recheck your numbers again in 15 minutes to see if the number has gone up. If not, repeat the steps above or call your doctor.
People who experience hypoglycemia several times in a week should call their health care provider. It's important to monitor your levels each day so you can make sure your numbers are within the range. If you are pregnant always consult with your health care provider.
Congratulations on taking steps to manage your health.
However, it's important to continue to track your numbers so that you can make lifestyle changes if needed. If you are pregnant always consult with your physician.
Your level is high if this reading was taken before eating. Aim for 70-130 before meals and less than 180 two hours after meals.
Even if your number is high, it's not too late for you to take control of your health and lower your blood sugar.
One of the first steps is to monitor your levels each day. If you are pregnant always consult with your physician.
Thank you for signing up for the WebMD Diabetes Newsletter!
You'll find tips and tricks as well as the latest news and research on Diabetes.
Did You Know Your Lifestyle Choices
Affect Your Blood Sugar?
Use the Blood Glucose Tracker to monitor
how well you manage your blood sugar over time. | <urn:uuid:865ad74c-c19d-4f3d-a3f6-bbccffc1c95d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://diabetes.webmd.com/features/type-2-diabetes-women?src=RSS_PUBLIC | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950141 | 1,016 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Westciv is running another of its excellent free online courses. The latest course, which began last Thursday, covers CSS Level 1. Each week a new lesson will be posted, and the previous week's removed, so sign up to receive a reminder when new instalments are available.
Handtops the next small thing
First there were luggable PCs, then came laptops, followed by notebooks, and now there are handtops. Bigger and more powerful than PDAs, yet smaller than sub-notebooks, examples of handtops include the Sony U50 and Vulcan Flipstart. You can read about these and other handtops at Handtops.com.
Chat MSN off-base
Popular instant messaging services, such as ICQ and AIM, have offered a browser-based client for some time. Now Microsoft is getting in on the action. MSN Web Messenger, currently in beta, enables you to send and receive instant messages via the MSN Messenger protocol using a regular browser. Because you don't have to install any additional software, it's useful for when you're away from your regular computer.
Taking inspiration from Apple's switch campaign, Switch2Firefox aims to encourage users away from Internet Explorer to the Firefox browser. It lists some of the many reasons to switch, testimonials from users who have already switched, extracts from swooning articles about Firefox and answers to some of the questions potential switchers may have. | <urn:uuid:bc737d2b-77d7-45a4-8caf-9f30d951a82f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/16/1092508351370.html?from=storylhs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916426 | 297 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Old or new, you wouldn't call any Shelby product a "cheap thrill" today, but it's just the description that initially drew Scott Wahl to the car you see here.
"I was a junior in high school in 1974, and drove a '66 Mustang coupe with a 289 and automatic," explains Wahl. "It was a nice car that I bought from my mom for $600, but it paled when compared to the GTOs, 442s, Roadrunners, and Z28s that filled the school parking lot. A close friend had recently shown me a 1972 Motor Trend magazine article entitled 'Cheap Thrills,' which highlighted several '60s muscle cars that could be had for affordable prices. The list included early 442s, '64-'67 GTOs, '67-'69 Formula S Barracudas, and the '65-'66 GT350s. Motor Trend described the GT350 as "sort of a Cobra with a roof," and touted that the more abundant '66 model could probably be picked up for $2,500-$3,500. I was definitely interested." Fate was with Wahl at a youthful 17 years of age, for he was about to score a '66 GT350 for much less.
"Not two weeks after reading the Motor Trend article, I was walking with the same buddy through the campus parking lot when we spotted a white Mustang fastback. As we got closer, we picked up on the all-important visual cluesùlower sidescoops, rear quarter-windows, and hoodscoop. Strangely, it had no stripes, but on closer inspection we could see that a cheap paintjob had been painted over the rocker stripes."
Wahl went on to describe how he and his friend waited for the owner to return--a teacher applying for a job. He wouldn't score the car right away, but after working on the owner for several months, a deal was consummated for just $1,000. Remember this was the era of OPEC oil embargos and long gas lines, and the teacher articulated being interested in a car that would get better fuel economy--perhaps a Karmann Ghia. Big mistake!
Wahl proceeded to drive the GT350H for the next 10 years--enough seat time to become entrenched in a "drive it" mentality that continues to this day. It was about a year before he realized the car was originally a red Hertz car, and much later that he came to understand that only 50 or so of the former rentals had been bathed in the Candyapple hue. A multitude of modification and restoration phases have occurred over the years, but rather than get bogged down in relating the ins and outs of such, we'll stick to reporting on the current state of affairs.
You can probably predict that Wahl isn't a concourse nuts and bolts guy if his car is featured in the pages herein. You'd be right, but the owner also has a healthy respect for what Carroll and company churned out of their Los Angeles airport digs so many years ago. The result is predominately old-school, but with enough new to create a blend which is hard to argue with. The return to red was an easy decision, but rather than the exact factory color, Wahl opted for Porsche Guards Red in a single-stage PPG Delstar--as applied by Kelly Taylor Restoration in Sammamish, Washington. The Porsche color pops in a way that the original does not, and just as on day one, makes its statement sans over-the-top LeMans stripes.
The addition of an R-model front apron is the only deviation from stock sheetmetal, and combines with lowering springs and 16-inch V45s for an aggressive look. The in-cabin view is likewise near stock, but altered enough to please Wahl and offer an even better performance vibe than original.
For example, the steering wheel isn't original to the car, but is a period wood Shelby/Secura over-the-counter unit that is far more attractive than the standard Shelby simulated wood piece. The rear seat delete shelf is inspired by the '65 GT350 playbook, but perhaps the best deviation from stock involves the billiard ball-topped Hurst shifter protruding from the trans tunnel. We all know that a high percentage of Hertz GT350s came equipped with a C4 automatic, and this one (SFM6S835) was no different as delivered. Interestingly, an owner prior to Wahl swapped in the wide-ratio Top Loader that still does duty today, now augmented by a Centerforce clutch and pressure plate combination.
Under the hood, the scene isn't far from circa 1966, which in the case of a Shelby, is hardly a bad thing. Sharp eyes will detect the valve cover spacers which allow Crane roller rockers to lift oversized 1.94/1.60 valves in ported Hi-Po 289 iron castings. Likewise, they may note the 715-cfm Holley that was standard issue on four-speed '66 GT350s, rather than the 460-cfm Autolite four-barrel that was common to most automatic cars. The matching numbers motor also sports forged pistons and a healthy Crane solid lifter cam, but bucks the stroker trend with a true 289 cubes plus 0.030.
Now, the car would be faster with a long-stroke, large displacement engine, but keep in mind the favorable weight of a vintage machine like this. Wahl says his '66 tips the scales at just shy of 2,900 pounds, which is close to 1,000 pounds lighter than the V-8 offerings of the current S197 Mustang generation. The comparative flyweight goes a long way in helping understand that a healthy 289 can still be plenty of fun in a properly prepped vintage chassis.
Speaking of chassis, Wahl has enhanced the road-race-inspired Shelby setup with select components from Global West, Koni, and others. Of course, these days it's all in the name of an enhanced driving experience, rather than pushing the envelope of ultimate speed. Wahl surely relishes spirited time behind the wheel, but maturity and economic considerations banish any boy racer antics to years past. The decades since the influential Motor Trend story have seen the GT350 morph from "cheap thrill" into an icon of a golden era, demanding a level of respect and care that was unimaginable in 1974. Wahl has been along the entire time, and it continues to be a great ride.
The matching numbers motor also sports forged pistons and a healthy Crane solid lifter cam, but bucks the stroker trend with a true 289 cubes plus 0.030
Scott Wahl's '66 Shelby GT350H
- Original Hi-Po 289, Hi-Po 289 crank, Hi-Po 289 rods (polished), TRW forged pistons
- 4.030-inch bore
- 2.87-inch stroke
- Original Hi-Po 289 heads (ported), Manley 1.94-inch intake/1.60-inch exhaust valves
- Crane solid flat tappet cam, Crane 1.6:1 roller rockers
- 715-cfm Holley four-barrel
- Original Shelby aluminum high-rise intake
- Original Hi-Po 289 dual-point distributor
- Tri-Y headers, metallic ceramic coated
- Flowmaster 50-series mufflers
- 2-1/2-inch mid and tailpipes
- Wide ratio Top Loader four-speed
- Centerforce clutch and pressure plate
- Hurst shifter
- Original 9-inch housing
- 28-spline axles
- Detroit Locker differential, 3.50 gears
- Front: Global West tubular upper and lower control arms, 620-lb/in springs, Koni shocks, 1-1/8-inch Quickor swaybar, Shelby quick steer pitman and idler arms
- Rear: 4-1/2 leaf reverse eye Magna springs, Koni shocks, Original Shelby override traction bars
- Front: Original 11.3-inch discs, Kelsey Hayes four-piston calipers
- Rear: Original Shelby/Galaxie 2-1/2-inch drums
- Front: Vintage Wheel Works V45, 16x8-inch
- Rear: Vintage Wheel Works V45, 16x8-inch
- Front: BFG g-Force Sport, P225/50R16
- Rear: BFG g-Force Sport, P255/50R16
- Black standard interior with period
- Secura wood steering wheel, '65 Shelby rear seat delete shelf
- R-model front apron, Porsche Guards Red single-stage Delstar by Kelly Taylor Restoration | <urn:uuid:c1ee4abc-504a-40b8-b252-00046f95c102> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mustangandfords.com/featuredvehicles/1964_1973_mustang/mdmp_1107_1966_gt350h_010_hertz_so_good/viewall.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948246 | 1,819 | 1.539063 | 2 |
PAGE 2 OF 5
By studying gene fusions—in blood cancers and solid tumors—Brian Druker, Charles Sawyers, and Arul Chinnaiyan have revealed vulnerabilities in tumors that can be targeted and successfully treated.
Then, on June 2, 2009, he saw a television news report. A woman in her 50s, a nonsmoker with adenocarcinoma like Schuette, said chemotherapy hadn’t worked for her, so she’d taken an experimental drug called crizotinib that targeted a rare mutation in her tumor. “My cancer is melting away,” she told the reporter.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Schuette said, looking at his wife. Within weeks he was in a phase I clinical trial taking the drug himself, seeking a new lease on life.
The hope is that crizotinib is the first of a new class of drugs that will do for solid tumors what Gleevec did for the blood cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).
Crizotinib opens the door for a class of diagnostics, prognostics, and therapies that target cancer-driving mutated genes in common solid tumors. They specifically block a fusion protein—produced by an abnormal fusing of two genes in cancer cells. The new diagnostic and prognostic tests would assess a patient’s cancer by looking for these fusion genes. And new drugs, like crizotinib, would target the resulting fusion proteins.
The first fusion gene-targeted drug, called imatinib or Gleevec, was developed in the 1990s to arrest CML. “It changed a disease that was a death sentence within three to five years to a disease that’s now a manageable condition” with a five-year survival rate of 90 percent, says medical oncologist and HHMI investigator Brian Druker of Oregon Health & Science University, who helped develop the drug.
Researchers have since found several fusion genes in other blood cancers but for years had less luck in common solid tumors of the breast, prostate, colon, lung, and pancreas, which account for 80 percent of U.S. cancer deaths.
Their luck is beginning to change. Arul Chinnaiyan , an HHMI investigator at the University of Michigan Medical School, and other scientists have uncovered a variety of gene fusions in prostate, breast, thyroid, kidney, brain, and salivary gland cancers.
These discoveries, along with Gleevec’s success and promising results with crizotinib, have fueled “a gold rush” among cancer researchers to find new gene fusions in solid tumors, says oncologist and HHMI investigator Charles Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “How many exist? And, let’s find out as fast as possible because the implications are just enormous.”
A Real Puzzle
The groundwork for the current gold rush was laid more than a decade ago when Druker and Sawyers helped develop Gleevec.
Through a series of discoveries in the 1960s and 1970s, scientists learned that in patients with CML, chromosomes 9 and 22 invariably swapped segments—what has come to be called a genetic “translocation.” By the 1980s, researchers had sequenced DNA at the break point in the CML translocation and discovered a hybrid between two genes. The gene fusion produced a protein called BCR-ABL that drove white blood cells to divide incessantly.
Druker worked with colleagues at the pharmaceutical company Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) to find a compound—imatinib—that specifically blocked BCR-ABL in leukemia cells. Druker then joined forces with Sawyers to direct the clinical trials that demonstrated the compound’s remarkable ability to stop leukemia. Marketed under the name Gleevec, the cancer therapeutic was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001.
Since then researchers have learned that Gleevec and drugs like it are no panacea, as the aberrant target gene in many patients’ cancer eventually mutates again to confer resistance. Sawyers and colleagues at Bristol-Myers Squibb have developed a drug called dasatinib that targets Gleevec-resistant BCR-ABL, and researchers are developing similar backup therapeutics for other Gleevec-like drugs.
The success of Gleevec and related drugs has inspired researchers to step up their hunt for the molecular defects underlying other cancers. By the mid-2000s, fusion genes akin to BCR-ABL had been found in various types of leukemia and lymphoma as well as in rare bone and soft-tissue cancers. But none had turned up in common solid tumors.
“It was a real puzzle why people weren’t finding these things,” says cancer biologist Jonathan Pollack of Stanford University School of Medicine. Some researchers argued that cancer-driving fusion genes were difficult to detect among the many abnormal chromosomes in solid tumors. Others argued that they simply didn’t exist. Researchers hunted instead for cancer-causing genes that were mutated, copied excessively (amplified), or deleted.
Photos: Druker: John Valls, Sawyers: Liz Baylen/PR Newswire, ©HHMI, Chinnaiyan: Liz Walker/University of Michigan | <urn:uuid:73806fa3-bd82-4867-ba60-92ee17e08afe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/nov2010/features/fusion_genes2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959448 | 1,121 | 2.640625 | 3 |
|Harold Underdown and I at the Highlights |
Writers Workshop at Chautauqua
Highlights Foundation offers a number of excellent writing workshops throughout the year. This one in March features Harold Underdown, an expert in the field of writing and publishing for children. I was fortunate to work with Harold when I attended Chautauqua two years ago.
The following information comes directly from Highlights Foundation:
On March 10-13, 2011, Harold Underdown, longtime editor and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books and founder of the popular Web site The Purple Crayon, will introduce a small group of writers to proven techniques for self-editing and for revising. Harold will be joined by children's book editor Eileen Robinson for a new Highlights Foundation workshop, How to Revise on Your Own and with Other Writers.
The Highlights Foundation asked Harold about the importance of polishing one's work before submitting. Here's what he had to say.
Highlights Foundation: I keep hearing that writers must submit books that are "ready-to-publish." What does that mean?
Harold Underdown: "Ready-to-publish" is a scary term. There's no standard definition, but it means that the manuscript has been through the wringer. There are no significant problems with the plot, the characters, the pacing. It has also been polished sufficiently that a reader will not keep running into distracting spelling and grammar mistakes, clumsy phrasing, and so on. More polished manuscripts have an advantage. But then, they always have.
Highlights Foundation: Isn't it the editor's job to polish a manuscript? Why do I need anyone else to critique my work?
Harold Underdown: There have always been some limits to what an editor, working in-house, could or would do with a manuscript. The assumption today behind the "ready-to-publish" rule is that as publishers have trimmed staff, the remaining editors do not have time to develop manuscripts. They need to acquire and move on, and so writers "must" get help with their manuscripts if they can't get them to "ready-to-publish" status on their own.
But maybe you don't need anyone else to critique your work—that's the point of our workshop. We have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't in revision, and our goal with the workshop is to pass on some of our knowledge, so that the people who take it will come out of it better equipped to do their own editing, either on their own or with the help of other writers, friends, or family.
"How to Revise on Your Own and with Other Writers" is limited to twelve writers. Harold and his co-leader, children's book editor Eileen Robinson, will put their extensive experience to work, giving you critical tools for polishing your work. To secure your spot, or for more information, contact Jo Lloyd at 570-253-1192, e-mail email@example.com, or request an application online.
Highlights Foundation Founders Workshops take place near Honesdale, Pennsylvania. You'll stay in your own cozy cabin, surrounded by 1,300 wooded acres and hiking trails. Workshop fee includes individual cabins; all meals (provided by a top-notch chef); airport pickup service, if needed; and an intimate teaching setting at the homeplace of the Founders of Highlights for Children. | <urn:uuid:7bac0d1c-9805-49dd-a3b8-08fb4108d09b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://carolbaldwinblog.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961843 | 719 | 1.953125 | 2 |
At first glance, it seems like a nerdier version of Facebook. There's the profile picture, the list of interests, the space for your Web site. Most of the members have Ph.D.'s, though, and instead of posting party invites or YouTube videos, their "Recent Activity" is full of academic papers and scholarly treatises.
Welcome to CiteULike , a social bookmarking tool that allows users to post, share and comment on each other's links -- in this case, citations to journal articles with titles like "Trend detection through temporal link analysis" and "The Social Psychology of Inter- and Intragroup Conflict in Governmental Politics." It's a sort of "del.icio.us for academics," said Kevin Emamy, a representative for the site's London-based holding company, Oversity Ltd. It started out as a personal Web project in 2004 and grew organically by word of mouth. Today, it has some 70,000 registered users and a million page views a month, he said.
Like other similar sites, CiteULike allows users to register, create profiles and submit links that others can read, comment on, tag with relevant keywords and in turn share again. Moving away from the card-catalog view of scholarship, in which researchers dig through archives of recent and not-so-recent journal databases in sequence, the "social discovery" model, as Emamy describes it, allows colleagues to learn from each other's bookmarks and potentially collaborate in groups.
"Using a tool like CiteULike, researchers (who are finding 99 percent of their journal papers online, probably bypassing the library) can now reach directly into the bookshelves of other researchers in their field (or any other field), anywhere the world, knowing nothing about them other than what they have bookmarked, and see what they are reading right now," he said.
One could almost describe it as looking over your neighbor's shoulder in the library -- except in this case everything is public to begin with. The site lists citations only, not the full text, and links to journal databases -- most of which require a subscription, such as from a university library -- for access to the articles. JSTOR, HighWire Press and other major online repositories are represented, allowing relatively seamless integration between CiteULike references and the articles they link to, as long as the user is on a computer account covered by a subscription. (JSTOR declined to comment about its partnership with the site.)
A browser button allows researchers to instantly flag a journal article for online bookmarking, and the site automatically extracts the citation information from the Web page. (In the spirit of open source, users can write their own plugins to make the site compatible with other databases.) The result is an online repository of citations for personal use -- a bibliography of sorts -- as well as a larger snapshot of what friends and colleagues are reading. Scholars can also upload PDF files of papers they have downloaded, but they are kept private, like a personal online flash drive.
Alternatively, some sites, like Science online, place links on each article page that automatically create bookmarks on users' CiteULike accounts. (For example, click here to post this article to del.icio.us.)
"We thought they were sort of an ideal social bookmarking service for that kind of thing," said Stewart Wills, the journal's online editor. "We think it’s sort of a nice way to add a social bookmarking component that is relevant to the kind of people who are using our content."
Wills added that such links -- and their potential to boost awareness of the publication's content in a more organic way -- are a conscious part of its strategy. "We are definitely looking at this space very carefully and are interested in expanding, and this is one step in that expansion," he said.
Already, the space is growing. CiteULike offers services similar to what's being promised in the next iteration of Zotero , an open-source browser plugin that lets researchers collect and organize sources, including articles, Web pages, files and other media. The developers promise a new version with more collaborative and resource-sharing capabilities. Connotea , from Nature Publishing Group, offers a more science-oriented version of CiteULike, while RefWorks -- which, unlike the others, is not free and was recently acquired by ProQuest -- is intended for larger-scale applications. (Another entry is Thomson's EndNote .)
"CiteULike is a real pioneer, I think," said Dan Cohen, the director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, which created Zotero. Cohen noted that on Thursday -- this morning -- he had a conference call scheduled with CiteULike to "explore ways to work together," such as the ability to import and export citations between the two interfaces.
The eventual goal, he said, is “the seamless transfer of scholarly resources wherever they may lie” -- demonstrated recently by Zotero's announcement that it was teaming up with the Internet Archive to allow scholars to delve into their hard drives and optically scan their documents for the public domain. | <urn:uuid:2e6769d8-2653-491d-979b-019b3b29b77c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2008/01/31/citeulike?width=775&height=500&iframe=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945852 | 1,071 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Special Committee on
1st Meeting (AM)
SPECIAL DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE ELECTS BUREAU; HEARS FROM SECRETARY-GENERAL
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, addressing the opening 2001 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, said that the full implementation of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples had still not been achieved, but the Committee had advanced the issue and ensured that it remain firmly on the United Nations agenda.
The Secretary-General highlighted the Special Committee’s initiatives to reinvigorate its working methods, as well as the steps it had taken towards renewing dialogue with the administering Powers on the preparation of individual work programmes for specific Territories. The Committee had agreed last year to prepare such programmes for American Samoa and Pitcairn. It had also prompted the administering Powers to ensure the participation of representatives of the Territories concerned at every stage of the discussions. The General Assembly had called for the full cooperation of the administering Powers.
The representative of Fiji underscored the sensitive nature of decolonization. Many Committee members had been colonized, and therefore knew that the decolonization process required the highest level of skill and diplomacy, especially with regard to approaching administering Powers. He warned against aggressiveness, which could terminate dialogue, which was a most important aspect of the process.
The Committee had not had full cooperation from the administering Powers, the representative of Grenada asserted. Hopefully, there would now be a meeting of minds leading to concrete results by the end of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. The Assembly’s decision to declare a second decade indicated that there was still much to be done towards eradicating colonialism.
Also today, the Committee elected the following officers: Julian Robert Hunte (Saint Lucia) as Committee Chairman; Bernard Tanoh-Boutchoue (Côte d’Ivoire) and Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) as Vice-Chairmen; and Fayssal Mekdad (Syria) as Rapporteur. The Committee also adopted its programme of work and timetable for 2001, and decided to establish a working group under the leadership of outgoing Committee Chairman, Peter Donigi (Papua New Guinea), to continue consultations with the administering Powers in order to finalize the work done in previous years as soon as possible. Members would be informed of the composition of the working group in due course, the Committee Chairman said.
On behalf of the Committee, he accepted the invitation by the Cuban Government to host the 2001 regional seminar, in Havana. The Committee
authorized the Chairman to hold appropriate preparatory consultations for the seminar. It also authorized Rafael Dausa Cespedes (Cuba), Chairman of the coordinating committee established last year, to continue to review all issues related to the convening of joint meetings between the Special Committee and the Economic and Social Council.
Following his election as Chairman, Mr. Hunte said that the Assembly’s declaration last December of a second international decade was aimed at completing the action plan of the first decade. It was more evident now that the mission of decolonization remained “unfinished business”. In the new millennium, efforts must be intensified to find solutions to remedy the democratic deficits that had characterized the often complex political dependency arrangements in Non-Self-Governing Territories -– arrangements which had not complied with the international community’s minimum standards of full and absolute political equality.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Côte d’Ivoire, China, Iran, Syria, Indonesia, Venezuela and Ethiopia. The representative of New Zealand, an administering Power, also spoke.
The Special Committee will meet again at a time to be announced in the United Nations Journal.
The Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples held the first meeting of its 2001 session this morning, to elect officers and consider its organization of work for the current session.
The Committee had before it a note by the Secretary-General drawing attention to the resolutions and decisions of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly relevant to the Committee’s work (document A/AC.109/2001/L.1). It also had before it a Chairman’s note on the organization of work (documents A/AC.109.200/L.2), with a list of pending matters for consideration by the Special Committee during 2001 and a tentative programme of work and timetable.
The Special Committee was created by General Assembly resolution 1654 of 1961 to examine and make recommendations on the application of the
1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and to make suggestions and recommendations on the progress and extent of the implementation of the Declaration. The 17-member Special Committee was expanded to 24 members in 1962 and the size of its membership has varied since.
Its current membership is as follows: Antigua and Barbuda; Bolivia; Chile; China; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Ethiopia; Fiji; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Mali; Papua New Guinea; Russian Federation; Saint Lucia; Sierra Leone; Syria; Tunisia; United Republic of Tanzania; Venezuela and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Statement by Secretary-General
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that although the full implementation of the objectives of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples had not been achieved, there had been some progress thanks to the efforts of the Special Committee of 24.
Speaking at the opening of the Committee’s 2001 session, he observed that the session coincided with the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, and said he hoped that this would add impetus to members’ work. The Decade, proclaimed by the General Assembly, provided a framework for the continued decolonization activities of the Special Committee. The activities of the Committee ensured that the issue of decolonization remained firmly on the agenda of the Organization.
In highlighting initiatives to reinvigorate the Committee’s working methods, he stated that it was agreed last year that a work programme would be prepared for American Samoa and Pitcairn, and that the administering Powers would ensure the participation of representatives of the territories concerned at every stage of the discussions.
He expressed the hope that the administering Powers would respond soon with specific work programmes for those Territories and that the Special Committee, with the cooperation of the administering Powers, would initiate in-depth consultations on the Territories in the coming months.
He concluded that, with the goodwill of all concerned, it would be possible to further advance the implementation of the 1960 Declaration and all the other relevant resolutions on decolonization.
Statement by Chairman
JULIAN ROBERT HUNTE (Saint Lucia), Chairman of the Special Committee, said that respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as contained in the United Nations Charter, had served as a guiding principle in the ongoing self-determination process. The General Assembly had been true to that commitment with its historically active approach to the successful self-determination of more than 80 former territories since World War II. As a result of that consistent effort, only 17 territories remained on the list, and many of those were small island territories in the Caribbean and Pacific. As the Committee considered the critical issues related to self-determination of the larger territories, it must be reminded that the smaller ones also required the same vigor, initiative and resources.
He said it was more evident now than ever that the mission of decolonization remained unfinished business. In the new millennium, efforts must be intensified to find solutions to remedy the democratic deficits that characterized the often complex political dependency arrangements in the Non-Self-Governing Territories –- arrangements which did not comply with the minimum standards of full and absolute political equality as mandated by the international community. Towards that goal, the Assembly last December created the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism to complete, and in many cases, to begin again, the work of the action plan of the first International Decade.
Implementation of the previous action plan and of the resolutions on decolonization had fallen far short of what was envisaged, he said. For example, comprehensive research on the constitutional, political and economic developments in those Territories had not been initiated, despite its inclusion as a goal of the action plan. As Chairman, he would emphasize implementation of relevant Assembly resolutions and integrate into the Special Committee’s work the necessary regional expertise to advise on the specific nature of those dependency arrangements. Those required in-depth analysis in order to enable the Committee to recommend to the Assembly concrete actions to resolve the dependency dilemma.
In order to accomplish its formidable task, he went on, the involvement of the administering Powers was important. He would accelerate the ongoing informal dialogue with those States, but it was also time for them to resume formal cooperation with the Special Committee. The Committee had taken considerable steps to reform its operations during the 1990’s, including eliminating its subcommittees and updating of its resolutions. The resumption of the tripartite dialogue between the Special Committee, the administering Powers and the representatives of the territories would contribute to the Committee’s success, along with the more active involvement of the specialized agencies and programmes of the United Nations system. The Committee’s task, however formidable, had the sound legislative underpinning of the international community. Its members looked forward to working with the Secretary-General in furtherance of the attainment of self-determination for the people of the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories.
He then adjourned the meeting to allow for the Secretary-General’s departure.
Upon its resumption, the Committee turned its attention to the programme of work and timetable for 2001 (document A/AC.109/2001/L.2).
DON MACKAY (New Zealand) said that among the important issues before the Committee was the question of the South Pacific territory of Tokelau, for which his country was the administering Power. As such, it remained fully committed to fully abiding by the expressed wishes of the people of Tokelau, thereby meeting its United Nations obligations. It was also fully committed to cooperating with the Special Committee in discharging its important responsibilities. Hopefully, the programme of work could be finalized by end of the year, as called for by the General Assembly at its last session.
JIMMY URE OVIA (Papua New Guinea) said he had taken particular note of today’s statements by the Secretary-General and the Chairman. It was heartening to hear that both were fully committed to the cause of decolonization and the work of the United Nations in that matter. Of particular note had been the call for cooperation with the administering Powers in discharging that mandate. His delegation had accepted the good words paid to his Permanent Representative as the former Chairman, and would support the new Chairman in discharging his mandate in the new decade, and especially this year, as the Committee acts to fulfil the initiatives begun last year.
VLADIMIR F. ZAEMSKIY (Russian Federation) said he was convinced that it would be possible to fulfil the Committee’s mandate by continuing the efforts of the previous Chairman, Peter Donigi (Papua New Guinea), who had pioneered many important improvements deserving further development. His delegation was ready to cooperate constructively with the new Chairman.
Regrettably, he said, the work of the Special Committee had been violated when his delegation, as the only representative from the Eastern European Group of States, had not been consulted with regard to the elections. He did not wish to over dramatize that point, but preventing his country from participating in the work of the Committee could not be in that body’s interests. The Chairman should ensure that the principle of consulting with regional groups was strictly abided.
LAMUEL STANISLAUS (Grenada) said that one of the greatest achievements of the United Nations was its success in bringing to independence so many former territories. This decolonization process had written a glorious chapter in the annals of the world body. The fact that the General Assembly had decided on a second international decade indicated that there was still much to be done in the eradication of colonialism. He noted that the Committee had not had the full cooperation of the administering Powers and hoped that there would now be a meeting of minds which would lead to concrete results by the end of the second decade.
DORNELLA SETH (Antigua and Barbuda) said that her country was well acquainted with the qualities of the new Chairman and stood ready to render him its full support and cooperation. She added that special consideration should be given to small island Territories, which were particularly vulnerable. Her country considered them integral to the political and social fabric of the Caribbean region. She thanked the former chair, the representative of Papua New Guinea, and pledged her country’s full support in furthering the work of the Committee of 24.
RAFAEL DAUSA CESPEDES (Cuba) was sure that under the leadership of the new Chairman, the Committee would make major advances in its work. He expressed the hope that the Second Decade of Decolonization would be more fruitful than the first in terms of achieving concrete results and called on administering Powers who were still not cooperating with the Committee to do so. He offered to host the next regional seminar on decolonization which would be held in the Caribbean this year, and assured members of a warm and friendly reception from the people of Cuba.
BERNARD TAHOH-BOUTCHOUE (Côte d’Ivoire) said that the important role of the Special Committee was to find a solution to the problem of territories still under colonial domination. It would be unable to do anything, however, without the full cooperation of the administering Powers. Hopefully, the Chairman would use his experience and skill to convince the administering Powers to cooperate on a formal basis with the Committee in order to find solutions, once and for all. His delegation could be counted on at all times throughout the process.
CAO QING (China) said China, as always, would support the Committee’s work, as well as that of the Bureau. He thanked the outgoing Chairman, Mr. Donigi, for his excellent leadership. He invited the Committee to continue ongoing and frequent consultations with members.
Mr. MOLLAHOSSEINI (Iran) expressed appreciation for the work of the outgoing Chairman and expressed his gratitude to the Secretary-General for his important remarks on the Committee’s work. He assured the Bureau of his full support and cooperation. The important task before the Committee could be achieved under the new Chairman’s able guidance.
AMRAIYA NAIDU (Fiji) said he joined the long list of colleagues in congratulating new members of the Bureau and that, hopefully, the Committee would make some tangible progress in the early part of the second decade of the decolonization process. He thanked the former Chairman for his skill and diplomacy in accomplishing much during his two-year term and for laying the very import foundation in tackling the Committee’s programme of work on a case-by-case basis.
He said that decolonization was a very sensitive issue. Many members had been colonial countries and knew the process required the highest level of skill and diplomacy in approaching the administering Powers in a manner enabling the Committee to achieve its mandate. Aggressiveness, however, would terminate dialogue -- a most important aspect of the process. He was confident that further progress would be made under the leadership of the new Chairman.
LOUAY FALLOUH (Syria) thanked members for their expression of confidence in his country by once again electing its representative as rapporteur of the Committee. He hoped that the new decade would encourage everyone to apply the objectives for which the Committee has been given a mandate.
HAMZAH THAYEB (Indonesia) said that it would be of profound significance to take into consideration the true aspirations of the Territories seeking decolonization and to encourage the full participation of the administering Powers in the process. Such an approach would lend greater impetus to the Committee’s work. It was important to ensure that the people were equipped with the full knowledge of the implications of decolonization. He promised his delegation would fully cooperate in the discharge of the Committee’s mandate.
DOMINGO BLANCO (Venezuela) said the Committee was responsible for one of the most important objectives of the United Nations, which was to free all the peoples of the world. He called for closer cooperation in the second decade, in the Committee’s efforts to bring about complete decolonization. He hoped that this would soon be a reality rather than a simple hope.
MEHERET GETAHOUN (Ethiopia) also assured the Chairman of his country’s full cooperation in furthering the work of the Committee. He looked forward to working with the Chairman.
* *** * | <urn:uuid:0e5fa1c0-9d60-4351-abd6-edb7ee497974> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/GACOL3040.doc.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966008 | 3,547 | 1.882813 | 2 |
In this section
Section highlightHouses into homes This report details findings to emerge from the evaluation during the first six months of delivery (April to September 2012).
Written Statement - Update on tobacco policy »Standardised packaging of tobacco products and Sub Committees on The Smoke-free Premises etc. (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.Learn more »
National Library base for US Radio Travel programme
On Saturday 25 May, The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth will be host to US radio star, Peter Greenberg.
- Industry and government plan for a healthy future for farming in Wales
- Historic garden is a breakfast TV star
- National Library base for US Radio Travel programme
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- Business and economy
- Children and young people
- Culture and sport
- Education and skills
- Environment and countryside
- Equality and diversity
- Health and social care
- Housing and community
- Improving public services
In this section
Section highlightAccess to information
The Welsh Government has followed the principles of openness in government for many years. Find out how you can make a freedom of information request or see requests that have already been made.
Sky lanterns: environmental and risk assessment »To establish an evidence base to help any future policy decisions on sky lanterns and helium balloons.Learn more »
- Future management of private water supply pipes
- Amendments to the Motor Vehicle (Competitions and Trials) Regulations 1969 and the Motor Vehicles (Off Road Events) Regulations 1995
- Higher Education (Wales) Bill: Technical consultation
- The future of agricultural statistical data collection methods in Wales
- Consultation - Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (Wales) Regulations 2006 (Amendment) Regulations 2013
- Draft action plan for pollinators
Featured consultation »Implementing the Domestic Fire Safety (Wales) Measure 2011
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In this section
Section highlightFurther and Higher Education (Governance and Information) (Wales) Bill 2013
Removes a number of technical restrictions and controls on colleges without changing the principal powers of colleges to provide further, higher and secondary education.
Legislative programme 2012 - 2013 »
Addressing the Assembly in the Senedd today, the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, detailed the eight bills in the Welsh Government’s 5-year Legislative Programme that will be brought forward during the second year of the Welsh Assembly.Learn more »
Section highlightCommunity Infrastructure Levy
Local authorities can charge a Community Infrastructure Levy on new developments to support the infrastructure needed.
2nd Supplementary Budget 2012-13 »
Proposes a number of changes to the 1st Supplementary Budget for 2012-13, which was published on 26 June 2012.Learn more »
Written Statement - Progress with Improving Neonatal Services
In September, I gave an undertaking to update you before recess, on the progress that is being made in respect of improving neonatal services in Wales. I am pleased to report that since I welcomed the recommendations of the Health, Well Being and Local Government Committee report, significant progress has been made in driving forward improvements for sick and premature babies and their families using the additional £2 million made available by the Welsh Assembly Government.
I am pleased to report that a Consultant Neonatologist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has been appointed as Lead Clinician for the Wales Neonatal Network and the post of Neonatal Network Manager has also been filled.
The establishment of the Neonatal Clinical Network for Wales will facilitate the improvement in quality of care across all units in Wales offering any of the three levels of neonatal care. One of its primary purposes is to support units in achieving compliance with the All Wales Neonatal Standards, developed by the Children and Young People’s Specialised Services Project.
The Wales Neonatal Steering Group is now fully established and is chaired by the Director of Planning and Deputy Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan Health Board. This acts as an advisory group to the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC), where Health Boards come together to plan and secure neonatal services on an all Wales basis, and the Network.
Whilst Local Health Boards (LHBs) are responsible for ensuring that neonatal services in their area meet the All Wales Neonatal Standards, the purpose of the Steering Group and the Network is to co-ordinate the approach across Wales and to ensure that the benefits of working collaboratively are realised.
The Steering Group has also established a number of sub groups – each clinically led as follows:
Neonatal Transport – to co-ordinate the development of the new transport services
Clinical Information – to lead and co-ordinate the implementation of the network wide information system
Nursing & Therapies – to lead and co-ordinate neonatal nurse manpower planning and the development of network wide training and development.
LHBs have now completed an assessment of their current levels of compliance with the All Wales Neonatal Standards and submitted these results to the Network. The Network has also carried out a capacity review of current neonatal services across Wales.
Using this baseline information, the Network is drawing out themes to develop a national action plan. This will then be used to inform and drive the ongoing work programme of the Network and LHBs.
In addition to this important work, I am pleased to report progress has been made in the setting up of the 12 hour Neonatal Transport service by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Two neonatal transports services, one in South Wales and one in North Wales, are planned to begin on 3 January 2011. These services will transfer, where clinically appropriate, premature and sick babies between units to ensure they receive care at the right level of intensity. To ensure safe and sustainable services, an additional 6 consultants have been appointed in South Wales, an additional consultant has been appointed in North Wales with the recruitment of a further one well underway. One of the 6 posts in South Wales will be covered through contingency arrangements in the first few months due to maternity leave and completion of training requirements.
As well as the medical staff, 6 neonatal nurses have been appointed in South Wales and 2.75 WTE have been appointed in North Wales. The services will operate 12 hours a day from 3 January 2011, with an evaluation planned for six months later, to consider the viability of moving to a 24 hour service in the future.
Clinical audit must underpin all healthcare. The Neonatal clinical audit system, BadgerNet has now been procured by each Health Board, and the Neonatal Network is seeking agreement from all the Health Boards so that it too can gain access to local data. Each unit will be moving to entering live data during December, and the system will formally go live in January 2011. This audit system will ensure that LHBs have access to high quality clinical data to support the clinical auditing and planning of services across Wales. Whilst the rest of the UK use parts of the BadgerNet system, Wales will be the first country to use the most up to date and extended system.
The Welsh Assembly Government remains committed to ensuring that neonatal services are improved to ensure the best outcomes possible for the most vulnerable babies and their families. My officials will continue to monitor progress closely. | <urn:uuid:4927ce95-a959-4644-bc24-671b544f9bb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2010/101210neo/?lang=en&status=clegioo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930082 | 1,482 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Food Stamp Shortfall Linked to Homelessness
Abrahami/Adi Talwar/City Limits
The gap between the typical cost of a family's food and average food stamp benefits may be one reason New York City has seen near-record numbers of families at place like the Department of Homeless Services' PATH intake center (right).
While it doesn't endear him to the food-stamp-hatin' Newt Gingrich crowd, Mayor Bloomberg's expansion of the federal nutrition benefit might rank as one of the signal accomplishments of his mayoralty. From January 2003 to the first month of this year, the number of New Yorkers receiving food stamp benefits increased from 830,000 to more than 1.8 million, a leap of 118 percent.
But a new report by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness finds that food stamps are still having a less beneficial impact than you might think—for reasons beyond Bloomberg's control. The study concludes that the average food stamp benefit covers only part of a family's food bill in New York City, meaning food stamp recipients might still have to choose between dinner and rent.
Cuomo Calls For Easier Food Stamp Access
Marc Fader/City Limits
The governor's annual speech cataloged the accomplishments of the Democrat's first year in office.
Echoing a call made by anti-hunger advocates for years, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday argued for the elimination of the requirement that most food stamp applicants be fingerprinted before receiving benefits.
Advocates have long said the requirement was an unnecessary barrier, and in his annual State of the State speech, the governor agreed. "For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go
to bed hungry," he told a crowd of legislators, mayors and other dignitaries. "We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation, and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food."
The Cheerios Index: Do the Poor Pay More for Food?
Kiera Feldman/City Limits
In our informal survey, bread prices were generally higher in areas with higher rates of poverty.
Last week, the Census Bureau released new data announcing that 15.1 percent of Americans now live in poverty—the highest rate since 1993. According to the New York Coalition Against Hunger (NYCAH), the numbers are about the same in New York State, and the last six years has seen a 56 percent increase in New Yorkers going hungry.
With poverty and hunger on the rise in New York, are the poor paying more for staples like milk and bread? Supermarkets are fewer and farther between in impoverished neighborhoods, making higher prices likely thanks to supply and demand. Using Census data, City Limits went comparison shopping at grocery stores in Brooklyn neighborhoods with some of the highest and lowest poverty rates in the borough. | <urn:uuid:d3a0e7f8-7867-4973-b46a-26bd0aff2546> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.citylimits.org/blog/142/coney-baloney-dinapoli-s-report-obscures-brooklyn-beachfront-s-r | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955773 | 597 | 2.328125 | 2 |
If you teach English in Kazakhstan, we have a variety of free English teaching resources for you
If you are an English language teacher or an English language teaching professional, the British Council has lots of free resources to support your work. You can:
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Find out more on the ‘TeachingEnglish’ website.
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We have prepared a variety of free resources for you so you can easily download free lesson plans and classroom materials, get tips, articles and information about professional development, conferences and qualifications. Also, you can join discussion groups and access training materials. Find out more
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We offer teaching qualifications to English teachers to enhance their job prospects, update their teaching knowledge and improve their practice. Find out more about the TKT and Delta qualifications by Cambridge English. | <urn:uuid:f53ebf99-e370-4c32-9c0c-1cef93cb4657> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britishcouncil.kz/teach-english | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930938 | 248 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Posted Friday, May 13, 2005 4:04:04 PM by Jim Babbage
I'm an Ultra-Noob when it comes to Flash. Frankly, the application
overwhelms me, most likely because I overthink the process. So one thing
that CMX has helped me with is to learn a bit about this program, by
working with some of the cool extensions and tutorials created by our
Case in point: In the past few weeks, I have had TWO requests from
clients for an automated slideshow for their web sites. In the past I
have built these as semi-interactive photo galleries, making use of
other extensions and then hammering them into submission until the
gallery fit inside the page the way I wanted. After reading Paul Newman's
article on his CMX Slideshow Flash Extension I was not only intrigued, but completely hooked. I could DO this.
And I did, in less than an afternoon, including image selection and batch processing.
Let me tell you, I was tickled pink that this worked. Not only did I
do something in Flash, I also had an answer for two clients - which
means more work and happy customers!
After my initial elation wore off, the designer part of me kicked
in. I started wondering how I could jazz up the slideshow. I glanced
nervously at the drawing tools in Flash, but my hand knew better.
Fireworks was launching before I even thought about it. With some trial
and error and patience, I was able to do just what I wanted - and - get
the customized frame into Flash.
I must say, I love how I can move seamlessly from app to app in this suite of products. It makes for a very pleasant creative experience and smooth workflow.
I only scratched the tip of the iceberg with this little project but
it got me pumped. And it got me to use Flash more than - well more than
I ever have. Admittedly that
doesn't mean much to regular Flash users, but it has helped open my
eyes to the potential of the software - and unlock some creative
potential inside me.
And for those of you wondering . . look for a tutorial mighty soon on this process of discovery.
Category tags: Fireworks
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005 9:03:43 AM by Chris Flick
Alrighty then, folks...
I thought I'd jot down a few random thoughts about this week's CMX Suite strip. I don't know if this will be a "regular" habit of mine, but it is something I have been thinking about doing for a while now. Consider it a bit like "Inside the Actor's Studio" only now, you are entering "inside a cartoonist's head". If ANY of you ever remember the short lived FOX TV show called "Herman's Head", you get the idea.
Anyway... as you can obviously tell, today's strip was a product of being very mesmerized by Molly Holzschlag during TODCon '05 two weeks ago. Here's a little secret I'm going to share with you all... even though I probably SHOULD have known who Molly was prior to TODCon, I didn't. Heck, I didn't even pay attention to who was presenting all the CSS stuff that was at TODCon this year - I was just determined to attend as many CSS sessions as I possibly could to see if this silly artist could FINALLY wrap his head around the bizarre universe known as "table-less designs".
Well... that's not going to happen any time soon, I can tell you that!
But still, I forged ahead and went to the first CSS session at TODCon and was immediately blown away by Molly's personality. And, as many people will tell you - including Molly herself - she has quite an overcharged personality. And as typical with a personality like that, some love it and some can't handle it. Me? For whatever reason, I've always seemed to be more comfortable around people that have a personality like Molly's. And when I find someone interesting - like I did Molly - I start drawing them. Or, at least, I start drawing a representation of them.
As all the CMX partners will tell you, none of my cartoons of them - either in their strip or on their blog pages- actually looks anything like them. That was for a very conscious decision on my part. I've done caricatures in the past - I still do caricatures as gifts or commissions - so I could have easily spent a lot of time creating caricatures of all the CMX Partners but that would have taken a tremendous amount of time to duplicate in a web comic strip form. Instead, I wanted to create more of a "representation" of that person - make them a bit more "animated-like" so to speak. That meant having to sacrifice "likeness" for "simplification".
So, what does all that have to do with Molly?
Well, when you first meet Molly, two things immediately capture your attention - her hair (her wild, crazy hair) and her eyes. So that's where my sketches started. And before long, I suddenly had what looked like a Japanese Animated looking female character - only with long, crazy, curly hair. And, when it comes to drawing women, I absolutely love drawing long, wild and crazy hair. The crazier the hair, the better.
And Molly fell right into that category!
Now, the whole part about the CSS Jedi Warrior came towards the end of the conference in a casual conversation with Stef Sullivan - one of my fellow CMX partners whom I consider to be my personal CSS hero (Shhh! Don't tell her though. Let's just keep that OUR little secret, shall we?). Let me tell you... Being in the presence of those two ladies - with their awesome CSS skills - DEFINITELY made me feel like that poor shlub of a Storm trooper Commander who stopped Obi Wan and Luke in Episode 4 asking about R2 and C3-PO...
Originally, I thought I'd sketch Stef in a Jedi outfit ala Mace Windu and maybe we'd put it on a mouse pad and sell it at CafePress since I so love to draw Stef's cartoon character in all sorts of crazy outfits... but during the flight home to Virginia, I remembered the sketch I also had of Molly - and as ANY true Star Wars fan will tell you, Jedi Knights always travel in two's. In the Star Wars Universe, one's a master while the other is the apprentice. But I wasn't thinking in those terms here. I was thinking more along the lines of Mace and Yoda - both side by side and masters in their own rights - a description that I thought fit Stef and Molly perfectly.
Besides... who could argue with two hot female Jedi Warriors kicking some serious butt and having a bunch of hapless, clueless dudes eating out of the palm of their hands????
PS: I also don't have a CLUE who that last guy is that's in a baseball hat. I really don't. Sometimes, these characters just draw themselves. | <urn:uuid:99ba9abe-54e0-4918-85b7-d4fa38c03610> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.communitymx.com/blog/index.cfm?newsmonth=5%2F1%2F05&month=5&year=2005&cat=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978029 | 1,476 | 1.554688 | 2 |
I am teaching a course in combinatorics and large part of it is dedicated to the probabilistic method especially in the case of graphs. The course is an undergraduate level (almost none of the students will pursue a PhD in mathematics).
Last year when I though the course I had very hard time finding appropriate questions for the students. So for instance problems in Alon and Spencer’s book are way too hard. I am looking for textbooks or online notes which contain less challenging problems. For example, problems which are direct implication of a method or problems which are broken down to small parts, etc. If the reference actually has solutions or hints, that will be a nice bonus.
Clarification: After seeing Ravi’s answer I think I should be clearer. Olympiads problems are probably the complement of what I am looking for. They tend to be elementary but tricky. I, on the other hand, look for problems where the method might not be very elementary, but the answer is direct. So for instance, near the end of the course I teach them the Local Lemma. I would like to find 2-3 problems where I can more or less just ask the students to plug in the numbers and use the lemma to deduce the existence of some graph. I then will be happy to give them something more sophisticated but maybe with some hints or broken down to small parts. | <urn:uuid:5a3056c7-c35b-4a72-a4e7-c09f417d9a2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mathoverflow.net/questions/31760/the-probabilistic-method-reference-to-less-challenging-questions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957396 | 285 | 2.34375 | 2 |
This project began with the realization that the ecosystem of the human skin was often remarkably similar to the characteristic microbes in cheese. Bacteria responsible for the stinky odor of Limburger cheese are closely related to bacteria that inhabit the human feet. Swiss cheese’s characteristic holes and cheesy odor are produced by bacteria related to species found in the armpit. To explore the connection between our skin and our food, we produce cheeses by intentionally sampling these regions of the body and culturing skin bacteria in milk.
Each cheese is unique to the person and to the body part from which it was sampled, creating unique odors and cheese characteristics. As this project continues, we intend to study how organisms work together to produce our cheeses and to design special consortia of microbes collected in our samples to produce specially tailored cheeses.
For more information, you can read the overview of our methods and analysis of the cheeses here. | <urn:uuid:6c7edff4-47fc-4861-b774-0affc715baf9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bacterially.org/cheese | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947978 | 189 | 3.546875 | 4 |
For the comparatively tiny space, your mouth has the total lot starting on, health-wise. As the Mayo Clinic (charmingly) puts it, your grimace is “teeming” with germ — many harmless, yet left alone, equates to of causing genuine problems in your altogether verbal great being.
We all know that the American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth, thoroughly, twice the day as great as many of us have been begged by the dental hygienists to essentially floss. Cosmetic dentist as great as Huffington Post
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Impact can be seen in the development of a new vaccine to fight disease and in the design of better interventions to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome. It can be measured in the successful leveraging of additional dollars to fund more Saskatchewan-based health research and in publishing success of researchers in scientific journals.
SHRF has worked with other health research funding agencies and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences to develop a framework that measures returns on investment in health research. This framework builds upon the previous work done by Buxton and Hanney (the payback model) that was adapted by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Through this framework, the impacts of health research can be tracked using indicators within five categories: | <urn:uuid:4e0126e3-c6ac-4d7d-a2fc-e7da5c66803b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shrf.ca/impact/success_stories/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951808 | 139 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to
describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult
other people. This book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language
and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be
polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether
we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude.
Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language playfully
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Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and
avoid taboos in daily conversation. | <urn:uuid:d0a9d3eb-8cef-472e-b440-8ec0ee27dc76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=22403 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931715 | 195 | 2.859375 | 3 |
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3 posts • Page 1 of 1
I just posted something (I think) useful on the SketchUp 3-D warehouse for use with most Thermwood CNC routers. It is the layer convention names necessary to cut miter angles on a 3 Axis router by directly importing the dxf drawing from SketchUp Pro to the CNC machine. This eliminates the need to use either Profile Modeler, Solidworks or MasterCam (all great programs, but two less links in the CAD/CAD/CAM/CNC chain). To bring a mitered cut part from Sketchup to the machine it now takes 3-4 steps per edge rather than having to redraw the entire part and additional steps per edge. The Thermwood CNC machines have built-in control nesting software that allows direct DXF imports. I don't know what other CNC routers have this capability. The cutting depths and positions are based off of a large excel file that I will latter extract the equations to make a plug-in specifically for use with the Thermwood routers.
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... revstart=0
Once I rewrite the equations I could use some help with the plugin.
Glad to see a fellow THM user interested in sketch up. I was wandering if something tike this was possible good luck with your plugin. I use it often for complicated geometry and mdf glass doors. The biggest problem I run into is that Sketch up's circles and arcs are all line segments. And for that reason I have not ben able to use the drill command I have to use pocket instead.Allso outlines or centerlines on large arcs or circles tend to be jittery unless the number of segments are increased .I for one would like to see a plugin for mdf doors.
Hey Scott M
Sorry I just saw you post from 2010.
To do a dxf drawing to the Thermwood machine follow the following rules:
-Use sketchUp Pro
-raw circles as drawn export as true circles in a dxf so long as they are not grouped under a layer name active on the thermwood, and not scaled or otherwise tweeked or exploded.
-Drill layer naming convention "drill z0p250" drills a 0.250 deep hole using a 1/4" dia mill bit, or if you only have a 1/8" diameter bit, it will use it so long as in the tool menue in control nesting the bit is permitted to interpolate that large a diameter.
3 posts • Page 1 of 1 | <urn:uuid:f52595ef-6232-4bd1-a77b-8223027084b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=183&t=44794&start=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922001 | 563 | 2.046875 | 2 |
SOME restores hope and dignity to the homeless through comprehensive services, including meals (1,000 served daily), medical care, addiction treatment, job training and 600 units of permanent affordable housing. 202-797-8806.
Why do we exist?
SOME exists to help the poor and homeless in Washington, DC. SOME began as a small soup kitchen in 1970 serving meals to a handful of those most in need. Today, we feed 1,000 hungry children, women and men each day and have grown into a comprehensive care agency.
We are unique in that we both meet people’s immediate needs and provide services that help them to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. In addition to serving two hot meals to hungry and homeless men, women, and children each day, SOME also offers affordable housing for families and single adults, job training, addiction treatment, mental health services, counseling, and programs for the elderly. Our comprehensive care helps individuals to live increasingly productive and independent lives.
We provide all of these services in a respectful, caring manner that helps to restore hope and dignity to the people whom we serve.
What have you accomplished?
In 2011, with the help of caring donors and volunteers, SOME provided:
• 248,205 hot nutritious meals for hungry children, women, and men in our Dining Rooms
• 141,215 meals served to men and women across our rehabilitative programs
• 22,306 showers and sets of free clothing for homeless men and women
• 29 abused and neglected elderly with safe housing, meals and social services
• 2,051 homeless and low income individuals with medical and dental services in our clinics
• 1,550 adults with individual and group counseling, case management and continuing care
• 84 formerly homeless families, including 196 children with safe, service enriched, affordable housing. Ninety-six percent of the families maintained their health, housing and income throughout 2011
• 406 formerly homeless and extremely low-income single adults, in permanent affordable housing with supportive services
• 610 homeless men and women in transitional housing with rehabilitative programs designed to help participants maintain sobriety, stabilize mental health and find employment
• 101 homeless and extremely low-income women and men with job training at our six month job training program. Seventy percent of graduates are employed and earning an average wage of $11.45/hour
Your support helps makes an enormous difference. Seventy percent of graduates from the SOME Center for Employment Training secured jobs during a time when unemployment skyrocketed, and an average of 88% of addiction treatment program participants successfully completed the program; the national average is 45%.
It is the transformation that those who seek our help undergo that is so meaningful to them, and to each and every one of us who work, contribute, and volunteer at SOME. From the day that they arrive at SOME they begin their move towards independent living; they re-enter the workforce, reunite with their families, and move into their own apartment. People who were ill, isolated, and in pain become hopeful, increasingly confident, contributing members of society.
Thomas, a graduate of SOME’s 90-day addiction treatment program writes, “Dear SOME, Tears well up in my eyes for myself, and those like me who have been brought back from the brink of desolation. This great organization has been a ‘light unto my path.’ I desperately wanted a way out of the darkness of addiction and depression and SOME’s Exodus House program was my way out. I’m living in Shalom house now and going to your job training program. I’m due to graduate in two months. I will thank you and show my gratitude by staying drug- and alcohol-free and by helping as many people as I possibly can for the rest of this wonderful life you’ve given back to me”. Signed, “A grateful soul.” | <urn:uuid:972ad422-25eb-40ae-8e45-d18502936cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.charitychoices.com/charities/SOME/default.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962575 | 801 | 1.851563 | 2 |
In their historic decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court laid out their vastly different readings of the law.
For the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote:
"People, for reasons of their own, often fail to do things that would be good for them or good for society. Those failures - joined with the similar failures of others - can readily have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. Under the Government's logic, that authorizes Congress to use its commerce power to compel citizens to act as the Government would have them act."
"The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax. Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness."
Joining in parts of Chief Roberts's opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote:
"The inevitable yet unpredictable need for medical care and the guarantee that emergency care will be provided when required are conditions nonexistent in other markets. That is so of the market for cars, and of the market for broccoli as well."
In dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:
"If Congress can reach out and command even those furthest removed from an interstate market to participate in the market, then the Commerce Clause becomes a font of unlimited power, or in Hamilton's words, "the hideous monster whose devouring jaws ... spare neither sex nor age, nor high nor low, nor sacred nor profane." | <urn:uuid:59341498-4a47-4149-a7a1-f7212cb56a31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.callawyer.com/clstory.cfm?eid=923939 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954121 | 316 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Swings of hundreds of points up or down have investors wondering if the stock market is irrational. Analysts say the volatility reflects uncertainty about the economy. Get used to it.
One day the stock market loses 500 points in a spate of pessimism. The next day the gloom lifts and the market swings back, rising 500 points.
The wild swings are enough to make investors wonder if the market is overreacting? Is it irrationally nervous?
On Thursday, investors could legitimately ask those questions as stocks went through another wild day. After dropping nearly 520 points on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared almost 423 points on Thursday.
Stock market observers say the high level of volatility might well be around for a while. Over the long term, stock prices might begin to reflect the economy and corporate earnings. But, over the next few weeks, fasten your seatbelt.
Peter Coleman, director of research at JMP Securities in San Francisco, says the volatility is in part because of a high level of uncertainty over the future of the economy and the issues surrounding the financial stability of the European banks.
“The market is trading off every bit of information that comes out one way or the other,” says Mr. Coleman, a market watcher for 19 years. “The market is going to continue to be volatile.”
Another reason for volatility, says Pittsburgh investor Andre Weisbrod, CEO of STAAR Financial Advisors, is the stocks of many companies are screaming, “Buy Me,” because their valuations have sunk so low but their balance sheets and earnings prospects appear good.
On Thursday CNBC reported that company executives had increased their purchases of their own companies’ stocks. This is sometimes considered a sign they recognize a good bargain. | <urn:uuid:b517802d-584f-4bc3-bb0f-2625a8ba3799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0811/Stock-market-plunges-and-soars.-Is-it-acting-irrationally | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948491 | 364 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Eric Dempsey's Trip to Yellowstone National Park
Scroll down for pictures.
Pictures: Eric Dempsey and Esther Murphy
Yellowstone - A Treasure of the World
Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western USA most of the Midwest and down to northern Mexico. The eruption left a caldera 48km miles wide by 72km long.
That climactic event occurred about 640,000 years ago, and was one of many processes that shaped what we now know as Yellowstone National Park--a region once rumoured to be "the place where hell bubbles up." Geothermal wonders, such as Old Faithful, are evidence of one of the world's largest active volcanoes.
Fur trappers' fantastic tales of cauldrons of bubbling mud and roaring geysers were not believed at first. Several expeditions were sent to investigate, and in 1871, Ferdinand Hayden led an expedition that included artist Thomas Moran and photographer William H. Jackson. They brought back images that helped convince the US Congress that the area known as Yellowstone needed to be protected and preserved.
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law declaring that Yellowstone would forever be "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."
Travelling through Yellowstone, it is easy to understand why some refer to the area as the Serengeti of North America. At dawn, snow-encrusted Bison and Elk were easily seen while Mule Deer and Pronghorn roamed the more wooded areas. With such an abundance of prey, their predators are always present. The commonest is the opportunistic Coyote that, as well as killing young elk and deer, will also feed on anything from carrion to voles. However, what really make Yellowstone special are the large predators such as the Grey Wolf and the Grizzly Bear.
The wolves of Yellowstone are possibly the most watched wolves in the world and it is fascinating to witness the interaction between them and the other species in the park. It is hard to forget the sight of a male Grizzly Bear chase a pack of five wolves from a bison carcass on a snowy hill at dawn.
The lakes of Yellowstone are also a winter haven for many species of duck such as Barrow's Goldeneyes while the evocative calls of Trumpeter Swans can be heard each evening as birds come into roost. The first snows of the winter bring large flocks of American Robins into the park while Bald and Golden Eagles are frequently seen soaring over the valleys.
Over 10,000 geothermal features dot Yellowstone's volcanic landscape, including 300 geysers (2/3rds of the world's total), hotsprings, mud pots and fumaroles. One of the most famous is the 'Old Faithful' geyser which spews hot water 30-40 metres into the air every 92 minutes. Around the hot springs ancient forms of life called 'thermophiles' survive at temperatures well in excess of boiling point.
The autumnal colours of Aspen, Cottonwood and Willow against the snow covered mountains and hills, make the scenery breath-taking. With it's abundant and diverse wildlife, interesting thermals, beautiful alpine lakes, and spectacular canyons, Yellowstone is one of the true treasures of the world.
A wolf looks my way
The Lamar Vallry in the snow
Thermophiles around a hot spring
River in the snow
Pronghorn in the snow
Old Faithful Geyser
Morning mist in the snow
Grizzly in the snow
Coyote in the snow
Coyote hunting voles
Bison in the snow
Bison in the Hayden Valley
Bison at dawn
American Robin in the snow
Back to Picture Gallery | <urn:uuid:b092560a-c8e4-471a-b831-eea4734d57b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/gallery/gallery56.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943578 | 805 | 3.390625 | 3 |
by Staff Writers
Baghdad (UPI) Jan 27, 2012
Iraq is facing worsening water shortages caused by the failure of successive postwar governments to ensure supplies and extensive dam-building in neighboring states that could trigger sectarian conflict.
"One prediction, which has yet to come true, has been made repeatedly by former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali since 1988: That the Middle East will at some point in the future see war break out over access to water," the Middle East Economic Digest observed.
"Boutros-Ghali thought an interstate war would occur because of disputes over the ownership of the Nile. This has yet to happen.
"But if policymakers in Baghdad do not act soon, water could well be the source of renewed strife, not between Baghdad and its neighbors, but between Iraq's already deeply divided population," the weekly warned.
"If water availability in the country continues to fall and the quality of what is on offer is not increased, the government will have no one to blame but itself."
International aid organizations have been reporting an increase in violent incidents concerning water supply.
This is happening against a worrying backdrop of mounting sectarian violence between Iraq's majority Shiites, who dominate the government and the security forces, and the minority Sunnis who lost power when Saddam Hussein's dictatorship was toppled after the U.S.-invasion of March 2003.
With U.S. forces withdrawn from Iraq, government forces under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki haven't been able to contain a wave of bombings and assassinations by Sunni groups, including al-Qaida.
Shiite vengeance on a significant scale may not be long in coming and with it the risk of a sectarian civil war.
Iraq's water comes primarily from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Both rise in Turkey, which has constructed a chain of dams over the last decade, with more to come. This has drastically reduced the flow of water into Iraq.
Syria, which has also suffered because of the Turkish dams, and Iran have been building dams too, further cutting the river flows from the north and the east into a country that until the late 1950s was a breadbasket for the Arab world.
Iraqi farmers recently blocked border crossings from Iran east of Baghdad to protest Tehran's diversion of the al-Wind River that irrigates one of Iraq's largest agricultural areas.
"Cutting water is a crime against life," the farmers' leader declared.
"Iran has diverted 15 tributaries to the Tigris since 2006 alone," observed Casey Walther, who, until earlier this month, was UNESCO's American water projects coordinator in Iraq.
Two new Iranian dams could potentially cut off water to two of Iraq's main dams at Haditha in the northwest and Mosul in the north.
"I visited them last summer and were already down to about 50 percent of capacity," said Walther.
Maliki's government, and those that came before under U.S. auspices, have failed dismally in addressing the worsening problem, which has been exacerbated by climate change and poor control over resources.
Officials say accurate data on water aren't available, making water security almost impossible to achieve. Walther says this is a critical failure by the government.
"All the numbers you see are estimates and often outdated," he said. "Iraqi officials cannot negotiate with neighboring Turkey or Syria, which control the flow of the Euphrates and Tigris."
With tension over the dwindling water supply escalating, Walther said he fears the worst.
"I'm concerned that when you look at the hydrological makeup of the country, the water comes from the northwest and travels down to the southeast, which is pretty much the country's ethnic fault lines," he observed.
Authorities in the semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave that spans three provinces in northeastern Iraq are building 11 dams, a move that's likely to inflame ethnic tensions over water.
These have storage capacities that range from 35 million-350 million cubic feet.
"We have studies and designs to build 28 more," Kurdish Regional Government Agriculture Minister Jameel Suleiman announced last March.
Water is a particularly virulent source of tension between Iraq's Kurds and Arab provinces.
In multiethnic Kirkuk province, a flash point in territorial disputes between Arabs and Kurds, Arab farmers complain that Kurdistan shuts them off from the water held by its dams.
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
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Pollution sparks panic water buying in China
Shanghai (AFP) Jan 26, 2012
Pollution in China's southern region of Guangxi sparked panic buying of bottled water this week after a mining firm dumped toxic cadmium into a river, state media said Thursday. Residents in Liuzhou city filled shopping carts with boxes of bottled water, as the government sought to reassure people that the drinking water supply was safe, Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post reported. Authori ... read more
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement| | <urn:uuid:65a3a357-000a-44d1-b2a9-3748e592bd00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Iraq_water_crisis_could_stir_ethnic_clash_999.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956168 | 1,144 | 2.5 | 2 |
Life After College is an essential manual for every graduating student and young professional. It features practical, actionable advice that helps people focus on the BIG picture of their lives, not just the details. Life After College will leave you feeling inspired, confident and ready to take action toward creating the life you really want.
In Life After College Twitter meets What Color is Your Parachute for 20-somethings. Written by popular blogger and life coach Jenny Blake, Life After College provides tips, inspirational quotes and coaching exercises for every area of life including: Work, Money, Home, Organization, Friends & Family, Dating & Relationships, Health, Fun & Relaxation, and Personal Growth. The book is like having a portable life coach by your side — it is a “one stop shop” that is part journal, part motivator, and part guidebook. Life After College is a powerful life-planning tool that no twenty-something will want to be without!
Read my review here.
When you’re new to the workforce, ambition and talent aren’t enough—getting on the fast track to success requires much more.
If you’re a recent college graduate or new hire, Effective Immediately shows you how to excel at your first job and jump-start your career. As an up-and-coming professional, you’ll learn how to transform yourself from entry-level employee into skilled, invaluable all-star during your first year on the job.
Accomplished young professional Emily Bennington and her mentor, seasoned manager Skip Lineberg, empower you to:
- Establish yourself as a top performer from day one
- Use every task—even grunt work—as an opportunity to shine
- Earn the respect of your boss, colleagues, and clients
- Cope with conflict, mistakes, and toxic coworkers
- Land key assignments and gain greater responsibility
- Manage projects and lead teams like a pro
Packed with practical advice, useful resources, and wisdom from former newbies, this savvy hand-book gives you the tools, knowledge, and confidence you need to reach your highest potential.
Read my review here.
They Don’t Teach Corporate in College has resonated with tens of thousands of readers and is currently used as a text in corporations and universities across the country. This new and updated edition reflects the unique needs and challenges of current 20-somethings, who want to get ahead, but lack the know-how and finesse to make it happen. It incorporates fresh tips for effectively managing your online presence, practicing the art of “intrapreneurship,” and planning your next move inside or outside Corporate America.
Chock-full of personal anecdotes and written from the perspective of a wise older sister who doesn’t want you to learn the hard way, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College includes no-nonsense advice for:
- Making the smartest career move right out of college
- Landing the job of your dreams by avoiding the “black hole” of HR
- Establishing a strong reputation by encouraging others to like and cooperate with you
- Navigating your organization’s social scene and practicing cringe-free networking
- Mastering skills that will take you anywhere, such as goal-setting and self-promotion
- Combating negativity and coping with difficult personalities
Read my review here.
Graduation is a landmark milestone in life. The thrill of launching a career can be exciting, but it can also feel very lonely. Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Graduates is the fourth book in the series, and ideal book for any young professional. The book fills in the gaps that are not taught in the classroom about the power of business relationships and networking. Thom Singer and Anne Brown have customized the message and designed a step by step program that will impact any career for decades. Whether from Graduate School, a University, Community College or High School, these indispensable skills with help every Graduate start their careers with the relationship building skills necessary to ensure success beyond their wildest dreams.
The right mindset can make you three times more likely to get the job you want-and even less likely to lose it later.
What does it take to get and keep the job you want? Ninety-six percent of employers argue that it’s not just about having the right skills for the position- it’s all about the right mindset.
As two leading experts on the subject, Reed and Stoltz know what employers really want from the people they hire and keep. According to their extensive and globally acclaimed research, there is a specific set of mental traits that will make you exponentially more desirable to potential employers, and more likely to succeed and enjoy your job once you’re hired.
This “3G Mindset” is:
- Global-the openness and big-picture perspective to compete on a global scale in any job
- Good-a positive force with an unwavering moral compass
- Grit-the tenacity and resilience to thrive on adversity
The authors reveal why employers are three times more likely to hire people with the right mindset over those who are more qualified on paper. This book provides an actionable approach for both assessing and developing these essential traits.
The statistics are frightening. The National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) 2009 Student Survey shows that just 19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually have one. And, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2010 Fall Preview, employers expect to hire 7 percent fewer graduates from the college Class of 2010 than they hired from the Class of 2009. What’s worse, this issue cannot completely be blamed on a poor economy. Entry-level hiring should have increased because many employers have laid off more expensive, experienced talent. So what’s preventing new talent from entering the career marketplace?
Millennials–those individuals born between 1977 and 1997 and also known as Generation Y–often expect college to teach them how to find jobs and are disappointed upon finding out this is not the case. And the career advice they do receive comes from “authority figures” (i.e., campus career center staff), whom they do not believe or trust. These graduates need practical and insightful guidance from someone who knows the challenges they face and how to overcome them.
“#ENTRYLEVELtweet Book01″ by career expert Heather R. Huhman is a must-read for college students and recent grads who want to learn what it takes to find, land, and succeed in an entry-level career. In 140 tweet-style tips, Huhman provides a roadmap of what to do to impress hiring managers, how to create stand-out “career tools,” and how to network during your job search with confidence in yourself and what you have to offer potential employers.
Want to get ahead of your college colleagues? Get your copy of ‘#ENTRYLEVELtweet Book01′ now, and let it guide you from classroom to career in approximately fifteen minutes–the perfect length of time for a busy student or job seeker.
What other books would you add to this list? | <urn:uuid:6272429f-7228-4c93-adce-e5bab02a9834> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heatherhuhman.com/2011/05/5-must-read-books-for-new-college-grads/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94742 | 1,495 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Electronics recycler expands services with addition of on-site data destruction, asset management and forensic solutions.
New York City-based The 4th Bin
, which offers door-to-door collection of e-scrap for area commercial businesses, has expanded its service offering, adding what it calls “ethical and secure” on-site data destruction.
The 4th Bin says its secure, on-site data destruction program ensures that all assets have full on-site data destruction certification for total auditability. The 4th Bin says it reconciles and tracks assets throughout the disposal process, offering transparency and complete data destruction.
The company says it can shred about 150 to 300 PC or server drives per hour and roughly 400 to 500 laptop drives per hour at its customers’ locations.
Alongside its new commercial offering, The 4th Bin has also participated in various community service and nonprofit initiatives. Most recently, The 4th Bin has decided to donate proceeds to The Make-A-Wish Foundation, at a customer’s discretion. The 4th Bin says it has worked with various commercial partners, including The New School, ZipCar and R/GA, to organize corporate and community-wide electronics recycling events. | <urn:uuid:6bb1c837-88c3-466a-9c68-6fb6f249c0cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.recyclingtoday.com/bin-launches-on-site-data-destruction-services.aspx?List_id=13&email=[~email~]&key=[~key~] | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958505 | 251 | 1.671875 | 2 |
On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh literally flew into history when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, thus becoming the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. This flight made Lindbergh a household name and catapulted him into fame and celebrity. The objects of popular culture in the National Collection display everything from ashtrays to wristwatches reflect the public adulation for Lindbergh and the powerful commercial response to his celebrity. More than 75 years after the Spirit's historic flight, Lindbergh's name still has the power help sell manufactured goods.
Gift of the Stanley King Family.
3-D Test (Box): 8.3 x 8.3cm (3 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
A square box with a lid that lifts away from the bottom. The front of the box has an image of the Spirit of St. Louis and black text "Spirit of St. Louis Puzzle." Inside the box are orange squares each having a piece of an image and the numbers 1-15 and a letter on their face. The squares create the image of the Spirit of St. Louis from the front of the box when arranged in sequential order. | <urn:uuid:b30b804e-ac69-4d47-bc84-6d2f587c3c56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A20040289001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916148 | 257 | 2.5 | 2 |
Also Known As the BEAUTIFUL GAME. A real sport played with your FEET and an actual round BALL, hence the name FOOTBALL. This term should never be used to refer to our silly american game of putting on 30 pounds of armor and carrying a cone shaped piece of rubber while trying not to be touched by other guys. You'll note the lack of definitions calling this silly game football. And there is a reason for that. Some silly americans give us a bad name by not noticing what is going on in the rest of the world and don't realize that there was already a real sport called football when we made up our game, but everyone else in the world knows whats up.
P.S. Please, if you are American please stop saying the S word (s****r)and saying that our american game is better than real football. If you are not american just know that not all of us are confused faggots.
Football is the best and most popular sport in the world.
The greatest and most popular sport in history with more than 5 times the TV audience of the next most popular (cricket - every radio and TV in the sub-continent is permanently tuned to Pakistan/India cricket matches - that's a big audience).
Only Americans call it 'soccer' owing to their vast ignorance of what goes on outside their national boundaries and the misnomer which has them thinking than a corruption of rugby, with all the danger and most of the skill removed can also be called 'football'.
'The Beautiful Game' can be played anywhere, on almost any surface, by any number of players, for almost any length of time. And is. There is no country on earth that doesn't play. It has inspired more passion, more courage and more excitement than any other sport in history and dwarfs everything else.
Football is, without question, the defining sporting activity of the human race.
When a girl is playing footsie with you, and her foot travels up to your crotch.
She was playing football with me all through dinner.
A name given to two different sports in which America and the rest of the world use to waste their lives away constantly arguing over which is better. Honestly, I'm an American. And I love the game of American football. But notice how I haven't said that I hate football (aka soccer). In fact, I love that sport, too. I just totally suck at it. Haha. C'mon, be real ya'll. Both games are cool. Even rugby too. It's cool. I have no idea how to play it, but I enjoy trying. It's all preference. For all ya'll that say football is whack cause we wear padding, go ahead and say whatever the fuck you want to say. That padding protects us so we can stay a little safer to enjoy the game a little longer. I don't care if I don't use it, I've tackled mofos twice my size without any padding on. The point I'm trying to make; All three games are great. They all require stratedgy, strength, speed, and endurance. So just shut the fuck up, grab the ball that suits you, and play your damn game already. You got that? Kay, just helping out. I'm just a 15yr old from a small town. Yeah, yeah... What do I know? Honestly? I know it's fucking pointless for ya'll to fight over sports. So just save your shit for someone who's still too much of a punk to simply enjoy a game of American football, football, or rugby. Peace people! Damn. Haha.
(just writing to fill in this shit :P)
(damn, now i gotta write "football" too. there, ya happy you fuckers?)
Football - Only the best damn sport ever. Played with a round ball and feet. However, Americans tend to mistake it for American Football (which should truthfully be called tackleball for all that matters).
Football - The only game you'll ever need to know
"If you're not a MANC, You're a WANK!"
A lovely game that alot of people play.
Also the most importmant sport in the world.
Very famous, but also fun for people who like football.
If you dont play football yet, i would say:
Give it a try!
Ofcourse if you start at older age, you wont get as good as Ronaldo, Messi, ...
But doesnt matter, its just for fun! ( Mostly )
D1: " Wanna play some Football?"
D2: " Football is shit!"
D1: " Just cause you cant play football, no reason to call it shit! "
A variety of games that which Europeans and Americans tend to argue over pointlessly till the end of time as to which version is "right" never minding the fact that due to Cultural Mutation different words can mean different things in other places
Typically Americans profess love for the version that involves padding and an ovoid ball in which the point of the game is to move the ball ten yards down the field at a time through either rushing or passing before passing into the plain of the "End Zone" placed at either ends of a 100 Yard Field to score points
Europeans tend to extol the virtues of a much simpler sport that only requires a pair of goals placed at either end of a field and is played with a checkered Spherical Ball
American: Hey, lets go play Soccer!
European: HEY FUCK YOU! ITS CALLED FOOTBALL YOU IGNORANT YANK!
Rest of World: Oh for fuck's sake stop arguing and just play dammit! | <urn:uuid:c69e5bfd-3f5e-420b-a43e-456d5e6e5a20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=football&defid=2695845 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954333 | 1,188 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Computer Scientist» search for more Jobs
The title computer scientist can be applied to a wide range of computer professionals, whose duties revolve around the design of computers and the software that runs them, the development of information technologies, and the development and adaptation of principles for applying computers to new uses. Some of these positions include:
- computer security specialists who implement firewalls to secure a network
- customer service representatives who help people use software or hardware they have purchased
- computer engineers who design, develop and test new hardware
- programmers who write to predict protein structure or genetic homology
However, computer scientists can also refer to those who are distinguished from other computer professionals by the higher level of theoretical expertise and innovation they apply. This means basically that there can be higher grades of computer scientists, depending on projects (or research) and the organisation they work within.
Computer scientists must be able to think logically and have good communication skills and often deal with a number of tasks simultaneously; the ability to concentrate and pay close attention to detail is important. | <urn:uuid:118f620f-1aa1-4aee-acab-4ecc2d20674c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newcastle.edu.au/students/degrees-to-careers/job/computer-scientist.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946175 | 212 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Emmanuel Jal, a former Sudanese child soldier turned hip-hop artist and an advocate for social justice and human rights, will speak on the horrors of civil war and his experiences as a rebel fighter in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army on Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. in the FSU Lane University Center Manicur Assembly Hall.
To this day, Jal doesn’t know when he was born or exactly how old he is. His story began in Sudan when he was no more than 6 years old and was sent away to become a soldier in one of history’s most brutal civil wars. Hailed as the “rising star of African Hip-Hop,” Jal is the central figure of the internationally acclaimed “War Child” documentary. His third album and international solo release, “WARchild,” has launched Jal into the spotlight for its profound, empowering messages of peace and reconciliation. Jal is also the founder of Gua Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and ensuring sustainable development of local communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The event is free and open to the public. For information, contact the FSU Diversity Center at (301) 687-4050.
FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258. | <urn:uuid:376c5cb1-5e17-45c8-a374-fc239f7e789d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.frostburg.edu/news/searchnewsdt/?id_number=5586 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9581 | 310 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Killer tornadoes are marking the transition from a freakishly warm winter into yet another freakishly dangerous spring. The multi-billion-dollar drought in Texas and Oklahoma is expected to continue into the indefinite future. Planting seasons, maple syrup seasons, and cherry blossom festivals are starting at weirder and weirder times. Torrential rains and record heat waves are becoming commonplace. Migrating birds are straying from their normal path, insect pests are multiplying, and trees are dying.
Americans are starting to trust the evidence of their own senses about the growing impacts of climate change, instead of the barrage of misinformation and confusion that comes from media sources. A new poll from the Brookings Institution shows that a strong majority of the American public agree that there is “solid evidence that average temperatures on earth have been getting warmer over the past four decades,” and “about half of Americans now point to observations of temperature changes and weather as the main reasons they believe global warming is taking place”:
A sampling of the open-ended comments provided by survey respondents helps demonstrate the role that weather plays in shaping individual views on global warming. A male senior citizen from Illinois, who feels that there is solid evidence of global warming, said that the primary reason that led him to this conclusion was “winters just aren’t as cold as they were in the past.” Similarly, a middle-aged woman in Florida attributed her position on global warming primarily to her observations that “this time of year is warmer than it is expected to be.” A young man in Texas identified the primary reason for his view that the Earth is warming to “temperatures last summer that were awful,” while another young Texan stated that the “droughts this past summer” were the primary reason that she believed temperatures on earth were increasing. In these cases and many others Americans turn first to the weather they experience as the key reason for their acceptance of global warming.
This intuitive, natural approach tying the long-term warming of the entire planet by fossil-fuel pollution to local observations is backed by the science. Scientific research has determined that the continental United States is growing hotter in every state, with greater extremes in precipitation. The warming of the oceans and atmosphere has fueled the freak droughts and heat waves that the poll respondents cited. In almost every measure, the weather of the United States has diverged perceptibly from the 20th-century norm — in line with scientific projections of the consequences of global warming pollution.
In 1988, NASA climate scientist James Hansen predicted that the local changes in temperature caused by global warming pollution would become apparent in everyday life by the 21st century. That prediction has now come to pass — despite billions of dollars spent by polluters to argue against the evidence of people’s own senses.
In short, our weather has been poisoned by the fossil fuel industry, and every day more and more Americans know it, just by going outside. | <urn:uuid:22972a7f-ee3a-4251-9716-5231e163f178> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/climate/issue/?m=20120302&mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966742 | 611 | 3.453125 | 3 |
March 31, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Quesnel, Kayaking & Canoeing
Find more information about Quesnel - Kayaking & Canoeing
Last night I attended a slide show presented by 3 members of the Blackwater Paddlers Club. The slide show titled “Spring into Paddling” showed photos taken of rivers and lakes in and around the Quesnel area. Stunning images of the Cottonwood River, Blackwater River and Quesnel Lake, all showcasing the beautiful, natural, unspoiled environment we live in.
Paddle members John Marien, George Ryan and Jerry McFetridge set off in July 2005 for their ultimate paddle adventure. They toured the Horton River in North West Territories and paddled to the Arctic Ocean and shared with us photos from their 26 day voyage. They were without human sight or contact for 25 of the 26 day tour, having the company of rain for 21 of the 26 days and sighting 11 Grizzly Bears. The wildlife appeared abundant especially the bird population. The water in the river was so clear you could see the rocks on the river floor from the back row of the Correlieu Theatre where I was seated.
I was really surprised to see such a diverse range of ages and interests in the audience that evening. Over 200 Quesnel and area residents came for a glimpse of an adventure only few would dare to dream about. It really made me think about adventure, exploring and the next canoe I see I’ll buy!
For more information on the Blackwater Paddlers Club; log onto www.quesnelpaddlers.com or swing by 337 Reid St Quesnel and talk to John Marien at Quesnel Ski & Outdoor. | <urn:uuid:7de031a1-4567-4e3e-a82a-a42c4e2df703> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hellobc.com/british-columbia/blog/march-2006.aspx?LOCID=496&CATID=52&BLGCATID=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944957 | 358 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Text Of The Second Amendment
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Collective and individual rights
Judicial decisions on the Second Amendment are scarce, so its meaning is a matter of dispute. The term "well regulated militia" is interpreted by gun control advocates as empowering states to maintain armed militias for defense and order. In their opinion the Second Amendment does not grant an individual right to private individuals to own firearms.
Gun rights advocates point out that the first 10 amendments are all individual rights. The phrase "the people" used in the 1st, 4th, 9th and 10th amendments refers only to individual rights. By context "the people" in the 2nd amendment has the same meaning.
Gun rights advocates also note that in the Colonial Era "militia" specifically referred to the armed citizenry as a whole (as distinct from an "organized militia" which was a government-controlled body such as a standing army. Currently U.S. Code: Title 10: Section 311: defines the classes of the militia as
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia."
The non-Guard members of the militia are all able-bodied male citizens 17 to 45 years old. In essence, a person does not have to be in the National Guard to be in the militia.
On these grounds, gun rights advocates claim that the Second Amendment protects the individual citizens' pre-existing right to keep and bear arms, whether the government agrees or not. In addition, even if the Second Amendment actually had only applied to government-controlled armed bodies, that still does not eliminate a pre-existing natural right of the people to keep and bear arms for self-defense or other proper purposes.
Both gun rights advocates and gun control advocates point to United States v. Miller (1939), being the only United States Supreme Court accepted case which partly stood on the Second Amendment, which states in part: "In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a 'shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length' at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense... The signification attributed to the term Militia appears from the debates in the Convention, the history and legislation of Colonies and States, and the writings of approved commentators. These show plainly enough that the Militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. 'A body of citizens enrolled for military discipline.' And further, that ordinarily when called for service these men were expected to appear bearing arms supplied by themselves and of the kind in common use at the time."
Both sides in the gun rights debate claim that the Miller ruling supports their positions. The gun control advocates tend to focus on "we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right", "ordinary military equipment" and "contribute to the common defense." From these phrases they claim that a person must be a sworn member of a government-controlled armed body and must only be in possession of a government-approved type of firearm for the Second Amendment to apply at all.
Gun rights advocates assert that since Miller was certainly not a member of any "government-controlled armed body", then (by the assertions of the gun control advocates) the Court's decision would have had no reason to mention anything further than his lack of militia membership to reject his claims of protection by the Second Amendment. Further, gun rights advocates argue that the Court did not say that this type of firearm was not protected, but simply that no evidence had been presented in the official record ("not within judicial notice") to show that "such an instrument" could potentially be of use towards a well regulated militia, which was what the court was asking for by saying: "In the absence of any evidence tending to show...some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia." The Court did not state that the owner of such a firearm needed to actually be in a "well regulated militia" for the Second Amendment to protect his right to own such a firearm, merely that the firearm could be of some use towards "the preservation or efficiency" of such a militia for the Second Amendment to apply.
It is important to note that nobody appeared in either the Appeals Court or the Supreme Court for the accused, Miller, nor to argue the side of the Second Amendment protecting the individual rights to keep and bear arms, nor even to state the fact that sawed-off shotguns were indeed in common use by not only organised militias, but were also common issue to U.S. Army soldiers who fought in World War I. In fact, short-barreled shotguns were normal issue for the U.S. Army right through the Vietnam War and various Special Forces units still use them today. The complete lack of representation for the gun rights side of these issues in Court is probably due to Miller's murder, which had occurred long before the issue got through the appeals process.
For sixty years, the executive branch of the U.S. government also rejected the individual rights interpretation. This changed in 2002; a brief filed by John Ashcroft's Justice Department states: the amendment "broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse".
The most recent federal court ruling to touch on the issue is that of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001 in United States v. Emerson . The justices support the position taken by Ashcroft in their 77-page decision. Notably they state that the United States v. Miller judgment applied only to a narrow category of firearm not typically carried by individuals. Secondly, as regards to the "right" to bear arms expressed in the Second Amendment, the justices state that "as used throughout the Constitution, 'the people' have 'rights' and 'powers,' but federal and state governments only have 'powers' or 'authority', never 'rights.'" Furthermore, "There is no evidence in the text of the Second Amendment, or any other part of the Constitution, that the words 'the people' have a different connotation within the Second Amendment than when employed elsewhere in the Constitution." For a historical review of how courts have ruled on the subject, see firearm case law.
The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution also potentially supports individual rights to self-defense, and to keep and bear arms. It is also worth noting that historical (as of the formulation of the Second Amendment) documents, as well as contemporary documents to the Bill of Rights, indicate that the Second Amendment was not designed exclusively to denote a collective or individual right to bear arms, but actually encompasses both meanings. The first half, A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, was based on the Framers' belief that a standing army was inimical to the security of a free State, and that only a well-maintained militia could both avoid mercany abuses and maintain the borders of a free state. To understand the second half, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed, one must realize that the Bill of Rights was heavily influenced by English common law, which repeatedly stated in its various formulations throughout the centuries (and becoming progressively more liberal in the right to bear arms) that the people had the right to keep and bear arms for three purposes: to dissuade and repel domestic criminals, to repel foreign invasions, and to enable resistance in the face of a tyrannical government.
Arms had different extensive meaning in 1789
- 1789 "arms" included flintlock rifles, one-shot pistols, swords, bayonets, and cannons, so some argue that such is all that the Second Amendment was meant to protect -- not shotguns, automatic rifles, grenade launchers, anti-aircraft weapons, nor any weapons of mass destruction. Others contend that if one were to follow that line of reasoning, freedom of speech and of the press would not include radio, nor TV, nor the Internet.
Infringe possibly had a different intensive meaning in 1789
- There is some disagreement over what the word infringe means. Relevant to this are definitions given in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary , all of which give a sense of the complete removal of a right, not to encroachment nor to abridgement that is now one meaning of the word. It remains an open question whether or not the 1828 dictionary definition was a complete account of usage of the word at that time. According to the Encarta dictionary infringe entered the English language about 1550 from the French word frangere meaning "to break", and is the source of the word fracture. An early appearance is in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly permitted to stand many gun-control laws, all of which would seem to constitute abridgements on Second Amendment protections without completely removing them.
Examples of disarmament before the Second Amendment passed
- Just prior to the American Revolution, British troops were seizing gunpowder and cannons (some of which are fairly well-documented to have been stolen from the British) from armories.
- About 1680, King Charles II of England used the Militia Act to disarm his Whig opponents.
- In 1686, Catholic King James II of England made use of both the Militia Act and the Game Act to disarm his Protestant opponents. After he was deposed, the English Bill of Rights 1689 included perhaps the first written articulation of a right to bear arms.
- That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law
The exact punctuation of the Second Amendment is sometimes debated. However, the Bill of Rights being drafted by lawyers, who were most precise in their wordings and punctuations, it is most unlikely that the punctuation to any particular point is superfluous.
- Gun politics in the United States
- Firearm case law
- Kennesaw, Georgia aka; Gun Town, USA
- Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
- Constitution of the United States
- Kilman, Johnny and George Costello (Eds). (2000). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation
- Sources on the Second Amendment and Rights to Keep and Bear Arms in State Constitutions
- Right to Keep and Bear Arms Report of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, February 1982
- 1828 meaning of infringe
- Whether the Second Amendment Secures an Individual Right, August 24, 2004
- Guncite: Gun Control and Second Amendment Issues
- Armed and Secure - Because the 2nd Amendment Matters
- Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
- Gunowners of America
- National Rifle Association
- City of Kennesaw, GA Ordinance requiring Gun Ownership
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Consider this Friday’s food for thought:
- Reblogged from theatlantic
Why It Works: Automatic payments don’t just make saving easier—they make spending less tempting. How? Money—spending it or even thinking about spending it—causes a dopamine rush in your brain. Then you’re relying on your willpower to resist handing over your VISA. That’s a battle you’ll lose, says Chip Heath, Ph.D., a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University. “You can’t advise people to ‘spend less,’” he says. “You’re creating a willpower struggle that will have to be fought on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis.” So remove as many of those decisions as you can through automatic bill pay and savings withdrawals.
Tired of blowing through your paychecks? Then you may want to read this article: 3 Bizarre Reasons You’re Broke.
Rev Up Your Money Machine: Use these seven smart-money tactics to make 2012 the year you start getting RICH.
We tried to think of a funny little hook for this story (as usual), but we really can’t beat the caption on the main article back at the mother ship. “Life is like a tequila shot: Once you can’t see what’s in front of you, you start making really bad decisions.”
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