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Britt Rodriguez knows what the families who come to her for help are going through.
The case manger at Adopt A Family of Marin was there once.
"When I see people feeling somewhat unfortunate, I can say I've been on the other side of the table, or I have a health issue, or I have been homeless before," said Rodriguez, 38. "I feel in a way like I'm giving back. Everything that comes around goes around."
Today, Rodriguez is a Season of Sharing success story. Eight years ago, she was facing homelessness. Her apartment manager decided that Rodriguez's daughter, then 4, was too noisy and asked them to move. As a part-time waitress suffering from lupus, Rodriguez didn't have the funds for a security deposit on a new apartment.
The single mother turned to Adopt A Family, which has helped provide shelter, food, clothing or transportation assistance to over 2,200 families through private donations, including support from The Chronicle's Season of Sharing Fund.
Through its help, Rodriguez was able to move into a new home in San Rafael. Life seemed headed in the right direction until she suffered a heart attack in 2000 that required three surgeries.
A doctor told her she could no longer work as a waitress -- the job she'd used to support herself and her daughter for years.
"The doctor told her, 'If you continue to work as a waitress, you will die,' " said Anya Grange, Adopt A Family executive director. " 'That's it. You will die.' "
The world seemed to be collapsing on Rodriguez, who since childhood has struggled with lupus, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain and tissue damage as the immune system attacks the body, potentially leading to kidney, lung and heart problems.
Grange saw an opportunity to give someone a chance.
"I watched her go through this incredible adversity and having a heart attack and having lupus since she was 12, but she had never been on any assistance," Grange said. "She had always worked to support herself and her daughter as a single mother. She just had an enormous capacity for responsibility. It was quite remarkable."
At the time, one of the organization's case managers was preparing to retire, and Grange decided to give Rodriguez a shot as an assistant. It paid off. Rodriguez quickly advanced to full-time case manager and now handles 20 to 50 families who need short-term assistance.
"She's very street smart," Grange said. "She didn't get a really good formal education because she was sick so much, but she's smart, quick and qualified because of everything she's gone through. She knows our clients."
For her part, Rodriguez sometimes finds it hard not to give more to those whose lives are not so far removed from hers. In her first days on the job, she gave a client the keys to her home, something she was quickly told not to do. Accommodation was found for the woman at a hotel.
"She didn't have anywhere to go," Rodriguez recently explained. "I've given clients rides home from the grocery store in my off time. I just feel like I'm so fortunate compared to those people I meet here. I feel like I have a really good life. To enjoy what you do, I think that's true success." | <urn:uuid:f03c470c-9c0c-4d85-ab73-9f0c58c70721> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/THE-CHRONICLE-SEASON-OF-SHARING-FUND-Woman-who-2482483.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989142 | 690 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The spirit of giving
|By JENNI SEBORA|
With the holidays upon us, it is a wonderful time of year to highlight the spirit of giving and involve our young ones, of all ages, in the giving.
I was delighted when I heard and read about two local girls who went door to door this past Halloween, not collecting candy, but rather collecting goods for the local food shelf, an example of the spirit of giving initiated by our young people.
What a great idea. If we have candy and goodies to give, we can most likely afford a few items for the food shelf.
In a discussion with a mother of two elementary students who were trick-or-treaters as well, her family had the idea of sending some of their Halloween goodies to some troops and military personnel. Another great idea, and it would be easy to involve the children in the packaging of the items and the such.
This prompted me to go to my church to get a list of members of our church who were serving in the military, and do the same with our supply of Halloween candy. You could certainly get troop addresses from different sources as well.
There are so many simple ways we can carry out that spirit of giving and involve our children in the process. Of course, role modeling that spirit and acts of kindness is certainly the most effective teaching tool for our children.
How we treat other people, what we say about others, and how we conduct ourselves in front of our children has a large impact on them.
When our children see us opening up a door for someone, greeting someone in a respectful way with a smile and a hello, helping out a neighbor, or being polite with the cashier when checking out it teaches them to do those same things and live with the value system of treating others with respect and a helping hand.
I remember, as a child, my parents were always willing to lend a hand and be a “neighbor.” My father, who would have been 91 this past Nov., and my mother who is 85, used to tell me stories about times during the depression years when they would allow people to sleep in our haybarn because some folks had no place else to go.
Now of course, with all of the security issues, we all must be cautious. But there are ways we can continue to help each other out.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true as well. If we speak rudely to a sales person, talk negatively about our neighbors and show disrespect to others in front of our children, this negative behavior can have negative effects on how our children may interact with others and view situations.
When it comes right down to it, we are all human beings who at one time or another will need some help from someone along the way.
No matter how much money someone may have or where they live or what their name is, we all need to feel respected by others.
Again, there are so many ways we can lend a helping hand. Our Girl Scout troop is going to make those popular fleece tie blankets for some shut-ins and people residing in a local senior care center and some smaller ones for the local pet shelter in Hutchinson.
The girls are going to tie them, and we will deliver the blankets as a troop. What a lifelong lesson for our young people, and they will gain just as much from the experience as the receivers of the blankets.
That certainly is just one example of how we can involve our children. With the holidays, a gift of simple caroling can go a long way to brighten people’s season and lives. And that’s what it’s about.
With that, this holiday season we can all engage in the “spirit of giving” and lend a neighborly hand to others, even if for brief moments of a cheerful greeting or kind words. It’s amazing what a simple gesture can do for someone to enhance their day. Let’s role model those neighborly ways and involve our children in these acts of kindness and continue that attitude all through the year.
I can’t remember where I read this or who said this but if we can all live by the motto, “If I have done something kind for someone today, then I have lived well today.”
May we all live well each and every day, and pass that same spirit on to our young ones!
Making those fleece blankets
If you haven’t yet made one of those fleece blankets, here are the directions:
Of course, get your fleece first, and again if making for a gift it’s fun to involve your children in the choosing of the design, etc. (I always check the clearance aisles out too). Depending on the size you would like the blanket to be and who you are making it for, certainly determines how much fleece to buy.
The recommended size for a blanket is a yard and a half of each layer (two layers); for a lap blanket, a yard of each layer would be sufficient; and of course, for our animal friends or for a doll or a stuffed animal, it would be even less.
Cut both layers of fleece at the same time.
Lay fleece layers wrong sides together. Cut a square out of both pieces at each corner. Remove selvages. For small blankets, such as for a cat or a doll blanket, you could omit this step. This is a great gift idea for children to make for a friend or someone else as well.
To make fringe, cut six inches into fleece at one inch intervals around all four sides and of course if the blanket is smaller the cut would be decreased to three or four inches, etc. You could use tape on top of fleece, placing six inches or whatever the distance using, to be used as a cutting guide for fringe.
This is where the children can really get involved. Double knot fringe pieces together, using one strand from top layer and one strand from the bottom. Repeat around all four edges, or with the front strip lying on top of the bottom strip, tie the two strips together into a single knot.
You’ve got a wonderful blanketmade from the hands and heart. | <urn:uuid:0255a939-5734-4516-9c4e-718495c79331> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2006/columns/js121106.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959671 | 1,291 | 2.03125 | 2 |
As the country's top policy makers mull a historic and expensive food security Act to address the needs of India's malnourished citizens, it is fruitful to consider the experiences of the Maharashtra government's nutrition warrior, V Ramani.
By re-imagining the corroded plumbing of
government-where a substantial part of India's multi-billion-dollar spending on social-security programmes leaks away-Ramani has shown how the nation's dismal malnutrition statistics can be improved without great cost.
Thanks to Ramani's work, Maharashtra reported a 60% drop between 2005 and 2010 in the number of severely malnourished children. Thousands more now have a chance at a healthy life in a country with the world's largest number of malnourished people.
Ramani, 54, an Indian Administrative Service officer who set up and headed Maharastra's nutrition mission until he left the government in 2010, had a seemingly boring formula: Commitment, strategy and a refusal to let his officials blame colleagues in another department. He developed protocols and innovations for treating acutely malnourished children covered under the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission.
As with other state-run programmes, there was no independent assessment of the mission's performance, but non-governmental organizations (NGOs), usually critical of the state's lackadaisical approach, commend Ramani's work.
"The nutrition mission in Maharashtra was a first-of-its-kind initiative that actually delivered results," said Ashish Satav, a physician and founder of the NGO Mahan, which works among malnourished children in tribal-dominated Melghat in Amravati district. Mahan and Khoj, another NGO in the area, are fighting a case against the state government over the issue of malnutrition-related child deaths in Melghat.
In an implicit recognition of the nutrition mission's work, a two-judge bench of the Bombay high court recently asked the state government to launch more child development centres, introduced by it in 2007, in Melghat. Ramani's work has also inspired similar missions in other states and set the stage for the second phase of the programme in Maharashtra in the next five years. Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, two of India's most malnourished states, have started similar missions. So has Karnataka.
The Marathwada initiative Ramani's fight against child malnutrition began when he was the divisional commissioner of Aurangabad division, comprising eight districts of the arid, poverty-stricken Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
"After I took charge as the divisional commissioner here, I identified health and education as the two areas where one could make a key difference and in this I was influenced by Amartya Sen's book, Development as Freedom," Ramani said in an interview.
Ramani's extraordinary success formed the basis of the Rajmata Jijau mission's strategy. The Marathwada initiative, as it came to be known, brought down rates of severe malnutrition in the state by 62% in just two years and by 90% in three years after it was launched in 2002. The key to its success was administrative will. The Marathwada initiative showed how the existing machinery can deliver without any additional funding or recruitment when the government shows commitment to change and the staff are trained and motivated, Sujata Kelkar Shetty, a former post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the US, wrote in a 2009 Mint opinion piece.
There is little attempt to understand the problem of malnutrition systematically before trying to solve it, a key reason for the stasis in India's nutritional indicators, said Ramani.
As many as 48% of Indian children are stunted or chronically under-nourished, the number having fallen only by 5 percentage points since 1992. This is despite the country having the world's largest nutrition programme for children, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Started in 1975, ICDS is the nation's oldest nutrition programme run through day-care centres across India, but does not offer special care for the severely malnourished.
The Marathwada initiative was prompted by the deaths of 14 children in the Vaijapur block, 70 km from Aurangabad, in 2001.
The Rajmata Jijau nutrition mission has helped people like Sunita Thomre, who is holding her child Tejas at an anganwadi centre in Mandki village in Vaijapur block of Aurangabad. Anganwadi worker Nirmala Thomre is also seen in the photograph. HT Photo
"The focus on nutrition came... when the 14 child deaths occurred and it forced us to think on how to approach the problem of malnutrition," Ramani said. "The knee-jerk reaction in such cases is to provide food and food supplements but the problems often lie elsewhere."
Ramani, an economist by training, identified three key problems with the state system:
- Under-reporting of malnutrition by ICDS;
- The nearly exclusive focus on food-support by ICDS at the cost of other objectives such as growth monitoring; and
- A lack of coordination between the ICDS and health departments.
"We made it clear that if anything goes wrong, both departments will be held jointly responsible," said Ramani.
The intensive focus on these children involving regular check-ups, counseling of mothers and nutrition supplements saw the proportion of severely malnourished fall five times faster in Marathwada than in the rest of the state between 2002 and 2005.
Impressed, then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh asked Ramani to head a state-level nutrition mission named after the mother of Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha emprire. It began work in April 2005 in Aurangabad and completed its first phase in 2010. Ramani currently works as an independent consultant and plans to start an NGO.
Parveen Sheikh of Ellora village in Aurangabad, about 400 km north-east of Mumbai, is among the thousands of mothers grateful to the mission for saving the lives of children.
Sheikh's son Rehan had a low birth weight and was often ill. After the local Anganwadi worker Sangeeta Vaidya reported Rehan's case to health officials, the baby was admitted to a child development centre in April 2010, where was put on a three-week treatment regime and a proper diet. That helped him gain weight and today he's a healthy child. Vaidya continued to monitor the growth of the child and counseled his mother on what to feed him.
Child development centres, re-christened child treatment centres (CTCs), are among the pioneering initiatives launched by the mission. As a good-health incentive, mothers who have to stay at the centres with children being treated there are compensated for loss of wages.
The mission uses funds from existing schemes such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to run both CTCs and village-level child development centres (VCDCs).
Started in 2009 to treat children who were malnourished but did not require hospitalization, VCDCs are month-long camps at the local ICDS centre where children are de-wormed, given micronutrient supplements, and fed six times a day. Mothers are counseled on ways to modify the child's diet and make it more nutritious.
In ordinary circumstances, a child such as Rehan would be merely entitled to extra take-home rations (THR) from ICDS-which very few families use-and added to the long list of severely malnourished children.
"We had almost given up on the child and were it not for the help from Vaidya and at the child development centre, I don't think he would have survived," Sheikh said.
Rehan is one of 27,000 children who have benefited from CTCs in the last three years. Nearly 100,000 children were admitted to VCDCs in the last financial year alone, according to health department data. A majority of children admitted to CTCs and VCDCs have seen an improvement in their nutritional status.
Ramani led a committed team of six who worked tirelessly to train and motivate field officers and introduce innovations. According to ICDS data, the proportion of severely malnourished children in the state fell from 0.31% to 0.12% and the proportion of normal children increased by 15 percentage points to 64% between April 2005 and April 2010.
Unequal progress across the state and a lack of focus on preventing malnutrition are the main chinks in the nutrition mission's story so far.
A children's corner at a child development centre in Dangaon village in Aurangabad division. HT Photo
The mission started work in five tribal districts--Amravati, Gadchiroli, Thane, Nashik and Nandurbar--that accounted for 34% of the severely malnourished children of the state. Later, it spread to other areas of the state.
Six years later, these districts account for over 30% of the state's severely underweight children though they account for fewer than 20% of the children covered by ICDS.
Ramani said the mission has not been able to make as much of a dent in tribal malnutrition in the first five years as he would have liked. The Rajmata Jijau mission, unlike the Marathwada initiative, is heavily reliant on the drive of district officers. Monitoring is a weak link, leading to leakages in poorly administered tribal areas.
Ramani, who has authored a strategy note for Unicef on malnutrition, argued that the issues of livelihood security and women's empowerment are critical to tackling malnutrition.
The gist of his recommendations for a nutrition mission include a focus on preventing malnutrition, monitoring pregnant mothers and increased home visits, especially in the first few months after a child is born, and universalising immunisation.
The second phase of the mission intends to prevent malnutrition by focusing on the first 1,000 days of life: from the mother's womb till the child is two years old, said Nand Kumar, the new director general of the mission. Two members of Ramani's crack team--Gopal Pandge and Ulhas Khalegoankar--are aiding Kumar in redrawing strategies for the second phase.
"The biggest gain from the first phase of the mission is that now we know we can make a difference," Pandge said.
© Copyright © 2013 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:934fffbd-b633-4f9c-bcb0-584e81094974> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/787180.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964504 | 2,192 | 2.25 | 2 |
Some weeks are quieter than others on the Bragg front so, with a literary archives theme, this post comes from Paul Maddern, the University's Fellow in Creative Writing.
Paul recently taught BA and MA modules in Creative Writing. His sessions introduced students to Special Collections, specifically using the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture and the Romany Collection. The photograph below is just one of the images from the Romany Collection used in the sessions.
"The best words in the best order: that's what good writers aim for. Graft, talent, and the mechanics of writing play their part in achieving this but so, too, does research. Records of the minutiae of daily life and the intimacy of private correspondence and diaries: such features of Special Collections enable a writer to establish accurate fictive worlds, enabling the reader to trust that the writer knows his or her subject thoroughly.
"But more than this, the contents of Special Collections serve to ignite the imagination; to act as springboards into the creative process. They can do this by providing evidence that confirms theories or, perhaps more interestingly, they can divulge new materials that lead us down tributaries into unchartered territories.
"As work generated by the School of English's undergraduate and postgraduate Creative Writing programmes proves, the use of materials within Special Collections reinvigorates the notion that an appreciation of historical records serves to inform and enrich contemporary life." | <urn:uuid:fa6f2f43-c160-4de1-b3d0-e574c66b17a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.library.leeds.ac.uk/blog/special-collections/post/95 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937271 | 291 | 1.898438 | 2 |
What we say and write about the United States is patently untrue. We are not the great nation or people that we love to think we are. This is not a partisan view. The vast majority of Americans want our nation to be good, to be moral, to be ethical. We are not. We have surrendered to war and greed. This is not a new development. Both political parties share in this organized conspiracy.
When Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was the President of the United Sates of America he tried to hold onto a moral compass, to do what was morally and ethically right. Our democracy has changed bit by bit since that time. With all the fear and criticism of government today, it seems that Lincoln held a different idea:
In America today we are engaged in extreme opinions and perspectives from the right and the left. As we sit on our perch at the extremes, thinking we are right and the other side is wrong, we get crazy. We develop nutty opinions that lose our sense of logic and rationality. Sometimes, though we don't always realize it, our extremes come face to face with one another. Coming from different sides, we nevertheless face each other in a similar position. Often we are so committed to our nutty extreme that we don't realize how goofy we have become.
A case in point is the Mark Twain classic novel, Huckleberry Finn. Coming from the left we have the politically correct people who see in the use of words such as "nigger" to be so offensive that the book should be altered or words changed. Coming from the right are the people who think it is like a swear word or certainly not an appropriate word to be used in public, even in a book that might, for heaven's sake, be read by children!
I am an American. Those were my sisters and brothers who were shot in Tucson. It is a time to stop, reflect, and act in a civil manner. It is not time to over-react.
Did you notice the wide difference between the public statements made by Sarah Palin and Barack Obama regarding last Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Arizona? How do you account for that?
It is clear that the ice at both geographic polar regions is melting. This is very clear from aerial photos from airplanes and satellites. Scientific measurements of air and ocean water temperatures are rising. This all puts more water into the atmosphere. It may only be a degree or two, but this is a trend that finds more and more water in the air, and into the oceans.
The term "global warming" is difficult to discern over the short term, but CLIMATE CHANGE is occuring.
After getting to know the Martin Luther King family in the 1960s, it is special just to type in his name at the head of my blog. Besides the many great contributions of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have trumpeted for over 40 years the fact that someone, someday is going to recognize the impact "Daddy King" had on his son's life. Not many people know that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. was also a special man in the tradition of a proud, poor Baptist preacher who held firmly to moral and ethical principles. If you knew the family, you also would recognize the impact the elder Martin Luther King had on his son.
In this time slot each year Martin Luther King Day is being celebrated, and many people will compose treatises far better than I about his legacy. Only sick white supremicists would deny King's greatness. But his legacy has been commercialized, prostituted and made more comfortably "white."
It was my intent to write a very different blog this morning [Wednesday]. However I was tuned into NBC-TV's "Today Show" and caught the interview with Glenn Beck. To say his boorish behavior was nauseating would be an understatement. He had a very difficult time allowing Meredith to finish her questions of him before butting in with his arrogant, self-congratulatory "answer." There actually were not answers, there were self-proclamations about himself and how great he is. And FOX and others pay this buffoon about $25 million a year for such self-boasting. Disgusting.
And then I turned on the computer and read that the newly elected Governor of Alabama, swept in with the Tea Party tide, speaking at Dexter Street Baptist Church in Montgomery where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once served as pastor, ...the Governor stated that if you do not believe in Jesus you are not his brother or sister. He refered to whom he will serve as the governor. How's that for a "take" on Christianity ...to say nothing of the U.S. Constitution? Such distortion and self-elevation is becoming commonplace in today's political, cultural, and religious climate. It is indeed sickening.
The Fairness Doctrine had prevailed for many years to keep some fairness and sanity in the media, in political campaigns, etc. Ronald Reagan fought to get rid of it when he became president, and he succeeded. Since then the media and elections have spiraled out of control, impacted by the influence of money, extreme perspectives, elections purchased, civility disappearing from public discourse, etc. We now stand amidst the hateful debris left from that action in 1987. We are no longer a united nation, we have become alienated from each other, and our ideas and perspectives have been swindled away by the biggest bidder and the loudest louts. The fairness that was not always fair, was now completely gone. In a certain sense we hate each other. And I am not guiltless in this morass.
We are now splintered, a scattered people reaching out for some semblance of identity with disappearing ideals, and the passing of the "American Dream." The hope for a piece of this Dream no longer exists for many. We see our viewpoint as holding the only "facts" and therefore we feel we can try in any way possible to destroy anyone or any group different than us. We don't have enough wars elsewhere, we now start wars against ourselves. It is not enough to have the biggest guns, we have to carry them secretly. It is as though we are on a crazy drive to find weapons that will give us a physical extension of our sex organ. I do not disagree with you, I want to destroy you. And the media is accommodating our hateful "taste." The new "intellect" is wrapped up in "I've got mine, too bad about you."
You cannot dip your toe into the water of guns in the U.S. without offending someone or some group. Nevertheless, I plan to do so here. I offer these words to open the discussion. Increasingly, evidence and events insist that we have this discussion about guns and gun control. Even extremists should be open to discuss the subject objectively. Here's my try...
It usually begins with the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It does NOT state what most gun advocates say it does. Here it is exactly as written, every word:
A man and his young son are out early in the morning on a journey that they both hope will be enjoyable and the father especially hopes it will be informative and bonding. The father speaks to his son...
Isn't it wonderful, son, to be out in the woods together? I hope you learn from me. This is a marvelous way for us to get to know each other, and I can teach you some of life's lessons. I want you to know how much I love you. And I want you to know that I want you to learn from my example.
Some years ago, after already having met some heavyweight political leaders in the U.S., I had a private audience with Willy Brandt, then Chancellor of West Germany. Instantly I recognized his leadership attributes. And I was intensely aware how most American political leaders paled by comparison.
Now, many years later, I review the field of top political leaders in the U.S. today. What a depressing review it is. Over and over through the years, as I saw presidential candidates come and go here, I always thought to myself, "Is this the best we can do?"
Since the 1990s we have more and more been faced with the onslaught of a new age in communication, news, correspondence, media, privacy, reading, language, ad infinitum. Depending on many things, your reaction to this dramatic change may be quite varied. Some observations...
Newspapers no longer are the main source for news...today it has been reported from major book sellers that newly printed books are in a minority in sales...because of the anonymity in cyberspace we have become much more hostile and confrontational with each other...people with cell phones do not seem to have any concept of their talking invading my space and I have to listen to inane conversations...we have no idea what we are doing to our children who more and more are addicted to and overly focused on cyberspace...people are using proper language less and less...kids do not know how to spell...we no longer realize what we are doing to education...adults and especially kids cannot keep focused on anything for more than a few minutes...accurate history and documentation have been replaced by Wikipedia and other far less reliable reference sources that have information that is often not only inaccurate but lacks authentication...immediate information is seen as more imporatant to accurate information...we make tons of excuses for the negative aspects of the cyber invasion...we seem overly concerned with aspects of our own and others private lives...we have no concept of how permanent are things we unload into cyberspace...there is an ongoing battle between parents and children about computer use and selection of subject matter...pornography is rampant in cyberspace...naive or immature people are duped and taken advantage of via cyberspace...we no longer practice interpersonal niceties in cyberspace and in our "regular" lives...temptation abounds in cyberspace...children are exposed to things that they are not equipped to handle...opinions on political matters have become more confrontational and hostile...one can be uneducated and uncultured and find a world of ignorance within which they can live a self-directed life and lifestyle...cyber-hostility is creeping into our daily lives in all areas...it is thought by many that it isn't important unless "confirmed" in cyberspace...it has created a chasm between generations...it has made us lazy...study habits are seen as less and less important...our "discoveries" are more and more self-reflected and less about broader science...in a sense there is a war going on between generations and levels of education and genders and religions and families and cultures and aptitude, etc....we are losing our empathy for others...greed more and more rules!...who are our enemies and where are they?... | <urn:uuid:04d190b5-eba7-4675-935f-78637bbce068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitefishbaynow.com/blogs/communityblogs/139021539.html?action=blog_archive&startDate=01-01-2011&endDate=01-31-2011&blogID=43777377 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975308 | 2,259 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Four men, four stories, one war
Area men Donald Saunders, Ed Wentzlaff, Milton Johnson and Joseph Huonder have a few things in common. All four come from different parts of Minnesota, all four now live in the Milaca Senior High Rise Apartments and all four served in the U.S. military during WWII. It was during that service that their stories begin to diverge from each other.
On this Veterans Day, Americans honor their service and record their memories. As the men enter their 80s and 90s, it is an era of United States history that is nearing its end. But as the four seasoned veterans chat about their service over coffee and pastries in Johnson’s apartment early one morning last week, the memories come alive, erasing the 70 years between now and their service in one of the world’s most massive wars.
Growing up in Minneapolis during the Great Depression, Saunders remembers just why his is called the “Greatest Generation.”
“You were poor, everybody else was poor — so no one knew they were poor,” he said.
The military offered a chance to make a living, fight the good fight and see the world. Saunders joined the U.S. Navy in April of 1943.
“I couldn’t wait to turn 17 and enlist and go fight,” Saunders said.
He would soon get his wish. Shortly after, seaman Saunders was assigned a ship and sent overseas.
“When we saw America disappear behind the fin of the ship, I wondered if I’d ever see that land again,” he said.
Saunders spent a total of 23 months in the South Pacific and Solomon Island running supply shipments from Guadalcanal to Okinawa supporting the 1st Marine Division.
“They were the poor guys who went in while we stayed on the ship,” Saunders said.
He remembers seeing the phrase “Killroy was here,” in nearly every “head” in the South Pacific. As the phrase is mentioned, the other three veterans chime in with their run-ins with the graffiti etched in bathroom stalls or drawn on fences, trees and buildings. No one remembers where the it came from. But for some reason, seeing that Killroy reminded the men of home, that they were all in this together.
“Back then, you didn’t worry about coming home,” Saunders said. “They had a point system — you needed 30 points to go home. I had 50-some points, but I wasn’t going home. There was a war going on.”
For the full story, see the Thursday, Nov. 8 print edition of the Times. | <urn:uuid:9ec15935-9fcf-4bde-946a-14fee7343053> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://millelacscountytimes.com/2012/11/08/four-men-four-stories-one-war/ | 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 | 0.980977 | 571 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Photo by abardwell, via Flickr
For the third straight year, fewer Americans were under "correctional supervision"--a catch-all description that includes prisons, jails, probation, and parole--in 2011.
That was the major finding of a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report released today.
The report will be cheered by those who argue that fewer people should be ensnared in the justice system in an era of lower crime rates.
Nevertheless, some critics believe that the numbers remain far too high: nearly 7 million convicted people under some kind of supervision.
The total means that nearly 3 percent of U.S. adults, or one in 34, were under some form of correctional supervision at the close of December, 2011---the same rate as in 1998.
The rate had been as high as one in 31 Americans in both 2006 and 2007. The most quoted figure usually is jail and prison inmates, which was about 2.24 million in 2011, down slightly from 2010. Many more are on probation (nearly 4 million last year, down slightly from 2010).
The parole numbers went up last year to about 854,000 from nearly 841,000 in 2010.
Critics of the high national incarceration rate contend that the changes are going in the right direction, albeit very slowly. The combined prison and jail numbers have now been falling for four straight years.
The number hit a peak in 2008 with 2,307,500 in both kinds of adult institutions.
A closer look reveals that the number of federal prisoners continues to climb, reading nearly 215,000 at year end 2011 compared with about 207,000 a year earlier.
State prisons housed about 2 percent fewer at the end of last year than in 2010. Private prisons held abut 122,000 of the total of prisoners. There were 735,601 in local jails, a population that is very fluid.
Relating total imprisonment to declining crime totals can be tricky.
Many conservatives say it is justified to have so many Americans under correctional supervision, arguing that the high numbers in the justice system explain in part why crime rates have declined.
Those on the liberal side say that the nation's mass incarceration is far too high and that slight changes in the numbers from year to year do not indicate major shifts in the American way of punishment.
For the full report please click HERE.
Ted Gest is president of Criminal Justice Journalists and a Washington-based contributing editor of The Crime Report. He welcomes comments from readers. | <urn:uuid:ccb1c17e-a822-41c0-8ac8-51764e296e7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2012-11-mixed-punishment-report-fewer-in-prison-on-probation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95442 | 512 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Guest poem submitted by Ameya Nagarajan:
(Poem #1319) Goats and Monkeys
'...even now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.' -Othello The owl's torches gutter. Chaos clouds the globe. Shriek, augury! His earthen bulk buries her bosom in its slow eclipse. His smoky hand has charred that marble throat. Bent to her lips, he is Africa, a vast, sidling shadow that halves your world with doubt. 'Put out the light', and God's light is put out. That flame extinct, she contemplates her dream of him as huge as night, as bodiless, as starred with medals, like the moon a fable of blind stone. Dazzled by that bull's bulk agaisnt the sun of Cyprus, couldn't she have known like Pasiphae, poor girl, she'd breed horned monsters? That like Euyridice, her flesh a flare travelling the hellish labyrinth of his mind his soul would swallow hers? Her white flesh rhymes with night. She climbs, secure. Virgin and ape, maid and malevolent Moor, their immortal coupling still halves our world. He is your sacrificial beat, bellowing, goaded, a black bull snarled in ribbons of blood. And yet, whatever fury girded on the saffron-sunset turban, moon-shaped sword was not his racial, panther-black revenge pulsing her chamber with its raw musk, its sweat but horror of the moon's change, of the corruption of an absolute, like a white fruit pulped ripe by fondling but doubly sweet. And so he barbarously arraigns the moon for all she has beheld since time began for his own night-long lechery, ambition, while barren innocence whimpers for pardon. And it is still the moon, she silvers love, limns lechery and stares at our disgrace. Only annihilation can resolve the pure corruption in her dreaming face. A bestial, comic agony. We harden with mockery at this blackamoor who turns his back on her, who kills what, like the clear moon, cannot abhor her element, night; his grief farcially knotted in a handkerchief a sibyl's prophetically stitched rememberancer webbed and embroidered with the zodiac, this mythical, horned beast who's no more monstrous for being black.
Walcott is West Indian, from the island of St. Lucia. He came from a mixed family, with two white grandfathers and two black grandmothers. He grew up familiar with English and his problem is one faced by most post-colonial writers, he does not fit in the native tradition but he does not fit in the British traditon, and he is troubled both by his ease with the English language and his alienation from English experience. This poem rewrites Othello, and it is really interesting because its sympathetic to Othello while still granting him agency, Walcott completely deletes Iago and Othello is no longer a pawn. What I love most about Walcott is his almost intoxicating use of imagery. He does go overboard in one or two places, but most of the time he manages to pick the most evocative images to convey impressions. Call him impressionist if you wish! [Minstrels Links] Derek Walcott: Poem #993: "Midsummer, Tobago" Poem #1041: "The Schooner 'Flight'" | <urn:uuid:94d28163-6f3f-4568-a0e9-c9d81948ae79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.com/2003/08/goats-and-monkeys-derek-walcott.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965534 | 739 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Young Voices in the Fight Against AIDS
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This is the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.
One thousand young people from around the world attended the International AIDS Conference last week in Mexico City. They were there to represent the five million young people living with H.I.V. and the more than fifteen million who have lost parents to AIDS.
Twenty-one-year-old Andrew Francis from Jamaica says young people must be active at every level of AIDS policy-making. If not, he says, there will continue to be programs and policies that do not connect with the realities of young people.
Twenty-three-old Mary Awour Odhiambo of Kenya became infected four years ago after having unprotected sex. She says the drugs that she and others take to control H.I.V. give them the appearance of being healthy. But people on antiretroviral therapy can still pass the virus to others. So her advice to young people?
MARY AWOUR ODHIAMBO: "Never trust anybody, not even themselves. Even if you have to go like for sex, at least they should use a condom, because in this world you can't tell who has the virus now."
Other young delegates talked about difficulties facing AIDS education and prevention efforts. Twenty-year-old Himakstu Piplani is from India.
HIMAKSTU PIPLANI: "Things back home are not very good. First and foremost the sex education program has been banned by twelve Indian states. So that's not a good thing because we are not getting adequate knowledge and information anymore. Secondly, the legal framework in India is not very good when it comes to AIDS and young people. We have laws that criminalize homosexuality. We have laws that criminalize drug use."
The young people at the AIDS conference included teenage peer educators. Conference organizers invited seventeen-year-old Vanessa John Mlawi to speak about her work in Tanzania.
VANESSA JOHN MLAWI: "I am a peer educator in school and my role as a peer educator is I provide accurate information to my other students. And it is accepted and I think that by going on and doing this will make a really big change."
Another delegate, Alischa Ross of Australia, lost her mother and stepfather to AIDS when she was a teenager. She later started a nonprofit group called YEAH, Youth Empowering Against AIDS.
ALISCHA ROSS: "When you think of the fact that the majority of people in the world affected by H.I.V. are young means the majority of people with the experience are young. So that makes perfect sense that we are at the center of responding to this pandemic."
Alischa Ross saw hope in the large presence of young people at the latest International AIDS conference. At the first one she attended eight years ago in South Africa, she says, there were just thirty delegates under the age of thirty.
And that's the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT by Nancy Steinbach, with reporting from Mexico by VOA's Rosanne Skirble. For more on the conference, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember. | <urn:uuid:bf559e88-8f42-4e9e-85a1-2012a5fad76b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.manythings.org/voa/0/12527.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970516 | 678 | 2.4375 | 2 |
By Alex Whiting
Despite the billions of dollars spent on bringing about peace in Democratic Republic of Congo, violence still wracks the country’s east, where conflicts have displaced hundreds of thousands of people this year alone. So what’s the solution?
London-based peacebuilding organisation International Alert (IA) believes the answer lies in tackling the causes of the conflicts, supporting local attempts at keeping the peace, and bringing people together across ethnic and political divides.
This may seem obvious, but IA says international efforts to build peace in a country recovering from years of war have misdiagnosed the reasons for the east’s tensions. These include lack of access to land, and political and economic marginalisation.
"Standard post-conflict interventions are simply not working; what is needed is a truly context-specific response based on a frank analysis of the real causes and dynamics behind this prolonged and multi-faceted conflict,” IA secretary general Dan Smith said in a statement.
In a report, Ending the Deadlock: Towards a new vision of peace in eastern DRC, published Thursday, IA cites peace initiatives such as disarmament programmes, the reintegration of displaced people and curbs on the region’s mineral trade.
Attempts to stop rebels funding their operations through Congo’s mineral trade have had some success, but armed groups have simply diversified their sources of financing as a result. The curb on minerals has also hurt civilians who depend on the trade for a living, the report says.
Although tens of thousands of former militants have been disarmed, many have not found alternative work partly because they did not receive enough support to reintegrate into civilian life, IA says.
In addition, programmes helping refugees return to Congo tend to be run using “individualistic and technical approaches”, and don’t take enough account of local tensions and conflicts which can worsen when people come home.
‘NO PEACE TO KEEP’
The world’s largest U.N. peacekeeping force - comprising 17,000 soldiers - patrols the region, but “there has been no peace to keep,” IA’s report says. “Armed groups continue to control large areas of the Kivu provinces and Ituri district in Orientale province, creating insecurity and preying on the population, with women and girls continuing to suffer disproportionately.”
Meanwhile, some 1.8 million people are displaced in North and South Kivu and Orientale, and hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries, the report says.
The economy is not developing and young people have no work. Roads are dilapidated, and millions of people have no access to the most basic public services. Meanwhile, the government is reluctant to introduce political reforms.
“If peace is to be restored, the predatory, corrupt and clientelistic nature of power in (Congo) must be tackled, as well as the problem of intense, ethnically driven political competition,” Smith said.
A “new vision of peace” would give people fairer access to land, change the political culture and systems, reintegrate displaced people more effectively, improve security for Congolese, and enhance regional cooperation, the report says. | <urn:uuid:2c4451ba-549c-4656-a438-47dcd188b474> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trust.org/item/?map=what-can-end-conflict-in-congos-east/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947934 | 676 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Identification of a KCNE2 gain-of-function mutation in patients with familial atrial fibrillation.
ABSTRACT Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. We first reported an S140G mutation of KCNQ1, an alpha subunit of potassium channels, in one Chinese kindred with AF. However, the molecular defects and cellular mechanisms in most patients with AF remain to be identified. We evaluated 28 unrelated Chinese kindreds with AF and sequenced eight genes of potassium channels (KCNQ1, HERG, KCNE1, KCNE2, KCNE3, KCNE4, KCNE5, and KCNJ2). An arginine-to-cysteine mutation at position 27 (R27C) of KCNE2, the beta subunit of the KCNQ1-KCNE2 channel responsible for a background potassium current, was found in 2 of the 28 probands. The mutation was present in all affected members in the two kindreds and was absent in 462 healthy unrelated Chinese subjects. Similar to KCNQ1 S140G, the mutation had a gain-of-function effect on the KCNQ1-KCNE2 channel; unlike long QT syndrome-associated KCNE2 mutations, it did not alter HERG-KCNE2 current. The mutation did not alter the functions of the HCN channel family either. Thus, KCNE2 R27C is a gain-of-function mutation associated with the initiation and/or maintenance of AF.
Article: Genetic polymorphism of KCNH2 confers predisposition of acquired atrial fibrillation in Chinese.[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Nonfamiliar atrial fibrillation (AF) is usually associated with acquired structural heart disease, including valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, and hypertension. Suggestive evidence indicates that these forms of acquired AF are more likely to occur in individuals with a genetic predisposition. We investigated the effect of the potassium channel voltage-gated subfamily member 2 (KCNH2) gene on the prevalence of acquired AF in a Chinese population. In a pair-matched, hospital-based case control study (297 vs 297) conducted in Chinese Hans, we investigated 4 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tSNPs), rs1805120, rs1036145, rs3807375, and rs2968857 in the KCNH2 gene, and determined their association with AF acquired from structural heart diseases. We did not observe the association of rs1036145, rs3807375, and rs2968857 with AF. However, we determined that the tSNP, rs1805120, in exon 6 confers the risk of AF in Chinese Hans. Both genotype and allele frequencies of rs1805120 were distributed differently in cases and controls (P = 0.0289 and P = 0.0172, respectively). The most significant association was observed under a recessive model for the minor GG genotype with a 1.45-fold risk of developing AF (95% confidence interval 1.09-1.93, P = 0.012). The significance remained after controlling for the covariates of age, smoking, BMI, hypertension, and diabetes. We report a new genetic variation (rs1805120) in the KCNH2 gene that predisposes Chinese Han individuals to the risk of acquired AF. Further genetic and functional studies are required to identify the etiological variants in linkage disequilibrium with this polymorphism.Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology 06/2009; 20(10):1158-62. · 3.06 Impact Factor
[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and its incidence is expected to grow. A genetic predisposition for AF has long been recognized, but its manifestation in these patients likely involves a combination of rare and common genetic variants. Identifying genetic variants that associate with a high penetrance for AF would represent a significant breakthrough for understanding the mechanisms that associate with disease. METHOD AND RESULTS: Candidate gene sequencing in 5 unrelated families with familial AF identified the KCNQ1 missense mutation p.Arg231His (R231H). In addition to AF, several of the family members have abnormal QTc intervals, syncope or experienced sudden cardiac arrest or death. KCNQ1 encodes the voltage-gated K(+) channel that conducts the slowly activating delayed rectifier K(+) current in the heart. Functional and computational analyses suggested that R231H increases KCNQ1 current (I(KCNQ1) ) to shorten the atrial action potential (AP) duration. R231H is predicted to minimally affect ventricular excitability, but it prevented the increase in I(KCNQ1) following PKA activation. The unique properties of R231H appeared to be caused by a loss in voltage-dependent gating. CONCLUSIONS: The R231H variant causes a high penetrance for interfamilial early-onset AF. Our study indicates R231H likely shortens atrial refractoriness to promote a substrate for reentry. Additionally, R231H might cause abnormal ventricular repolarization by disrupting PKA activation of I(KCNQ1) . We conclude genetic variants, which increase I(Ks) during the atrial AP, decrease the atrial AP duration, and/or shorten atrial refractoriness, present a high risk for interfamilial AF.Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology 12/2012; · 3.06 Impact Factor
[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia in adults, affecting >1% of general population. Atrial fibrillation is commonly associated with structural heart disease and is a major cause of significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. AF sometimes develops in a subset of young patients (e.g. aged ≤60 years), with no evidence of associated cardiopulmonary or other comorbid disease (including hypertension), and has been referred to as 'lone AF'. The latter generally has a favourable prognosis; the prognostic and therapeutic implications of an accurate identification of patients with truly lone AF (that is, truly at low risk of complications), if any, would be of the utmost importance. The true prevalence of lone AF is unknown, varying between 1.6% and 30%, depending on the particular study population. Nonetheless, novel risk factors for AF, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, alcohol consumption, endurance sports, anger, hostility, subclinical atherosclerosis and others, have been increasingly recognised. Also, various underlying pathophysiological mechanisms predisposing to AF, including increased atrial stretch, structural and electrophysiological alterations, autonomic imbalance, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress and genetic predisposition, have been proposed. The growing evidence of these diverse (and numerous) pathogenic mechanisms and factors related to AF inevitably raises the question of whether 'lone AF' does exist at all. In this review article, we summarise the current knowledge of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical course and treatment of patients with so-called 'lone AF' and outline emerging insights into its pathogenesis and the potential therapeutic implications of a diagnosis of lone AF.International Journal of Clinical Practice 01/2011; 65(4):446-57. · 2.41 Impact Factor | <urn:uuid:a88cb8c1-7a51-4412-8882-1bad7b173d2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/8346926_Identification_of_a_KCNE2_gain-of-function_mutation_in_patients_with_familial_atrial_fibrillation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910377 | 1,566 | 1.757813 | 2 |
From the picture books we have seen so far this year we've chosen twenty-five which we think are the pick of the bunch.
For the purposes of this selection 'picture books' means 'books in which pictures play a major part'. You'll find stories, poetry, and information, for all ages.
Bodley Head, 0 370 30916 2, £4.95
No words but hundreds of stories and hours of enjoyment. Like Anno's Journey and Anno's Italy this is an inexhaustible book; each look through the detailed pages reveals new delights and surprises. (Can you spot the Queen taking the dog for a walk?) The additional fascination is that this time Mitsumaso Anno is travelling through our country and offering us his vision of our landscape, history, culture and people. It's a green and pleasant land he shows us - a warning perhaps from someone who mourns the disappearance of his own Japan under concrete, that we should keep it that way. For all ages, but especially 9+.
0416 06070 6
0 416 06090 0
0 416 06050 1
0 416 06080 3
0 416 06060 9
Helen Oxenbury, Methuen/Walker, 99p each
There are marvellous opportunities for children to story for themselves in Helen Oxenbury's second series of board books: but the baby has grown up considerably and, dare we suggest, should have grown out of board books. The ideas in these five are much more sophisticated and children who would best appreciate them are well beyond the accepted board book stage. Herein lies the dilemma: I would certainly want to include them in any collection for under-eights but will their format deter would-be readers and buyers' More please, but as ordinary books next time.
Three for the Youngest
Ernest and Celestine
Gabrielle Vincent, Julia MacRae Books, 0 86203 072 2, £3.50
With a text wholly in dialogue, the story focusses on the friendship between the young and the old: Celestine. a young mouse loses her beloved toy duck Gideon whilst out walking with Ernest, a large brown bear. Celestine is inconsolable - no other toy will do - until Ernest lovingly makes another Gideon. Gabrielle Vincent's gentle water colours are full of warmth and character and have tremendous appeal for the young reader. (A companion volume Bravo, Ernest and Celestine is also just published.)
John Burningham, Cape, 0 224 02004 8, £3.95
Not the best of Burningham but still too good to leave out. The new addition to the Hargraves family - an anorexic infant - is in a sad state until it samples an avocado, is instantly addicted and, on a daily diet of same, goes from strength to strength. Its feats include tackling a burglar. moving furniture, bump-starting the family car, and finally, the super-tot disposes of a pair of bullies - into the pond.
Burningham's delightful humour and economy of both line and language should tempt all ages.
Wilberforce Goes on a Picnic
Margaret Gordon, Kestrel, 0 7226 5750 1, £3.95
Showing not telling is the key to the enjoyment of this story. Above a very understated text is depicted the hilarious action of the day Wilberforce, a very characterful bear, went on a picnic to the country with his grandparents and his brother and sister. For example, a sloping field liberally dotted with cowpats and infested with flies, wasps and other creepy-crawlies bears the caption 'until they found an ideal picnic spot'.
Wilberforce is surely destined to join the ranks of other favourite bears. (Wilberforce goes Shopping follows in the autumn.)
Lots of Visual Jokes
0 19 272124 0
Cat on the Mat
0 19 2721 23
Brian Wildsmith, Oxford University Press, 95p each
The Trunk is an entirely visual joke: a succession of animals climb what they think is a tree, find themselves on top of an elephant and slide back to the ground.
Cat on the Mat wittily exploits the sentence we all associate with phonic primers: the cat sat on the mat; a dog, a goat, a cow follow suit, but the last straw is an elephant; then Ssppstt!... The cat sat on the mat. It is good to see Wildsmith turning his talents to books such as these and thus making his work accessible to a much wider book buying public.
Pat Hutchins, Bodley Head, 0 370 30920 0, £3.95
Playing the game with the author is what readers of Pat Hutchins' latest book are being invited to do. The only words she uses are I hunter, 2 elephants, 3 giraffes... 10 parrots, but each picture shows the hunter marching resolutely forward, gun at the ready, whilst more and more animals appear and stalk him. The ten parrots finally give the game away and he flees from the serried ranks of intended prey. A wonderfully controlled joke.
Anthony Browne, Hippo, 0 590 70090 1, 95p
Visual jokes abound in what at first appears a simple story in which a white teddybear foils his would-be captors by making timely use of his magic pencil. Look again and keep on looking... A marvellous book for all ages.
Welcome in Paperback
Quest for the Gloop
Helen Nicoll, ill. Jan Pienkowski, Picture Puffin, 0 14 050.365 X £l .50
A space epic in comic strip format: something of anew departure for this author/artist partnership and an entirely successful one. The deliberately garish colours are just right for this dramatic comedy in which Captain Murphy, aided by his robot PHIX, undertakes a desperate mission to save their planet Beetlejuice 8. Great stuff!
Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Picture Lions, 0 00 661953 3, 90p
'On a dark dark hill/there was a dark dark town./In the dark dark town/there was a dark dark street'… does it ring any bells? Children immediately make the link and devour this smashing tale of three aspiring menaces whose nocturnal antics only succeed in frightening themselves. Skeletons, brilliantly effective use of colour and black and white, bubble-talk and an opportunity to break into song; what more could any reader ask?
The Wild Washerwomen
John Yeoman and Quentin Blake, Picture Puffin, 0 14 050.367 6, £1.15
Tired of their lot, the seven washerwomen go rampaging through the countryside in a goat-cart wreaking havoc in their wake. When they run into seven woodcutters, their bid for liberation receives a set-back; but those fearsome ladies are equal to any challenge. An exuberantly witty combination of words and pictures.
For Beginning Readers
Three by the Sea
Edward Marshall, ill. James Marshall, Bodley Beginner, 0 370 30455 1, £3.25
Not to be missed on any account. Lolly's friends certainly know what makes a good story. In disgusted response to the banal offering from her reader', they take the same characters and skillfully create their own stories with suspense, humour and a twist in the tail. If only all children (and teachers) were as critical of what is put forward in the name of reading in schools as this pair!
James Marshall's illustrations are just right for the casual, almost throw-away humour of the writing.
Mrs Gaddy and the Ghost
Wilson Gage, ill. Marylin Hafner, Hippo, 0 590 70060 X, £1.25
First published in this country as a Bodley Beginner, it is good to see this splendid book for new solo readers in paperback so soon. It tells how Mrs Gaddy, after making determined efforts to get rid of her resident apparition, has a sudden change of heart and takes him on as a kitchen help. The humour is beautifully brought out in Marylin Hafner's pink and brown illustrations - her facial expressions are especially good.
Pictures by Helen Oxenbury, Verses chosen by Jill Bennett, Heinemann, 434 95601 5, £3.95
A splendidly useful collection of sure-fire hits for Infants. Good rhythm, strong rhymes, some familiar lines and Helen Oxenbury's excellent illustrations, which manage to be supportively literal, imaginative and funny, make this a must for beginner readers.
The Paper Bag Princess
Robert N Munsch, ill. Michael Martchenko, Hippo, 0 590 711 26 1, 85p
Beautiful princess, Elizabeth, is left with only a paper bag to wear when the dragon smashes up her castle and carries off her betrothed, handsome Prince Ronald. Nevertheless by a combination of guts, intelligence and guile she rescues Ronald. Add to that much role reversal a very un-fairy tale ending and you get a story some little girls will resist and most small boys will reject completely. Don't give up - at least get them talking about why they don't like it. It's short, sharp and funny; good yeast for all ages.
The Wild Swans
Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Amy Ehrlich, Pictures by Susan Jeffers, Macmillan, 0 333 32659 8, £4.95
In one sense perhaps this powerfully beautiful story of self-sacrifice and devotion needs no illustration. But if young listeners and readers need pictures to fire their imaginations then these are the ones to give them. Lyrical, sad, mysterious and frightening by turns, Susan Jeffers' illustrations are beautifully executed and exactly in tune with Andersen's story. The large format and design of the book (lots of double page spread pictures) make it good for reading aloud or story-telling.
Jill Paton Walsh, ill. Jennifer Northway, Andre Deutsch, 0 233 97362 1, £4.95
It's a joy to see an artist who can capture so sympathetically and realistically the essential vitality and beauty of black children (and adults) in an English setting.
The story of David, Lesley and Dulcie's journey through the hanging gardens of Babylon - a disused railway viaduct in the inner city - and descriptions of what they see, is told in equally vibrant style. The text possesses an almost poetic quality in places which causes the reader to focus on how language works as well as what it says. An altogether beautiful book.
The Magic Mouse and the Millionaire
Robert McCrum, ill. Michael Foreman, Hamish Hamilton, 0 241 10720 2, £4.25
Take a run-down circus, a sad millionaire, a ringmaster's son (who is nine and full of ideas) and a magic mouse who does amazing tricks. Mix well, and you have a jolly moral tale, simply and rhythmically told with some nice humorous touches. Add Michael Foreman's marvellously atmospheric pictures which exactly complement the writing and you have a winner of a book.
Cathedral - The Story of its Construction
David Macaulay, Collins, 0 00 192142 8, £3.50
A paperback, full-size edition of David Macaulay's classic book about the building of a Gothic cathedral (at imaginary Chutreaux in France). In story form each step of the nearly hundred year task is described and accompanied by clear explanatory drawings and diagrams in black and white line. It is miraculously comprehensible and manages, as well as explaining, to convey something of what inspired the people of the thirteenth and fourteenth century to create such staggeringly beautiful buildings.
Roland Berry, Hamish Hamilton, 0 241 10765 2, £2.95
Sheer size is always impressive. Roland Berry has drawn twenty-six of the world's biggest machines from construction. underwater working, farming and transport. Those fascinated by the biggest, the heaviest, the longest etc will be attracted by the full colour pictures (each containing something familiar to give a sense of scale) and short, clear explanations which pack in facts while remaining chatty and accessible. An index and more headings to identify groups would have put this in the useful easy reference class. As it is it can only be recommended as a super book for dipping into.
Shakespeare and His Theatre
John Russell Brown, ill. David Gentleman, Kestrel, 0 7226 5558 4, £5.50
An invaluable aid for anyone wanting to remove Shakespeare from an academic ivory tower and put him and his plays a little closer to an understandable reality. Eight short sections are packed with information about the Globe Theatre and how the plays were staged. Those daunted by blocks of continuous print (there are no sub-headings) will still find masses of information in David Gentleman's excellent, lively full colour illustrations which are plentiful.
The Story of Hay
Geoffrey Patterson, Andre Deutsch, 0 233 97356 7, £4.50
Another of Geoffrey Patterson's fascinating accounts of country life. This one looks at haymaking across the centuries from the earliest reaping hook to present day mechanisation. Beautifully drawn and intelligently labelled pictures of implements and machines accompany a short, clear text. A fascinating book which with its friendly authoritative tone could be a useful source or background book for much middle/ secondary work. It has a simple index.
Looking at Art - People at Work
Patrick Conner, Wayland, 0 85340 889 0, £4.95
One of a series of three (People at Home and Faces are the other two) which looks at a subject through the eyes of thirty artists from different times and places. The artist's technique, interpretation. attitude and intention are touched on easily in the brief commentary which accompanies the pictures and gets the reader thinking and asking more questions. Short biographies of the artists and a simple index at the end.
The Ideal Home
Fulvio Testa, Abelard, 0 200 72768 0, £4.95
A series of double page spreads depicting how man lived from cave dwellers to skyscrapers. Each picture has two or three sentences of explanatory text. To encourage really close looking (and thinking) Fulvio Testa has drawn in anachronisms - television aerials on the roofs of a medieval walled town for instance. A good springboard for talking and investigation with Infants or Juniors.
This feature compiled by Jill Bennett and Pat Triggs | <urn:uuid:d935e037-b83f-4b30-92fe-17e13f967064> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/14/childrens-books/articles/other-articles/spring-selection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930992 | 3,065 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Too bad that very interesting open source projects are abandoned
I am interested in Ada programming language and software written in this language.
Does anyone know a mirror for the OS, source code or documentation or anything related to the AuroraUX OS? Linux or Solaris ports.
Unlike closed source software, any dead open source code can be ressurected and brought back to life after many years.
Mention that Google did not find anything relevant.
It was a very interesting idea, but perhaps a bit overambitious. For example, I believe they planned to write their own X server in Ada, even if they could get it working in a reasonable time frame, would it have made much of a difference? | <urn:uuid:6095f9cf-ad8c-422f-90a1-2d81f9646528> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?74936-The-AuroraUX-Operating-System-Is-Dead/page2&p=295225 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969893 | 145 | 1.828125 | 2 |
In my pf.conf I have lines like this
rdr on $ext_if proto tcp from any to ($ext_if) port 5060 -> asterisk
to redirect traffic to a specific machine. However this will only work if the firewall knows what asterisk means. In this case asterisk gets its ip by dhcp (which also runs on the fw). So if the firewall is rebooted this will not work until I login and do pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf after
the ips are assigned.
One solution would be to go to static ips, but it's rather convenient to use dhcp and also makes pf.conf easy to read. How can this be solved?
Can I delay pf in rc.d do make it run after dhcpd? If so, how and what side effects would that bring?
This is on a FBSD 9.0-RELEASE-p3 machine. | <urn:uuid:c139e98a-410f-40a2-83d3-fba3a6a4cf4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daemonforums.org/showthread.php?p=45208&mode=threaded | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9347 | 201 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. These brands are usually paid for or identified through sponsors and viewed via various media. Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea to a large number of people in an attempt to convince them to take a certain action.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers that spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement.
Click image to enlarge | <urn:uuid:1517732f-c890-4d63-860b-983417c003ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gotwogals.com/advertisments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958942 | 206 | 3.375 | 3 |
Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, and Plain Old Murder
"Clean words can mask dirty deeds," wrote William Safire in a 1993 column on the term "ethnic cleansing." One year earlier, "ethnic cleansing" had entered the dictionary as "the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of ethnic minorities by a dominant majority group." Due to its roots in the violence in the former Yugoslavia, the "killing" portion of the definition has overwhelmed the "expulsion" part, while the sense of mass imprisonment never seemed to materialize.
So when Tony Campolo told reporters earlier this month that "evangelical Zionists" favor "ethnic cleansing" of the Palestinians from Israel, the dictionary may have given him meager support, but he was using a loaded term.
"Some evangelicals have gotten caught up in the theology that before Christ can return, the Holy Land must belong to the Jews," Campolo told the Birmingham News on June 7. "They're really advocating ethnic cleansing. It's the extremist view that favors taking more and more land away from the Palestinians."
Campolo has been out of the country and unavailable for comment. But his remarks to the News suggest he was using the "expulsion" sense of "ethnic cleansing" and not accusing evangelicals of advocating the mass murder of Palestinians. What he meant was probably closer to the phrase "ethnic purity," which got Jimmy Carter in trouble during the 1976 Democratic primaries. When asked about federally funded public housing projects in historically Polish and Italian neighborhoods, Carter said such neighborhoods should be able to "maintain their ethnic purity." (Carter had to apologize, but President Gerald Ford got it right when asked about the controversy: "Ethnic heritage is a great treasure," he said. "Heritage" is to be celebrated; "purity" ... | <urn:uuid:01cfd401-6774-4952-9195-c74b0edece8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/juneweb-only/6-21-32.0.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971599 | 362 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Above my computer I have a beautiful picture. You are looking at the backs of three children and a dog. They are looking out over a lake and in the clouds above is a huge moutain with a castle, a rainbow and two unicorns. The heading below the picture reads, “It’s sad when we give up the castles of our future for the fantasies of our todays.”
What kind of thoughts run through your head when you read that statement? | <urn:uuid:41bd2904-0fc4-43d2-ba92-8223f9b7030e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clhall.blogspot.com/2011/04/today.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947663 | 99 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters
Some of the most dramatic evidence of dark matter shows up in images of large clusters of galaxies. The gravitational pull of matter in the cluster bends and twists the light from more distant galaxies, producing a plethora of strange optical effects ranging from distorted arcs to multiple images of the same background object. This process is called gravitational lensing. The intensity of the distortion indicates the strength of the overall gravitational field, and hence the total mass, of the lensing cluster.
The mass of galaxy clusters inferred from lensing studies is about 10 times as great as that of all their stars combined with the hot X-ray-emitting gas that fills the space between the galaxies. The excess mass must be dark matter. (That conclusion assumes gravity behaves the same on cosmic scales as it does on Earth—a logical but untested article of faith. See “Nailing Down Gravity,” Discover, October 2003.) In clusters, too, dark matter seems to form a massive halo around the bright parts. Earlier this year, Jean-Paul Kneib of Caltech and his colleagues analyzed gravitational distortions produced by a galaxy grouping named CL0024+1654. The resulting map, pictured below, exposes the location of dark matter in and around that cluster.
So what makes up all this dark material holding together clusters of galaxies? Burned-out or failed stars cannot account for nearly enough mass. In fact, there are strong reasons to think that much of the dark stuff is not made of atoms at all. The Big Bang theory makes detailed predictions about the total number of ordinary atoms and about the relative abundance of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) and helium in the universe. These predictions match the observed cosmic composition if the modern universe has an average density of 0.2 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter—far less than the amount of matter seen around galaxies and galaxy clusters.
As a result, astronomers are convinced that most dark matter must consist of particles that do not influence nuclear reactions. That rules out all atoms but allows many other types of elementary particles. The most plausible of these dark matter candidates are neutrinos. These ghostly particles are so unreactive that trillions of them pass through you each second without disturbing any of the atoms in your body. They then continue right on through Earth, with absolutely no effect.
Theoretical calculations indicate that there should be as many as 100 million neutrinos for every atom in the universe. Because neutrinos are so abundant, they could be the dominant dark matter even if each weighed only a tiny fraction as much as an atom. Until recently, physicists thought neutrinos carried no mass at all, but studies completed in 1998 at the Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan indicate otherwise. The inferred mass is so slight, however, that neutrinos cannot account for all dark matter. At most, they could match the mass of the stars. Adding up all the dark forms of ordinary matter (gas clouds, brown dwarfs, black holes, and so on) still leaves 95 percent of the mass in the universe unaccounted for. | <urn:uuid:c69001c7-10e8-4eb8-b4a3-231f1197e517> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discovermagazine.com/2003/dec/cover | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920013 | 630 | 3.859375 | 4 |
By LARRY HYPES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Whenever Black History Month rolls up on the calendar I almost never think first of Martin Luther King Jr. or Frederick Douglass or Rosa Parks. Not even Jackie Robinson, for that matter. Later this month, major league baseball will begin its annual spring training routine and my favorite sports season will begin again. It will always be the national pastime in my mind’s eye and three pioneering ball players with a thought toward civil rights are forever high on my list.
It is usually Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, and Bill White who cross my mind. Those three helped the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team not only truly integrate the ball club but also break down racial barriers in at least a couple of states. When they arrived in St. Louis beginning in 1959, the Redbirds kept white players at one hotel during spring training and the “colored” players stayed in private homes at what was then known as the Negro section in St. Petersburg, Fla.
It was only when Flood brought that to the attention of the team owner, August A. “Gussie” Busch, that the Cardinals bought a hotel so that all the team members could stay together. That was just one instance of how these three pivotal performers helped to equalize matters for baseball. Gibson was not only a terrific athlete but a proud man who chose professional baseball over a career with the Harlem Globetrotters because, as he said he “could not stand the clowining.”
Bill White was a natural leader and went on to become president of the national league. Flood later challenged baseball’s century-old reserve clause which was not far from a slavery-style hold on players’ services and so helped to make possible today’s large salaries and player freedom to move between teams that has produced such a bonanza for the performers. Each of those three players did great work in promoting racial advancement, which I appreciated, and the fact that Flood was hitting over .300 most years, with White a steady 100-RBI man, and Gibson the best pitcher in baseball on any given day for most of the decade of the 1960s didn’t hurt any, either! All three were good on and off the field, great examples of equal opportunity employees who only asked for a fair chance to prove themselves.
While reading through Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” a natural lead-in question for thoughtful juniors is to ask just what a soul is. Where do you find one? Is it in the body — the thumb, maybe? It is always interesting to review such ideas with young people, whose minds are not yet closed to new ideas. Sometimes religion is mentioned, sometimes not but there is often a student or two who will bring God into the discussion.
We had a dictionary definition discussion of the difference between an atheist and an agnostic in a few classes and nobody had to be identified as either one, we simply thought it was interesting. In the spring 2013 issue of “Teaching Tolerance” magazine is an article somewhat related to the underlying tone of (at least) the title and first line of the poem. Called “More God than Ever” it reiterates the fact that religion is not banned from school — neither is prayer, unless it is of the school-sponsored variety.
As long ago as 1962, it was Billy Graham who pointed out that more than 80 percent of adults wanted prayer in schools, noting the Supreme Court was punishing the majority so the minority could rule. However, in 1984 a law called the Equal Access Act made possible the opportunity for student-initiated religious clubs. Many schools, including Tazewell High School, have a Teens for Christ club and have a “meeting at the pole” (flag pole) outside at certain times of the year. It’s all strictly volunteer for these functions.
So, Miss Emily, who may or may not have been considered a “no hoper” at Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary nearly 160 years ago, making students ask questions about just what they hold inside and what it might mean. And – it’s being studied legally! | <urn:uuid:d3285c62-debd-4a25-a07b-7273e7ea4963> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bdtonline.com/columns/x503846568/Miss-Emily-digs-deep-and-so-did-Gibby-Flood-and-White-in-month-of-memories/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972006 | 874 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Thomas Lauer, professor of biology, seems to embrace the “fish guy” label bestowed on him by friends and colleagues.
After all, the Researcher of the Year is the director of the Aquatic Biology and Fisheries Center within the Department of Biology and for about 30 years has done valuable research on the yellow perch population and habitat in southern Lake Michigan.
Since the 1970s, Ball State has provided much of the technical data used by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) in its management of yellow perch and other fish in Lake Michigan. Lauer’s research, which involves monitoring the yellow perch population fluctuation and changes in Lake Michigan water quality, has been crucial in this endeavor.
The yellow perch population saw a particularly steep decrease in the late 1980s and continued low density in the 1990s, which led to restrictions on both commercial harvesting and sport fishing that remain in place today. “There’s a lot of interest in fish for their recreational and commercial value,” says Lauer. “As natural resource stewards, our understanding the economic and ecological value of fisheries is paramount because we want to be able to enjoy our natural resources. We want to use them but not abuse them. That’s the issue that’s most important to me.” Lauer believes it is important for researchers and scientists to use the resources they aim to protect. “Being a natural resource user is a key issue for me,” he says. “It’s hard for me to think about managing a resource without that perspective of using it.”
For Lauer, that includes recreational fishing and enjoying seafood.
Melody Bernot, assistant professor of biology, says Lauer is always eager to assist or collaborate. “He always has an open door to discuss ideas,” she says. “His research is of the highest caliber and well respected in the scientific community.” She notes that Lauer strives to provide experiential and relevant activities for students, adding that his enthusiasm and concern for students are unmatched. Bernot says she knows Lauer’s undergraduate students appreciate the unique environment Lauer provides in his classes and recognize that what they learn from him translates directly to skills needed in the workforce. Lauer has also mentored numerous graduate students who have all produced rigorous scientific research in fisheries, making them top candidates for positions in the field. Although Lauer doesn’t directly teach about his research, he does use examples from his experiences. “I have a lot of underwater pictures from the Great Barrier Reef, and I use those pictures to this day in my general biology course,” he said. “I can say, ‘By the way, here’s a picture I took of this organism.’ I truly enjoy bringing my research into the classroom.”
Copyright © 2013 Ball State University 2000 W. University Ave. Muncie, IN 47306
800-382-8540 and 765-289-1241 | <urn:uuid:438237e4-9e38-41ae-9fe4-37d8c01b4adc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cms.bsu.edu/About/AdministrativeOffices/SPO/Research/Archive/Winter2010/ProfilesinExcellence/ThomasLauer.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96271 | 629 | 2.46875 | 2 |
This map shows all trains (yellow pins) on the London Underground network in approximately real time (screenshot). Click the stations for a local map of that station.
Live departure data is fetched from the TfL API, and then it does a bit of maths and magic. It’s surprisingly okay, given this was done in only a few hours at Science Hackday on 19/20th June 2010, and the many naming/location issues encountered, some unresolved. A small number of stations are misplaced or missing; occasional trains behave oddly; some H&C and Circle stations are missing in the TfL feed. | <urn:uuid:0b344df1-730c-44be-aefa-86ed97fe5f2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://feedmyapp.com/p/a/live-train-map-for-the-london-underground/17510 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9565 | 129 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Although uncommon, errors can occur in your credit report. Ensuring everything is being reported accurately is key to unlocking the benefits of a positive credit history. A strong, accurate credit report will help you get the credit you want at the best rates available. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit reporting agencies to notify lenders when you believe something is being reported incorrectly so that the information can be updated in the lender’s records as well as in your credit report.
In order to find errors, you should check your credit report regularly. Websites like freecreditscore.com can help. By enrolling in freecreditscore.com, subscribers receive unlimited access to their credit report and score, and the chance to get credit score alerts, identity protection alerts and fraud resolution support. A mobile app allows users to monitor their credit on the go, and monthly reports and statements can help consumers stay on top of their credit and be aware of changes quickly.
When you review your credit report, check for these five issues:
1. Identification that doesn’t belong to you – Your credit report lists information that is reported by lenders as belonging to you. Look for variations in name spelling, names you’ve never used, different street numbers or Social Security numbers. They may just reflect typos in a lender’s records. But, they also could be a sign of identity theft. In either case, once found, the credit reporting company can help you correct the information or assist with fraud recovery.
2. Accounts that don’t belong to you – Like variations in identity information, an unrecognized account may be a sign of fraud that requires immediate action. Know that accounts may be reported under a name you don’t recognize. For example, a retail account may be reported under the name of the lender that actually manages the account for the store. If so, it would be no cause for concern, but it’s best to monitor your report for extra peace of mind.
3. Incorrect payment status – Late payments hurt credit scores more than anything else. If an account is reported as late but you made the payment on time, you can contact the credit reporting agency to help get the information updated.
4. Public records that don’t belong to you – Your credit report can include civil judgments, tax liens and bankruptcy public records. If your credit shows a lien against you for a home you don’t own, or you have never declared bankruptcy but your report shows a court record or account as included in bankruptcy, your credit can be affected.
5. Inquiries you didn’t make – Your credit report contains a list of creditors who have asked for it. Each entry on the list is called an inquiry. If you see inquiries you don’t recognize, it could be a sign of fraud.
Your credit report likely won’t have any errors, but if it does, one thing is certain: they can adversely affect your credit score, thereby hindering your ability to secure credit at favorable terms. The best way to spot credit report errors is to stay on top of your credit and to review your report regularly. | <urn:uuid:6429cfe3-a3d7-4720-95ed-4075c9c11db3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coalvalleynews.com/view/full_story/22053660/article-Five-common-credit-report-errors-to-watch-out-for?instance=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950886 | 651 | 1.929688 | 2 |
DNA sequencing is busting Moore’s Law by getting far cheaper, far faster than expected. But it is also getting far more sensitive. Researchers can sequence DNA samples 25 times smaller than they could a year ago. For whole genome sequencing, in recent months, one group has routinely gone from sequencing as little as one microgram of input to 100 nanograms.
Identifying cell types and sorting cells based on RNA expression levels without any transfection...
A new study identified a potential new approach for reducing problem...
A termite’s own biology with help from microorganisms called protists, are keys to the insect’s...
In new research researchers describe a technology that can detect new, previously unknown viruses. The technique uses blood serum as a biological source to categorize and discover viruses. Taking advantage of the complete deciphering of the human genome, researchers used a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach called transcriptome subtraction to identify viral genetic material in the blood.
As cancer genomics scales up, more and more mutations can be detected. But in order for critical patterns and potential drug targets to emerge, researchers need to be able to eliminate the red herrings from their results and identify the genetic changes driving different cancer types. To do so, researchers have surveyed the genetic landscape of cancer to better understand the spectrum of mutations within and across cancer types.
By transferring four genes into mouse fibroblast cells, researchers have produced cells that resemble hematopoietic stem cells, which produce millions of new blood cells in the human body every day. These findings provide a platform for future development of patient-specific stem/progenitor cells, and more differentiated blood products, for cell-replacement therapy.
A new study offers further proof that the divergence of humans from chimpanzees some 4 million to 6 million years ago was profoundly influenced by mutations to DNA sequences that play roles in turning genes on and off. The study provides evidence for a 40-year-old hypothesis that regulation of genes must play an important role in evolution.
A ruling by the Supreme Court that human genes can't be patented is expected to increase access and drop the cost for tests for gene mutations that greatly raise the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. In a bit of a mixed message, the court unanimously decided that certain types of gene tests may still be protected by patents, yet it struck down patents that a company has long held for BRCA genes.
The Supreme Court ruled today that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries. The high court's unanimous judgment reverses three decades of patent awards by government officials.
Researchers have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retinitis pigmentosa to degenerative illnesses of old age, such as macular degeneration.
Malignant cells can escape from primary tumors and colonize new sites in other tissues. In a new study, researchers show how the transcription factor AP4 promotes the development of such metastatic tumors. With the aid of genome-wide characterization of AP4’s target genes and direct functional tests, researchers uncovered processes relevant to tumorigenesis and cancer progression that are triggered by the protein.
It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years. Now, scientists have traced the thousands of genes in a plant that are activated once ethylene gas is released.
New breakthroughs in research on protein-DNA recognition may have profound implications for furthering research into cancer and other genetically based diseases. The research— which integrates two fields, genomics and structural biology— sheds light on the mechanisms underlying how proteins recognize their DNA binding sites by translating genome sequences into three-dimensional structures.
What draws a mosquito to bite its host has long been studied from the perspective of the victim— uncovering which smells and chemicals lure the insect in. But researchers are aiming instead to get inside the perpetrator’s mind. Or rather, its genome.
Researchers have shown how a relatively young gene can acquire a new function and become essential to an organism’s life. Using a combination of techniques, the scientists show that a novel essential gene in fruit flies is only 15 million years old, and yet has acquired a job so important that the flies can’t live without it.
Using a novel genetic “editing” technique, biomedical engineers have been able to repair a defect responsible for one of the most common inherited disorders, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in cell samples from Duchenne patients. The researchers believe their approach could be safer and more stable than current methods of gene therapy.
In the gonads of animals, genome parasites, such as transposons, pose a serious threat to evolutionary fitness. To protect genomic integrity, animals evolved the so-called piRNA pathway to silence the deleterious transposons. Researchers have now identified almost 50 genes that play important roles in the piRNA pathway of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
Zebrafish with very weak muscles helped scientists decode the elusive genetic mutation responsible for Native American myopathy, a rare, hereditary muscle disease that afflicts Native Americans in North Carolina. Scientists originally identified the gene in mutant zebrafish that exhibited severe muscle weakness.
A new method of manufacturing short, single-stranded DNA molecules can solve many of the problems associated with current production methods. The new method can be of value to both DNA nanotechnology and the development of drugs consisting of DNA fragments.
A method that promises to reduce by more than half the time it takes health officials to identify Salmonella strains has been developed. The finding is important because it promises to significantly speed up the response to many outbreaks of foodborne illness.
Researchers have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic. Investigators demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the nasal passages of mice and ferrets gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus.
Using a novel method of analyzing genetic variations in families, researchers have found that individually harmless genetic variations affecting related biochemical processes may team up to increase the risk of schizophrenia. They say their findings bring some clarity to the murky relationship between genetics and schizophrenia.
A new gene associated with a form of congenital heart disease in newborn babies– known as “a hole in the heart” has been discovered by researchers. The discovery will help lead to better understanding of why some patients are born with the disorder.
Researchers have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases. The exact cause of these diseases– autoimmune thyroid disease, coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes– is unknown, but is believed to be a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors.
A new, streamlined approach to genetic engineering drastically reduces the time and effort needed to insert new genes into bacteria, the workhorses of biotechnology, scientists are reporting. The method paves the way for more rapid development of designer microbes for drug development, environmental cleanup and other activities.
When studying any kind of population — people or cells — averaging is a useful, if flawed, form of measurement. According to the US Census Bureau, the average American household size in 2010 was 2.59. Of course, there are no homes with exactly 2.59 people.
The worm’s tail wriggles, a micrometer-scale twitch. A scanner captures the new posture. Software recognizes the motion. Life goes on in the Lifespan Machine, a new system devised in the lab of Walter Fontana that, essentially, counts dead worms.
A new method of measuring the variety of genetic mutations found in cells within a tumor appears to predict treatment outcomes of patients with the most common type of head and neck cancer. The research describes how a new way of measuring tumor heterogeneity was a better predictor of survival than are most traditional risk factors in a small group of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. | <urn:uuid:41add30b-6eb7-4b1e-a457-9431eda4e1da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/topics/genomics-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934276 | 1,747 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Jojutsu or "way of the stick", is a Japanese martial art developed by Muso Gonnosuke about 400 years ago. After losing a bout with the great swordmaster Miyamoto Musashi, Gonnosuke withdrew into the isolation of a Shinto shrine to contemplate his failings. Here he developed a new form that incorporated basic martial arts with sword and spear fighting. He named this new style Shindo-Muso ryu, and after challenging the great master to another duel, he overcame and counteracted Musashi's own two sword strategy.
Believed to be one of the hardest martial arts to master, Jojutsu looks deceptively easy. But both the sport form (Jodo) and Jojutsu require absolute concentration, dedication and timing to work effectively.
Original Jojutsu consists of many forms, or patterns of movement, that fall into different categories.
There are 72 traditional forms:
It is a versatile martial art, suited for battling a wide range of styles and weapons but was aimed at fighting the sword. The forms include thrusts, parries, defections, locks, swings and other moves common in most armed arts. The Jo is used in Aikido. The Aikido style is based on Bojutsu and Jojutsu (two very similar styles) and Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba was a student of the Jo.
Only a handful of Shindo-Muso ryu still practice and teach unaltered traditional values, but there are many offshoots and hybrid forms around the world - See Keijo-Jutsu.
Acknowledgements: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jojutsu | <urn:uuid:bf719c6a-4514-478b-b4c3-fe2d5d60ba84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/Jojutsu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937312 | 352 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Why do people cry?
-- asks David from Internetland
You’re watching the final scene in Thelma and Louise, and you’re on your third handkerchief. You turn your tear stained face to the side and look through blurred, saline-flooded vision at your cat, who is staring back at you witnessing the curious spectacle. Why is it that humans can be reduced to blubbering messes, while other members of the animal kingdom don’t seem to let out even a sniffle?
We have tear ducts to lubricate and protect our eyes from dust and other particles. The ducts are under the upper eyelids and produce a salty liquid—a tear-–-that gets spread throughout the eye after each blink. Animals too have the ability to produce tears, but not necessarily for the same reasons that we humans produce them.
Three types of tears are generated by the human eye. Basal tears protect the eye and keep it moist. Reflex tears flush out the eye when it becomes irritated. And emotional tears flow in response to sadness, distress, or physical pain.
Studies have shown that emotional tears contain more manganese, an element that affects temperament, and more prolactin, a hormone that regulates milk production. Sobbing out manganese and prolactin is thought to relieve tension by balancing the body’s stress levels and eliminating build ups of the chemicals, making the crier feel better.
But this minor physiological benefit aside, the most likely reason we produce emotional tears is because it’s a means of communication. Before babies can speak, they can cry. The only way for infants to express frustration, pain, fear, or need is to cry. Adults may use crying to bond with other humans. Expressing sadness can prompt comfort and support from peers. Different languages can provide barriers to spoken communication, but emotions are universal. There are also culturally acceptable reasons for crying that bring people together, such as at funerals or weddings.
Though there is a significant debate over whether animals have emotions and can express them, some animals do appear to cry for emotional reasons. Elephants seem to grieve when a family member dies and will guard the body and travel long distances to view it. Elephant experts at the London Zoo once told Charles Darwin that the animals do indeed mourn. Chimpanzees also appear to cry, but some scientists still insist that the tears released by these animals are strictly for cleaning the eye.
Whether or not animals shed tears for emotional reasons has yet to be scientifically proven. Humans, however, can and do dissolve into tears for any number of reasons. Cleansing the eye, relieving stress, conveying pain, communication, and societal assimilation can all lead to an empty tissue box. So weeping after that sappy movie might not mean that you are a total wuss after all. In fact, it may mean that you are behaving like a perfectly normal human being.
Got a question for us? ASK! | <urn:uuid:280aefe3-9716-425e-9b57-ae64e857507b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scienceline.org/2006/10/ask-driscoll-tears/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933963 | 618 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Technology has become both friend and foe to journalists. In many ways, it has made life easier for them: it has allowed them to work almost up to a deadline and then electronically send pictures and articles straight to their editors from any place in the world. It has also made it much easier to connect and communicate with sources and to research material for an article.
On the other hand, technology has also been the reason why so many magazines and newspapers have been dying a slow death in recent years. Nowadays, the public can get their news almost as it happens via Internet websites or social media sites. In addition, the advertising dollars that once made print media profitable have dried up and migrated to other outlets. Even the classified advertising dollars that once brought in appreciated revenue have dried up now that sites such as Craigslist offer the same type of service for free. Read More | <urn:uuid:f4f9fba9-7f91-4197-96a6-b91e27eec024> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloggingpro.com/archives/tag/journalists/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979526 | 173 | 2.4375 | 2 |
I’ve talked about Manitoba Ag-Weather Stations and Environment Canada Weather Stations as good sources for historical weather data. The Canadian Wheat Board also has the WeatherBug network of weather stations across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. There also seem to be other stations in the network across Canada and the world, but the browser application didn’t show me those consistently so I couldn’t check them out.
On the demo site they offer daily historical data such as temperature, wind speed, and dewpoint. I’m trying to find out if we can get historical hourly breakdowns that would include rainfall and wind direction. There seem to be a lot of these stations, so they would be very helpful in getting weather data for damage claims and for general crop scouting.
The Canadian Wheat Board has a video with Chris Kletke talking about the benefits of having a weather station on his farm. Chris is my cousin, so I’ll have to ask him about this at the next family get-together. The things you learn on the Internet! | <urn:uuid:22c9ab7b-200c-40f6-b4dc-c68f7b0a18d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://toneag.com/wp/2009/09/02/canadian-wheat-board-weatherbug-network/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965475 | 217 | 2 | 2 |
Just two days before the opening of the bass season Area 4 biologists conducted an electrofishing survey at Lackawanna Lake, Lackawanna County. This state park lake has always been an excellent bass lake and results of the June 12th survey did not disappoint the survey team. The effort was hampered somewhat by several showers and the threat of a thunderstorm, however 40 minutes of electrofishing were enough to collect a sample of 120 largemouth that ranged from 5 to 22 inches. Fisheries Biologist Aide Gerald Vitale, Jr. was very impressed with the numbers of large fish and decided that Lackawanna Lake is the place to be for the opening of the 2003 bass season.
Jerry with a Nice Largemouth Bass
Biologists Processing Survey Data
Table 1. Length frequency distribution of largemouth bass collected in Lackawanna Lake, Lackawanna County.
-- Area 4
Biologist Reports -- PFBC Home
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Web Privacy and Security Policies | <urn:uuid:a747470c-be9e-4577-b856-f743b734decb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/fisheries/afm/2003/4_06-13lacka.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922313 | 198 | 1.953125 | 2 |
In writing an account of the Ball for The Graphic, Lady Violet Greville felt, as she spoke of the Princess of Wales, constrained to quote the 16th-century French author Brantôme who described Marguerite de Valois as “robed in cloth of silver with long sleeves, her hair richly dressed and her whole appearance of such grace and majesty that she resembled more a goddess from heaven than a Queen upon earth.”
At long last I can share my costume with the world. Eight months ago I entered my final year at Wimbledon College of Art studying Costume Interpretation. Our first assignment was to create a costume to compliment the new exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace entitled ‘In Fine Style’. As I walked around the Red Room during the Da Vinci exhibition I could never imagine that just a short while later my own costume would grace this majestic room.
I chose to recreate the fancy dress costume of Alexandra, Princess of Wales dressed as Marguerite de Valois worn to the Duchess of Devonshire House Ball in 1897. As I was the intern for The Tudor Tailor last year and helped to make the costumes and work on the photo shoot for the new book The Tudor Child (I cried when I found my name in the Acknowledgements) I was requested to create the costume of the Hon. Louvima Knollys who accompanied Alexandra as her page.
The skirt and bodice is entirely finished by hand. I started with eight small appliqués to build my shape and completed the surface decoration by hand based on the photos. I thought after this costume I would never wish to string another pearl or couch another row again but for my final costume I am still working on beading. I was able to study close ups of the image at the National Archives and I was graciously granted permission to study hi-res images of the 4 existing photographs of Alexandra. Both of these allowed me to re-create what is hopefully a very close historic reproduction of this costume.
I am grateful to both of my models, to all of the researchers who assisted me in this endeavour to track down photos to study, to you my followers who continue to inspire me, and most of all to my mother who was very patient during my frantic midnight phone calls.
I will leave you with the quote that first came to mind when my models descended the staircase into the gallery last night, ‘ She [Alexandra] came down one day in a marvellous … long flowering train. She dazzled me utterly, I was speechless with adoration’.
Tickets are still available but make sure you book for the two evening shows which is the Third Year’s show, PM if you end up coming!
Embroidered details in Game of Thrones
‘Michele Carragher is a London-based Hand Embroiderer and Illustrator who has been working in costume on film and television productions for over 15 years. She studied Fashion Design at The London College of Fashion, where the course incorporated design, pattern cutting, garment construction, embroidery, millinery and illustration. At the same time she attended a three year evening course in Saddlery at Cordwainers College learning skills in leatherwork.
After leaving college Michele worked in Textile Conservation, repairing and restoring historical textiles for private collectors and museums, specialising in hand embroidery. She then moved into a career in costume for film and television, initially working as a Costume Assistant/Maker on productions such as the BBC’s Our Mutual Friend, ITV’s David Copperfield and Mansfield Park. She soon gravitated towards the decoration and embellishment of costumes, using skills in hand embroidery and surface decoration, taking inspiration from the many historical textiles she had encountered working as a Textile Conservator.
The first production that saw her undertake the role of a Principal Costume Embroiderer was for HBO’s 2005 Emmy Costume award-winning production of Elizabeth 1. Her most recent work has been on HBO’s 2012 Costume award-winning television series Game of Thrones, working on all three seasons.
As a Costume Embroiderer Michele specialises in hand embroidery and surface embellishment, using traditional hand embroidery techniques, smocking, beading and surface decoration. She works directly onto the completed garment or starts with motifs and textures on silk crepeline/organza, which are applied to the costume and then worked into once on the actual garment. She also works on existing machine embroidery designs that are not too dense, adding some hand stitching and beading to give a more authentic, hand-finished look.
Michele finds hand embroidery has more flexibility and diversity than that of embroidery created by machine, as there is a greater variety of thread choice and colours to use. It is also possible to work more easily on garments that are already constructed. However, machine embroidery in combination with hand work can be very useful when completing many repeats by creating light outlines or a less dense machine stitch, work can then be completed by hand and again can be carried out on a finished garment.
Michele is a highly creative Costume Embroiderer, producing original designs as well as working closely to a costume designer’s brief to create their desired look.’
Text and images from http://www.michelecarragherembroidery.com
Hamda Al Fahim
Fall/ Winter 2013 Collection
I’ve always told my mother I would be an unconventional bride, I want to wear a gown in a soft pastel colour, I want flowers tangled in my hair, and something unique that expresses me.
Hamda Al Fahim
Spring/ Summer 2013
I have always been a fan on unconventional shapes in fashion. I think what makes this gown so successful is the combination of the colour, the cascade of fabric down one hip and the surface decoration which draws your eye to the curve of her waist. | <urn:uuid:1f3ebc60-90e0-46ff-a3a4-e5a7354354eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ornamentedbeing.tumblr.com/tagged/costume | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955584 | 1,243 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Space crafts and spaceships have always left the common man spellbound. The inside secrets of Space exploration and space talks are a far off dream for most people. So how about reaching into the mechanics of the twin GRAIL spacecraft or the Curiosity Rover from home?
Two stimulated NASA missions can be easily looked at and are effortlessly accessible from the tablet or phone due to the App for the iPad and iPhone. NASA has come out with a 3-dimensional application for the iPhone and the iPad that clearly depicts how the robotic space craft has acted upon in two of the recent missions of the space agency.
The application has been named Spacecraft 3D and utilizes animation to depict the method how the twin GRAIL spacecraft and the Curiosity Rover operate and manipulate their external working and mechanisms. NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” web application had produced computer models utilized in Spacecraft 3D. The “Eyes on the Solar system” is a 3- dimensional environmental situation created which lets the computer user explore the space from the computer itself.
The Curiosity Rover is expected to set foot on Mars in the beginning of August. The GRAIL also termed as Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission engages two spacecrafts called Ebb and Flow. The Ebb and Flow are responsible for conjuring up a high resolution map of the gravitational field of the Moon.
Spacecraft 3D helps the user to input and print visions of a real world environment target on a piece of paper. Then the camera of the device is focused at the target and the preferred choice of the spacecraft “materializes or pops up on the screen claims NASA. In this way the app helps the users to acquire an augmented-reality representation of the GRAIL spacecraft or the Curiosity Rover."Like Hollywood directors sizing up their next shot, you move your camera-equipped iPad or iPhone in and out, up and down and the spacecraft perspective moves with you," said an excited Kevin Hussey, manager of visualization technology at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Spacecraft 3D is at this time only accessible in Apple iOS formats. NASA plans to let loose some other versions as well. The space agency claims it will slot in additional spacecrafts into the app. A special mention was made for the Cassini that orbits around Saturn, The Voyagers of 1977 that is at the periphery of our solar system and Dawn, in the asteroid belt. So let’s belt up for the Space travel! | <urn:uuid:a89d6534-429c-4d58-8671-0f01b9aa0a1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20120714/peek-nasa%E2%80%99s-grail-spacecraft-and-curiosity-rover-iphone-ipad%E2%80%99s-spacecraft-3d-app-i | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931051 | 503 | 3.359375 | 3 |
ATLANTA (AP) — All baby boomers should get a one-time blood test to learn if they have the liver-destroying hepatitis C virus, U.S. health officials said Thursday.
It can take decades for the blood-borne virus to cause liver damage and symptoms to emerge, so many people don’t know they’re harboring it. Baby boomers account for about two-thirds of the estimated 3.2 million infected Americans.
More than 15,000 Americans die each year from hepatitis C-related illnesses and the number has been growing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Unless we take action, we project deaths will increase substantially,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, in a call with reporters.
Hepatitis C virus is most commonly spread today through sharing needles to inject drugs. Before widespread screening of blood donations began in 1992, it was also spread through blood transfusions.
The virus can gradually scar the liver and lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer, and is the leading cause of liver transplant. It can trigger damage in other parts of the body, as well.
It’s possible some people were infected in ways other than dirty needles or long-ago blood transfusions. Some experts say tattoos, piercings, shared razor blades and toothbrushes, manicures and sniffed cocaine may have caused the virus to spread in some cases.
However it happened, health officials say baby boomers are five times more likely to be infected than other adults.
Officials said they decided to issue the recommendations after seeing the number of Americans dying from hepatitis C-related diseases nearly double from 1999 to 2007. | <urn:uuid:56a5a17e-5644-4a6a-a26f-990fa63cdbe5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.starhq.com/cdc-to-baby-boomers-get-tested-for-hepatitis-c/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944076 | 351 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Christ Notes > Bible Commentary > Wesley’s Explanatory Notes > Leviticus > Leviticus 15
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath a running issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean.
A running issue — Commonly called the running of the reins, a grievous and loathsome disease, which is generally the consequence of sin.
And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness.
His flesh be stopped — That is, if it have run, and be stopped in great measure, either by the grossness of the humour, or by some obstructions that it cannot run freely.
And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
The flesh — That is, any part of his body.
And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
And hath not rinsed — That is, the person touched, to whom the washing of his hands is prescribed, if speedily done; but if that was neglected, a more laborious course was enjoined.
And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
When he is cleansed — When his issue hath wholly ceased.
And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD for his issue.
An atonement — Not as if this was in itself a sin, but only a punishment of sin; though oft-times it was sinful, as being a fruit of intemperance.
The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
A man — Or, The man, that had such an issue, which is plainly to be understood out of the whole context. For though in some special cases relating to the worship of God, men were to forbear the use of the marriage-bed, yet to affirm that the use of it in other cases did generally defile the persons, and make them unclean till even, is contrary to the whole current of scripture, which affirms the marriage-bed to be undefiled, Hebrews 13:4, to the practice of the Jews, which is a good comment upon their own laws, and to the light of nature and reason.
And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
And if a woman — Heb. And a woman when she shall have an issue of blood, and her issue shalt be in her flesh, that is, in her secret parts, as flesh is taken, Leviticus 15:2. So it notes her monthly disease.
Put apart — Not out of the camp, but from converse with her husband and others, and from access to the house of God.
Seven days — For sometimes it continues so long; and it was decent to allow some time for purification after the ceasing of her issue.
Whosoever toucheth her — Of grown persons. For the infant, to whom in that case she might give suck, was exempted from this pollution by the greater law of necessity, and by that antecedent law which required women to give suck to their own children.
And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.
Seven days — If he did this ignorantly; but if the man and woman did this knowingly, being accused and convicted, they were punished with death, Leviticus 20:18, for as there was a turpitude in the action, so it was very prejudicial to the children then begotten, who were commonly weak, or leprous; which was also an injury to the commonwealth of Israel, and redounded to the dishonour of God and of the true religion, that the professors thereof gave such public evidence of their intemperance.
But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
Seven days — From the stopping of her issue. And this was for trial, whether it was only a temporary obstruction, or a real cessation.
Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
When they defile my tabernacle — Both ceremonially, by coming into it in their uncleanness, and morally by the contempt of God's express command to cleanse themselves. The grand reason of all these laws was, to separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness. Hereby they were taught their privilege and honour, that they were purified unto God, a peculiar people; for that was a defilement to them, which was not so to others. They were also taught their duty, which was to keep themselves clean from all pollutions. | <urn:uuid:0b49c1a5-a004-4c1f-898f-e77f39cb3821> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?com=wes&b=3&c=15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983833 | 1,190 | 2.25 | 2 |
803 KAR 1:045. Contractors, subcontractors, prevailing rates of wages.
RELATES TO: KRS 337.530
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 337.520(1)
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 337.520 authorizes the executive director to make administrative regulations he may deem appropriate to carry out the provisions and purposes of KRS 337.505 to 337.550. The function of this administrative regulation is to interpret the requirements of payments which may be considered as paying the prevailing rates of wages by contractors and subcontractors.
Section 1. The Statutory Provisions. The statute requires all contractors and subcontractors to pay not less than the prevailing rate of wages in legal tender without any deductions. The statute provides an exemption to this requirement where the employer and employee enter into an agreement in writing at the beginning of or during any term of employment covering deductions for food, sleep accommodations or any similar item if this agreement is submitted by the employer to the office and is approved by the office as fair and reasonable.
Section 2. Free and Clear Payment; Kickbacks. Wages cannot be considered to have been paid by the employer and received by the employee unless they are paid finally and unconditionally or "free and clear." The payment of wages as required by the statute will not be met where the employee kicks back directly or indirectly to the employer or to another person for the employer's benefit the whole or part of the wage delivered to the employee. This is true whether the kickback is made in cash or in other than cash. For example, if it is a requirement of the employer that the employee must provide a uniform which will be used in, or is specifically required for, the performance of the employee's particular work, there would be a violation of the statute when the cost of furnishing and maintaining the uniform by the employee cuts into the prevailing rate of pay.
Section 3. Payment Made to Person Other than Employee. (1) Taxes which are assessed against the employee and which are collected by the employer and forwarded to the appropriate governmental agency may be deducted from the prevailing rate of wages. This is applicable to the employee's share of social security, as well as other federal, state, or local taxes. No deduction may be made for any tax or share of a tax which the law requires to be borne by the employer.
(2) Where an employer is legally obliged, as by order of a court of competent and appropriate jurisdiction, to pay a sum for the benefit or credit of the employee to a creditor of the employee, trustee, or other third party, under garnishment, wage attachment, trustee process, or bankruptcy proceeding, deduction from wages of the actual sum so paid is not prohibited; provided, that neither the employer nor any person acting in his behalf or interest derives any profit or benefit from the transaction.
(3)(a) Where an employer is directed by a voluntary assignment or order of his creditor, donee, or other third party, deductions from wages of the actual sum so paid is not prohibited, provided, that neither the employer nor any person acting in his behalf or interest, directly or indirectly, derives any profit or benefit from the transaction.
(b) No payment by the employer to a third party will be recognized as a valid payment of wages required by the statute where it appears that such payment was part of a plan or arrangement to evade or circumvent the statute. For the protection of both employer and employee, it is suggested that full and adequate record of all assignments and orders be kept and preserved.
(c) Under the principles stated in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, employers will be permitted to deduct from wages sums paid at the employee's direction to third persons for the following purposes: sums paid, as authorized by the employee, for the purchase in his behalf of Savings Bonds; union dues paid pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with bona fide representatives of the employees; employees' accounts with merchants independent of the employer; insurance premiums; voluntary contributions to churches and charitable, fraternal, athletic, and social organizations or societies from which the employer receives no profit or benefit directly or indirectly. (1 Ky.R. 833; eff. 5-14-75; TAm eff. 8-9-2007.) | <urn:uuid:3afea768-cb3c-4d83-acc6-9cc521f5aeca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/KAR/803/001/045.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957255 | 882 | 1.65625 | 2 |
From World War I Document Archive
Admiral Kolchak's early service at the siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War led to his participation in the series of reforms instituted within the Russian Navy, and the creation of the Russian Naval General Staff. As an hydrologist of some note, Kolchak was a member of the third polar expedition meant to find a northern sea route to the Far East. He was appointed a member of the Naval General Staff, 1911-14, and captained the Baltic Sea Fleet Flagship at the outbreak of war. As Chief of the Bureau of Operations of the Baltic Fleet in 1915, Kolchak constructed the coastal defence system, and became the youngest naval officer promoted to vice admiral of the Russian Navy on August 1916, after his successes off the Gulf of Riga. He was then assigned as Commander-In-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet, and in 1917, became a supporter of Kerensky's Provisional Government.
In June, 1917, Kolchak resigned, but was sent by Kerensky to the United States to study the US Navy, with a view to the invasion of the Bosporus. En route, he stopped in Britain where he became friendly with Admirals Hall and Jellicoe, but after his US visit, sailed to Japan, arriving shortly after the November Revolution. Kolchak then offered his services to the British Navy after the beginning of the Brest-Litovsk negotiations; his offer was accepted and he was directed to report to duty with British forces in Mesopotamia, a duty station almost immediately changed to Siberia instead. Returning to Siberia, he was appointed Minister of War and Navy in the anti-Bolshevik Socialist government established at Omsk, and then seized control to become Supreme Ruler in a coup d'etat. Kolchak proceeded to antagonise elements within the government, as well as the Czechosolovak Legion which held the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and, after a series of political and military defeats in the summer of 1919, relinquished command to General Anton Denikin on 4 January 1920. He sought Allied protection, but the Czechs instead turned him over to the Bolshevik authorities in Irkutsk where after a somewhat rigourous interrogation, he was executed by firing squad on 2 February 1920, and his body thrown into the Angara River. | <urn:uuid:02cb9a6f-bf42-49e0-939a-c0b12a3c9844> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Kolchak | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983985 | 492 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Students at Alumni Hall came together to reveal some of their darkest secrets to a full house last night after Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret, talked about his life and showed special selections of postcards as part of Student Programming Association’s Distinguished Speakers series.
Warren said that in November of 2004, he began walking the streets of Washington D.C., while handing out blank postcard with his home address on the back urging people to tell their secrets.
“It was difficult to explain at the time, and I had no idea how it was going to work,” Warren said.
Slowly postcards started arriving at his mailbox, and now he has a mountain-high amount of postcards, about half a million, some of which are shared on the website every Sunday or included in one of his five books.
Katie Brase said she has known about PostSecret for the last six years and has even set in seven secrets of her own, one of which was featured on the website her senior year of high school.
“A lot of the postcards on the site are relatable and gives you a good look into human nature,” Brase (junior-food science) said.
Warren said the most common secret revealed to him is that people pee in the shower or are looking to find that one special person they can share their secrets to.
“Our secrets connect us,” Warren said. “It is only an illusion that it separates us.”
Some audience members like Sarah Leach found out about PostSecret through the All-American Rejects’ music video for “Dirty Little Secret,’ which features real postcards Warren lent to the band to feature in their video.
“I’m too limited about things to send my own postcard in, but I think this is a good way to get everything out, and it’s good thing to do for people who don’t have someone to talk to about their problems,” Leach (junior- biobehavioral health) said.
Warren who himself dealt with struggles of suicide among his family, friends and himself is proud that PostSecret has been apart of donating thousands of dollars for suicide prevention.
Being called the “most trusted stranger in America,” Warren individually receives, keeps and reads each secret he gets, some of which have been special enough for him to carry around.
The floor then opened up to students who shared their secrets about dealing with family members battling cancer, best friends who almost committed suicide and teen pregnancy. | <urn:uuid:3da26c9e-3b5a-45e7-92a2-60ac10e12baa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/12/04/Frank_Warren_Post_Secret_presentation.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982225 | 540 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Beethoven’s set of three sonatas that made up his Op 10 was nevertheless published in Vienna in September 1798 with the description ‘for the Harpsichord or for the Fortepiano’. No doubt this was just an attempt by the publisher to get the people who still owned a harpsichord to buy them, as it would take a large stretch of the imagination to think of them as harpsichord music. Czerny, who left us an invaluable document entitled On the Proper Performance of all Beethoven’s Works for the Piano Solo (now published by Universal and edited by Paul Badura-Skoda), called the Sonata in D major, Op 10 No 3 a ‘grand and significant’ piece, and indeed it is the first masterpiece in the cycle of sonatas. The opening Presto requires a meticulous attention to detail which is often neglected—beginning with the opening that is marked piano until the sforzando on the pause (there is no crescendo, however tempting it might be to insert one). As with so much early Beethoven, a bravura technique is required, but that alone is not enough. The magnificent slow movement, Largo e mesto, is a very intimate utterance. Sir Donald Tovey (whose edition of the Beethoven Sonatas is I think still one of the best), gives the following advice: ‘The details of phrasing and tone-colour have been provided with extraordinary precision by Beethoven himself; and if you simply make sure that you are playing what is written you will go far to realize the tragic power that makes this movement a landmark in musical history. Do not try to understand before you do as Beethoven bids. The people who “understand” great music beforehand will never see anything in it except a mirror of their own minds. The player who obeys orders faithfully will be constantly discovering their real meaning.’ I have quoted these words in full as I feel they are of the utmost importance.
Out of the despair of this movement, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, arrives the Menuetto, taking us back to the major key. I feel it shouldn’t arrive smiling and insouciant, but rather be conscious of what has preceded it—at least until the Trio begins, where Beethoven’s humour takes over. How easy yet clever it is to present its subject in the left hand with two different articulations—once detached, once slurred.
The Rondo finale is unusual. No ‘big theme’ here; simply a rather insignificant motive of three rising notes upon which he constructs the whole movement. Czerny witnessed the fact that Beethoven often used such sparse material to improvise an entire piece. Its inventiveness, abrupt changes of mood, expressive pauses, and especially its capricious ending that dissolves into thin air make it a challenge to the performer. Tovey tells us that in some early editions, some ‘silly person’ inserted a crescendo at the end to make it, presumably, more effective.
from notes by Angela Hewitt © 2006 | <urn:uuid:154d8fa7-42c1-4a1e-bd70-b4e512885965> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W8394&t=GBAJY0651803&al=CDA67518&vw=dc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95752 | 667 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Miriam Mendez, a manager at an upscale department store at Short Hills Mall, returned to her home in Jersey City last Wednesday evening exhausted. Still, the married mother of three went out again and spent four hours that night combing the streets looking for people whom many residents would rather ignore.
As one of more than 50 volunteers who helped conduct the annual Point in Time Census of Hudson County’s homeless population, Mendez explained why doing the census held significance for her.
“I have a sales associate who works with me. Young guy, about 19. He’s in college. He and his mom both work, but between the two of them they don’t really make enough to pay rent right now,” Mendez explained. “They had an apartment and the mother had some kind of payment plan. But she fell behind on the payment plan and they got evicted.”
Now her co-worker and his mother spend their nights crashing with different relatives – one place tonight, someplace else tomorrow, another spot the next night.
“That could be any of us.”
This was the first year the Point in Time Census of the Homeless included regular sweeps through the PATH system.
Final figures on the precise number of homeless people who were surveyed on Jan. 31 were not available at press time, since data from Hudson County’s various cities had not yet been compiled. The count that was conducted last year found 1,779 people living without permanent homes in Hudson County. Actual numbers could be much higher, advocates warn, since many people who have lost their homes due to evictions and foreclosures are, like Mendez’s co-worker, among the ranks of the working poor who spend their nights “couch surfing.”
Addressing the chronically homeless
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires counties to conduct a census of homeless people every two years, although many counties, including Hudson County, try to do one annually. The information helps determine how federal grant money should be allocated and gives the federal government and communities a sense of which social services are needed.
This year, advocates in Hudson County broadened their outreach efforts to get a better handle on the number of homeless teens on the streets. At the suggestion of young people themselves, three teams of volunteers rode the PATH trains, where many homeless youth supposedly go to blend in with commuters.
This was the first year the Point in Time Census included regular sweeps through the PATH system.
As in other counties throughout New Jersey, the Hudson County census was conducted in two parts.
Early on Wednesday, census counters surveyed people who attended Project Homeless Connect, an event organized by the Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness held on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. Through the event, people could get a hot meal, clothing, and access to more than 30 service provider groups who participated.
That night, volunteers fanned out into the streets to count people taking shelter in PATH stations and trains, emergency rooms, fast food restaurants, and on the streets. Dozens of service workers, volunteers, and advocates for the homeless scoped out abandoned buildings, shelters, parks, ERs, transportation hubs, and other spaces.
‘Difficult to capture in a day’
“The homeless population is so big that it’s really difficult to capture in one day,” said Bethe Schwartz, who, like Mendez, is a founding member of the Jersey City Homelessness Advocacy Group (JC-HAG). The women joined with fellow JC-HAGs Renée Tirella Cassidy and Esther Winter to form a team for the Jan. 31 census. “I really think this should be done twice each year,” continued Schwartz. “Once in the fall and again in the spring, because you get different people at different times of the year.”
Although this was the first time Schwartz has participated in the Hudson County homeless census, she has done it several times in New York City, where volunteers often enter abandoned buildings and other dangerous spaces to get the most accurate count possible.
(The advocates who organize these street surveys frown upon such tactics and volunteers are usually warned not to try such tactics.)
Still, Schwartz and Cassidy ventured down a pitch black dead end street and combed a row of scrubs where some homeless men are known to gather.
In all, the JC-HAGs found and surveyed five homeless people during the census and got one – Yvette Wilson, who goes by the nickname “Mom” – into a shelter after discovering that he had been released from the hospital earlier in the day after suffering a seizure.
“There is so much that needs to be done that you can kind of get paralyzed into inaction, because the problem of homelessness is just so big,” said Cassidy. “But we can’t let our own inertia stop us. We have got to move forward on this issue.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:2e9aec50-0daa-44d4-9db8-0a147fda0634> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/21591396/article-Hitting-the-streets-to-end-homelessness-Residents-volunteer-for-annual-homeless-census-?instance=home_Most_popular | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97211 | 1,048 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Through the ages, the thistle has earned a reputation as a cursed plant. Bristly and prickly, it spreads rapidly and can take over vast fields where less invasive plants once stood. Ancient people often considered the thistle an abomination, a sign of a rich land gone wrong. Even today, if you choose to grow thistle in your garden, neighbors may turn against you if the flower head goes to seed.
Such factors could overshadow the thistle’s therapeutic assets. But modern research shows that the fruit of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum) may restore and protect the liver, the body’s largest internal organ, from damage by chemicals, alcohol, and other toxins.
Clues From The Past
Historical references to the thistle’s medicinal value, including liver protection, are particularly abundant in the herbals of the Middle Ages. But milk thistle has been praised throughout the centuries for its ability to cure; such observations have contributed to modern interest in the herb.
Dioscorides, the first-century Greek physician who wrote a treatise on more than 600 medicinal plants titled De Materia Medica, stated that a tea of thistle seeds could be used for treating snakebite. John Gerard, a sixteenth-century English herbalist, went further. “My opinion,” he wrote, “is that this is the best remedy that grows, against all melancholy diseases.” Melancholy once referred to any liver or bile disease; it comes from the Greek roots melan, for black, and chole¯, for bile.
Nicholas Culpeper, a seventeenth-century apothecary, thought milk thistle was good for removing obstructions of the liver and spleen, and recommended an infusion of the fresh root and seeds to treat jaundice. The Eclectics, a school of medical herbalists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, used milk thistle to treat varicose veins and various pelvic congestions, including those linked to menstruation and to the liver, spleen, and kidneys.
Using milk thistle as medicine became less common in the West during the twentieth century, perhaps with the discovery of penicillin and the development of modern medical approaches. But during the 1970s in Germany, where herbs have remained an integral part of medical care, scientists began testing the herb’s fruits (commonly referred to as seeds) and discovered some compounds collectively called silymarin.
During the 1980s, researchers learned that silymarin increases the ability of liver cells to regenerate through a vital bodily process known as protein synthesis. Additionally, laboratory and human research showed that silymarin counteracts the effects of poisons, even that from the deathcap mushroom (Amanita phalloides), the most virulent liver toxin known.
The Thistle’s Method
Few plant principles have been more extensively researched than silymarin. More than 300 laboratory and human trials have proven that there is strong scientific basis for believing that it can protect the liver from damage by toxins such as carbon tetrachloride and alcohol while showing no toxic effects against the human body. Such results have convinced German health officials to recognize silymarin as helpful in treating hepatitis, cirrhoisis, and other chronic inflammatory liver disorders.
Many studies have focused on the deathcap mushroom, whose species include those that contain phalloidine, the quickest-acting and most toxic of liver poisons. Phalloidine destroys the outer membrane of liver cells, a situation that can lead to death within three to seven days of ingestion. Another deathcap mushroom toxin, alpha-amanatine, penetrates the cell nucleus to block normal cell regeneration, resulting in the breakdown of the liver, entry of waste products into the bloodstream, and death after three to five days.
One early study (1983) of eighteen patients suffering from poisoning after eating deathcap mushrooms showed that silymarin, taken at a daily dose of 33 mg for every kilogram of body weight for 81.6 hours, prevented severe liver damage. Researchers concluded that silymarin is an effective remedy if administered within 48 hours after eating the mushrooms. Further studies indicated that silymarin works against phalloidine by occupying its binding sites so that it can’t destroy cell membranes, and works against alpha-amanatine by changing the outer cell membrane so the toxin can’t permeate it. Specifically, silymarin stimulates RNA polymerase A, which, in turn, enhances protein synthesis and liver cells’ ability to rebuild themselves, an effective defense against not only deathcap mushroom poisoning but also industrial chemical and alcohol-induced poisoning. A 1988 study, for example, focused on thirty workers who had been exposed to toluene and/or xylene vapors on the job for five to twenty years. All the workers had low blood platelet counts and abnormal liver function tests. After taking silymarin for thirty days, researchers reported, the workers all showed a significant improvement in liver function tests and blood platelet counts, although dosages weren’t specified in the study’s translation.
Further, some researchers have concluded that silymarin may be an effective preventive medicine. It offers valuable liver protection from exposure to alcohol, industrial chemicals, and psychopharmaceuticals because it speeds up the liver’s ability to return to normal. Additionally, the standardized seed preparations alter the cell structure of the outer liver membrane so toxins can’t enter the organ in the first place.
Trying For Precision
Researchers working primarily for phytopharmaceutical companies continue to aim for a precise understanding of how silymarin works. Among the pieces of the puzzle they have so far are, first, that silybin, one member of the group of compounds that make up silymarin, contains a steroid structure. Steroids enter cells to stimulate protein synthesis and cell regeneration, so silybin’s steroidal activity may be the mechanism by which silymarin works.
Additionally, researchers know that silymarin acts almost solely on the liver and kidneys, possibly because it moves in a rigid cycle from blood plasma to the liver bile and so is concentrated in liver cells. This cycle is difficult to break, one reason why some toxic substances are so destructive—they also concentrate in the liver. Toxins allow waste products to enter the bloodstream by impairing the liver’s ability to transform them into water-soluble compounds, which pass harmlessly from the body through the kidneys and urine. Silymarin, which moves along the same path but is both nontoxic and therapeutic, counteracts this destructive activity, making it one of the liver’s best allies.
Finally, research shows that silymarin is a powerful antioxidant that focuses its power directly on the liver, protecting it against cell-damaging free radicals.
Christopher Hobbs, a member of the Herbs for Health Editorial Advisory Board, is a fourth-generation herbalist and botanist who has been a consultant to the herb industry since 1985. A revised edition of his book, Milk Thistle: The Liver Herb (Botanica, 1995), is due out from Interweave this fall. | <urn:uuid:cadbe04f-c260-4184-8bba-bf8a5b09085c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/milk-thistle-therapy.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941504 | 1,508 | 3.28125 | 3 |
There are only two kinds of people in the world: normally mad, and abnormally mad. Normally mad means you are mad, but not beyond limits. You are mad just like everybody else. You can see these normally mad people watching a football match. Now can a sane person watch a football match? They need some nuts and bolts, because with a few idiots on this side and a few idiots on that side throwing a ball, and millions of idiots so excited in the stadium and at their television sets, glued to their chairs for six hours so they cannot move, as if something immensely valuable is happening because a ball is being thrown from this side to that side… And millions more, who are not so fortunate to be able to see, keep a transistor at their ears, at least listening to the commentary. You call this world sane?
There are boxing matches: people are hitting each other, and millions of people are so excited. In California, the University of California has been researching… Whenever a boxing match happens in California the crime rate immediately rises by thirteen percent; and it remains thirteen percent higher for seven to ten days afterwards – rape, murder, suicide. And now it is confirmed by other studies that boxing is simply our animal heritage. The one who gets excited in you is the animal; it is not you. You also want to kill somebody – many times you have thought of killing somebody – but you are not ready to take the consequences. In a boxing match there is a psychological consolation; you get identified. Every boxer has his own fans. Those fans are identified with him. If he hits the opponent and the opponent’s nose is dripping blood, they are rejoicing. What they have not been able to do, somebody else is doing on their part, on their behalf. In any world which is sane, boxing would be a crime. It is a game, but all your games seem to be primitive – nothing of intelligence, nothing of humanity.
These normally mad people are always just on the boundary line. At any time they can slip. A small accident – the wife dies or goes away with somebody else – and you forget the normal boundary, you cross it. Then you are declared mad, insane, and immediately you have to be taken to the psychiatrist or the psychoanalyst. And what is his function? His profession is the highest paid profession in the world. Naturally he makes people normal again, he pulls them back, he keeps them from going farther away from the normal line. His whole expertise is how to put you back and make you normally mad.
Naturally the people who are functioning as psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychotherapists are in danger because they are constantly dealing with mad people. Naturally more psychologists go mad than any other profession – the number is twice as many. More psychologists commit suicide than any other profession – the number again is twice as many. And once in a while every psychologist goes to another psychologist to put himself back into the normal world, because he is slipping out. One would expect that at least the psychologist should be a sane person; he is trying to help other insane people. But this is not the case. They behave more insanely than anybody else, for the simple reason that from morning till night they are constantly coming in contact with all kinds of weird, strange people with weird ideas.
One man was brought to a psychoanalyst. The man was convinced that he was dead. Everybody had tried to tell him: “Don’t be foolish, you eat perfectly well, you sleep perfectly well, you talk perfectly well, you go for a morning walk – and you say you are dead?” | <urn:uuid:464c4c13-4429-4eb9-8882-8417986d46fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-naturally-psychologists-mad-0e9c5a11-004.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974684 | 746 | 2.015625 | 2 |
(verus 1) A little girl on her knees praying to God she will find a friend. She herd in Sunday school that if you ask in Jesus' name you eill recieve. Days turn to weeks, weeks turn to years but the little girl never lost faith in him. She says "Greater is her that is within me". Just bow your head in prayer. (chorus)
(chorus) Prayer changes things , ooh its how you talk to God. Its what makes you closier to the good Lord. Yeah when you don't have anything to say. Lift your eyes toward Heaven and say " Thank God for Prayer".
(verus) They took prayer out of schools. They said it was against the rules. Don't they know thats what keeps our children from hurting inside? Don't tell me that you don't believe in Prayer. I know someone saomewhere is praying for you (ooo) (chorus)
(verus 3) One day she opened her eyes and realized that he is the friend she had been searching for. She lifted her eyes toward the sky and she whispered. (chorus)
(whispers Thank God for Prayer) | <urn:uuid:1577bee4-ade8-4992-b3f4-17d923d47d8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.booksie.com/song_lyrics/miscellaneous/shawna/thanks-god-for-prayer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97715 | 244 | 1.90625 | 2 |
An MP has signed up with a campaign to bring in standards for heating in rental homes to ensure tenants do not pay too much for their energy bills.
The Portsmouth News reports that Penny Mordaunt, who represents Portsmouth North, has joined a number of lobby groups and charities to call for a minimum standard in private rented properties. This standards should lower energy bills.
She told the newspaper: "It's unacceptable for anyone to have to live in a rented home so cold and expensive to heat that it forces them into fuel poverty or makes them ill.
The Tory MP added: "That's why I've signed a parliamentary petition backing a new law to ensure that these dangerously cold rented homes are brought up to a minimum standard of energy efficiency."
Make sure you're not paying too much for your energy - compare gas and electricity prices now at energyhelpline.com or call 0800 074 0745 | <urn:uuid:67447f15-3d7a-450a-aa92-f06e61b58b65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.energyhelpline.com/green/fri/Domesticenergy/news/video/19955359 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959093 | 183 | 1.65625 | 2 |
District launches anti-bullying program
October 19, 2011 - By Joe St. Henry
Bullying is about to get its butt-kicked in Lake Orion.
The school district, local education and civic organizations, as well as businesses have partnered to launch a district-wide anti-bullying program that will engage all students and the community.
Oakview Middle School began implementing the internationally recognized OLWEUS (O-va-is) anti-bulling program last year. Lake Orion High School and Pine Tree Elementary School are rolling it out this year. The plan is to have the district's two other middle schools and two additional elementary schools on board by the end of the 2012-2013 school year, with the rest of the schools soon after.
"Individual schools have discussed bullying with students for years," said Heidi Kast, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. "But, this is a specific, research-based, proven program that will be administered consistently across the district.
Kast knows there will be skeptics out there who will question the effectiveness of such a program, some of whom may have legitimate concerns. But, she says if this program is administered correctly, it will make a difference.
"We're not naοve to think we're going to put a complete end to bullying," she said. "However, we have the opportunity to reduce such incidents and change the culture of our schools."
According to Associate High School Principal Chris Bell, a recent survey of students there indicated 15 percent have been bullied or mistreated in school more than once. It also pointed out 85 percent of the kids at the school the "silent majority" he called them have seen bullying behavior and do not like it, but do not know what to do to stop it.
Bell said the OLWEUS program focuses on proactively addressing bullying, by giving kids of all ages the tools and support system to work together.
"We're trying to change the culture of the school to encourage kids to do the right thing and be cool enough to be uncool," he said. "We want to empower the silent majority and let them know it's okay."
The bottom line: students need to know the school will not tolerate mistreatment of any student, Bell stressed.
Kast introduced the district's anti-bullying program to the Lake Orion School Board on Oct. 12. "Our district has the responsibility to keep our kids and schools safe," she said.
Sarah Perry, Oakview assistant principal, also spoke at the meeting and said the student survey conducted at her school indicated the areas where many bullying incidents typically occur, including the cafeteria, hallways and on buses. It also showed students at Oakview wanted to change the culture of bullying.
As the school rolled out the OLWEUS program, weekly meetings facilitated by high-schoolers dubbed the "Bully Busters" helped strengthen lines of communication between everyone in the building.
Kids learned what bullying is, what they can do to beat it and the program's four rules: do not bully, help others who are bullied, include others who may be excluded and inform adults of bullying situations.
"Just as important, the meetings addressed the importance of relationships, especially between students" Perry said. "The goal is to better understand each other and establish a sense of empathy."
Bully Buster senior Ashley Bartreau added, "Kids really aren't as different as they think they are. Once they start talking, they realize they actually have more in common than they think."
Bell said similar meetings to discuss bullying will take place at the high school. They are an offshoot of the high school's "Real Talk" students meetings.
"Kids realize they can ask questions and express their opinions to each other in this safe environment," he said.
Another key component of the program is helping kids, teachers and parents understand the "Bully Circle", which identifies the roles people play in such situations. These include the bully's henchmen, onlookers and defenders those students who have the confidence to take a stand against the bully, Perry said.
"We want them to take the step over to be a defender," Bartreau added. "We try to act as role models and tell the younger kids it's okay you won't be teased."
Perry said the older kids tell the younger students they are not tattling, but reporting the bullying incident.
Oakview seventh grader Emma Modock said since the launch of the anti-bullying program, "students understand bullying issues better, there are fewer incidents and more kids are making the right choice to do the right thing."
Carol Zoolkoski, an Oakview teacher, said from what he has experienced, the OLWEUS program tackles bullying, intimidation and exclusion head-on. It is a more pervasive approach to addressing these issues than what the school has taken in the past, he explained. In addition to posters and rules posted throughout the school, the regular meetings between kids make a difference.
"They foster real talk amongst themselves how it feels to be standing there and getting bullied, or watching someone get bullied over and over," he said.
Pine Tree teacher Francie Hofer Robertson sees great potential for the anti-bullying program, which will officially commence there in early November.
"I hope that our students will feel empowered to stand up for themselves and others when they see negative acts occurring around them," she said. "It also will clarify things for me in terms of what bullying is and ways I can help when incidences are reported to me."
One of the key features of the OLWEUS program is that all areas of a school are included in the effort to stop bullying, added Brent Skiba, family school coordinator at Pine Tree and a member of the building's OLWEUS program steering committee.
The Lake Orion Education Foundation (LOEF) and Lake Orion Rotary Club are partnering with the district to implement the OLWEUS program. A portion of the funding is coming from the district's curriculum budget, plus LOEF is providing funds and the Rotary has joined the district in preparing a proposal for a grant, which was recently submitted. Kast said businesses, including Sagebrush Cantina and the local Pepsi distributor, also are providing funding.
"Our goal is to enhance the educational opportunities for our students and we can't think of a better way than by partnering with our schools to implement this program," said LOEF member Matt Phillips. "It needs money, time and the support of people willing to get involved."
Funding raised is being used to certify teachers (three this year one each at the elementary, middle school and high school levels), pay for school materials and conduct mandatory yearly surveys of students at each school. Kast said she is meeting with other community organizations and businesses in the coming weeks to solicit additional funds.
She also reiterated that it will take a total community effort, including support and participation by parents, to alleviate bullying in Lake Orion. The key to securing parent buy-in will be regular and consistent communication, something the district has pledged to achieve through meetings and messages to parents on the status of the program.
"We want them speaking the same language at home about bullying that we are conveying in the schools," said Kast, who would like to have at least one parent participate in the OLWEUS training.
The Lake Orion Police Department also has offered its support to promote the anti-bullying effort. ""We want to help any way we can, for we know if bullying is reduced, then crime is reduced," said LOPD Chief Jerry Narsh at the school board meeting.
At the recent school board meeting, Superintendent Marion Ginopolis and all of the board members commended the work of Kast, school administrators and teacher volunteers to position the district to expand the OLWEUS program this fall.
They also noted it will take a total effort in Lake Orion to succeed.
"It takes a whole community to conquer bullying," board secretary Deborah Porter said. | <urn:uuid:cd4650e4-a28e-49d6-a4b9-8db6f4c72e6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oxfordleader.com/Articles-i-2011-10-19-244037.113121-sub-District-launches-antibullying-program.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972652 | 1,649 | 2.65625 | 3 |
New Jersey Information
New Jersey, also known as the Garden State, is full of activities and attractions for everyone, including beaches, amusement parks, museums, water parks, zoos, biking, birding, camping, fishing, gardens, golfing, snowboarding, skiing, and the list goes on...
Ensure that your travels - be they vacation or business - take you to all of the wonderful cities that New Jersey has to offer. Places to be sure to visit are Atlantic City (and its famous boardwalk), Hammonton, Cape May, Wildwood, Ocean City, Pinelands, Trenton, Princeton, Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, Tuckerton Seaport Village, Frenchtown, Morristown, Newark, Hoboken, and the Meadowlands, just to name a few.
New Jersey offers so many state and national parks that will be sure to take your breath away and make your jaw drop to the floor. If you're interested in hiking and love the fantastic views that nature has to offer, visit New Jersey's High Point State Park in Sussex, where you can stand more than 1,800 feet above sea level -- just to be sure you've got the best view! Or if you're more of the history buff, be sure to visit New Jersey's Fort Mott State Park in Pennsville, where you can explore the fortifications that were erected in 1896 in anticipation of the Spanish-American War.
And to all the shopaholics out there: New Jersey is the place for you! With tons of malls to choose from, you're sure to find exactly what you want in the Garden State. The Mall at Short Hills and the Paramus Park Shopping Center are two of New Jersey's most popular malls that would be a shame to miss.
But wait, isn't this called the Garden State? The answer is yes, and for a good reason. The NJ State Botanical Gardens at Skylands Manor is a great place to start because it has thirteen gardens in itself -- each different, but all breathtaking. After visiting NJ's Botanical Gardens, you should stop by the Morven Museums and Gardens. The museum at Morven Museum and Garden is situated in the house called Morven, the former New Jersey Governor's Mansion and 18th century home of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. | <urn:uuid:395d44de-3305-428d-a58d-4f36c3791c04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bnbfinder.com/New-Jersey-Bed-and-Breakfast | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956064 | 482 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Millions of Americans are consuming too many empty and fat-laden calories and not getting enough physical activity. As a result, the obesity epidemic in the United States is becoming an alarming national crisis. If obesity continues to rise at its current rate, the adult obesity rate in the United States could be at 44 percent, with 13 states above 60 percent and 39 states above 50 percent. Childhood obesity has risen as well. One in three children and adolescents are obese or overweight and an increasing number are being treated for high cholesterol and hypertension, two major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. If the obesity epidemic is not addressed, Americans can look forward to shorter life expectancies, as well as increased health care costs. The American Heart Association encourages Congress and the current administration to keep in mind the public health implications of all legislation, play a key role in shaping environments and supporting communities in promoting healthy choices.
Our federal advocacy priorities for nutrition and physical activity are:
- Protect community-based wellness initiatives supported by the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
- Promote physical activity by robustly funding walking and biking programs, including Safe Routes to School.
- Pass an education reauthorization legislation that creates supports for states to establish high quality physical education programs in schools.
- Encourage shared use of school and community facilities.
- Implement the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to enhance wellness policies and improve nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold during school hours.
- Reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages through effective pricing policies and limited access.
- Push for strong nutrition standards in the farm bill reauthorization.
- Eliminate food deserts and improve access to fruits and vegetables.
- Work to decrease junk food marketing and advertising to children.
- Improve treatment of childhood obesity in healthcare settings by educating and empowering providers to help fulfill their role in addressing children’s health.
- Institute obesity prevention, health promotion, and nutrition and physical activity standards in child care settings. | <urn:uuid:238ab789-afea-4662-b601-ce4d223da256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Advocate/IssuesandCampaigns/Obesity-Nutrition-and-Physical-Activity_UCM_307737_Article.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925931 | 405 | 3.484375 | 3 |
May 19th, 1980, was no ordinary Monday for the members of Joy Division. Bags were packed and goodbyes had been said. They were ready to leave for America, on their first rock & roll tour abroad. They had finished a new single, its title etched across a gravestone on the sleeve: LOVE WILL TEAR US APART.
But Joy Division – such a weird name for a group known for gloomy music and the forlorn voice of its singer – never left England that blue Monday. There was something about the promise of the trip that made lead singer Ian Curtis put a noose around his neck and hang himself the evening before. More goodbyes.
"On Sunday morning, I was turning my trousers up. Monday, I was screaming," remembers the band's drummer, Stephen Morris.
But Joy Division would soon become well known in America anyway – both for "Love Will Tear Us Apart," one of the most influential songs of the past years, and for Curtis' suicide, which put a lasting chill into the band's legacy.
With Curtis' death, Joy Division, which is what the prostitutes' area of Nazi concentration camps was called, officially came to an end. "I must admit Ian was the charismatic individual in the band," says Martin Hannett, the producer of the band's records. Because Curtis had been the focus of the first group, the three remaining members reorganized as New Order.
"There's life and there's death. We were still alive, so we thought we'd carry on doing it," says Morris. With a keyboardist added and guitarist Bernard Sumner taking over as lead singer, New Order is still very much an extension of Joy Division: like uncluttered landscapes in dark colors, New Order's music remains more mood than melody.
In Britain, partly by unwittingly riding the coattails of the synth-based pop bands, New Order has become one of the first-rank rock groups – the thinking man's Human League. In America, clubs are playing the band's twelve-inch dance single "Blue Monday" (which sold over a quarter of a million copies in England) and are beginning to break what may be the group's biggest stateside hit, "Confusion." That last and much ballyhooed dance track is the result of a collaboration with producer Arthur Baker, master of the New York street sound and the man responsible for the recent hits "PlanetRock," "Candy Girl" and "I.O.U."
Record buyers are also sniffing at a well-reviewed new album of uncharacteristically frisky music, Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order's second and best L.P. To promote it, the band just made its second tour of America – only a small block of dates, by necessity.
"We don't have a major record company that gives us cocaine at the end of the tour," explains a downright cheery Stephen Morris, relaxing on a rainy night in June after a sold-out show at First Avenue, a huge Minneapolis club. The band's keyboard player, Gillian Gilbert, who lives with Morris in Manchester, was back in the room after a bit of "puddling" through the soaked parking lot at the Ambassador Motel.
The Minneapolis show had been, well, a bit somber. When few in the audience seemed moved by the new song "Thieves Like Us," Bernard Sumner – he's using that surname after having tired of Dickens (his family name) and Albrecht (his former stage name) – fairly spat out, "If you didn't like that, you must be Americans." Many seemed disappointed that the band wasn't a sad-faced Duran Duran, a party animal; more seemed upset that they didn't play the Joy Division songs.
"We did 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' once, on the anniversary of Ian's death," says the tall, thin Morris, whose drumming – a human sound that plays against the keyboard electronics – is really the band's signature. "But Joy Division doesn't exist anymore, and it would be foolish to kid people into believing it does."
Although a dark cloud still seems to hover over their music, their newest material is pointedly dance-oriented. "I'm not saying we play disco music," says Morris, "but there are some interesting time signatures knocking about in our songs." New Order wanted – and got – a true dance mix for "Confusion," the single they made with Arthur Baker, whose "Planet Rock" they'd admired.
"The fact that they make depressing-sounding records isn't what attracted me to them," says Baker. "But once we got in the studio, I used that the way I would use it in one of my own songs. I really do not write happy music myself. My songs are based in reality, on human situations. And that's what I liked about their stuff."
To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here
POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix
Picks From Around the Web
blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:167a960d-f1eb-445b-bd18-a7182fd2f5d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-order-life-after-death-19830915 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981212 | 1,057 | 1.5 | 2 |
In the 2008 general election, Florida voters cast some 35,635 provisional ballots on Election Day. That’s but a fraction of the more than 8.3 million ballots cast in the election, but in close elections, local, state House and Senate, or even presidential, they could determine the outcome an election.
But unlike regular ballots cast by voters, provisional ballots–despite what we’re told–often don’t count. In fact, in the 2008 general election, less than half of all provisional ballots cast were actually deemed to be valid. Days after the polls closed on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and long after the unofficial results were posted by the Secretary of State and broadcast by the media, local three-member canvassing boards in the state’s 67 counties opened thousands of envelopes containing provisional ballots and began to tabulate them.
Whether they count, is another question altogether. Of the 35,635 provisional ballots cast in the 2008 general election, local canvassing boards validated only 17,312, or less than 50%.
The dirty little secret in the Sunshine State is that provisional ballots often don’t count. Or at least they don’t count as frequently in some counties as in others. There are innumerable reasons for the disparity, but the disparity exists. For whatever reason, provisional ballots cast by registered voters don’t have an equal shot of being accepted by local canvassing boards. The assault on voting rights by the Florida legislature in 2011, with the passage of HB1355, will likely increase the proportion of provisional ballots cast in the 2012 general election, and could very well lead to an even lower likelihood that provisional ballots will be validated.
In the 2008 general election there was a tremendous amount of variation across the state’s 67 counties regarding the number of provisional ballots cast and the percentage that were actually added to the final tabulation. In six counties, all of them largely rural, all of the provisional ballots cast (a total of 54) were deemed to be valid by the county canvasing boards (Baker (0/0); Dixie (11/11); Hamilton (12/12); Holmes (13/13); Lafayette (3/3); and Suwannee (15/15)).
Other counties, as this Provisional Ballots Chart reveals, also had high percentages of validated provisional ballots. For example, over 82 percent of the 731 provisional ballots cast in St. Johns County, 72 percent of the 411 provisional ballots cast in Pasco County, and nearly 60 percent of the 4,659 provisional ballots cast in Hillsborough (a Section 5 Voting Right Act county) were added to the total vote.
This 2008 Provisional Ballot Plot, crafted by my collaborator, Dartmouth University Professor Michael Herron, helps the visualization of where provisional ballots were cast in Florida in the 2008 general election. The proportion of the total votes cast in each county that were provisional ballot runs along the horizontal axis, and the percentage of provisional ballots cast in each county that were validated by the 67 county canvassing boards runs up the vertical axis. The size of the dot is proportional to the total number of provisional ballots cast, as distributed across the 67 counties.
There are several outliers, but two are pretty dramatic: Broward County, with its paltry acceptance rate of cast provisional ballots, and Osceola County, with its exceptionally high proportion of provisional ballots cast.
As I’ve written elsewhere with Dr. Herron, the rate of provisional ballots, the acceptance rate of provisional ballots, and the variation across counties should all be of grave concern as we head into the 2012 general election.
In the coming months, we’ll be investigating why there might be so much variation in the casting and counting of provisional ballots in Florida. I suspect it’s quite likely that these clear disparities across Florida’s 67 counties are not out of the ordinary when it comes to voting provisional ballots in other states. | <urn:uuid:ff8bb5a2-a458-4ee9-8ec5-130da72acf95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://electionsmith.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/think-your-provisional-ballot-in-florida-counts-think-again/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952251 | 812 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Minneapolis among 10 greenest cities in the nation
Minneapolis has been ranked as one of the Move.com. The 10 cities chosen were cited for "doing a great job at putting residents first. That means they’re obsessed with clean air and clean water, renewable energy, reliable city buses, trams, streetcars and subways, a growing number of parks and greenbelts, farmer’s markets and, very important, opportunities for community involvement."
Move.com credited Minneapolis for being named one of the top business districts in the nation by the Environmental Protection Agency, a commuter’s paradise where more than 60 percent of downtown workers use public or alternative transportation to get to the office, free parking for registered van and car pools, an extensive bike path and bike lane system and employer-sponsored showers and locker rooms. These contribute to an active community and lower air pollution. Move.com also commended the city for its lakes, ponds, greenbelts and its urban canopy, great drinking water, active community organizations and the push to nudge businesses and homes to hook up solar systems up to the city's grid.
The top 10 cities in the nation, in no particular order, are Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; Minneapolis; Boulder, Colo.; Burlington, Vt.; Madison, Wis.; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica, Calif. and Chicago.
Move, Inc. is a leader in online real estate, capturing an average of more than 9 million visitors each month in 2009 to the Move Network of real estate websites. Sites include SeniorHousingNet.com™.
To find out what else Minneapolis is doing to be green and some things you can do to help conserve energy, curb pollution and fight climate change, visit Sustainability Initiatives.
Published Mar. 25, 2010 | <urn:uuid:43a57cbb-c3e5-44bb-9c59-ad354d5ea7eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minneapolismn.gov/news/news_20100325topgreencity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915592 | 373 | 2.03125 | 2 |
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"Popery-Temperance" article from the Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald newspaper
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Many types of social reform movements took shape in the first half of the 19th century. There were Protestant religious movements, which were anti-Catholic. The newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, frequently published articles that applauded the work of the various societies. This article denounces a piece that appeared in a Boston paper that called the Bible and Temperance Societies a base and hypocritical confederacy. The Gazette and Mercury called that paper a "Popish organ" and accuses the Bishop and his priests of instilling hatred and contempt for the Temperance societies into the minds of the Catholic poor. The Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald was the newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, from June 26, 1827 to June 27, 1837. It changed its name to the Gazette & Mercury.
top of page | <urn:uuid:356e5931-718a-4992-b817-2119b57e76f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/activities/postcards/make.do?itemid=17873 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964898 | 219 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Earlier this year, I began thinking a lot about iPads and their features. It seemed to me that there were some very unique aspects to the way iPads and other mobile tablets had been created and that, as many of us were involved in assessing whether an iPad would be a good tool for people with disabilities, we ought to be able to describe their features.
I asked everyone I could think of. "What do you think are the unique features of iPads and other mobile tablet devices? How are they different than AT options we have had previously?" For a while I wrote down all the answers. Then I tried to synthesize the results. I got a lot of help from Nichole Lakusta and others.
The list is posted in the Resources Section of the QIAT web site. You can click here to get to it. I hope it will be useful to you in your AT Considerations. I imagine a group of people sitting down and asking, "What are the essential features of a device that would help this person do things that are difficult or impossible because of their disability?" The chart may help teams identify features when the conversation moves to iPads.
And a warning. This list is only about the features of the iPad itself. You also need some sort of way to identify the apps that you would use if you were really going to use the device for real tasks in a real area of concern. I would pair this with an app evaluation rubric. So this is only the beginning. Please share your feedback, ideas and any other resources of this nature with us! | <urn:uuid:b3b2d04e-1ae5-4ec4-a9ca-61fed2e4c90c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwyoatplc.blogspot.com/2012/09/ipad-features-list.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984775 | 319 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Harvard University psychologist Marc Hauser — a well-known scientist and author of the book “Moral Minds’’ — is taking a year-long leave after a lengthy internal investigation found evidence of scientific misconduct in his laboratory.
The findings have resulted in the retraction of an influential study that he led. “MH accepts responsibility for the error,’’ says the retraction of the study on whether monkeys learn rules, which was published in 2002 in the journal Cognition.
Two other journals say they have been notified of concerns in papers on which Hauser is listed as one of the main authors.
It is unusual for a scientist as prominent as Hauser — a popular professor and eloquent communicator of science whose work has often been featured on television and in newspapers — to be named in an investigation of scientific misconduct. His research focuses on the evolutionary roots of the human mind.
Hauser is a prominent public intellectual. Here’s his Edge page. Obviously problems in some aspects of his work doesn’t necessarily invalidate all his findings, but it doesn’t look good for his credibility. This sort of incident points to the importance of trust within the culture of science. Collaborators and researchers who cited his results are scrambling to make sense of it all. I’ve cited Moral Minds in past posts, but I probably won’t be doing so now. | <urn:uuid:110d5ca0-c258-4290-b3b6-eebc0bff0ef3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/08/marc-hauser-on-leave-from-harvard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974323 | 292 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Irondequoit's Deer Provide a Look at Urban Wildlife Management
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - For three years in a row, the town of Irondequoit has racked up more than 100 deer-car accidents annually, a number the town supervisor calls unacceptable.
At the same time, deer have been nibbling their way through homeowners' gardens and developing into a polarizing force that pitted many of the town's 54,000 residents against each other.
"It has been, over the years, an extremely divisive issue," said town Supervisor David Schantz.
But with the help of a three-pronged deer management program and a team of researchers led by a wildlife ecologist from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), Irondequoit is learning to control its deer herd.
Schantz said the town hopes to become a model for other communities struggling with burgeoning wildlife populations that are adapting to city and suburban life.
"We have started a channel for communication and we're trying to focus our energies on working together and trying to minimize the emotional aspect," he said.
Emotions run high when residents devote time and money to landscaping projects, only to have their plants and shrubs destroyed by deer. They worry about their property values. At the same time, the bait-and-shoot aspect of the town's control program has a considerable number of both detractors and supporters.
"Irondequoit has been one of the vanguard communities dealing with urban deer. It was one of the first to recognize and deal with the deer populations," Dr. William F. Porter said. "This community has come a long way in learning how to reach a compromise and how to find a middle ground."
Porter and his team recently completed a study of the town's deer population. The study estimates the current population at 341 deer-about half the 686 deer estimated in the scientists' 1995 survey. For statistical purposes, the researchers report the population currently ranges from 220 to 539 deer.
Irondequoit's approach to managing the deer population involves the bait-and-shoot program, bow hunting, and a contraceptive program that is still being tested by Porter.
The survey centered on a 16-square-mile area bounded by Lake Ontario to the north, Route 104 to the south, the Genesee River to the west, and Irondequoit Bay, on Lake Ontario, to the east. The researchers devised a grid that split the area into blocks of one square kilometer each.
In March, Porter's team made three helicopter flights over the town, counting every deer they saw. They counted the deer in a variety of selected blocks that covered about 80 percent of the town. Using standard statistical procedures, they estimated the town's deer population, based on the number counted in those blocks.
The highest concentrations of deer were found in two areas. One is the area west of Culver Road and north of Titus Avenue, just south of Durand Eastman Park. The other is an area known locally as "The Flats."
Schantz said the study has helped the town deal with its problem.
"It's been extremely helpful in many ways. One way is understanding more about how deer reproduce, what affects the production of fawns," the supervisor said. "It will help us understand how to develop a management program that will work for a community."
"We're in a very, very primitive stage right now," he said. "It's the beginning of what will result in a viable, humane method of wildlife management. Urban wildlife management is kind of a new thing."
The study is part of a broader program of research that includes work with deer by ESF, Cornell University, and state Department of Environmental Conservation scientists both at Irondequoit and the Seneca Army Depot. The work is funded by the state Legislature, which set aside $120,000 for the project.
Assisting Porter in the study were H. Brian Underwood, a research wildlife biologist and adjunct assistant professor at ESF; Dale L. Garner, a research wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; and Brent A. Rudolph, a graduate assistant at ESF. | <urn:uuid:8b637f65-7e62-4aac-9b29-e4234cc5e208> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esf.edu/communications/news/1998/05.04.deer.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965163 | 867 | 2.609375 | 3 |
MOSCOW - Russia on Thursday welcomed the US Senate's confirmation of John Kerry as the next secretary of state and suggested his appointment could improve ties that have been badly strained over the past year.
Cordial comments by the Foreign Ministry spokesman at a weekly briefing may signal Russia wants to ease tensions caused by disagreements over issues including human rights and Syria as President Barack Obama's second term get under way.
But they came with a caveat that President Vladimir Putin issued when he started a six-year presidential term in May: Russia will not tolerate lecturing or meddling in its affairs by Moscow's former Cold War foe.
"I would like to say that we are hoping for constructive work with him," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. "John Kerry is a well-known political figure with rich experience in international affairs and knowledge of international relations."
"For this reason we are convinced that (his appointment) will provide good support for the development of interaction between our countries, and help give bilateral cooperation a positive dynamic." | <urn:uuid:86091bbc-20d9-4b0f-9343-8023e5e7f462> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=301715 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975784 | 207 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Injection drug use is associated with a high risk of infection by blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, but sterile syringe access programs help lower these risks by limiting syringe sharing and providing safe disposal options. These programs also provide people who inject drugs with referrals to drug treatment, detoxification, social services, and primary health care.
The Drug Policy Alliance is working to ensure wider access to sterile syringes throughout the country. We support removing syringes from the criminal code by ending policies that criminalize syringe possession and limit sterile syringe distribution. DPA has played an instrumental role in the struggle to eliminate the federal ban on syringe access funding. We have led successful efforts to launch syringe exchange programs and facilities in several states, most recently in New Jersey.
DPA backs the non-prescription, over-the-counter sale of syringes, which is now permitted in all but two U.S. states. We support state efforts to exempt syringes from paraphernalia laws and broaden the legal definition of medical necessity as it relates to syringe access. We also favor allowing doctors to prescribe syringes to their patients, a practice few states currently permit. | <urn:uuid:8b77dd50-4131-4602-b5d1-b711d2d80b8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/syringe-access/our-priorities | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953575 | 246 | 1.921875 | 2 |
These individuals know not the joy of frying an egg on the sidewalk and then eating it, or of chomping down an Easter egg, shell and all, until their lips are stained brown from a combination of food colorings.
Of course, they would love to eat eggs—who wouldn't want to crack open a tiny rock and ingest whatever weird substance could be found inside—but they cannot. They are allergic.
Now, the BBC reports, food researchers say these poor eggless saps (egg allergies are believed to affect up to 2.5 percent of children, though many outgrow it by age 5) may be closer than ever to discovering the joys of the Incredible Edible Egg.
All you have to do to be able to eat eggs is eat eggs.
A study of 55 children aged 5-11 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that, after 22 months of daily consumption of tiny amounts of powdered egg (ultimately building up to about a third of one egg), 75 percent of the kids observed were able to eat the equivalent of two eggs without reacting.
When the participants were retested four to six weeks after stopping treatment, it was found that about a third of them (28 percent) could still eat egg without reacting and were considered "allergy-free."
But don't worry, kids. You'll always be non-egg-eating little freaks to me.
Researcher Dr. Stacie Jones says these findings "provide some hope" that similar therapies could be used to help overcome food allergies in the future. She also explains that the real victors of this experiment were not those children who can now eat eggs just like their celebrity heros, but, rather, their hyper-nervous parents:
Reducing these kids' allergic response to egg also lessened parental anxiety over how their children might react if accidentally exposed to egg at school or at someone else's house.
Dr. Jones stressed that parents should only attempt to feed their children eggs under the guidance of a licensed professional. (Unless their kids can already eat eggs with no problem, or believe life isn't worth living without a little danger.)
[BBC // Image via Getty] | <urn:uuid:1129360b-41b0-495f-8b75-ed848e985c06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gawker.com/5927520/in-the-future-humans-will-be-able-to-eat-eggs?tag=Allergies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975972 | 450 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Basketball is fun for all ages. A “Rookie Read-About Sports” book starts with simple language to describe the game of basketball. All of the terms used in the game are described with both words and pictures. It ends with several pages of information that include tips for good sportsmanship, health tips, and fun facts about basketball, such as when the first orange basketballs were used. Most of the illustrations are pictures of children playing basketball. This works well to get children enthusiastic about playing the game. The words are basic enough for an early reader to be able to read. In fact, it’s so simple that some children might be easily bored. The book has 32 pages including the index and publishing information. If children are reading the book to themselves it is probably enough to keep them entertained. But the information could be too basic and short to keep a child entertained who has any previous knowledge of the game.
This book is for ages 4 to 8.
I received this book free of charge from Children's Literature in exchange for my honest review. | <urn:uuid:0185295d-1b00-4c8f-916a-3597070dcfeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bookreviewsbytima.blogspot.com/2012/07/basketball.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968605 | 225 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Three years of flooding
In 2010 Pakistan was hit by its worst natural disaster - floodwater inundated up to one fifth of the country and affected an estimated 20 million people. Oxfam launched an immediate response to provide aid to more than 2.4 million people.
In 2012 fresh flooding in Pakistan's southern Sindh province put millions of people at renewed risk of disease and widespread malnutrition.
Oxfam has helped 70,000 people worst affected by renewed flooding. | <urn:uuid:7841eae0-2c5b-402e-827a-965dcc7cc2a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/emergency-response/pakistan-floods?intcmp=hp_more-stories-graphic_pakistan_300911 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968909 | 94 | 2.75 | 3 |
Enhancing the capacities of the Mozambican food safety and quality assurance system for trade
The food-processing sector in Mozambique requires efficient and credible services in terms of Safety and Quality Assurance to be globally competitive. The project aims at enhancing the capacities of the Mozambican Food Safety and Quality Assurance System to ensure that food safety services (food analysis, food regulations, food inspection, and food safety information) are available, accessible and credible and that there is a reduction in the time taken to deliver test results from food analysis laboratories.
This will be achieved by:
- establishing a coordinated national food safety system that is compliant with international requirements;
- developing a national food safety strategy and submitting it relevant authorities for enactment;
- upgrading technical capacity (equipment and personnel skills) of relevant Food Safety institutions (food analysis, inspection, regulations) to meet international specifications. | <urn:uuid:42b97982-be1c-498b-8bc5-7fa33b552545> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=6025 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904161 | 179 | 1.929688 | 2 |
The Gladesville Bridge was opened on 2 October 1964. Along with Tarban Creek Bridge and Fig Tree Bridge, it was originally planned by the NSW Department of Main Roads (DMR) to form part of a north-western expressway serving the northern suburbs of Sydney. Whilst the expressway was never built, the Gladesville Bridge, at the time of construction the longest concrete arch bridge in the world, remains as an engineering feat and a testament to the commitment of all those involved.
The major output of this project was over 20 hours of recorded interviews with people who experienced or were involved with the construction of the Gladesville Bridge. Some were local residents or school children while others were employed on the project in varying capacities including engineering, surveying, filming, labouring, plant operation and worksite supervision.
The sound files in the table below feature some of the key themes uncovered during the course of the project, including the old Gladesville Bridge, the planning vision, bridge design, the construction process and the opening of the bridge.
A compilation CD and booklet summarising the key themes uncovered during the course of the project have been prepared, and may be ordered from the Transport Library at a cost of A$11 plus postage and handling. Orders may also be placed by fax to Transport Library on 61 2 8849 2488.
The opinions expressed in the oral history interview tapes are those of the individuals concerned and do not necessarily represent in whole or in part the position of RMS.
Researchers and historians wishing to access the source interview tapes and associated logs should contact the Transport Library by phone on 61 2 8849 2913. | <urn:uuid:0744dbd0-e151-4408-8db5-761f3b31e53a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/environment/heritage/rtaoralhistoryprogram/gladesvillebridge.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960963 | 333 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Voice; Department Chair;Voice
Mark Lee’s earliest musical training was rooted in the American sacred music traditions of the mid-western United States. These early experiences instilled in him a deep awareness of the importance of the human voice in expressing emotion and creativity, and of the tremendous power of the voice in communicating that which is both universal and ineffable. Formal music training followed at Central Missouri State University, the Conservatoire National de Region de Nice (France), culminating in a Master’s Degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. Additional training has included study at Oberlin Conservatory, extensive work with practitioners involved in Estill voice research, and collaboration with Boston medical professionals in the care and training of the professional voice.
Much of Lee’s work as a voice teacher has focused on integrating discoveries from emerging voice science with traditional vocal techniques, and allowing the contrast of these fields to sharpen our focus on the most efficient and healthy methods of training singers. This has been particularly useful in refining methods of training the male voice (and especially the tenor voice) and musical theater singing styles (including authentic "belt"). Lee has been a strong advocate of teacher training programs that serve to assist singers of all styles of music in identifying and preventing vocal dysfunction, and promoting vocal health and longevity. Further work has involved understanding the impact of the adrenaline state on performance and music reading skills, and designing training methods to mitigate its influence.
M.M. (New England Conservatory), B.M.E (Central Missouri State University), Additional studies at the Conservatoire National de Nice, France and Oberlin Conservatory. Studies with Mark Pearson, Remy Corazza, Claudette Corazza, Conan Jennings Castle; Masterclasses with Yolanda Marculescu, Darlene Kliewer, Berton Coffin; Direction by Bodo Igesz, John Moriarty; Coachings with Angela Vanstory, Margo Garrett; Faculty, New England Conservatory (Preparatory and Continuing Education); Salem State University; Past Director, Indian Hill Music School. Past Board Member, National Association of Teachers of Singing-Boston.
Photo by Andrew Hurlbut
Contact Mark Lee | <urn:uuid:a98fe304-1293-48c2-857e-4376156b9b0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.necmusic.edu/faculty/mark-lee?lid=8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923442 | 450 | 1.695313 | 2 |
So far, Mumbai's third Kashish Queer Film Festival looks like it's going off without a hitch. The festival, which runs until the 27th, kicked off last night with a showing of Beginners. The Oscar-winning first selection will set the tone for the rest of the festival, which aims to bring acceptance for LGBT people by normalizing queer identities in film.
The festival's organizers are putting an emphasis on accessibility this year; they've taken the 2012 theme, "For Everyone," seriously, going so far as to reserve seats for any protesters who show up so that they can learn "what queer is all about." But in the festival's three year history, there's been hardly a whisper of dissent. It's a far cry from the censorship and vandalism that followed the release of India's first lesbian film, Deepa Mehta's Fire, 14 years ago. Members of the right-wing organization Shiv Sena stormed movie theaters, smashed glass, burned posters, and drove out terrified audiences.
But political, economic and cultural changes mean that the city Kashish finds itself in today bears little resemblance to the Mumbai of 1998. This year, festival attendees can expect to find panels, art exhibits, and allies of all stripes along with the 120 international films that will be featured over the course of the week.
While it's good news from the capital, it doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the country is moving in the same direction. Although homosexuality was decriminalized in 2009, Anjali Gopalan, Founder of the NAZ Foundation and arguably India's most prominent LGBT activist, says that little has changed for queer people who continue to face police harassment, discrimination from doctors and employers and rejection from their families. According to Goplan, laws can only do so much."What worries me is when we talk about rights, the courts can do very little."
Which is why celebrations of queer culture like Kashish can do so much to influence the otherwise glacial pace of change in Indian politics. As Goplan points out, it's not just straight society or Parliament who reject the existence of queer people, many LGBT people struggle with self-acceptance. She underscores the importance of normalizing homosexuality, something the festival's participants continue to affirm. Jury member Parvin Dabas suggests that moviegoers "watch these movies as cinema and not 'queer' cinema. This is what I realized while watching the movies. It is Human Cinema where the characters just happen to be gay." While encouraging people to look past identities might be easy to criticize as erasure, it's only half of a two-fold plan to make bring queer to mainstream India.
Festival co-director Sridhar Rangayan look at the festival opportunity to increase LGBT visibility. "One of the constant questions that we still get is – who are these gay and lesbian people we hear a lot in the media these days, what do they look like, what do they do? Are they interested only in sex, are they only activists?"
And what better forum to answer these types of questions? With a quarter of the movies coming from India, local filmmakers are being accepted as authorities on their own lives. The films at Kashish will span the range of queer existence from homophobia in sports to relationships in the urban landscape to family drama. Rather than separating gay from straight or overlooking diversity in favor of embracing conformity as the road to unity, Kashish hopes to blur lines between conventional and queer and transform Mumbai into a city that really is "for everyone." | <urn:uuid:f9bb0812-5921-4ef4-a3b9-9b0d6572f45a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autostraddle.com/mumbais-queer-film-festival-aims-to-transform-indias-queer-landscape-138853/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95894 | 718 | 1.6875 | 2 |
What's Mad Cow Disease?
You might have heard news reports about mad cow disease and wondered: What the heck is that? Mad cow disease is an illness also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (say: bo-vine spun-jih-form en-seh-fah-la-puh-thee), or BSE for short.
It's called mad cow disease because it affects a cow's nervous system, causing a cow to act strangely and lose control of its ability to do normal things, such as walk. An infected cow would act "mad," which sometimes means mentally ill.
A cow with BSE develops these problems because it has developed an infection. This infection causes its brain to waste away and become spongy. Researchers are not completely sure how cows get this kind of infection, but they believe it comes from certain kinds of food given to cows. Some of this food contains the remains of dead cows that had the infection. These remains, especially the brains and spinal cords, may contain BSE.
Because BSE was a problem in the United Kingdom, the United States enacted rules to prevent live cows and some cow products from entering this country. The United States has had two cases of BSE in cows — one in 2003 and one in 2005. In both cases, the government took steps so that people wouldn't buy and eat the meat.
What Does This Have to Do With People?
BSE is a concern because it can be transmitted to people if they eat meat that came from a cow with BSE. If a person eats BSE-infected beef, the person is at a higher risk for getting a human form of the disease, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. It is a very serious disease that affects the brain, but CJD is very rare in the United States. Only 1 in a million people get it. And it is not contagious, meaning a person can't catch it from someone who has it. Likewise, a cow that has BSE can't infect other cows.
The discovery of the BSE cases in the United States increases concern about the human form of the disease, but it's still very unlikely that you or anyone you know will get the disease.
What's Being Done About BSE?
Many people in the United States are working to prevent BSE-contaminated beef from getting to stores. There are rules against beef processors using the brains or spinal cords of the animal to make food products. In addition, there is a testing system in place designed to identify cows that may have the disease. There's also a recall system that allows companies to notify consumers and pull products off store shelves if there could be a problem with them.
What Should I Do?
If you're worried about mad cow disease, tell the person who buys the food in your household about how you feel. Some cuts of meat carry less risk of transmitting the disease than ground beef, which is used to make hamburgers.
Being a kid, you might be wondering about milk. Even though it comes from cows, BSE cannot be transmitted through milk or milk products.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: August 2009
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The mission of the CDC is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Call: (800) CDC-INFO
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The USDA works to enhance the quality of life for people by supporting the production of agriculture.
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- WORD! A Glossary of Medical Words | <urn:uuid:3ba5924e-9e40-4ce0-87b6-79438df3c515> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pec-tx.com/your-health/kidshealth/33956/what-s-mad-cow-disease-?mainCategory=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961091 | 934 | 3.828125 | 4 |
Written on: 28/06/2012 by Serenity_J (1 review written)
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Miss Jones: E11000421 | <urn:uuid:34556334-b84c-4989-b4a6-dfadde419288> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reviewcentre.com/report_review/1591234 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979537 | 216 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The opening of a new McDonald’s restaurant in 2013 may not generate the kind of buzz that has traffic lined up for blocks.
But it was a much different story in 1963. Just ask Audrey Ryerson.
Ryerson was married to one of the original owners of the Winchester Avenue McDonald’s, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. She was there when the restaurant — Ashland’s first chain fast-food eatery — opened its doors on Jan. 3, 1963.
“The line was so long. They were so far down the street,” she said. “I pulled into the lot and they told me I had to leave because they needed my space.”
Ryerson also recalled the opening-day demand for burgers creating a pickle shortage, so she was dispatched to a local grocery store to buy more.
“I had an 8-month-old baby in the seat of the shopping cart. The rest of it was full of pickles,” she recalled. “It drew a lot of attention.”
Ryerson, 76, who now lives in Monroe, Mich., returned to the Winchester Avenue McDonald’s Wednesday with her youngest daughter, Jackie Wolf, to celebrate its anniversary. She said it was the first time she’d been there in some time and she was pleased to see it still doing well.
“It’s changed a lot, but it’s still good,” she said.
Ryerson was a 26-year-old mother of four when her family opened the restaurant. She was married to Jim Wolf, who, along with his father, Earnest, applied for a franchise with the burgeoning food-service company in 1962. The Ashland McDonald’s was the sixth in Kentucky and the 491st overall.
Earnest Wolf and his wife, Mattie, had discovered McDonald’s a few years earlier. The couple, who lived in Fairlawn, N.J., enjoyed taking their seven children there for Sunday dinner.
McDonald’s was looking for investors when the Wolfs submitted their franchise application, and it was approved right away. They were given the choices of three cities in which they could open an eatery: Camden, N.J., Joplin, Mo., and Ashland. Earnest and Jim Wolf visited all three cities and agreed on Ashland.
Earnest Wolf had sold his scrap business, but still wasn’t able to meet McDonald’s $35,000 start-up fee. He relied on his other business, which processed and froze eggs in 30-pound cans and sold them to restaurants, to provide the balance of the franchise money, as well as the funds to relocate his family.
Ryerson said she lived in Ashland for 14 years and thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent here.
“The people were so friendly,” she said.
While the location of the Winchester Avenue McDonald’s is the same as the original, the building isn’t. The original building was remodeled twice before being razed and rebuilt a few years ago.
Today, the Wolf organization, which is headed by Jim Wolf’s brother, Tom, has 14 McDonald’s in Boyd and Greenup counties in Kentucky and Cabell and Wayne counties in West Virginia. Tom Wolf, who was in high school when the Winchester Avenue store opened, bought into the restaurant in 1974, opened his first McDonald’s, the Russell store, in 1979, and bought the Huntington locations from his brother the following year. Jim Wolf died in 1990.
The restaurants provide roughly 750 jobs in the region and have launched the careers of thousands. Wolf and his wife, Sherry, both said they’re approached by former McDonald’s employees virtually every time they go out in public. The vast majority of them tell them they’re thankful to McDonald’s for providing them with entry points into the work force, they said.
Tom Wolf, 66, said he had originally planned to retire at 55. But, when he reached that age, he kept finding “one more thing” that needed done. That’s still the case today, he said, meaning retirement will still have to wait a few years.
Wolf said one of those “things” on his agenda was a rebuild of the Russell McDonald’s. Demolition of the current building is scheduled to begin next month, he said. The restaurant that will replace it “will be a very special store,” he said
KENNETH HART can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or | <urn:uuid:82967769-998a-49fc-b4ad-283e2b970ad8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyindependent.com/local/x1303533542/Ashland-McDonald-s-celebrates-50-years/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984621 | 975 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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Children need a clean environment
Deteriorating environmental conditions have their most profound effect on children who are exposed to a barrage of environmental threats – from lead in air pollution to faecal bacteria in drinking water. Children in developing countries are the least protected and the most affected by unsafe environments, both through direct threats to their health and from the poverty caused by environmental pollution and resource degradation.
Young children are particularly vulnerable. Their physical characteristics, childhood activities and natural curiosity put them at greater risk from environmental hazards. In fact, the quality of a child’s environment is a key determinant of whether a child survives the first year of life and of her or his further physical and mental development.
In recent years, threats to the environment are clearly on the increase, as illustrated, for example, by increasing contamination and over pumping of aquifers and the degradation of freshwater catchment areas. But the most serious, far-reaching threat is global warming, with its complex and comprehensive impact on water resources and its predicted multiplier effect on diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases. The impact of global warning is and will continue to be felt most by developing countries and by children.
The environment needs children
Empowered children are a dynamic and ultimately powerful force for protecting and improving the environment.
What children learn today will shape the world tomorrow. Instilling environmental awareness at a young age is the best way to protect the environment. But increasing children’s environmental awareness is not enough. For children to become effective agents of change, avenues must exist for their knowledge to be translated into advocacy and action.
UNICEF uses its WASH programmes around the world to educate and empower children on environmental issues related to water, sanitation and hygiene. Activities include the development of sanitation and environmental education programmes in schools, participatory processes to involve children in the reduction of open defecation in their communities, and initiatives that promote the participation of children in local, national and global environmental initiatives. | <urn:uuid:12bd9c67-b90a-45ee-97bc-0d6406f8baaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicef.org/french/wash/index_43103.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941283 | 423 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Participation in Development: The Question, Challenges and Issues a Symposium Background Paper
Kenny, Michael (1997) Participation in Development: The Question, Challenges and Issues a Symposium Background Paper. In: Participation in Development: The Question, Challenges and Issues a Symposium Background Paper.
That full participation is essential for sustainable development, both domestic and overseas, is now widely accepted; but there is little agreement about what it is. Definitions and typologies of full participation run the gamut from community collaboration in pre-determined projects, all the way through to recognising that communities must determine and control their own development projects. All communities, even the least advanced, can encounter obstacles to development such as, among others, difficult physical environments, traditional gender roles, the culture of relationships (that is, hierarchies of power) and organisational inflexibility. Based on a number of interviews and a survey of the literature, this paper examines the meaning of full participation and identifies the principal obstacles to it. Nine key questions, central to determining the level of commitment to participatory development, have emerged from this paper: 1. Is there awareness of and commitment to the centrality of participation in development among grassroots and public organizations? 2. Is there an openness to participation in policy formation and decision making? 3. Is there a focused commitment of resources? 4. Is there capacity building training in the skills of grassroot participation? 5. Is it necessary to increase on-the-job and foundation training in participative skills among voluntary and paid development workers and to foster a high level of expertise in participative training? 6. Are there adequate development tools to enhance participation? 7. Will structures, programmes and project cycles facilitate and reward participation? 8. Are there adequate tools to measure real participation ? 9. Will structural change facilitate participation? This paper is intended to provide the framework within which experiences and views may contribute to the process of moving closer to fully participatory and sustainable development.
Repository Staff Only: item control page | <urn:uuid:aa371aff-1b94-419d-9c45-39c5d1ac2ada> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eprints.nuim.ie/233/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909135 | 407 | 2.484375 | 2 |
The Psalms are full of real, raw words of personal fear, pain, and failure. Read a few right now and consider how you’re encouraged by the honesty and transparency found in what David and others wrote.
How can you use your past failures and challenges to bless and encourage others? What kinds of failure are not helpful to share?
Recently, my wife and I had the privilege of speaking on the topic of Loving One Another at a marriage retreat. Attendees included couples of all ages—those who had been married just a year to a “golden” duo who had spent 50 years together. That couple, Joe and Arlene, blessed the younger couples as they transparently revealed some of the struggles they had experienced in their marriage. They candidly acknowledged their imperfections but also stated that they had chosen to cling to God and their vows as they went through rocky times together.
Speaking the truth, letting people see some of our “warts,” can be greatly encouraging to other believers in Jesus. Even super-apostle Paul admitted that he was no Superman! He wrote, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (Philippians 3:12). Paul’s relationships were also a bit rocky at times, including famous falling-out episodes with Barnabas (Acts 15:38-39) and Peter (Galatians 2:11-13).
By God’s wisdom, the Bible is full of accounts of those who knew God but still had feet of clay . . . those who were far from perfect. You and I should live our faith by being honest about our failures and struggles. And, when appropriate, we should communicate these things to help encourage and build up other believers. We can plainly state that we “have not achieved [perfection], but [we] . . . press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14).
As we open up, we show that our confidence isn’t in our own “human effort” (Philippians 3:3) but in the righteousness of Jesus (Philippians 3:9).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Exodus 7:15–9:7
9 Responses to “opening up”
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Spending Cuts Win out over Tax Increases in International Experience
Washington, DC, July 29, 2011—With the White House and Congress currently embroiled in a debate over how to reduce the nation’s deficit and debt, the experience of other countries can provide helpful evidence about the most effective methods for budget reform. Countries that have faced similar financial situations have found that deficit reduction plans based on spending cuts rather than tax increases are far more likely to succeed, according to a new analysis by the Tax Foundation.
“The most successful reform efforts put all spending programs on the table, not a select few programs,” said Tax Foundation economist David S. Logan. “But contrary to the conventional wisdom in the U.S., the international experience indicates that pairing spending cuts with tax cuts can produce meaningful deficit reduction and improved economic performance.”
In successful reform efforts, reducing expenditures accounted for approximately 80 percent of the improvement in the deficit. By contrast, deficit/debt reduction attempts driven by tax increases typically failed to correct imbalances and slowed economic growth.
Both Sweden and the United Kingdom faced the need for government budget reform in the early 1990s, and both efforts underscored the success of a strategy based on spending cuts. As of 1993, Sweden’s public expenditures had increased to an intimidating 73% of GDP while public debt stood at 70%. Between 1993 and 2000, transfers, subsidies, government consumption, and pensions were reduced by an average of 3.3 percent of GDP. These cuts facilitated double-digit decreases in government spending and public debt, as well as double-digit improvements in the deficit.
“Perhaps the most dramatic result of the literature is that the most successful deficit reduction plans have been based off of not just spending cuts but tax decreases as well,” said Logan. “Pro-growth strategies have seen consistently better results around the world, as countries have reduced the tax burden on the private sector and brought public expenditures into line with available revenues.”
Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 278, “The Proper Role of Taxes in Deficit and Debt Reduction” by David S. Logan, is available online.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan research organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. To schedule an interview, please contact Richard Morrison, the Tax Foundation’s Manager of Communications, at 202-464-5102 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:8d300d8b-3f2a-459e-a35d-97430d805548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://businesslife.com/articles.php?id=1882 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9556 | 502 | 2.265625 | 2 |
- Apr 2:
- Pope visits tomb of St. Peter
- Mar 24:
- Pope Francis, Benedict hold historic meeting
- Mar 19:
- Pope Francis: Protect the poor and the Earth
- Pope Francis picks simple coat of arms and ring
- Mar 14:
- Pope Francis favors simple lifestyle, has complex past
- Obama sends warm wishes to new Pope Francis
- Pope's choice of name Francis recalls saint of peace, poverty
- Argentines overjoyed at country's first pope
- Catholics in Vatican City waited in the rain, reacted with surprise
- Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio becomes Pope Francis
- Mar 13:
- Denver Catholics celebrate the naming of Pope Francis
- Official text of Pope Francis' 1st speech to world
- New pope is 1st Francis, saint of peace, poverty
- Denver Catholics rally for the new pope at Capitol, cathedral
- Catholics overjoyed at 1st Latin American pope
- Pope Francis: A humble image, but complex past
- Popes of the 20th and 21st centuries
- Denver Archdiocese celebrates new pope with 4:30 rally, procession, then Mass
- Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio elected new pope, Francis
- No pope picked on first day of the conclave
- Mar 7:
- Cardinals impose media blackout, ending U.S. briefings before conclave
- Mar 3:
- Benedict's resignation might put limits on future popes
- Mar 1:
- Benedict formally ends papacy, leaves Vatican
- Feb 28:
- Now a 'simple pilgrim,' Benedict resigns papacy
- Benedict recalls "joy" and difficulty
- Pope Benedict leaves legacy as teacher who returned church to roots
- Winds of change, breaths of scandals buffet Catholics as pope resigns
- Feb 27:
- Colorado native among last babies kissed by Pope Benedict XVI
- Feb 17:
- Could an American be named pope?
- Feb 13:
- Vatican: Pope Benedict XVI was outfitted with pacemaker a decade ago
- Feb 12:
- Vatican: Pope Benedict no role in conclave
- Vatican acknowledges that pope had pacemaker
- Pope seeks quiet retirement, brother says
- Speculaton brings on who will replace Benedict as pope
- Benedict fell short of own goals for papacy
- Papal resignation sparks global disbelief
- Cardinal Roger Mahony to help elect next pope
- Pope named most of the cardinals who will pick his successor
- Feb 11:
- Pope Benedict XVI resigns: Denver Catholics express surprise, gratitude
- Vatican: Pope too weary at his age for the job
- Catholics surprised at pope's decision to retire
- Pope's mission to revive faith clouded by scandal
- NY Cardinal Dolan: Electing pope all new to him
- Text of pope announcement he will resign Feb. 28
- Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation sets in motion a complex sequence of events to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The laws governing the selection after a pope's resignation are the same as those in force after a papal death, aside from skipping a period of mourning.
Here is the procedure:
— The Vatican summons a conclave of cardinals that must begin 15-20 days after Benedict's Feb. 28 resignation.
— Cardinals eligible to vote—those under age 80—are sequestered within Vatican City and take an oath of secrecy.
—There are currently 118 cardinals under age 80 and eligible to vote, 67 of whom were appointed by Benedict. However, four of them will turn 80 before the end of March. Depending on the date of the conclave, they may or may not be allowed to vote.
— Any baptized Roman Catholic male is eligible for election as pope, but only cardinals have been selected since 1378.
— Two ballots are held each morning and two each afternoon in the Sistine Chapel. A two-thirds majority is required. Benedict in 2007 reverted back to this two-thirds majority rule, reversing a 1996 decision by Pope John Paul II, who had decreed that a simple majority could be invoked after about 12 days of inconclusive voting. Benedict did so to prevent cardinals from holding out for 12 days then pushing through a candidate who only had only a slim majority.
— Ballots are burned after each round. Black smoke means no decision; white smoke signals that cardinals have chosen pope and he has accepted. Bells also signal the election of a pope to help avoid possible confusion over color of smoke coming from chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
— The new pope is introduced from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square with the words "Habemus Papam!" (Latin for "We have a pope!") and he then imparts his first blessing. | <urn:uuid:3bed256a-cf95-4fa3-aeef-f88be4f31d72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/snowsports/ci_22564781/electing-pope-conclave-oath-chimney-smoke?source=pkg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941552 | 1,002 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Sometimes I can’t help but think back to my first cellular phone back in the mid-1990′s. But the history of mobiles started a decade prior, when phones were beyond the means of most consumers. Now we have countries with more mobile subscriptions than people and the phone itself is used less and less for it’s original purpose: Voice calls.
This infographic, courtesy of Savings.com, brings together historical datapoints showing the decreasing cost and size of mobile devices, in conjunction with more capable hardware and services.
Interestingly, the “phone of the future” will support HD graphics, electronic payments and can be used as a game console. Galaxy Nexus owners are already living in the future then as the smartphone with its NFC chip can be used as wireless wallet, is great for watching HD videos and connects to console-quality game services in the cloud, such as OnLive, right now. | <urn:uuid:fe5c09b6-fe0a-49cd-bb69-293dd41e84a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gigaom.com/2011/12/18/a-visual-history-of-mobiles-past-present-and-future/comment-page-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949302 | 189 | 2.3125 | 2 |
What is meconium?
By Louise Rogers on 09/08/2006 12:38:56
The presence of meconium in your waters can signal health concerns for your new baby. What should you look for and what should you do?
later poos, sterile. It’s made up of everything your baby has ingested while in the womb, such as mucus, amniotic fluid, water, lanugo (that downy hair babies have) and intestinal epithelial cells. For the majority of babies, it is simply the first poo | <urn:uuid:dbd811ff-1b00-4533-b953-84138e90f4d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thinkbaby.co.uk/search/articles/low-amniotic-fluid/author/louise-rogers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939417 | 117 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Nearly 40% of farmers in the U.S. are 55 or older. That’s why finding young, prosperous farmers is no easy task. But over the next eight weeks, AgDay will feature young farmers in a series called "The New Crop." They’re possibly the next generation of ag leaders.
Electrician by trade; farmer by blood. At age 31, Tim Rosenwinkel has been farming full-time for eight years. Farming wasn’t his first job. He decided to return home to become the third generation on the farm after working as an electrician.
"We’ve put up more grain bins for future growth and expansion," Rosenwinkel says. "Just constantly updating things here, making a lot more things more automated."
That’s where his handywork has regenerated a weathered system.
"I’ve pretty much redone the entire grain set-up from top to bottom," he says. "Our second corn dryer that we got I’m going to hook it up to internet access next year. So, that way, from my iPad or my phone, I can monitor from the combine or my house to make sure it’s running, moisture is OK and troubleshoot it, too."
Expanding the farm has been a priority for Rosenwinkel. But in his early 30s, he’s doing so with caution.
"You never want to take too big of a step too fast and go backwards," he says.
Farming in this area comes with a hefty price tag. This Illinois precious land is currently going anywhere from $9,000 to $12,000 an acre. He says this creates lending limits and other issues in trying to acquire new land. And that’s only part of the equation. Trying to launch into farming at a young age doesn’t make things any easier.
"The capital investment is the hardest part," Rosenwinkel says. "I mean the machinery and cost of the iron. Then of course the inputs get higher every year. You’re operating notes. It’s a lot of money to get into it. And without help, without being able to grow little by little, it’s just too challenging. Luckily I have an opportunity to carry on after my dad."
The face of farming has changed since his dad began. A major task is coming up with a plan of attack in conquering such volatile commodity markets.
"I’m young, so I guess I’m more bullish. I try to be conservative here and there to make sure I sell at some breakevens," he says.
Corn is his crop of choice.
"It all comes down to profit margins. Corn on corn, even with the yield drag, is still better than having soybeans."
Rosenwinkel says to stay competitive, producing more yield is the constant variable on the farm.
"As costs get higher, margins get tighter, you need more acres to justify it," he says.
Being willing to try new innovations is where this young farmer shines.
"We’re always doing plot data every year," Rosenwinkel says, "whether it’s with nitrogen stabilizers, insecticide plots, variable-rate populations. We’re always trying to see what we can do to get the yield, and not just get the yield, but make sure we cover the added costs of getting the yield and make sure we’re making something off that added investment."
That investment is paying off. Even in years when Mother Nature doesn’t provide a key ingredient in farming, yields were close to average. Despite those challenges, each pass through the golden corn field reminds him why he’s so fortunate to be doing what he loves. | <urn:uuid:d380032f-1b2d-4d5b-a95b-372a87b9bfdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/topproducer/article/the_new_crop_farming_a_notch_above_the_rest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962051 | 794 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Home > EVENTS & EXHIBITS HAPPENING ON December 3rd, 2012
EXTENDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND!
Open Now Through May 5
Bob the BuilderTM - Project: Build It will bring Bob's world to life for girls and boys and their families.
Filled with colorful characters and sensational sets, the exhibit promotes "green" themes from the popular television series.
Now Through April 21, 2013
Indiana Jones™ and the Adventure of Archaeology, presented by the National Geographic Society, immerses you in the science and history of field archaeology. Walk in the footsteps of beloved film hero Indiana Jones as you embark on this interactive museum adventure.
Inside the kitchen, much more is going on than pouring and mixing – it’s science at work! Our holiday festival is filled with festive activities designed to bring families together this holiday season. Plus, check out award-winning Gingerbread Competition entries displayed throughout the Center!
Join us as we partner with Toys for Tots to bring holiday toys to children in need this holiday season! Bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more to Discovery Science Center November 26 - December 21 and get FREE general admission to the Science Center!
*Limit one admission per person, per toy donated. Free admission valid for same-day use only. Admission ticket does not include Indiana JonesTM and the Adventure of Archaeology.
Join us on first Monday of every month (October to May) as we host a free Educators’ Workshop from 4pm to 6pm.
Each educational event includes a hands-on science workshop including standard-based concepts and exploratory visits to the Center’s exhibits related to those topics.
Each workshop will address a variety of concepts and their applications across all grade levels with added emphasis on avoiding misconceptions. | <urn:uuid:8c4ab6f0-02e9-4aa4-892c-a1825d35b542> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.discoverycube.org/exhibits/2012-12-03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919891 | 376 | 1.96875 | 2 |
It is becoming quite apparent that businesses, big and small, need to understand how decision-making affects their entire operations. When making decisions, managers in organizations apply either a programmed or a non programmed decision-makings process. Both processes are affected by the culture of the society in which the decision is being made. For example, mangers in countries with relatively low tolerance for ambiguity, such as Japan and Germany, avoid non programmed decisions as making. Operating manuals in organizations in these cultures tend to be relatively thick. In contrast, mangers in countries with relatively high tolerance for ambiguity, such as the United States and Norway, seek responsibility for non-programmed decision making. The secrets of effective decision making lie in the balance between rational and intuitive thought. The following strategies provide a useful framework for making effective decision.
- Determine the problem and identify the goals to be accomplished by your decision.
- Engage your intuition. Get in touch with your instant feeling on the situation and make note of it.
- Collect data. Don’t be too obsessed with researching every piece of available information.
- Identify the actions needed to accomplish your established goals.
- Develop a list of pros and cons for each possible action (each pro and con need not be weighted equally). Monitor your emotional reactions to each option.
- Enlist the opinions of others and then make an intuitive judgment about the best action to perform.
Programmed and Non-programmed Decision-Making:
The programmed decision-making process, which is by far the most commonly used in organizations, entails making decisions based on precedent, custom, policies and procedures, and training and development. An advantage of this approach is that the basis for a decision can be pretested for efficiency, which reduces risk and stress for decision makers (“I followed the procedures manual”, “I did it the way it is supposed to be done, or “I did it the way it has always been done”). A disadvantage of this approach is that when the organization’s environment changes, the programmed bases for decision making often become obsolete and ineffective, which can lead to decision-making ineffectiveness. Of courses, some of the advantages and disadvantages are culturally determined. For example, people in some cultures do not like too much challenge; they prefer a structured environment that provides certainty and become frustrated in ambiguous, challenging situations. People in other cultures prefer challenge and become bored in an environment that provides too much structure.
The non-programmed decision-making process analyzing current data and information, obtained through a systematic investigation of the current environment, for the purpose of identifying and solving problem. Two approaches to this process are rational decision making and satisfying decision making.
1. The Rational Decision – Making Process
Rational Decision-Making has long been thought of as the predominant method to strive for in making smart decisions. This process includes identifying objectives, gathering facts, analyzing the alternatives and mapping the most efficient course of action. In Western Culture, the steps in the rational decision-making process are as follows:
- Define the problem.
- Identify a set of minimum criteria on which to base the decision.
- Identify multiple viable choices.
- Quantitatively, evaluate each viable choice on the basis of each criterion.
- Select the optimum choice, the one with the highest quantitative value, and
- Implement the Choice. In Western cultures, the “ideal” decision model thus presumes an optimum choice among valuable alternatives.
2. The Satisfying Decision-Making Process
The satisfying approach assumes that there is in incompleteness of information; that is, decision makers do not possess the information necessary to optimize. Therefore, they satisfied; they select the first choice that meets some minimum criteria, that is, the first choice that is ‘good enough.” They do not identify multiple viable choices. An advantage of satisfying over the rational approach is that it is quicker and thus less expensive. A disadvantage is that you may be foregoing a better solution.
The Impact of Culture on Non-programmed Decision Making
The validity of the non-programmed decision-making process as a prescription for decision-making behavior is affected by culture. Culture has been defined as “the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that influence a group’s response to its environment” Since the characteristics vary from group to group, people in different cultures are likely to have different preferences for a certain state of affairs, for specific social processes, and for “general rules for selective attention, interpretation of environmental cues, and responses”. As such, people indifferent cultures view and react to problems differently. What is rational in one culture may be irrational in another, and vice versa.
Source: Cross Cultural Business Management Notes-MGU | <urn:uuid:ea1ce330-722a-4c6b-bb8c-624cfeed06ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mbaknol.com/management-articles/cross-cultural-decision-making/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936308 | 981 | 2.78125 | 3 |
More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease, and the National Institute on Aging estimates that that number is going to triple by 2050 — in part due to aging baby boomers.
The cost of coping with the disease — currently estimated at $215 billion — is projected to rise to half a trillion dollars by 2050. That amount will likely tax our overburdened health care system, the economy and the families of those affected.
Amy Goyer realized her 84-year-old father Robert's health was deteriorating one night while watching a movie with him.
When the American Psychiatric Association releases its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-- DSM-5 -- this weekend, lots of journalists and commentators will refer to it as "psychiatry's bible."
That's a term that makes the manual's authors and other mental experts cringe.
A car driven by a 19-year-old man crashed into a tree in Bates Township, Mich., in April. The Iron County Sheriff's Department said investigators believed the driver, who survived the crash, was drunk and speeding.
The health-care system was already complex enough, and it's getting more confusing as the main portions of the Affordable Care Act are about to go into effect Jan. 1. This is the time when con men can take advantage of the confusion, particularly targeting senior citizens.
Hundreds of clinics have opened in chain drugstores across the country and more are coming on line every day as the need for primary care grows and delays face those who need access to a doctor, asThe Palm Beach Post reports.
A study of genetically identical mice is providing some hints about humans. How can one identical twin be a wallflower while the other is the life of the party?
The study of 40 young mice found that their behavior grew increasingly different over three months, even though the mice shared the same genes and lived in the same five-level cage, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
I'm Robert Siegel. And we start this hour with health care - what it costs hospitals, what it costs the government and how states are moving to expand coverage for the poor. We'll begin with the news that the Obama administration today released the first ever national data on what hospitals actually charge for Medicare patients.
When the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing recently, members expressed concern that veterans might not qualify for subsidies for the new health insurance marketplaces if they were enrolled in VA health coverage.
Men still need a prescription for the diamond-shaped blue pills. But instead of going to the pharmacy in person, or taking their chances buying from an online pharmacy of unknown repute, men will be able to buy Viagra from the maker of the drug itself and have it shipped to their homes. | <urn:uuid:188d7623-9327-4205-9295-c656ab9c2ca0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://health.wusf.usf.edu/term/consumer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956365 | 597 | 2.078125 | 2 |
More women are taking lead positions in business, but what is stopping most from making it to the top? The Washington Post recently asked the same question.
Our recent Catalyst report, The Myth of the Ideal Worker , reveals that women do ask for raises and promotions. They just don’t get as much in return.
The research focused on career paths of high-potential men and women, drawing on thousands of MBA graduates from top schools around the world. Catalyst found that, among those who had moved on from their first post-MBA job, there was no significant difference in the proportion of women and men who asked for increased compensation or a higher position.
Yet the rewards were different.
Women who initiated such conversations and changed jobs post MBA experienced slower compensation growth than the women who stayed put. For men, on the other hand, it paid off to change jobs and negotiate for higher salaries—they earned more than men who stayed did. And we saw that as both men’s and women’s careers progress, the gender gap in level and pay gets even wider.
Photo by Toni Kaarttinen | <urn:uuid:7fec5565-ce1a-4062-bf3d-6cf7fb7052f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2012/01/11/uneven-ground-for-women-in-business/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978922 | 231 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Homeless Drug Users' Awareness and Risk Perception of Peer "Take Home Naloxone" Use - A Qualitative Study
Background: Peer use of take home naloxone has the potential to reduce drug related deaths. There appears to be a paucity of research amongst homeless drug users on the topic. This study explores the acceptability and potential risk of peer use of naloxone amongst homeless drug users. From the findings the most feasible model for future treatment provision is suggested.
Methods: In depth face-to-face interviews conducted in one primary care centre and two voluntary organisation centres providing services to homeless drug users in a large UK cosmopolitan city. Interviews recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically by framework techniques.
Results: Homeless people recognise signs of a heroin overdose and many are prepared to take responsibility to give naloxone, providing prior training and support is provided. Previous reports of the theoretical potential for abuse and malicious use may have been overplayed.
Conclusion: There is insufficient evidence to recommend providing "over the counter" take home naloxone" to UK homeless injecting drug users. However a programme of peer use of take home naloxone amongst homeless drug users could be feasible providing prior training is provided. Peer education within a health promotion framework will optimise success as current professionally led health promotion initiatives are failing to have a positive impact amongst homeless drug users. (Authors)
Type of Resource: | <urn:uuid:08902304-6770-4552-aa73-843beda2eef7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://homeless.samhsa.gov/Resource/Homeless-Drug-Users-Awareness-and-Risk-Perception-of-Peer-Take-Home-Naloxone-Use---A-Qualitative-Study-26290.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922539 | 294 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Casey, Toomey, PA Members of House: Revise Regulation To Prevent Closure of 14 PA Waste Coal Plants, Stop Shifting Of Cost To Remove Coal Refuse Piles To Taxpayers
In Letter, Senators, Congressmen Ask EPA To Separate Waste Coal Plants In New Regulations - Move Could Save Jobs, Taxpayer Money in Commonwealth
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a separate subcategory for waste coal plants in new regulations that could otherwise cause them to close. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Casey and Toomey said that Pennsylvania waste coal plants make an important environmental contribution by reducing coal refuse piles in the state. But Pennsylvania's waste coal plants need the agency's new regulations to better reflect the unique nature of cleaning up waste coal.
Casey and Toomey's letter was joined by several members of Pennsylvania's delegation, including Representatives: Mark Critz (D-PA) Jason Altmire (D-PA), Tim Holden (D-PA) Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Lou Barletta (R-PA), Tom Marino (R-PA), Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Bill Shuster (R-PA).
In Pennsylvania, 14 affected waste coal plants help reduce coal refuse that is located in abandoned piles in communities across the state, which improves the environment and livability in countless cities and towns. As the companies continue to reduce waste coal, the EPA has set new emissions standards for utilities. Pennsylvania's plants have low mercury emissions and are on track to meet the new standards, yet one aspect of the new rule does not recognize the unique nature of the waste coal business: the fact that the hydrochloric acid (HCl) standard could push these plants out of business.
"Pennsylvania's waste coal plants are making important contributions to communities across the state by creating jobs and improving the environment. It's important that the EPA takes this commonsense step to allow Pennsylvania companies to continue to grow the economy while reducing emissions," Sen. Casey said. "It's time EPA give Pennsylvania's waste coal companies the certainty they need to continue their work."
"As Pennsylvania's waste coal plants continue to make strides in reducing coal refuse, it is important that the EPA fully recognizes their environmental benefits and unique operations," Sen. Toomey said. "Without this commonsense change, many of Pennsylvania's waste coal plants may be forced to close their doors, hurting our state's already fragile economy and costing us jobs."
Casey and Toomey's letter asks the EPA to recognize the role that waste coal plants play in reducing the amount of waste coal in communities across the state and to tailor the regulation to allow waste coal plants to continue their work as they move forward with reducing emissions.
The Senators wrote, "We are concerned about the effect that the current HCl emission limit could have on the ability of these plants to operate because this industry provides so many benefits to people and the environment. This industry provides the only current viable option for removing coal refuse stockpiles from the environment without shifting such costs to public sources. Should that option become unavailable, the entire responsibility for removal and clean-up would fall on taxpayers and the government, a task the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has testified would cost billions of dollars and take over 500 years to accomplish."
The full copy of Casey and Toomey's letter can be seen below:
The Honorable Lisa Jackson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Jackson:
We are writing in regard to the 14 coal-refuse-to-energy plants that are located in Pennsylvania and are affected by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards ("MATS rule"). These plants provide unique environmental benefits by using state-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed ("CFB") technology to convert coal refuse into energy. The coal refuse these plants use is derived from both past and current mining activities. Operation of these plants results in the reclamation of idle or abandoned mine lands and strip mines as well as the abatement of acid mine drainage from these lands, all at no cost to taxpayers.
We have been informed that the coal refuse to energy plants can meet the MATS mercury standard and that these plants are so effective in removing mercury that such emissions are typically measured in ounces per year, some of the lowest levels in the country. We have also been told that the plants can meet the MATS particulate matter emission rate which is used as a surrogate for the non-mercury HAP metals. However, we have been informed that the EPA study conducted by Sargent & Lundy (used as a basis for the MATS rule) did not consider the effects of the MATS HCl standard on coal refuse fired CFB boilers. Consequently, the plant operators state that they cannot economically meet the MATS rule HCl emission limit.
Fuel switching is not an option for these plants as that would end the environmentally beneficial reclamation results that the industry produces. Thus, we ask you to consider modifying the MATS rule through the creation of a subcategory-specific HCl emission limitation so that these sources may continue to provide critical environmental benefits in Pennsylvania. This request aligns with the approach that EPA has taken toward sub-categorization under other MACT regulations.
We are concerned about the effect that the current HCl emission limit could have on the ability of these plants to operate because this industry provides so many benefits to people and the environment. This industry provides the only current viable option for removing coal refuse stockpiles from the environment without shifting such costs to public sources. Should that option become unavailable, the entire responsibility for removal and clean-up would fall on taxpayers and the government, a task the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has testified would cost billions of dollars and take over 500 years to accomplish.
These plants work closely with a variety of local watershed groups to reclaim abandoned mine lands and convert polluted streams into clean and useable waterways. We have been informed that since the plants' inception, approximately 189 million tons of coal refuse has been removed from surface lands, over 6,700 acres of land has been reclaimed and hundreds of miles of streams have been restored to support aquatic life. These results have produced positive environmental and safety benefits and have energized local volunteer watershed groups into leveraging these reclamation efforts in conjunction with their activities.
Besides the environmental benefits, these plants directly employ over 1,000 people, with additional thousands employed indirectly. We believe the economic stimulus from the plants to economically distressed areas of Pennsylvania is considerable. Removal of waste coal piles across Pennsylvania also benefits communities that have long lived with the legacy of problems associated with abandoned "gob" and "culm" piles that were created before environmental regulations existed.
In order to ensure that coal-refuse-to-energy plants are able to continue providing critical environmental benefits, we ask you to consider a subcategory-specific HCl emission limitation under the MATS rule. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We look forward to your response and to working with you in the future.
Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator
Patrick J. Toomey
United States Senator | <urn:uuid:b7717b22-1f17-4936-ad7e-860b774d0d6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=726 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952903 | 1,504 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Michael J. Ross writes "If you were to ask some database developers to cite their favorite strategies for expanding the functionality of the relational database management systems with which they work, you would probably hear a variety of answers. One individual might recommend the use of an alternate database engine optimized for the given application. Another might explain the many advantages of using stored procedures to replace SQL queries embedded in the source code of any programs that connect to databases. But one answer you likely would not receive involves changing the internals of the database engine itself. With the latest major release of MySQL, developers using that particular RDBMS are now able to extend the capabilities of the built-in database engines, by creating plug-ins. This is the topic of a book by Sergei Golubchik and Andrew Hutchings: MySQL 5.1 Plugin Development." Read on for the rest of Michael's review.This title was released by Packt Publishing on 26 August 2010, under the ISBN 978-1849510608. On the publisher's page for the book, visitors will find a detailed description, the table of contents, a sample chapter (the fourth one in the book, "Information Schema Plugins," as a PDF file), and links to purchase the print and/or electronic versions of the book. There is also a link for downloading all of the sample code used in the book, except for the commands found in the first chapter. The sample code is sufficient to demonstrate the complexity of the subject area, and thus it is good that both authors possess a lot of experience in all of the primary technologies discussed in the book — particularly MySQL. In fact, Sergei Golubchik was one of the principal architects of the MySQL Plug-in application programming interface (API). Incidentally, in the "About the Authors" section, we read that he "has continued as a MySQL AB employee since 2000," which makes it sound as though he is still employed there (now Oracle); but then we are told that he resigned to join a startup firm, which is a bit confusing.
|MySQL 5.1 Plugin Development|
|author||Sergei Golubchik and Andrew Hutchings|
|reviewer||Michael J. Ross|
|summary||A practical and example-rich introduction to developing MySQL plug-ins.|
The book spans 288 pages, most of which are organized into ten chapters, followed by an appendix and an index. The first chapter explains the details of how to compile, link, and install MySQL User Defined Functions (UDFs), as well as proper MySQL plug-ins. For those people working on Windows platforms, numerous screenshots are provided, showing how to work with Microsoft Visual Studio (which is freely available). Readers learn how to use MySQL command-line utilities for building and packaging plug-ins, and the options needed to do so. The subsequent chapter focuses on UDFs — both normal and aggregate ones — which are technically not part of the MySQL Plugin API, although they may be in the future. However, they can be thought of as precursors to true plug-ins, because they are written in C/C++, loaded dynamically at runtime, and extend the capabilities of the MySQL server — in this case, by being callable from within SQL statements. The authors explicate how to install and utilize UDFs, and provide several examples.
The book's remaining chapters explore different types of plug-ins, starting with the most basic kind of all, Daemon plug-ins, which can run code utilizing a dedicated thread in the mysqld server process. Readers are shown how Daemon plug-ins are structured — including their declarations, types, status variables, and configuration system variables. To demonstrate these components, the authors dissect four separate sample plug-ins, line by line, with a great deal of helpful commentary. The next two chapters, 4 and 5, delve into schema-related plug-ins, starting with those that create tables, and ending with more advanced topics, such as how to access and output information about a server's internal data structures. These two chapters present almost half a dozen examples, as equally detailed as those of the earlier material.
During the past several years, all relational database systems are seeing increased use of full-text parsing, for various purposes. Chapters 6 and 7 show the reader how to create plug-ins that supplement the full-text search capabilities already baked into MySQL. The first sample plug-in presented by the authors could be used by PHP programmers for parsing their scripts, while another sample could be used by developers who need to match user input (which may include typos), using a Soundex algorithm. The final three chapters cover many aspects of storage engines, ranging from a basic read-only engine to a more complex one that supports indexes. The book concludes with an appendix that surveys the primary enhancements to the Plug-in API that database developers may see in versions of MySQL after 5.1.
On the publisher's site, there are no reported errata, but here are some that I found in just the first couple pages, to get the list started: "class [a] to" (page 1), "on [a] MySQL fork" (page 2), and "ask [the] questions" (page 2). Also, countless phrases and sentences in the book are oddly constructed, with multi-word adjectives missing hyphens, commas used where semicolons are called for, and sometimes both mistakes committed in the same sentence, such as the very first sentence of the preface. In fact, the lead author admits that he prefers reading fiction to a dictionary. Regardless, the information and instruction provided by the authors are generally clear to the reader, and ably illustrated with the sample code.
The book and thus the reader benefit greatly from the extensive MySQL experience and knowledge of the authors, reflected in the depth of coverage of the various topics. MySQL 5.1 Plugin Development brings together valuable information that is otherwise tedious to find — scattered throughout the API source code, official documentation, and online forum threads. For any programmer interested in unleashing the full potential of their MySQL servers through the creation and use of plug-ins, this book is an essential resource.
Michael J. Ross is a freelance website developer and writer.
You can purchase MySQL 5.1 Plugin Development from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page. | <urn:uuid:087fa571-95f2-47c2-9880-de7eb5b16513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.slashdot.org/story/10/11/01/1338249/MySQL-51-Plugin-Development/informative-comments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931308 | 1,327 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Multiphase flowmeter market growing fast
Multiphase flowmeters are an evolving technology and the fastest growing flowmeter type, outpacing ultrasonic and other new-technology flowmeters, according to a new study from Flow Research, The World Market for Multiphase Flowmeters. The study found that the multiphase flowmeter market totaled $240.0 million in 2011. The market is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 14.5 percent through 2016 until it reaches $472.2 million. While the bulk of these revenues are from multiphase meters, some also come from dual phase meters manufactured by multiphase meter suppliers.
Multiphase flowmeters determine the percent of gas, water, and oil that makes up the fluid as it comes out of an oil or gas well. They then use other values to determine the flowrate of each fluid. This information is very valuable because it tells the operator how much of each type of fluid is coming out of the well before the fluids are separated. Multiphase flowmeters also yield valuable information about the condition of the oil or gas well where the drilling occurs.
—News brief courtesy of Automation.com | <urn:uuid:9d587ed9-b3df-4ebc-8ea5-f72d34679988> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isa.org/InTechTemplate.cfm?template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=91322 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930621 | 246 | 1.828125 | 2 |
In the case of a disaster, your pets are your responsibility. If you evacuate, you must evacuate your pet. Make plans for emergencies that include where to take your pet and how to supply your pet with the things that it needs.
Arrange for a safe haven for your pets - never leave them behind!
- Contact your veterinarian for a list of boarding kennels.
- Identify hotels or motels outside of your immediate area that accept pets.
- Ask friends or relatives outside your immediate area if they would take in your pet.
- Ask your local animal shelter if it provides foster care or shelter for pets in an emergency. This should be your last resort, as shelters have limited resources and are likely to be stretched during an emergency.
Have an emergency kit handy for your pet. This should include:
- Pet first-aid kit and guide book.
- Canned (pop-top) or dry food.
- Disposable litter trays.
- Litter or paper toweling.
- Pet feeding dishes.
- Extra leash.
- Photocopies of medical records and any medicines your pet may need.
- Bottle water.
- Photographs of your pet.
Time is of the essence when you must evacuate your home in a crisis. Minimize evacuation time by taking these simple steps:
- Store an emergency kit and leashes as close to your exit as possible or store it in your car.
- Make sure all pets are collared with up-to-date information. Tags should contain your name, phone number and any urgent needs.
- Microchip your pet. The shelter and Humane Society will do this for a small fee.
- Bring pets indoors at the first sign or warning of a storm or disaster.
- Consider your evacuation route and call ahead to make arrangements for taking your pet with you.
If you stay at home during a natural catastrophe:
- Locate rooms that offer safe havens.
- Have plenty of fresh water (fill up bathtubs and sinks) and food.
- In case of flooding, look for the highest location in your home with access to counters or high shelves where animals can take shelter.
- Don't allow your pets to roam loose. Pets can become disoriented and get lost.
- Keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers inside the house. If your house is damaged, they could escape and become lost.
These sources can help: | <urn:uuid:028188f3-8c14-49c3-852e-2440dab75f74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alachuacounty.us/Depts/PW/animalServices/petResources/Pages/DisasterPreparation.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910903 | 508 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
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Page 297 Pepino The pepino dulce 1 (Solanum muricatum) is a common fruit in the markets of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. It comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and qualities. Many are exotically colored in bright yellow set off with jagged purple streaks. Most are about as big as goose eggs; some are bigger. Inside, they are somewhat like honeydew melons: watery and pleasantly flavored, but normally not overly sweet. 2 Despite the fact that South Americans enjoy this fruit, there seems to be a curious lack of awareness for its commercial possibilities elsewhere. Although pepinos are related to, and grown like, tomatoes, they nevertheless remain a little-known crop, and their various forms are currently unexplored and underexploited. This plant's obscurity may not last much longer. In Chile, New Zealand, and California, the pepino (pronounced peh-pee-noh) is beginning to be produced under the most modern and scientifically controlled conditions. As a result, international markets are opening up. For example, the fruit has recently been successfully introduced to up-scale markets in Europe, Japan, and the United States. In Japan, consumers have an insatiable appetite for pepinos, and in recent years they have bought them at prices among the highest paid for any fruit in the world. Pepinos are offered as desserts, as gifts, and as showpieces. Often they are individually wrapped, boxed, and tied with ribbons. Some trendy stores display pepinos whether they sell or not. Its success in Japan is perhaps an indication of its future: the pepino is attractive, it has a good shelf life, it is tasty, and its shape and compact size are ideal for marketing. 1 In Spanish, “pepino dulce” means “sweet cucumber.” Regrettably, the shortened name “pepino” is becoming the common name for this fruit in English, for in Spanish “pepino” refers only to the cucumber. This fruit, however, is botanically related to tomatoes and is nothing like a cucumber. 2 Cieza de León, the Spanish chronicler of the Incas, related that “in truth, a man needs to eat many before he loses his taste for them.”
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Page 298 PROSPECTS The Andes. Pepino is an ideal home garden plant; it grows readily from cuttings and is cheap to produce, and increased demand could greatly benefit home producers. Given attention by horticulturists, a colorful array of pepino types—both traditional and newly bred—could bring increased appeal to consumers from Colombia to Argentina. The transition to more extensive production has already begun. In the coastal valleys of Peru, there are some large fields of pepinos (usually rotated with potatoes, corn, and other crops). Lima is provided with the fruits year-round, and a small export trade has begun. In Ecuador, too, a few fields are grown under advanced agricultural conditions. In Chile, more than 400 hectares of pepinos are planted in the Longotoma Valley, and increasing quantities are being exported, notably to Europe. Formation of cooperatives to develop markets, coordinate transport, and control quality could lead to greater local and export earnings. There are parts of the Andes that are unaware of this crop. In Colombia, for instance, it is hardly known in most of the highland departments, although in San Agustín (Valle) and Manizales (Caldas), there are large farms (fincas) that specialize in pepinos. Other Developing Areas. In addition to its wide cultivation in outh America, the plant has been introduced to Central America, Morocco, Spain, Israel, and the highlands of Kenya. Relatively unknown in other nations but worth trying in all warm-temperate areas, this seems to be a crop with a big future fast approaching. Commercial pepino production has been suggested for southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, the highlands of Haiti, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Mexico—as well as for the cooler areas of Africa and Asia (particularly China). Industrialized Regions. This crop has potential for production in many parts of Europe, North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, North America, Australasia, South Africa, and Japan, although in some areas it may have to be grown under glass or plastic to produce the sweet, unblemished fruits demanded by the top-paying markets. As noted, pepino is already an established crop in New Zealand. In the United States, it is grown on a small scale in Hawaii and California, where several hundred hectares are now under commercial cultivation. This seems to be the beginning of a promising new addition to the horticultural resources of much of the temperate zones.
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Page 299 ~ enlarge ~ The pepino has been called “a decadent fruit for the '90s.” It is sweet, succulent, and melts in the mouth. (Frieda's Finest) USES The pepino is so versatile that it can be a component of any part of a meal: refreshment, appetizer, entree, or dessert. South Americans and Japanese eat it almost exclusively as a fresh dessert. It is highly suited to culinary experimentation. For instance, New Zealanders have served it with soups, seafood, sauces, prosciutto, meats, fish, fruit salads, and desserts. The fruits can also be frozen, jellied, dried, canned, or bottled. Pepinos are often peeled because the skin of some varieties has a disagreeable flavor. It pulls off easily, however. The number of seeds depends on the cultivar, but even when present, the seeds are soft, tiny, and edible, and because they occur in a cluster at the center of the fruit they are easily removed.
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Page 300 NUTRITION As a source of vitamin C, the pepino is as good as many citrus fruits, containing about 35 mg per 100 g. It also supplies a fair amount of vitamin A. Otherwise, it is 92 percent water and only 7 percent carbohydrates. The fruits are normally subacid. Levels of 10–12 Brix (sugar concentration) are common. 3 AGRONOMY All pepino cultivars are propagated vegetatively. Cuttings establish roots so easily that mist sprays or growth hormones are usually unnecessary. Tissue culture is also possible. 4 By and large, pepino is grown like its relatives, tomato and eggplant. With its natural upright habit of growth and fruiting, it may be cultivated as a free-standing bush or as a pruned crop on trellises. (Supports can be used to keep the weight of the fruit from pulling the plant to the ground.) The plant grows quickly and can flower and set fruit 4–6 months after planting. It is a perennial but is usually cultivated as an annual. Undemanding in its basic requirements, the plant has wide adaptability to altitude, latitude, and soils. When young, it is intolerant of weeds, but it later smothers any low-growing competition. Established bushes show some tolerance to drought stress, quickly recovering vegetative growth, although their yield may be depressed. In dry regions, irrigation is normally used. The plants are parthenocarpic, which means they need no pollination to set fruit. However, self-pollination or cross-pollination greatly encourages fruiting. HARVESTING AND HANDLING Pepinos are harvested when fruits have a pale yellow or cream background color (at least in the popular cultivars El Camino and Suma). Fruits left on the plant until overripe often have poor flavor. Harvesting must be done carefully because the fruits bruise easily and finger markings show up. With current varieties, the fruits on a single bush mature at different times, and several pickings are necessary throughout the warm season. Yields of 40–60 tons per hectare are not 3 Any dessert-quality fruit should be sweet, with Brix levels above 8—preferably 12 or even more. Information from S. Dawes. 4 Pepinos are easily propagated by seed, but usually the seedlings are inferior to their parents. Seedlings, however, normally differ widely from each other, which allows breeders to search for superior new strains.
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Page 301 ~ enlarge ~ Auckland, New Zealand. Over the last 20 years, New Zealand horticulturists have taken up the pepino as a commercial crop and have developed it, probably to a greater extent than in any other country. Their varieties derive from clonal material, introduced from Chile (following heat treatment to remove viruses). Today, pepinos are being grown on many hectares, much of it under glass, and the fruits are shipped to North America, Japan, and Europe. In fact, since 1984, pepinos have been one of New Zealand's most lucrative fruit exports. (New Zealand Herald) uncommon, and even more may be possible under greenhouse conditions. The fruits are susceptible to chilling injury and are stored at 10–12°C. At this temperature they may keep in good condition for 4–6 weeks. (Sea freighting may be possible from many countries.) A fruit taken out of storage has a shelf life of several weeks at room temperature. LIMITATIONS The pepino is a little-studied crop, with sparse factual data or commercial field experience behind it. Particular areas of uncertainty include the following. Fruit Quality Few sweet varieties also have good horticultural and marketing qualities; the skin, although edible, is often tough and bitter; and improperly ripened fruit have a bad aftertaste.
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Page 302 Lack of Adaptability The best fruit candidates are insufficiently hardy for cultivation in many cool areas and are susceptible to nematodes. High temperatures retard their growth and reduce the quality of their fruits, and drought readily kills the bushes because of their shallow roots. Horticulture Cultural conditions and plant nutrition can greatly affect fruit color, sweetness, taste, and overall quality in ways that are not yet fully understood. Fruit Set Poor fruit set is often a problem. The causes seem to include over-fertilizing, which fosters vegetative growth rather than flowering, and high temperatures, which cause the flowers to abort. 5 Pests and Diseases The plant's susceptibility to pests and diseases in regions of intensive agriculture is scarcely known. Although attacks have rarely been of economic importance, more intensive cultivation of larger areas may intensify disease and pest problems. Aphids, spider mites, and whitefly already have been serious problems in California and New Zealand. Nematodes and root rot have also been concerns. In addition, the plants have shown susceptibility to viruses. RESEARCH NEEDS Fruit Quality Research is needed to better understand the causes of the insipid flavor of many pepinos. If the flavor can be sharpened and strengthened, the crop's future will be more secure. Approaches might include analysis of the effects on flavor of different varieties, stages of picking, postharvest handling, fertilization, and perhaps the use of salt. 6 Cultivation Cropping systems have not been investigated in depth, and most commercial growers rely on tomato technology. Future agronomic research should include analysis of different cultivation practices, stress tolerance, plant nutrition and irrigation, light and temperature requirements, pollination, and methods for training and supporting the plants (such as trellising). Plant Physiology The physiological problems relating to fruit set need to be better understood. Also, a convenient method for judging ripeness, other than using fruit color, would be extremely valuable. Genetic Development Because pepino reproduces easily by seed, it can be improved readily through selection of sexual variants from cross-pollination. The mixed genetic composition (heterozygosity) 5 Hermann, 1988. 6 Tomatoes grown with saline irrigation have become a premium export of Israel because of their tangy taste.
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Page 303 allows considerable range in character selection. Added to this, vegetative propagation is simple, which means that any mutant type can be perpetuated without difficulty and clonal lines established. 7 Market Development The creation of a new crop requires the development of marketing as well as horticulture. Because pepinos are new to consumers outside the Andes, markets are unstable. Furthermore, there is a lack of basic marketing knowledge, consumer acceptability is unknown, and ultimate market demand is uncertain. Promotion and market development could do much to assure the steady advancement this crop deserves. Species Information Botanical Name Solanum muricatum Aiton Family Solanaceae (nightshade family) Botanical Synonyms Solanum variegatum Ruíz and Pavón; Solanum guatemalense Hort., and others Common Names Quechua: cachun, xachun Aymara: 'kachan, kachuma Spanish: pepino, pepino dulce, pepino blanco, pepino morado, pepino redondo, pepino de fruta, pepino de agua, mataserrano, peramelon (Canary Islands) English: pepino, Peruvian pepino, pear melon, melon pear, melon shrub, tree melon, sweet cucumber, mellowfruit, “kachano” (an Aymara derivative that has been suggested to avoid confusion with melons or cucumbers) Origin. The place and time of the pepino's domestication are unknown, but the plant is native to the temperate Andean highlands. It is known only in cultivation or as an escaped plant. It is an ancient crop, and is frequently represented on pre-Columbian Peruvian pottery. Description. This highly variable species is a sprawling, perennial herb that reaches about 1 m in height, with a woody base and fibrous roots. Several stems may arise from the base, and they may establish roots where they contact soil. The leaves may be simple or compound; when compound, the number of leaflets may vary from 3 to 7. The white to pale-purple to 7 Recent studies show that even immature seed is viable if germinated in nutrient agar. Information from J.R. Martineau.
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Page 304 bright-blue flowers occur in clusters. As noted, fruits can be produced without pollination (such parthenocarpic fruits are seedless), but fruit set is much greater when self- or cross-pollination occurs. Pollen is not usually abundant. As the stigma is longer than the anthers, pollination is unlikely to occur unless pollen is transferred by an insect or human hand. The fruit varies from globose to pointed oval. When ripe, the skin background color may be creamy to yellow-orange. Purple, gray, or green striping or blush colorations give the fruit distinctive appearance. The flesh may be greenish, yellow, salmon, or nearly clear. Horticultural Varieties. Pepinos appear in markets throughout the Andes, but although there are many distinct strains, few have been stabilized into named cultivars. In Chile, however, there are named varieties. All produce similar purple-striped, egg-shaped fruits. These are only slightly sweet, with a Brix rating generally less than 8. The purple stripes mask the bruise marks so common on the golden, unstriped pepinos. Chile is a major exporter, and its varieties are now also grown in California and New Zealand. In New Zealand, the most common cultivated varieties are El Camino and Suma. El Camino has medium to large egg-shaped fruit with regular purple stripes. For reasons that possibly have to do with mineral nutrients given to the plant, it sometimes produces off-flavored fruits (these are identifiable by their brownish green color). Suma is a vigorous cultivar producing heavy crops of medium to large globose fruits, with regular purple stripes and attractive appearance. Their flavor is mild and sweet. In California, New Yorker is the most widely grown cultivar. Since 1984, however, Miski Prolific has become equally popular. Its flesh is deep-salmon color, and its skin creamy white with light-purple stripes. There are a few seeds in each fruit. Environmental Requirements. Although this plant is native to equatorial latitudes, it is typically grown on sites that are cool. Thus, it is found in upland valleys, in coastal areas cooled by fog, and parts of Chile where the summers are not hot. Daylength. Since the pepino fruits well at many latitudes, it appears to be photoperiod-insensitive. Rainfall. 1,000 mm minimum, well distributed over several months. As noted, the pepino has little drought resistance, and in Chile and Peru irrigation is often used.
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Page 305 Altitude. The plant seems unaffected by altitude. It grows from sea level in Chile, New Zealand, and California to 3,300 m in Colombia. Low Temperature. Once established, the plant experiences frost damage at temperatures below −3°C. Seedlings are even more sensitive. Cool, wet weather during the harvest season results in skin cracking. High Temperature. The plant performs best at 18–20°C. With adequate moisture, it can tolerate intermittent temperatures above 30°C. However, fruit production then declines, particularly if both day and night temperatures are high. Soil Type. The plant thrives in moderately moist soils with good drainage. Soils should be above pH 6.0 to avoid disorders such as manganese toxicity and iron deficiency. If soil is too fertile, there can be problems of fruit set and fruit quality. Related Species. Solanum caripense (tzimbalo) is a possible wild ancestor, which crosses readily with pepino and bears edible fruit. It is a sprawling plant, more open and smaller than the pepino, that is fairly widespread in the Andes between 800 and 3,800 m elevation. Its fruits are elongate and slightly smaller than ping-pong balls. There is, however, little flesh to eat, for they are mostly juice and seeds. Some are rather intensely flavored, sweet, and occasionally leave a bitter aftertaste. The plant's advantages are early fruiting, abundant yields, and fairly tough-skinned fruit. Solanum tabanoense is a rare plant found between 2,800 and 3,500 m in southern Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The fruit has an appreciable amount of flesh and is similar to the pepino in size and taste. ~ enlarge ~
Representative terms from entire chapter: | <urn:uuid:14cce93e-71f3-43d7-80c8-6a83cf73672b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1398&page=296 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945073 | 4,058 | 2.5 | 2 |
The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks
Erik Rifkin, PhD & Edward Bouwer, PhD
Guest Author: Bob Sheff, MD
An exploration of risk assessment and how it can affect your medical decisons
“I view this book as I view Strunk’s little book, The Elements
of Style. It should be read and reread, lest we slip and make a serious cognitive error”.
J.Willis Hurst, MD, MACP
Published by Springer in 2007, "The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks" is a groundbreaking book that peels away the "veneer of certainty" which many of us attach to health risk and benefit information given to us in our daily lives.
It was written and designed primarily to assist the public in comprehending and interpreting the uncertainty associated with the overwhelming amount of information on medical and environmental health risks. The book uses unique, visual presentations (RCT: Risk Characterization Theater) and case studies to explain the benefits of medical screening tests (e.g., mammography, prostate and colorectal cancer screening, cholesterol screening) and drugs (e.g., statins, Vioxx) and the risks associated with exposure to environmental contaminants (e.g., lead, dioxin, radon).
This book will help patients and their families get more involved in making medical decisions, and citizens face critical questions about the environment. By putting the complexities of risk analysis in terms the general public can relate to, the authors are empowering people to make well-informed decisions. | <urn:uuid:1c2aa06c-c9a8-4d9b-a77e-7a54db280180> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theillusionofcertainty.com/ | 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 | 0.917995 | 329 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Politicians pretend their Twitter accounts are really from them, until it serves their purpose to deny it.
If you're on Twitter, perhaps you follow local, state and national politicians. Over time, it becomes obvious that many of the politicians aren't really doing the tweeting; their staff members are.
As social networking has an increasing impact on the media landscape, should there be a general ethical guideline on the practice? If you're not who you say you are, is there a responsibility to say who you are?
It bit Rep. Joe Barton today.
Barton, you may recall, is the House Republican who apologized to BP for the "shakedown" of $20 billion to compensate those affected by the Gulf oil spill.
Later, he apologized for his apology.
Today, however, Barton caused a stir when he tweeted this:
The link goes to an American Spectator article called, "Joe Barton Was Right.." Tweeting it suggested that Barton was unapologizing for his apology to BP.
But, no. Barton's Twitter account isn't really Barton. It's his spokesman, who told the Washington Post, "Without thinking about it much, I added a headline from one of the daily news clips to a website that is, in turn, linked to the congressman's Twitter account. Mr. Barton was not aware of the Tweet..."
Twitter, and other social media, had the capacity to change the relationship that people have with their politicians. Instead, it's offered a new avenue for deniability for things said in their name.
Joe Barton convoluted, almost nonsensical and I believe insincere apology was forced by Republican leadership. This Tweet likely reflects his real opinion.
Our members handle their own Twittering.
They don't write their own speeches, campaign commercials, or mailings either, but they are still responsible for what goes out in them. | <urn:uuid:6d90b421-a083-4ffc-8d5b-95374bf6dc4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2010/06/the_twitter_excuse.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9789 | 383 | 2.046875 | 2 |
There are four fountains with sculptures representing mythological figures around Market Square:
- on the south-western side –
- on the north-western side –
- on the north-eastern side -
- on the south-eastern side -
The fountain figures were made by Hartman Witwer (1774-1825) out of limestone.
They embody the allegory of earth (the sculptures of Diana and Adonis) and water (the sculptures of Neptune and Amphitrite).
The Market Square figures were created between 1810 and 1814.
These fountains are a good meeting point for people, especially for the first-time visitors of Lviv.
One of the first pictures of the entire group of VT Meeting participants was made in front of Amphitrite fountain.
There are a lot of unique city festivals that no other Ukrainian or Russian city can boast of:
Musical Arts Festival;
Days of Lviv
(a city festival observed on the second weekend of May
with a lot of colorful events)
When we had lunch at Gallery Cafe, we saw the participants of the International Children's Painting Festivals called Young Talents Under the Patronage of King Daniel and the Golden Easel competition.
That festival was taking place at Merchants' Tower center in Liberty Avenue.
We saw a lot of amazing kids' pictures and handicrafts. Good luck in the future, kids! :-)
Kinopalats at 22 Theater Street is a nice place to hide from the terrible rain and storm that often happen here in Lviv.
I enjoyesd my walk, but when the rainy weather became unbearable, I decided to see a new movie at this place.
It was Prince of Persia.
The ticket price was 35 UAH.
I enjoyed every minute of it!
Answering machine: +38 032 297 50 50;
Ticket reservation: +38 032 297 50 05.
The Ukraine is a country of cash, so it is always best to pay cash. The local currency is the "Hryvnia" (abbreviation: UAH) which is divided into 100 Kopecks.
In 2004/05 new banknotes were put into circulation, but the various old ones are still valid and in circulation as well.
This causes some confusion as you may have 2 or even more variations of the same banknote in your wallet.
In the last years the Ukrainian Hryvnia has been relatively stable. Nevertheless you might see some signs stating prices in US Dollar or Euro.
I usually prefer to get my money from cash points which can be found at almost every corner in Lviv. I really find it amazing how many banks you find in Ukrainian cities.
You can also exchange your local currency at one of the many exchange booths. As their rates might vary, I recommend to campare a few rates and ask how many Hryvnia you really get for your currency.
Just make sure that you don't have to pay a commission and that you count the money at the window in front of the person in charge.
Latin Cathedral is the main Roman-Catholic church in Lviv.
It was the first site we saw in Market Square. The cathedral was founded in 1349.
It was constructed during the centuries and absorbed the styles of different epochs.
There are precious relics in the central altar of the church, among them the wonder-working Icon of the Virgin Mary the Gentle.
You can see a memorial plaque dedicated to the visit of Pope John Paul II who attended a mass here on June 26, 2001.
The Chapel of the Boim Family is the only remaining part of the cathedral cemetery. It is located on the site.
Interactive Map of Lviv
There is a traditional market of popular handicrafts in the square located behind the Opera and Ballet Theater. This place is mostly for foreigners who have no time to look for good souvenirs at small shops around the city.
This is where you can buy a lot of souvenirs to take home with you: pictures, postcards, clothes and what not.
You can negotiate the price here, but the discount is usually not more than 5-10 UAH ($1).
when traveling by train, be prepared that your travel companions might be too excited to meet you. for some of them, you will be the first foreigner they have ever met on the train, or even in their life. Most likely they would not speak your language, but they will try to impress you with Ukrainian hospitality. Th Ukrainian hospitality might translate into ask you to share a dinner with them and in some cases, offer you a drink "za znayomstvo" ('nice to meet you' drink). The drink can range from a beer to numerous shots of vodka. Usually a polite ‘thank you’ and ‘no’ (dyakuyu, ya ne pyu - ukr.) will do, but if your travel companion keeps insisting, say that you take medication that do not go with alcohol (ya pryimayu liky - ukr.) In rare instances, which will hopefully never happens, your companion might keep bugging you. in that case, ask a conductor to move you to another compartment.
The city of Lviv was founded by Daniel (otherwise Danylo) of Galicia, a prince who later became a king, in 1256 – or at least that is when the first written mention of the city was made. He named the city after his son, Leo or Lev. From Leo to lion is not much of a jump, and so the lion became the city’s emblem.
We were told on the road train tour that there are over 3,000 images and statues of lions in the city! I didn’t see anything like that number in my short stay, but I did see a lot, so I am prepared to believe it. The two playful cubs in my main photo are just outside the entrance to the City Hall on Ploscha Rynok, and the winged lion in photo 2 is almost opposite them at the entrance to the Partisans’ Café. Meanwhile Daniel himself has his own statue in Galytska Square, as seen in photo 3.
We found the people of Lviv to be very friendly and welcoming. Several seemed to take a lot of interest in our group, especially when they realised that we came from so many different countries. The young man whom we “adopted” on the first morning as a sort of unofficial guide; the other young man who was roped in to take group photos for us in the main square and took the task very seriously; the owner of “U Pani Stephy” restaurant who baked her own-recipe cheesecake for us; and the sales assistant in a souvenir shop who waited while I went to change money to make my purchase.
But most memorable of all were the two occasions when we engaged in conversation with local young people. The group here at the Lychakiv Cemetery were with their teacher who was keen that they have a chance to talk English with us. They were a really lovely group and I think the encounter made our day as much as it did theirs. After the impromptu photo session we allowed them to keep our VT flags, so somewhere in Ukraine now there is probably a classroom festooned with the VT logo and VT message!
The second encounter came later the same day on the top of High Castle Hill where we ran into a group of teenage English students. They were much more self-conscious than the morning’s younger crowd had been, but one girl eventually opened up enough to talk a bit about their studies and where they came from, and her friends clustered round to listen even though they were too shy to join in.
If you should get a similar opportunity do take it. It’s rare for these young people to be able to talk English to a native speaker, so you’ll be helping them out, but it may also be one of the most memorable experiences of your trip.
On May 24 Heroes Festival is observed in Lviv.
There are memorial meetings at the cemeteries where the national liberation heroes are buried at Lychakiv Cemetery and Yahiv Cemetery.
There is a patriots' procession along Stepan Bandera Street and a rally at Bandera monument in Bandera Street and another one at Shevchenko monument in Liberty Avenue.
Heroes Festival in Lviv.
Stepan Bandera is a very revered national hero in Lviv.
The monument to Stepan Bandera was dedicated on October 13, 2007 in Bandera Street, not far from the railway station.
The monument is four meters high. It was created by sculptor Mykola Possikyra and architect Mykhailo Red’ko.
As the city mayor said, “It’s the people’s monument to the people’s hero”…
You can see the Arch of Triumph behind the monument with a golden trident above it.
The arch is 30 meters high. It consists of four columns, each of which representing a certain period in the Ukrainian history – from King Daniel to our times. | <urn:uuid:affc81d6-5a96-4ec8-8f4a-29c2c1de3189> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Ukraine/Lvivska_Oblast/Lviv-706846/Local_Customs-Lviv-TG-C-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973018 | 1,921 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Finland's Supreme Court has denied an appeal bid by a man convicted of illegally bringing Chechen asylum seekers into the country and thus saving life of 9 Chechen children threatened by the KGB.
In early 2011, Finnish prosecutors Mikko Sipilä and Maren Salvesen called for the imprisonment of Mikael Storsjo due to his role in the facilitation in the "illegal" entry of dozens of Chechen asylum seekers into Finland.
The Vantaa District Court decided that there was no crime because Storsjo, the well known Finnish human rights defender did not obtain a profit through the acts and moreover, all of his motives were humanitarian in nature. He simply wanted to help people who were in need of international protection.
However, Finnish prosecutors were not satisfied with the decision and appealed to an upper court.
In June 2012, the Helsinki Appeals Court sentenced Storsjo to a four-month suspended prison term without considering his motives or the clear Finnish law on "acts with humanitarian reasons". This time, Storsjo appealed to Finland's Supreme Court but, on November 21 the court rejected his appeal. So, the original four month suspended prison sentence will remain in effect.
Storsjo said that he is not worried about the decision because he knows that he did the right thing. His lawyer is also going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, so it might take some time but justice eventually prevail.
A lawyer said that Finnish Criminal Law states "An act which, when taking into account the motives of the person committing it and the circumstances pertaining to the safety of the foreigner in his/her home country or country of permanent residence, and when assessed as a whole, is to be deemed committed under vindicating circumstances, does not constitute arrangement of illegal immigration," therefore, there is no criminal element in Storsjo's acts and the court's decision is totally bizarre and scandalous.
Between 2007 and 2010, Storsjo helped 24 Chechen asylum seekers, including 9 children, with their flights from Turkey to Finland because Chechen asylum seekers in Turkey have no basic human rights. They are forced to live in inhumane living conditions, and there is also a lack of security. For example, 6 Chechen asylum seekers have been assassinated in Turkey since 2007 and all of the murders remained unsolved.
Chechnya was racked by a decade and a half of Russian violence and atrocities beginning in 1994. | <urn:uuid:5d74b4e1-660a-4238-98b5-44311d872984> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2012/11/21/17001.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973336 | 492 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Leadership in Action
According to the American Psychological Association website, "One useful definition of civic engagement is the following: individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual voluntarism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem or interact with the institutions of representative democracy."
The government of this country was founded on the idea that informed citizens would be involved in selecting our leaders to create our laws. Civic engagement includes the responsibility to remain informed about the important issues which impact these decisions and understand our rights as citizens. This section includes resources on how you can participate more in this process. It also includes resources on becoming a citizen and information for others who reside in the country.
Voting and Elections
Exercise your right to vote. While there are some national voting standards, each state has its own particular rules for registration and voting you need to follow. Use the resources below to learn more about where you should vote, as well as information about issues and candidates:
Search to find out all you need to know about the electoral process in your state (registration deadline, identification requirements, voting machines, and more).
National League of Women Voters
Learn about campaign finance reform, civil liberties, voting rights, election administration, ethics and lobbying reform.
Find biographical information of elected Representatives, voting records, issue positions, interest group ratings, public statements, campaign finances, voter registration, ballot measures, issues and legislation, and political resources.
U.S. Federal Government - Elections and Voting
This site is includes a wealth of resources on election related topics such as election reform, elections in other countries, and information about political parties.
Minnesota Secretary of State Election Center
This site includes information on where you can vote election rules, elections results, and related topics. Similar sites for surrounding states are included on the links below:
- Iowa Elections and Voter Information
- North Dakota Elections and Voting Information
- South Dakota Elections and Voter Information
- Wisconsin's Elections and Voting
Presentations on Electoral Process
This site hosts free PowerPoint Presentations on voting, the electoral process, American Government and History and more. The presentations include activities, lesson plans, and educational information.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
This is the official US government website for information on applying for citizenship. You can apply and track the process through here as well.
Study Materials for the Naturalization Test
This sub-section of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services provides materials to prepare for the naturalization test for U.S. citizenship. If you would like to test your knowledge on this topic, take the Naturalization Self Test.
Center for Democracy and Citizenship
This organization is focused on promoting an active involvement in civic and public work and is housed at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
Constitution Day is a federal observance each September 17 to celebrate the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787. Federal law requires every school that receives federal funding, including universities, to show a program on the Constitution. Below are some resources that can be helpful in learning more:
Teaching with Documents for Constitution Day
This site is hosted by the National Archives and includes activities and lessons that can be implemented to learn more about our Constitution and government.
National Constitution Center
Additional resources including video clips and podcasts are available on this site which is hosted through partnerships of education and non-profit organizations. | <urn:uuid:653b56a4-88ff-4aaa-b7ea-b48a5f9e5cb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gpslifeplan.org/hennepintech/leadership/index.php?link=action-community-civic-engagement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941952 | 721 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Maryland’s 7 Best Practices, Aligned!
This page contains links to Maryland’s Updated 7 Best Practices, which have been aligned to fit with the National Youth Leadership Council’s (NYLC) K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. In 2008, NYLC put out eight nationally recognized standards that were supported by credible research. By tweaking the language in Maryland’s 7 Best Practices to align with NYLC’s standards, we can now use the same research to support what we’ve known and practiced all along – effective and meaningful service-learning projects as a viable instructional strategy.
This page contains links to basic introductions to service-learning. These resources are great for professional development sessions and basic information that everyone should know about service-learning. From fact sheets to training guides, this is the perfect place to start educating yourself or your staff about service-learning.
Resources specifically meant for administrators, these links include information about school improvement and strategies to improve the implementation of service-learning in your building.
How effectively are you implementing service-learning in your classroom? Your school? Your district? Use these rubrics to help you determine what you are doing well and what can be improved.
Character Education and Service-Learning
These links will all pertain to effectively implementing character education and service-learning in your school.
21st Century Community Learning Centers and Service-Learning
These links will all pertain to effectively implementing service-learning in 21st century schools. | <urn:uuid:9a2c70ed-1420-4844-b1c1-e9b1d1b4c029> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/servicelearning/training_tools.htm?WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished%25%3E%25%3E%25%3E%25%25%25%3E%25%25%25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931537 | 311 | 2.5625 | 3 |
NEW YORK — Stocks soared Thursday after applications for unemployment benefits fell to a five-month low and Germany voted to expand the powers of Europe's bailout fund. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up nearly 170 points.
Banks, which would have the most to lose if Europe's debt crisis gets worse, rose more than the rest of the market. JPMorgan Chase&Co. jumped 4.3 percent, the most of any stock in the Dow.
Several strong reports on the U.S. economy encouraged investors to buy stocks. First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 391,000. That's the lowest level since April 2 and also the first time applications have fallen below 400,000 since Aug. 6. The big drop suggests that layoffs are decreasing.
The government also raised its estimate of economic growth in the April-June period. The Commerce Department said the economy grew at a 1.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, up from its previous estimate of 1 percent. It attributed the increase to growth in consumer spending and trade.
"This gives us a little more confidence that maybe the economy will muddle through here as we go through all these challenges," said Rob Lutts, president and chief investment officer of Cabot Money Management.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 168 points, or 1.5 percent, to 11,178 at 12:15 p.m., erasing its loss from the day before.
The Standard&Poor's 500 index rose 19 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,170. All 10 company groups that make up the S&P rose.
Bank stocks rose sharply as worries eased about Europe's debt problems. Morgan Stanley rose 5.7 percent. Genworth Financial Inc. soared 7.2 percent, the most of any company in the S&P 500 index. Janus Capital Group Inc. rose 5.4 percent.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 5, or 0.2 percent, to 2,497.
The measure approved by German lawmakers to expand the region's bailout fund must be approved by all 17 countries that use the euro. The plan will allow the bailout fund to buy government debt and lend money to troubled European countries. Finland approved the measure Wednesday.
Analysts cautioned that the gains could quickly disappear if Europe stumbles in its efforts to contain its debt crisis.
"Investors need to be very careful, because there is still a vast labyrinth of potential challenges that remain to be cleared with regard to Europe," said Frank Barbera, a portfolio co-manager of the Sierra Core Retirement Fund.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell 12.6 percent, the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after the company cut its revenue and earnings forecast for the third quarter, saying it was having problems getting its chips made. | <urn:uuid:dc087a27-9d79-4db1-afa3-7961bcf4fbc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledoblade.com/Stock-Market/2011/09/29/Stocks-surge-on-strong-US-economic-news.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94896 | 579 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Don’t you just hate it when the hero of the story turns out to be someone you just can’t stand? None of us likes to confront our prejudices, yet to become better people, we must.
The day’s reading was Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the good Samaritan. This account of a traveler who had not fared well on his journey is often cited as how we should interact with one another. Perhaps Jesus was also saying that just because we have little or no use for a person doesn’t mean they can’t be a saint.
Rev. Christopher Roque, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sonora, noted via Facebook that a modern version of the story might be the Parable of the Good Gang Member or the Good Nazi. That got me thinking about the story from a columnist’s point of view. Journalists are supposed to focus on the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why.
Who? — a Samaritan; what? — an act of kindness; when? — an unspecified occasion long ago; where? — between Jerusalem and Jericho; why? — he was moved with compassion.
The Rev. Jim Sproat’s sermon at Trinity Episcopal in Junction that particular Sunday seemed focused more on the what than the who. He elaborated on an individual’s being not only the hands and feet of Christ but also the eyes, ears and mouth.
Perhaps you don’t really see yourself as saint material and maybe your acquaintances concur. God’s grace says even if you aren’t, you can be. Being a saint isn’t about where or if you go to church, it’s about how you treat your fellow planet dwellers.
A gesture need not be grand to be holy and loving. It can be a smile, a wave, picking up litter.
Maybe you feel as insignificant as a knuckle hair — “For as in one body we have many parts, and all parts do not have the same function,” (Romans 12:4 NAB) — remember that you serve a purpose. “So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Romans 12:5).
In other words, we’re in this together and by helping others, we help ourselves.
“ ‘Which of these ... was a neighbor ...?’ Jesus asked. ‘The one who showed him mercy,’ the expert in the law replied. ‘Go and do likewise’ ” (Luke 10:36-37).
JoAnn Dalgard is a freelance writer living in Brady. She welcomes reader response at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:6d221f73-5bec-4082-b56a-1a4fbb0a86b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/aug/06/parable-a-lesson-in-confronting-prejudices/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957418 | 586 | 2.1875 | 2 |
We have this submission from Cristina Alonso, an attorney with Carlton Fields and co-chair of the NCSC Young Lawyers committee.
Florida is considering bringing judges out of retirement to help the courts. HB 13 and SB 130 permit the chief judge of a judicial circuit, subject to approval by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to establish a program for retired justices or judges to preside over civil cases & trials or to hear motions upon written request of one or more parties. The bills further provide for compensation of such justices or judges to be paid by the parties by deposit into the Operating Trust Fund of the state courts system.
A similar bill (HB 369 of 2009) was passed by the House 114-0 last year, but was not taken up in the Senate.
This year’s House version was approved by the chamber’s Civil Justice and Courts Policy Committee on February 16. The Senate version was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 9. | <urn:uuid:aa4ba012-94f4-4033-a570-7dcffb669aeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gaveltogavel.us/site/category/contributor-article/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969015 | 196 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Debate Over Cellphone Cancer Link Heats Up
Cellphones are dangerous. Don't put them near your brain. Get a headset. Yes, let the geek chic of the Bluetooth earpiece save you from cancer-producing, cellphone microwave-induced brain radiation.
Oh, it won't do that? You mean placing a transmitter right inside my ear could actually be way worse for me?
In that case, I'll opt for taking my calls on speakerphone and foregoing any possibility of ever having another private conversation...
What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don’t?
Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.”
Dr. Vini Khurana, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University who is an outspoken critic of cellphones, said: “I use it on the speaker-phone mode. I do not hold it to my ear.” And CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital, said that like Dr. Black he used an earpiece.
Along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a glioma, a type of tumor that critics have long associated with cellphone use, the doctors’ remarks have helped reignite a long-simmering debate about cellphones and cancer.
That supposed link has been largely dismissed by many experts, including the American Cancer Society. The theory that cellphones cause brain tumors “defies credulity,” said Dr. Eugene Flamm, chairman of neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, three large epidemiology studies since 2000 have shown no harmful effects. CTIA — the Wireless Association, the leading industry trade group, said in a statement, “The overwhelming majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wireless phones do not pose a health risk.”
The F.D.A. notes, however, that the average period of phone use in the studies it cites was about three years, so the research doesn’t answer questions about long-term exposures. Critics say many studies are flawed for that reason, and also because they do not distinguish between casual and heavy use.
Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, waves of energy that are too weak to break chemical bonds or to set off the DNA damage known to cause cancer. There is no known biological mechanism to explain how non-ionizing radiation might lead to cancer.
But researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can’t explain the mechanism doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Concerns have focused on the heat generated by cellphones and the fact that the radio frequencies are absorbed mostly by the head and neck. In recent studies that suggest a risk, the tumors tend to occur on the same side of the head where the patient typically holds the phone. | <urn:uuid:58e18edf-0c7a-4e0d-80de-966160549819> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nowpublic.com/health/debate-over-cellphone-cancer-link-heats | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945367 | 679 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Bidens Alba: Medical Beggar Ticks
Some edible plants just don’t get any respect. If there were a contest for under appreciated plants, Bidens alba, would be a heavy-weight contender.
Nearly anyone you ask about Bidens alba who knows it will say it’s a weed, not a pretty one, nor a useful one, not a nice one. Yet, honey production everywhere would be hurt without the Bidens family. In Florida, B. alba is the third most common reliable source of nectar. Quite an accomplishment for a weed growers and suburbanites are constantly trying to get rid of. Also, without the Bidens species many a butterfly would go to bed…ah…roost… hungry. (The second most common nectar producer in Florida is the saw palmetto and the top producer is the non-native, citrus.)
The B. alba aka Bidens pilosa (BYE-denz AL-bah, pil-OH-suh) also has an edible flower. It’s a tangy if not vigorous addition to salads. Bidens’ young leaves — a few at a time — are suitable for the salad. Shoots, tips and young leaves are good potherbs. It’s dried leaves are also a favored in Hawaii for tea. All of this, yet few guidebooks on wild edibles mention it.
TIMEOUT: Much confusion reigns whether B. alba and B. pilosa are the same or different species. One can find both references, and combinations as in B. pilosa var. alba. A 2006 genetic study showed they are separate species, even if
the difference is little. So, how can we tell them apart (though it makes little difference as both are eaten.) B. alba is the larger and better (I use “Big Al” to help me remember.) Its blossom petals are usually a centimeter long or longer, and it has five to eight petals. Think of the B. pilosa as smaller and lesser. Its petals are under a centimeter in length, usually 8 mm or less. It has four to seven petals, or none at all. Some times the geography helps. In Brazil, for example, B. alba grows only on the coast and B. pilosa inland, at higher elevations. Realistically, the differences mean little to us as they are both edible. Locally we have B. alba with B. pilosa occurring officially in only one northern county, Gulf County. We now resume our article already in progress:
As I said on one of my videos nature doesn’t know the difference between a cultivated plant and a wild one: She only knows survivors. And Bidens alba — also called Romerillo survives. It grows so happily in my yard I can’t keep up with it. Left to its own, it will take over any unmown spot and populate it with as many Bidens per square foot as possible. Now you know why it is called an “invasive” species. It can have up to 6,000 seeds per plant and the seeds can remain viable up to five years.
As for the edibility of the Bidens species, several are mentioned as edible. Find out which Bidens are in your area. The state of Florida does not list Bidens as a plant species that can cause harm, though it has had medical uses, and that in and of itself is a warning sign we shouldn’t ignore. There are at least two negative references I know of about Bidens pilosa. One is that B. pilosa is one of the few plants that can have a harmful effect on the skin because at least one of its chemicals reacts to light (some herbalists, however, consider that beneficial.) The other is B. pilosa (which is the most commonly eaten Bidens) may have a role in throat cancer in areas where opals are also found. This is because B. pilosa will uptake a form of silica — the same that creates opals — and that can have a topical cancerous effect. So if you have “Opaline Silica” in your area — they mine opals there — you might want to pass on the Bidens (I would presume B. alba would also uptake but I do not know.) On the other hand, however, Bidens is also shown anti-cancer activity.
Bidens is in the Aster family, a dicot with a root that goes vertical, not horizontal. That also makes it a composite and a relative of the sunflower. There are hundreds of species — authorities differ on the exact amount. The common names include beggar ticks, bur-marigolds, stickseeds, Spanish needles, tickseeds, tickseed sunflowers, and pitchfork weed. This is because its seed has two prongs on it that (sometimes four) stick to almost anything. And in fact “Bidens” means two-toothed. Alba is white and pilosa means hairy, or the feeling of hairiness. The Bidens odorata, a frilly yellow version, is also edible though it is a diuretic.
By the way, Bidens are “zoochorous” which means the seeds are spread by animals, like the burdock. While the combination does not loose in translation from Greek, it does suffer in pronunciation. “Zoo” is not said like a collection of animals. Rather it is zoh-OH, which means “animal.” And “chorous” does not sound like a singing group. It comes from the verb score-REE-zoh, which means “I disseminate.” So, if you want to use that word and be close to the original Greek, it is five syllables: zoh-oh-score-REE-zoh.
Several Bidens are food for the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the Hypercompe hambletoni and the Painted Lady (aka, Vanessa cardui, the brush-footed butterfly). It is said only Sulphur Butterfly feeds off the B. alba as it has phytosterin, which can be a central nervous system depressant and lowers blood sugar.
As for the medical implications, in 1991 Egyptian researchers documented Biden pilosa had antimicrobial activity against a wide array of bacteria including Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Neisseria Gonorrhea, Klebsiella Pneumonia, and against Tuberculosis. It is also good for malaria, snake bite and has anti-leukemia activity. Research shows it lowers as mentioned blood sugar and blood pressure, stimulates the immune system and is anti-inflammatory. The powdered seeds are a topical anesthetic and aid clotting. There are also some reports the seeds might be good for prostate issues. And after all this the Bidens still gets no respect.
The nutritional composition of the Biden pilosa (and presumably the B. alba) per 100 g edible portion is: water 85 g, calories 43, protein 3.8 g, fat 0.5 g, carbohydrate 8.4 g, fiber 3.9 g, β-carotene 1800 μg, (Leung, W.-T.W., Busson, F. & Jardin, C., 1968). Another study found 111 mg of calcium and 2.3 mg of iron. These researchers also recommend you don’t eat the leaves raw because of a high saponin content. As a potherb they are excellent with many fine qualities: They are available all year round, keep very well, and don’t reduce in size when cooked. If they are a bit tangy, just let them sit cooked a few minutes. They store well. Cooked texture is good. Wine made from Bidens is called sinitsit. Incidentally, dried leaves of the B. Alba also make a good tobacco substitute. In 1962 Professor Julia Morton, who wrote many papers for the Journal of Economic Botany, recommended Bidens become a commercial crop.
There are many edible Bidens and they grow just about everywhere so check out your local species. Those with edible leaves include Bidens bipinnata, Bidens frondosa, Bidens odorata, Bidens parvifolia, Bidens tripartita and Bidens laevis. Leaves of the Bidens aurea and Bidens bigelovii have been used for tea.
Synonyms for the Bidens Alba/Pilosa include: Bidens abortiva, Bidens adhaerescens, Bidens alausensis, Bidens chilensis, Bidens hirsuta, Bidens leucanthus, Bidens Montauban, Bidens odorata, reflexa, Bidens scandicina…. and….Bidens leucantha var. pilosa, Bidens pilosa var. alausensis, Bidens pilosa var. bimucronata, Bidens pilosa var. minor, Bidens pilosa var. pilosa, Bidens pilosa var. radiata, Bidens pilosus, Bidens pilosus var. albus, Bidens scandicina, Bidens sundaica var. minor, and Coreopsis leucantha
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: Compound leaves composed of 3-9 saw toothed oval leaflets. The leaves are one to five inches long and up to two and a half inches wide, bright green on top and hairy underneath. Plant tends to sprawl and root at the lower nodes if it douches the ground. The one-inche flowers in stalked clusters look like coarse daisies with five or more white rays and pale yellow centers. The ribbed seeds resemble flat black needles with 2-6 barbed hooks at each end.
TIME OF YEAR: Spring to fall, but year round in warmer climates around the world
ENVIRONMENT: Not fussy about soil but prefers full sun.
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Young leaves, tops, shoots as potherb. Some young leaves can be used raw in salads. Try a little first. Flower petals as a trail side nibble or a bit of white in salads. Dried, the leaves can be used as tea or smoked like tobacco. The flowers are mixed with sticky balls of rice and allowed to ferment in water to make a spirit. The leaves are also used in making wine. | <urn:uuid:7e32db5b-7435-4e79-94f1-9b5d987c85bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eattheweeds.com/spanish-needles-pitchfork-weed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937088 | 2,216 | 1.953125 | 2 |
The South Dakota National Parks Map provides an illustrious description of the several national parks, historical monuments and recreational centers of the state.
Some of the notable national parks of the state are Wind Cave National Park, Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Jewel Cave National Monument, Missouri National Recreational River, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The Jewel Cave National Monument is 140.86 miles long. With respect to length, the cave ranks second in the world. The Badlands National Park offers the tourists to experience wide variety of exotic wildlife. The Wind Cave National Park is the longest cave of the world. Rich wildlife, prairie grasslands, luxuriant pine forests and caves represent the Wind Cave National Park of South Dakota. The Missouri National Recreational River is known for its natural scenic beauty and is favorite boating site among the tourists. The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site houses many weapons that were used during the Cold War era. The missile silo and underground launch control center are some of the main attractions of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The exact location of the national parks is clearly pointed out in the South Dakota State Map. | <urn:uuid:1140b43d-1517-4462-99ee-c5ffd0d08dda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/national-parks/south-dakota-national-parks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919785 | 243 | 2.734375 | 3 |
An F-16 Fighting Falcon belonging to the Air National Guard's 174th Fighter Wing made an emergency landing yesterday at Syracuse International Airport. The jet blew two tires while landing but nobody got hurt.
Two Greek F-16 Fighting Falcons, each with a crew of two aboard, disappeared from radar screens yesterday at around 3:00 pm. The planes were on a training flight near Pilio mountain, central Greece.
On 13 September 2004, a RoCAF F-16A Block 20 Fighting Falcon with serial number #6651, made an emergency landing at Chiayi AFB, Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force.
A pilot's momentary loss of situational awareness caused two F-16 Fighting Falcons to collide
May 17 over southwestern Indiana, according to a U.S. Air Force report released on Monday.
The crash of the Singapore Air Force F-16 fighter jet in Arizona on May 18th was solely caused by human factors, an inquiry by the RSAF has found, ruling out negligence or foul play.
At approximately 12.00h yesterday, RDAF F-16BM #ET-204 suffered a mishap at Aalborg AB during the practice of touch-and-gos. The landing gear collapsed and the aircraft came to a halt on its belly with apparently only minor damage.
An F-16C Fighting Falcon skidded from the runway and came to rest on its targeting pod system, ordnance and external fuel tank at Balad Air Base, Iraq on July 11th.
Pilot error caused two F-16 Fighting Falcons to collide March 9, during a training mission over the Atlantic Ocean about 35 miles southeast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to a report Air Force officials released June 15.
The USAF Thunderbirds evidently suffered a bird-strike, Saturday, June 26, 2004, during an air show at the Southern Wisconsin Air Fest, at Rock County Airport, near Janesville, Wisconsin.
F-16C #83-1161 from the 61st Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ performed a belly landing on the Luke AFB runway on June 17, 2004 at approximately 1416. The pilot is tought to be OK; the aircraft sustained fire damage.
The March 9th, 2004, mid-air collision over the Atlantic Ocean involving 2 F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 79th FS was attributed to pilot error, according to the accident report released by the US Air Force.
A Singapore Air Force F-16C fighter jet crashed Wednesday night during a routine training mission south of a military training range in southern Arizona.
Two F-16 fighter jets collided at 1:40 PM Monday afternoon over southwestern Indiana. One of the pilots, Maj. William E. Burchett, didn't survive the accident. Whitnesses said his parachute did not open all the way.
A Michigan ANG F-16 pilot on a training mission Saturday helped a passenger plane that had lost its instruments and radio find clear airspace for landing.
On April 15th or 16th, a Belgian Air Force F-16 made a crash-landing during a NVG training mission at NAF El Centro. | <urn:uuid:55d02263-5007-4026-a204-97bca2cb61ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.f-16.net/news_topic152_page16.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951623 | 648 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Lois Lowry LIVE!
Lois Lowry’s breakthrough dystopian novel, The Giver has been read by millions of people around the world. It left many with lingering questions: What happened to Jonas and Gabriel? Is a perfect society possible? What does it mean to live a complete life? With Son, Lowry continues to wrestle with the idea of human freedom while completing the story of Jonas and the baby he rescued.
Son combines elements from the first three novels in her Giver Quartet—The Giver (1994 Newbery Medal winner), Gathering Blue, and Messenger—into a breathtaking, thought-provoking narrative that wrestles with ideas of human freedom and the bonds of love. Thrust again into the chilling world of The Giver, readers will meet an intriguing new heroine, fourteen-year-old Claire.
Join Lois Lowry to hear her speak about Son, the other books of The Giver Quartet, and to have a chance to ask her your questions live! | <urn:uuid:bacd6d2e-ab4b-4cd6-ac38-3d410313e15d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://georgialibraries.org/events/calendar/lois-lowry-live?mini=calendar/2013/03/all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924215 | 199 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Posted: Jul 17, 2008 12:16 AM
"Senator Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure" and was therefore released a day ahead of schedule, say Kennedy's doctors, who include Lee Schwamm, MD, vice chairman of the neurology department at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Larry Ronan, MD, a primary care physician at the same hospital.
Kennedy will stay at his Cape Cod home "while we await further test results and determine treatment plans. He's feeling well and eager to get started," say Schwamm and Ronan.
Kennedy's brain tumor is a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe, an area of the brain involved in speech. WebMD spoke with Deborah Heros, MD, associate professor of clinical neurology and neuro-oncology at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, about cutting-edge treatments for malignant gliomas.
Heros is not involved in Kennedy's treatment or diagnosis. She notes that the location of Sen. Kennedy's glioma would likely rule out surgery to remove the tumor.
What are the latest or experimental treatments for malignant gliomas, and would Sen. Kennedy be a candidate for them?
The foundation for treatment of a glioma, through the years, has been radiation therapy. Most treatment plans or protocols start with radiation. The oral chemotherapy drug temozolomide (Temodar) has also become part of that initial plan that has been shown to be the most promising treatment. Most treatment begins with that combination of the radiation and the temozolomide.
There are many centers that are looking into newer treatments. Many of them are treatments that either could be added or perhaps used following the radiation and the temozolomide. ...
Some of the newer therapies include more specific chemotherapy agents that we call targeted therapies. We call them targeted therapies because the medication or chemotherapy has been developed to target a specific protein or function of the tumor cell to interfere with the tumor cell growth.
Many people will recognize the name Avastin as being one of the most popular and promising targeted therapies for many kinds of tumors and also gliomas. This targets the tumor's ability to produce new blood vessels, and the tumor needs new blood vessels to grow. The targeted therapy Avastin prevents the tumor from being able to produce new blood vessels. And so, in a sense, the tumor starves itself or cannot continue to grow because it's run out of its blood supply. Some physicians are using Avastin in a clinical protocol with other chemotherapeutic agents and some are using it along with the temozolomide during different phases of the treatment. That could be one add-on that maybe some of the physicians involved in Sen. Kennedy's care are considering.
There are other treatments, including the development of vaccines, or what we call immunotherapy, that are being studied at some of the various centers in the country to try to help the immune system turn around and fight against the tumor cells.
Other treatments being studied -- which I do not believe Sen. Kennedy would be a candidate for -- [include] surgical implantation for delivery of chemotherapy ... into the area of the tumor. Typically, if the patient is not a candidate for surgery because of the [tumor's location in the brain], they probably would not be a candidate for some of these localized treatment options.
Many centers are also using different viruses to deliver different genetic treatments to the tumors.
That's gene therapy?
It's called gene therapy, correct. The treatment uses a virus, and the genetic material within the virus can be manipulated or changed to contain genetic material that might fight directly against the tumor cells. That's a very exciting area. There are some centers around the country that are looking into this type of treatment.
Are there risks if it's a virus? People may hear "virus" and think that sounds risky.
The virus is actually inactivated. Although there might be potential side effects from the overall treatment, the virus itself would not cause a viral infection.
Do you find that a lot of patients with malignant gliomas are looking to get into a clinical trial or looking to try something experimental?
Over the years, a limited number of patients with malignant gliomas have been entered into clinical protocols. Although our treatments have advanced, there certainly is a long way to finding the perfect treatment, and therefore, participation in clinical protocols is very important. With this type of serious tumor, patients are very much interested in participating or at least being aware of what is available around the country to consider participating in a clinical protocol.
How would a patient find out where those trials are being done?
Fortunately, with the help of the media and the help of the Internet and various cancer-related societies, this information is more readily available. There are lists through the National Institutes of Health [and] the American Cancer Society. Many of the specialized cancer support groups throughout the country have lists of centers performing or offering clinical trials. And on the web sites of many of the medical centers -- usually universities but not necessarily limited to universities -- the contact number to inquire about clinical trials and information about clinical trials is available.
Anything else you would want to add?
I think everyone looks forward to seeing Sen. Kennedy move along in his treatment, and I suspect he will be an inspiration to everyone as he begins his treatment. | <urn:uuid:80d8c391-c25e-4b2a-acbd-895a8465333b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.katc.com/news/sen-ted-kennedy-leaves-hospital/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963536 | 1,115 | 1.882813 | 2 |
December 22, 2004
The finance minister told Parliament that the government was fully committed to implementing the recommendations of the twelfth Finance Commission. The report will be tabled in Parliament soon, Mr Chidambaram said. The commission is understood to have recommended a hefty hike in grants and raising the states' share of taxes in the divisible pool from 29.5% to 30.5%. "Our desire is to build co-operative federalism. I appeal to all state governments, whichever party they are headed by, to cooperate with the Centre in making India a vibrant economy", the minister said.
January 6, 2010 |
MUMBAI: IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has expanded its board with the appointment of Vijay Kelkar, former finance secretary, and Ishaat Hussain, finance director of Tata Sons. With this, the total TCS board strength has gone up to 12, of which six are independent directors. Tata group chairman Ratan Tata is the non-executive chairman of TCS. Mr Kelkar has held several key positions in the government. He has been an advisor to the finance minister, secretary of ministry of petroleum and natural gas, and more recently the chairman of the finance commission.
February 12, 2008 |
Over the past nine years that I have been in charge of the finance portfolio in Maharashtra, I have been stressing on the connection between the condition of a state's finances and its economic growth. There is a direct co-relation: a slowdown in economic growth almost certainly affects our finances. However, while global uncertainties are expected to last a year (calendar year 2008), it is almost unanimously accepted that the Indian economy is relatively insulated and to an extent de-coupled from these turbulances.
July 31, 2004 |
PATNA: Expressing serious concern over the mounting debt burden, Finance Commission chairman C Rangarajan has told the Bihar government to take a close look so as to keep the overall debt within sustainable limits besides increasing its levels of revenue generation. He said Bihar could even emulate other states which had pushed through a legislation for putting a cap on the growing debt level. On its part, he said, the Finance Commission would do its best to evolve a scheme of fiscal transfers through tax devolution and grants which will give due weightage to the available resources of the Centre and states and the demands on these resources by the Centre as well as the states.
May 15, 2008 |
MUMBAI: How long should developed states like Maharashtra, Karantaka, Gujarat wait for backward states like UP and Bihar to catch up? This question has not come from the Thackerays but from Maharashtra finance minister and NCP veteran Jayant Patil. In a politically loaded move, he has questioned the logic of disbursing more Central funds to backward states without any realistic assessment of their performance. Mr Patil wants a performance-linked system to determine the share of Central funds each state should get. Speaking informally to media persons here on Wednesday, he went on to question the economic merit in making leading states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala pay for their "progress and performance".
October 23, 2008 |
MUMBAI: The Finance Commission will assess the impact of burgeoning off-budget subsidies and suggest remedial measures to the finance ministry, according to the comptroller and auditor general Vinod Rai. The off-budget issuance of bonds do not impact the fiscal deficit over the bond tenure, but could lead to an asset-liability mismatch in the redemption year. "We have brought this to the notice of the finance ministry and the matter has been referred to the finance commission.
July 30, 2010 |
NEW DELHI: Underpressure from the states, the central government has agreed to bear a higher burden of the cost of implementing the Right to Education . The Centre's share of the financial burden will be at 68%, a sharp rise from the sharing pattern of 55:45 in the current year and the proposed 50:50 from 2011-12 . The new sharing pattern has been approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee on Wednesday. The ministry of human resource development had been pushing for a higher share, 75%, for the Centre as state after state expressed their inability to set aside higher level of funding required to meet the stringent norms of the RTE. States argued that the RTE made state and local bodies accountable for the implementation, even though neither has the financial capacity.
March 19, 2010 |
MUMBAI: Financial services provider JM Financial on Friday announced the appointment of former finance secretary of the Central government Vijay Kelkar as an independent director. The board of directors approved the appointment at its meeting held on Friday, JM Financial said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. The appointment of Kelkar, who held many senior government positions, including that of the chairman of the Finance Commission, comes into immediate effect, it said.
January 20, 2002 |
shimla: an additional 2226 mw of hydro power would be generated with the commissioning of four ongoing projects in himachal pradesh by the end of 2003, chief minister p k dhumal announced on saturday. himachal pradesh would get 250 mw free power as royalty from these projects, dhumal said at patlander in hamirpur district. addressing a public meeting, the chief minister said the project -- nathpa jhakhari (1500 mw), baspa (300 mw), chamera stage-ii (300 mw) and larji (126 mw) -- are slated for completion during the next 18 months.
March 1, 2013
The Union Budget is not the only instrument available with the Centre to guide the economy. It has other options also, including transfer and tax-relief measures through the Finance Commission. Of course, the latest Economic Survey and the 2013-14 Budget speech of the finance minister have recognised the importance of policy instruments and have also indicated the Centre's willingness to reconsider the criteria for determining states that deserve a special category status. | <urn:uuid:ea87fdbc-b049-4e1c-aca9-18b96156f014> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/finance-commission/featured/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955819 | 1,246 | 1.515625 | 2 |
|This rain garden at Glencoe Elementary School in Portland alleviates neighbors' basement sewer backups and offers educational opportunities.
Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are gaining recognition as effective, flexible, and environmentally sound ways for controlling the quantity and improving the quality of stormwater runoff, while also adding amenity to a wide variety of development projects.
This website is designed to encourage and facilitate the integration of stormwater BMPs into development projects in your area by providing tools and resources for effective communication and implementation as well as in-depth case studies that examine BMP integration in several cities across the United States.
Using the tools and links provided, you can:
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- Learn how you can leverage political, organizational, technical, educational, and other resources to move forward with implementation.
- Arm yourself with effective tools for teaching others about the benefits of stormwater BMPs, strategies for successful implementation, and how to incorporate BMPs into development projects.
- Discover communities that have successfully integrated sustainable stormwater practices into their "toolboxes."
- Explore additional resources to broaden your knowledge and learn more about stormwater management and related topics. | <urn:uuid:3c0d3801-7430-42bb-b1c3-9ca1284c3afd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.werf.org/liveablecommunities/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930305 | 239 | 2.59375 | 3 |
New York: As early voting proceeds across the country ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, voters over 50 continue to be more likely than most to prefer Republican challenger Mitt Romney to President Barack Obama and to favor Romney's position on two issues that directly affect the elderly: healthcare and Medicare. While Friday's Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll saw the candidates at an effective dead heat among all likely voters, older likely voters preferred Romney 51 per cent to 43 per cent during the week ending November 4.
Asked who has the better plan on healthcare, all likely voters support Obama over Romney by 42 per cent to 39 per cent, while older voters choose Romney, 43 per cent to 39 per cent. The responses on the candidates' plans for Medicare show something similar: Obama leads among all likely voters, 42 per cent to 35 per cent, while Romney is ahead among older voters by 40 per cent to 39 per cent.
Nevertheless, when some respondents were asked to explain their preferences, they did not offer specifics about Medicare or Social Security and focused instead on the economy, which most consider the most important issue in this election, followed by unemployment. Healthcare issues rank third among older voters and the broader pool of all likely voters.
Voters over 50 continue to be more likely than most to prefer Republican challenger Mitt Romney on two issues - healthcare and Medicare.
Kathy Laska, a 65-year-old retiree from Waukesha, Wisconsin, who cast an early vote for Romney, identified the economy as particularly pressing - more than healthcare. "I'm on Medicare right now. So I guess if the economy was better, we wouldn't have to worry about healthcare," she said. She explained that the candidates' healthcare differences were secondary to their economic differences. "We need somebody who is a businessman, not a politician. Romney is a poor choice, but he is our only alternative," she said.
For many, though, Obama's 2010 healthcare law is a large part of their decision. "I don't like that Obamacare, for one thing," Dale Reynolds, a 65-year-old retiree from Bloomington, Minnesota said. "And us old folks, we're worried about Medicare and Social Security, and that kind of thing."
The generation gap is especially pronounced among early voters: While Obama leads 53 per cent to 42 per cent among all early voters, he trails 51 per cent to 44 per cent with the older group. By Friday, 31 per cent of older registered voters had voted, compared with 26 per cent of all registered voters.
On the economy, older voters believe Romney has a better plan than Obama by an 11-point margin, while among the broader pool of likely voters Romney holds only a four-point lead. "I'm definitely voting for Romney. I made that decision long ago. Obama said if he couldn't get it done in three years, he didn't deserve another one, and I believed him," Reynolds said. "Romney's a businessman. He knows what he's talking about."
While Obama leads Romney by six points on foreign policy among all likely voters, he trails by one among the older crowd. Still, these voters are not confident Romney will win. In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, most registered voters said they thought Obama would prevail. Laska agreed, and Reynolds was skeptical of Romney's chances, particularly in his home state of Minnesota, which leans toward Democrats. "These dummies here, they're so liberal, it's unreal." | <urn:uuid:c3a1f08d-1415-4924-9a7e-eea50d88407d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibnlive.in.com/news/older-voters-prefer-mitt-romney-on-healthcare-medicare-poll/303730-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973257 | 710 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The project aims to make digital photographs of a rare privately-owned cache of Mongolian and Tibetan manuscripts that were spared from the communist repression and recently unearthed from caves in the Outer Mongolian province of Dorngobi.
These manuscripts belonged to the person of Danzan Ravjaa (Tib. Bstan ‘dzin rab gyas/ 1803-1857), the 5th incarnation in the lineage of the Gobi Noyons, whose monastery was the centre of a political and artistic renaissance at the crossroads of Tibet, Mongolia and China in the 19th century. Danzan Ravjaa is significant for his eclectic religious outlook that combined both the reformed ‘Yellow Hat’ and the unreformed ‘Red Hat’ sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Besides his eclectic religious orientation, he was an artist and polymath who left behind scores of operas, poems and prophecies.
In 1938, during the suppression of Buddhism in Mongolia under the communist regime, Danzan Ravjaa’s works were hidden in the mountains along with the rest of the monastery’s artistic and intellectual heritage. A map was passed down from father to son in the family of the monastery’s gatekeepers. After the transition to democracy in 1991, the present gatekeeper, Altangerel, unearthed 24 crates of manuscripts and artifacts which he housed in a small museum in Sainshand, about 740 kilometres south of the capital Ulaanbaatar. Another 22 boxes remain buried in the mountains with plans to dig them out in the near future (International Herald Tribune article 17-18 August 2002).
At present, the museum has little money and no security system to guard against theft, mice or fire. Instead, the family members take turns standing guard to protect the relics. Currently, the small museum houses over 5000 manuscripts. About 1000 are works by Ravjaa himself, with another 600 works related to Ravjaa’s lineage, authored by other Mongolian and Tibetan lamas. The remainder of the collection consists of canonical literature which already exists in Western collections and will not be the concern of this project.
This project will focus only on copying Ravjaa’s own writings and works by other authors relevant to Ravjaa’s lineage. Ravjaa’s own writings span a wide range of subjects. They include hundreds of spiritual songs: a famous opera called The Moon Cuckoo; several commentaries and stage notes on the opera; philosophical and polemical treatises; biographies of Tibetan and Mongol saints and finally his own esoteric cycle of Buddhist teachings.
The latter represent a distinct line of non-canonical Buddhist transmission in Mongolia, in that they were transmitted directly to Ravjaa in mystical communication with deities and legendary masters of the past. In Tibet, these types of texts are referred to as Terma, or ‘Treasure texts’, and they became the basis of the Red Hat Nyingmapa sect. But in Mongolia, they were previously unheard of.
Additional funding has been secured from Axis Mundi Foundation (Switzerland) for the purchase of the project hardware.
BBC picture report here
This project created a total of 43,350 digital TIFF files during its two-year course. These included all of the manuscripts found in the collection that were authored by Ravjaa. These constituted the heart of the collection and consisted of manuscripts in both classic Mongolian and Tibetan. Subject matter ranged from poetry, astrology, medicine, plays (original manuscripts of the Moon Cuckoo operetta) and sadhanas (including some of Ravjaa’s ‘pure visions’ centering on the figure of Guru Rinpoche and his two consorts Yeshe Tsogyal and Lady Mandarava). This material, it is now hoped, will help scholars and researchers open up new areas in the field of Tibetan and Mongol studies.
Instead of systematically scanning what came out of the crates, some of which were redundant copies of common canonical literature, the project changed its strategy to hunt down and select manuscripts that were authored solely by Ravjaa himself, or authors relevant to his lineage. This was at times challenging, access to some of the unopened crates in the museum was not always forthcoming, while some important manuscripts from the collection had been sent away on loan and never returned. | <urn:uuid:58ec1c8e-33ca-4ad7-8276-d970bc1b4674> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eap.bl.uk/database/overview_project.a4d?projID=EAP031;r=21114 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954603 | 891 | 2.46875 | 2 |