text stringlengths 213 24.6k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1
value | url stringlengths 14 499 | file_path stringlengths 138 138 | language stringclasses 1
value | language_score float64 0.9 1 | token_count int64 51 4.1k | score float64 1.5 5.06 | int_score int64 2 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The accused in one case was Grier Smith, a former Lamar County Sheriff’s Office deputy, who was charged with aggravated assault.
Waller said under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, aggravated assault is defined as: A person commits the offense of aggravated assault when he or she assaults (see simple assault statute below) with intent to murder, to rape, or to rob with a deadly weapon, or with any object, device, or instrument, which when used offensively against a person, is likely to or does result in serious bodily injury.
A person commits the offense of simple assault when he or she either: attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of another; or commits an act which places another in reasonable
apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury.
The grand jury, in its presentment, no-billed the case against Smith, who was accused of taping a riot-control grenade to the neck of a jail inmate with the intent of scaring him into compliance.
Authorities from the LCSO say the elements of the crime, as shown and admitted to by Smith in the media, seem to exactly match those in the statutes.
The use of a dummy grenade has no statutory bearing on the victim’s “reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury.”
The view of Waller’s office is that a true-bill would have been more appropriate, as Smith could then enter his mitigating statements, if he chose to make such statements, at a trial.
The burden of proof in a criminal trial is beyond a reasonable doubt and it is borne by the state.
“In America we do not have to agree, and in fact we do not agree, but we support, the grand jury’s decision,” Waller said. “This is not a perfect system, but it is the best legal system in the world and we should all thank God that we have it.” | <urn:uuid:7f3619ef-aa07-4de6-a76e-469ce0be8695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://griffindailynews.com/view/full_story/7981586/article-Lamar-County-Sheriff%E2%80%99s-deputy-won%E2%80%99t-be-indicted | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965852 | 405 | 1.617188 | 2 |
‘Green’ partnership to focus on climate change
April 7th, 2008
Everyone’s heard about climate change, but how can we do something about it in Louisville?
That’s only one of the issues for the Partnership for a Green City, a coalition the University of Louisville, Louisville Metro Government and Jefferson County Public Schools created in 2004 to preserve the local environment.
The group already has led efforts to measure how local pollution affects health, to improve “green” education in the community and to find new ways of saving energy, said Brent Fryrear, who began directing the partnership in December. Those activities earned the group a top award last year from the National Association of Counties’ Center for Sustainable Communities.
In the months ahead, learning more about climate change — and how Louisville figures into the phenomenon — will be a key goal, Fryrear said.
The partnership’s climate change team is organizing a local inventory of greenhouse gases, a comprehensive study that will involve local businesses and local utilities.
“This project will be significant because no one has measured greenhouse gases in Kentucky since 1990,” he said.
The partnership also is working to bring together a wide variety of environmental efforts under way in the city, the school system and at UofL.
For example, Louisville’s government just launched “Go Green,” a campaign urging people to take five simple actions each day to improve the environment. UofL is stepping up campus recycling and developing “green” purchasing policies, while JCPS is expanding environmental education in local public schools and creating outdoor classrooms.
“People are doing a whole lot in the Louisville area to protect the environment,” Fryrear said. “The partnership is trying to bring them together so they can coordinate their activities. If we’re going to make things happen, we need to talk to each other.” | <urn:uuid:f1f68739-47e0-4706-87a9-323d08898f1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://php.louisville.edu/news/news.php?news=1138 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938298 | 400 | 2.671875 | 3 |
O'Hara, John 1905-1970
Most widely held works about John O'Hara
Most widely held works by John O'Hara
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara ( Book )
116 editions published between 1934 and 2010 in 13 languages and held by 2,597 libraries worldwide
"In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville social circuit is electrified with parties and dances, where the music plays late into the night and the liquor flows freely. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English -- the envy of friends and strangers alike. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction"--P. of cover.
Ten North Frederick by John O'Hara ( Book )
41 editions published between 1955 and 1986 in 7 languages and held by 2,021 libraries worldwide
At her father's funeral, Ann Chapin thinks back over the last five years of his life in Gibbsville, Pennsylvania - years of political and personal failure dominated by a selfish and dissatisfied wife and eased only by alcohol.
The instrument; a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
21 editions published between 1967 and 1976 in 6 languages and held by 1,849 libraries worldwide
From the terrace : a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
31 editions published between 1958 and 2000 in 4 languages and held by 1,791 libraries worldwide
"Tracks the dynamic career of banking tycoon Alfred Eaton. A man marked for fabulous success, Eaton sets out from a small steel town in eastern Pennsylvania before the First World War to arrive, after the Second, at the corridors of national power in Washington, D.C.." -- Back cover.
A rage to live by John O'Hara ( Book )
41 editions published between 1949 and 2011 in 7 languages and held by 1,599 libraries worldwide
Naturalistic study of a stratum of upperclass life in America, set in a Pennsylvania town.
The O'Hara generation by John O'Hara ( Book )
8 editions published between 1969 and 1975 in English and held by 1,560 libraries worldwide
Butterfield 8; a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
89 editions published between 1935 and 2010 in 11 languages and held by 1,531 libraries worldwide
A bestseller when it was originally published in 1935, this is a brilliant, brutal portrait of New York's speakeasy generation. "Like Henry James, O'Hara could create a world where class and social strictures are all-important but not openly discussed".--The Village Voice.
The hat on the bed by John O'Hara ( Book )
14 editions published between 1963 and 1975 in English and held by 1,518 libraries worldwide
A collection of 24 hitherto uncollected stories.
Sermons and soda-water by John O'Hara ( Book )
26 editions published between 1960 and 2007 in 4 languages and held by 1,495 libraries worldwide
The Cape Cod lighter [stories by John O'Hara ( Book )
21 editions published between 1962 and 1973 in English and held by 1,490 libraries worldwide
Twenty-three new stories.
Collected stories of John O'Hara by John O'Hara ( Book )
10 editions published between 1972 and 1986 in English and held by 1,484 libraries worldwide
It is the story of The Ewings an American Middle West family during the First World War.
Elizabeth Appleton : a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
28 editions published between 1963 and 1978 in 3 languages and held by 1,473 libraries worldwide
Marriage to a college professor is a contented one for a fashionable society girl until the war years bring change and an illicit love affair.
Waiting for winter [stories by John O'Hara ( Book )
23 editions published between 1966 and 1974 in English and Polish and held by 1,404 libraries worldwide
Twenty-one new stories, including four of novella length.
The horse knows the way by John O'Hara ( Book )
16 editions published between 1963 and 1978 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,403 libraries worldwide
"A collection of 28 new stories"--Cover subtitle.
And other stories by John O'Hara ( Book )
10 editions published between 1966 and 1970 in English and held by 1,384 libraries worldwide
The Lockwood concern : a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
31 editions published between 1965 and 1993 in 5 languages and held by 1,356 libraries worldwide
Four-generation family history, concentrating on the third-generation father who has inherited great wealth and a tainted mind. /
Appointment in Samarra ; Butterfield 8 ; Hope of heaven by John O'Hara ( Book )
11 editions published between 1934 and 1975 in English and held by 1,292 libraries worldwide
Ourselves to know, a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
27 editions published between 1960 and 1974 in 5 languages and held by 1,279 libraries worldwide
In 1908, in a small Pennsylvania town, a highly respected citizen kills his young wife. A full-length portrait of a troubled and talented man of good will.
Good Samaritan, and other stories by John O'Hara ( Book )
8 editions published between 1964 and 1976 in English and held by 1,168 libraries worldwide
The big laugh, a novel by John O'Hara ( Book )
13 editions published between 1962 and 1997 in English and Dutch and held by 1,121 libraries worldwide
Movie star compensates for his unprincipled early years by living a decent middle life, but succeeds only in confusing people, including himself.
Adultery Aesthetics Aesthetics, American Aesthetics, Modern American drama Bibliography Biography California College students Criticism, interpretation, etc. Domestic fiction Drama Dramatists, American Erskine, Albert,--1911-1993 Essays Ethnic relations Fiction Fiction--Technique Gibbsville (Pa. : Imaginary place) History Lawyers Literature Literature--Aesthetics Manners and customs Married people Married women Massachusetts--Cape Cod Mistresses National Book Awards New York (State)--New York Nineteen thirties Nineteen twenties Novelists, American O'Hara, John,--1905-1970 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania--Philadelphia Physicians Poor women Psychological fiction Records and correspondence Scandals Self-destructive behavior Short stories Short stories, American Suicide victims United States Upper class families Upper class women Young men Young women
O'Chara, Džon, 1905-1970 czerus
O'Hara, John H.
O'Hara, John Henry, 1905-1970
O'Jara, Dzhon 1905-1970
O'Khara, Dzhon, 1905-1970
או׳הרה, ג׳והן, 1905־1970О'Хара, Джон
Greek, Modern (4)
No Linguistic content (3)
Multiple languages (1) | <urn:uuid:ac11929e-8249-4258-ab63-cc1490c10924> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-60653 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921387 | 1,490 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Posted on Thu, Sep. 02, 2010
last updated: March 15, 2013 11:58:14 AM
WASHINGTON — The Democrats are likely to lose 47 seats and control of the House of Representatives in November's elections, a top political analyst says in a new forecast Thursday.
Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, also says that the Democrats are likely to lose eight or nine seats in the Senate, eight governors' offices and 300 to 500 seats in state legislatures.
"The numbers are eye-catching. Republicans are dramatically gaining in all categories," Sabato said in an interview. "It's generated by a rotten economy and a strong conservative reaction against President (Barack) Obama."
The analysis marks the first time this year that Sabato and the University's Center for Politics have predicted a Republican takeover of the House.
Sabato is one of the most consistently accurate election prognosticators. His final pre-election analysis in 2006 got the exact number of Democratic gains in the House and Senate and was off by only one in governors' races. In 2008, he missed the final Electoral College count by only one, and missed the final House tally by only five seats.
"2010 was always going to be a Republican year, in the midterm tradition. It has simply been a matter of degree," Sabato said in a written analysis released Thursday.
"Had Democratic hopes on economic revitalization materialized, it is easy to see how the party could have used its superior financial resources, combined with the tendency of Republicans in some districts and states to nominate ideological fringe candidates, to keep losses to the low 30s in the House and a handful in the Senate."
With Labor Day looming, Sabato wrote, it's now clear that the summer didn't turn out as Democrats wanted.
"Conditions have deteriorated badly for Democrats over the summer. The economy appears rotten, with little chance of a substantial comeback by November 2nd.
"Unemployment is very high, income growth sluggish and public confidence quite low. The Democrats' self-proclaimed 'Recovery Summer' has become a term of derision, and to most voters — fair or not — it seems that President Obama has over-promised and under-delivered."
Across the board, Sabato forecasts larger Democratic losses than he projected in the spring, when he and his Center for Politics predicted that the Democrats could lose 32 House seats. That would be a large setback, but Republicans must gain 39 seats to take control of the House.
Democrats now control the House by 255-178, with two vacancies, one previously held by each major party.
A switch of 47 seats would put the Republicans in charge by at least 226-209, assuming the two vacant seats remain in the same partisan control. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is in line to be the new speaker of the House. His party would chair all House committees, and would gain subpoena power to force the Obama administration to answer questions.
At least one other nonpartisan analyst also is now predicting a Republican takeover of the House. University of Buffalo political scientist James Campbell forecasts that the Democrats will lose 51 or 52 seats.
Sabato's new forecast also envisions larger losses in the Senate: eight or nine, up from the seven seats he previously predicted. Republicans must gain 10 Senate seats to take control there, however.
Democrats now control the Senate by 57-41, with two independents joining them when voting for Senate leadership and rules. Losing nine seats would leave the Democrats with 48 seats plus the two independents. Though evenly split with Republicans, Democrats would have the tie-breaking vote from Vice President Joe Biden to maintain control of committee chairs and the schedule.
Sabato noted that the Republicans have "an outside shot" at winning 10 seats and control, but said that a gain of eight or nine seats is more likely at this stage.
An important caveat: Some states still haven't held primaries, and those results could change the outlook. For example, Sabato now predicts that the Republicans will win the Delaware Senate seat once held by Biden and filled by a Democratic placeholder since then.
However, that prediction is based on the assumption that Rep. Michael Castle wins the Sept. 14 Republican primary. Sabato said that Castle's tea party-backed challenger, Christine O'Donnell, is ill suited to Delaware, and that if she managed to win the primary, the party would lose the seat in the Nov. 2 election.
Sabato also increased his forecast for Democratic losses in the governors' offices to eight, up from six or seven. That would shift the balance of power from a Democratic edge of 26 to 24 governors to a Republican advantage of 32-18.
That's important in each state, of course, and also has national implications, as the states next year start redrawing the boundaries of U.S. House districts in the wake of the 2010 Census, a process than can benefit the party that controls the maps. Governors also can be helpful to presidential candidates of their parties.
The loss of state legislature seats also would give Republicans control of eight to 10 additional state legislative chambers.
ON THE WEB
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
For more McClatchy politics coverage visit Planet Washington
McClatchy Newspapers 2010 | <urn:uuid:3a2b7b3d-e992-4618-b349-0a977b2c65e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/02/v-print/100009/gop-will-take-over-house-political.html | 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 | 0.968 | 1,083 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Erin Schrode is bringing eco-friendly school supplies to the children of Haiti.
CAUSE Nineteen-year-old New York University student Erin Schrode says she's always been passionate about activism. In March 2010, two months after a major earthquake struck Haiti, she traveled to the small country to volunteer at Project Medishare, a field hospital in Port-au-Prince. While she was there, she met a teacher who lamented that few of the children were being taught—Haiti had temporarily closed all schools in the wake of the tragedy. The teacher was willing to provide lessons, Erin recalls, but he just didn't have the tools. "Where to start seemed clear to me," she says. "Everyone needs supplies to learn. So I set out to make it happen." Erin recruited friends, family, and companies to put together packs of environmentally sustainable materials to donate to young students in Haiti—she named her project The Schoolbag. Last summer she and her team returned to the Caribbean country to do some additional field research. After three weeks of meetings with nongovernmental organizations and local kids, she set a goal: to deliver 11,210 book bags to the children of Haiti before school begins this fall. Why that specific number of bags? It's the date of the earthquake: 1-12-10.
EFFECT Erin and her team are in the midst of fund-raising and soliciting donations for their projected fall distribution.
GET INVOLVED For more information, visit theschoolbag.org. | <urn:uuid:e7546844-ca2f-4380-a2c3-e67c3942d0ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teenvogue.com/my-life/giving-back/2011-04/erin-schrode-helps-children-in-haiti | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975104 | 313 | 2.703125 | 3 |
NEW YORK (REUTERS).- A New York memorabilia dealer is selling what he claims is the last privately-owned copy of a World War Two manuscript of Jewish names known as "Schindler's list" and made famous in a 1993 movie of the same name.
The list was kept by German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who saved more than a 1000 Jewish lives from the Holocaust by employing them in his factory during World War Two.
New York memorabilia dealer Gary Zimet, who is seeking $2.2 million for his list, said three others are owned by museums, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Zimet, who is representing the manuscript's seller, told Reuters it had been held for over 55 years by the family of Schindler's accountant, Itzhak Stern. The Stern family recently sold it to the current, unidentified owner, Zimet said.
David Crowe, a professor at Elon College in North Carolina and a Schindler expert, had seen a picture of the list and reckoned it could be one of many Schindler produced over the course of the war.
"The Nazis were fanatical about keeping records, new lists were constantly being made," said Crowe.
Dated April 18, 1945, typed on onion paper, the slightly frayed list being sold by Zimet contains 801 all-male names, and is 14-pages long. It is a carbon copy made at the time it was typed, and it details the names of the workers along with their birthdates and jobs.
Schindler saved lives during World War Two by employing Jews in munition and other factories he owned. The nine or 10 lists of employees he submitted to the Nazis became known collectively as "Schindler's list," said Crowe.
Thomas Keneally wrote a book, "Schindler's Ark," about the subject and it was the basis for a movie, "Schindler's List," that was directed by Steven Spielberg. It was a box office hit and won the best film Academy Award.
(Reporting by Basil Katz; editing by Christine Kearney and Bob Tourtellotte) | <urn:uuid:6c254aab-6dbc-4762-b320-580d3853d324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.com/section/lastweek/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=37024&int_modo=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984063 | 454 | 2.125 | 2 |
1. Open – Make sure that the center of your home is open to allow chi to circulate and not stagnant.
2. Earth element – The Earth element is here to represent stability and groundedness. Colors of earth (beige to dark browns) and yellows are good here; stone flooring or objects;
3. What is in the Center?
Closet – Make sure the closet is not full of useless clutter. De-clutter and organize, organize, organize. Make everything easy to find and within reach.
Bathroom – Make sure that the bathroom stays well maintained, cleaned and lighting and plumbing work well. Incorporate the Earth element, as Earth "controls" the Water element that the bathroom represents: stone flooring or counters, walls in earth colors, a bowl of stones, and pottery are some ways to bring this element into the bathroom.
Stairway – A stairway in the center tends to creates a more chaotic home because of the up/down movement. To ground this space, be sure to include the Earth element: carpet runner in earth tones or square patterns, earth-toned walls, a few square frames with family photos on the walls (too many is distracting and looks chaotic). If there is space, installing heavy stone statues or planters on either side of the stairs has a great grounding effect.
Fireplace – Although Fire enhances Earth, our homes are a representation of your body, and having a fireplace in the center of a home is a metaphor for excess heat in your body. It can manifest as exhaustion, heart burn, adrenal issues and even heart disease.
Hallway – It's good to have an open space in the center of the home and hallways are just that. However, they can also be chaotic spaces with people traversing through them. Be sure that the space is open as possible. Watch that any furnishings don't impede the flow of chi (or people!) and that you limit the number of wall hangings. Keep the space as calm as possible. A nice runner can add some peace to this space.
4. Images – Symbolism is important to our psychology. Be sure that any artwork here is positive and life-enhancing.
To get more ideas to enhance the center of your home, look for the great charts on the Feng Shui Bagua and the 5 Elements on our Free Resources page. | <urn:uuid:c31f01ff-c973-4890-b816-04b9a7036fe1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://luminous-spaces.com/2011/05/27/the-heart-of-the-feng-shui-home/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936873 | 493 | 2.078125 | 2 |
"Thirty years ago, St. Petersburg took a leap of civic faith when it leveled a low-income neighborhood to attract a baseball team," writes Nohlgren. "Now Tropicana Field's 85 asphalt acres offer another chance for neighborhood rehabilitation — this time without baseball."
The national trend towards dense mixed-use development has arrived in this coastal Florida city, with developers and real estate experts eying the aging home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team as an ideal site for redevelopment. "It's not very common to be able to put together that large a site for a master planned project anywhere in a desirable area like Florida,'' Larry Richey, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield said. "It's a special place.''
"The Tampa Bay Rays, wanting a new stadium elsewhere, have begun to tout the Trop's redevelopment potential as more valuable to the city than baseball," notes Nohlgren. "The city 'is sitting on an enormous piece of land in a rapidly growing downtown that is, frankly, lying fallow,'' Rays vice president Michael Kalt recently told the Pinellas County Commission."
"The remaining debt on the stadium 'pales in comparison to what can come from property and sales tax generation if you put that land to use,' he said." | <urn:uuid:6f60bf21-d1ab-44b0-8596-11194d7358cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.planetizen.com/node/61295 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94977 | 262 | 1.554688 | 2 |
(Russian-language Home page)
Conference April 2011
Welcome to the Our Languages website. Our Languages is a research project investigating cultural and linguistic diversity which draws on the experience of people in Ireland who speak and understand Russian.
This project has three strands:
- a sociolinguistic survey which asks:
- What languages do you know?
- When, where and with whom do you use each of your languages?
- How do you feel about each of our languages?
- the collection of life stories
- focus groups on issues and challenges facing Russian speakers in Ireland
Please read some more about the aims of this research project (in English or Russian) and news associated with the project. Please do not hesitate to contact the principal investigator:
Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, | <urn:uuid:79a59269-937a-4636-807d-64bc11a132ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcd.ie/Russian/our-languages/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92179 | 164 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Also known as liposuction without surgery, is a non-invasive (no surgery) for shaping the body and eliminate cellulite achieved highly satisfactory results in volume reduction and cellulite from the first session. The Ultracavitation consists of applying low frequency ultrasound, generating micro bubbles in the fat cells. The technology of low-frequency ultrasound can treat selectively causing it to rupture fat cells without damaging surrounding tissues. This system is very selective, ensuring that the goal is the subcutaneous fat and no other.
Treatments are procedures involving the use of a radiofrequency (RF) energy device to heat up and tighten tissue to boost blood flow and break down cellulite and fat. The radiofrequency energy heats the skin without damaging it, in order to break down fatty cells and stimulate collagen production, which improves skin tone and elasticity. Radiofrequency treatments can be used to treat excess pockets of fat on the stomach, hips and thighs, reduce cellulite and tighten saggy skin caused by weight loss or pregnancy. The treatment is very safe and has minimal downtime.
Infrared Sauna Capsule
Infrared lights can act on the subcutaneous adipose, improve the combination of lipid and oxygen (burning excess fat and exporting liquefied lipid through sweat glands, 20-30 min radiation and pulse synchronization physiotherapy equals to consumption of 600 calorie, amounting to running for 10,000 meters. Temperature in Capsule can reach to 90°, which can accelerate lymph circulation, eliminate toxin and dropsy).proved by medicine, it has good effects in curing Arthritis and Rheumatism, etc.
People who suffer from water retention and heaviness in their legs have a slow lymphatic circulation, incapable of draining all the excess liquide stocked in the tissus.
This treatment uses 2 full leg boots that use air pressure to drain the legs in rhythmic waves.
Electrostimulation is the application of electrical currents, simulating the electrical impulse sent by the nervous system to the muscle in order for it to perform the contraction. This stimulation is done by applying electrodes or plates over the surface of the muscle by placing the motor trigger in order to ensure that the muscle contracts
Tone Increase and skin elasticity
Increase in muscle mass
Avoids flaccidity secondary to thinning processes
It helps in the process of eliminating cellulite
Facial and body lymphatic drainag
This type of therapy which is used for body sculpting, cellulite reduction, detoxifying and to treat such diseases as osteochondrosis, colds, bronchitis and pneumonia. The medical effect of this massage is realized by means of vacuum that causes the local rush of blood and lymph to skin from deep lying tissues, which exerts the reflex influence on vessels of internal organs.Works by using a unique method of palpating and rolling with patented suction cups and rollers to stimulate your blood and lymphatic circulation.
Mesotherapy is a medical specialty that involves injections of minute amounts of FDA approved medications into the mesoderm, the middle layer of the skin from the Greek word for middle "meso", eliminating Cellulite, aiding in Weight Loss, and promoting Skin Rejuvenation. This non-surgical alternative to cosmetic surgery or liposuction is the only effective treatment for cellulite, and matches liposuction for weight loss and body sculpting without the attendant risks of surgery, need for anesthesia, and significant downtime. | <urn:uuid:1985be34-2bbb-4c44-87fa-5f19f0b39e25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elizabethskinandbody.com/services.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910782 | 699 | 1.734375 | 2 |
December 26, 2012
Hamas Rockets Unlawfully Targeted Civilians
Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch
Palestinian armed groups in Gaza violated the laws of war during the November 2012 fighting by launching hundreds of rockets toward population centers in Israel. About 1,500 rockets were fired at Israel between November 14 and 21, the Israel Defense Forces reported. At least 800 struck Israel, including 60 that hit populated areas.
TAGGED: Hamas, Israel, Gaza, Israel Defense Forces | <urn:uuid:36463084-cfaf-4efb-96f7-f3479e0e07bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realclearworld.com/2012/12/26/hamas_rockets_unlawfully_targeted_civilians_143621.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936198 | 98 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agreed on one thing at Tuesday's meeting: the Internet does not need to be fixed. Despite this shared sentiment, the FCC's commissioners are divided on whether the government should act in anticipation of potential problems as the Internet matures. The panel voted 3–2 in favor of the Open Internet Order, designed to ensure what has commonly been referred to as "net neutrality".
Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn joined FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in passing the order, whereas commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Attwell Baker strongly dissented, disagreeing with the government's involvement in enforcing conduct on the Internet.
Genachowski acknowledged that the Internet and the World Wide Web have blossomed despite minimal federal regulation, but he also expressed concern over a lack of enforceable rules to protect consumers from any emerging Internet-related practices that might divide users into haves and have-nots. "I believe our actions today foster an ongoing cycle of massive investment, innovation and consumer demand both at the edge and in the core of broadband networks," he said during the meeting in Washington, D.C.
The order addresses several key principles: Users have a right to information about the performance of their broadband connections as well as the way in which their broadband providers manage the network itself (in particular, how they prioritize different types of traffic). The order, which applies to both fixed and wireless broadband services, prohibits the unlawful blocking of content, apps, services and the connection of devices to the network.
The Open Internet Order's goal is to create a level playing field where the commercial market, rather than the government or some other central authority, picks winners or losers, according to Genachowski, who added, "That's the role of the commercial market and the marketplace of ideas." As such, the order does not permit pay-for-priority arrangements between broadband providers and businesses operating on the Internet that would produce so-called fast lanes for some companies' content but not for others. Such arrangements "would allow broadband providers to skew the marketplace by favoring one idea, application or service over another by selectively prioritizing Internet traffic," he said.
This does not, however, prohibit broadband providers from developing tiered-pricing models to help them manage the expansion of and help with the investment in high-speed networks. The key distinction here is that it would be up to broadband providers, not their customers, to decide which content is prioritized.
"The crux of the order we're adopting, which is based on a strong and sound legal framework rooted in the [Tele]communications Act, is straightforward," Genachowski said. The order establishes an Open Internet Advisory Committee to ensure that these rules are adopted and enforced.
Genachowski also indicated that his support for the order was influenced in no small way by the position of Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee. The chairman cited a Berners-Lee article in the December issue of Scientific American at Tuesday's meeting, saying, "Although the Internet and Web generally thrive on lack of regulation, some basic values have to be legally preserved."
The commissioners opposed to the FCC's new broadband rules indicated that industry groups had been successful in monitoring Internet fairness and questioned whether the federal government had the legal right to intervene. McDowell said the order suffered from "regulatory hubris" and added, "Fortunately, the cures for this malady are obtainable in court." In a Wall Street Journal editorial on Sunday, McDowell wrote, "Nothing is broken that needs fixing."
Baker concurred. In a Washington Post editorial on Tuesday, she wrote, "Discouragingly, the FCC is intervening to regulate the Internet because it wants to, not because it needs to." | <urn:uuid:d0de75ae-2e90-47c9-bf7a-3908a79fd53f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fcc-ends-net-neutrality-debate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957724 | 766 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Pancreatic Cancer Treatments
Treating pancreatic cancer is complex and requires a team effort including, surgery, medical and radiation oncology, radiology, gastroenterology and other specialists.
Recommended treatment options depend on your stage of the disease and individual circumstances.. Pancreatic cancer may be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of any of these modalities. Surgically removing the entire tumor is preferred when possible and offers the best chance to extend survival. For more advanced disease, other treatment modalities can have an impact on controlling your symptoms and improving your quality of life.
Surgery may be used alone or in combination with radiation and chemotherapy. The type of surgery depends on your tumor’s location and size, stage of the disease and the your general health. All or part of the pancreas may be removed.
Whipple Procedure: the most common type of surgery for pancreatic cancer. If your tumor is in the head of the pancreas, your surgeon will remove the head, part of the small intestine, part of the stomach and part of the bile duct. The gallbladder is also removed. Generally, after this procedure you are still able to produce adequate amounts of insulin and digestive enzymes.
Distal Pancreatectomy: during this procedure, your surgeon removes the tail of the pancreas, or the tail and a portion of the body of the pancreas, as well as the spleen.
Total Pancreatectomy: during this procedure, your surgeon removes the entire pancreas, part of the small intestine, part of the stomach, part of the bile duct, the gallbladder and spleen. Following this procedure, you no longer have the cells that produce insulin. This means you’ll be diabetic and dependent on insulin.
These types of surgeries may make it difficult for you to digest foods. Nutritional counseling and supportive care are necessary in caring following pancreatic surgery. You need to be encouraged to take in enough calories and protein to maintain your weight and strength and also promote healing. You’ll be instructed to eat four to five small meals during the day rather than three large meals. Sometimes tube feedings are required until you’re able to transition back to normal eating. Some patients may require enzymes in the form of medications taken by mouth to help in digesting foods.
Biliary Bypass: sometimes the tumor may block your common bile duct. This surgery re-directs the flow of bile around the tumor and will relieve jaundice (yellow skin and eyes).
Gastric Bypass: sometimes tumors block the portion of your small intestine that connects to your stomach (duodenum). This surgery will allow food to move through your stomach past the blockage.
Stents: these are small plastic or metal tubes that can be inserted to keep your bile duct, pancreatic duct or duodenum open if they are blocked.
Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment. Chemotherapy drugs are given intravenously (through a needle in a vein) and travel in your bloodstream throughout your body. Even after surgery pancreatic cancer can sometimes metastasize (spread). Chemotherapy is often given after surgery to try to prevent the cancer from coming back (adjuvant therapy). Chemotherapy may be given alone, with radiation, or with surgery and radiation. If you have tumors that are potentially resectable (removable by surgery), you may receive chemotherapy before or after surgery.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Radiation is a local therapy. It affects cancer cells only in the area being treated. You will often receive low doses of chemotherapy along with radiation to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. Radiation may be given alone, with surgery, chemotherapy or both.
The most common type of radiation therapy used in treating pancreatic cancer is called external beam radiation therapy. Types of external beam therapy used in the treatment of pancreatic cancer include Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy and CyberKnife radiosurgery.
Clinical trials offer additional treatment options for some patients. Some promising new treatments may only be available in a research setting. Aurora offers access to these clinical trials of therapies that might not be widely available elsewhere. | <urn:uuid:0e67e9e0-77a3-4f3d-b17a-da7c82ced381> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/services/cancer/pancreatic-cancer-program/treatment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933449 | 874 | 2.15625 | 2 |
What you watched--if you watched--is a vid, a fan-made music video which sets edited clips from a live-action source like a film or a TV series to music. Vids explore characters, make arguments, illustrate themes, explore fictional worlds, tell jokes, or evoke emotions -- that is, they do all the things that stories can do, in all the media we use to tell them. What makes vidding of particular interest to Aqueduct readers is that it is an almost entirely female art form: it was invented by women and continues to be dominated by women artists. Vividcon, an annual convention for vidders founded in 2002, has around 110 members attending each year; the largest number of men ever to attend in a single year has been five. Laura Shapiro, the vidding curator for the DIY Video Summit, reports that no other involved community has a similarly gendered tradition: "[A]s a community of women media makers, we are startlingly rare, maybe even unique."
Vidding was invented in 1975 by a woman named Kandy Fong at a Star Trek convention: She put production stills from the show into a slide carousel and played them on a screen to music to demonstrate just how much Kirk and Spock were meant for each other. Slash--fan-written homosexual relationships between characters who are usually not canonically romantically involved--is still one of the main vidding subgenres, inspiring both delight and technical innovation in vidders and vidfans. If you're not involved with vidding but have heard of the practice before, it's probably because you've seen one of the slash vids distributed on YouTube to fifteen minutes of fame. This re-distribution is often without the vidder's desire or consent, because vidding, even more than other fan creative activities, takes place in a legal grey space; vidders fear, often with good reason, that wide exposure and attention from the television, film, or music owners will mean cease-and-desist orders. A lot of recent debate among the vidding community has focused on the conflict between the desire for greater recognition and the fear of the dangers that recognition might bring.
The dangers aren't simply legal. Vidding, like a lot of women's art, exists in the chinks of the world-machine; and the world-machine will crush it out of indifference as much as malice. Recent academic work on fan films has left out the history of female vidding: at the Harvard Signal to Noise Conference at the Birkman Center, a machinima paper claimed that fans had been making videos since 1996, only missing the date by two decades; at a Buffy conference, where vidders gave a vid presentation and panel, academics in the audience dismissed the form as unworthy of attention without male participants. More typically, the minimizing and misrepresentation of vidding is exemplified by the outsider obsession with slash as the only and omnipresent form of vidding and fanfiction, vidding's older, better-established relative. Both academics and journalists tend to cast this expression of female desire as a pathology or a joke, at the same time erasing desires that don't fit into the easily fashioned and very comfortable story of women indulging in an excess of heteronormativity ("the normal female interest in men boinking"): you will not find, in most of these discussions of slash, even the favorable ones, any acknowledgement that not all slash is male/male -or pornographic, or that not all fiction or vidding is slash, or that not all fan writers or vidders are straight, even among m/m slashers.
Erasure, legal threats, and misrepresentation are one set of of dangers; another is co-option. Vids' closest aesthetic kin are probably anime music videos, a tradition and community which grew up slightly later and almost entirely separately. AMV-making is as male-dominated as other forms of DIY video-making. Unlike vidding, it's accepted and to some extent controlled by the professional animation production companies in Japan and the US, who run contests at conventions and frequently pick up new editing/animating talent from them. The benefits of this cooperation for the fan community are obvious; what's less obvious is the extent to which the contest guidelines constrain and limit fannish activity, or indeed the extent to which they reward and reinforce comfortably mainstream readings of the source.
What I'd like to talk about today are fan videos whose readings are anything but comfortable, videos whose resistant readings of the source material--and in some ways of our culture at large--offer a profound feminist critique of popular culture.
Did you watch this yet?
"Women's Work" is a fan video for Supernatural, a television series about two ghosthunting brothers. The series makes extensive, loving, sometimes innovative and sometimes cliched use of urban legends and horror movie tropes and conventions. "Women's Work" was made by Sisabet and Luminosity, two vidders whose works are extremely popular and well-respected among the vidding community. Like most vids, "Women's Work" gains power from contextual knowledge; but in this case, the context is not so much the television show Supernatural as Western culture. Knowing Supernatural sure doesn't hurt; one fan finds it particularly instructive to watch the vid in conjunction with the video that won a promo contest sponsered by the show's creators ("I could be wrong, but I think the subtitle of this promo is supposed to be 'Women are scary'"). But both Sisabet and Luminosity have emphasized that "Women's Work" is a meta-critique not limited to Supernatural; in her vid announcement, Sisabet says,
I do want to preface the vid (and I've debated saying even this) that I have a crazy, fierce, total madlove for Supernatural. The shit I deal with every day, the crap we watch every day, the goddamn Captivity trailers/billboards, the fucking torture-porn-a-thon of a new movie every week this spring, the woman of the week on EVERY GODDAMN SHOW I love, the fact that only mommies burn on the ceiling and daddies get to fall down dead, the freaking exploitative crap I have to wade through to read even my *favorite* comic books, and I could go on, but hell, all of it leads to just sitting down and wanting to at least point some of it out. I don't even think it is so much a popular-media thing, or even a cultural thing so much as... just people? Maybe? Even at the Art Institute today, it was rape, rape, rape in almost every other room (but no rape in the gift-shop. I looked) and I am done talking now.
"Women's Work" is a doctoral thesis in the misogyny of basic, unexamined story structures--structures which are more obvious because they are more literal in horror, but which are present in every genre and every variation of style, from pop culture to high art. The vid explicitly and viscerally demonstrates how SO MANY of the stories we know and tell and re-tell depend on the suffering of women, the death or dismemberment or otherwise disposing of; the story depends on the suffering of women, but the suffering of women isn't the story; the suffering of women just propels the story. The suffering of men is the story, and that's one (though not the only) big way suffering is gendered: men suffering are subjects on a quest, but women suffering are objects of pity or desire.
The vid starts off with the eroticization of women's fear, an eroticization instilled very early (rape rape rape, child saying prayers in bed, the particular sexual fear for the girl-child in the opening), an eroticization applied to practically every guest-starring or single-scene female victim of the week: the women's fear isn't the story, it's just the engine that makes the story go. These women are mostly nameless, or even if named we don't see them on the show more than once: they're all the same woman, as far as the story's concerned.
And then we get the section starting at 1:16, sex instead of violence, tits and ass, the cleavage parade, the blonde women taped to the ceiling and set on fire: this is, it's helpful to know, the central image of the television show, the opening and closing image of the pilot episode, the tragic loss that sets the show's protagonists on their heroic quest. Women's deaths aren't important in themselves; they are important for their effect on men. The sequence closes with kisses, with women standing sadly but at least still alive, watching the heroes go: but once again, the woman has no story. She's just an excuse for the story. The story is the men's story.
Women do have a role besides victim or lost happiness, of course: we can also be monsters. We may even get a brief, deceptive rush of invigoration, of joy in choosing power if power or death's the only choice we've got: but this is a hero story and sooner or later, no matter how powerful, the monsters end up dead, dead, dead. The vid closes with a character named Ava, who is significantly paralleled to one of the protagonists in her first and last appearance; in her second and final episode, we learn that she's chosen to cooperate with a demon because it was the only way for her to survive. Before that reveal, she was unexpectedly timid, weak, cowering with feminine helplessness in the arms of one of the show's heroes--until she dropped the mask and revealed that her vulnerability as an act used to trick the men around her into underestimating her. The trick only goes so far, and so does what it hides: in the final clip, she's killed, too.
So far, I've focused on interpretation of the visuals, but of course the audio component is equally important: Hole's feminist rage, Courtney Love parroting women's advice and conventional wisdom with bitterness and loathing and rage: "Once they get what they want, they never want it again," with its definition of sex as something taken from women mapping all too well onto the eroticized violence on the screen; "You should learn how to say 'No'" means as little to the women here as it ever does to any woman overpowered, and it means as little to us, as the female audience of the show. Because the additional, extra layer of the video is its address to an audience of women, of fans, of people who are so used to this story and this kind of story construction that we become complicit to it: "Take everything," Courtney Love screams, and we do, too, deeply in love with stories that depend on our own erasure.
And what if we aren't that lovesick? What if we learn how to say no?
Much good it does us: the stories are everywhere. Contemporary media fandom consists of a profound emotional attachment to sources made by men, usually for men; and women are so used to denying our own subjectivity we don't even notice we're doing it anymore. Much of the fan reaction to "Women's Work" in the comments to the vid announcements has focused on the women's own resistance to the vid's messages:
Part of my head, the part that adores Supernatural and the boys was (is) sputtering, "but there's so much more there!" However, as time passes, the calmer part of my head reminds me -- just because there's more there, doesn't mean that that negates the violent and brutal images and scenes showcased in Women's Work. It doesn't. It can't.
Thank you for reminding me of that. Even if it was a painful reminder.
In one instructive comment thread, Sisabet takes a protesting viewer through example after example of how female victims are routinely sexualized by the camerawork while comparable male ones aren't. Reaction to the vid remains divisive and sharply polarized among the women of vidding fandom.
The ending of "Women's Work" is powerful and troubling--troubling in ways both intentional and not. The vidders clearly intended the despairing rage and shock we feel with the snap of Ava's neck; we end not with female empowerment, however compromised and monstrous, but with more death, death, death. What is unintentional, I believe, is the repercussions of the final image: the man who kills Ava is black, and the clip takes on a disturbing resemblance to the racist imagery used to justify lynchings. I don't mean to suggest that this is in any way a deliberate reference, but the failure to notice it points to one of the major current limitations of vidding as a means for feminist critique.
Like the rest of media and sf fandom, vidding fandom is predominantly white and middle-class. Vividcon, the vidding convention, is not an explicitly feminist space, but in some ways it acts as an enabler and incubator for feminism; Club Vivid, the con's dance party, is the largest and most public female safe space I've encountered outside Take Back the Night marches, and that includes similar events at Wiscon. It is, however, a very white feminism. I'd estimate that of the hundred-odd women attending, somewhere between six and twelve are women of color, though I may be misidentifying women who are not visibly racial minorities.
US television notoriously underrepresents racial minorities, and those characters of color who appear are further underrepresented in vids. Vids like Mimesere's "Jesus Walks" (streaming version), a powerful reclamation of Gunn on Angel (made, unsurprisingly, by a woman of color) or Barkley's character study of Stargate SG-1's Teal'c in "Gortoz A' Ran" (streaming), are still few and far between. An exception to the trend, and an example of vidders' ability to shape new feminist and antiracist stories from profoundly flawed sources, is here's luck's "People Get Ready" (streaming), a re-envisioning of the first season of Heroes that rewrites the show's problematic representation of race and gender. Where the show repeatedly introduced black men as threatening figures, here's luck first presents them as loving and concerned: the (nameless) Haitian is part of an effort for the greater good, the ex-con D.L. is first shown as a loving father. Charles Devaux, on the show a Magical Negro more concerned with the emotional drama of a strange white boy than with his own daughter's death, here is re-figured as more central, more effective, the only parent who looks at children as other parents look away: rather than remaing the mystical adjunct to the young white hero, the middle-aged black man becomes hidden heart of the show. The Petrelli and Sylar storylines are reduced to threads in an ensemble tapestry instead of the climactic struggle between titanic white men, complete with women literally pushed aside into the smaller concerns of family; the conclusion instead becomes focused on the agency and strength achieved by Hiro and Claire, the Asian man and the teenage girl. Nikki doesn't wear hooker clothes; Claire isn't introduced with or defined by sexual assault. Children and the working-class characters like telepathic Matt and nuclear Ted are given a larger role to play; where the show emphasized the heroic agency of individual white men, here's luck emphasizes communal action and the power gained by the formerly powerless working together.
At Wiscon 31 (2007), vidfans who seized an spontaneous programming block for an impromptu vidshow put up posters advertising "Women invented YouTube!" As with women's contributions to the theater and the novel, it's still all too easy for women's contributions to other artforms to be written out of history, and for fandom to be reduced to simple, uncritical consumption. It's difficult to indicate the scope, richness, and variety of vidding in a short space, but here's a brief list of vids that might be of particular interest to Aqueduct readers:
- Keely's "Martina" is a powerful critique of the treatment of rape on Veronica Mars, situating rape not simply as an isolated act of violence but as a threat used to control women's behavior and sexuality; it is remarkably sympathetic to the show's central character while being scathing of the show's facile and exploitative treatment of rape's impact and aftereffects.
- Laura Shapiro specializes in character portraits of female characters, often unpopular ones judged by unfair and misogynist double standards. You can download her vids or watch them streaming. I particularly recommend "I Put You There," a collaboration with Lithium Doll that celebrates one of the most basic impulses behind vidding and media fandom.
- Charmax's "Boom Boom Ba" (Xena: Warrior Princess) is a gorgeous and sensual exploration of female sexuality, marred by a seductive but troubling Orientalism. (Streaming | Download)
- SDWolfpup's "Woman-King" (Deadwood) explores the limitations and triumphs of a woman in the 19th-century American West. (Download)
- Shati's "Boulevard of Broken Songs" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) defines Slayers and sisterhood. (Streaming | Download)
- Destina's "Want" is instructive in conjunction with "Women's Work": It's a Supernatural vid about the desire of the series nemesis for the heroes, which can also plausibly be read as a metacommentary on media fandom's reaction to the show. Notably, although the series protagonists are here treated as the objects of desire, they are not visually objectified in the same way as the female characters in "Women's Work." (Download)
- Gwyneth R.'s "No Way Out" is a multifandom vid illustrating similarities between Buffy, Scully, and Nikita (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X Files, La Femme Nikita); despite the clear limitations on even these extraordinary female protagonists, the vid manages to be inspirational rather than disheartening. (Streaming | Download) | <urn:uuid:af455c3a-d946-4424-b8d8-c0d38c2e68a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2007/08/womens-art-and-womens-work.html?showComment=1188555300000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957161 | 3,817 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Within a matter of weeks, the Treasury will run up against the debt ceiling. It can finance the government for some weeks after that through a variety of gimmicks. Democrats and Republicans are preparing for thrust and parry on a variety of specific spending and nonspending issues. We have already seen a dress rehearsal in the maneuvering over the expiration of the continuing resolution on April 8. That episode went to the 11th hour, literally. The president derided the conflict as being over nickels and dimes. For the most part, he was right about that.
Republicans have an opportunity for a much more important debate, which will frame the election campaign next year. Republicans should tell President Obama they will vote to increase the debt ceiling, in a clean bill with no other provisions, provided he promises three things:
- The administration will submit a revised budget that will deal with the deficit. Upon the president’s agreement, the first installment of the debt ceiling increase should be $500 billion; further installments will await the revised budget. The nation has a right to expect that the president will be serious about the deficit issue.
- Republicans will support a second clean increase of $500 billion in the debt ceiling when the president submits the revised budget. The president agrees that the Congressional Budget Office should score the revised budget according to its "alternative budget scenario." The February budget systematically understates future outlays and overstates future revenues. CBO’s alternative scenario scores the budget on what is most easily described as a current services principle rather than according to current law, which understates the likely future deficit. For one example of this problem, current law and the president’s budget include the assumption that doctor reimbursements under Medicare and Medicaid can be cut in future years. The CBO alternative scenario is based on the more realistic assumption that reimbursements will be at about the current level.
- When the CBO analysis is in, the president will submit a second revised budget reflecting that analysis. At that time, Republicans will agree to accept an increase in the debt ceiling large enough to finance the government through mid-2013.
What if Obama refuses to make this promise? Then, instead of a clean bill, the Republicans should attach a clause requiring that the president submit a revised budget to address the deficit. The point would not be to argue about how to address the deficit — we already know that the parties are deeply split on their vision as to the role of the federal government — but instead to require that Obama present an actual plan. A Treasury default would then be squarely the president’s responsibility because he refused to present a plan to address the deficit.
“The president’s plan and Ryan’s plan will be at the center of next year’s election debate over the role of government and how to finance it.”
Republicans should emphasize that the debt ceiling issue is not about the substance of how to address the deficit, but that the president present a plan voters can judge.
The substance will be the election debate next year.
How can the president not accept a deal in which he presents proposals to reduce the deficit over time? Is that too much to ask?
Americans understand the responsibility of the president to address the deficit, and his refusal to do so will stand in stark contrast to the plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The president must not be allowed to trash the Republican proposal without presenting his own alternative.
In the academic world, the saying goes if you are in a horse race, you have to have a horse; if you don’t like a theory, you have to have a better theory. In politics, unfortunately, the reverse seems to be true. It seems more effective to demagogue your opponent’s spending or tax proposals than to present your own.
In the debt ceiling debate, Republicans have the opportunity to force Obama to explain how he proposes to finance the spending commitments now on the books, or which spending commitments will be cut back.
The president’s plan and Ryan’s plan will be at the center of next year’s election debate over the role of government and how to finance it. Democrats should surely welcome the opportunity to defend their vision. | <urn:uuid:61d62628-1522-43fa-bb6d-e8a8d593a585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/calling-presidents-bluff | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949935 | 868 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Teamwork is the word of order in an ever increasing competitive world. If you lack the ability to work within a team, no matter how qualified you, are you won’t be able to get very far up the career ladder.
The benefits of Teamwork are well known and directly linked to quality, productivity and a better quality of life for workers which translates into more profit for companies and more bonuses for employees.
But, what does it take to be great in ‘Teamwork’?
Learn to develop and practice strong Interpersonal Skills. According to Serge Moscovici, the interpersonal relationship is the interaction between two or more people involving self-awareness, having effective communication and learning to listen and learn from the other people’s differences.
Be fully aware of your role and that you are part of a collective purpose. Then learn to communicate assertively and politely. Use appropriate and straight language, avoiding the use of jargon and difficult terms when simple words are enough. Provide information as clear and complete as possible. Use multiple channels to stimulate several senses of the receiver (hearing, vision etc.). Use face to face communication whenever possible.
The big one is to learn from the differences. Usually we don’t like the differences as they only serve to annoy us. However, learning how to appreciate these differences will have a huge impact in our interpersonal skills ability. If all the individuals in a team are exactly the same it will be impossible to achieve excellence. Diversity is good and the key is to know how to extract the best from every individual. Be tolerant and remain flexible at all times.
Negotiation Skills – In a negotiation you are seeking acceptance of your ideas, intentions or interests in the best possible outcome through an agreement in situations where there are common interests, disagreements and conflicts of interests, ideas and positions. The parties involved must have the opportunity to present all their thoughts about the subject. Negotiation does not mean confrontation, but a harmonization of situations between the parties so that everyone involved can benefit.
Act as a diplomat. It is necessary to create a bridge so that your opponent can reach you. You need to be friendly, but that does not mean you have to accept whatever the other proposes. Work for others to say “yes” to your proposals, not to be disliked and end up failing to reach agreement.
The biggest lesson here is changing the way we see a negotiation as we tend to think there is only one winner in a negotiation. However, in a successful negotiation there isn’t just one winner, but two or the team. The gain has to be mutual, always!
Every organization has limitations and policies, and when there is actually a good team involved that actually brings results, the improvement occurs over time, but it is quite noticeable that the organization’s structure begins to change as a result of this group and recognition is sure-fire. | <urn:uuid:daa833cb-fcd1-495a-82c9-65abb66a31e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.changeyourlifetips.com/soft-skills-affective-is-effective/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963291 | 593 | 2.5 | 2 |
About a month ago I started having pain going from my ankle up to my back on my right side (mostly on the outer side). I had fallen a few days before and hit my rear pretty hard, so my boyfriend ended up thinking it was from that and had me stay inactive for a day or so until the pain went away.
From time to time it has come back since then, usually when it does come back I notice it gets worse the more I move around.
Is this probably something to do with a pinched nerve? A hurt muscle? Or is it something that could be blood clot related? (I ask about the blood clot because I was also on Ortho Evra for over a year up until August 2005) Or something else?
According to the description you've provided (âpain going from my ankle up to my back on the right sideâ), you could be experiencing sciatica. Trauma of the lumbar-sacral region of the vertebral column can cause sciatica. You should first consult your primary health doctor and probably an orthopedist afterward, by recommendation. An X-ray of the lumbar-sacral region should be done, too. It doesn'seem likely that âblood clotâ could be the reason for that, because deep vein thrombosis manifests with an increase in local temperature, swelling, and pain located only in the leg and not on the back.
"Ask a Doctor" questions are answered by certified physicians and other medical professionals.
For more information about experts participating in the "Ask a Doctor" Network, please visit our
medical experts page.
You may also visit our General Q and A , for moderated patient to patient support and information.
The information provided on eHealth Forum is designed to improve, not replace, the relationship between a patient and his/her own physician.
Personal consultation(s) with a qualified medical professional is the proper means for diagnosing any medical condition. | <urn:uuid:1103c432-e8e6-4120-8627-6330ac3b7bef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic79961.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961239 | 406 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Earth Teacher is an iphone/ ipad application which will teach users some important facts about Earth which you never heard before. This application will teach you about earth in details and then it will test you with designed quizzes in it. This App will make sure that you learn the basics about earth.
There are four main sections of the Earth Teacher, each comprising of detailed teaching lesson and then quizzes on it. the Sections are as follows.
History of The Earth
Composition of The Earth
Layers of The Earth
Orbits & Rotations
Earth Teacher will give an introduction of each section and then it will take you to other important factors involved in it like in case of “History” we have Introduction, Continental Growth, Evolution Life and Cambrian Explosion.
I hope you will be learning important facts about earth with Earth Teacher.
Share with your Friends and Keep Enjoying.
Send us Feedback about the Application. | <urn:uuid:3c4535ce-2fa2-4c5f-bee8-2dfb1611c468> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mobilemediacity.com/earth-teacher-iphone-ipad-earth-teaching-application/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931794 | 193 | 2.578125 | 3 |
6-6-1966, a red letter day in the annals of the MTCES, when a star fell from heaven to enlighten generations of children. Prompted by the pilgrim fathers, the STRS took shape. Paul planted, Apollo watered, but God caused the growth ( I Corinthians 3:6). St. Thomas Residential School affiliated to the council for the ICSE is nothing short of destiny’s child, its name and fame reaching the far corners of the world; its aroma filling and blessing anyone it touched. A mega monolith with 3000 children and 124 teachers, it started with six students in a rented building in the heart of the city. From its modest beginning it is now housed in a sylvan surroundings in a smoke and plastic free environment in 30 acres of the green Mukkolakkal heartland. The school can be proud of its modern computer lab, a chapel in the Anglo Saxon mould, other sister schools St. Thomas Central School and St. Thomas Higher Secondary School and a B.Ed. College . The Campus has hostels for both boys and Girls. Our pride is the St. Thomas Tower where the offices of the MTCES are.
Quality education is imparted to the students based on sound Christian values. The school is now forty three. It is now growing from strength to strength. It has churned out international and national figures and each one has a story to tell, May the genial grace of God surround our school and bless us always. | <urn:uuid:729bdba2-a7b8-435d-95fb-98cb5b32741c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stthomastvm.edu.in/Residential/index.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946859 | 308 | 2 | 2 |
Best Diets For Weight Loss
There are many diets meant for weight loss but some are more effective than others. Some diets are long-term while others are short term. However, the best diets for weight loss are the long term ones. Discussed here are different diets in order of their rating by some experts in weight loss.
Weight Watchers is the best because through it, the extra weight is lost and you are prevented from regaining it through the diet. It is ideal be it the long-term or short-term ones. Unfortunately you cannot be assured that it will work for you.
Jenny Craig Diet is next among the best weight loss diets and is quite expensive. A prominent part of this diet is the counseling which offers emotional support. However, the experts wonder whether the dieters will be able to control their weight when they stop being provided with foods that are already packaged in certain portions.
Next is the Raw Food Diet which is ideal for the long term and short term basis. Raw food contains fewer calories. The diet is said not to be suitable for every one because it is labor intensive and restrictive.
Through Volumetric Diet, you will lose weight and be able to maintain it and is ideal for long term and short term achievement. It is preferable compared to other diets because it depends on what satisfies you.
With slim-fast diet, you are expected to lose one or two pounds weekly. It is also ideal for losing weight on long term and short term basis and through it, the lost weight can be kept way too.
Vegan Diet is also among the best diets for weight loss and controlling it. However, the method requires commitment since you must keep animal products away which are a challenge.
Atkins Diet involves the extra weight being shed fast and is ideal for short term effect. However, according to some experts, on long term basis, the impression is not good.
Dash diet being among the best weight loss diets focuses on filling foods that are healthy and with low levels of calories. It is effective for weight loss on both long term and short term basis. Initially, it was not meant to be a diet for weight loss It was designed as a DASH (dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) by government.
There other diets whose details are available online such as Mayo Clinic Diet.
Best Exercises for Weight Loss
In addition to adapting to proper diet, exercising properly leads to weight loss. The best exercises for weight loss are those that you are capable of doing, according to experts. Cardiovascular exercises are significantly effective in eliminating the extra weight.
Step aerobics is best for quick weight loss and focuses on the buttocks, legs and hips. For women, step aerobics are ideal because it is in these areas that women tend to struggle to lose weight from. About 800 calories re burnt by exercising for an hour therefore if done daily, the outcome will be visible in two weeks.
Swimming is also among the best weight loss exercises. You will burn about 800 calories in an hour through performing some lengths up as well as down. Swimming is advantageous since the whole body is toned.
Exercise the body through cycling whether the cycle is outdoor or stationary. The level of the burnt calories is determined by the speed and resistance of the cycling. Whether the cycle is outdoor or stationary, downhill, uphill or on a plain road also matters.
Dancing is one of the exercises for weight loss although for many individuals, it is not an exercise. Dancing is very effective because it focuses on the whole body. In addition to losing the extra weight, it is also a wonderful stress reliever. Preserve at about an hour for dancing daily and up to 800 calories will be burnt.
Many people neglect it but walking is also an exercise and has great benefits. For those with cars, you can park it some distance away and walk to and after work from there. Through walking, the metabolic rate will be increased, and this is helpful in kick starting weight loss.
Racquetball is a cardio activity which is also among the best exercises for weight loss. The cardio workout involves running from side to side and this helps to tone the legs and thighs. The level of the burnt calories can be compared to that of step aerobics
In addition to weight loss, Elliptical Trainer is ideal for toning the stomach and in building strong muscles. The exercises are of different programs and the program you adopt will determine the level of calories to be burnt.
Especially or people who are medically unfit, it is wise to consult a doctor to help you identify best weight loss exercises that will be suitable for you. Do not commence with strenuous exercises without proper consultation as well. | <urn:uuid:5c7be03a-b7a8-4018-b1be-75d03e0f9e26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthguru.com.au/weight-loss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970004 | 966 | 1.820313 | 2 |
An Indiana law that denies Medicare funds to Planned Parenthood has once again been blocked. The law, signed into effect by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in May 2011, claims that Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) should not receive Medicare funding because the funds would indirectly subsidize abortion. The law was blocked in June of 2011 and again yesterday on the grounds that the law does not provide women with the freedom to choose their health care provider. The State is continuing to challenge the ruling both in federal court and administratively within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In a statement released today, PPIN President and CEO Betty Cockrum said, “We are gratified by the federal government’s decision and thrilled that PPIN continues to be able to provide preventative health care to our patients. Through its appeal, the State was continuing its attack on women’s rights and attempting to restrict access to basic, lifesaving services such as Pap tests, breast exams, STD testing and treatment, and birth control. What is even more appalling is that these actions by the State would have penalized Hoosiers who are struggling to make ends meet right now – Hoosiers who are in need of the high-quality, affordable health care that PPIN provides.”
Six other states- North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, and Oklahoma- have bills pending that seek to defund or decrease the funds available to Planned Parenthood. This year, Arizona defunded Planned Parenthood and Maine has cut $400,000 in family planning funds. In 2011, five other states passed legislation that defunds Planned Parenthood. Of those states, District Courts in Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee have declared the laws unconstitutional and blocked them from going into effect. Wisconsin’s legislation was not blocked.
Planned Parenthood health centers across the country provide contraception and basic health care, including family planning, cancer screenings, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to approximately 2.5 million women per year, including over one million cervical cancer screenings and 830,000 breast exams.
Media Resources: Associated Press 7/8/2012; CNN 7/9/2012; ThinkProgress 7/9/2012; PPIN 7/9/2012; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/2/2011; Feminist Daily Newswire 6/28/2011; Feminist Daily Newswire 7/5/2012; Feminist Daily Newswire 4/19/2012 | <urn:uuid:a177cba2-f745-467e-a885-06b0636dcf2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2012/07/20/indiana-law-to-defund-planned-parenthood-blocked/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956767 | 510 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The Royal New Zealand Air Force had a number of Vickers Vildebeest and Vincents in service at start of WW2 and my question is; How do you tell them visually apart?
It looks like the tail struts are where you tell the difference.The Vincent was designed to carry a fuel tank instead of a torpedo and that was why the tail struts are different in looks. There is also some stories about a tropical version, purported to be the Vincent without engine cowling.
Gravity always wins!
Wasn't it the fact that one was incredibly ugly and had a tail hook, and the other was just incredibly ugly (though not as ugly as the Overstrand). (cue silly giggle) | <urn:uuid:93149a5b-bff2-4b88-8175-06c7abfd113e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/forums/vickers-vincent-vildebeest-92806.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973311 | 149 | 1.773438 | 2 |
An Excellence Award winner at 2010 International Bicycle Design Competition, the AutoVelo, created by SpeedStudio Design's
founder, Erik Stoddard, is a hybrid electric recumbent bicycle that's more upright than traditional versions to mimic the seated position in a car. "Most recumbent bikes sit lower to the ground, but the AutoVelo is actually modeled off the seating position of a small SUV so you're a little higher off the ground, so you can see in traffic and you can be seen," Stoddard says. "It's designed for people who like to drive but want the ease of use in a crowded urban environment."
In another tweak to the recumbent, Stoddard designed the pedals to power the front wheel instead of the rear; however, there is a motor that turns the back tire. He also shortened the traditional recumbent's wheel base to increase the bike's maneuverability, making it easier to direct through city traffic. | <urn:uuid:f2276c05-6a50-4713-8ac6-8b0110b41c4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/10-brilliant-bike-redesigns-autovelo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953487 | 197 | 1.882813 | 2 |
I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer screen, during which two parts of my body get tired: my backside and my eyes. A quick wander around the room reacquaints me with my butt cheeks, but when it comes to kicking the eyes back into gear, I admit to being a bit under-resourced in the knowledge department.
I'm a fitness kinda girl, right? The most attention my eyes get is when I'm applying mascara in the passenger seat of my husband's car, running late for an appointment. So I took it upon myself to do some homework. And my research turned up some amazing eye facts.
First, we can do cool exercises that re-energise and strengthen the muscles that support eye function. Here are my faves: extend your arm with your thumb up. Focus on your thumb, and keep focusing as you slowly bring it to your nose. Hold for three seconds, then return to the start position. Next, imagine a figure eight on its side three metres away. Use your eyes to trace its shape three times one way, then three times the other way. Finally, rub your hands together to warm them up, then put your palms on your cheekbones and your fingers on your forehead, cupping your eyes in your palms. Let your eyes relaaaaax in the warm, cosy darkness. Wicked during a marathon computer session!
Of course, you can eat for eye health. Make sure you have plenty of vitamin C to support the structure and function of the connective tissue. Vitamin C, abundant in citrus fruit, broccoli, capsicums and tomatoes, will also mop up free radicals, which can contribute to eye disease, and it helps stop eye conditions like macular degeneration.
Our retinas contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, so oily fish belongs on the menu. Similarly, eating green, leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, broccoli, silverbeet) and taking in antioxidants and vitamins from the likes of corn and capsicum will also benefit your eyes.
If you're eating well for your eyes, you'll be eating well for your general health, too. So look sharp and get a thumbs up from your GP.
From: Sunday Life | <urn:uuid:ce92329e-26c5-4edf-9970-81612d20bde8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/297101/its-all-in-the-eyes/?cs=35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950985 | 460 | 2.09375 | 2 |
China restores ancient Tibet ruins
The Chinese government is investing $8.9m to restore and preserve the ancient Guge Kingdom ruins in Tibet.
It is estimated that the project will be completed in five years making the 10th Century site more resilient to natural disasters.
Increased rainfall in the dry region over the past decades caused cracks on the walls and landslides.
Eric Camara reports. | <urn:uuid:457f1b36-46d9-4911-a5e8-6dde081bd073> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14469781 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903482 | 80 | 1.6875 | 2 |
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2012)|
Trauma surgery is a surgical specialty involved in the invasive treatment of physical injuries, typically in an emergency setting. Trauma surgeons generally complete residency training in general surgery and often fellowship training in trauma or surgical critical care. The trauma surgeon is responsible for the initial resuscitation and stabilization of the patient, as well as ongoing evaluation and management. The attending trauma surgeon also leads the trauma team, which typically includes nurses and support staff as well as resident physicians in teaching hospitals.
In the United States (U.S.), the majority of trauma surgeons practice in larger centers and complete a 1-2 year fellowship in trauma surgery which often includes a surgical critical care fellowship. This may allow them to sit for the American Board of Surgery (ABS) or the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery (AOBS) certifying examination in Surgical Critical Care.
In Europe training programs usually take place under supervision of the national surgical boards, who also certify for subspecialism as trauma surgery. There is also an official European trauma surgical exam.
Training for trauma surgeons is sometimes difficult to obtain. In the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Surgeons of England is responsible for training consultants via the Definitive Surgical Trauma Skills course (DSTS). It remains the only course of its kind in the United Kingdom. Originally designed to teach the military, the course now trains both military and civilian surgeons.
The broad scope of their surgical critical care training enables the trauma surgeon to address most injuries to the neck, chest, abdomen, and extremities. In large parts of Europe trauma surgeons treat most of the musculoskeletal trauma. Whereas injuries to the central nervous system are generally treated by neurosurgeons. In the US and Britain skeletal injuries are treated by trauma orthopedic surgeons. Facial injuries are often treated by maxillofacial surgeons. There is significant variation across hospitals in the degree to which other specialists, such as cardiothoracic surgeons, plastic surgeons, vascular surgeons, and interventional radiologists are involved in treating trauma patients.
Trauma surgeons must be familiar with a large variety of general surgical, thoracic, and vascular procedures and must be able to make complex decisions, often with little time and incomplete information. Proficiency in all aspects of intensive care medicine/critical care is required. Hours are irregular and there is a considerable amount of night, weekend, and holiday work. Salaries for trauma surgeons are comparable to that of general surgeons.
Most patients presenting to trauma centers have multiple injuries involving different organ systems, and so the care of such patients often requires a significant number of diagnostic studies and operative procedures. The trauma surgeon is responsible for prioritizing such procedures and for designing the overall treatment plan. This process starts as soon as the patient arrives in the emergency department and continues to the operating room, intensive care unit, and hospital floor. In most settings, patients are evaluated according to a set of predetermined protocols (triage) designed to detect and treat life-threatening conditions as soon as possible. After such conditions have been addressed (or ruled out), non-life-threatening injuries are addressed.
Acute Care Surgery
Over the last few decades, a large number of advances in trauma and critical care have led to an increasing frequency of non-operative care for injuries to the neck, chest, and abdomen. Most injuries requiring operative treatment are musculoskeletal. For this reason, part of US trauma surgeons devote at least some of their practice to general surgery. In most American university hospitals and medical centers, a significant portion of the emergency general surgery calls are taken by trauma surgeons. The field combining trauma surgery and emergency general surgery is often called acute care surgery.
Dr. George E. Goodfellow is credited as the United States' first civilian trauma surgeon. He opened a medical practice in the silver boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory in November 1880 where he practiced for the next 11 years.
On July 4, 1881, two days after U.S. President Garfield was shot in the abdomen by Charles J. Guiteau, a miner outside Tombstone was shot in the abdomen. On July 13, 1881, Goodfellow performed the first recorded laparotomy to treat the miner's gunshot wound. The man had a perforated small intestine, large intestine and bowel. Goodfellow sutured six holes in the man's organs. Similarly, President Garfield was thought later to have a bullet possibly lodged near his liver but it could not be found.:M-9 Sixteen doctors attended to Garfield and most probed the wound with their fingers or dirty instruments. Unlike the President, the miner survived.
Goodfellow treated a number of notorious outlaw Cowboys in Tombstone, Arizona during the 1880s, including Curly Bill Brocius. During the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881, Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp his brother Assistant Deputy U.S. Marshal Morgan Earp were both seriously wounded. Goodfellow treated both men's injuries.:27 Goodfellow treated Virgil Earp again two months later on December 28, 1881 after he was ambushed, removing 3 inches (76 mm) of bone from his humerus and attended to Morgan Earp on March 18, 1882, when he was shot while playing a round of billiards at the Campbell & Hatch Billiard Parlor. Morgan died of his wounds.:38
Goodfellow once traveled to Bisbee, 30 miles (48 km) from Tombstone, to treat an abdominal gunshot wound. He operated on the patient stretched out a billiard table. Goodfellow removed a .45-calibre bullet, washed out the cavity with hot water, folded the intestines back into position, stitched the wound closed with silk thread, and ordered the patient to take to a hard bed for recovery. He wrote about the operation: "I was entirely alone having no skilled assistant of any sort, therefore was compelled to depend for aid upon willing friends who were present—these consisting mostly of hard-handed miners just from their work on account of the fight. The anesthetic was administered by a barber, lamps held, hot water brought and other assistance rendered by others."
Goodfellow pioneered the use of sterile techniques in treat gunshot wounds, washing the patient's wound and his hands with lye soap or whisky. He became America's leading authority on gunshot wounds and was widely recognized for his skill as a surgeon.
By the late 1950s, mandatory laparotomy had become the standard of care for managing patients with abdominal penetrating trauma. A laparotomy is still the standard procedure for treating abdominal gunshot wounds today.
- "Specialties & Subspecialties". AOA. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- "Tombstone's doctor Famous as Surgeon". The Prescott Courier. September 12, 1975. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- Candace Millard, Destiny of the Republic. Location 4060
- Charles E. Sajous, ed. (1890). Annual of the Universal Medical Sciences And Analytical Index 1888-1896 3. Philadelphia: The F.A. Davis Company.
- "The Death Of President Garfield, 1881". Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- Edwards, Josh (May 2, 1980). "George Goodfellow's Medical Treatment of Stomach Wounds Became Legendary". The Prescott Courier. pp. 3–5.
- Rasmussen, Cecilia (October 27, 2002). "'Gunfighter's Surgeon' Became a Southwest Legend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- Trimble, Marshall. "The Horse & Buggy Doctors of Territorial Days". Wild West Gazette. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- "William "Curly Bill" Brocius". Retrieved May 17, 2011.
- Dodge, Fred; Lake, Carolyn (1999). Under Cover for Wells Fargo The Unvarnished Recollections of Fred Dodge. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-8061-3106-1. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- "An Interview With Virgil W. Earp". Arizona Affairs. Archived from the original
|url=(help) on April 23, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2011. "Originally reported in the San Francisco Examiner on May 27, 1882"
- "Dr. George Emory Goodfellow". Come Face to Face With History. Cochise County. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- "Dr. George Goodfellow". Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- Offner, MD, MPH, Patrick (Jan 23, 2012). In John Geibel, MD, DSc, MA. "Penetrating Abdominal Trauma". Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- Anaesthesia Trauma and Critical Care (ATACC)
- American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, a website dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in treating and preventing traumatic injuries.
- trauma.org a website dedicated to trauma
- Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, major association of trauma surgeons in the US.
- National foundation for Trauma Care | <urn:uuid:51e97658-acdc-4a62-b0e4-6fda401cd8bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_surgery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943938 | 1,900 | 3.125 | 3 |
Rwanda has previously denied backing Gen Laurent Nkunda's rebels
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have both been directly helping rebels fighting in eastern DR Congo, according to a draft report for the UN.
Rwanda is accused of supplying aid and child soldiers to Tutsi rebels. Rwanda has denied such accusations previously.
The report, seen by the BBC, also says the Congolese army collaborates with the Rwandan-Hutu militia, the FLDR.
The final report is being presented to the Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council in the next few days.
The BBC has seen a draft copy of the findings by UN-appointed experts on alleged violations of the arms embargo in DR Congo.
It alleges that both Rwanda and DR Congo have used rebel movements as proxies in a covert struggle.
Dissident rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda says he is protecting his Congolese Tutsi community from attack by leaders of the Rwanda genocide, but critics say the conflict is about raw power and control of mineral resources.
Recent fighting in the east has displaced some 250,000 people since August. Both government and rebel forces have been accused of raping, mutilating and killing civilians.
The draft UN report alleges the Rwandan authorities have supplied Gen Nkunda's forces with military equipment, the use of Rwandan banks, and allowed the rebels to launch attacks from Rwandan territory on the Congolese army.
The report claims rebels have helped fund the conflict by exploiting mines
Perhaps most damagingly, it claims Rwandan officers brought recruits - some of them child soldiers - up to the border, on behalf of the rebels.
The report also says a barrage of artillery and mortar fire - which helped Gen Nkunda's forces advance in October on the North Kivu province capital of Goma - came from Rwandan territory.
Rwanda's ambassador to the UK, Claver Gatete, denied to the BBC that the fire had come from Rwanda.
He also said that neither he nor the Rwandan government had seen the draft report and did not know its contents.
Mr Gatete added that records of satellite phone calls between the office of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Laurent Nkunda's CNDP rebels, mentioned in the report, would need to be verified.
The BBC's Mark Doyle, who has recently been in DR Congo covering the conflict, says the draft UN report does not mean Gen Nkunda's rebels are controlled from Rwanda.
But the fact that the UN has been monitoring phone calls between the Rwandan presidency and Gen Nkunda will infuriate President Kagame and further poison the relationship between the UN and Rwanda.
'Killing our people'
The UN experts also gathered information suggesting Congolese army support for the FDLR, some of whose leaders were involved in the Rwandan genocide 14 years ago.
This militia raised millions of dollars to fund their war through the illegal trade in minerals, says the BBC's Thomas Fessy in Kinshasa. The Congolese government has previously denied working with the FDLR to exploit the region's rich mines.
And its Information Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said the latest allegations were totally untrue.
"Those people are still killing our people - Congolese people - they are really destroying our environment there," he told the BBC.
"We cannot ever support them and accept whatever they are doing in our country."
The UN report names the foreign companies that traded with the FDLR, and recommends that sanctions be imposed against them and individuals named in the report.
This is now for the UN Security Council to decide. | <urn:uuid:0e4a6f60-2441-4523-98ca-eef0dbf99d4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7776309.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960962 | 758 | 1.796875 | 2 |
- Created on Wednesday, 15 November 2000 00:00
Marzipan was a perfectly ordinary tabby cat. He was born in June 1997; it was about two months later that my wife and I traded a basket of blueberries for him. We always wanted a cat, especially now that we were in a new house with more than enough room for a pet. And we always wanted that cat to be a perfectly ordinary housecat; what they lack in pedigree, they more than make up for in vitality and mischievousness.
Marzipan was a very happy cat. It took almost no time for him to own our home. He discovered the most unusual hiding places. He was very fond of technology; so much so in fact that for a while, I was rather worried that he would one day become a very fried cat, chewing his way through an electrical cable somewhere. Later, when his male insticts kicked in, he began to find odd spots behind my computers which he chose to mark in that peculiar tomcat way. Apart from the danger of electrical shock, this also had a rather odorous side effect; so eventually we opted to have him neutered.
Eventually, Marzipan's attention turned from cables to toilet paper. Far safer if you ask me, even if it is a hint of questionable taste...
Marzipan was also an accomplished acrobat. The photo below shows him practicing his flying skills. He was a truly three-dimensional animal. He climbed up bookcases, curtains, the underside of stairs, you name it.
Alas, these happy days were to come to an all too sudden end. Marzipan was less than three years old when we noticed that he isn't behaving quite the same way as before. When we also noticed that his kidneys started to grow to an unusual size, it was time to consult the vet about his condition. The verdict was quick and cruel: Marzipan had renal lymphoma, an almost always fatal form of cancer that was likely to claim his life within the next 4-6 months.
That was in early March, 2000. We may not believe in an afterlife, but we certainly believe in the sanctity of life, even the life of an animal; so we asked the specialist to do what he can to save our cat. At first, Marzipan responded to treatment remarkably well; then, when his condition began to deteriorate, we found that he was still responding to an unusual combination of drugs, which kept him not just alive, but well enough to show great interest in everything, including a chance to try out some of my new calculators.
But he kept losing weight, and his lymphoma refused to go away. This Monday, November 6, he looked more lethargic than usual. No problem, he was due to visit the vet that day anyway, for another chemotherapy treatment. We weren't too worried, not even when later that afternoon the vet phoned and informed us that it's best to keep him in there for the night, because he's dehydrated and must be kept on fluids.
At around 11PM that night, we got another phone call: Marzipan's condition has turned for the worse, much worse. His blood pressure and body temperature were both down. We visited him that night in the hospital; he was still alive and looking at us with a glint of recognition in his eyes, but it was only the oxygen and intravenous fluids that kept him going. Then, at around 5AM, the final phone call came: Marzipan was dead.
I know, it's just a cat. Other people have lost friends, relatives, spouses and children. People survived wars, internment camps, and worse. But that doesn't make it any easier when we think of this poor kitten's all too short life and what it meant to us.
Short as his life was, Marzipan was actually a famous cat. His photo (actually, a frame from a video) found its way into my book, Programming Windows 98/NT Unleashed illustrating multimedia playback for Windows programmers. This book has since been translated into several languages (including Spanish, Chinese, and Korean) and the video screenshot found its way into each and every one of them. So, whatever little consolation that is, Marzipan has achieved a degree of immortality; his photo has greeted (and hopefully, cheered up) many a programmer on at least three continents.
Marzipan died in the early morning on November 7, 2000. Sounds familiar? No, I am not referring to the date in the Western calendar of the Great October Revolution in Russia.
You see, Marzipan was a cat full of mischief. He had enough mischief to last a decent lifetime; unfortunately, a decent lifetime is not what Marzipan had at his disposal. He only lived a little more than three years and four months.
So what to do with that huge reservoir of mischief? Marzipan had the perfect answer: since he can't thumb his nose at the world for the next 20 years, he'll do it all at once.
You do know of course what happened on November 7, 2000? Why, the most botched up election in US history, that's what. Here we are eight days later, and we still haven't a clue as to who will be the next "leader of the free world".
I'm sure Marzipan had something to do with this. If he can't thumb his little nose at the world for decades to come, he'll do it all at once: one single act of mischief so outrageous, the world is not likely to forget it for many years to come. | <urn:uuid:7db5a392-2f58-4cde-a04f-78ad1c08066e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vttoth.com/CMS/index.php/personal/162 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98923 | 1,161 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Today’s New York Times features an opinion piece by J.D. Kleinke of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Kleinke’s thesis is that ObamaCare’s conservative opponents should stop complaining. “ObamaCare is based on conservative, not liberal, ideas.”
If one defines conservative ideas as those that emphasize free markets and personal responsibility, there is zero truth to this claim.
- Free markets require freedom, like the freedom to control your own property, to enter markets, and to negotiate prices and other contractual terms. ObamaCare mandates how people must dispose of their property, imposes tremendous barriers to entry into markets, and imposes price controls and myriad other terms on ostensibly private contracts.
- Market prices are the lifeblood of a market economy. Kleinke considers them a “flaw” that ObamaCare uses “market principles” to “correct.”
- As I have written elsewhere, ObamaCare “promotes irresponsibility by allowing healthy people to wait until they get sick to buy coverage. It creates that free-rider problem, which has been known to make insurance markets collapse. Supporters of the law could have taken personal responsibility for this instability they introduced into the market—say, by volunteering to pay the free riders’ premiums. Instead, they imposed a mandate, which attempts to stabilize the market by depriving others of their money and freedom. Forcing others to bear the costs of your decisions is the opposite of personal responsibility.”
- Employers are hardly “free to decide” under a law that penalizes them for not offering government-designed health benefits.
- Kleinke is apparently unaware that half of the $2 trillion of new government spending in this “pro-market” law comes from a massive expansion of a tax-financed, government-run health insurance program that crowds out private markets – Medicaid.
I could go on.
Even if one adopts the more forgiving definition that conservative ideas are whatever ideas conservatives advocate, there still isn’t enough truth to sustain Kleinke’s point. Yes, the conservative Heritage Foundation trumpeted ObamaCare’s regulatory scheme from 1989 until around the time a Democratic president endorsed it. But as National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru writes, accurately, “The think tankers were divided, with the Heritage Foundation an outlier. It was an outlier, too, in the broader right-of-center intellectual world.” Kleinke even flubs the paternity of the individual mandate, which he says is “an idea forged not by liberal social engineers at Brookings but conservative economists at the Heritage Foundation.” In fact, the idea originated with Randall Bovbjerg of the left-wing Urban Institute.
Kleinke has done insightful work. This oped is just nutty, and emblematic of the lack of intellectual rigor among the Church of Universal Coverage members residing in both left-wing and right-wing think tanks. | <urn:uuid:88c9c94d-8821-4bda-ae02-8026276a4866> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/blog/obamacare-pro-market-berlin-wall-was-pro-migrant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95293 | 615 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Understanding factors leads to better investment strategies.
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2012 issue of MorningstarAdvisor magazine. To subscribe, please call 1-800-384-4000.
Why do some assets yield higher returns than others? Factors provide an explanation. In a nutshell, factors represent the risks that people care about. The stronger an asset is related to a factor, the riskier it is, and because of this, people will demand a higher rate of return. In order to understand factors, I provide a basic review of asset pricing theory, discuss the most important empirical findings in the academic literature, and explain why people should care about factors when deciding on an investment strategy.
Asset Pricing Theory
One basic prediction of asset pricing theory is that assets are more valuable if they are expected to yield higher future payments. In other words, they (directly or indirectly) give the owner the right to consume more goods and services. A stock’s payments, for example, are its dividends. Another prediction is that assets are more valuable if these payments come sooner rather than later.
A crucial characteristic of any asset is its risk— that is, uncertainty about its future payments. In general, people dislike uncertainty. But if an asset’s payments are more uncertain, will it be less desirable, priced lower, and have higher expected returns? An important prediction of asset pricing theory is that this is not necessarily the case: A risky asset should not be less valuable than a riskless asset, provided its risks are diversifiable.
Diversification means costless elimination of risk. Holding an asset with diversifiable risk should not increase the uncertainty of a portfolio; therefore, people should be equally happy to hold this asset and an asset that has no risk whatsoever. The risk of the overall portfolio is identical.
In contrast, suppose an asset’s payments are lower than expected exactly when your portfolio is doing poorly. In that case, adding even a small amount of this asset to your portfolio will increase the risk of your portfolio. This makes an asset less attractive.
Again, asset pricing theory predicts that the more undiversifiable risk an asset has the lower its price and higher its returns will be. High undiversifiable risk means that an asset’s performance is strongly correlated with the performance of a sensibly chosen portfolio. It is important to note that I am interpreting the term portfolio broadly. Think of your portfolio as consisting of the full collection of claims that enable you to consume. Consumption, likewise, should be broadly interpreted to mean anything that people value. An important component of many people’s (broad) portfolios is their capacity to earn income from a job.
An unconventional example is the weather. Every day, this “asset” yields a “payment” that we “consume.” Some days this payment gives us more pleasure than others. Hypothetically, financial assets that perform poorly whenever the weather is bad might be valued less. It is doubly frustrating if stocks are down when it is raining.
Theory provides a framework for thinking about asset prices. Two questions emerge:
This is where factors enter the picture. Factors are variables that represent the risks that people care about. The stronger any asset is related to a factor, the riskier it is, and so people will demand a higher rate of return.
Factor Models: Empirical Findings
A vast amount of empirical research in finance is concerned with the question: Can we find a set of factors that seem to explain asset returns? The most common approach is to consider portfolios of tradable assets as the candidate factors. A key advantage of this is that it allows us to think about risk compensation in a straightforward way. When factors are portfolios, the factor risk premium is the additional return a factor can be expected to yield over a risk-free asset.1
A “pure” identification of factors and their risk premiums would require uncovering what people believe to be the full joint probability distribution of all future payments of all assets, both now and in the past. This is infeasible. We cannot accurately measure these probability distributions; in other words, we can’t easily measure people’s expectations.
We can, however, readily observe historical realized asset returns. The question, then, is whether historical realized returns tell us anything about the historical subjective probability distributions of payments. The answer is yes, but as I will discuss below, only if we are willing to make an important additional assumption.
The Capital Asset Pricing Model
The Capital Asset Pricing Model is the most famous factor model. Developed in the 1960s by Jack Treynor, William Sharpe, John Lintner, and Jan Mossin, the CAPM assumes that all assets in the economy are tradable. People do not have jobs. Rather, they simply own different types of capital that produce consumable payments. People are assumed to be very similar, but some may be more risk-averse than others.
A famous result of the CAPM is that everyone holds portfolios consisting of two parts. People put some fraction of their wealth into the “market” portfolio, which is a value-weighted portfolio of all risky assets. They then put the rest of their wealth into a risk-free asset. People who dislike risk hold more of the risk-free asset (and less of the risky market portfolio). But importantly, everyone holds the same risky portfolio.
In the CAPM, there is one factor: the market portfolio. A central CAPM prediction is that the expected excess return of any asset equals the expected excess return of the market portfolio multiplied by a number, called beta:
E(Ri) - = βi x (E(RM) - Rf)
expected excess return of asset i
expected excess return of market
The excess return of an asset is its return minus the return on a risk-free asset, denoted Rf. Beta represents the “exposure” of an asset to the market factor, and the expected excess return of the market represents the factor risk premium.
Let us think about the intuition behind this equation. An asset with a higher beta is expected to yield a higher return. The higher return is a compensation for the asset’s exposure to the factor. Whenever the market declines, everyone is poorer and unhappier, but the high-beta assets are the ones that do the most damage.
How can we test this equation, given that we do not observe expectations? Let us rewrite the equation as follows:
Ri - Rf = βi(RM-Rf) + εi
Note the difference: We now have returns, whereas before we had expected returns. You may recognize this as a linear regression model.2 If we wish to uncover (historical) betas from returns data, we need to assume that 1) forecasting errors are zero on average and 2) that they are not related to excess market returns. Put differently, people’s expectations of returns are correct on average, and their incorrectness is not related to excess market returns.
Let us add one final ingredient to the equation, a parameter called alpha:
Ri - Rf = αi + βi(RM-Rf) + εi
alpha = 0
Alpha is the intercept term in this regression. An empirical test of any factor model (including the CAPM) is whether the alphas for all assets are plausibly equal to zero.
Alternative Factor Models
The CAPM was a great success and remains to this day a useful benchmark for understanding asset returns, in particular for stocks. Not surprisingly, however, researchers have sought and found alternative factor models that are now widely accepted as superior to the CAPM. Departures from the CAPM are sometimes called anomalies. This is a bit of a misnomer, because it should not be surprising at all that the CAPM fails to account for certain return patterns. Recall that the assumptions underlying the CAPM are pretty strong, so it would be surprising if CAPM were in fact found to be “true.”
The most famous alternative factor model is the Fama-French model.
In 1993, Eugene Fama and Kenneth French introduced a model with three factors. The first factor is a measure of the market portfolio, as in the CAPM. The second factor is a portfolio that is long on companies with a high book-tomarket ratio and short on companies with a low book-to-market ratio. This factor is called high-minus-low (HML). Companies with high book-to-market ratios—companies with high debt-to-equity ratios—are called value companies, while those with a low book-tomarket are called growth. The third factor is a portfolio long on companies with relatively small market capitalization and short on those with a big market capitalization. This factor is called small-minus-big (SMB).
When running regression analyses using these three factors, Fama and French found that,to a considerable extent, the shortcomings of the CAPM disappeared. Again, the main test is whether alphas are plausibly different from zero.
The size and value factors are now widely accepted and form the basis of most factor models. Both practitioners and academics continue to look for systematic return patterns that cannot be explained by the Fama- French model alone. John Cochrane (2011) lists “momentum, accruals, equity issues and other accounting-related sorts, beta arbitrage, credit risk, bond and equity market-timing strategies, foreign-exchange carry trade, put option writing, and various forms of ‘liquidity provision’.”3
Momentum4 is the most widely recognized additional factor and helps explain why stocks that have done well in the recent past often continue to outperform stocks that have recently done poorly. The reason for this premium is not well understood. It has been argued that momentum is difficult to exploit due to the fact that it requires frequent trading, which increases transaction costs5.
Factor Investing in Practice
We turn now to the question: How might an investor use any of the insights from asset pricing research? But first we need to discuss an important caveat. Asset pricing theory does not really offer any practical guidance on how to value an asset. In other words, it does not say which information to examine if one wishes to forecast future payments or (equally important) the relationship between payments of different assets.
In short, it does not offer a method for examining investment opportunities and evaluating whether they are worthwhile.
Rather, it takes it as given that investors have somehow acquired this knowledge and made their decisions based on this. There is, therefore, a notable circularity to the idea that investors should incorporate lessons from asset pricing theory, because asset pricing theory starts with the premise that investors have all requisite knowledge to value assets. In other words, investors have already made optimal choices.
This does not mean that insights from asset pricing research are useless. For example, asset pricing theory is based on a set of behavioral assumptions, which may have some normative merit (for example, do not evaluate any asset in isolation). But at a minimum, insights from asset pricing should not be used as a substitute for examining the fundamental question faced by anyone considering buying an asset: Is it worth its price?
The CAPM predicts that everyone holds a combination of a risk-free asset and the market portfolio. By definition, the average investor holds the market portfolio, at least if we weigh investors by the wealth they have invested in risky assets. A reasonable question to ask, then, is why not simply hold a combination of a broad market index and a risk-free asset? Perhaps you believe you have some special knowledge about the value of an asset and are convinced that other investors will come around to this view in the future. But some degree of modesty is warranted. Are you really sure your information is superior?
There is a better justification for making the composition of your risky asset holdings different from the average—namely when your broad personal portfolio is different from the average. Put another way, do you face certain risks that are different from the average investor, or vice versa? For example, do you have a job? People with a job have a markedly different broad portfolio from people who are unemployed (retirees being a prime example). Suppose the average investor is employed. His income is a nontradable asset, but its returns could be more related to some tradable assets than others. Therefore, he will demand a higher premium from assets that move together with his income. If you are unemployed, you might want to consider a portfolio that is tilted toward these assets. Because you don’t have a job, these risks are more acceptable to you.
Also, consider also the industry you work in. It would be nice if you could partially hedge your income risk. To do this, you should tilt away from investing in companies that are highly correlated with your income. Suppose you work in the auto industry. If the auto industry unexpectedly hits a rough patch and you lose your job, then at least your portfolio has not lost as much value as it otherwise would have.
The value and size premiums suggest that you can get a better-performing portfolio if you tilt away from the market. But keep in mind that there is probably a reason why value and size offer such premiums. If everyone tried to tilt toward size and value, then the tilted portfolios would become the market, and the premiums would disappear.
Fama and French speculated that the value premium exists because value companies do particularly poorly during recessions. This is a sensible justification. If certain stocks perform particularly poorly in recessions, then investors, who typically have jobs, will be more hesitant to hold them. Other researchers have speculated that many investors hold a sizable fraction of their wealth in small privately held business ventures.6 If the fortunes of these small companies are sensitive to the state of the economy, then these investors will shy away from assets that share this characteristic.
Academic research has been very successful at deepening our understanding of asset prices and returns, but of course, much work remains to be done. Factors are a central organizing concept and represent the risks that people care about and the compensation they require for bearing these risks. They explain why some assets yield higher returns than others. Keeping certain caveats in mind, factors are useful for making better investment decisions.
1 Asset pricing theory predicts that there will always exist portfolios of traded assets that can be used as factors, even if not all assets in the economy are tradable. The question is to figure out what these factor mimicking portfolios are.
2 The forecasting error is given by εi = βi(RM-Rf) + Ri - E(Ri)
3 Cochrane, John (2011), “Discount Rates,” Journal of Finance, vol. 66, no. 4.
4 Jegadeesh, Narasimhan, and Sheridan Titman (1993), “Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency, Journal of Finance, vol 48, no. 1.
5 Carhart, Mark (1997), “On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance,” Journal of Finance, vol. 52, no. 1.
6 Heaton, John, and Deborah Lucas (2000), “Portfolio Choice and Asset Prices: The Importance of Entrepreneurial Risk,” Journal of Finance, vol. 55, no. 3. | <urn:uuid:1f2efd05-6cd6-4589-a060-0d609bd556a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.morningstar.com/advisor/t/64482656/exploring-the-world-of-factors.htm?single=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945073 | 3,202 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Hey hey we’re the Shmoopers,*
We observed a minute of silence at Shmoop HQ today when we learned that the Indianapolis Colts were unceremoniously dumping—sorry, cordially parting with—quarterback Peyton Manning after 14 years of service and one Super Bowl championship.**
As Randy Jackson might say in one of his rare grammatically correct constructions on American Idol, “That’s harsh, dawg.” (If anyone does have an in with Randy, please tell him that nobody can be be the “most unique” artist in the competition. You’re either unique or you’re not.)
If football has you down, study your blues away with new Shmoop guides to AP Physics B and AP Art History, just in time for AP season. Do it for Shmoop. Do it for Peyton.
Featured Shmoop: AP Physics B
Shmoop will work hard to impress upon students the gravity of the AP Physics B concepts so they will understand why they are pouring so much energy into their work. Then, when they’ve graduated and are leaving for college, they can say goodbye to Shmoop with a wave motion. Zing!
In this guide, you will
- Learn to recognize Newtonian mechanics without having an apple chucked at your head. In fact, students are unlikely to be struck by any produce whatsoever.
- Cover physics from A to Z—from “atomic” to “zeroth law of thermodynamics.” Zeroth, yeah. It’s a word.
- Enjoy the beloved fable of Goldiquarks and the Three Photons. Spoiler: In an unexpected twist, she gets eaten by The Big Bad Magnetic Field.
- Discover what your mom’s terrible Disco Santa seasonal light display can teach you about electricity and magnetism.
- Understand why a D-grade on the exam magically gets you a perfect 5. (Okay, it’s not magic. It’s a curve. We think Criss Angel would still be impressed.)
Featured Shmoop: AP Art History
Our AP Art History guide breaks down what you can expect to see on the test and delves deeply into the material most likely to appear on the exam—from ancient Roman sculpture to your baby brother’s finger painting that your mother stuck to the fridge last spring.
In this guide, you will
- Learn the difference between Rococo and Baroque…coco (not really a thing).
- Determine whether Renaissance babies really had creepily muscular triceps. Hey, maybe they just spent a lot of time on the crib press.
- Figure out how many arches is too many arches. We’re looking at you, McDonald’s.
- See why AP Art History is like your high school yearbook, except with more naked people. Hopefully.
Interested in Shmooping your entire school? Send us a note here.
This Week in History: Telephone Patented March 7th, 1876
Before the days of camera phones and computer phones, there was Alexander Graham Bell and his patent. Or, perhaps more accurately, there was Elisha Gray and his patent, but to the ruthless (and potentially unethical) go the spoils. Yup, there’s some major telephone-related drama up in here…although we do think the Gray telephone has a bit of a ring to it.
Literary Birthday: Gabriel Garcia Marquez Born March 6th, 1927
When it comes to crafting magical realism, winning Nobel Prizes in Literature, and creating the most complicated family tree in the history of trees (sup, Buendiases), Senor Garcia Marquez has everyone beat. The Colombian author turned 85 yesterday, and Shmoop wishes him another 85 years of confusing the bejeezus out of everyone with his magical prose.
Also, that would probably give us enough time to put up our guide to 100 Years of Solitude. (Oh wait, we did that.)
This Week in History 2.0: Notorious B.I.G. Killed March 9th, 1994
Normally, we don’t do Death Days,** but this one was a game-changer. The deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. in 1994 marked a fatal clash of hip hop’s often-violent content with reality. The “beef” between West Coast and East Coast rappers transcended their lyrics, and the world lost two innovative and groundbreaking artists as a result. Take a second to reflect with our guides:
Shmoop Shout Out: Robot Cheetah
If we weren’t so worried about Skynet and the coming robot apocalypse (okay, we might have read too much into theTerminator movies), this robot cheetah would be super awesome. Well, it’s still super awesome. Soon enough it’ll be able to fetch and get the paper, too—or at least download the paper onto a drive and upload it onto your mobile device.
Peyton could work for us,****
The Folks at Shmoop
*RIP, Monkees’ lead man Davy Jones.
**Food for thought: Fourteen year = basically a ninth-grader.
***Unless, of course, you celebrate yours like Nearly Headless Nick of Harry Potter fame.
****But not for $28 million a year, thank you. | <urn:uuid:624059ab-60e0-4d3c-b812-39ccbf3a559d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.shmoop.com/2012/03/07/weekly-word-march-7-2012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937894 | 1,150 | 2.15625 | 2 |
My husband has diabetes (Type 2), kidney disease, gout, and heaven knows what else. In Nov. he had a sever heart attack. They told us he only has the main artery still open (he had a 4 bypass earlier). He straightlined. He was put in a coma and healed enough to come home. But now almost a year later he is so weak it makes me want to weep. Am I missing something? Is there anything I can do or feed him of help him in any way get some stamina back? I don't want him chasing sweet young things but I would love for him to be able to walk to the bathroom without falling. Is there anything that might make a improvement?View Thread
The opinions expressed in WebMD User-generated content areas like communities, reviews, ratings, or blogs are solely those of the User, who may or may not have medical or scientific training. These opinions do not represent the opinions of WebMD. User-generated content areas are not reviewed by a WebMD physician or any member of the WebMD editorial staff for accuracy, balance, objectivity, or any other reason except for compliance with our Terms and Conditions. Some of these opinions may contain information about treatments or uses of drug products that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. WebMD does not endorse any specific product, service, or treatment.
Do not consider WebMD User-generated content as medical advice. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your care plan or treatment. WebMD understands that reading individual, real-life experiences can be a helpful resource, but it is never a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified health care provider. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or dial 911 immediately. | <urn:uuid:fa6b35c3-548f-4036-ae5a-9c675fc7246c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exchanges.webmd.com/heart-disease-exchange/groupstory/22994987?post=forum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967171 | 404 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Pass the Stories, Please
With many families gathered for Thanksgiving dinners, it is the perfect occasion to remember family heritage by retelling family stories. To insure their preservation, these stories should be told and retold, and should also be recorded in some fashion, whether on paper, in audio or video format.
If family members need a little prompting, try these themes to get them talking:
Places you have lived: towns, cities, addresses, descriptions of houses
Favorites: color, smells, season, food, music, holiday, flower, book
Belongings: cars, clothes, heirlooms, toys
Pets: types, names, what was special about them
Holidays and vacations: where did you go, how did you get there, who went with you, what did you do
Hobbies and leisure time: sports, collecting, entertainment, creating
Culture and the arts: what part did music, books, theatre, radio, movies, tv play in your life
Schools you attended: special teachers, favorite subjects
Important events: humorous, embarrassing, historic
People in your life
Children and grandchildren will appreciate having a written record of your life, and all adults should consider putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, to save their stories and thoughts for family. To help you get started, Tazewell County Public Library offers several books:
Raymond Mungo. Your Autobiography: more than 300 questions to help you write your personal history
Bernard Selling. Writing from Within: a step-by-step guide to writing your life’s stories
Linda Spence. Legacy: a step-by-step guide to writing personal history
Lou Willett Stanek. Writing Your Life: putting your past on paper
For some examples of true stories written by men and women of all ages and walks of life, from across the country, check out these two delightful collections:
Listening Is an Act of Love: a celebration of American life from the Story Corp Project, and
I Thought My Father Was God: and other true tales from NPR’s National Story Project by Paul Auster. The opening story, “The Chicken”, a 7-line paragraph, is priceless.
A family’s oral history can be treasured for many future generations. Take advantage of present opportunities, which may not come again, to collect, share, and preserve your priceless heritage. For more resources, call the Library at 988.2541. | <urn:uuid:c1c5d4d3-0843-4e05-88e7-438aa61bebfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcplweb.org/news-events/newspaper-articles/stories.html?date=2013-02-08&month:int=4&year:int=2013&orig_query=date%3D2013-02-08%26amp%3B | 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 | 0.933885 | 523 | 2.25 | 2 |
Crime Magazine is about true crime: organized crime, celebrity crime, serial killers, corruption, sex crimes, capital punishment, prisons, assassinations, justice issues, crime books, crime films and crime studies.
May 7, 2012 Special to Crime Magazine
“Shadow People” — the term refers to hallucinogenic figures glimpsed by methamphetamine addicts after days without sleep. But, in reality, it’s the addicts themselves who are living in a shadow, growing in numbers, becoming an alarming subculture on the periphery of rural America, engaging in crimes that are having devastating impacts on places where traditional life is valued most. Between May 2010 and October 2011, award-winning journalist Scott Thomas Anderson worked as an embedded reporter with law enforcement agencies, partnering with officers on night patrols, accompanying detectives on warrant searches and probation sweeps, observing SWAT operations and spending hundreds of hours with attorneys and victims’ advocates in small-town courtrooms. The result is Anderson’s new book, Shadow People: how meth-driven crime is eating at the heart of rural America. The following excerpt from Chapter 5 of Shadow People follows several cops and prosecutors in Amador County, California, during a hot week in July, 2010. Available on Amazon.com
Jackson, California: June 13, 2010
Mike Collins pounds the accelerator. The voice calling for backup over his radio belongs to a police officer in Sutter Creek, Jackson’s sister city to the north. To Collins, it sounds like a fellow cop is approaching two burglary suspects caught in the act; and he’s confronting them utterly alone. Mosquitoes are swarming as the Jackson cruiser drives under the bloodshot silhouette of a mine frame, ridges and rooftops below swept by a champagne curtain of light. The car moves through an intersection, past a white, plaster slum structure with rusty air units and bed sheets hung for drapes: Carrion eaves, cracked Spanish arches, its condemned walls flash by the veteran’s eye in an instant. Radio traffic advises Collins that the policeman has his suspects cornered in a cemetery. By now, the cruiser has pushed through two staggered intersections to an upper gateway to Sutter Creek. For an instant Collins can see down the rolling vista to a basin of houses and yards a magazine once deemed “the city without crime.”
It’s all in the eyelids — the burglar’s are low, ruby flaps of half-hung skin. Below them, two pupils shutter into postmortem windows, wobbling and wandering on the salmon-white glaze of his corneas. The eyes are vacant, deeply chiseled into a gaunt, shaven skull. The burglar’s agitated. Trembling. He can barely speak. Moments before, he had no problems pattering to the Sutter Creek officer in front of him, even joking that the reason he and the emaciated woman at his side were spotted creeping out of garages was because they’d been taken by the carnal urge. Laughing, he’d quickly dropped the line that they were just looking for an impromptu place to satisfy it. But two black bags lay near a headstone, and Collins is watching as his fellow officer searches through them, discovering twenty-one stolen items hidden under knotted clothes and a bottle of Hennessy. The last thing the officer pulls out is a roll of toilet paper. Securing his gloves, he moves his fingers up inside its cylinder to discover a crystal pipe loaded with methamphetamine.
“That’s insulin,” the burglar assures everyone.
Handcuffs slide out of a leather sheath. The Sutter Creek officer moves in, but his suspect suddenly wants out of the graveyard at all costs. The wiry man locks his fists as a frail snare line rattles through his elbows. The much larger officer wrenches the burglar’s forearms. The meth is good for one more push, a trapped tugging and some wordless defiance. Collins is ready to step in and help when the Sutter Creek officer, in one motion, forces his suspect down on the hood of the patrol car.
Collins cuffs the thin girl and leads her into his own vehicle. “Amador: Four-pol-four,” he mumbles into his radio, “In route to CJ with one.” The car drifts back from cemetery oak trees as flint-washed and cinereous as the headstones their leafless branches orbit over. Collins glances at the girl in his rearview. She’s hardly impressive, as far as criminals go: Drawn, flushed, a weepy pink salamander shade bruising beneath the hopelessness in her eyes. Yep, Collins thinks, not much of a hardened criminal at all; and Mike Collins has seen his share of hardened criminals.
Raised in the family of the Los Angeles Police Department, Collins’ father was an officer who preached that the secret to surviving the most dangerous profession in America is knowing how to talk to people. And Collins inherited that gift. Stormless when he can afford to be, commanding when he needs to be, the Irish-descended beat cop has a knack for getting cooperation from the most indurate drug offenders through his plain, “no bullshit” manner of speaking to them.
The Garden City Police Department in Idaho recognized his talents early on, promoting him to the most coveted of all law enforcement jobs, homicide detective. Collins worked three murders right out of the gate, including the brutal extermination of a female gas station attendant in April of 1981. Today, during late hours on his graveyard shifts, when his car’s spotlight lances slowly over black stumps and darkened fields, Collins still thinks about Dixie Wilson soaked in blood. It’s a permanent picture in the officer’s head, the night two men wandered into her gas station, one staying behind the register as the other hauled Dixie into a small oil room. The perpetrator up front handled customers that roamed in. His partner sexually tortured Dixie during lulls in foot traffic. The two men eventually stabbed her thirty-six times before ending her nightmare with six bullets to the head. They grabbed $47 in cash out of the register before walking away from the woman’s desecrated body. Detective Collins caught both of them. He put one on death row and the other in an Idaho state penitentiary for life; but, during soundless moments in a patrol car, the whipped, red droplets of Dixie’s crime scene can find Mike Collins again, one of the few slayings he ever investigated that wasn’t drug-related, one of the only acts of human degradation he ever confronted without a motive beyond sheer depravity.
By the late 1980s, Collins was working narcotics, executing high-level cocaine and heroin buys that took him from Boise to Salt Lake City and, in some cases, back to his hometown of Los Angeles. He helped surround Ryder moving trucks stuffed with bags of white powder. He used crowbars to bang open coffin-shaped crates packed with AK-47 rifles. He followed cars on surveillance details while speaking to helicopters that trailed high above. It was the proverbial big time; but Collins slowly began to want something different from the badge: He wanted to have laid-back dinners with his friends, to throw the squeaky toy for his dog, to watch a good Sunday NFL game. More than anything, he wanted to spend more time with his wife, Cathy. In 2002 he walked away from urban law enforcement altogether, finding the rewards were everything he hoped for. At the same time, the Jackson Police Department realized it had scored an experienced drug cop who quickly adapted his skill set to the city’s methamphetamine problem.
Collins was learning quickly that meth addiction made rural law enforcement harder than most city cops guessed, and the species of criminals running rough powder through the hills fed into tense encounters. One night in December of 2008, Collins caught a member of the Hells Angels preparing to burglarize an auto shop on Scottsdale Road. The Angel had a four-prong stun gun, a homemade blackjack and a cocked-and-loaded crossbow, all within easy reach of the driver’s seat of his pickup. Collins was hardly surprised to discover that the five-time convicted felon was also transporting a bag of methamphetamine through the south end of the city. Collins managed to talk that suspect into handcuffs without drawing his .40-caliber; but he’s pulled his piece plenty of other times in his nine years in Jackson. Christopher Jarod Stockton is proof enough. Collins has lifted his gun on The Giant twice now.
Though rural police work had its surprises, there are elements of it Collins has come to forever embrace. Officers typically have more time to investigate cases than their counterparts in larger agencies. They often get more breathing room to be genuinely sympathetic to victims and their families. For cops who care to get involved, there’s plenty of face-to-face time with drug addicts trying to get clean, and occasionally opportunities to stop them from, in Collins’ words, “seriously screwing up.”
Most small city police officers also develop unusually close bonds with residents, merchants and community leaders. And in the veteran’s mind, there’s something above even those privileges: Officers truly get to know troubled and at-risk youths. Sometimes they even get small chances to help them overcome the inner turmoil — that deep, inherited poverty of the spirit — so many in the rural underclass are born into. When people ask Mike Collins what it means to him to be a Jackson police officer, his answer is never long in coming. “It’s pretty simple,” he says, raising his eyebrows, “Out here, one cop can do a lot of good.”
Five days later, the weekly newspaper starts pelting doorsteps across Amador County. The burglar’s deep-set, cindered eyes are featured in color on page eight. Though locals are becoming half-immune to reports of drug-related crimes in the Gold Country, there’s something noticeably different about this smudged 11 inches of newsprint. It’s a prowler tale, a methamphetamine story; but its cemetery is not in West Point, River Pines, Jackson, Ione or San Andreas. Readers might have to look twice, but this is an article about the city of Sutter Creek.
Even in the height of the Great Recession, Sutter Creek has remained a darling of the California travel media. Hailed as “the Jewel of the Mother Lode,” Sunset magazine frequently showcases its Dickensian balconies and gingerbread gables, reveling in the tidy kaleidoscope of Victorian snapshots, the rare window to hardy Gilded Age dreams — a painted, polished five-and-dime tribute to lasting western elegance. Along with the town of Murphys forty miles south in Calaveras County, it’s one of the region’s top tourist attractions. And now, there are two long columns of text about desperate individuals stumbling around the most picturesque avenue in “the city without crime,” hiding crystal meth in their grab bags as they burglarize addresses in broad daylight, all while the unsuspecting residents are home.
Todd Riebe glances at the online version of the headline with his smart phone. Moving in and out of an office crowded with files, the district attorney can imagine the wave of concern for property values that’s hitting Sutter Creek this morning. Odds are the newspaper will be getting complaints from numerous real estate agents before the day is out. For his part, Riebe’s mind is on a slew of pending cases, including a major investigation into fifty-two-year-old Victor Callahan, a man Riebe’s preparing to charge with second-degree murder.
On a scorching July morning in 2009, Callahan was speeding down Highway 88 along tall humps of brass-baked grass near Amador County’s western border. The ranchlands fell around him in knuckled grades of frightening dryness — an arid harbor of yellow swells that intensified in the sun’s early rays. Grazing heifers blurred by his Ford Taurus, their tough, ropy tails swinging through visible heat waves. Callahan’s eyes drifted across a lone scarcely wooded hilltop. As his hand rocked on the steering wheel, the skin inside his left elbow was crinkling the crater of a fresh needle mark.
Five seconds later, Callahan’s Ford became a gleaming, silver streak in the brightness. It veered across the double-yellow lines of the highway, crossing into oncoming traffic, sideswiping one car and then barreling head-on into a red Buick Lacrosse. Callahan’s face was the last thing 84-year-old Ysauro Bernardo Lujan and his wife, 92-year-old Mildred Lujan, saw before the vehicles collided. The Lujans’ hood snapped. Frosty blue webs spun and crawled up their windshield as the Buick’s entire front end imploded. Ysauro felt the driver’s side “A” pillar collapse. His ears were filled with the blare of metal tearing like paper. As the roar hit a crescendo, the dashboard gouged into Ysauro’s body, cracking his ribs, crushing his pelvis and sending a transverse fracture up his sternum. The sounds reverberated and the dash continued to press inward. Ysauro’s spleen split open. His bladder ruptured. Fluids began hemorrhaging into his abdomen.
Mildred looked out on the roadway to littered soil and a metal cattle fence peeking over shaggy weeds. She was motionless from a fractured spine. Her chest had slowed from deep, internal injuries. Mildred turned her eyes to her husband Ysauro, watching him take his last, lagging breath. Firefighters soon pulled her from the wreckage. She could feel the paramedics readying her battered body for an airlift across the valley. As they fastened straps around Mildred’s skull, Ysauro was laid near the rear of the Buick, his medical board smashing down on the brittle amber grass with crushing finality. His eyes were peeled open. Firefighters moved a yellow tarp over his face.
Patrick Ong and Frank Peixoto of the California Highway Patrol soon approached the emergency responders attending to Callahan. One medic, a retired cop, told them he was seeing “objective indicators” of a drug roiling through Callahan’s central nervous system. Ong looked his suspect over: Gauzy red trickles splintered on different parts of Callahan’s dark flesh; and his small ribcage was laboring up and down, lurching painfully. Ong hunched over to study the man’s dilated pupils. His gaze moved to the fresh, open needle mark on Callahan’s left arm. Ong got eye-level with his suspect. “Sir, you’re under arrest,” he’d said, “on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance.”
Callahan was rushed by helicopter to University of California, Davis Medical Center. Three weeks later, Ong and Peixoto got their hands on the results of his blood work. Any doubts were put to rest: Callahan had been under the influence of methamphetamine when he slammed into the Lujans. Ong made a personal visit to Ysauro’s widow eight months later. The 25-year veteran investigator could see Mildred’s body was mending, but the trauma of the collision had been seared into her mind as permanent scar tissue. Ong told Mildred he was sorry for what she had gone through. Mildred replied that she was still going through it — that she was reliving the sights and sounds of firing glass in her thoughts every day. A picture of Ysauro slowly taking his last breath was waiting when she closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do, she admitted to Ong, to stop seeing her husband die. | <urn:uuid:00c0663b-5335-42e8-a3fa-60288d5b38cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crimemagazine.com/shadow-people-how-meth-driven-crime-eating-heart-rural-america?page=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969978 | 3,392 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Get answers to some common questions related to Sanitation.
1. What are the Rural Sanitation programs implemented by MoRD?
Government of India had launched Central Rural Sanitation Program (CRSP) in the year 1986 with the objective of accelerating sanitation coverage in rural areas. CRSP was restructured in the year 1999 exhibiting a paradigm shift in the approach and Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) was introduced. At present, TSC is the only rural sanitation program implemented by Ministry of Rural Development. | <urn:uuid:dfb4b656-6ae9-43ec-a712-9246fee00df8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indiasanitationportal.org.in/category/content-type/beginners/sanitation-faqs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957017 | 102 | 2.609375 | 3 |
As we reported, Twitter announced today that it may block specific content on a country-by-country basis if required. However, it seems very easy to get around these upcoming limitations.
Indeed, Twitter’s Help Center itself gives a good clue on how to bypass them very easily. Here’s a step-by-step explanation:
Identify withheld content
The first thing to do is to identify that some content has been blocked in your country. You won’t need to monitor Chilling Effects to know a tweet or a user have been blocked if you stumble upon them. Instead, you’ll see the following warnings:
Change your country settings to ‘Worldwide’
Twitter then goes on to explain how to tell the platform that it has misidentified your country, which it automatically guesses based on your IP. You can find this parameter in your account settings:
What Twitter refrains from saying, and that many may have guessed, is that nothing prevents you to do the same even if Twitter didn’t get your country wrong. In other words, all you have to do if you want to see a ‘blocked’ tweet is to change your Country setting after reading the warning.
Since Twitter made clear that restrictions will likely be limited to one or several countries, the best way to prevent this problem from ever happening is to set this setting to
‘Worldwide’ another country right now.
Update: It seems that Twitter automatically reverts to your IP country if you try to set it to “Worldwide” but changing to another country worked fine for us.
Why it is clever
Chances are that Twitter perfectly knows about this workaround, and its details are particularly well thought. Knowing that content has been blocked is a very good start, but that’s not the best thing about it.
What’s particularly clever is its ease of use, even in countries where technical workarounds may be difficult to access. Users won’t need to hide their IP with a proxy: Twitter lets them change it manually, despite the potential loss in hyperlocal ad dollars for the platform.
Well done, Twitter, chances are tweets will continue to flow for quite a while.
Thanks @tapbot_paul for the tip. | <urn:uuid:c7cd5b11-9d3f-4074-bab4-4db64a92ef0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2012/01/27/worried-about-possible-restrictions-on-twitter-heres-how-to-get-around-them/?awesm=tnw.to_1Cxiu?%20Here's%20how%20to%20get%20around%20them | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949148 | 476 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Louis Blumberg directs the California climate programs for The Nature Conservancy. He’s also been keeping us posted as an official observer to the UN climate conference. And yes, views expressed in his guest posts are his and not necessarily those of KQED or the Climate Watch staff.
Things Heat Up Copenhagen
By Louis Blumberg
Emotions erupted at the Bella Center today during the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Demonstrations, street theater, leaked documents, heated words, threats of walkouts and huge crowds all collided to increase the energy level throughout the massive hall. Frustration was driven in part, according to one of the key treaty negotiators, by the fact that little progress has been made.
At this point in the process, the open meetings have stopped and negotiators are meeting in private to work out their differences. This loss of transparency was exacerbated when demonstrators disrupted one of the last public plenary sessions of the week and the organizers threw out representatives from all non-governmental organizations–including me.*
As discouraging as this emerging gridlock is, my optimism remains because I see that three key pieces, which are falling into place, can produce a real deal:
- First, for the first time ever, key countries, including the U.S., China, India, Brazil and Korea, have all put numerical proposals on the table to reduce emissions.
- Second, as I reported before, the U.S. is providing real leadership, in part by proposing a $10 billion annual fund to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change while continuing to grow their economies.
- Third, President Obama and 110 other heads of state will arrive next week for the final negotiation.
In the meantime, the process of creating a new international treaty amps up…
Yesterday I joined 200 activists in a standing ovation for EPA Director Lisa Jackson as she confirmed U.S. leadership by listing the administration’s actions to fight climate change, including this week’s official finding that greenhouse gas endangers human health. [Ed. Note: This creates authority for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases on its own, with or without enabling legislation].
African countries called for more forest protection. Delegates from one island nation faced with imminent destruction by flooding due to sea-level rise, threatened to walk out on the talks unless the developed countries exhort to cut emissions by 95 percent.
I, alongside a coalition of forest activists, struggled (in what may be a futile attempt) to close a new loophole in emissions reporting rules proposed by some European countries.
And finally, the energy, passion and idealism of demonstrators in costume–walking trees, polluters dressed in red, vegans for climate, and Mr. Green (you can figure that one out on your own)–were both captivating and inspiring.
The frenetic pace is both tiring and energizing and will only increase as we move toward the conference closing on December 18. But there is much more to come before then. Stay tuned.
*Ed. Note: We’re using the term “delegate” somewhat loosely here. Blumberg is a member of The Nature Conservancy “delegation” in Copenhagen but technically he’s an official observer, as are all NGO reps. That’s why he can be tossed out of sessions. | <urn:uuid:acdee862-e5ac-49f6-bd17-4868be5b3b76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/2009/12/09/delegates-dispatch-no-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951036 | 692 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Junk food to be banned in English schools
Saturday, October 1, 2005
The British Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, announced during the week that junk food is to be banned from schools in England from September 1st 2006. Items such as crisps, sweets, chocolate bars and chewing gum are expected to be among the items banned.
Junk foods are classified as those high in fat, salt or sugar. Recently the British government committed £280m to improving school food over the next three years. That followed a campaign by celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, to improve school food.
The action by the British government to ban junk food has already sparked debate in Ireland whether they should follow suit.
- ""Junk" foods may affect aggressive behaviour and school performance" — Wikinews, October 1, 2005
- "Junk food to be banned in English Schools" — , October 1, 2005
- "Junk food to be banned in schools" — , September 28, 2005
- "Plans to ban school junk food unveiled" — , September 28, 2005 | <urn:uuid:c308eaf2-ad9f-4759-98f8-6ad65a3a3129> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Junk_food_to_be_banned_in_English_schools | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971765 | 220 | 2.59375 | 3 |
By From the Lowell Sun
By JENNIFER AMY MYERS, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- If Massachusetts were a country, its greenhouse gas emissions would rank 15th among industrialized nations worldwide, U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan told a stunned crowd of 1,000 yesterday morning.
The standing-room only crowd packed UMass Lowell's Durgin Hall as the mercury soared to an unseasonably high 54 degrees outside, to learn more about the threat of global warming and what can be done to curb its dangerous consequences.
And to get a look at Gov.-elect Deval Patrick.
Meehan sponsored the panel discussion, titled "Climate Change: Local Solutions to a Global Crisis," which he said was inspired by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
The audience was welcomed by a video message from Gore, calling global warming, "the most serious crisis we have ever faced."
Patrick, who inspired three standing ovations from the crowd, expressed his support for the proposed Cape Wind wind farm off of Nantucket and vowed to make the creation and implementation of renewable energy technology and products in Massachusetts a priority of his administration.
He also said he supports RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), a regional pact aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions that Gov. Mitt Romney withdrew the state from in September.
"I used to work for Texaco," he said, wincing and giving the crowd a chance to groan. "What I learned there is that oil and gas reserves all over the world are diminishing."
"I see this as an economy opportunity," Patrick added. "If we get this right, the whole world will be our customer. We can be green and wealthy too."
He said that Ian Bowles, who was tapped as the Patrick administration's secretary of energy and environmental affairs on Friday, will be included in all discussions of economic development.
Paul Epstein, associate director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School said that the most noticeable effects of the rising global temperatures are in our own backyards.
He said that as carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere, poison ivy grows faster and its toxins become more powerful. The same conditions have contributed to a 60 percent increase in pollen distribution, causing more cases of asthma and allergies.
The increase in climate has also led to additional cases of mosquito-borne illness such as West Nile Virus.
"We are in a crisis of climate," Epstein said.
Unfortunately, said Lee Ketelsen, New England director of Clean Water Action, the typical American is not motivated to make a change.
"You are sitting here on a Saturday morning with nine shopping days until Christmas, you are considered the nuts," she told the crowd. "The oil lobby is strong, we are going to need massive citizen pressure. Instead of a chicken in every pot, how about a solar hot water heater on every roof?"
Meehan has proposed legislation to give business and homeowners a financial incentive for "green" practices.
The Climate Change Investment Act would repeal the tax breaks given to oil companies in the Energy Bill passed by the last Congress, and replace them with a 50 percent tax credit for any investment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions or conserves energy.
"I will fight for even more incentives for investment in innovative new technologies." Meehan said. "Things like green chemistry, solar and wind technology and fuel cells, pro-environmental technologies where Massachusetts companies and universities are already on the cutting edge."
He is also co-sponsoring California Rep. Henry Waxman's Safe Climate Act that would cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and continue to cut levels an additional 80 percent by 2050. | <urn:uuid:7abbb500-d08a-457c-afde-2a0baca3686c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uml.edu/News/news-articles/2006/meehan_patrick_call.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963562 | 766 | 1.726563 | 2 |
~ Posted by Robert Butler, November 28th 2012
The Natural History Museum in London has a collection of 7m specimens, but a new permanent exhibition (which is free) displays just 22 objects. The "Treasures" in the Cadogan Gallery—which used to be the canteen—include a Neanderthal skull, a dodo skeleton, a moon rock from the last Apollo space mission (about 3.7 billion years old), a dwarf-elephant tooth, an emperor-penguin egg and Charles Darwin's pigeons. The exhibition opens this Friday, but a grand preview took place last night and the great auk and Guy the gorilla found themselves competing for attention with a new global celebrity.
More than 350 people, including many of the great and the good, gathered around the skeleton of the large diplodocus in the central hall, where they drank champagne and blackberry gin and tonics. Waiters in tunics served morsels of lamb cutlets with pickled fennel, salmon confit, guinea fowl with spiced lentils and seabass with kelp risotto. The hubbub of conversation ("You're an old rocker, did you go to the Stones last night?") drowned out the female string quartet determinedly playing Mozart.
After an hour, a middle-aged man and a young woman descended the main staircase decorated with four large vases of flowers. It might have been a dad taking his demure daughter to her graduation ceremony. This was Dr Michael Dixon, director of the museum, wearing a dark suit and red tie, and the Duchess of Cambridge, wearing—as the Dail Mail reported today—a £1,400 emerald-green silk Mulberry dress, "buttoned high, belted at the waist and gathered at the wrists creating a balloon sleeve". As Dr Dixon spoke, the Duchess stood to one side, her hands clasped in front of her, repeatedly flicking the fringe away from her eyes and biting her lower lip. The fringe was an event in itself. Today BBC Radio 4 reported that her new retro hairstyle was a return to the 1970s and "Charlie's Angels".
The Duchess made a brief speech, saying: "William and I are just two of millions of people who have passed through these doors, and marvelled at the spectacular wonders of the natural world." Then she pulled back some small grey curtains to unveil a plaque, and was gone.
Robert Butler is online editor of Intelligent Life | <urn:uuid:373652af-fc0b-4145-8959-a2ed2d999d8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moreintelligentlife.com/blog/robert-butler/duchess-and-dinosaurs | 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 | 0.947699 | 511 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Wordsworth’s birthplace reopens
The house in the Lake District where William Wordsworth grew up reopened to the public last week after an eight-month £1m renovation. “We want visitors to be inspired to go away and find out more about Wordsworth and his poetry,” said Kate Hilton, curator of Wordsworth House, Cockermouth, where the poet was born in 1770. “And perhaps to find out more about life in 18th-century Cumbria.”
The people of Cockermouth bought the grand Georgian house, the finest in the town, when it was about to be demolished to make way for a bus station, and gave it to the National Trust in 1938. | <urn:uuid:f7c16d1e-1272-4157-b1cc-31c3240801d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rc.umd.edu/blog_rc/?p=81 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974659 | 149 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Australia passed landmark laws on Tuesday to impose a price on carbon emissions in one of the biggest economic reforms in a decade and injecting new impetus into December's global climate talks in South Africa.
Tuesday's vote in the upper house Senate made Australia the second major economy behind the European Union to pass carbon-limiting legislation. Tiny New Zealand has a similar scheme.
Its impact will be felt right across the economy, from miners and liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers to airlines and steel makers, and is aimed at making firms more energy efficient and push power generation towards gas and renewables.
The vote is a major victory for embattled Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who staked her political future on what will be the most comprehensive carbon price scheme outside of Europe, despite deep hostility from voters and the political opposition.
"Today Australia has a price on carbon as the law of our land. This comes after a quarter of a century of scientific warnings, 37 parliamentary inquiries, and years of bitter debate and division," Gillard told reporters in Canberra.
Australia has spent more than a decade debating the issue, which was instrumental in the 2007 fall of former conservative prime minister John Howard and Labor's Kevin Rudd in 2010.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has sworn a "blood oath" to repeal the laws if he wins power in 2013.
Australia accounts for just 1.5 percent of global emissions, but is the developed world's highest emitter per capita due to a reliance on coal to generate electricity.
The legislation is being watched closely by others considering similar plans to cap carbon emissions, which are blamed for fuelling climate change.
In the United States, California starts its scheme in 2013, while China and South Korea are also working on carbon trading programs. India has a coal tax, while South Africa plans to place carbon caps on its top polluters.
"It is the single most important policy mechanism that Australia has had and as a result it will increase certainty for participants," said Geoff Rousel, Westpac's global head of commodities, carbon and energy.
The scheme is a central plank in the government's fight against climate change and aims to halt the growth of the country's growing greenhouse gas emissions from a resources-led boom and age-old reliance on coal-fired power stations.
It sets a fixed carbon tax of A$23 ($23.78) a tonne on the top 500 polluters from July 2012, then moves to an emissions trading scheme from July 2015. Companies involved will need a permit for every tonne of carbon they emit.
Australia's carbon market is forecast to be worth as much as A$15 billion ($15.5 billion) by 2015, with sale of permits to raise A$25 billion in the first four years. Passage of the carbon price laws is expected to ensure the global market continues to expand over the next few years.
The World Bank estimated the global carbon market was worth about $142 billion in 2010, with the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme accounting for 97 percent of trade.
The government hopes the bill's passage will help re-ignite the push for a global agreement to curb emissions ahead of international talks in Durban in December.
The laws are meant to give companies a financial incentive to curb pollution, and will help Australia reach its goal to cut emissions by 5 percent of year 2000 levels by 2020.
Farmers will be exempt from the scheme but will be able to cash in by selling carbon offsets under separate laws.
The package of 18 new laws sets up the carbon price as well as billions in compensation for export-exposed industries and local steel makers, as well as personal tax cuts for 90 percent of workers, worth an average A$300 a year.
Export-focused industries with intensive emissions, such as aluminum, zinc refiners and steel makers, will get 94.5 percent of carbon permits for free for the first three years.
CLEAN ENERGY GOLD RUSH
The passing of the bill drew applause from public galleries in parliament and Greens leader Bob Brown — a major proponent of the scheme — shook hands with Labor government senators. Others at a carbon expo conference in Melbourne were ecstatic.
The government expects the scheme to spur a multi-billion dollar investment rush in new, cleaner energy sources, including natural gas and renewable power stations, to replace Australia's ageing coal-fired plants.
Canberra has committed more than A$13 billion for renewable and low emissions projects, including an A$10 billion independent Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with around A$100 billion in renewables sector investment expected by 2050.
However, full introduction of the Australian scheme remains uncertain with Abbott's promise to scrap it if he wins power. Gillard's minority government holds power by only one seat.
The next election is not due until late 2013, but opinion polls show Gillard's government would easily be swept from office. Abbott could potentially take power at any time in the event of a by-election in a government-held seat.
A poll on Tuesday showed the conservatives leading Labor by 53 percent to 47 percent. The government's popularity had improved slightly over Gillard's handling of economic and industrial relations problems.
The carbon price is one of three key policies Gillard promised when she became leader, alongside a planned tax on iron ore and coal mines and new measures to deter asylum seekers.
Dead-heat elections last August forced her to negotiate details of the carbon price with the Greens and three independent lawmakers.
Climate Minister Greg Combet said the government would stick to its A$23 a tonne price, despite it being almost double the European cost of between $8.70 and $12.60 a tonne, which is four-year-lows on the back of global economic uncertainty.
© 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:63194648-6455-4a5f-9e62-df2d1bfbb443> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneynews.com/Markets/Australia-Carbon-Price-Laws/2011/11/08/id/417278 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95268 | 1,185 | 2.453125 | 2 |
- ICC VATICAN PROSECUTION
- Our Issues
- Learn More
- Get Involved
- Our Cases
- About Us
June 12, 2013, New Orleans – Last night, in a federal class action lawsuit filed…
January 8, 2013, New York – In response to today’s decision by Judge Shira A.…
NOW v. WABC-TV is a lawsuit in which the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of NOW challenged the license renewal of WABC-TV in New York City on grounds of sexual discrimination.
In the first sweeping challenge to the treatment of women in the media, CCR attorneys representing the NOW challenged the license renewal of WABC-TV in New York City on the grounds of sex discrimination in employment (hiring and promoting) and programming (including commercials).
The challenge was based on the proposition that the role of women in our society is a controversial issue and therefore WABC-TV may not legally, under the Fairness Doctrine of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) present only one side of that issue (i.e – that a woman’s place is in the home and if she has any role outside of home and family it is clearly secondary).
A petition to deny the license renewal of WABC-TV was filed with the FCC on May 1, 1972. Based on the extensive monitoring studies conducted by NOW, the petition charges massive violations of FCC regulations in that WABC-TV:
Following the filing of the petition, the parties entered three months of negotiations. These negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory solution, particularly with respect to balancing the one-sided programmatic presentation of the role of women in society.
In 1974, despite the fact that two-and-a-half years of the three-year license renewal period in question had already expired, the FCC still had not issued a decision.
Consequently, CCR attorneys sought an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for the following reasons:
The D.C. District Court of Appeals, in a rare action, ordered the FCC to make a ruling within sixty days. Several weeks later, the FCC handed down its belated decision in which, with the typical ignorance and bigotry of most federal agencies, the Commission virtually ignored the massive factual case presented in the petition and found that WABC-TV did not seriously or systematically discriminate against women.
The FCC’s decision was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and was consolidated with the challenge of the D.C chapter of NOW and several other community organizations to the license renewal of WRC-TV, the local ABC affiliate.
On April 11, 1977, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the FCC, although it did suggest that had the FCC not challenged ascertainment requirements in the interim, action would have been appropriate on WABC’s failure to ascertain leaders of the women’s movement.
Although a hearing was denied, the NOW challenge was later used as a national model for similar challenges to TV stations for sex discrimination. Perhaps more importantly, the challenge has been termed responsible for significant increases in employment of women, particularly on-camera positions and improvements in programming to meet the needs of women. | <urn:uuid:769100c9-ffe3-463e-832d-e65c7af44034> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/past-cases/national-organization-women-(now)-v.-wabc-tv%2C-fcc%2C-and-wrc-tv | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964422 | 675 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Beauty From Within
Exploring the connection between food and beauty
No matter what our society claims, it is true that people are concerned with their appearance.
The media puts a lot of pressure on people to use their products in order to look a certain way. The beauty industry makes billions of dollars putting out new products and marketing them with high-paid celebrities to raise their sales. However, we should not completely buy into this as there is a much more rational and affordable way to look beautiful and healthy.
Good health and good-looking skin and hair depend on good nutrition. There is tons of evidence to prove this. Outer beauty does not just come from a certain moisturizer or cleanser; it starts from each and every cell in your body.
Beauty from within connotes that the nutrients we consume could affect the way we look and the link between beauty and diet is strong and growing even stronger. Consumers are increasingly looking for antioxidant foods and supplements that support an overall healthy lifestyle as well as a healthy physical appearance.
In recent years, the beauty market has tapped into this idea and has begun to develop the “food-meets-cosmetics” category of nutraceuticals. Today’s beauty-food formulas are generally aimed at four specific areas: skin, hair, nails and general overall wellness. In skin care, the main benefits are to rebuild, repair, protect against the sun and to keep the skin firm and its pigment looking strong and vibrant. For hair, the benefits include manageability, growth, restoration and volumizing. For nails, the key benefit is strengthening.
Below are some general beauty-food tips that correlate certain vitamins, minerals and foods with different actions. By following these, one could literally wean out all unnatural beauty products and utilize what nature has to offer.
-Damaged skin may be repaired with vitamins C and E, which are found in kiwi, citrus fruits, wheat germ oil, nuts, leafy greens and broccoli. These two vitamins are very powerful together. Vitamin E helps to hydrate the skin and also protects against free radicals, while vitamin C stimulates collagen production. Together, they repair damaged skin cells.
-Foods such as walnuts, flaxseeds and salmon help to relieve dry skin issues. All of these add hydration and moisture to skin cells from within. These foods are all high in omega-3 fatty acids.
-Eating cucumbers, almonds, chickpeas and shellfish, which are all high in silica and zinc, are known to be helpful for reducing skin redness.
-People with oily skin or acne should eat foods high in vitamin A and zinc, which help reduce oil production and the swelling associated with blemishes. Less oil production contributes to less pore clogging.
-Cucumbers also are known to reduce fine wrinkles as they penetrate cells better than water alone by helping them strengthen the membrane, which plums skin cells.
-Fruits like apples, goji berries and grape-seed extract may improve tone and texture of the skin.
-Sun damage may be prevented with resveratrol, which slows the breakdown of collagen.
-Nails and hair can be strengthened with biotin, which is found in eggs, peanut butter, oats and liver. A biotin deficiency causes hair to become dry and brittle, which could contribute to hair loos or thinning hair.
-Vitamin A is essential for healthy hair and eyes. It can be found in cod liver oil, eggs, carrots, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and melon.
-B vitamins are vital for clear, luminous skin, youthful looks and for delaying greying of hair. They are essential for healthy skin, hair, and eyes
Generally fruits and vegetables represent an ideal source of antioxidants, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and other important anti-aging actives. The long-term regular use of these antioxidants prevents oxidation and deterioration at the cellular level. Out of hundreds of fruits and vegetables that have been shown to have beauty effects, I chose to highlight nine here as I feel they are most powerful in terms of having specific beauty-food connections:
- Artichoke is high in antioxidants, which can help protect skin DNA and collagen. Artichoke extract is also a cleansing detoxifier that helps promote liver health.
- Pomegranate peel decreases blemishes, regenerates the skin and protects from UV exposure.
- Avocado is packed with properties that naturally help the skin in its own collagen production.
- Goji Berry extract is wonderful for topical skin health and protection. It is a very powerful antioxidant and helps increase collagen production.
- Tomatoes are rich in powerful antioxidants. They support skin smoothness and help maintain healthy skin during sun exposure.
- Red Chili Pepper contains capsaicin which can be used improve microcirculation and create a warming effect.
- Black currants are a rich source of vitamin C, GLA, magnesium and calcium and are an elastase inhibitor, which increases the elastin in the skin and supports a healthy immune response.
- Cucumbers have long been known to help in the reduction of dark circles underneath the eyes.
- Kiwifruit extract has a cell metabolism renewal effect and promotes increased collagen synthesis.
As you can see, there’s no coincidence here between vitamins and their natural beauty effects. As nutrition and health become more and more on the forefront of the health industry, consumers are making health and wellness a top priority, approaching it from all directions. Growing consumer interest in the concept of 'beauty from within' is helping this market to grow and become an independent category. The point essentially is, we should consume a large variety of fruits and vegetables for beautiful skin and optimal health. Simple and delicious, these gems from nature form the foundation of a healthy, glowing complexion and a long healthy life.
Some of my favorite natural beauty companies include: Arbonne and Draco Natural Products. For more information please visit their websites. | <urn:uuid:10a82ce7-8d0b-47dc-8d09-d1500e02f681> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manasquan.patch.com/articles/beauty-from-within | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950349 | 1,243 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Disaster drones: How robot teams can help in a crisis
An ominous plume of black smoke hangs over east London. The scarcely believable news arrives in snippets: A huge blast has rocked the Thames Barrier; a surge of water is ploughing through the city; a sports stadium has collapsed; more explosions are reported on Twitter.
Thousands of people are trying to evacuate, but like the banks of the Thames, the mobile networks are overwhelmed.
It is time to send in the drones.
Professor Nick Jennings prefers to call them unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He is one of the chief scientific advisers to the government, and drew up this fictional scenario as part of his multi-million pound Orchid research project.
Prof Jennings believes the key to mastering the pandemonium that follows large-scale disasters lies in intelligent, co-ordinated action between man and machine.
The system he is testing will be ready next year, and will allow teams of drones to help emergency services from the air with minimal human supervision. It is yet another non-military spin-off in the burgeoning field of drone technology.
After studying real disasters like the Haiti earthquake of 2010, Prof Jennings realised that the key to successful disaster response - amidst all the chaos - is the intelligent allocation of tasks and resources, and humans on the ground are not always best placed to make those life and death decisions.
"Humans can do things like fill in maps based on what they see, starting from a blank map, which is exactly what happened in Haiti. What buildings are damaged, where facilities are, that kind of basic crowd-sourcing already happens," says Prof Jennings.
"But we want to augment that with autonomous flying vehicles that are able to get a view of the bigger picture on the ground, to improve situational awareness. They can figure out where the disaster responders should go, where the resources should go."
In his proposed system, UAVs will be launched immediately to monitor the unfolding disaster from the air.
They will provide real-time footage to disaster responders on the ground, who can request specific information from the drones using hand-held electronic devices.
They might ask, for example, 'how stable is this building's roof?' before entering to look for victims.
"We could also have robots on the ground, that would go into areas too dangerous for humans," says Prof Jennings.
His team is looking at ways that information from members of the public sent by smartphones could be integrated into this system.
Research into non-military applications for drone technology is a booming area, with companies vying to find commercial applications.
From their origins as expensive pieces of military hardware, the price of drones themselves has fallen dramatically, to the point where they are even within the budget of the hobbyist.
Private individuals are adapting these drones, which are capable of programmable flight paths, for their own uses, including everything from wildlife surveillance to farm management.
BAE Systems recently unveiled its research into technology that could allow pilot-less planes to fly in UK airspace, potentially for operations like border control and search and rescue.
But what makes Prof Jennings's research stand out is that he is interested in allowing drones to fly as squadrons, improvising their own flight paths as a unit in response to new information, without human intervention.
The teams of drones that will patrol a disaster have already been tested extensively in Sydney, Australia.
The drones he uses are in fact Mikrocopter Hexacopters, which have six rotary blades and are just under a metre in width.
"The underlying research is based on aspects of artificial intelligence, getting software to do clever things, and underpinning that is a form of mathematics", explains Prof Jennings.
During tests, the drones are flown as a unit and allocated multiple tasks from the ground. What is in fact being tested on site is the mathematical algorithms that control the drones' joint movement.
If successful, these algorithms will direct the drones so that they are in the optimal position to collect information requests from humans and distribute them back to the ground.
'Decentralised coordination algorithms' are intelligent enough to deal with out of sync data requests, lost data, and can even predict where future requests will come from. They allow the drones to communicate between each other and work effectively as a team.
The algorithms themselves have already been tested on computer software, like RoboCup Rescue Simulator, that simulates human catastrophes with mock ups of people fleeing towns and cities.
"The next stage," says Prof Jennings, "is to run some mock disasters in open spaces, and have individual human actors in there, interacting with the robots, doing it for real."
This is scheduled to take place in October.
A fully operational system is said to be 18 months away.
Several police forces are already interested, Pof Jennings says, and he hopes both governments and NGOs will take up the technology.
So if in the future you are unfortunate enough to find yourself caught up in a terrorist attack or natural disaster and see a robot hovering above your head, take heart - help may be closer than you think. | <urn:uuid:c0673290-f82a-422d-972b-9c0737e91a16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18581883 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954175 | 1,048 | 3.1875 | 3 |
In light of recent attacks on SSL/TLS communication, people have been asking about ways to improve the security of SSL webserver communication. Several great solutions have been mentioned in the following links (example 1, 2, 3 and blog posting).
There is a general agreement that if a network administrator uploads the website's SSL public key (or its hash) into DNS, security could be improved
The drawbacks of the proposed solution is that:
All recommendations for this particular solution require DNSSec, which adds complexity and has a cost associated with it.
Client software (browsers, Operating Systems) will require an update to actually check DNS for certificate information
In the spirit of providing immediate relief to the very broad security issue at hand, I'm questioning the assumed requirement of DNSSec. By removing this requirement, and simply allowing the website owner to dictate the SSL intermediates (or specific public keys) they want to use via DNS, we allow the content publisher (or e-commerce site) to declare what is trusted, and therefore make some attack vectors much (much) more difficult to overcome.
Is DNSSec required for public key/hash distribution?
- According to this link, DNS hacking is not a concern for the majority of users on the internet. Notable exceptions include WiFi users and certain SoHo routers are of concern. If DNSSec is only needed for these edge cases, why delay implementation for a borderline technology?
Are there any threat models comparing using regular DNS as a repository as opposed to DNSSec?
- The premise of this question assumes that although using regular DNS is imperfect, it does make great strides protecting users against a general, system-wide vulnerability.
What should be stored, the hash, or the full public key?
How difficult would it be for vendors to support this extra validation of a SSL/TLS certificate? | <urn:uuid:3865c691-c57d-4cd8-864f-b00c25c16778> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/6824/can-i-improve-website-security-by-storing-ssl-keys-in-dns-is-dnssec-required-a/12500 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92467 | 384 | 2.359375 | 2 |
No, this is not the so-called first century fragment of Mark about which rumors have been flying around the internet. That fragment has still yet to be published.
This is a third/fourth century papyrus from Oxyrhynchus Papyri collection at Oxford. This fragment was published recently after being examined by experts, which is what we all hope will happen with the so-called first century fragment of Mark to determine if it is authentic AND from the first century.
The fragment below contains the opening lines of Mark's gospel. For those who can read Greek, it contains the first two verses of Mark 1, which includes the quote from Malachi 3:1. You will also note the abbreviated spellings of 'Jesus' and 'Christ' since these are treated as nomina sacra in the text.
What makes this fragment interesting is that 1:1 does not include the phrase"son of God." As most first year Greek and New Testament students learn, there is some discrepancy among the witnesses to Mark as to whether "Son of God" was original or not. This fragment is a witness to its absence in some manuscripts.
I have included a photo below from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri webpage. If you go to the the webpage, however, you can look at low and high resolution photos and increase the size.
HT: Pete Williams @ Evangelical Text Criticism | <urn:uuid:f6fa8fe3-e12a-4a49-b905-76266799bbb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thebiblicalworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/fragment-of-marks-gospel.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963728 | 290 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Grand Hyatt Washington
1000 H Street NW
Washington, D.C., 20001
POST EVENT SUMMARY
In the fourth installment of the "Election 2012: The National Security Agenda" series, AEI, the Center for New American Security (CNAS) and the New America Foundation (NAF) convened a panel of experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed to the U.S. by recent events in the Middle East.
Ambassador Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy opened by suggesting specific policies the Obama administration might take to advance U.S. interests in the midst of the "Arab Awakening." In Egypt, he said, the U.S. must possess principles to guide future conduct in the region, such as respect for minority and women's rights, room for political participation, and follow-through on Egypt's international obligations.
AEI's Danielle Pletka agreed, saying that in Syria -- as elsewhere -- the U.S. must articulate guidelines in the area rather than deferring to regional powers such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar. The U.S., she said, has an interest in the outcome of the Syrian crisis but has so far failed to articulate clear principles to guide its actions.
Marc Lynch and Douglas Ollivant of CNAS both argued that American involvement would not be productive for the region. Lynch suggested it would make the situation in Syria more violent, while Ollivant argued that the situation is vastly different from Libya's civil war in 2011 and that America's military options in Syria are limited.
Join AEI, the Center for a New American Security and the New America Foundation for an in-depth conversation about the opportunities and challenges posed to the U.S. by events in the Greater Middle East. Panelists will discuss electoral transitions following the Arab Spring in Egypt and elsewhere, the ongoing civil war in Syria, the changing role of Turkey and Iran’s regional and international profile. Ambassador Dennis Ross will provide introductory remarks.
This event continues a unique collaboration among these institutions during the U.S. presidential campaign season. Past conversations have covered the U.S. role in the world, U.S. policy in East Asia and the U.S. national security budget.
Registration and lunch
Dennis Ross, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Marc Lynch, Center for a New American Security
Douglas Ollivant, Center for a New American Security
Danielle Pletka, AEI
Peter Bergen, New America Foundation
For more information, please contact Alex Della Rocchetta at email@example.com, 202.862.7184.
For media inquiries, please contact Véronique Rodman at firstname.lastname@example.org, 202.862.4871.
Peter Bergen is the director of the New America Foundation’s National Security Studies Program, where he leads the program’s analysis of terrorism, counterinsurgency, South Asia’s geopolitics and other national security concerns. He also serves as CNN's national security analyst and is a fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security. Bergen has written for many publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs and Rolling Stone, among others. He is a contributing editor at The New Republic and has worked as a correspondent for National Geographic Television, Discovery and CNN. Bergen’s books “Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden” (2001) and “The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader” (2006) were named among the best non-fiction books of the year by The Washington Post, and documentaries based on his books were nominated for Emmy awards in 2002 and 2007. His most recent book is “The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda” (2011).
Marc Lynch is an associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, where he is the director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and of the Project on Middle East Political Science. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and edits the Middle East Channel on ForeignPolicy.com. He publishes frequently on the politics of the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Arab media and information technology, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Islamist movements. He also works on public diplomacy and strategic communications. His most recent book, “Voices of the New Arab Public: Al-Jazeera, Iraq, and Middle East Politics Today,” was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Book.
Douglas Ollivant is a senior national security fellow at the New America Foundation. He most recently spent one year as the senior counterinsurgency adviser to the commander, regional command-east at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. Ollivant is a recently retired U.S. Army officer whose last duty assignment was as director for Iraq at the National Security Council during both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Before his posting at the White House, Ollivant served in Iraq as the chief of plans for MultiNational Division Baghdad in 2006─2007. During this time, he led the planning team that designed the Baghdad Security Plan, the main effort of which later became known as the "Surge." He also served an earlier tour in Iraq as a battalion operations officer and is a veteran of the battles of Najaf Cemetery and Second Fallujah. Ollivant is a frequent television commentator on defense and Middle East issues. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Political Science Association, he advises a number of companies on strategy and political risk.
Danielle Pletka is the vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at AEI. Before joining AEI, she served for 10 years as a senior professional staff member for the Near East and South Asia on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Pletka writes regularly on the Middle East and South Asia, U.S. national security, terrorism and weapons proliferation for a range of American newspapers and magazines. Her writings and interviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS News, Los Angeles Times and POLITICO among others. She has testified before Congress on the Iranian threat and other terrorist activities in the Middle East. Pletka is the co-editor of “Dissent and Reform in the Arab World: Empowering Democrats” (AEI Press, 2008) and the co-author of “Containing and Deterring a Nuclear Iran” (AEI Press, 2011). Her most recent study, “Iranian influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan,” was published in May 2012. She is currently working on a follow-up report on U.S.–Iranian competitive strategies in the Middle East, to be published in the fall of 2012.
Ambassador Dennis Ross is an American diplomat and author. A former U.S. State Department and National Security Council official, Ross was a special assistant to President Obama for the Middle East, Afghanistan and South Asia from 2009 to 2011. He has served as the director of policy planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton and was a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (which includes Iran) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As the Middle East envoy, Ambassador Ross helped the Israelis and Palestinians reach the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and brokered the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron in 1997. He facilitated the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace and also worked on talks between Israel and Syria. After leaving his position as envoy, Ross returned to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow. Ambassador Ross was the recipient of the Truman Peace Prize from the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace in 2008 for his worldwide human rights contributions. | <urn:uuid:15d628c9-f853-4ccf-988b-46196924a54d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aei.org/events/2012/07/17/election-2012-informing-the-national-security-agenda/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93988 | 1,696 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Oktoberfest in Germany
The Oktoberfest held annually in Munich, Germany is the largest beer festival in the world. During this 16-day festival, starting in late September, some 7 million people from around the world will crowd the tents of the Theresienwiese in Munich and consume approximately 7 million liters of beer. And Germans take it quite seriously, wearing lederhosen, clinking beer steins and yodeling in pleasant harmony to the oompah bands.
A brief history of Charlotte Oktoberfest
The now defunct Johnson Brewing Company partnered with the Carolina BrewMasters (CBM), a small Charlotte-based homebrewing club to organize a beer festival for Charlotte. From the beginning, the goal was to educate Charlotte residents about the craft brewing movement, and place special emphasis on the growing number of breweries in the Southeast.
These original two Festivals were held at Independence Park off Seventh Street. Bruno Wichnoski from CBM organized the club volunteers, recruited brewers and urged the club volunteers to market the event as best they could with simple flyers. As Johnson's financial problems mounted, it became clear that they were no longer able to be a partner and much of the 2000 Festival fell to the Carolina BrewMasters. While the Festival in 1999 was attended by over 900 patrons, in 2000 attendance dropped to about 500. To many, it appeared that the Festival was going to die young.
Several members of Carolina BrewMasters wanted to see the Festival continue, but lack of funds made continuing the effort a daunting financial and organizational challenge for the small homebrewing club. Jason Randall felt passionately that Charlotte needed to have an annual beer Festival and agreed to lead the effort in 2001. Meca Properties and By Design assisted the effort with sponsor money and Meca Properties secured a spot for the Festival adjacent to the former Southend Brewery. Tom Lockhart helped secure umbrella tents and other items. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 had happened only a month prior to the Festival but despite this, 1400 beer fans attended. A small profit was made, allowing the club to continue the event in 2002 and a donation of $1000 was made to the Charlotte Trolley.
Jason Randall led the Festival for a second showing in South End area, this time assisted by Gaines Brown and the Art & Soul Festival on Camden Street. Attendees enjoyed the advantages a combined Festival, but construction in the area caused problems for Festival organizers. Attendance dropped to about 1100. Approximately $5,000 was left to plan 2003, and the club was able to make a $1000 charitable donation to the Charlotte Trolley.
Todd Bowman took the leadership reins and elevated the event to the next level with his marketing, publicity and leadership skills. The Festival partnered with Steve Emmanuel of the Rheinland Haus restaurant on Park Road to hold the event in the restaurant's front parking lot. Brewer participation increased, and attendance swelled to over 2500 patrons. CBM finally had enough money to effectively plan the next year's Festival without going into debt. Proceeds also allowed the club to make an $8000 charitable donation to the Red Cross.
Todd Bowman continued for a second year as Festival Director, moving the Festival site to North Davidson (NoDa) behind the Neighborhood Theater, with the help of Mellow Mushroom owner Tom Lockhart. Growth continued at a rapid pace as marketing efforts improved in sophistication and variety. Attendance of over 3500 patrons enabled charitable donations of over $15,000 to local NoDa charities, including Habitat for Humanity.
Longtime club treasurer Felton Dengler led the effort in 2005 for the Festival's second year in NoDa. Demand for tickets was overwhelming and the event sold out long before the lines ended. Potential patrons were lined around the block, and the total attendance topped 4500, eventually forcing the organizers to cutoff ticket sales later in the day. It was obvious an even larger venue would be needed for 2006. Charitable giving surpassed $20,000.
Longtime Festival site manager Wayne Fricke led the effort, securing Memorial Stadium for the largest Festival to date with over 5,000 paid patrons. For the first time online ticket sales created the first Festival sold out in advance. The homebrew participation increased dramatically as the Carolina BrewMasters invited all of their fellow NC and SC homebrew clubs to participate and share their creations. Wayne managed the Festival like an astute business manager with excellent results. Charitable giving grew to $30,000. Regrettably, Wayne Fricke died of pancreatic cancer on March 13, 2008. A major contribution was made to the MS Society this year, as well as a designated donation in Wayne Fricke's memory.
Jeanette Smith took the Festival to Metrolina Fairgrounds. CBM rolled out a beautiful, handmade homebrew bar for serving their homebrewed beers. Attendance was at an all-time high of over 6000 attendees. The Festival was hosted in several buildings for a rain safe event. There were advantages to having a weather proof site but glass breakage, fragmentation of the Festival components as well as the highest attendance yet led to critical re-evaluation. $50,000 was donated to three local charities: the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the MS Society, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and A Child's Place.
Jason Randall agreed to return to the leadership role and take the Festival back to Memorial Stadium while reducing the planned overall size slightly. To help celebrate our 10th Anniversary we had a superb entertainment lineup including Southern Culture on the Skids, the Sons of Ralph, U-Phonik. We also welcomed the third year of the Creative Loafing Beer'lympic Village. Our 10th year was a memorable one. This Festival was dedicated to the memory of Wayne Fricke.
Justin Mitchell took over the reins of Festival Director. The planning was running smoothly until a sinkhole was discovered beneath Memorial Stadium forcing the stadium to close 3 months before the scheduled Festival date. After searching high and low for an acceptable location, the Oktoberfest committee rediscovered the Metrolina Trade Show and Expo. We decided to keep the Festival site outdoors to take advantage of the very large grass field at that location. We also decided to increase the size of the beer tents to enhance the Charlotte Oktoberfest experience for our patrons. The new site provided for easier access to beer, music, food, bathrooms, and the Creative Loafing Beer'lympic Village. With attendance of over 5500 patrons, the 2009 Charlotte Oktoberfest was able to raise $60,000 for Victory Junction and the National Kidney Foundation
Bruno Wichnoski, a long time Carolina BrewMaster, led the 12th annual Charlotte Oktoberfest. Once again Metrolina Expo was the site of the Festival. The attendance was capped at 5,250 patrons and the Festival site was expanded to allow for a greater number of activities and more room for the attendees. Great music was provided by Echo Code, Sugar Glyder and BlueMonday. Because of the heat that day, 12,000 bottles of water were provided for the Festival patrons to keep everyone well hydrated. Just after the Festival ended, a heavy windstorm swept through the area damaging several tents but sparing the Festival itself. The Festival raised a total of $55,000 in charitable donations which were split between The Autism Society of North Carolina and The National Kidney Foundation of North Carolina. An additional $2500 was donated to the North Carolina Brewers Guild, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting craft beer in North Carolina. | <urn:uuid:9ab7fb6e-61ae-4bdb-a477-5fc368524535> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://charlotteoktoberfest.com/History | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956697 | 1,543 | 1.898438 | 2 |
American computer programmer who was cofounder and CEO (2004 ) of Facebook, a social networking Web site.
After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard University in 2002. On February 4, 2004, he launched thefacebook.com (renamed Facebook in 2005), a directory in which fellow Harvard students entered their own information and photos into a template that he had devised. Within two weeks half of the student body had signed up. Zuckerberg's roommates, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, helped him add features and make the site available to other campuses across the country. Facebook quickly became popular as registered users could create profiles, upload photos and other media, and keep in touch with friends. It differed from other social networking sites, however, in its emphasis on real names (and e-mail addresses), or trusted connections. It also laid particular emphasis on networking, with information disseminated not only to each individual's network of friends but also to friends of friendswhat Zuckerberg called the social graph.
In the summer of 2004 the trio moved their headquarters to Palo Alto, California, where Zuckerberg talked venture capitalist Peter Thiel into giving them seed money. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on the fledgling company, of which he became CEO and president. In May 2005 Facebook received its first major infusion of venture capital ($12.7 million). Four months later Facebook opened to registration by high-school students. Meanwhile, foreign colleges and universities also began to sign up, and by September 2006 anyone with an e-mail address could join a regional network based on where he or she lived. About that time Zuckerberg turned down a $1 billion buyout offer from Yahoo!, but in 2007 Facebook struck a deal with Microsoft in which the software company paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook; two years later Digital Sky Technologies purchased a 1.96 percent share for $200 million. In 2008 Zuckerberg's new worth was estimated at about $1.5 billion. After Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) of stock in 2012, Zuckerberg's net worth was estimated at more than $19 billion. | <urn:uuid:2081a618-d426-44eb-9ab6-7f3abe7b461e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/oscar/article-9471223 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969497 | 426 | 2.625 | 3 |
Arrange the numbers 1 to 6 in each set of circles below. The sum of each side of the triangle should equal the number in its centre.
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
What is the sum of all the three digit whole numbers?
Woof is a big dog. Yap is a little dog.
Emma has 16 dog biscuits to give to the two dogs.
She gave Woof 4 more biscuits than Yap.
How many biscuits did each dog get?
Can you work out how many flowers there will be on the Amazing Splitting Plant after it has been growing for six weeks?
Can you each work out the number on your card? What do you notice?
How could you sort the cards?
On a farm there were some hens and sheep. Altogether there were 8
heads and 22 feet. How many hens were there?
Twizzle, a female giraffe, needs transporting to another zoo. Which
route will give the fastest journey?
There are over sixty different ways of making 24 by adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing all four numbers 4, 6, 6 and
8 (using each number only once). How many can you find?
What do the digits in the number fifteen add up to? How many other
numbers have digits with the same total but no zeros?
How have the numbers been placed in this Carroll diagram? Which
labels would you put on each row and column?
Use the interactivities to fill in these Carroll diagrams. How do you know where to place the numbers?
Use 4 four times with simple operations so that you get the answer 12. Can you make 15, 16 and 17 too?
Find out what a Deca Tree is and then work out how many leaves
there will be after the woodcutter has cut off a trunk, a branch, a
twig and a leaf.
The clockmaker's wife cut up his birthday cake to look like a clock
face. Can you work out who received each piece?
Fill in the missing numbers so that adding each pair of corner
numbers gives you the number between them (in the box).
Put operations signs between the numbers 3 4 5 6 to make the highest possible number and lowest possible number.
Place the digits 1 to 9 into the circles so that each side of the
triangle adds to the same total.
Fill in the numbers to make the sum of each row, column and
diagonal equal to 34. For an extra challenge try the huge American
Flag magic square.
Claire thinks she has the most sports cards in her album. "I have
12 pages with 2 cards on each page", says Claire. Ross counts his
cards. "No! I have 3 cards on each of my pages and there are. . . .
There were 22 legs creeping across the web. How many flies? How many spiders?
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try
to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
The Scot, John Napier, invented these strips about 400 years ago to
help calculate multiplication and division. Can you work out how to
use Napier's bones to find the answer to these multiplications?
Can you draw a continuous line through 16 numbers on this grid so
that the total of the numbers you pass through is as high as
There are three baskets, a brown one, a red one and a pink one, holding a total of 10 eggs. Can you use the information given to find out how many eggs are in each basket?
Noah saw 12 legs walk by into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?
There are 4 jugs which hold 9 litres, 7 litres, 4 litres and 2
litres. Find a way to pour 9 litres of drink from one jug to
another until you are left with exactly 3 litres in three of the
Can you hang weights in the right place to make the equaliser
An environment which simulates working with Cuisenaire rods.
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
Ben’s class were making cutting up number tracks. First they
cut them into twos and added up the numbers on each piece. What
patterns could they see?
Go through the maze, collecting and losing your money as you go.
Which route gives you the highest return? And the lowest?
Find at least one way to put in some operation signs (+ - x ÷)
to make these digits come to 100.
On the planet Vuv there are two sorts of creatures. The Zios have 3 legs and the Zepts have 7 legs. The great planetary explorer Nico counted 52 legs. How many Zios and how many Zepts were there?
Cassandra, David and Lachlan are brothers and sisters. They range
in age between 1 year and 14 years. Can you figure out their exact
ages from the clues?
Look carefully at the numbers. What do you notice? Can you make
another square using the numbers 1 to 16, that displays the same
Tell your friends that you have a strange calculator that turns
numbers backwards. What secret number do you have to enter to make
141 414 turn around?
A game for 2 or more players with a pack of cards. Practise your
skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to hit
the target score.
Add the sum of the squares of four numbers between 10 and 20 to the
sum of the squares of three numbers less than 6 to make the square
of another, larger, number.
Choose four of the numbers from 1 to 9 to put in the squares so
that the differences between joined squares are odd.
Move from the START to the FINISH by moving across or down to the
next square. Can you find a route to make these totals?
These caterpillars have 16 parts. What different shapes do they make if each part lies in the small squares of a 4 by 4 square?
Arrange three 1s, three 2s and three 3s in this square so that
every row, column and diagonal adds to the same total.
As you come down the ladders of the Tall Tower you collect useful
spells. Which way should you go to collect the most spells?
This article gives you a few ideas for understanding the Got It! game and how you might find a winning strategy.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of
rabbit there are in these pens?
A game for 2 or more players. Practise your addition and subtraction with the aid of a game board and some dried peas!
In this 100 square, look at the green square which contains the numbers 2, 3, 12 and 13. What is the sum of the numbers that are diagonally opposite each other? What do you notice?
Ten cards are put into five envelopes so that there are two cards in each envelope. The sum of the numbers inside it is written on each envelope. What numbers could be inside the envelopes? | <urn:uuid:611df43a-543a-4908-8c05-8c3ec2748ce9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nrich.maths.org/public/leg.php?code=31&cl=1&cldcmpid=7006 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946713 | 1,513 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Speculaas with rich almond stuffing
Speculaas or speculoos is one of the Dutch culinary specialties. It is a spiced biscuit, made with wooden forms or moulds. They are typically winterfood, and especially associated with the feast of 'Sint Nicolaas' or Saint Nicholas, the original Santa Claus. This feast is celebrated on 5 or 6 December. Speculaas is very old, the spices used date from medieval times.
The name seems to derive from the Latin speculum (mirror, the biscuits had the carved figure of the mould in mirror image). Old wooden biscuit moulds show biblical scenes, historic events, ships, windmills, mermaids, and of cours images of Saint Nicholas with the small children he had saved according to the legend. Single youngsters could recieve a 'vrijer' (male admirer/lover) or 'vrijster' (female admirer/lover). According to some this could be considered as a marriage proposal from the giver. These large speculaas dolls (maybe they can be compared to the 'gingerbread men') were often decorated with coloured icing, silver pills and even leaf gold.
The speculaas biscuits from before, say, 1850, were made with a very hard dough containingrye flour and honey. These biscuits were so hard they could only be eaten if they were dissolved into a sweet (and tasty) porridge.
In my youth we used to to eat small speculaas biscuits on richly buttered white sandwiches as a special treat.
The dough is easy to prepare, and children will love to help with it.
The amounts for the dough are for the speculaas with almond stuffing. If you just want to bake biscuits, you can easily halve the amounts. If you are allergic to almonds, simply leave them out, and use paste of legumes instead of almond paste.
500 gram (4 1/4 cups) simple white flour
250 gram (1 cup) cold butter
250 gram (1 1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, stirred
1/2 decilitre (1/4 cup) cream
salt to taste (don't forget this, and be liberal, otherwise your speculaas will taste bland)
50 to 60 gram (1/4 cup) spices for speculaas
grated skin of 2 untreated lemons
200 gram (2 cups) flaked almonds, broken in to little pieces (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Preparation in advance
Mix flour with sugar, salt, baking powder and soda and spices (don't forget the salt, otherwise the speculaas will be bland). Add the butter, cut it with two knives to little chunks the size of peanuts. Add almonds (optional) and lemon peel, and as much egg and cream as necessary to obtain a firm dough. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and let it rest, preferably a whole night, in the refrigerator.
With this dough you can make small bisuits, called speculaasjes. To roll the dough out, the dough must be taken out of the refrigerator well in advance, because otherwise it will be too firm to roll out (because of the butter in it). Once the dough is rolled out, you can use either a cookie cutter, or real Dutch wooden speculaas moulds. If you use these, be sure to sprinkle the mould liberally with flour ever time you press fresh dough into it.
Tap the mould upside down on the worktop to free the speculaas dough. Cut the sides to make a neat form, and place the biscuits on a greased baking sheet.
Bake the biscuits in the preheated oven (175dgC/350oF) until done (about 20 minutes). Let the biscuits cool on a cake rack.
To make Speculaas with almond stuffing, we go on
Ingredients for stuffing
500 gram pure almond paste
1 or 2 eggs
1 to 3 tablespoons rose water
whole peeled and blanched almonds
egg, egg yolk, milk or cream
Preparation in advance
Stir the eggs with the rosewater. Knead the almond paste with the eggs and rosewater to moisten it. Don't add the liquids all at once, start with half the amount, then add a little at the time until the stuffing is smooth. Like the dough, the almond stuffing has to rest in the refrigerator for at least one day before use.
Divide the dough in two. Roll out one half, and cover a bakingsheet with it. If you have trouble rolling the dough out and transferring it to the baking sheet, just flatten it with your hand to your satisfaction. Spread the moistened almond paste on the dough, leaving about 1 1/2 inch around free.
Roll out the second portion of dough, drape it over the stuffing, press the sides of both dough sheets well together.
With a knife trace a pattern of lozenges. To guild the dough, brush it with egg, egg yolk, milk or cream. Decorate further with the almonds.
Bake the filled speculaas for 20 to 30 minutes in a preheated oven (175dgC/350oF).
Extra recipe: 'Banketstaaf' and 'Banketletter'
(Dutch almond pastry, literally meaning 'banquet stick' and 'banquet letter').
Roll out 350 gram puff pastry into a long, rectangular sheet.
Shape 250 gram almond paste into a thin roll (2 1/2 centimeter or 1 inch), place on the sheet of dough. Fold the dough over the stuffing, seal with egg. Cut away any excess dough.
You can leave the roll straight as a rod, but you can also shape it into letters (the Dutch also present each other with their initial in chocolate letters).
Adorn the 'banketstaaf' with halved almonds and/or the excess dough.
Let the pastry rest in the refrigerator for a half hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220dgC/425oF.
Brush the dough with lightly beaten egg, eggwhite or milk, then bake it for twenty minutes.
All descriptions of ingredients
Almond paste - Almond paste can be bought, but you can easily make it yourself: grind blanched sweet almonds to a flour (or buy ground almonds), add as much sugar in weight as you have ground almonds, and add 1 egg for every 100 to 150 gram (about 1 cup) of almond flour, depending on the size of the eggs.
A cheap replacement of almond paste is a paste made with ground legumes (I believe haricot beans are used).
Spice mix for Speculaas - In the Netherlands you can buy the spices for speculaas premixed. I doubt whether that is the case elsewhere in the world. So here you have a mixture to make yourself: Take cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, ginger and cardamom (everything powdered) in a ratio of 8:2:2:1:1:1 (whether you use grams, teaspoons or tablespoons, the proportions must be the same). The used spices betray the age of the recipe for speculaas: this combination of spices can be found in many fifteenth century recipes.
The editions below are in my possession. Links refer to available editions.
All books mentioned on this site (with short reviews) | <urn:uuid:e82a238d-6838-4b56-946a-06e82879955c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/speculaas.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918673 | 1,565 | 2.21875 | 2 |
KALAMAZOO, MI – The conversation about immigration in the United States has historically involved fear and misconceptions about why foreigners should be welcomed.
Welcoming Michigan wants to change that in the Great Lakes State.
“We believe it is in the state’s best interest to welcome immigrants,” said Lillie Wolff, Welcoming Michigan’s West Communities coordinator. “Foreign-born residents contribute to the economy as business owners, consumers, students, and are an important part of the workforce. Working together is how we will create a more prosperous future.”
Welcoming Michigan is a project of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in Kalamazoo, and Michigan is one of 22 states doing some form of welcoming work as affiliates of Welcoming America.
The Immigrant Rights Center is a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants, provides resources and support, and works to build coalitions among immigrant advocates. It is a program of Legal Services of South Central Michigan. But Wolff said Welcoming Michigan is focused on supporting the efforts of U.S.-born community members “who have an interest in creating an atmosphere that is more welcoming for immigrants who choose to call Michigan home.”
Wolff said Michigan is losing population. Attracting immigrants can be a way to boost the economy and help the state grow, she said.
“These are challenging times for the state and really for the whole country,” Wolff said. “Not only do immigrants have purchasing power, they are very entrepreneurial. They start businesses. They contribute to the tax base.”
She said, “The purchasing power of Michigan’s immigrant population is huge. Michigan’s Latinos, in 2010, made $9.3 billion in purchase. (See stats below.) Migrants and migrant farm workers make up a portion, but this is a statewide initiative and Detroit, where we have our second Welcoming Michigan billboard, is home to immigrants from all over the world who are highly entrepreneurial and contribute to their community and local economy in many ways."
Billboards may be the first visible piece of the Welcome Michigan campaign to promote an immigrant-friendly environment.
“We’re also going at this from other avenues,” she said, mentioning posters, T-shirts and the organization’s website.
She said her organization is also trying to bring together a local leadership committee in Southwest Michigan, “particularly in Van Buren County, to plan public engagement events that are intended to bring immigrants and non-immigrants together to build trust and have meaningful interactives.” That could include planning such things as a shared meal, a community dialogue or some sort of cultural celebration.
More information is available by contacting the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, at 269-492-7196 ext 238 and checking WelcomingMichigan.org.
-Immigrants comprised 6.8% of the state's workforce in 2010 – some 333,373 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
-Michigan's 24,214 foreign students contributed $657.6 million to the state's economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
-In Michigan, 37.8 percent of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2009 had a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 35.9 percent of noncitizens.
-The 2010 purchasing power of Michigan's Latino population totaled $9.3 billion—an increase of about 331 percent since 1990.
-Asian buying power totaled $9 billion—an increase of 385.1 percent since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
-Arab American employment accounted for $7.7 billion in total earnings in the four counties of the Detroit metropolitan area in southeast Michigan, generating an estimated $544 million in state tax revenue in 2005, according to the Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University.
-Immigrants accounted for 11 percent of total economic output in the Detroit metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute. | <urn:uuid:6f1a7ad5-9048-47c0-a014-bb3434ecea53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/08/welcoming_michigan_looks_to_re.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939701 | 865 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Guatemala's Fuego volcano has erupted, spewing out smoke and ash, forcing the widespread evacuation of thousands of Guatemalans living in the shadow of the massive volcano.
With little time to prepare for the sudden evacuation, Red Cross officials and volunteers were called in to help terrified families settle into temporary shelter at a local school in the Santa Lucia municipality.
This Red Cross volunteer explained how many people there were currently receiving aid at the centre.
"At the moment, we have accounted for 304 people, we have 97 boys, 93 girls, 95 women and 19 men. Amongst them are five pregnant women and four people with disabilities, one person, who is not self-mobile and arrived in a plastic chair, because they do not have a wheelchair, and this is what is worrying us the most as well."
According to authorities, some 8,000 people have been evacuated and an additional 23,000 are awaiting evacuation in towns surrounding the massive volcano. This is the second big eruption in the last two years for the country following the eruption of Pacaya in 2010, which is one of Guatemala's four active volcanoes. It then covered Guatemala City with a layer of ash, closing the airport, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families.
We are continuing to receive reports on this volcano story.
Written and presented by Ann Salter. | <urn:uuid:42df8793-149d-4b13-b6a2-4dc1905ff62f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-videos-news/1260/fuego-volcano-erupts.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966208 | 276 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The electronic states of a singly ionized on-axis double-donor complex (D2+) confined in two identical vertically coupled, axially symmetrical quantum dots in a threading magnetic field are calculated. The solutions of the Schrödinger equation are obtained by a variational separation of variables in the adiabatic limit. Numerical results are shown for bonding and antibonding lowest-lying artificial molecule states corresponding to different quantum dot morphologies, dimensions, separation between them, thicknesses of the wetting layers, and magnetic field strength.
Keywords:Quantum dots; Adiabatic approximation; Artificial molecule; 78.67.-n; 78.67.Hc; 3.21.-b
Quantum dots (QDs) have opened the possibility to fabricate both artificial atoms and molecules with novel and fascinating optoelectronic properties which are not accessible in bulk semiconductor materials. An attractive route for nano-structuring semiconductor materials offers self-assembled quantum dots which are formed by the Stranski-Krastanow growth mode by depositing the material on a substrate with different lattice parameters [1-5]. The electrical and optical properties of these structures may be changed in a controlled form by doping the shallow impurities whose energy levels are defined by the interplay between the reductions of the physical dimension, the Coulomb attraction, and the inter-particle correlation.
Recently, it has been proposed to use the singly ionized double-donor system (D2+) confined in a single semiconductor QD or ring as an adequate functional part in a wide range of device applications, including spintronics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and quantum information technologies. This two-level system encodes logical information either on the spin or on the charge degrees of freedom of the single electron and allows us to manipulate conveniently its molecular properties, such as the energy splitting between the bonding and antibonding lowest-lying molecular-like states or the spatial distribution of carriers in the system [8-12]. One can expect that the singly ionized double-donor system (D2+) confined in vertically coupled QDs should have similar properties. In this paper, we analyze the electronic states of an artificial hydrogen molecular ion (D2+) compound by two positive ions that interchange their electron, which is constrained to exchange between two identical vertically coupled, axially symmetrical QDs in the presence of a threading magnetic field.
Below, we analyze the model of two separated on-axis singly ionized donors, confined in two coaxial, vertically stacked QDs, whose identical morphologies present axially symmetrical layers whose shape is given by the dependence of the layer thickness h on the distance ρ from the axis as follows: h(ρ) = db + d0fn(ρ)ϑ(R0 − ρ). Here, R0 is the base radius, db is the wetting layer thickness, d0 is the maximum height of the QD over this layer, ϑ(x) is the Heaviside step function, equal to 0 for x < 0 and to 1 for x > 0, and fn(ρ) = [1 − (ρ/R0)n]1/n. The morphology is controlled in this model by means of the integer shape-generating parameter n which is equal to 1, 2, or tends to infinity for conical pyramid-like, lens-like, and disk-like geometrical shapes, respectively. As an example, the 3D image of an artificial singly ionized molecule confined in lens-like QDs is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Image of the singly ionized molecule confined in lens-like QDs.
Besides, we assume that the external homogeneous magnetic field B = Bẑ is applied along the quantum dot's axis. The dimensionless Hamiltonian of the single electron in this D2+ complex in the effective-mass approximation can be written as
where Vc(ρ, z) is the confinement potential, equal to 0 and V0 inside and outside the QD, respectively. The last two terms in Equation 1 correspond to the attraction between electron and ions. The effective Bohr radius a0* = ℏ2ε/m*e2, the effective Rydberg Ry* = e2/2εa0*, and γ = eℏB/2m*cRy* have been taken above as units of length, energy, and the conventional dimensionless magnetic field strength, respectively.
As both donors are located at the axis, the potential is axially symmetrical, the angular momentum Lz commutes with the Hamiltonian, and the corresponding eigenvalues give us one good quantum number m. At this representation, the Hamiltonian (Equation 1) cylindrically coordinates only on two coordinates:
Taking into account that the thickness of QDs is typically much smaller than their lateral dimension and therefore the electron motion in the first direction is much faster than in-plane motion, one can use the advantage of the adiabatic approximation in which the wave function is presented as a product of two functions:
where the first function f(ρ, z) describes the fast motion in z direction and satisfies the wave equation
with ‘frozen out’ radial coordinate ρ, while the radial part of the wave function is found in the second step from the equation
In our numerical procedure, we solve Equation 4 repeatedly for each value ρ by using the trigonometric sweep method in order to restore the unknown function Ef(ρ). Once this function is found, then the energies Em of the molecular complex can be established by solving Equation 5.
As the potential V(ρ, z) for each fixed value of ρ presents an even function V(ρ, − z) = V(ρ, z) with respect to the variable z corresponding to a symmetrical (no-rectangle) quantum well, then all solutions of Equation 4 can be arranged in two sets: odd solutions f−(ρ, − z) = − f−(ρ, z) and even solutions f+(ρ, − z) = f+(ρ, z), called antibonding and bonding states, respectively. These sets of functions can be found as the solutions of the boundary value problems corresponding to the differential Equation 4 within the range 0 < z < ∞ with the frontier conditions .
Results and discussion
We have performed numerical calculations of two-electron renormalized energies Em as a function of the magnetic flux and for QDs with different morphologies, dimensions, and separation between layers in order to analyze the Aharonov-Bohm and the quantum size effects. We consider for our simulations the In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.35 Ga0.65As structures with the following values of physical parameters: dielectric constant ε = 12.71, the effective mass in the dot region and the region outside the dot for the electron m * = 0.076m0, the conduction and the valence band offset in junctions is V0 = 358meV, the effective Bohr radius a0* ≈ 10nm, and the effective Rydberg Ry* ≈ 5meV.
First, we calculate the energies of the molecular complex as functions of the magnetic field in disk-like, lens-like, and cone-like vertically coupled QDs and in a single one-electron QR with smooth non-homogeneity of the surface. Results for vertically coupled QDs with the heights d0 = 4nm, the wetting layer thicknesses db = 1nm, radii R0 = 20nm, and the separation between them d = 6nm are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Energies as functions of the magnetic field of a D2+ in vertically coupled quantum dots. (Heights 4 nm, wetting layer thicknesses 1 nm, radii 20 nm, and separation between them 6 nm).
It is seen that in all cases, the energy levels are very sensitive to the magnetic field and their dependencies on the magnetic field strength exhibit multiple crossovers and reordering. Comparing these dependencies for the disk, the lens, and the cone in Figure 2, one can also observe a successive increase of the number of crossovers and the lowering of the region energies where such crossovers occur. It is related to the variation of the electron probability distribution inside and around their InAs layers, which is similar to charge distribution in a metallic surface when its geometry varies from the flat to the spiked-type one. Such variation of the probability distribution is a consequence of the stronger confinement in structures with spiked-type QD geometry where the electron-ion separation is defined by interplays between the electrostatic interaction between them and the strong structural confinement, making it more stable with respect to the external magnetic field and the ring-like electron probability density distribution. Therefore, the energy dependencies for cone-like QDs have a shape similar to those that exhibit structures with ring-like geometry known as the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
The Aharonov-Bohm effect observed usually in ring-like heterostructures is a manifestation of the competition between the paramagnetic and diamagnetic terms in the Hamiltonian, resulting in the oscillation of the ground state energy. Such oscillations are impossible in the disk-like structures because of a significant decrease of the diamagnetic term contribution as the magnetic field increases and the electron probability distribution becomes more contracted. In QDs with a spike-like morphology, the electron probability density is already strongly confined, the external magnetic field can no longer decrease more the diamagnetic term contribution, and the energy dependencies on the increasing magnetic field become similar to those of ring-like structures.
In Figure 3, we present results of the calculation of the density of electronic states in the zero-magnetic field for QDs with three different morphologies on the left side case γ = 0 and on the right side for γ = 0.8. It is seen that the density of electronic states in the case of the zero-magnetic field for the disk-like structure has a larger value in the region of the low-lying energy levels and it decreases successively while the morphology becomes more and more spike-liked. It is due to the fact that the electron confinement in the disk is weaker than that in the lens and that in the lens is weaker than that in the cone.
Figure 3. Density of the electronic states for a D2+ in vertically coupled quantum dots. (Heights 3 nm, wetting layer thicknesses 2 nm, radii 20 nm, and separation between them 6 nm for two different values of the magnetic field (γ = 0) and (γ = 0.8)).
Also, it is seen that the lowest peak corresponding to the ground bonding state in the cone-like structure is more significantly separated from other excited states than in two other structures. It is due to the stronger confinement of the electron in the cone-like structure where the electron is mainly located nearer to the donor than in disk-like and lens-like structures.
Comparing the densities of states presented on the left and right sides of Figure 3, one can see remarkable modifications that suffer the corresponding curves. Particularly, in the disk-like structure, the presence of the magnetic field provides a displacement of the peaks at the region of the low-lying energies. In the lens-like and cone-like structures, the modification is inversed; the peaks are reorganized in such a way that their distribution becomes almost homogeneous. Redistribution of the peaks' positions in the lens is defined mainly by the additional confinement that provides the external magnetic field, while analogous redistribution in other two spike-liked structures is mainly due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
In short, we propose a simple numerical procedure for calculating the energies and wave functions of a singly ionized molecular complex formed by two separated on-axis donors located at vertically coupled QDs in the presence of the external magnetic field. Our calculation includes some important characteristics of the heterostructure such as the presence of the wetting layer and the possibility of the variation of the QD morphology. The curves of the energy dependencies on the external magnetic field for the disk-like, lens-like, and cone-like structures are presented. We find that the effect of the in-plane confinement on the electron-ion separation is stronger in spike-shaped QDs and therefore the energy dependencies in such structures exhibit a behavior similar to that in ring-like structures. The analysis of the curves of the density of electronic states also confirms this result.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
All authors contributed equally to this work. JSO created the analytic model with contributions from IM. RMG and GES performed the numerical calculations and wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
JSO obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 at the Universidad Industrial de Santander, where IM was his advisor. His research interests include the theory of semiconductor nanostructures. JSO is the head of the research group ‘Condensed Matter Theory’ at the University of Magdalena. GES and RMG are master's degree and Ph.D. students, respectively, and teachers at the University of Magdalena.
This work was financed by the Universidad del Magdalena through the Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones (Código 01).
Phys Rev B 1994, 50:11687-11692. Publisher Full Text
Appl Phys Lett 2003, 82:2401. Publisher Full Text
Appl Phys Lett 2003, 82:1706. Publisher Full Text
Physica E 2010, 43:559. Publisher Full Text
Phys Stat Sol (b) 2005, 242:1636. Publisher Full Text | <urn:uuid:c669f61f-ec95-4684-b86d-6e7f83d4a46d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/489?fmt_view=classic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901105 | 2,905 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The Juvenile Bureau of the South Kingstown Police Department works in conjunction with the School Resource officer and school administrators and faculty to create a safe and healthy environment for our youth. The Juvenile Division works closely with the Family Court and other agencies and resources using multiple strategies to maximize our youths potential and minimize their risk of harm. It is the goal of the Juvenile Division to assist any youth in need so they can develop into healthy and productive members of society.
School Resource Officer
The School Resource Officer Program is a nationally accepted program involving the placement of a full time law enforcement officer within the educational environment. In September of 2007, the Town of South Kingstown introduced its first School Resource Officer (SRO). This officer was placed within the South Kingstown High School.
South Kingstown High School is a diverse educational setting comprised of about 1200 students and 150 Faculty, Staff, and Administration. The SRO serves the SK community by acting as a resource to students, parents, faculty, and the administration on a variety of issues. The SRO's role, defined by NASRO, is the TRIAD concept.
The TRIAD concept defines the muti-role of the school resource officer. The South Kingstown SRO works as a Teacher, Informal Counselor, and Law Enforcement Officer.
One of the chief goals of the SRO program is to bridge the gap between police officers and young people, and increase positive attitudes toward law enforcement. Other important goals include but are not limited to: teaching the value of our legal system to students, promoting respect for people/property, taking a personal interest in students and their activities, teaching students how to avoid becoming a victim through self awareness and crime prevention, and the reduction of juvenile crime by helping students formulate an awareness of rules, authority and justice.
SK SRO contact information: (401) 360-1128 or (401) 783-3321 | <urn:uuid:9f520d48-0b18-4eea-bf38-9222b255315e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southkingstownri.com/town-government/municipal-departments/police/divisions/juvenile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951865 | 388 | 2.046875 | 2 |
BOSTON--While the their recent World Series victory outside, entrepreneurs and investors met here on Tuesday to plot the future of energy at the third annual .
The New England area is vying to become a major center for clean-technology industries, along with Silicon Valley in California. At the conference, a number of companies exhibited their products, ranging from niche markets--better pretreatment for corn ethanol refineries--to very ambitious plans, such as alternatives to the internal combustion engine.
Pictured here is a prototype of a generator from . While most fuel cells use hydrogen as the fuel to make electricity, CTP Hydrogen is using propane. The advantage of using propane is that propane fuel is widely available at gas stations or retail outlets. The company's technology can convert any hydrocarbon to hydrogen, with water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide as exhaust. The company intends to use the system for mobile-power applications such as cell towers or boat motors, according to company CEO .
Caption text by Martin LaMonica.
October 31, 2007 10:52 AM PDT
Photo by: Martin LaMonica/CNET News.com
| Caption by: Martin LaMonica
Conversation powered by Livefyre | <urn:uuid:214c7e88-ec2f-49fb-82f9-74e61dc22b50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/2300-11392_3-6216226.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926632 | 251 | 2.09375 | 2 |
5 simple ways to cut your energy bills
Going green at home doesn't have to be hard
We get it. You don't want to work too hard to save energy at your house. That's fine. But there are still some really, really easy things you can do today to trim that electric and/or gas bill that haunts your mailbox month in, month out.
After all, you don't exactly have to be Bob Vila to save a little bit of money while greening up your home.
Still, we'll take this in baby steps. First, we'll show you the super-simple stuff, and by the fifth tip -- it'll still be super-simple. Wouldn't want to tax you, after all.
OK, here goes. All you need to know in this first step is to turn things to the left, and then turn things to the right ...
No. 5: Change your bulbs
Welcome to the 21st Century. Welcome to the CFL! That's right, it's time to stop buying those old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. They served their purpose for generations, but the CFL is the way to go.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CFLs will save you about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.
They also produce about 75 percent less heat, which means they won't burn your pinkies when you try to unscrew one.
Every single hardware store (worth its salt) on the planet is stocked with CFLs. Visit www.energystar.gov to figure out the right bulbs for your fixtures.
Wasn't that easy? Good. It's going to stay easy. Our next tip involves turning off something once it reaches a certain cycle. Intrigued? Well, click on and all will be revealed ...
No. 4: Air-dry dishwasher dishes
This is almost too easy. First of all, don't believe anyone who says washing dishes by hand is more energy efficient than using a dishwasher. Wrong. You use more water washing and rinsing a load of dishes by hand.
That doesn't mean the common dishwasher won't try to take a few bucks out of your wallet. When the device's heat cycle kicks in to dry the dishes, that's when you step in.
This is when you turn the thing off, and simply let the dishes air dry. Yep, good old-fashioned air is less expensive than electricity! If you have a few kids who have finished their homework and are looking for something constructive to do, instruct the monsters to take a dry towel to hasten the process.
Don't worry, the next tip isn't much more difficult than that. But it may require you to walk down a flight of stairs. But in the end, you may breathe easier ...
No. 3: Replace furnace filter
This is so easy to forget to do. But changing your furnace filter is not only a no-brainer, but super, super easy. Just figure out where it is, lift out the old one and slip in a new one.
Furnace filters are also basically priced in three stages: cheap, not-so-cheap and moderately expensive. The cheap filters are about $1 and you change them every month without fail. If you forget, they'll clog up fast. The not-so-cheap filters should be changed every three months or so.
As for the moderately expensive filters, the experts say they're the way to go. You don't have to change them as often as the not-so-cheap filter, and they block a lot more dust and dirt. You'll find in the long run, your furnace won't have to work as hard to heat the house.
Work. Oh, that four-letter word. The next tip involves work. Sorry. But it's still super-easy ...
No. 2: Install a door sweep
Once upon a time, the bottom of a dunce's door had about 1/16th of an inch of light shining through. The dunce, not to be confused with the writer of this article, decided he would do something about it.
In the dunce's basement was weather stripping for the bottom of a door. In more common vernacular, a door sweep. The dunce, however, let it sit there for about 15 years before he touched it. He thought it would be really hard to install. What a dunce.
He took the slim strip of plastic out of its paper container and went upstairs. He went to the front door and measured. He cut the strip the proper length, removed the backing to reveal the adhesive strip -- and stuck it to the bottom of the door. The act took about 30 seconds, and the bottom of the door suddenly didn't have expensive hot air whistling outside!
When the dunces' bride heard about this, she said: "You waited 15 years to do something so simple? Why?"
Whatever. OK, time to deliver our fifth and final tip ... one that will electrify you ...
No. 1: Install a programmable thermostat
This one basically involves a screwdriver. But it's still really easy to do, and the payoff can be huge.
According the federal government, you can save as much as 10 percent a year on your heating/cooling bills by turning back your thermostat while you're at work and/or asleep.
The simple way to do this is to install a battery-powered programmable thermostat. Just turn the power off to where your old dial thermostat is located, unhook it and install the new one. It's just a few wires off, a few wires on. Not a big deal all.
When the new one is online, you can program it to any temperature for any time of the day or week. Wintertime and you're at work? No need to heat an empty house. Back off a few degrees. Summertime and you're at the beach for the day? Have the temp go up automatically. No need to keep it cool if you're not there.
You can also use the manual override without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program. The other person in the house, for example, might want it set on 68 instead of 63. She's sick of winter, and wants a break for a few hours! No problem. But since you bought it -- and installed it-- you reserve the right to hike it down to 59 the second her eyes shut for the evening.
It's only fair!
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:9717e490-ee04-4436-b09e-a13d3c7932cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/health/new-years-resolutions/5-simple-ways-to-cut-your-energy-bills/-/7136188/4879252/-/format/rss_2.0/view/print/-/ulpmouz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966486 | 1,381 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Diversification of smallholder coastal aquaculture in Indonesia
ACIAR Research Program Manager
Brackishwater pond (tambak) aquaculture in Indonesia is an important livelihood activity in coastal areas, but many small-scale farmers struggle to continue farming shrimp. Viral diseases cause crop losses, and input costs (particularly for feed) are rising while prices for shrimp are declining due to strong competition in a global marketplace. Thus many farms are out of production or producing only limited quantities of shrimp. Recent ACIAR-funded research revealed that while small-scale shrimp farms predominate in South Sulawesi they only contribute about 5% of total provincial shrimp production. While some farms now utilise Better Management Practices (BMPs) for shrimp farming to overcome production constraints, successful implementation depends on meeting specific site-related, socioeconomic and logistical criteria. A large proportion of farms that will fail to meet the criteria required for shrimp BMP implementation will need alternative production strategies if they are to remain (or become) viable.
This project will test and evaluate the economic viability of alternative commodities for brackishwater pond culture such as tilapia, milkfish, grouper, crabs and sea cucumbers. It will involve evaluation trials in South Sulawesi and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh) provinces to build on the outcomes of previous and ongoing ACIAR projects. The work will also encompass mariculture development on offshore islands of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, particularly Pulau Simuelue. Trials on lobster puerulus collection and grow-out will be undertaken with support from another ACIAR project studying spiny lobster aquaculture development in eastern Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. Additionally, growth trials with grouper will be undertaken in collaboration with the fish seed production centre on Pulau Simuelue to promote the use of more sustainable culture practices developed in other ACIAR-supported work.
Progress Reports (Year 1, 2, 3 etc)
Overall project progress has been delayed by delays in registering the project in DIPA (Daftar Isian Pelaksanaan Anggaran - Agreed Activity Implementation Budget). Because DIPA registration and bank account approval could not be completed until late 2010, many activities could not be carried out in 2010 and have been delayed until 2011. This has led to a delay in implementing most project activities of around 1 year.
Trials with tilapia and milkfish in Aceh had mixed success with 3 out of 9 farmer-managed ponds failing due to high salinity. Of the remaining ponds, 1 research pond and 3 farmer-managed ponds demonstrated economic returns comparable with traditional shrimp farming. Two research ponds and two farmer-managed ponds achieved a return less than the project's reference for traditional shrimp farming (i.e. IDR 1 million per hectare per cycle) and one farmer-managed pond provided a net negative return (loss). In general, tilapia performed better at salinities <20 ppt, whereas at higher salinities milkfish tended to perform better.
In South Sulawesi, tilapia trials were commenced in March - April 2011 at Bonto Bahari and Salenrang in Maros District, and Kanaungan in Pangkep District.
Farmer response to these trials has been positive, with farmers interested in trialling tilapia culture. Some farmers are planning to alternate dry season production of shrimp or milkfish with wet season production of tilapia.
Soft-shell crab culture training was undertaken in Aceh in May 2010 in Aceh Timur, Aceh Utara, Bireuen and Aceh Besar districts. Market price remains a constraint to the expansion of soft-shell crab aquaculture in Aceh.
Lobster puerulus collectors were established at 3 sites in Pulau Simeulue in Aceh. After two months, no puerulus had been collected. However, local fishermen noticed that puerulus had settled on fish cage nets and small juveniles could be collected from coral rubble habitats. Rough weather damaged or destroyed most of the collectors. They have subsequently been replaced with a more robust design, or the collector material relocated to net cages.
Future trials in 2011 will evaluate tilapia and swimming crabs in South Sulawesi, and continue to develop brackishwater culture of tilapia in Aceh.
Trials with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) either alone or co-cultured with milkfish (Chanos chanos) in Aceh have demonstrated that tilapia cultured in low-salinity (<20 ppt) brackishwater ponds can provide income to farmers comparable with shrimp culture. Out of a total of 22 trials to date, 9 ponds (41%) have met or exceeded our reference profitability of IDR 1-5 million per hectare per crop (Fig. 1). Fourteen ponds (64%) have been 'profitable', i.e. have generated positive economic returns. This figure is similar to the profitability figure for traditional shrimp ponds (64-73%), indicating that Nile tilapia culture in brackishwater ponds provides economic returns similar to traditional shrimp culture.
Farmer response to the trials in both Aceh and South Sulawesi has been positive. Several farmers in Aceh are now alternating cropping shrimp (dry season) with tilapia (wet season) to reduce the risks of wet-season disease outbreaks in shrimp. Farmers in South Sulawesi have formed a farmer group, supported by project participants, to provide support to new tilapia farmers and provide a resource for the more widespread introduction of tilapia culture.
Two cycles of pond trials with swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) co-cultured with milkfish and the edible seaweed Caulerpa have been undertaken in South Sulawesi. Profitability of these trials was negative or, at best, marginally positive due to problems harvesting the swimming crabs from the ponds. In response, we are collaborating with staff of the Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries at Hasanuddin University, Makassar, to develop better techniques for harvesting swimming crabs in traditional ponds.
The crab polyculture trials have shown that culture of the edible seaweed Caulerpa is highly profitable, mainly due to the low requirements for inputs to seaweed culture and a strong local market in South Sulawesi where Caulerpa is consumed as a salad vegetable. Consequently, the project will increase its focus on this commodity.
Assessment of lobster puerulus resources in Aceh is being carried out in collaboration with SMAR/2008/021 'Spiny lobster aquaculture development in Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia'. Lobster puerulus collectors have been established at four locations on Pulau Simeulue, which has an existing lobster fishery and established market linkages. At three of these locations few or no puerulus were caught. The fourth site on the west coast of Pulau Simeulue (Desa Latak Ayah) seems to have reasonable puerulus settlement but is very remote from the main township and difficult to monitor. Pulau Breueh, near Banda Aceh, also seems to have good puerulus settlement and future research will focus on Pulau Breueh.
Development of grouper grow-out at Pulau Simeulue has been constrained by poor availability of fingerlings from the local Coastal Fish Seed Production Centre (Balai Benih Ikan Pantai - BBIP). An assessment of the production constraints at BBIP Simeulue in October 2011 indicated that problems with microalgal production were limiting production of rotifers used as initial feed organisms for the grouper larvae. In response, the project supported a post-graduate student from the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, North Sulawesi, to provide training to BBIP Simeulue staff in culturing rotifers without microalgae, using simple and cheap culture techniques. Further evaluation of constraints to fingerling production, and additional training, will be undertaken in conjunction with BBIP Simeulue staff.
Dr Ageng Herianto (Department of Agriculture, UGM) supervised a socio-economic assessment amongst 31 farmers in the community of Kanaungan village, the site of Nile tilapia culture trials in South Sulawesi. This study concluded that while trial / demonstration ponds are an effective extension method to introduce and support the diffusion of new technologies, farmers still lack confidence in farming Nile tilapia due to a lack of previous experience, and that continued support and provision of technical information is necessary to build up their confidence. One way to support technology diffusion to farming communities is to use a small group or 'clique' to transfer learnings to potential adopters.
In addition to the UGM study, discrete socio-economic studies were carried out by students from the Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries at Hasanuddin University, Makassar, supervised by Dr Mardiana E. Fachri. The three studies evaluated communication mechanisms amongst farmers involved in Nile tilapia trials, described economic aspects of Nile tilapia and milkfish culture in ponds, and evaluated the market potential for Nile tilapia in South Sulawesi. | <urn:uuid:62cbb24c-ce20-4d40-9a08-cb4d8ff440e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aciar.gov.au/project/FIS/2007/124 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920591 | 1,916 | 2.296875 | 2 |
by Nick Engelfried, University of Montana at Missoula, Missoula, MT
The last few days in Montana must have made Big Coal very, very nervous.
First, around 100 people gathered outside the Montana Capitol on August 13th to protest state decision makers’ support for coal export projects, which would see Montana become an international coal colony so Big Coal can profit while coal trains and mines expose our communities to poisons. We then stormed into the Capitol building itself, dropping off letters for State Land Board members Governor Brian Schweitzer and Secretary of State Linda McCulloch.
Then, over the course of a week, 23 activists (myself included) were arrested at the State Capitol protesting coal exports, in one of the largest acts of nonviolent civil disobedience Montana has seen in recent years. As far as anyone I’ve talked to has been able to tell, it’s the biggest climate-related civil disobedience the state has seen, period.
Partly because of increased attention generated by last week’s protests, journalists uncovered the news that Arch Coal last month submitted its application to build the Otter Creek Coal Mine – one of the largest mines in North America. Apparently hoping to avoid public scrutiny, Arch submitted its application in July without even a press release. Last week the application, along with our protest, made front page news in the Great Falls Tribune, not what Arch wanted.
These are just the highlights from an amazing week. During the Coal Export Action in Helena, people concerned about coal exports marched to the office of the state Department of Environmental Quality, staged a die-in outside US Bank (one of Arch Coal’s funders), picketed outside the Montana Coal Council office, and held a series of teach-ins on coal-related issues in the middle of the Capitol rotunda.
Governor Schweitzer was apparently so scared of us that he posted highway patrol officers outside his office doors, to block the entrance. But he needn’t have worried; the Coal Export Action was entirely peaceful, with both police and protesters behaving peacefully and respectfully toward those around them.
If media attention is at least part of the measure of a successful action, the Coal Export Action was very successful. The protests received coverage in every major Montana newspaper, as well as local TV and radio outlets. We even scored national coverage in USA Today. But while media coverage of the coal exports issue is important, the real measure of our success will be the degree to which it helps build a winning movement against coal exports.
We never expected one protest, no matter how impactful, to stop coal exports on its own. The fact is, the coal industry is very, very powerful in Montana. Actually changing the votes of members of Montana’s State Land Board, who will decide whether some of the most important coal projects in Montana move forward, will take a sustained movement and months or years of work.
But today, I feel confident the movement we need has arrived. Over the coming months, groups like the Blue Skies Campaign, which helped organize the Coal Export Action, will be building on the momentum from last week’s protest. We’ll continue pressuring the State Land Board, but we’ll also challenge the other political and corporate powers that give Big Coal such sway in Montana politics.
If we’re successful, then by the time the Land Board makes a final decision on the Otter Creek project, we’ll have weakened Big Coal to the point where it no longer holds such power over politicians. Want to be involved? Check out coalexportaction.org to stay posted. | <urn:uuid:1076f01b-978b-4ef2-9855-031768741372> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wearepowershift.org/blogs/coal-export-action-ignites-movement-montana | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961026 | 744 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Leaky Ducts Suck In Health Hazards
Does your house smell like a sewer?
Duct leaks are a fairly common way to lose conditioned air and suck outdoor air into your home (see Those Wild Ducts). I once worked on a new 4,000 square foot upscale suburban home that smelled like a sewer. The owners had been living in a downtown hotel for three months to avoid the smell.
My testing showed that the ducts that carry air from the house back to the air conditioner, which was located under the house, were leaking. These leaks were creating a negative pressure and sucking in methane from the drain field of the septic system. That septic field was more than 40 feet from the basement!
We sealed the duct leaks and the smell went away. (And we didn’t use duct tape, which does not effectively seal ducts. The product to use for sealing ducts is latex, water-based mastic that meets UL 181 specifications.) No leaks, no suction, no smell.
In the past the solution to duct leakage was to compensate by oversizing the system. The contractors didn’t realize that they were compensating for duct leakage. They just knew that if they didn’t put in a system larger than the sizing calculations recommended, they would get callbacks from homeowners complaining that the system wasn't cooling the house sufficiently. This is like buying a bigger gas tank to compensate for the fact that it leaks a fourth of the gas you put in it. It might work, but it makes no sense, and it is an expensive solution. These leaks can jack up cooling energy bills by 20% to 40%.
As the suburban homeowner I was working with found out, these leaks also cause makeup air to flow into your home and can bring in gases like radon and even pesticides from below the soil. One interesting experiment showed that depressurized homes can draw in soil gases from quite a distance. As an agronomist told me after attending one of my trainings, People don’t realize that the air moves through the soil like wind blows through the trees. If it didn’t, all plant roots would rot and the plants die.
The house is a system, and that system extends out into your yard. Outdoors, what you put on your lawn and under the house for pests and termites can affect the quality of the air you breathe inside the house. Indoors, how well your air conditioning and heating system works can affect much more than your energy bill. Ignoring or not understanding the interactions among a home's components can lead to some surprising, and often nasty, home performance problems.
- FIRST PAGE
- PREVIOUS PAGE
Enter your comments in the box below:
(Please note that all comments are subject to review prior to posting.) | <urn:uuid:98a1b684-0484-4848-b5b1-8da215d2a551> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homeenergy.org/newsite2011/public/index.php/show/article/nav/healthyhomes/page/9/id/832 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972252 | 581 | 2.03125 | 2 |
They’ve been going hot and heavy at Canada’s national museums in Ottawa this last few months. First, there was a brouhaha over corporate patronage and energy in January 2012 and, again, in April 2012 and now, it’s all about sex. While I’m dying to get started on the sex, this piece is going to follow the chronology.
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) website has a Jan. 23, 2012 posting which notes the active role Imperial Oil played in a November 2011 energy exhibit (part of a multi-year, interactive national initiative, Let’s Talk Energy) at the Canada Science and Technology Museum (from the CBC Jan. 23, 2012 posting),
Imperial Oil, a sponsor of the Museum of Science and Technology’s exhibition “Energy: Power to Choose,” was actively involved in the message presented to the public, according to emails obtained by CBC News.
The Ottawa museum unveiled the exhibition last year despite criticism from environmental groups like the Sierra Club, which questioned why it was partly funded by the Imperial Oil Foundation, which contributed $600,000 over six years.
Apparently, CBC reporters got their hands on some emails where the Imperial Oil Foundation president, Susan Swan, made a number of suggestions,
In an Oct. 3 interview on CBC Ottawa’s All in a Day, host Alan Neal asked exhibit curator Anna Adamek whose idea it was to include in the exhibit a reference that says oilsands account for one-tenth of one percent of global emissions.
“This fact comes from research reports that are available at the museum, that were commissioned by the museum,” Adamek told Neal.
But earlier emails from Imperial Oil Foundation president Susan Swan obtained by Radio-Canada through an Access to Information request show she had recommended that information be included back in May [2011?].
Swan, who also served as chair of the advisory committee to the project, also asked that information be included that the oilsands are expected to add $1.7 trillion to the Canadian economy over the next 25 years.
Not all of Swan’s requests made it into the final exhibit: in one point, she asked that an illustration for Polar Oil and Gas Reserves be changed from red to blue, arguing red “has a negative connotation” bringing to mind “blood oil.” The change was not made.
Personally, I love Swan’s semiotic analysis of the colour ‘red’. I wonder how many graphic designers have been driven mad by someone who sat through a lecture or part of a television programme on colour and/or semiotics and is now an expert.
If you’re curious, you can see the emails from the Imperial Oil Foundation in the CBC Jan. 23, 2012 posting.
A few months later, Barrick Gold (a mining corporation) donated $1M to have a room at the Canadian Museum of Nature renamed, from the April 24, 2012 posting on the CBC website,
Environmental groups are upset over a decision to rename a room at the Canadian Museum of Nature after corporate mining giant Barrick Gold.
Barrick Gold Corp., based out of Toronto, purchased the room’s naming rights for about $1 million. The new “Barrick Salon” is the museum’s premier rental space featuring a circular room with glass windows from floor to ceiling.
The decision had activists protest at the museum Tuesday, a few hours before the official naming reception that includes Barrick Gold executives.
“It’s definitely not a partnership, it’s a sponsorship,” said Elizabeth McCrea, the museum’s director of communications. “We’re always looking at increasing self-generated revenue and this is one way that we’re doing it.” [emphasis mine]
Monarchs and wealthy people have been funding and attempting to influence cultural institutions for millenia. These days, we get to include corporations on that list but it’s nothing new. People or institutions with power and money always want history or facts in presented in ways that further or flatter their interests (“history is written by the victors”). They aren’t always successful but they will keep trying.
It’s time now to add sex to the mix. Canada’s Science and Technology Museum is currently hosting SEX: A Tell-all Exhibition, which has caused some consternation in our country’s capital (Ottawa), from the May 16, 2012 article by Althia Raj for the Huggington Post (Canada),
Canada’s Science and Technology Museum has abruptly raised the age limit for a controversial sex exhibit after Heritage Minister James Moore’s office raised concerns and more than 50 individuals complained.
Moore’s office called museum president Denise Amyot to complain that Sex: A Tell-All Exhibition [sic] is completely inappropriate.
“The purpose of the Museum of Science and Technology is to foster scientific and technological literacy throughout Canada,” said Moore’s spokesperson James Maunder.
“It is clear this exhibit does not fit within that mandate. This content cannot be defended, and is insulting to taxpayers,” he said.
This show had already been run in Montréal (where it was developed by the Montréal Science Centre for children 12 years and older) and in Regina (Saskatachewan), without significant distress or insult.
Since the show opened in Ottawa, the National Post has run a couple of opinion pieces (against [Barbara Kay] and for [Sarah Elton]). Here’s Barbara Kay in her June 12, 2012 piece decrying the ‘porn exhibit’,
In On Liberty, the Ur-text for many free speech libertarians, John Stuart Mill argues that the demands of liberty and authority will always struggle, because the one cannot exist without the other. And so “some rules of conduct, therefore, must be imposed — by law in the first place, and by opinion on many things which are not fit subjects for the operation of law.”
Many of Mill’s devotees would be surprised to learn how much weight he gave to social opprobrium in matters that cause “offence” to the public. By “good manners,” Mill was clearly thinking, at least in part, about community standards of decency. Which brings us to the recent controversy over “Sex: a Tell-All Exhibition” at Ottawa’s Museum of Science and Technology.
But in truth my deeper concern is the exhibition’s indecency, and the harm it will likely do by titillating children’s imaginations in a way that runs counter to a natural sense of personal modesty.
I gather Kay is accustomed to being thought a ‘libertarian’. The problem with labels of these kinds is that you will find yourself in a corner because, at some point, the philosophy goes too far in a direction you’re not willing to follow. I’ve never met anyone who isn’t inconsistent on occasion and this is where Kay is inconsistent in her libertarian philosophy. She references a 19th century philosopher to justify her discomfort and her desire to censor information about sex.
Elton in her June 12, 2012 piece frames the discussion quite differently, almost as if she were the libertarian,
When a publicly funded museum censors an exhibit after the minister who funds museums in Canada questions its content, it is an attack on our democracy. What we talk about in our museums — the stories we tell each other in these public forums — helps to determine who we are as a country.
The Canada Museum of Science and Technology receives most of its funding from the government, as do most other museums in Canada. It is not a stretch to believe that this could be the dawn of a content chill here, as curators in the months ahead question their decisions about which exhibits to mount and what to put in them.
Given the issues with corporate and other patronage that museums and other cultural institutions routinely encounter, Elton’s comments seem a little naïve to me. However, both she and Kay raise points that bear examination and I think the National Post should be recognized for the decision to present these viewpoints. Thank you.
As for James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, he’s from my neck of the woods, (Conservative Member of Parliament representing Port Moody – Westwood – Port Coquitlam, British Columbia). While I’m not in his constituency, I would like to note publicly that neither he nor his spokesperson, James Maunder, represent my view. I’m neither insulted nor do I believe that the SEX: A Tell-all Exhibition is outside the museum’s mandate.
After writing that last sentence, I checked and found this description of the museum’s mandate on their About the Canada Science and Technology page,
The Museum’s mandate, to study the “Transformation of Canada,” can be broken into sub-themes:
- Canadian Context:
Context shapes the evolution of science and technology. Canadian achievements reflect the challenges overcome and the choices made in developing the nation in light of vast geographical distances, a harsh physical environment and limited resources in terms of skilled workers and available capital.
- Finding New Ways:
The search for new knowledge and new ways of doing things is basic to human nature. Science and technology have played key roles in efforts to find new ways of living, learning and working.
- How “Things” Work:
Developing an understanding of how “things” work can make people more aware of factors that have contributed to the transformation of Canada, such as scientific principles and physical properties. At the most basic level, taking apart an object, process or system (both physically and conceptually) provides important insight into the world we live in.
- People, Science and Technology:
People have a dynamic relationship with science and technology. Domestic and work lives are shaped and influenced by scientific and technological change. At the same time, people shape the evolution of science and technology individually and collectively through their decisions and actions. However, our ability to direct and control scientific and technological advancements is not absolute; choices and trade-offs often have to be made with the consequences in mind.
That seems like a very broad mandate to me and one where sex would fit into at least three of the categories, Canadian Context, Finding New Ways, and People, Science, and Technology with technology that has affected sex greatly, birth control. Actually, I can make an argument for the How “Things” work category too.
Interestingly, Moore has no problem celebrating war. In a Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 article by Randy Boswell for the Vancouver Sun,
This decade will see the Canadian government spearhead an unprecedented anniversarypalooza, with recent announcements about a $28-million fund for War of 1812 commemorations, just the first of a host of planned federal investments to mark a range of milestones.
Those include Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee next year, the centennial of the important but ill-fated Canadian Arctic Expedition in 2013, the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War in 2014 and – above all – Canada’s 150th birthday bash in 2017. [emphases mine]
I have overstated it somewhat. There are other celebrations planned although why the beginning of World War I would be included in this “anniversarypalooza” is a mystery to me. It does seem curious though that war can be celebrated without insult. As more than one commentator has noted, society in general seems to have less trouble with depictions of violence than it has with depictions of sex.
In any event, I’m thrilled to see so much interest in Canada’s ‘science’ museums. May the conversation continue. | <urn:uuid:eb0939ed-2e46-4186-9e58-cfaf6bc9f138> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.frogheart.ca/?tag=montreal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95615 | 2,490 | 2.109375 | 2 |
A deeper understanding of Australia's Antarctic Territory
30 April 2012
New geological frontiers have been reached with the release over the coming months of detailed geological maps of unique regions in the Antarctic that have large exposures of ancient bedrock.
Geoscience Australia has just released the first map in this series, a 1st edition 1:25 000 scale geological map of the Stillwell Hills in Kemp Land, Antarctica. The maps will provide valuable insights into the complex geological evolution of the Antarctic continent.
For example, the Stillwell Hills is made up of rocks affected by elevated temperatures and pressures during episodes of geological upheaval during the last 2500 million years.
The new series of maps also represents important environmental baseline datasets that will help inform the development of environmental protection and management protocols for the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT).
Mapping these regions also fulfils Australia's commitments under the Antarctic Treaty System to continue enhancing our scientific understanding of the Antarctic.
Future map releases of the AAT will include the Beaver Lake region of the Prince Charles Mountains, the Rauer Group near Davis Station and the Windmill Islands near Casey Station.
The Stillwell Hills map was produced in collaboration with the University of Tasmania and the Australian Antarctic Division. It is available free as a PDF download or can be purchased through the Geoscience Australia Sales Centre.
Topic contact: email@example.com Last updated: May 31, 2012 | <urn:uuid:11dcc9c2-1219-4dc3-a873-9cea0a6958d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.auslig.gov.au/about-us/news-media/news-2012/a-deeper-understanding-of-australias-antarctic-territory.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91206 | 284 | 2.9375 | 3 |
On March 12, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial titled "Uncle Sam's Teaser Rate." The subtitle is "Low interest rates disguise the federal debt bomb."
I find this editorial notable as it highlights a variety of important issues that lack recognition, including the refinancing schedule of U.S. Treasury debt, the sensitivity of debt interest payments to rising interest rates, and the Federal Reserve being among the largest buyers of U.S. debt.
A few notable excerpts from the editorial include:
First, a couple facts: the U.S. Treasury currently has $10.7 trillion in outstanding publicly-held debt, and more than $8 trillion of it must be repaid within the next seven years. More than $5 trillion falls due within the next 36 months.
This relatively short-term debt sheet is no accident. Like a subprime borrower opting for a low teaser rate, the government has structured its debt to keep current interest payments low. This is a political temptation for every Administration because it means lower budget deficits on its watch.
As of January 2012, taking into account all the various notes and bonds issued by the federal government to the public, Uncle Sam is paying an average interest rate of 2.24%. The government expects to spend in the neighborhood of $225 billion this year making interest payments.
If the government had to pay the 5% rate that it was offering before the financial crisis on today's debt, the annual interest payments would be $535 billion...
The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation
SPX at 1392.92 as this post is written | <urn:uuid:0ee554b0-130a-4462-bccd-2dd596fa0fc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://economicgreenfield.blogspot.com/2012/03/impact-of-interest-rates-on-federal.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96264 | 328 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Thats a great question… What is Edge Rank, everyone talks about it, but what is it. I found this great infographic so thought I would add it in here as I know some of you just love these clever explanations of things that seems technical
By Daniel Jones
So much is made of the influence of Content Marketing on search, but the value goes far beyond a single platform. A well-designed and implemented Facebook marketing strategy based around content can yield tremendous ROI. The key to solving that puzzle is understanding how content is shared and consumed on the platform. In this illustration we explore EdgeRank: what makes it work and more importantly how a marketer can harness its power to yield results.
EdgeRank is an algorithm developed by Facebook to govern what is displayed (and how high) on the News Feed.
What is the EdgeRank algorithm?
This algorithm can be understood as: the sum of Edges, each Edge is made up of (Affinity, Weight, & Time Decay). This may sound complicated at first, but when you begin to understand the underlying concept, it’s actually a brilliantly simple and effective algorithm. We’ll dive into the details and provide a working example.
What is an Edge?
An Edge is basically everything that “happens” in Facebook. Examples of Edges would be status updates, comments, likes, and shares. There are many more Edges than our small list, simply put any action that happens within Facebook is an Edge.
What Does EdgeRank Do?
EdgeRank ranks Edges in the News Feed. EdgeRank looks at all of the Edges that are connected to the User, it then ranks each edge to understand the importance to the User. Objects with the highest EdgeRank will typically go to the top of the News Feed (there is a small component of randomization).
What is Affinity?
Affinity is a one-way relationship between a User and an Edge. It could be understood as how close of a “relationship” a Brand and a Fan may have. Affinity is built by repeat interactions with a Brand’s Edges. Actions such as Commenting, Liking, Sharing, Clicking, and even Messaging can influence a User’s Affinity.
What is Weight?
Weight is a value system created by Facebook to increase/decrease the value of certain actions within Facebook. Commenting is more involved and therefore deemed more valuable than a Like. In the weighting system, Comments would have a higher value than a Like. In this system all Edges are assigned a value chosen by Facebook. As a general rule, it’s best to assume Edges that take the most time to accomplish tend to weigh more.
For engagement Edges we generally say Shares > Comments > Likes > Clicks. For content type Edges we’ve seen Videos > Photos > Status Updates > Links.
What is Time Decay?
Time Decay refers to how long the Edge has been alive; the older it is the less valuable it is. Time Decay is the easiest of the variables to understand. Mathematically it is understood as 1/(Time Since Action). As an Edge ages, it loses value. This helps keep the News Feed fresh with interesting new content, as opposed to lingering old content.
Chad Wittman’s Hypothetical News Feed:
- Brother’s Photo (Created recently, no engagement)
- High School Friend Status Update (Created 12 hours ago, high engagement)
- Brand Page’s Photo (Created 4 hours ago, high engagement)
- Casual Acquaintance Status Update (Created 2 hours ago, low engagement)
Why are these updates arranged in this particular order? Ultimately, EdgeRank is the determining factor of this particular arrangement. As you can see, a brand that leverages EdgeRank was able to enter the News Feed among friends and family.
Why is EdgeRank Important?
If a Brand generally has low EdgeRank objects, then the Brand’s updates will be seen by less people. This means that their Facebook marketing budget is being less effective than it could be. Brands that are succeeding with high EdgeRank objects are leveraging their Facebook budget by multitudes. The difference between leveraging and being punished by EdgeRank is substantial. The difference can result in a 5x difference in exposure.
What is EdgeRank Checker’s EdgeRank Score?
EdgeRank Checker measures the average impact of EdgeRank on a Brand. EdgeRank Scores are determined per object, per day with the average Fan. This helps Brands get a general understanding of how EdgeRank is impacting their Facebook marketing efforts. EdgeRank Scores can fluctuate depending on the success of their objects and Competitive EdgeRank. It’s free and easy to check your EdgeRank Score.
How Do I Optimize For EdgeRank?
Your Brand will ultimately be judged by your ability to engage your content. Some Brands have natural success such as the NBA and NFL due to their media rich and highly engaged audience.This entry was posted in EdgeRank, FAQ and tagged basics, edgerank, edgerank 101 by Chad Wittman. Bookmark the permalink. | <urn:uuid:d5953be1-12c8-4e41-96f5-626dd10ea5d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gailbottomleyonline.com/category/facebook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936173 | 1,074 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Print-on-Demand Catalog. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.
Currently, No Surnames in This Category.
Click on the Appropriate Link Above to Access Surnames.
Click on the Appropriate Letter Below to Locate a Surname:
About Our Family Genealogies
Many family history books published in the last 100-150 years were
originally printed in "short-runs"...usually between 100 and 300 copies.
Because of these small-volume printings, these books are often very rare
and difficult to acquire. Janaway Publishing, Inc. produces many of
these archival-quality genealogy reprints from their own private library,
and has access to thousands of more titles. With this service, you now has
the opportunity to acquire these books for your personal research, or to
pass them on to other generations.
The pages are reproduced, digitally-enhanced, and printed on acid-free
paper, which, in most cases, are larger than the size of the book's
original pages. The acid-free paper meets the Library of Congress
standards for strength and permanence (ANSI Standard C39.47-1984 rates it
as having a 200-year life span!), which means no more torn and brittle
pages. Illustrations are included but the quality will depend
upon the original drawing or photograph.
Paperback Binding: The standard binding for most of the
books is paperback, and the method used will depend upon the supplier and
the thickness of the book. Some suppliers use glue and cloth
reinforcement at the spine, others will use comb or coil binding. Shorter
books are usually staple-bound.
Hardcover Binding: You can add archival-quality hardcover
buckram bindings to your book for $18.00 per book. Handsome, and very
durable, it is well worth the bindery fee for longer books and gifts.
Generally, allow six to eight weeks for delivery.
If Hardcover binding is ordered, allow another two weeks to the delivery
time. Please remember, these books are printed on-demand, and | <urn:uuid:d923a736-066c-4db5-a975-d2b2673454d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.janawaygenealogy.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JG&Category_Code=family_X | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910287 | 445 | 1.671875 | 2 |
This world is ruled by violence,
But I guess that’s better left unsaid. (Bob Dylan)
• • •
One day recently, a dreaded Intruder came uninvited into our life. His coming was sudden and shocking, as though a blast of wind exploded out of nowhere, shattering our living room picture window, sending shards of glass hurtling mercilessly toward the unsuspecting, unprotected family sitting there together.
In a moment, it was as though we had walked innocently through a door, only to find ourselves under deadly attack behind enemy lines, bullets zinging ’round our ears, shrapnel flying haphazardly everywhere, manic foreign voices screaming for our destruction. We had entered a new world, an inhospitable world, a deeply disturbing and frightening world.
The Intruder’s name who rules that world, who shook our world, is named Violence.
In a short span of time, our family learned about and had to deal with a tragic suicide, a frightening armed robbery, and a disturbing domestic violence incident. Over the years, we have been blessedly immune from these kinds of life-altering events. Now, in the course of twenty-four hours, three separate violent episodes hit hard and hurt. Only time will reveal all the consequences.
The Intruder’s World
I know we’ve been fortunate. People all over the world face potential violence each day of their lives. Think of someone who lives in Israel or any number of Middle Eastern countries, who has to board a bus every morning not knowing if this is the day the suicide bomber will set off his vest. Imagine being an inner city teen harassed by gang members, afraid to inadvertently disrespect one of them and become the latest drive-by victim. Imagine being a poor young village girl sold by her own family into the sex slave trade, now used and abused daily and having to answer to brutal keepers. Criminal conglomerates hold power and sway in dark places around the world, controlling their interests through intimidation and brutality. Drug lords and cartels rule by the assault rifle, intolerant of disloyalty or competition. Secret death squads keep dictators in power.
Envision yourself living in or near a war zone where the sound of bombs and bullets is the lullaby by which you fall asleep each night. Remember all the victims of child abuse, spousal abuse, elder abuse, racism and other hate crimes, and bullying. Hear the silenced cries of political prisoners around the world who are subjected to regular mistreatment, humiliation, and torture. Stop and think about all the needless skirmishes, battles, conflicts, and wars throughout history that robbed us of our young men and women, and impoverished our world in ways we’ll never know.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Their web page on Violence Prevention states:
Violence is a serious public health problem in the United States. From infants to the elderly, it affects people in all stages of life. In 2006, more than 18,000 people were victims of homicide and more than 33,000 took their own life.
The number of violent deaths tells only part of the story. Many more survive violence and are left with permanent physical and emotional scars. Violence also erodes communities by reducing productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services.
- Child Maltreatment
- Elder Maltreatment
- Global Violence
- Intimate Partner Violence
- School Violence
- Sexual Violence
- Youth Violence
The page on Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S. states:
- Each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner related physical assaults and rapes. Men are assaulted about 2.9 million times annually.
- In 2005, there were over 1500 deaths resulting from intimate partner violence.
- It is likely that the numbers vastly underestimate the problem, because IPV is under-reported.
Statistics and observations in other situations where violence occurs are equally shocking and concerning.
A Roman Catholic Response
In a 1994 Pastoral Message of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, they proclaim:
Violence — in our homes, our schools and streets, our nation and world — is destroying the lives, dignity and hopes of millions of our sisters and brothers. Fear of violence is paralyzing and polarizing our communities. The celebration of violence in much of our media, music and even video games is poisoning our children.
Beyond the violence in our streets is the violence in our hearts. Hostility, hatred, despair and indifference are at the heart of a growing culture of violence. Verbal violence in our families, communications and talk shows contribute to this culture of violence. Pornography assaults the dignity of women and contributes to violence against them. Our social fabric is being torn apart by a culture of violence that leaves children dead on our streets and families afraid in our homes.
Our society seems to be growing numb to human loss and suffering. A nation born in a commitment to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is haunted by death, imprisoned by fear and caught up in the elusive pursuit of protection rather than happiness. A world moving beyond the Cold War is caught up in bloody ethnic, tribal and political conflict.
They also list aspects of the pervasive problem of violence in the U.S. –
- While crime statistics vary year to year, we face far higher rates of murder, assault, rape and other violent crimes than other societies. One estimate is that crime costs us $674 billion a year. Violent crime quadrupled from 161 reported crimes per 100,000 in 1960 to 758 in 1992.
- The most violent place in America is not in our streets, but in our homes. More than 50 percent of the women murdered in the United States are killed by their partner or ex-partner. Millions of children are victims of family violence.
- The number of guns has also quadrupled from 54 million in 1950 to 201 million in 1990. Between 1979 and 1991, nearly 50,000 American children and teenagers were killed by guns, matching the number of Americans who died in battle in Vietnam. It is now estimated 13 American children die every day from guns. Gunshots cause one out of four deaths among American teenagers.
- Our entertainment media too often exaggerate and even celebrate violence. Children see 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television before they leave elementary school.
- We must never forget that the violence of abortion has destroyed more than 30 million unborn children since 1972.
To their credit, the Bishops go beyond setting forth the problem, drawing upon their theology and historic tradition to offer a framework for action and a call to all Catholic Christians and churches to respond in positive, redemptive ways to make our world a safer, healthier, more peaceful place.
An Evangelical Response?
With the notable exception of those in Anabaptist traditions and those who are known as more “progressive” Christians with a commitment to “social action and justice,” I have to say that, in my experience, the issue of violence has been rarely discussed or taught about in the church. Where is the evangelical church’s voice?
When I was in seminary in the late 1980′s Hollywood was just beginning to consider the idea of marketing their movies through churches and pastors. I took part in viewing a Clint Eastwood film in order to give feedback from the Christian community. It supposedly told a tale that had a redemptive message.
From my perspective, the film desensitized the viewer to violence by gradually increasing the level of severity until the climactic scene, when the hero put a bullet in the villain’s forehead from point blank range. The scene was graphically portrayed. At that moment the audience, filled with Christian pastors and church staff members, erupted with loud cheers of approval. I cringed. A room full of Christ-followers had just applauded a man made in God’s image getting his brains blown out. A few days later, when I recounted this experience in my evangelical seminary classroom and expressed my concern, my classmates dismissed me. What’s wrong with that? they argued.
What is wrong with that? Is it “entertainment” to see someone brutally dispatched with a firearm? Was that the “redemption” the film was pointing us to? What part of being a Christian includes cheering and applauding bloodlust vengeance? Now, I understand that some movie violence is cartoonish, so ridiculously overblown that we can easily separate fact from fiction in our minds and not be affected by it much. But firing a gun directly into a man’s forehead is no cartoon. It does not deserve an ovation.
Evangelicals of all stripes should be unafraid to say that.
However, if we do, we’re also going to have to be able to deal with criticism of the Bible itself. From Cain to the apocalypse, it portrays a world of violence and a God who sometime intervenes violently and commands his people to practice violence. Can we face that criticism? Do we have adequate answers for those who cannot fathom a God who commands “the ban” in books like Joshua, requiring his people to completely exterminate their enemies — women, children, animals, and all? And what about Biblical heroes like David (the Clint Eastwood of the OT?), who hurls a stone into the enemy’s forehead, crushing Goliath’s skull and leading to the first of a great many bloody routs led by the Shepherd-King?
How do we tell our children these Bible stories without serious editing and/or cringing? How do we read them in church? Study them in our Sunday School classrooms? Read them in our daily devotions?
Of course, at the story’s climax, it is the God-Man himself who becomes the ultimate Victim of violence. The Intruder appears to have triumphed through cruelty and death. Unwittingly, however, this is how God’s peace is won.
And now, Jesus says to us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” How shall we live in his victory so as to promote his shalom and make visible the ultimate vanquishment of the Intruder?
Perhaps God’s future should set the agenda for our mission today:
Violence will disappear from your land;
the desolation and destruction of war will end.
Salvation will surround you like city walls,
and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there. (Isa 60:18, NLT)
I know one thing. The Intruder is a monster. What I have seen in recent days, and what people everywhere experience far too often as a brutal fact of life in this sin-sick world, turns my stomach and gives me nightmares. Stop the violence. Please.
More to come in days ahead… | <urn:uuid:520499a3-8cdb-47ba-94c2-7eceef98519e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-intruder-and-his-world/comment-page-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957062 | 2,285 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The Limits of Fourth Amendment Injunctions
Orin S. Kerr
George Washington University - Law School
Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law, 2009
GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 413
GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 413
When is injunctive relief appropriate in Fourth Amendment cases? Should courts feel free to craft wide-ranging injunctive relief to avoid Fourth Amendment defects? Or is there something wrong, either as a matter of doctrine or policy, with crafting broad injunctions in Fourth Amendment cases?
This brief essay will suggest answers to these questions. The first part argues that as a matter of history and practice, injunctive relief has been used narrowly as an on-off switch for carefully-defined practices. The most significant doctrinal hook for this limitation is Article III standing: Injunctive relief requires a real and immediate threat of future injury to establish a case or controversy. The precise meaning of that requirement remains murky, but it arguably means that a plaintiff must show a real and immediate threat of a highly specific set of facts occurring.
The second part argues that as a matter of normative policy, any ambiguity in the current state of the law should be resolved against imposing broad Fourth Amendment injunctions. Crafting broad injunctive relief forces courts to assume duties that they are not competent to handle. Fourth Amendment doctrine is tremendously fact-specific: every fact pattern is different, and even the exceptions to the exceptions have their own exceptions. Courts are poorly suited to design broad injunctive relief in this setting. Courts should therefore decline to craft Fourth Amendment injunctions covering classes of facts instead of individual facts.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 13
Keywords: fourth amendment, injunction, courts
JEL Classification: K10, K14Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: June 19, 2008
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo6 in 0.718 seconds | <urn:uuid:a487397b-d501-4f92-88e8-cf6faa1e06d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1147798 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920527 | 402 | 1.851563 | 2 |
TTC: Trying to Conceive
WebMD Live Events Transcript
Are you trying to conceive? Amos Grunebaum, MD, medical director of the WebMD
Fertility Center, joined us on July 18, 2005 to answer your questions about
The opinions expressed herein are the guests' alone and have not been
reviewed by a WebMD physician. If you have questions about your health, you
should consult your personal physician. This event is meant for informational
Hello Dr. Grunebaum. How are you today?
Hello everybody, I am fine, thank you.
We are trying to have a baby. As per my ovulation chart I will ovulate this Thursday. I bought an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) to make sure. When should I start testing?
The OPK usually turns positive within one to two days prior to ovulation, so what you should do is to start testing about four to five days before expected ovulation.
Ovulation usually happens within 12-34 hours after the OPK first turns positive. Some women choose to test every 12 hours, to make sure they won't miss the first positive. However, you really don't want to start making love only for the first time after it turns positive because at that time it may already be too late to optimize getting pregnant. You should make love regularly two to three times a week, every week and in addition, every day during the four to five days leading up to and the day of ovulation.
I wanted to know when it is OK to start TTC (trying to conceive) after a miscarriage and D&C at 10 weeks. Some doctors say one cycle. What do you recommend?
Ovulation can happen as early as 2 weeks after a miscarriage and studies have shown that there is no increased adverse outcome if you get pregnant early on. But many doctors suggest waiting for at least one period. That ensures that the uterine lining has shed at least once and hopefully improves implantation.
|"I always suggest to do an official sperm count in an approved laboratory when you want to know for sure." |
Where can women read the research on trying to conceive after a miscarriage? What does the research say about how long it is necessary to wait? What are the risks if you don't wait?
The best research place is PubMed (www.pubmed.com). You can search for publications there and find out the most recent information on an issue.
I am on my third cycle of Clomid and my husband did a home sperm count test. He got a negative on the first test and a positive on the second test four days later. When should he be tested by a doctor? My doctor originally said not until I was on Clomid for six months, assuming I was the only problem.
I am unsure what you mean by positive or negative. A home sperm test is much less reliable than an "official" sperm analysis.
The test, new on the market, tells you whether the sperm count is over 20 mil (positive) or under (negative).
I always suggest to do an official sperm count in an approved laboratory when you want to know for sure. The total count doesn't tell you enough about his sperms. There is much more information in the sperm analysis than just the count, like mobility and morphology. The home test does not give you that information. Do an "official" sperm analysis and find out for sure.
I'm on my eighth month TTC. My doctor says we need to wait one year before seeing him. Is there someone else we can see? I'm beginning to feel like we're wasting time and that there may be a problem. I experience pains on one side following ovulation. Should this be a concern as well?
If you are ovulating (are you?) then the next step is to do a sperm count. If your doctor told you that she doesn't want to see you until one year there is a solution: find another doctor who is willing to see you earlier. | <urn:uuid:507483b1-344b-40b8-b862-76d2f9ad0756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53852 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96038 | 828 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Oct. 25, 2009 More than 120 years after the discovery of the electromagnetic character of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz, wireless data transmission dominates information technology. Higher and higher radio frequencies are applied to transmit more data within shorter periods of time. Some years ago, scientists found that light waves might also be used for radio transmission. So far, however, manufacture of the small antennas has required an enormous expenditure. KIT scientists have now succeeded for the first time in specifically and reproducibly manufacturing smallest optical nanoantennas from gold.
In 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered the electromagnetic waves at the former Technical College of Karlsruhe, the predecessor of Universität Karlsruhe (TH). Specific and directed generation of electromagnetic radiation allows for the transmission of information from a place A to a remote location B. The key component in this transmission is a dipole antenna on the transmission side and on the reception side. Today, this technology is applied in many areas of everyday life, for instance, in mobile radio communication or satellite reception of broadcasting programs. Communication between the transmitter and receiver reaches highest efficiency, if the total length of the dipole antennas corresponds to about half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave.
Radio transmission by high-frequency electromagnetic light waves in the frequency range of several 100,000 gigahertz (500,000 GHz correspond to yellow light of 600 nm wavelength) requires minute antennas that are not longer than half the wavelength of light, i.e. 350 nm at the maximum (1 nm = 1 millionth of a millimeter). Controlled manufacture of such optical transmission antennas on the nanoscale so far has been very challenging worldwide, because such small structures cannot be produced easily by optical exposure methods for physical reasons, i.e. due to the wave character of the light. To reach the precision required for the manufacture of gold antennas that are smaller than 100 nm, the scientists working in the "Nanoscale Science" DFG-Heisenberg Group at the KIT Light Technology Institute (LTI) used an electron beam process, the so-called electron beam lithography. The results were published recently in the journal Nanotechnology (Nanotechnology 20 (2009) 425203).
These gold antennas act physically like radio antennas. However, the latter are 10 million times as large, they have a length of about 1 m. Hence, the frequency received by nanoantennas is 1 million times higher than radio frequency, i.e. several 100,000 GHz rather than 100 MHz.
These nanoantennas shall transmit information at extremely high data rates, because the high frequency of the waves allows for an extremely rapid modulation of the signal. For the future of wireless data transmission, this means acceleration by a factor of 10,000 at reduced energy consumption. Hence, nanoantennas are considered a major basis of new optical high-speed data networks. The positive side-effect: Light in the range of 1000 to 400 nm is not hazardous for man, animals, and plants.
In the future, nanoantennas from Karlsruhe may not only be used for information transmission, but also as tools for optical microscopy: "With the help of these small nano light emitters, we can study individual biomolecules, which has not been established so far," says Dr. Hans-Jürgen Eisler, who heads the DFG Heisenberg group at the Light Technology Institute. Moreover, the nanoantennas may serve as tools to characterize nanostructures from semiconductors, sensor structures, and integrated circuits. The reason is the efficient capture of light by nanoantennas. Thereafter, they are turned into light emitters and emit light quantums (photons).
The LTI scientists are presently also working on the specific and efficient capture of visible light by means of these antennas and on focusing this light on a few 10 nm, the objective being e.g. the optimization of photovoltaic modules.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:0ff793dd-0fb2-43ea-bb6a-c65bf299eef5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020111427.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912078 | 863 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Chiropractic care (which comes from the Greek word meaning "done by hand") dates back to 1895. However, the roots of the profession can be traced all the way back to the beginning of recorded time.
Chiropractic was developed by Daniel David Palmer, a self-taught healer in Davenport, Iowa. Palmer wanted to find a cure for disease and illness that did not use drugs. He studied the structure of the spine and the ancient art of moving the body with the hands (manipulation). Palmer started the Palmer School of Chiropractic, which still exists today.
Doctors of chiropractic must complete 4 to 5 years at an accredited chiropractic college. Their training includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience.
The education provides students with an in-depth understanding of the structure and function of the human body in health and disease.
The educational program includes training in the basic medical sciences, including anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. The education allows a doctor of chiropractic to both diagnose and treat patients.
The profession believes in using natural and conservative methods of health care, without the use of drugs or surgery.
Chiropractors treat people with muscle and bone problems, such as neck pain, low back pain, osteoarthritis, and spinal disk conditions.
Today, most practicing chiropractors mix spinal adjustments with other therapies, such as physical rehabilitation and exercise recommendations, mechanical or electrical therapies, and hot or cold treatments.
Chiropractors take a medical history in the same way as other health care providers. They then examine patients, looking at:
They also use the standard set of nervous system and orthopedic tests common to all medical professions.
REGULATION OF THE PROFESSION
Chiropractors are regulated at two different levels:
Most states require that chiropractors complete a certain number of continuing education hours every year to keep their license.
Doctor of Chiropractic (DC)
Updated by: Christopher J. Fox, DC, ATC, Specializing in family care and sports injuries at FOX Spine + Sports Medicine. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. Copyright 1997-2013, A.D.A.M., Inc. Duplication for commercial use must be authorized in writing by ADAM Health Solutions. | <urn:uuid:0bcd97d4-40e0-45bf-8920-819deebf6eb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002001.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925157 | 589 | 2.515625 | 3 |
CBS Frames New Haven as 'Conservative' Justices vs 'Civil Rights Leaders'
Published: 6/29/2009 8:39 PM ET
In the midst of pretty balanced ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscast stories on the Ricci reverse discrimination case involving New Haven firefighters, who were victorious, one quibble: CBS's Wyatt Andrews framed the ruling as issued by the Supreme Court's "conservative" justices and opposed not by liberals but by "civil rights leaders," as if the majority of justices who ruled against the racial discrimination were not advancing civil rights.
Andrews announced that "in a close 5 to 4 decision, the court's swing vote, Anthony Kennedy, sided with conservatives," before he set up a soundbite from a representative of the NAACP: "Civil rights leaders also predicted an era of confusion over when minorities are protected and when they are not." The NAACP's John Payton declared: "I think it hurts the cause of having a discrimination-free workplace."
Neither ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg nor NBC's Pete Williams applied a conservative or liberal label.
The Andrews story on the Monday, June 29 CBS Evening News, joined in progress:
WYATT ANDREWS: ...The ruling focused on New Haven's decision to throw out its 2003 promotional exam for firefighters when no blacks made the cut for promotion. The city then said no one gets promoted including the whites. In a close 5 to 4 decision, the court's swing vote, Anthony Kennedy, sided with conservatives and wrote "this express race-based decision-making is prohibited" and even if the city was trying to protect minorities against an unfair test, Kennedy wrote, "there is no substantial basis in evidence this test was deficient." NEW HAVEN MAYOR JOHN DESTEFANO: A new set of rules was introduced.- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
ANDREWS: New Haven's Mayor said he would respect the decision but complained the city was obeying 38 years of civil rights law forbidding anything that caused a disparate impact against minorities.
DESTEFANO: The city was damned if they did and damned if they didn't.
ANDREWS: Civil rights leaders also predicted an era of confusion over when minorities are protected and when they are not.
JOHN PAYTON, NAACP: I think it hurts the cause of having a discrimination-free workplace.
ANDREWS: And yet, to the white firefighters, this ruling says discrimination works both ways.
FRANK RICCI, NEW HAVEN FIREFIGHTER: I think that this is just proof positive that people should be treated as individuals and not statistics.
ANDREWS: The ruling also cuts both ways for the Supreme Court's nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Opponent called today's ruling a legal rebuke of her lower court opinions that the whites had no case, but opponents say that she was on solid ground; she was following case law at the time. | <urn:uuid:a5a83108-fc69-4419-9499-26d54b84f799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mrc.org/bias-alerts/cbs-frames-new-haven-conservative-justices-vs-civil-rights-leaders | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966772 | 610 | 1.648438 | 2 |
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney apologized on Thursday for what he called high school pranks that may have hurt others, after a report that he and other students at a Michigan school bullied a student who was presumed to be gay.
"I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended ... obviously, I apologize," Romney said in response to a Washington Post story that detailed a 1965 incident in which Romney pinned down a fellow student and cut his hair.
The report about Romney's days as a prep school student whose pranks sometimes crossed the line into meanness toward presumed gay classmates came a day after Democratic President Barack Obama declared that he now supports same-sex marriages.
Romney and other Republicans made clear they would seek to contrast their opposition to gay marriage with Obama's stance. But that message was overrun by the Post's report, forcing Romney to try to counter the notion that he was an intolerant bully as a youth.
"I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far," Romney said.
The Post's report raises questions about whether a presidential candidate's actions as a youth nearly a half-century ago are fair game for discussion today.
But the timing of the report was particularly poignant, coming on the heels of Obama's same-sex marriage announcement, which dominated headlines on Wednesday.
Obama has now made gay rights a focus of the presidential campaign and bullying in schools is under increasing scrutiny because of incidents such as one at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where a gay student committed suicide in 2010 after a roommate secretly spied on him with a web cam.
Democrats jumped on the story.
Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, tweeted a link to the Post story and peppered Romney with criticism. "One of the biggest conversations we're having in this country is about the bullying of kids in school," Woodhouse tweeted. "Romney was a bully as an 18 year old."
STUDENT PINNED DOWN
The Post interviewed several former classmates of Romney who recalled that he orchestrated the incident in which the presumed gay student, John Lauber, was tackled and pinned to the ground by a group of students, who wanted to cut the student's bleached-blond hair.
"As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors," the Post reported.
Romney promptly went on a conservative talk radio show hosted by Fox News' Brian Kilmeade to explain his side of the story.
"You just say to yourself that, back in high school, I did some dumb things. ... But overall, high school years were a long time ago and I'm glad I've got some good friends from those years," Romney said.
Asked about the incident involving Lauber - who later came out as gay and died of liver cancer in 2004 - Romney said: "I don't remember that incident and I'll tell you I certainly don't believe that I - I can't speak for other people, of course - thought the fellow was homosexual.
"That was the furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s, so that was not the case," Romney said.
'STRONG FEELINGS ON BOTH SIDES'
As Romney wrestled with the bullying issue, his campaign said it plans to emphasize Obama's support of gay marriage to try to attract conservative and independent voters in the November 6 election.
Senior Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie said Republicans will cite gay marriage as a key difference between Romney and the Democratic incumbent.
"It's an important issue for people and it engenders strong feelings on both sides," Gillespie told MSNBC. "I think it's important to be respectful in how we talk about our differences, but the fact is that's a significant difference in November."
Obama shifted to support gay marriage after two years in which he said his position was "evolving" on an issue. His move could energize liberals who have not shown the passion for him that they did in electing him America's first African-American president in 2008.
On the right, Romney has struggled to convince conservatives that he is truly one of them, and the gay marriage issue may play to his benefit on that front.
By stating his belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, Romney could stir some enthusiasm for his candidacy among social conservatives, analysts said.
Polls show Americans fairly evenly divided on the issue, and North Carolina on Tuesday became the 30th state to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The White House made clear that Obama believes Romney, who supports a constitutional amendment that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, is vulnerable on the issue.
"Governor Romney is for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would enshrine discrimination into our founding legal document," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "The president thinks that's wrong."
(Additional reporting by Sam Youngman in Omaha; Editing by David Lindsey and Christopher Wilson) | <urn:uuid:b5eaf426-72e2-46c3-8288-a57f7e30bb1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wifc.com/news/articles/2012/may/10/romney-apologizes-for-bullying-incident-at-school/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984635 | 1,043 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Quit is outraged at tobacco marketing practices which it says are clearly against the spirit of the law, and may even constitute a breach of Victoria's Tobacco Act.
Quit Executive Director Todd Harper put on display today several examples of gifts and promotional items being included with the purchase of cigarettes that Quit believe are contrary to the spirit of the law.
The examples include:
- a watch with Peter Jackson cigarettes;
- a keyring 'mini ashtray' with Holidays;
- lighters with packs of Horizon and SuperKings;
- a diary and pen with Alpine cigarettes;
- a CD storage case with Marlboro
- a lighter and lighter pouch with a twin pack of Davidoff cigarettes;
- a shot glass with a packet of Peter Jackson cigarettes
Most of the examples were sourced by Quit at various Victorian retail outlets between July 1999 up to as recently as this week.
Mr Harper said Victoria's Tobacco Act states gifts cannot be supplied with the sale of a tobacco product or for the purpose of promoting the sale of a tobacco product.
'We know from tobacco companies own internal documents obtained by Quit that they have detailed knowledge of each state's tobacco regulations.'
'We will be asking the Department of Human Services to investigate the examples we've displayed today.'
Mr Harper said Quit was also concerned that some of the promotional items and point of sale advertising may be attractive to children.
'We also know these gifts and promotional items have a powerful effect on young people in particular. Research shows getting a free promotional item influences which brand of cigarettes young people buy.'
Mr Harper said tobacco companies' internal documents also highlight the importance of merchandising in marketing strategies.
'Today we have released Wills marketing documents that talk about using 'consumer incentives' to increase market share over other brands, and a recent document explicitly mentions the strategy of 'redirecting funds to increasingly scarce (and expensive) merchandising and consumer promotions'.'
Mr Harper also stressed the need for legislation to ban point of sale advertising, showing numerous examples of shops saturated with tobacco point of sale advertising, and cigarettes positioned next to sweets and lollies.
'We've been documenting an increasing saturation of cigarette advertising in shops, which exposes even very young children to the advertising message when they purchase sweets, ice-creams and soft drinks.'
'Some of the examples we've revealed today appear to breach the Act, which only allows point of sale advertising adjacent to the place where cigarettes are sold in outlets.
'This only emphasises how important the Government's proposed restrictions on point of sale advertising are - research shows partial bans have little impact on youth smoking, but comprehensive bans on advertising and promotion can have a major impact on youth and young adult smoking.'
Mr Harper called on the Government to go further and introduce a licensing scheme so that retailers who sell cigarettes to children lose their right to sell cigarettes.
'Retailers have very serious obligations when they're selling a dangerous product and let's remember tobacco is a product which kills half of its lifetime users.'
Mr Harper said some of the funds raised through a licensing system could be used on an education campaign to ensure all retailers understood the regulations about the sale and display of tobacco.
Last year a survey conducted in Melbourne suburbs showed 43% of retail outlets tested were caught selling tobacco to underage children.
'Introducing a licensing system is the only way to protect children from irresponsible retailers who only care about making a sale.
Mr Harper said provisions were also needed to enable tobacco companies to be penalised for misleading retailers.
'Truth provisions have been introduced into tobacco control legislation elsewhere. This means tobacco companies can be penalised if they mislead retailers about the legalities of their displays or products.'
Media Communications Manager | <urn:uuid:85ce38f7-0646-4089-a316-54fa5d27ac11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quit.org.au/resource-centre/media/media-centre/media-2000/media-april-2010161/09_apr_20001.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940461 | 765 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The Willamette Meteorite, featured above, is one of the treasures of the American Museum of Natural History’s permanent collection. Visitors are able to see and touch this 15.5 ton (14.1 metric ton) remnant of the ancient cosmos.
Is the largest meteorite ever found in the U.S. It’s thought to be the iron-nickel core of a planet or moon that was shattered in a stellar collision more than a billion years ago. It crashed into the Earth thousands of years ago, traveling at more than 40,000 mph (64,374 km/h). The Museum purchased the Willamette Meteorite in 1906 and since then it’s been on almost continuous display and viewed by millions of visitors from around the world.
Known as “Tomanowos” to the Clackamas Chinook people, who lived in the Willamette Valley of Oregon before the arrival of European settlers, the Willamette Meteorite is revered by the Clackamas and their descendants as a sacred object. According to tribal legend, Tomanowos was sent to Earth as a representative of the “Sky People,” exemplifying a union of sky, earth and water with power to heal and empower the people of the valley. Today, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, a federally recognized Indian tribe, is the successor to the Clackamas. Through a historic agreement between the museum and the tribe, the tribe continues its special relationship with the meteorite through annual ceremonial visits.
Thanks to Chris L. Grohusko for his help with this.
- See also:
Our community on Facebook | <urn:uuid:a341f61f-abb8-4e5d-a602-41a2a163ab8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wordlesstech.com/2011/05/16/willamette-meteorite/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937195 | 342 | 3.671875 | 4 |
On the President’s first day in office on January 21, 2009, he issued an Open Government memo promising the American people a new era of transparency. On March 19, 2009, under the President’s orders, the Attorney General’s office issued detailed guidelines on how Federal agencies were to respond going forward to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The guidelines instructed the agencies as follows:
“The key frame of reference for this new mind set is the purpose behind the FOIA. The statute is designed to open agency activity to the light of day. As the Supreme Court has declared: ‘FOIA is often explained as a means for citizens to know what their Government is up to.’ NARA v. Favish, 541 U.S. 157, 171 (2004) (quoting U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 773 (1989)…The President’s FOIA Memoranda directly links transparency with accountability which, in turn, is a requirement of a democracy. The President recognized the FOIA as ‘the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring open Government.’ Agency personnel, therefore, should keep the purpose of the FOIA — ensuring an open Government — foremost in their mind.”
It pains me to inform you, Mr. President, but the Treasury Department, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and Securities and Exchange Commission (the trio that has been variously distracted minting trillions in currency, trading cash for trash with Wall Street, surfing for porn, or mishandling multiple voluminous tips on Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme) have misplaced your memo or, as many suspect, take their marching orders not from you but from Wall Street — perhaps because they perceive that this is where you take your orders too.
On October 6, 2010, I filed three FOIA requests with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I had come by information that the official government report on the stock market’s “Flash Crash” of May 6, 2010 was materially wrong and I wanted to buttress my investigative report to the public with documents the SEC had obtained or compiled in conducting its investigation.
I followed the SEC’s FOIA instructions and emailed the requests to email@example.com as instructed by the web site, asking for a small amount of very…
The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.
That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."
Mr. President, you’re a lying sack of crap.
Nor is this theoretical either. Fox News has already had an FOIA denied:
The SEC cited the new law Tuesday in a FOIA action brought by FOX Business Network.
Oh, by the way, this would mean that a Madoff or Stanford "thing" would leave the SEC immune from FOIA requests by the Press (including the "mainstream" along with media folks like myself) to discover whether they had effective and early notice that they intentionally ignored.
Isn’t that convenient, given that they did exactly that with Madoff and, it can be argued, Stanford as well?
Indeed, the SEC, The Fed, and Treasury have all tried to refuse compliance with FOIA requests into the backstories of the financial meltdown.
FOIA requests that could (and in some cases have, when they were forced to be complied with via lawsuits) reveal double-dealing, "sweetheart" treatment, and even willful blindness that, in many people’s opinion (including mine) reaches the level of intentional collusion that, in a private context, would lead to civil and/or criminal racketeering charges.
To President Obama and CONgress for sticking this in FinReg (and yeah, I missed it, even though I read the entire damn thing):
Key selection from the Second Circuit’s Fed FOIA appeal:
The “public interest” standard rejected in Merrill is the functional equivalent of the “program effectiveness” test, as the Board invokes it: the agency gets to withhold whatever it deems harmful to disclose--and an agency’s decision as to its own mission and effectiveness is the kind of thing that ordinarily commands deferential review. The Board and the Clearing House undertake to show that disclosure would harm the banks that borrowed (by disclosing their prior distress) and the banking system as a whole (because banks under stress may hesitate to seek relief or rescue), and that these harms will reduce the effectiveness of measures critical to the banking system. The arguments are plausible, and forcefully made. But a test that permits an agency to deny disclosure because the agency thinks it best to do so (or convinces a court to think so, by logic or deference) would undermine “the basic policy that disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of [FOIA].” See Rose, 425 U.S. at 361.
The requirement of disclosure under FOIA and its proper limits are matters of congressional policy. The statute as written by Congress sets forth no basis for the exemption the Board asks us to read into it. If the Board believes such an exemption would better serve the national interest, it should ask Congress to amend the statute.
In other words: if the Fed wants to maintain its strict secrecy, it better get Congress to change the laws immediately. Of course, if that happens it will become very clear who controls not just the fiscal and monetary destiny of America, its executive control (via the recently institued bilateral decision making of who apoints who – the President of the United States <-> The President of the FRBNY, and vice versa), but also the legislative. As for the judicial, we will know definitively when the Supreme Court overturns this decision. In other words, the Federal Reserve is about to become the President, the Congress and the Supreme Court (not to mention Wall Street) all rolled into one.
Congrats Paul La Monica. Your editorial, “Shut up, Lloyd Blankfein!” is spreading like wildfire. It’s ‘gone viral’ as they say. However, it is clear that your knowledge of the issues involved is limited, at best.
It draws in populists with the provocative “Shut Up” headline, then morphs into stealth Goldman ass-kissing. It essentially tells Goldman-critics to man up and stop whining.
It starts out with a bit of promise:
The public relations gurus who are advising Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein might want to give him some new advice. Shut up!
Blankfein made a startling confession Tuesday. He apologized for Goldman’s role in the financial crisis, saying that the bank ‘participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret.’
But any redeeming qualities end there. He goes on to display ignorance in the subjects of finance and banking. He essentially argues that Goldman should be allowed to do as it pleases. This part particularly rankled me:
The notion that Goldman’s good fortune is a problem is silly. Even though many average Americans are still struggling financially, it’s misguided to suggest that everybody should be suffering and that the nation would have been better off if Wall Street went under. . .
Goldman Sachs is a bank. It’s supposed to make money. It’s supposed to take risks. Lloyd isn’t exactly running the March of Dimes.
Where to begin? Monica’s statement that banks are “supposed” to take risks is interesting. Because I thought a bank was supposed to safeguard people’s money, while making responsible loans to others. That’s how fractional-reserve banking works.
Goldman Sachs is an investment bank/hedge-fund with government guarantees. They’re not a “bank” in the traditional sense of the word.
When the U.S. converted GS and other “systemically important” firms to bank holding companies, it flat-out saved their asses. Ongoing perks include cheap Fed funds and the ability to issue government-guaranteed debt (Goldman still has around $20b in gov-backed debt).
And Monica says they are supposed to take risk, with explicit government-backing? That, my friends, is 100% pure garbage.
His statement that we should get off Goldman’s back, since they
The main development in the foreign change market over the past week has been the short squeeze of the yen, and to a lesser extent, the Swiss franc.
The move coincided with a backing up in JGB yields, with the 10-year approaching the 1.0% threshold, a nearly three-fold increase since the BOJ announced its more aggressive monetary stance in early April. The Nikkei took it on the chin, falling 12.5% between Thursday's high near 16k and Friday's low just below 14k.
Many of the foreign investors who have poured almost $80 bln into Japanese equities this year have hedged the currency risk, by selling the yen. However, given the slide in Japanese share prices, the may be over-hedged. To ...
Here's the latest weekend update from Serge Perreault, a Chartered Professional Accountant and market technician located near Montreal, Canada. Serge has been following the U.S. market in a series of weekly charts. Here is his update on the S&P 500.
The S&P 500 bounced off its uptrend resistance and paused its ascension, on average volume and on falling momentum.
A break of this week's low (1636) would confirm a correction in the direction of the EMA10 (1603).
Via google translate from Corriere Della Sera, Beppe Grillo is in favor of a "Referendum on the Euro Within a year" "Europe needs to be rethought. We consider just one year of information and then hold a referendum to say yes or no to the euro and yes or no to Europe. " Beppe Grillo to ride a strong theme of the last election campaign the 5 Star Movement. "Europe on the euro and the British teach us democracy. No party can claim the right to decide for 60 million people. "
"I want to go to Europe and re-discuss a Plan B to be in five years, "added the leader M5S, explaining:" When we ...
ANF - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. – Shares in teen retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch Co., are getting hammered today, down 10% at $48.92 in early-afternoon trading after the company reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss and missed topline estimates, lowered its full year earnings forecast and said same-store sales would be down slightly for the rest of the year. A review of pre-earnings report activity in Abercrombie options yesterday indicates one trader was prepared for the pullback today. It looks like the strategist initiate...
While the S&P 500 has had quite a year already the Nikkei has been the story of the globe as they are performing acts of central banking that even put the U.S. Fed to shame. And Japan's central bank can buy ETFs and REITs directly per their charter versus the U.S. bank. Combined with a yen in free fall it's been a heck of a move for the Nikkei since last November. I noted last week we were seeing extremely rare weekly and monthly type overbought readings on bo...
The market went through some gyrations on Wednesday in reaction to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. He first defended continued quant easing by warning, “A premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily but also would carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery.” Stocks dutifully rallied and all major indexes hit new intraday highs.
But alas, consensus is apparently not a given over the longer term. The minutes hinted that a tapering off could start sooner, “A number of participants expressed willingness to adjust the flow of purchases downward as early as the June meeting if the economic information received by that time showed evidence of sufficiently strong and sustained growth.” So …...
Reminder: OpTrader is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
This post is for all our live virtual trade ideas and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).
We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options.
Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.
To learn more about the swing trading virtual portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here
Reminder: Craigzooka is available to chat with Members regarding his virtual portfolio performance, comments are found below each post.
I am going to share with you how I manage my IRA and the power of reducing your cost basis. My goal each year is a 20% return in my IRA. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't, but I believe that all of my success is due to reducing my cost basis. To illustrate the power of reducing your cost basis here are some trades we did last year. These trades are taken from an educational portfolio we ran in a paper-trading account for a little more than a year.
We bought RIG on 5/15/2012 for $44.13, sold it on 1/18/2013 for $46 but booked a profit of $1,154.
We bought MT on 1/4/2012 for $19.24, sold it on 12/21/2012 for $15 but booked a profit of $454.
We bought CHK on 1/27/2012 for $21.93, sold it on 10/19/2012 for $18 b...
Stock market posts another record setting week, but the big news came after Friday’s close.
Courtesy of NASA
The stock market put on another record setting show with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA) closing at a record high 15,118 and the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) closing at 1633.70, another all time closing high.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA) gained 1%, the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) climbed 1.2%, the Nasdaq Composite (NYSEARCA:...
Reminder: Pharmboy is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Well, well, well....it is good to know that there are others in the scientific arena who believed that YMI Bioscience's data (cough - Gilead) is a better drug than Incyte's Jakafi. Now, the definitive data are still unknown, but there was enough evidence from a Phase 2 trial to take a small risk for a huge reward. So, let's forget about Apple (AAPL), and do nothing but biotechs from now until Congress passes universal health care coverage for prescriptions....and drive the prices down so that research and development is no longer feasible to conduct in the US. Even Seattle Genetics (SGEN) has been on a tear as of late...
Note: The material presented in this commentary is provided for informational purposes only and is based upon information that is considered to be reliable. However, neither Philstockworld, LLC (PSW) nor its affiliates warrant its completeness, accuracy or adequacy and it should not be relied upon as such. Neither PSW nor its affiliates are responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of this information. Past performance, including the tracking of virtual trades and portfolios for educational purposes, is not necessarily indicative of future results. Neither Phil, Optrader, or anyone related to PSW is a registered financial adviser and they may hold positions in the stocks mentioned, which may change at any time without notice. Do not buy or sell based on anything that is written here, the risk of loss in trading is great.
This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities or other financial instruments mentioned in this material are not suitable for all investors. Any opinions expressed herein are given in good faith, are subject to change without notice, and are only intended at the moment of their issue as conditions quickly change. The information contained herein does not constitute advice on the tax consequences of making any particular investment decision. This material does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs and is not intended as a recommendation to you of any particular securities, financial instruments or strategies. Before investing, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice. | <urn:uuid:c1073e0a-9b03-4741-8db0-5b34893cd38f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philstockworld.com/tag/freedom-of-information-act/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955605 | 3,703 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The cost of renting intellectual powers is going higher and higher. And the people bestowed with such powers are playing harder and harder to get. So, many companies are finding it more difficult -- and expensive -- to recruit and retain highly skilled employees.
It is customary for high-technology concerns, for example, to pay employees a reward for luring a skilled person to the company. But a chronic shortage of topnotch engineers, especially in hot high-tech areas like Boston's Route 128, has forced some companies to up the ante. Codex Corp., a maker of data communication equipment in Mansfield, Mass., offers a hefty reward to any employee who helps fill an opening. The bounty: $1,000 a head for salaried personnel, $500 for nonsalaried employees.
"It's a competitive and tight job market," says Codex spokesperson Judith Goldstein. "We need highly skilled people, often in extremely esoteric fields. It's particularly hard to get the best engineers in Massachusetts, because a lot of the high-tech companies here are growing quickly, and vying for the same talented people."
Goldstein says Codex promotes its recruitment efforts with posters, placed in office hallways and cafeterias, that proclaim different head-hunting slogans. One recent poster proclaimed a "Quest for the Best." In 1984, the company handed out more than $100,000 in bounty money.
Once they have found the right person, many managers have learned that they must keep him or her satisfied with sabbaticals. 3Com Corp., a $16-million manufacturer of personal computer networking equipment, even spreads the largesse beyond their tech-contingent. It encourages any employee who has been with the company for at least four years to take a sabbatical, with salary, during the fifth year.
The sabbaticals may not be novel, but 3Com has gilded the privilege by giving its 220 employees two uncommonly generous options: They can take six weeks at full pay, or they can take three weeks at double pay.
One theory behind the shorter sabbatical is that hourly wage employees don't earn enough to do anything spectacular for six weeks, but with double pay for three weeks they can. Another factor is that top executives are usually disinclined to step off the treadmill for long periods of time.
"This is a high-stress company in a high-stress industry," says personnel director Debra Engel. She points out that 3Com, located in Mountain View, Calif., has been growing at an annual rate of more than 350%. "The sabbaticals refresh and revitalize," explains Engel. "An employee can get away for a while and realize that his whole life isn't the company. But the sabbaticals are more than just burn-out prevention -- they're also a reward for four years of hard work." | <urn:uuid:f4dd8508-b515-4099-b8de-2b356de24970> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inc.com/magazine/19841201/4807_Printer_Friendly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970282 | 587 | 1.765625 | 2 |
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal employee Leslie Shah went back to work just after her second child celebrated his first birthday, one of a growing number of American mothers who are choosing full-time work since the economic downturn.
"It really came down to a financial decision," said Shah, 44, who lives in Maryland just outside Washington. "Gas prices are up, my grocery bill is up."
More American women are feeling pressed to work a greater number of hours even as the country emerges from its economic doldrums. A Pew Research Center Report released on Thursday found nearly one in three Americans mothers last year said they would prefer a full-time job, up from one in five in 2007.
Lead researcher Kim Parker cited the 2007-2009 recession as the likely factor behind the findings, adding that fewer women said they wanted to work full time before the downturn.
"I doubt that that's because that's what they really want, but that's what they really need to provide for their families," Parker said in an interview.
Pew's findings, based in part on its survey of 2,511 adults nationwide in late 2012, came amid renewed public debate about working mothers in the United States.
Former U.S. State Department official Anne-Marie Slaughter, put working moms back in the spotlight with a magazine article last summer on "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." In the fall, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer announced she put in a full day's work two weeks after her baby was born, then banned telecommuting a few months later.
The debate intensified this month with Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg's new book "Lean In" pushing women to take on leadership roles. [ID:nL1N0C544V] One woman who did that, former Lehman Brothers chief financial officer Erin Callan, lamented in the New York Times on Sunday never having taken the time to have children.
The uproar stirred by the female executives opened wounds about privilege, choice and class divide. Critics said that for American women who are not well-paid top company officials, there is often no choice in the matter - they have to work - and the debate over style and leadership is all but moot.
According to Pew, women struggling with money, especially single mothers, were far more likely to desire full-time jobs.
About half of women who struggled financially said working full time was ideal, compared to about 31 percent of those who said they live comfortably, the nonpartisan research group's report said.
In 2012, about half of single mothers said they would rather work full time, up from 26 percent at the start of the recession, Pew found. In comparison, the number of married mothers who wanted full-time jobs remained flat.
That rings true for Phoenix, Arizona, mother Limpo Bokasa, who works as a medical case manager while raising her 7-year-old twin daughters on her own.
"You're spent emotionally, physically and spiritually for your children. You're running on empty," she said. "What I make for work is not enough to cover all my bills. ... You have to know just how to stretch every paycheck."
But for others, working also means independence and professional satisfaction.
Kendra Jochum, a 33-year-old mother of two boys, aged four and one, was buying a new house in Maryland when she and her husband found out they were having a baby girl. They welcomed the surprise pregnancy, but it brought worries about child care and her job as a social worker if she took a long leave.
"I enjoy work. I don't want to give that up," Jochum said.
The recession, which hit more traditional male jobs such as those in construction, in many cases flipped the economic burden and turned mothers into breadwinners.
Both mothers and fathers said they are equally stressed about work-life balance. Overall about half each say it's very or somewhat difficult, according to the Pew survey, which had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.
A wider look at men and women's roles over the last few decades shows the gender gap has shrunk as women work more and fathers take on a greater share of housework and child care.
Fathers spent 17 hours taking care of chores and children per week in 2011 compared to about seven hours four decades ago. Still, that is about half the 32 hours now spent by mothers.
"There's been this convergence of gender roles, but there's still this big gap," said Pew's Parker, herself a mother of two.
Another gap - that between the ideal and the reality - shows when it comes to kids: just 16 percent of parents overall said it was ideal for mothers with young children to work full time. Most said mothers working part-time or not at all would be better.
"That's the whole thing that society really hasn't come to terms with yet, the economic realities versus what is best for a young child," Parker said.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu) | <urn:uuid:b39ade3a-1c63-45fe-b8e0-432a0b83a850> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whtc.com/news/articles/2013/mar/14/women-feel-pressed-to-work-more-as-economy-finds-footing-report/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981779 | 1,041 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Philemon may refer to either of the following:
- The Apostle Philemon, one of the Seventy Apostles (February 19).
- The Book of Philemon, a letter from St. Paul to the Apostle Philemon, included in the New Testament.
- Martyr Philemon of Alexandria, a saint who suffered under Diocletian in the late third century (December 14).
- Martyr Philemon of Cyzicus, one of the nine monk-martyrs at Cyzicus who were martyred at the end of the third century (April 29). | <urn:uuid:f015e211-b454-4bf4-bc7b-55960ea1a3e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orthodoxwiki.org/Philemon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935894 | 125 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Favorite thing: the japanese has lots of yummy sweet treats from their cuisine and the Manju is one of them and it is a kind traditional steamed sweet cake that is very popular all over japan that every region and town has it's own recipe and fillings for this sweet icon! Manju is a Japanese steamed cake, and it's a traditional Japanese sweet. A variety of fillings are used in manju. The most popular filling is anko (or sweet azuki bean paste) and green tea (macha) and roast pork but there are also other fillings. They come in different varieties and packagings (korea an china have their own versions of the Manju). A big one piece manju costs about 90 yen and the 2 dozen small ones costs 800 yen and they are available everywhere.
the donburi is the exception to the stereotypical expensive japanese food and cuisine as it literally mean rice bowl and rice bowl means cheap but not necessarily poor in taste ok! Usually fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients are simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi. Donburi are sometimes called sweetened or savory stews on rice. The simmering sauce varies according to season, ingredient, region, and taste. A typical sauce might consist of dashi flavored with shoyu and mirin. Proportions vary, but there is normally three to four times as much dashi as shoyu and mirin.
Fondest memory: kinds of Donburi meals include:
Oyakodon (Oyako Donburi) Mother and Child Donburi
The name of this popular donburi dish comes from its two main ingredients, chicken and egg. Very rarely, you may also encounter an Oyakodon featuring salmon and ikura (salmon eggs).
Katsudon (Tonkatsu Donburi)
Pork Cutlet Donburi, Katsudon is served with tonkatsu (deep fried breaded pork cutlet), egg and onions on top of the rice.
Gyudon (Gyuniku Donburi) Beef Donburi
Gyudon is a bowl of cooked rice with beef, is very popular as an inexpensive type of fast food served at chain stores across the country like yoshinoya, matsuya or sushiya.
Tendon (Tempura Donburi) Tempura Donburi
Tempura are deep fried pieces of battered seafood and vegetables. Various tempura pieces are dipped into a soya based sauce before served on top of the rice.
Unadon (Unagi Donburi) Eel Donburi
The eel is grilled and prepared in a thick soya based sauce before served on top of the cooked rice.
Tekkadon (Tekka Donburi) Tuna Donburi
The topping of Tekkadon is raw tuna (maguro). It is served with strips of nori seaweed and sometimes ground yamaimo.
Curry was introduced in Japan in the Meiji Era in the late 1800's via trading with the English via the East India Trading Company and since then has caught on and became a hit to the japanese people and since then, the japanese curry or kare was born and that almost ecery town or region in japan has it's own curry specialty like curry rice, curry udon noodles, curry pork, curry breads, curry mochi and more. A wide variety of vegetables and meats are used to make Japanese curry. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. For the meat, beef, pork, chicken and sometimes duck are the most popular, in order of decreasing popularity. I have pictures of the arroted japanese curry that we tasted here in japan.
Fondest memory: the japanese curries is way so different from the indian or thai variety that is is mildy sweet and not too spicy.
warning, cigarettes are dangerous to your health hehehe. One drawback of having cigarette vending machines is that even kids can buy one! since it is autmomated and no one will ask for ID and the age of a customer so I find this peculiar and disturbing. a cigarette pack cost about 400 yen a pack for marloboros and 450 yen for mild 7.
Fondest memory: although the cigarette vending machines are located mainly outside high volume children areas like schools or parks, it is better to stop this kind of vending machines.
Favorite thing: One morning at the hotel we decided to have a japanese style breakfast. A very healthy way to start our morning. It consisted of sushi and numerous food items in the picture that i have no idea what exactly they were. Neitherless it tasted sensational.
You must taste some local drink in Tokyo!
Most of the drink is served by vending machine. You can notice all round the area in Tokyo. There are actually more than 2000 type of drink offer in this country from soft drink to juice and beers. The packing is special that I ever since in my life! You can find more than 10 different types of Coke in can and bottle which I have it all for my collection. Some may have some funny advertisement. You can notice the price is cheaper compare you get in those convenient shop as they charge for government tax...
Fondest memory: I like the juice and tea! A Coke in 500ml and 300ml is actually selling for same price if you notice...may be is the promotional period.
Favorite thing: O.k., so restaurants may seem a bit expensive, so if you're trying to do Tokyo on a budget, I found the convenience stores to be a Godsend. They have premade food that you can get for really cheap, and I ate the hell out of the triangle things. I have no idea what they are called, but they're a triangle of rice with some meat smeared on top and wrapped up in nori. They cost about 100 yen (a buck) and did me fine for lunch. The stores also have boxed lunches and sandwiches for really cheap too. Much better than popping in a restaurant every time you're hungry.
Favorite thing: Purikura (photo machines) were a major fad about five years ago! They still remain a fun way to capture a part of your day out in Tokyo. You can find them inside any video game arcade....they cost between 300 to 400 yen and will be something that you can keep forever!!!
Favorite thing: Visit a convenience store and buy a beer - you can't really go wrong and now that malt liquor has found it's way onto Tokyo shelves there is cheaper alternative to beer (happoshu). I like JUNNAMA - it is the one with the cute white can with the blue writing - you'll know!
Visit JINBOCHO,locates at middle of Tokyo,close to KOKYO(emperor's palace).
There are many book shop.(both new and socond hand,even EDO era's UKIYOE picture,old map)
Also there are some good cafe and restaurant.
You can find very old Japanese novels,and art books etc.
Fondest memory: Restaurants in Tokyo. Japanese,French,Italian,Thai,Indian,Chinese,Vietnamese and more,there are a lot of different type of restaurant in Tokyo.
But I really prefer Japanese TEISYOKU.What is TEISYOKU? It's usually set of rice,main dish and miso soup at lunch time. Cheap and dilicious.
Grand Hyatt Tokyo Tokyo
4 Reviews and 346 Opinions This is a Grand Hyatt and while conventionally 'dependable' for a certain level of service, this...
Imperial Hotel Tokyo Tokyo
10 Reviews and 267 Opinions Can't honestly recommend this hotel to penny-pinchers as it can be very costly indeed, but quality... | <urn:uuid:4f57194f-df9e-4a89-84eb-efc8abaa5298> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Japan/Tokyo_to/Tokyo-969164/General_Tips-Tokyo-Foods_and_Products-BR-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952821 | 1,668 | 1.890625 | 2 |
The federal government tradition of spying on its workers goes back to at least 1969 when President Nixon’s national security adviser Henry Kissinger wiretapped his protégé Mort Halperin, who he wrongly suspected of leaking top secret information to the press. Although Kissinger eventually apologized, since then national security agencies have become steadily more aggressive in monitoring employee communications, and the zeal to control federal workers’ extracurricular activities has spread to regulatory agencies.
Most recently the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety and efficacy of food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical devices, set up a home grown surveillance operation of several staff scientists suspected of injudicious dissemination of proprietary documents.
During 2010, decision makers at the agency's Center for Devices and Radiological Health “responsible for protecting and promoting public health” secretly purchased off the shelf software for intercepting computer activity and surreptitiously installed it on the scientists' FDA-owned personal laptops.
Several of the targeted scientists were fired or retaliated against during the course of the monitoring operation, and in January they filed a lawsuit against the agency.
Ironically, the CDRH mission statement boasts, “Our staff is our most critical resource. We value individual excellence [and] teamwork,” and touts values of transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity (“Our actions adhere to the highest ethical standards and the law.)
After documents gleaned from the surveillance operation were inadvertently posted on a public Web site and discovered by one of its targets, The New York Times reported on a cache of 80,000 pages of e-mails and other communications between and among the “actors,” the regulatory agency suspected of participating with “ancillary actors” to expose complaints regarding the FDA review process.
The scientists, in addition to their mandate of “providing industry with predictable, consistent, transparent, and efficient regulatory pathways” were concerned that certain regulated devises used in colonoscopies and mammograms were emitting unsafe levels of radiation and were in contact with Congressional oversight staff and, also, at least one nongovernmental oversight organization dedicated to accountable, open, and ethical federal government.
When contacted by Times reporters Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane, FDA officials defended the operation, claiming “it was never intended to impede communications, but only to determine whether information was being improperly shared.” Imagine if they put such effort into medical device oversight.
A recent review by the federal Office of Special Counsel found that the scientists’ medical claims warranted a full public safety investigation.
Bonnie Goldstein is on Twitter @KickedByAnAngel | <urn:uuid:78bbf82f-e934-4dcc-b322-bf98943d3042> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/when-a-regulatory-mission-turns-to-spying/2012/07/17/gJQAdwCuqW_blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952326 | 540 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Wesson elementary jumped two letter grades under the A Plus plan for education. Last year, Wesson Elementary was one of 64 schools across the state that got an F. This year it is among the 527 schools receiving a C, moving them out of danger and farther away from the parental school choice program.
Special Ed teacher, Erica Brown, came to Wesson Elementary in January of this year, right at the start of the FCAT season, and under the dark cloud of being labeled an F school, but she wasn't going to let that F hold down her eagles.
In fact, the school did go up to a C, which saved Wesson from the Two Strikes You're Out rule, because one more F would cause private school vouchers to kick in.
Fifth grader, Shanesia Gilyard, could hear the cries of joy and remembers the path it took to put these Eagles on top. Avoiding another F is the financial equivalent of being one paycheck away from filing for Chapter 11. Instead, these Eagles wrote their own chapter full of instructor incentive and student support.
Wesson Elementary was one of four schools that jumped two letter grades in Leon County. Riley Elementary went from a D to a B. Fort Braden and Sabal Palm went from C's to A's.
If Wesson were to receive an F this year, parents would have been able to apply for the school choice program; students attending schools that have received a grade of F twice in the past four years are eligible for vouchers.
Designed by Gray Digital Media | <urn:uuid:6408fe90-ff3c-4345-9517-845ec785e987> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/387611.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983056 | 320 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Legendary director John Ford's final film involving seven dedicated missionary women in China circa 1935 trying to protect themselves from the advances of a Mongolian barbaric warlord and his cut-throat gang of warriors.
In a mission in China in 1935, Agatha Andrews is a rigid missionary beset by Mongolian bandits led by Warlord chief Tunga Khan. With her are her assistant Jane Argent, staff members Emma Clark, Miss Russell and Miss Binns, head of the British mission, Charles Pather, a teacher at the mission and his pregnant wife Florrie. When Dr. D.R. Cartwright arrives, she agrees to sacrifice herself to the Tunga Khan in exchange for his letting the ladies go free. Written by
A jewel of a film with superb acting in the 2 principal roles! Should be shown much more often. Failings in the set and in the minor characters are more than made up for by the vital intelligence of the presentation. The film is about religion and sex, and nothing else and it is that simplicity that makes it fascinating. Bancroft has the role of saint and Leighton is the sinner. Is the poor exposure of this excellent film anything to do with lobbying from the churches, I wonder
after all it must be somewhat embarrassing for them to have an
atheist doubling as a saint and a devout catholic doubling as a religious maniac. The saint sacrifices herself for the majority, just as Jesus was sacrificed. The sinner showed the intolerance characteristic of all religious bodies. By the way, smoking and drinking had already been established for Hollywood characters long before 1966, male and female. It was pushed by lobbying and bribery from the tobacco and alcohol industries and Bogart was a prominent and pitiful victim. So I do not see the smoking and drinking of the Bancroft character as primarily male characteristics. As for the rather muted rudeness she displayed at times, this I see as a very natural reaction to the infernal hypocrisy of the Leighton character - a 'devout catholic' who does not even believe in God "I am looking for something that does not exist" she says. What superb realism.
The end of the film is the only part I did not think satisfying or realistic in view of the character of the doctor. She is obviously a fighter and a very courageous woman. Her final action was cowardly and not in her character at all. All that was necessary was a few more days of cajoling the chief into sufficient liberty to get a horse to match her riding breeches - there were plenty of horses around then kill the bastard, with perhaps a few more thrown in, and make for the main gate pronto.
In conclusion, the film shows a riveting clash of values in a theater piece that hardly needs any set. And the atheist comes out a clear winner. Good for you John Ford!
5 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you? | <urn:uuid:e77e6fa8-b71d-4600-946a-67be82e35fd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060050/ | 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 | 0.974008 | 602 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Business Studies can have the Biz Quiz, so here comes the Politics Quiz, a weekly round up of news and interesting political stories in the form of 10 questions! Helping you to live the Subject!
The Hansard Society have been in touch with us to let us know about a new project they're running this year designed to encourage and stimulate debate about key political and economic issues.
Headsup is an online forum for under 18's to debate political issues with their peers up and down the country, and with influential decision-makers. According to the Hansard Society, Headsup is:
a safe, student-oriented space where young people become more informed about political issues, improve their discussion skills and let adults with political influence know what they think. Debate topics are chosen by the young people and have included a range of subjects, such as; immigration, crime, the NHS, climate change and international aid
Someone once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes.
Talking to a colleague the other day, she suggested this could be a YouTube feature.
To start with then we have Black Wednesday. In the 1992 election the Tories pledged that membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was at the heart of economic policy. For instance their manifesto of that year stated: “Membership of the ERM is now central to our counter-inflation discipline.” Several months later, the Chancellor Norman Lamont announced that Britain would cease to be part of it. From then on, all the way through to the 1997 election, Labour were well ahead in the polls. That the economy was powering ahead mattered little to the British electorate. Essentially the Conservative government never recovered its reputation for sound economic management until Labour then wrecked any credibility they had after the 2008 financial crisis.
What is interesting (and I am disappointed I couldn’t find a clip on YouTube of the individual standing behind Lamont on the day it was announced that interest rates would soar) is the identity of a young man acting as a special adviser to the Chancellor. Who was it? Where could he possibly be now? See if the picture below the BBC 6 o’clock news on Black Wednesday gives you any clue…read more...»
Can you do better than Rory?
With party conference season in full swing I thought of a good teaching and learning exercise on political parties after watching Rory Weal’s speech in Liverpool yesterday. It is essentially a combination of student tasks that I would do on party ideologies at AS anyway, with what candidates in mock elections would be doing in school. But this year we have a standard to beat. Personally I thought Rory delivered a great speech and clearly does not merit most of the flak that he has received from the kind of obviously unhinged people who post comments on YouTube.
If you have yet to see the speech, here is the BBC clip.read more...»
This is not intended to be an exhaustive journey through Barack Obama’s career, but instead to end the series on Politics via YouTube by bringing blog readers access to a step by step tour of some key points in the story of an individual with the kind of charisma and oratorical skill that comes around perhaps only once in several generations.
I have tried wherever possible to link to versions with the best combination of audio visual quality.
Put some time aside, and enjoy…read more...»
Having covered a fair amount of UK highlights, I thought I’d link to some top clips I use in US politics teaching.
These are all pre-Obama. I’m working on bringing video material on the current POTUS together for a future posting.
Happy viewing!read more...»
Intra school cooperation at its best as the Bradford Grammar Politics Department offered up these examples to the Social Science Faculty as part of my quest for more ideas on introducing British Politics via YouTube.read more...»
Gordo’s famous smile didn’t quite make it
Any ideas as to what should complete the 10?
Here are my 9 so far…read more...»
I frequently get asked for an easy to understand guide to the UK political system. Until recently I lacked an adequate answer. But BBC’s Democracy Live page has a whole host of simple guides to UK institutions. Useful for citizenship, lower school PSHE (for teachers and pupils) and those new to AS looking to do a bit of home research.
This is essentially a posting about the virtues of the CNN app for US Politics students
On Twitter I have been posting links to news stories that are an essential daily read for students of Politics that I have come across as part of my personal reading on the web.
This type of heads up on what is in the news is not a substitute for students doing their own reading, but I know that for many students it is the case that there is so much information freely available on the web that it is not always easy to discriminate between items in terms of their direct relevance to the syllabus. This is where the posts are supposed to fill the gap. Just a couple of links each day, and if students have time to read more then they can use these stories as a starting point for further browsing.
My students have already said they find it useful, and I hope more can.
Follow me on @bgsmacca
Some interesting insights on powers/role of the PM, relations with Cabinet, and role of Cabinet in last night’s Dispatches.
These up-to-date examples should help strengthen answers on this, the most popular Unit 2 topic area.
A Californina sized hat tip to Ben on the Economics blog for highlighting the existence of this excellent graphic which compares US states to nations in terms of the size of their economies and populations.
I know this is thinking ahead, but after the AS exams any potential A2 American Politics groups I have are offered the chance to enter the post AS competition on America’s geography, demography and population - regular readers may have read about this exercise in previous postings.
Are politicians getting posher? This week Andrew Neil investigates whether Britain’s political class is once agaim dominated by those coming from privileged backgrounds. Here he is on the One show.
BBC blurb: “David Cameron and Nick Clegg seem made for each other: Eton and Oxford meets Westminster School and Cambridge. But does the return of public school boys to the top of our politics say something worrying about the decline of social mobility in Britain?
Andrew Neil goes on a journey from the Scottish council house he grew up in to the corridors of power to ask if we will ever again see a prime minister emerge from an ordinary background like his.
In this provocative film Andrew seeks to find out why politicians from all parties appear to be drawn from an ever smaller social pool - and why it matters to us all.”
A Times article on Clegg and Cameron.
Wednesday, 21:00 on BBC Two (England, Northern Ireland, Wales only)
Reapportionment and redistricting takes place after each decennial census. Figures for the 2010 census are due to be released shortly, and this USA Today video gives a short and helpful explanation of the reapportionment process.
A heads up on a great site for checking up on the ballot measures at next week’s polls (what one commentator is calling indecision day).
Interesting stuff. You probably know Californians will decide on marijuana use, but what about states considering a ban on affirmative action?
I think I blogged on this previously, but here is a reminder of a neat little exercise for teachers and students. It doesn’t take long, and proved highly popular with my students last year.
If you are a student of American politics, then this post early in the academic year could well be my most important…
These are the sites I most frequently plunder when trying to keep abreast of developments in US politics. These are also the places therefore that I suggest students of the subject try to access as much as possible when trying to get to grips with the politics of the USA. In the same way as linguists recommend immersion learning when studying a new language, getting stuck into some of the US sites really does help.read more...»
I’ve come across a link to a host of documentaries that can be accessed online.
Lots of developments recently regarding arms treaties and the control of nuclear weapons. This neat interactive graphic summarises which nation states currently have nuclear weapons, and also provides a summary timeline of the Arms Race
A little while back I penned an article for t2u’s digital politics magazine outlining the steps that would need to be taken for electoral reform to become a reality for Westminster. In summary, these were: a possible hung parliament; a PM committed to change; a majority of Cabinet; MP support; safe passage through the Lords; and at some stage in all of this a plebiscite of the people.
Like an alignment of the stars, this seems to be taking shape.
Yesterday’s vote on a vote in the Commons on AV brings us closer to moving from simple plurality than at any stage in recent history.
The BBC has some great graphics on how a remodelled election would have played out over the past three decades. Useful stuff for considering the merits of change. From a personal perspective, this move by Labour continues the British tradition of tinkering with the constitution for reasons of short term political expediency. In other words, Brown is trying to cuddle up to the Lib Dems—a horrible image for all sorts of reasons.
I’m sure teachers of American Politics won’t need reminding about the virtues of watching the Daily Show, but students may need a gentle reminder.
The episode broadcast in the UK last night contained a hilarious analysis of Sarah Palin’s major speech at the Tea Party conference in Nashville. Palin is a phenomenon and never quite manages to steer herself away from unintended controversy. If you’re not sure what I’m on about watch a replay from the Channel 4 website. Of course, Jon Stewart is presenting from a left wing perspective and I share many of his personal biases, so it may not be to everyone’s taste!!
There’s a useful two page spread on Obama’s presidency one year on in today’s Independent—here is the link to the web version.
The BBC devotes a special section to the one year anniversary.
And see how you get on with the one year quiz!!!
I’m definitely going to use all the abundant material for students to do a webquest presentation on his first year. A nice way to start Unit 4C having just completed the 3C exam. Andy Lawrence has posted details of a similar exercise on Cameron the t2u Pol teachers forum.
A stunning online slideshow here from Reuters tells the story of a decade of global terror and violence. Many of the images are hard-hitting. All are thought-provoking. An amazing resource to use as stimulus material for Politics units covering global issues.
A super new interactive resource here from the BBC which allows users to track the trends, data and events behind the opinion polls over the last 20-30 years.
I wonder if this clip by Tim Harford will provoke debate among students about race, whether in the UK or the USA.
Want to get a flavour of the degree of partisanship in modern American politics?
Say the Observer:
“Glenn Beck is a TV host, bestselling author and the most influential voice on the rightwing Fox channel. Now, even some Republicans worry that the extreme and maverick views of Beck and his supporters will make their party unelectable. Is the TV tail wagging the political dog?”
Read the rest of the article and listen to this classic five minute radio rant by the man himself. It takes a little time to load up, but it is hilarious. And just a little bit scary!read more...»
The BBC has launched a new online service that should make tracking politics on film easier.
There’s also a very useful section on the various governing institutions, what powers they have, and so forth.
I also came across a section on the online archives on Mrs Thatcher. Lots of clips and Panorama interviews that I once stored on VHS tapes.
Watch this report by Lyndsey Hilsum from Wednesday’s Channel 4 news.
For fans of the classic comedy series “The Day Today”, you may think that this is the work of another set of comedians of a similarly twisted disposition.read more...» | <urn:uuid:959e6a87-f6a3-45e6-8968-1de92d93cb38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/politics/C118 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947237 | 2,616 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Attorneys: Marcellus Shale litigation sure to boom
Share with others:
The sound of drills piercing the Marcellus Shale formation has pricked up the ears of attorneys whose practices range from tax and regulatory to land use and environmental. But personal injury lawyers and class action attorneys have also taken notice of what some believe is an environmental disaster in waiting because of a lack of state government oversight and a natural gas industry rushing to get a piece of the shale.
"The Marcellus Shale [could create] horrendous injuries because you have all this liquid and gas at high pressure, being carried over pipelines, being stored in million gallon ponds and tanks and being injected into the ground at high pressure," said Michael Rosenzweig, a partner and litigation manager in the Pittsburgh office of Edgar Snyder & Associates. "The failure scenarios are quite robust."
Those scenarios include everything from the potential for toxic gas leaks that cause burns and contaminate the environment to gas rig explosions, to somewhat less obvious concerns such as the problems large tanker trucks can create on small rural roadways.
Mr. Rosenzweig said his firm has already seen numerous cases in Pennsylvania unrelated to the Marcellus Shale in which natural gas tankers too large for two-lane roads caused accidents and dragged debris onto the roadways resulting in slick driving conditions for other vehicles.
Mr. Rosenzweig and other plaintiffs firms The Legal Intelligencer spoke to said that, so far, they haven't yet filed many, if any, Marcellus Shale-related injury cases. But many seemed to believe it's only a matter of time.
"They say that anywhere from 1 to 3 percent of the [natural gas] wells that are going to come into Pennsylvania have already come in," Mr. Rosenzweig said, adding that his firm has received a number of calls related to the Marcellus Shale.
"Whatever the effect has been today, it will be 33 times as great [in the future]. So if there's one explosion per month today, there will be 33 explosions per month a year or two years from now. We're seeing only the tip of the iceberg. If there are 250 trucks now, there will be 33 times that ... 8,000 trucks going to the wells and from the wells."
Stephen A. Sheller, founding partner of Sheller P.C. in Philadelphia, which was extensively involved in class action litigation related to the BP oil spill, said he hasn't received any inquiries about the Marcellus Shale but is nevertheless keeping a close eye on the play "because, frankly, it's going to be, if it's not already, a major environmental disaster problem and the governor is shirking obligations to protect the public."
Mr. Sheller said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has displayed "total irresponsibility" with regard to the safety of Pennsylvania residents as natural gas drilling activity increasingly intensifies in the state, citing a lack of governmental oversight and regulation, as well as a refusal to tax the industry "to pay for the damage."
Julia LeMense, an attorney with Weitz & Luxenberg in New York, said her firm first took note of the potential Marcellus Shale-related litigation when they began receiving an influx of calls from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland residents "concerned about what will happen or what they think has already happened to their air and water."
Ms. LeMense said she feels the Marcellus Shale play is ripe for litigation because the natural gas industry is growing in this region at such a fast clip that government regulators are "always playing catch-up."
"I think that, in general, it's a combination of the fact that this industry has boomed, no pun intended, and has outpaced the ability of most state regulators to keep up with it," she said.
"They simply don't have the budget to monitor every step of the process and regulations are only as good as your ability to enforce them."
Ms. LeMense said her firm began hearing concerns about the Marcellus Shale as early as 2007, but began receiving inquiries on a more regular basis beginning in 2009.
"People are concerned about odor; air emission by the drilling process and the treatment process after the gas is extracted; methane in their water because of the potential for explosions," she said, adding that there have also been "quality of life complaints" such as property damage caused by heavy machinery.
Jonathan W. Miller, a partner at the Locks Law Firm in Philadelphia, said his firm has received several Marcellus Shale-related inquiries.
"We have been approached about both negotiating leases and representing adversely impacted neighbors but we have not become involved to date," he said.
Mr. Rosenzweig said that, in addition to the potential hazards to residents, there's a significant risk of injuries to workers on Marcellus Shale drill sites as well.
According to Mr. Rosenzweig, gas rig sites are notoriously dangerous work environments.
"These things happen all the time. It's a common scenario on a drilling rig, people are badly hurt," he said.
But rather than a lack of government regulation, Mr. Rosenzweig blamed these injuries on a lack of supervision and overall safety at each individual site.
"The safety rules are not that specific, so it comes down to on-site safety and superintendence," he said.
And that requires the coordination of multiple contractors at each drill site, which is a rare occurrence, according to Mr. Rosenzweig.
Meanwhile, the same lack of coordination that leads to safety hazards also complicates liability in court, he said.
"Each one of these [gas rigs] is a Tower of Babel, with five to 10 different contractors working on each aspect," he said. "When there's an accident, who's to blame? A points to B and B points to C."
Mr. Rosenzweig, whose firm has yet to file a Marcellus Shale-related suit but has been involved in other natural gas drilling injury cases, said defendants in gas rig injury cases often attempt to "shift and share blame" by bringing in new defendants.
But not all plaintiffs firms that handle environmental torts said they see disaster on the horizon for the Marcellus Shale.
Merrill G. Davidoff, a senior shareholder and chair of the environmental group at Berger & Montague in Philadelphia, for example, said his firm has not been looking at the Marcellus Shale, in part because natural gas is generally considered less hazardous than other forms of fuel.
"All forms of energy have risk and, generally speaking, relative to coal and oil, natural gas is considered a cleaner fuel and one that carries less risk," he said.
A call to Mr. Corbett's office was not returned before press time.
First Published April 11, 2011 12:00 am | <urn:uuid:4d58d695-4940-441e-86bf-3429c5d393c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/legal/attorneys-marcellus-shale-litigation-sure-to-boom-293001/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972957 | 1,435 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Opposition to what are so tendentiously called "the settlements" is not about the "settlements" at all. It is about whether Israel is going to be allowed to decide for itself the minimum conditions of its own survival, or whether others -- apparently to include an Administration so deeply unlearned in the history of the area, and in the claims, and rights, of the Jews to build these "settlements" (simply Jewish villages and towns) on land that was always intended for Jewish settlement by the League of Nations in its Mandate for Palestine. That was one among many mandates created after World War I, several of which led to the creation of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq -- that is, three of the now-22 members of the Arab League. Other mandates were intended to make provision for some of the many other non-Arab or non-Muslim peoples -- but the Kurdish state and the Armenian state as originally envisioned were still-born, and the Jews received not all of historic Palestine, but only Western Palestine, while again the Arabs took the lion's share for themselves.
It is not the "settlements" that are at stake, but whether or not Israel will control the small sliver of territory, the "West Bank," without which the Jordan Valley, and the historic invasion route from the east, cannot be controlled. For if Jewish settlements are stopped, if the decision is taken out of Israel's hands, and if its claims are de-legitimized, it is just part of a deliberate, unending, and most cunning attempt by Muslim Arabs to push Israel back, so as to whittle away at it, and step by step to weaken Israel and demoralize its population. This has been written about and spoken about so much in the Arab media that it is inexcusable for those who make policy to continue to have failed to notice it.
This would be done in stages. Mahmoud Abbas is the leading proponent, at present, of this Two-Stage Solution. That is what he means when he says "we choose peace as a strategic option." Not "peace" tout court, but "peace as a strategic option." First, by opposing the Jewish claim to have any natural expansion in what are so wrongly called "settlements," this would condemn Jews, but not Arabs, to keeping their population from increasing in the "West Bank." That would inevitably lead to their shriveling. It would start the process of forcing Israel to yield, to give up those Jewish villages and towns, to give up their rightful claim that was already shrunken by 77% when Great Britain created, back in 1922, the Emirate of Transjordan out of Eastern Palestine. Eastern Palestine was originally intended for inclusion in the Mandate for Palestine.
If Israel cannot allow even for natural growth in its "settlements" -- meaning apparently no babies are to be born beyond the replacement level, while the Arabs in the "West Bank" and in pre-1967 borders of Israel, like the Muslims living everywhere, are permitted to have eight and ten and twelve children per family, we know the result. And if Israel's settlements are paralyzed, and painted even in the Untied States -- never mind the U.N. -- as illegitimate, the pressure on Israel, which is already immense, would likely force the Israelis, despite their own need to survive, to give up the "West Bank" that offers them the only strategic depth they possess. Israel without the "West Bank" is nine miles wide, from Kalkilya to the sea. It can be cut in two with ease by the fabulously well-armed, and overwhelmingly more numerous Arabs. Unless Israel is prepared at once to use nuclear weapons, it can be overrun. And not only must Israel continue to control the Jordan Valley and the historic invasion routes from the East, but it must also control the aquifers under the "West Bank" that are so vital.
The "West Bank" was always supposed to be part of Mandatory Palestine. It should legally be regarded, as the late Dean of Yale Law School Eugene Rostow noted, and as the Australian jurist Julius Stone so convincingly showed in his exhaustive book-length legal study, as an "unallocated part of the Mandate." Its legal status was unaffected, that is, by the Jordanian seizure and rule from 1949 to 1967. So when the Americans suggest, or more outrageously, "demand," that Israel stop "settlement activity," they are saying that the Mandate for Palestine is null and void.
They are saying, these people who have the presumption to tell the permanently-imperiled Jews of Israel what to do, that those Jews do not have a right to the small sliver of land that constitutes Western Palestine. They are saying that we must accept the camouflaged Jihad, the one that since the Six-Day War has presented that Jihad against Israel as a campaign for the "legitimate rights" of the hastily invented "Palestinian people" (never mentioned by the Arabs before that Six-Day War, not by any Arab diplomat, or political figure, or "intellectual" -- the phrase "Palestinian Arabs" or just "Arabs" or "Arabs of Palestine" -- never the "Palestinian people" -- was what one heard). It was a neat trick, and pursued quite determinedly. And much of the world has accepted this nonsense.
But now the world's Infidels are beginning to realize that Islam itself is a problem for them. Much to their regret, the peoples of Western Europe, for various reasons, but everywhere with a civilisational nonchalance or negligence that is lamented now by all of them, they allowed, over the past forty years, large numbers of Muslims into their midst. They also allowed many other immigrants. But none of those immigrants, save for the Muslims, bring with them, in their mental baggage, not merely an alien creed, but an alien and a permanently hostile creed.
For Islam is based on the idea of a state of permanent war existing between Muslims and Unbelievers. Muslims have a duty, sometimes collective and sometimes individual, to participate in the struggle or Jihad to remove all obstacles to the spread, and then the dominance, of Islam. It is this that the most intelligent and farseeing Infidels are coming to recognize. And as more and more of them do, the monstrous mistreatment, based on vicious or ignorant misreporting, of the Arab Muslim war made on Israel, and Israel's attempts to survive despite that unending war conducted by all possible means, will be recognized. Then, the former sympathy for Israel, that it enjoyed before 1967 and the attempt to paint it as a might aggressor, will return, at least to the minds of the informed men of good will.
If Israel is forced into limiting the natural growth of its villages and towns in that part of Mandatory Palestine that the Jordanians seized and held until 1967, it will then have troops there and no civilians. And then the claim will be made that Israel is merely a "military occupier" because of its having been forced to remove its civilians, who stand for those legal, historic, and moral claims. The world is ununderstanding of, and unsympathetic to, Israel's plight as the victim of a Lesser Jihad that has been quite openly recognized as such, called as such, by Arabs and Muslims when they address other Arabs and Muslims, but not so described when they are smilingly presenting the Arab case to the West. To the West the would-be destroyers of Israel present a case of pretend victimization. Yet they have done nothing to construct a "Palestinian" state in Gaza, and exist in order only to destroy what the Jews so incredibly, with such hardship and heartbreak, created out of the "ruin" and "desolation" described by every 19th century Western traveler who visited the Holy Land.
Without those Jewish villages and towns, those so-called "settlements," Israel would be more easily depicted as having no claim other than that of military occupier to this absurdly-named (by the Jordanians) "West Bank" -- that is, parts of Judea and Samaria, as it was called by everyone in the Western world until the Jordanians renamed it, like the Romans changing Judea to Palestine and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. Its legal, moral, historic claims would be forgotten. My god, they are quite forgotten by many people, even in Washington, already. That must not happen.
Above all, there must be, for the moral sanity of Washington, and this country and the entire West, some preservation of what can only be called a sense of justice, of equity. At a time of continued squandering of men, money, and materiel, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, the confusion about Islam and ignorance of it that causes that squandering (which is entirely unnecessary if the well-prepared are listened to) also reveals itself in the temptation of appeasement. And as with Chamberlain and Daladier in Munich in 1938, our current leaders in the Western world, not knowing what to do about Islam, and willfully refusing to find out more about the matter, possibly for fear of what they might find out, are willing to appease, and the coin they offer is the safety and security of a tiny country.
By sacrificing that county, by listening to the demands of the Nazis or of the Arab Muslims, the Western powers -- then Great Britain and France, today the United States -- hopes that that will make things somehow better. It won't. The Sudetenland did not sate Hitler's appetite, but whetted it, and showed him the pusillanimity of France and Great Britain. Forcing Israel, step by step, back within the 1949 Armistice Lines, the "lines of Auschwitz," as Mahmoud Abbas and the Slow Jihadists (King Abdullah of Jordan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, tutti quanti) want it, will lead only to Israel's destruction.
Justice. Equity. A sense of history, and of the most persecuted tribe in human history, the Jews. A sense of proportion, knowing that the Arabs are the most richly endowed, with land and natural wealth, of any people on earth. And yet, everywhere they deny to all others within the lands they rule, to all non-Muslims and non-Arabs, any hint not only of independence or autonomy, but even of something like equality with the ruling Muslim Arabs.
The Jews, like the Copts, like the Maronites, like the Kurds, like the black Africans of the Sudan like the Berbers, like so many other non-Arab and non-Muslim peoples, have through the centuries been ill-treated by those Arab Muslims all over the Middle East and North Africa. They deserve what they asked for, and the intelligent leaders who had to deal with the remnants of the Ottoman Empire knew they deserved what they asked for: the right to buy land, and to construct a country, and to be the inheritors, from the Ottoman state, of those lands owned by that state. That was all they asked for, and that was what they got. Now the Arabs, determined to deny that Infidel nation-state any existence, are divided between those who, like the Fast Jihadists of Hamas, want to go in for the kill at once, and those who, like the Slow Jihadists of Fatah, see the wisdom of patiently de-constructing Israel, step by step, with help from the confused (morally and geopolitically) Americans and Europeans.
Finally, there is the failure of so many to study how Muslims regard treaties made with Infidels. They do not adhere, as some may blandly assume, to the principle that seems to Westerners so obvious, but that in fact had to be arrived at, and then accepted, as it has been all over the West. That principle is the one known as Pacta Sunt Servanda, or, Treaties are to be obeyed. That is a principle of Western law, but not of Islamic law. In Islam, the model for all treaties made with Infidels is that agreement, that "hudna," or ten-year truce, made by Muhammad with the Meccans in 628 A.D. It was a treaty that, eighteen months later, feeling his side to be stronger, Muhammad violated on a pretext. He has been hailed for this splendid act of cunning, this illustration of his oft-repeated claim that "war is deception." Since Muslims are always in a state of war with any non-Muslims who resist the dominance of Islam, war-making includes the making of treaties to lull the enemy, or to buy time in order to build up one's forces, or to pursue war, that is the Jihad, by means other than qitaal or combat, or in combination with qitaal or combat.
None of this is fabricated. One has only to read the many Muslim commentators on Islam. Read the non-Muslim commentators. Read Joseph Schacht. Read Antoine Fattal. Read Bassam Tibi. Read Majid Khadduri. Find out what they have to say about Hudiabiyya, and its continuing to be the guiding model for all subsequent treaty-making with non-Muslims.
Merely being "pro-Israel" is not enough, if you do not bother to learn about the nature of the war being made on Israel, and on the entire Infidel world. For if you are one of those who thinks that "being Jewish" or "having a Likud father" or "being as pro-Israel as they come" (shades of Rahm Emanuel) allows you to endorse, or seem to endorse, policies that endanger Israel's survival because they are based on a misunderstanding of the nature of Arab Muslim treaty-making, and of the nature of the war -- a war without end, but one that is manageable, that can be contained, through invocation of "Darura" or necessity -- then you have another think coming. | <urn:uuid:d5540d1b-c7b4-4bc8-9d54-4ae7fef5db52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_email.cfm/blog_id/32744 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969919 | 2,892 | 1.820313 | 2 |
History of Initiative & Referendum in Utah
Utah got off to a deceptively fast start with I&R when, in 1900, it became the second state in the country to ratify the initiative and referendum process. The man most responsible for this early victory was State Representative Sherman S. Smith of Ogden, the legislature's "lone Populist." But another I&R advocate, Henry W. Lawrence of Salt Lake City, wondered whether the legislature would pass reasonable implementing legislation: "The great trouble now will be to get the Legislature to adopt legislation to...make it [I&R] effective, as our Legislature will be Republican and no doubt generally opposed to the principle."
Lawrence's concern was on target. Sixteen years later, I&R advocates were still waiting for the legislature to pass an implementing law. Finally, in 1916, they organized the Popular Government League of Utah to lobby for such a law. Its officers were Parley P. Christensen, president; Dr. Grace Stratton-Airey, vice president; and Parker B. Cady, secretary-treasurer.
The legislature reluctantly passed an implementing bill, but it was worthless: among other restrictions, it specified that anyone signing a petition to put an initiative on the ballot had to sign "in the office and in the presence of an officer competent to administer oaths." The reformers were outraged. The law effectively prohibited initiative sponsors from circulating petitions. After World War II, the restrictions finally were eased, but it was still not easy to put an initiative on the ballot.
First successful initiative in 1960
In 1960, Utah voters approved Initiative A--the first time a statewide initiative had been approved, and the third time one had appeared on the ballot. Initiative A established a merit system procedure for hiring and employing county deputy sheriffs, thus ending the corrupt patronage system.
Hunters shoot down initiatives
Over the years, the animal protection movement was very active in Utah – putting fear in the hearts of hunters. Out of fear of how the animal protection groups would use the initiative process, pro-hunting groups began a crusade against the initiative process. In 1998 they were successful in convincing the state legislature to drastically curb the initiative process by increasing the distribution requirement for initiatives and also requiring that animal protection initiatives must pass by a two-thirds vote of the people. This was accomplished through Proposition 5 in 1998, a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. The constitutionality of Proposition 5 was unsuccessfully challenged in federal court in Initiative & Referendum Institute v. Herbert.
25% initiative success rate
From 1952 through 2007, Utahns petitioned 20 initiatives onto the ballot; only four of these have passed. Those four are the 2000 Marijuana Initiative, the 2000 English As Official Language Initiative, the 1976 End Compulsory Fluoridation Initiative and 1960's Initiative A.
Gallivan v. Walker
In 2002, the Utah Supreme Court in the case of Gallivan v. Walker, struck down the state statute passed in 1998 that made the state's distribution requirement more restrictive, and ordered the state to put the Utah Radioactive Waste, Initiative 1 (2002) on the ballot even though it fell short (by six counties) of satisfying the 20-county distribution rule.
- Results of Utah Initiatives and Referendums 1960-2004
- Utah Statewide Initiative Usage A chart from the I&R Institute.
- History of Utah's initiative
This page is partly based on an article published by the Initiative & Referendum Institute, and is used with their permission. Their article, in turn, relies on research in David Schmidt's book, Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution.
History of I&R
Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Florida · Idaho · Illinois · Kentucky · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Mexico · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · South Dakota · Utah · Washington · Wyoming
Direct Legislation by the Citizenship Through the Initiative and Referendum · Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution · Direct Legislation: Voting on Ballot Propositions in the United States | <urn:uuid:47e5dcf7-6dc4-42d6-a863-99ee7f304276> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/History_of_Initiative_&_Referendum_in_Utah | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923228 | 855 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Dyslexia (dis-LEKS-ee-uh) is a learning disability, not a disease, that's characterized by problems in expressing or receiving spoken or written language. It's caused by differences in the structure and function of the brain, which has problems translating language to thought--as in listening or reading--or thought to language--as in writing or speaking. Dyslexia affects more than the ability to read, write, and spell, and no two people have the same symptoms. Some of the common signs of the disorder include: lack of awareness of sounds in words, sound order, or sequence of syllables, and difficulty identifying single words or spelling. There also may be problems with reading comprehension, problems expressing thoughts in writing; delayed spoken language and difficulty in expressing thoughts orally; and difficulties with handwriting and math. People with dyslexia often have strengths in areas controlled by the right brain, such as ones that require strong creativity or athletic ability. Children with dyslexia can be taught how to read, write, and spell fluently, but they usually have to be taught differently, either through special education or other classroom modification methods. There are many professional and advocacy groups dedicated to research and referrals about dyslexia. | <urn:uuid:f369e513-1343-4096-8564-54fce0dbb428> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whptv.com/guides/health/story/Dyslexia/tM47fhuGHkqtWgAfhxleMQ.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967563 | 250 | 4.25 | 4 |
Proper fluid intake with electrolytes Before, During and After exercise will enhance the effectiveness of your training program by promoting optimal hydration.
Optimal hydration relies on a normal electrolyte balance. Salt loss due to sweating can be significant and this is why sodium intake is recommended during prolonged exercise. Additionally, a 2%-3% drop in weight due to dehydration can result in up to a 20% drop in your performance.
Optimal hydration status can be achieved very easy with one tablet of SportAktive Easy electrolytes in your water bottle.
SportAktive Easy electrolytes are superior to other hydration formulas because they: | <urn:uuid:05b69c78-f223-487d-8d77-98dde2ee0457> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportaktive.com/optimize-your-body/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931698 | 131 | 1.679688 | 2 |
“It was a fun movie to watch but not a fun movie to make,” notes director Steven Spielberg when asked about Jaws upon the occasion of its Blu-ray debut. “I think of a period in my life when I was much younger than I am, and I think because I was younger, I was more courageous — or more stupid; I'm not sure which. When I think of Jaws, I think about courage and stupidity, and about both of those existing underwater.”
In 1974, when Universal sent Spielberg and the production team to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., to film writer Peter Benchley’s best seller about a seaside tourist community violently terrorized by a Great White shark, few could have foreseen the production problems or the ultimate success that awaited. Indeed, one of the most popular American films of the 1970s, one often credited with starting a trend of ubiquitous “summer blockbusters,” had a myriad of troubles once on location. Martha’s Vineyard was chosen primarily because it was one of the only locations that provided shallow waters of 30 to 40 feet several miles away from shore. These “shallows” allowed the production to make use of a mechanical shark that ran on tracks hidden beneath the water. Unfortunately, the salt-water elements were brutal on the special-effects department's shark, and it rarely worked, forcing the production to be months over schedule.
In addition to shark problems, shooting on open water added a host of other difficulties, including passing boats getting into the frames, seasickness, uncooperative tides and even sinking sets. Cinematographer Bill Butler, ASC (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), who worked closely with Spielberg establishing a look for Jaws that simulated a person's point of view while swimming, spent most of his time on the picture in the water with the director. Butler created a special camera platform that worked with the water to accommodate both “below the water line” and “surface” shots quickly. To handle the longer surface shots the film required, Butler vigorously reconfigured the standard “water box” casing used to hold a camera in the water. He also is acknowledged for heroically saving footage from a camera that sank into the ocean, having claimed sea water is similar to saline-based developing solutions. “We got on an airplane with the film in a bucket of water, took it to New York and developed it. We didn't loose a foot,” the veteran cinematographer calmly states on one of the Blu-ray’s special features. Butler’s memorable and influential work on Jaws is one of the many reasons the ASC honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.
As part of Universal Studios 100-Year Anniversary, Jaws has its debut on Blu-ray after a painstaking restoration of the original negative source materials. The high-definition image transfer here
is bound to please even the most critical viewers. While there is evidence of judicious use of DNR, the image is always crisp and vivid, with a light trace of film grain throughout. Colors appear properly saturated but not overripe. There are solid contrasts throughout and an overall intensity that seemed missing from previous standard-definition DVD versions. The Spielberg-approved image restoration is the definitive home-screen presentation of this popular title. Universal has also worked closely on restoring the film's creative, original monaural mix, which is clean and possesses surprising depth. The devised, slick, 7.1 surround remix is immersive when appropriate and never feels overproduced.
A plethora of special features that include an incredible amount of supplemental information make a big splash with this highly anticipated release. Surfacing again are segments produced for or found on the 1995 laserdisc release, including a selection of deleted scenes and outtakes, an eight-minute featurette from 1974, an archive of promotional materials and director Laurent Bouzereau’s excellent, 122-minute documentary, The Making of Jaws, which features cast and crew members. Also included is director Erik Hollander’s engaging 2007, 100-minute documentary, The Shark is Still Working, featuring more interviews with cast and crew.
The lone new supplement and featured in high definition is an eight-minute piece on the film's restoration. Previously available on the Universal Web site, it is an informative report on the way this neoclassic thriller has been rejuvenated featuring Spielberg and numerous technicians. It reminds us why the high-definition, Blu-ray platform is so exciting and important as a showcase for film history. This terrific new edition of this popular and expertly crafted thriller is sure to turn screens a lurid red as the infamous Great White swims home again, this time in razor-sharp high definition. | <urn:uuid:40471540-ddd7-40bb-a718-d29691b707ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ascmag.com/ac_magazine/October2012/DVDPlayback/page1.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957461 | 990 | 1.9375 | 2 |
By Dan Meyers
Jill Stainkamp Castoe, a professional research assistant, readies a gene sequencer at the School of Medicine.
(May 2012) The patient required higher than expected doses of the drug warfarin to prevent clotting. Matt Taylor, MD, was concerned: Was the unusual dose caused by genetic factors or by the temporary use of another medication that was interacting with the warfarin?
If the patient went off the other medication, and if that other drug was the issue, her warfarin dose could be too high, potentially causing bleeding complications.
Taylor, an associate professor at the CU School of Medicine and director of the Adult Medical Genetics Program, used genetic testing to figure it out. He looked for DNA sequence differences in two genes that can guide dosing—CYP2C9 and VKORC1. The results argued against her genetic makeup causing the high warfarin dose. The patient now knew that when she went off the other drug she likely would need to reduce her warfarin.
It’s just one example of the growing realm of personalized medicine. From cancer to pulmonary fibrosis, cardiology to clotting, a person’s genes often can predict disease, confirm a diagnosis or guide treatment.
“Personalized medicine is not new but it is accelerating,” says David Schwartz, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “It may take a while but it’s going to explode and represents one of our next opportunities. It will have a profound effect in terms of clinical trials and treatments. The care of some of our most complex patients will be decided by their molecular attributes.”
David Schwartz, MD
Schwartz and others caution that while personalized medicine means medical advances it also raises new ethical questions that will have to be carefully addressed.
The school of medicine and CU are moving into personalized medicine in a number of ways, both institutional and individual. A new center is planned to help support research; researchers are exploring personalized medicine; it’s being used for treatment and it’s part of the students’ curriculum.
One institutional step involves biomedical informatics—the ability to collect lots of clinical and biological data and crunch it.
Dr. Richard Krugman, dean of the medical school and vice chancellor of health affairs for the University of Colorado Denver, says that expanding biomedical informatics capability is a crucial step to competing in the research environment of the future.
“To do that, we will create two units,” Krugman says, “an academic division in the Department of Medicine and a center that will support the collection and analysis of the vast amounts of data that are the foundation of personalized medicine.”
The center will be housed in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.
Already, personalized medicine is blossoming at CU:
Frank Accurso, MD
Last January, the FDA approved a treatment for cystic fibrosis pioneered by Dr. Frank Accurso, a pediatrics professor with the CU medical school. In the past, doctors only could treat the complications caused by CF. A decade ago, scientists learned that a defect in the protein CFTR causes cystic fibrosis. Accurso led the clinical trial that showed the new treatment, using the drug Kalydeco, helps about 4 percent of CF patients by targeting the mutation. He hopes as many as 90 percent will eventually benefit.
In the past, about a third of patients with a suspicious thyroid nodule couldn’t be sure from tissue analysis whether they had cancer. In those cases, patients often had their thyroid removed, just to be sure. Research led by CU’s Bryan Haugen, MD,
head of the endocrinology division, helped show that a test of 167 genes could make the call on cancer and spare many patients the cost, risk and discomfort of surgery. (See story on facing page).
Ross Camidge, MD,
director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program at University of Colorado Cancer Center and an associate professor of the medical school, is helping a subset of lung cancer patients with a mutation called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). ALK is a strong indicator that the drug crizotanib will, for a time at least, shrink or stabilize tumors in 90 percent of patients. In general, personalized medicine has had a large impact in the cancer field. “One-size-fits-all treatments are yesterday’s paradigm,” Camidge says. “This is personalized medicine.”
Researchers led by a team from National Jewish Health peered into the genes of 82 families with a history of pulmonary fibrosis. They found a common variation near the MUC5B gene, associated with mucus formation, that greatly increases the risk of pulmonary fibrosis in individuals, regardless of family history of the disease. The risk variant of MUC5B results in excess lung mucus; mucus is a benefit to the lungs unless there’s too much of it. This discovery gives science a new, genetic target for research aimed at finding a cure for the now-fatal disease. Schwartz, the Department of Medicine chair, was senior author of the paper on the findings.
Karl Lewis, MD,
helped demonstrate that for the half of metastatic melanoma patients with the genetic BRAF V600 mutation, there was significant benefit from the drug Vemurafenib. With the drug, survival more than doubled from about 6 months to 15.9 months. Lewis, an investigator at the CU Cancer Center and associate professor at the School of Medicine, notes that until a year and a half ago, no effective drug existed for metastatic melanoma — the most dangerous form of skin cancer. The BRAF V600 mutation signals a cell to grow without bounds. Vemurafenib is a BRAF inhibitor. For metastatic melanoma patients with a BRAF mutation “This represents a new standard of care,” says Lewis, one of the authors of a Vemurafenib study published in February in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Future doctors grapple with personalized medicine as part of their medical school training. In CU’s interprofessional ethics course, for example, students wrestle with tricky ethical questions arising from genetic testing. Personalized medicine is covered in lectures about cancer.
And Taylor, the doctor who tested for warfarin-related genetic variations, gives a lecture to medical students about pharmacogenetics: using genetic variations to guide drug therapy. Taylor tells his students that researchers have estimated that adverse drug reactions (which include more than genetically driven problems) are the fourth to sixth ranked cause of death in the United States.
This striking conclusion motivates researchers and doctors to move away from “one-size-fits-all” prescribing, Taylor says, to find ways of tailoring treatments to avoid adverse events and maximize health.
Personalized medicine is an interesting term. Much of medicine, after all, is “personal.”
But nine years after completion of the Human Genome Project, health care is entering a transformative realm by using “an individual’s genetic profile to guide decisions,” in the words of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Personalized medicine is seeping into our culture. It has gained a “nearly cult-like following” in popular media, Steve Nissen, with the Cleveland Clinic, recently wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His essay called for “the same scrutiny required of all therapeutic advances—careful evaluation through well-designed randomized clinical trials.”
Several companies now will analyze a person’s genes for a fee of a few hundred dollars. The topic has even hit television comedy. In the show 30 Rock, one character asks a quack physician, “When they check my DNA, will it tell what diseases I might get, or help me to remember my ATM pin code?”
The TV doctor’s answer: “Absolutely. Science is whatever we want it to be.”
It’s a joke, of course, but also a reminder that personalized medicine, while promising (and in some cases delivering) advances, won’t be “whatever we want it to be.” Genes aren’t everything. Environment and other factors can play big roles in what happens to a person. Some people are genetically predisposed to heart problems. But diet and environment can make a huge difference.
There are other questions as well—ethical issues, being discussed in CU classrooms and across the country, about privacy of information and the implications of widespread testing.
What would result if all fetuses were tested for a range of genetic traits that inevitably would find harbingers of medical trouble? Imagine when that knowledge collides with the abortion debate. What if routine, broad genetic analysis began to unearth paternity surprises? What policies should guide a future society that can find and fix problematic genes or even enhance average ones?
Meanwhile, the research continues and is likely to grow at the school of medicine. Schwartz says the goal is to apply that research to help patients.
“The biggest problem is not developing the knowledge but understanding how these new insights about disease can be used to fundamentally improve the way we practice medicine and enhance the outcome for our patients,” he says. “While we are years if not a decade from being there, the opportunity is right there, tangible, in front of us.” | <urn:uuid:cca5b7eb-5de2-4f41-8a5f-853eb7e8184c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/administration/alumni/CUMedToday/features/PersonalMedicine/Pages/personalmedicine.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942814 | 1,979 | 2.5625 | 3 |
A quick summary of the major conclusions:
1) Joseph Smith was the primary author of the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar, although his scribes came along for the ride as participant-observers.
2) The Alphabet and Grammar was not reverse-engineered from the Book of Abraham, as some have claimed. Rather, Abraham 1:1-3 was created by cobbling together a number of Alphabet and Grammar entries. This was done prior to September 1835.
3) A few other verses in the Book of Abraham also borrow from the Grammar, but apparently the use of the Grammar as a translation key quickly petered out because it was too laborious.
Among the highlights of the paper, we find:
1) The name for Egypt given by the Grammar is a nineteenth-century Egyptianization (Ah=meh=strah) of Josephus's Hellenization (Mestre) of the Hebrew name (Mizraim) for Egypt (anciently called Kemet).
2) Joseph Smith's parents implied that the idea of using an Egyptian alphabet as a translation key was initially designed for use with the Book of Mormon.
3) Smith was already experimenting with creating an Adamic alphabet prior to the arrival of the papyri in Kirtland. The Egyptian Alphabet follows roughly the same plan as a May, 1835 "Specimen of the original language", and in fact incorporates material from that earlier document.
Edited by Chris Smith, 06 October 2009 - 10:00 PM. | <urn:uuid:e9d83503-7a24-4051-9f9f-04031b8836f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/45656-my-jwha-paper-on-the-egyptian-alphabet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962607 | 316 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Local Jobs in Staten Island, NY
Economists Offer an Encouraging Perspective
The last few weeks haven't done much to shore up consumer confidence or a sense of job security for millions of Americans. Sharp declines in the stock market coupled with announcements of employee cutbacks by major companies including Cisco and Intel, have left many wondering if recession is imminent.
"It's not," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist and senior market strategist for Banc of America Capital Management. "Although the job outlook is definitely softer today than a year ago, I think we're still going to avoid recession." Economic data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on March 9th contributed to Reaser's encouraging prediction. "The unemployment rate remained at 4.2 percent in February, which is still close to full employment," she noted. "And we still created new jobs in February" --- 135,000 new jobs to be precise.
Those additional 135,000 jobs brought the total number of Americans employed in non-agricultural roles to 132.2 million, a record high, according to Ron Bird, chief economist for the Employment Policy Foundation in Washington, D.C. "February turned out to be the sixth straight month that we set all-time records for total non-agricultural wage payroll employment," said Bird. "Total payroll employment in February 2001 was 1.8 million higher than in February 2000." Bird also noted that the more comprehensive household survey data, which includes the agricultural sector as well as those who are self-employed, showed total employment of 135.8 million in February, down only slightly from January's historical record of 135.9 million.
Also encouraging, according to Bird, was February's figure for the duration of unemployment --- the time it takes someone unemployed to find new employment. "The median duration of unemployment only went up to 6.0 weeks from 5.9 weeks in January. That's just an additional day and a half. It's been bumping around at that rate for the last 18 months. And in the past ten years, there have only been a couple of months that had a lower duration of unemployment than that," said Bird. "Also, the mean duration of unemployment was 12 weeks, lower than January's 12.6 weeks, and essentially no different than the average across all twelve months of last year," Bird added, noting that the mean tends to be higher than the median due to the impact of a small number of long-term unemployed people.
Despite their upbeat remarks, Reaser and Bird aren't blind to the economy's weaknesses. "One worrisome signal in last month's employment data was the number of job losers, people unemployed not by choice but because they lost their jobs. That number increased by 200,000 people from the January number," said Bird. "In February, we also saw more people whose job losses were permanent and not just due to temporary furlough."
"The manufacturing sector is the core of the weakness in the economy," noted Reaser. "The job losses are still significant in that sector --- from semiconductor to apparel manufacturing." Reaser also said the tech sector may see more pain before the current slowdown is over. "It was the last sector to be affected and will likely be the last to recover," she said.
"There will, however, still be opportunities for technology workers," said Reaser. "They may not be in the dot-coms but there will be opportunities in industries that are adding personnel."
Which industries are those? "There are still jobs being added in mortgage banking, construction, insurance, transportation, health care, education and in the energy sector," said Reaser. "That's why one should not be alarmed about announcements of layoffs to a point of exaggeration, particularly layoffs in the manufacturing sector. There are still opportunities in other parts of the economy."
Ultimately, Reaser believes, "this is unlikely to be the kind of year we saw in the last recession. I don't think we'll see the widespread job losses we saw then. We're still creating jobs and I think we'll avoid recession. We think the economy will show better growth in the second half of the year."
Also fairly optimistic, Bird says an appropriate response to the current slowdown can head off a recession. "Right now, we're looking at a pattern similar to that of 1996, when the economy paused but a recession was avoided by timely and effective policy action," he said. "Once again, the key to continuing on a path of economic health is timely action in terms of interest rate cuts, tax cuts, or other policy initiatives. If no action is taken, the economy could certainly teeter into a recession, but there appears to be a window of opportunity for quick, decisive action to avoid economic hardship."
|More Career Advice|
Job Seeker Resource Center
Automotive Jobs | Construction Jobs | Engineering Jobs | Financial Services Jobs | Government Jobs | Green Jobs | Hospitality Jobs including Restaurants & Hotels | Insurance Jobs | Manufacturing Jobs | Non-Profit Jobs | Pharmaceutical Jobs | Biotechnology Jobs | Pharmaceutical/Biotech Sales Jobs | Real Estate Jobs | Browse All Industries
Accounting Jobs | Administrative/Clerical Jobs | Bilingual Jobs | Drivers & Transportation Jobs | Customer Service Jobs | Teaching Jobs | School Jobs (non-teaching) | Library Jobs | First Jobs | Nursing Jobs | Allied Health Jobs | Physicians Jobs | Dietary/Nutrition Jobs | Healthcare Administration Jobs | Mental Health/Social Services Jobs | Dental Jobs | Human Resources Jobs | Information Technology Jobs | Sales Jobs | Browse All Skills
Sister Job Search Sites
Jobs in New Jersey | Jobs in Pennsylvania | Jobs in Lehigh Valley, PA | Jobs in Syracuse, NY | Jobs in Massachusetts | Jobs in Alabama | Jobs in Cleveland, Ohio | Jobs in New Orleans, Louisiana | Jobs in Oregon |
• The "f" opens our Facebook Fan page in a new window
• The "t" opens our Twitter page in a new window
• The "g+" opens our Google+ page in a new window
• The orange button links to our RSS feeds page
• The cell phone button links to our mobile service page | <urn:uuid:b4798809-442e-4444-9efe-acb49a87adfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.silive.com/careerwise/index.ssf?/careerwise/html/articles/archive/economists.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958131 | 1,261 | 1.828125 | 2 |
08/08/11 While perhaps not unprecedented, it was certainly unusual for girl’s softball games to be played with pink softballs; but that’s what happened last Saturday during the Knockout Cancer event held in Bremen.
The big 14Ugame between the Bremen Knockouts and the Nappanee Storms was played to celebrate the lives of those who have beat cancer, in remembrance of others who lost their battle against the disease and as a fundraiser to help save lives in the future.
The idea for the event that included a two-mile charity walk, cancer survivor and remembrance ceremony, balloon launch and softball game was spearheaded by Fox 28 Sports Director Dean Huppert. Huppert is also an assistant coach for the Bremen Knockouts.
Huppert said, “At Christmas when each of the girls on the team received a pink Knockout Cancer T-shirt, the enthusiasm for the event started to rise.” Huppert couldn’t say enough about the work of the team in preparing for the event that raised some $6000 that will be donated to the Community Hospital of Bremen towards the purchase of Digital Mammography equipment. “The girls all showed up at 2:00 today to start blowing up balloons for the ceremony launch. They spent hours cleaning up Jane’s Park since the walk would pass by there.” said Huppert. Jane’s Park was named for the late Bremen resident Jane Sieg Stillson who lost her battle with cancer after making the decision to forego treatment to save her then unborn child.
Huppert said part of the idea of the event was to raise awareness of the need for early detection of breast cancer. During the week before the event, team members were given a tour of the hospital and given information on the need for mammograms. Fifteen staff members of the hospital were actively involved in the event by manning the silent auction, providing cancer related information, and a host of other duties.
Helping to start the charity walk was twelve-year-old cancer survivor Evan Johnson of Argos. When Evan was ten, a chest x-ray to determine why he continued to have a cough and cold symptoms after having what they thought was the routine flu showed a mass in his lungs. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and treated at Riley’s Children Hospital in Indianapolis. Now, he is cancer free. Evan said, “You need to stay strong, just get through it and believe in yourself.” He added, “So many people came to help me beat it and I wanted to help others beat it too.” Evan’s parents Bruce and Kerry Johnson and brothers Kyle and Kurt believe his recovery was due in part to Evan’s attitude.
Although it was the final weekend before the start of football season, two Norte Dame players were on hand to support the event. Quarterback Dayne Crist and center Braxton Cave participated in the opening ceremony. Cave spoke of his grandmother’s battle with breast cancer and encouraged those attending to do all they can to help fight the disease. Crist said, “This is an amazing event. We are very humbled to be part of it.” He added, “Notre Dame football players work very hard, but it doesn’t compare with the struggles anyone with cancer goes through.”
Also getting the walkers off was Huppert’s friend Kris Verash and Fox 28 Sports Anchor Allison Hayes. Both have been a part of the planning for the event. Verash said the event took on a deeper meaning for him since he recently learned his girlfriend has cancer.
Addressing the crowd prior to the game, Huppert said, “You never know when cancer is going to hit your family.” He shared that his father had cancer in the 1990’s. He said, “We are all here for one cause. no one has given up hope.”
Leading the survivor walk was Huppert’s mother who is a breast cancer survivor. Other survivors of the disease walked the bases representing the different plateaus in beating the disease. While the survivors were walking, balloons were let go to remember those who have lost their cancer battles.
Huppert said he was inspired by the way the North Judson girls basketball team rallied around one of their own when she was diagnosed with bone cancer. He said, “Ashley Derrickson wasn’t able to play her freshman or sophomore years, but did get a chance to make a memorable point during her junior year.” The teenager eventually lost her life to the disease. Her parents, Mike and Sheri Derrickson, were at the Bremen event on Saturday to support other families and encourage awareness for finding a cure.
The Bremen Knockouts and coaches mike Huppert, Beth Huppert, Jamie Czarnecki, Matt Gilley, Dean Huppert and Mitch Huppert shared their gratitude saying, “The Bremen Knockouts would like to thank all cancer survivors for giving us hope. We’d also like to remember those how have passed for giving us a fighting spirit.”
Carol Anders Correspondent | <urn:uuid:396bbe40-8430-4c94-9f90-1141b6099885> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://am1050.com/2011/bremens-knockout-cancer-raises-6000/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976989 | 1,169 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Fed hold rates low after economy 'paused'
- From: AAP
- January 31, 2013
THE Federal Reserve has left its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged, saying the US economy had "paused" in recent months largely due to transitory issues.
The Fed kept its record-low key interest rate between zero and 0.25 per cent, as expected, to push down long-term interest rates to boost the economy.
"Growth in economic activity paused in recent months, in large part because of weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors," the central bank's policymaking arm, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), wrapping up a two-day meeting, said in a statement.
The FOMC noted that job growth was rising at a "moderate" pace but the unemployment rate "remains elevated".
It said it would continue its $US85 billion ($A81.64 billion) a month bond and mortgage security purchases to support a stronger economic recovery.
The announcement came the same day as the government estimated the economy contracted for the first time since 2009 in the fourth quarter of last year.
JUDGES will no longer be able to hand out suspended sentences to violent repeat offenders unless there are exceptional circumstances.
THE first "convincing evidence'' has emerged that petrol stations manipulate prices to maximise profits.
CORRUPT sports referees, dodgy players and suspect support staff could be exposed by a sophisticated new sports data tracking system.
PARENTS are rorting strict school zoning rules by registering parks and relatives' homes to trick their way into some of Adelaide's popular public schools. | <urn:uuid:47ead7b6-94c4-4cce-892d-36a40fe907eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/fed-hold-rates-low-after-economy-paused/story-e6fredec-1226565575096 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950837 | 337 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Being microchipped is now being spun as a method of protecting the health of hospital patients. To help mask the practice of this bodily invasion with a trendy, high-tech appearance, microchipping sensors are being referred to as "electronic tattoos" that can attach to human skin and stretch and move without breaking.
Supposedly the comparisons of this hair-thin electronic patch-like chip to an electronic tattoo are being made because of how it adheres to the skin like a temporary tattoo using only water.
A more severe crash than the one triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers could be on the way, according to alarm signals in the credit markets.
The BBC's 'WTC 7 Collapsed
At 4:54 p.m.' Videos
|At 21:54 GMT on 9/11/2001 the BBC announced that WTC 7 had collapsed. There was just one problem with this news: WTC 7 did not collapse until 22:20 GMT.
The videos below show the BBC World broadcast.
The two screenshots below show WTC 7 behind the reporter.
The following screenshot shows the satellite feed mysteriously breaking up roughly five minutes before the actual collapse.
Returning recently to Australia the remarkable reality of how simplistically trivial, warped and non-ideological Australian politics has become is so hard to ignore. While European governments wrestle with debt in their euro zone, tackle Climate Change and illegal immigration head on, and support the battle to oust evil dictators in the Arab world, Government and mass debate in Australia is consumed purely by the politics of power with our crucial national interests held ransom to a petty debate involving issues of prostitutes, credit cards and the petty point scoring of our leaders seeking not to secure Australia's best interests but purely power for its own sake. Where now is our political leadership and vision for Australia's future?
We are steamrolling toward a massive global debt meltdown, and at this point world leaders seem to be all out of solutions. Over the last 30 years or so, the greatest debt bubble in the history of the planet has produced unprecedented prosperity in the western world. But now that debt bubble is starting to burst and the bills are coming due. Many believe that “ground zero” for the coming global debt meltdown will be in Europe. Unlike the U.S. and Japan, the nations of the EU can’t just print more money to cover their debts.
A new bill before the US congress will give the US government the right to incarcerate indefinitely, any citizen who they suspect is a "threat to peace and security," or a "terror suspect," without the right to a trial.
“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.
Michael Richards makes his point...and whether we like it or not, he is telliing the truth.
Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs Seinfeld does make a good point.
This was his defense speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act.
He makes some very interesting points...
As far back as - yes - 1977, the US, Russia and 29 other countries signed a UN resolution, banning the use of artificial weather modification as a weapon of war, and pledging never to attack each other by triggering storms, earthquakes or tidal waves in countries which are signaturies to that UN pact.
Debt advisor to bring 'Freedom Bus' to Cork
A Mayo man who succeeded in having his mortgage written off by an Irish bank will bring his ‘Life after Debt’ campaign to Leeside next week. Darrell O’Dea is the author of ‘Blank of Ireland’ and says he and his team will bring their Freedom Bus to Cork city on Thursday, August 25th before holding a public meeting in the Metropole Hotel later the same evening. | <urn:uuid:9084445f-4030-42a3-9ef0-a933d8308b72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freestatevoice.com.au/politics/itemlist/date/2011/8?start=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9537 | 798 | 1.546875 | 2 |
USCCB News Release
December 1, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Interactive Advent Web Site Offers Prayer, Reflection, Activity Suggestions
WASHINGTON—An interactive Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) provides resources for prayer, reflection and action throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons (www.usccb.org/advent).
The focal points of the site are the interactive calendars for the Advent season, which began with the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, and the Christmas season, which ends on January 12, with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. Clicking on each date on the calendar brings up a menu of resources for reading, prayer, reflection and action. Another highlight of the site is the Festival of Lesson and Carols, which can be heard live online or downloaded for later listening.
The Web site includes biographies from Catholic News Service on many of the saints whose feasts are celebrated during the Advent and Christmas seasons along with audio "Saint of the Day" podcasts from Franciscan Radio.Other resources on the Web site include a list of recommend holiday-themed movies from the USCCB's Film and Broadcasting office, prayers and blessings from the USCCB publication Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, and suggestions for remembering the needs of immigrants and the poor throughout the season. | <urn:uuid:5333cf03-fd32-4a06-9e44-fc668d4ed184> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://old.usccb.org/comm/archives/2008/08-188.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928649 | 281 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Wind, old and tired, searches for a resting place.
Worn out from all his years of scurrying about, Wind searches through forests, mountains and villages for a place to lay down his weary self. Nothing and no one wants him because of the cold and danger that he brings. Wind is driven to anger and to storm by these rejections until a young girl offers the “dark, dry, quiet place underneath our house.” Her kindness sustains him until springtime, when he leaves. But not before he bestows a lasting gift on the girl and her family—a cool space to find respite from hot summers. Oberman, a noted Canadian teacher, author and storyteller wrote this story in the style of a folktale and called it a “Jewish tale from Soviet Russia.” However, in her afterword, gifted storyteller Peninnah Schram writes that despite careful research, she could find no references in any scholarly resources, although stories about the wind exist in folklore from many lands. This one stands as a quiet lesson in doing good deeds and being a good neighbor. Waldman’s soft watercolor illustrations are almost entirely in shades of blue and evoke a vaguely eastern European landscape with mythical overtones.
A quiet story with lessons to teach about benevolence. (afterword) (Picture book. 4-7) | <urn:uuid:c340ed80-3b52-498e-9080-b11524ecb3e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sheldon-oberman/wind-wanted-rest/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967473 | 283 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Parallel Programming: Using Blacklight at PSC
December 5 - 6, 2011
PSC was pleased to announce a workshop featuring programming techniques to help you to take advantage of large shared memory machines. Workshop participants used PSC's Blacklight, the largest shared memory machine in the world.
No experience with parallel programming was required, as MPI and OpenMP were discussed from the ground up, but a working knowledge of C or Fortran was suggested. There was ample time for hands-on experience with this new material. Participants were encouraged to bring their own codes.
|Monday, December 5, 2011|
|9:00||Welcome & Introduction to PSC's computing environment|
|10:00||Introduction to Parallel Computing|
|11:15||Introduction to MPI|
|3:45||Scalable Programming: Laplace Code|
|Tuesday, December 6, 2011|
|3:00||Outro to Parallel Programming| | <urn:uuid:3b2c0d29-414d-4608-a666-07b21623c4ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psc.edu/index.php/training/431 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916136 | 199 | 2.125 | 2 |
Summary: Up to 40% of precious testing time is wasted while users engage in nonessential activities. Far better to focus on watching users perform tasks with the target interface design.
Most design teams spend appallingly little time observing their users' actual behavior. Of course, most companies never perform user testing at all, but even those that do log very few hours of behavioral observation.
The ideal is to designate one day per week -- say, Wednesdays -- as "user day" and bring in four users. New users, of course. It's one of the guidelines for recruiting test users to use fresh users for each test (actually, it's seven guidelines, because the general rule has a few exceptions where it's OK to reuse participants).
With a steady stream of new users coming through, you can observe people using all of your design features, have them test out wild ideas in paper prototype form, and see how they use your competitors' designs. With weekly testing and careful observation, you'll make very few design decisions that aren't grounded in users' real needs and behavior.
Although weekly testing is the best, it's almost never done. I know of only a handful of projects that have kept up this pace, and some of those are my own :-(
In most companies, it's a rare and wonderful experience to have actual customers show up to use the design. You should obviously make the most of this opportunity, but companies often waste too much of their precious time with users.
Top Time Wasters
The typical user test is 60-90 minutes. After that, users get tired, and it's difficult to run usability sessions that last more than two hours. (It's possible to run multi-day studies, but doing so requires a different technique and happens rarely in my experience.)
So, what should you do with the 60-90 minutes of user time? Focus on having the users behave naturally while interacting with your interface. That's the unique contribution of user testing: we get to see what people actually do , as opposed to what they say .
Sadly, many companies waste minute after minute trying to get test users to voice opinions rather than perform tasks. There are many great methods besides user testing for collecting commentary and opinions -- focus groups and surveys are two of the more common ones. Most likely, your company already collects lots of opinion data from many more customers than you'll ever have in one-on-one user testing situations. Use each method for what it's good at.
Common time wasters include:
- Starting the session with an extensive demographic survey. It's better to collect this data using an online website survey. For test participants, make do with the data collected during the up-front screening process and refrain from asking additional questions during the test.
- Asking users for subjective satisfaction ratings after each task. Subjective ratings are weak data in the first place. Research projects aside, overly fine-grained ratings are rarely worth the time required to collect them.
- Using a satisfaction questionnaire with dozens of questions instead of a single overall satisfaction score. It's stupid to ask users to rate, for example, how much they like the graphics. If people have strong feelings about how something looks -- whether it be pleasing, ugly, or inappropriate -- they'll voice those feelings during the task. The one thing a questionnaire should ask users about is overall satisfaction. Detailed issues are much more valid if you assess them based on users' behavior while performing tasks, rather than asking for a retrospective rating.
- Ending the session with a long discussion about how users might feel about potential new product developments. Again, focus groups are better for this. Also, users' reactions to prototype designs while performing tasks are much more valid than people's hypothetical speculations about what they might like. Spend your time collecting valid data rather than speculative data, even if doing so requires you to mock up a few more pages.
Each of these wasteful steps takes only a few minutes. Together, however, they can amount to users spending as much as 30 minutes filling in questionnaires rather than performing tasks.
Some overhead is inevitable in any test situation: you've got to welcome users, have them read and sign a consent form (ideally, a short one), and then debrief them and hand out incentives when the test is over. Try to keep such overhead to five minutes, then budget maybe another five minutes for collecting the most necessary subjective satisfaction ratings. By doing so, you'll waste no more than 11% of a 90-minute session.
If you spend 30 minutes on focus-group-style data and 10 minutes on general overhead (courtesy of endless bureaucratic forms or the like), you'll waste 44% of a 90-minute session.
Make a budget for your user testing time and ensure that you devote the bulk of it to observing users as they perform interactive tasks with your design. This is your project's best use of testing resources: the most valid and actionable usability insights come from observing behavior. It's also better for your career development. To increase expertise in the usability field , you must observe the widest possible range of user behavior.
How many hours per year do you spend observing actual users performing tasks with your designs? If it's less than 20 hours, you need to do more user testing. You should probably also reprioritize the time budget for the test sessions you do run so that they'll generate more behavioral data. | <urn:uuid:c24fd8ad-96b7-4069-8383-1b049e77e621> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nngroup.com/articles/time-budgets-for-usability-sessions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950198 | 1,113 | 1.601563 | 2 |