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Pia-kaeta Dagger & Scabbard
Materials: Ivory Handle, Parcel-Gilt Silver Mounts,
Location: Kandy, Sri Lanka
Period: 18th century
Dimensions: Length when sheafed: 34cm; length of blade & hilt alone: 29.7cm
Examples of piha-kaeta daggers from Sri Lanka are not difficult to come by, but excellent eighteenth century examples are relatively rare. This is a superb example. The hilt is of ivory finely carved and detailed with a liya-pata pattern. The end is encased in a broad rounding of silver that has been chased with typically Ceylonese scrolling foliage and fruit motifs. From this is emitted a rounded tang button. The hilt is further embellished with six applied silver scrolling leaf motif plaques.
The blade is straight with a single edge. It is inlaid on both sides with vegetal motifs in brass; is inset and overlaid with sheet silver that has been chased with swirling flower bud and foliage motifs; and encased in a thick silver section that has been chiselled with extravagant, leafy patterns and engraved with more foliate scrolls that has then been parcel gilded providing an elegant and fine contrast between the gold and silverwork.
The top of the blade is further decorated by chased silver sheet that has been let into the blade. The scabbard is of two halves of grooved, light wood, the upper part of which has been encased in thin, high-grade silver sheet that has been embellished with filigree and pearled silver wire borders.
This piha-kaeta is in excellent condition. There are no significant losses with any losses largely being restricted to fritting to the edges of the silver overlay. There is a minor repair to one side of the tip of the wooden scabbard. The piece has a wonderful patina, particularly the ivory hilt which has a warm, golden hue. Overall, it is a very fine example.
Source & Copyright: Michael Backman Ltd | <urn:uuid:6da83179-5bd4-48b4-93a2-b6524cc29925> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://art-of-swords.tumblr.com/post/20582118040/pia-kaeta-dagger-scabbard-materials-ivory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946521 | 427 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Date: Jul 01, 2010
Press Release Number: 45-2010
A state-of-the-art flight departure management system, which had previously only been used by the Port Authority during winter storms and the recent closure of JFK’s Bay Runway, will be continued as a trial until year’s end at the busy hub to help ease congestion during this peak travel season.
This system was in large part responsible for the minimal delays that occurred during the recent closure of JFK’s longest runway, a project completed on schedule and on budget.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is joining its airline partners at John F. Kennedy International Airport to continue the trial program that reduces the number of jets queuing on taxiways by letting passengers remain in the terminal longer before takeoff. In addition to easing runway congestion, the program will save airlines money in fuel costs, reduce taxi time, limit pollution and lessen passengers’ frustrations.
During normal conditions, the FAA currently operates on a “first-called, first-served” basis, which requires aircraft to be in a taxi line to secure a departure spot. Under surface management, the planes abide by a “reservation” system and are assigned a time window for departure.
The surface management program works by limiting eight to 12 planes to be in line for takeoff from a particular runway at any time during peak hours, a process that prevents large numbers of idling planes from stacking in lengthy lines.
“This program is a triple-win for the 48 million passengers who travel annually through JFK, our airline partners, and the environment.’’ said Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia. “The collaboration between the Port Authority, the FAA, the airlines and private enterprise has been exemplary and is critical to the program's success.’’
“This is an exciting new program that the Port Authority spearheaded to do everything we can to reduce flight delays. It is a state-of-the-art approach that we hope will spread to all of our airports in the near future and set a national standard going forward,’’ said Chris Ward, the Port Authority’s executive director. “I want to thank the FAA and all of the airlines for partnering on this important effort.”
Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni said, “Success with this program can be a model for flight delay reduction projects at other busy airports nationwide, including Newark Liberty International Airport. This and other programs like promoting Next Gen satellite technology to move planes more efficiently shows the agency’s commitment to reducing flight delays here and across the nation.”
A variation of the surface management program was in effect the past three years during winter operations to help reduce the length of time between de-icing and takeoff by maintaining a short departure queue, thereby mitigating the need for secondary de-icing.
Limiting departure queues to just eight to 12 planes minimizes the time passengers spend waiting in line for takeoff, while ensuring a steady stream of flights so capacity is not lost. If a plane must push back from the gate early to accommodate an arriving flight, it is sent to locations on the tarmac for “metering,’’ where it can operate on auxiliary power until its reservation time when it may taxi for takeoff. Passeur Aerospace will continue to handle staffing for the program during the additional trial period.
The Port Authority has taken a series of steps in recent years to reduce flight delays, including formation of the National Alliance to Advance NextGen to urge the federal government to move swiftly to fund satellite navigational technology and away from the current 1950s-era radar-based equipment. NextGen allows aircraft the precision of flying closer together and landing more efficiently without jeopardizing safety.
Other steps the bi-state agency has taken to reduce congestion include:
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Jennifer Friedberg or Ron Marsico, 212 435-7777
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates many of the busiest and most important transportation links in the region. They include John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, Stewart International and Teterboro airports; AirTrain JFK and AirTrain Newark; the George Washington Bridge and Bus Station; the Lincoln and Holland tunnels; the three bridges between Staten Island and New Jersey; the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) rapid-transit system; Port Newark; the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal; the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island; the Port Authority Auto Marine Terminal; the Brooklyn Piers/Red Hook Container Terminal; and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. The agency also owns the 16-acre World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan and is a partner in the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project. | <urn:uuid:dda1dc24-03ed-4664-bab5-57717fc33458> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929178 | 992 | 1.671875 | 2 |
John Frederick Lewis is one of the finest of the Orientalist painters. He used a rare technique called Painstaking which made the finish of his painting quite rare. He settled in the native quarters of Cairo in 1841, and he returned back to London in 1851 with work from which he drew inspiration for the next twenty five years. His greatest pleasure was to spend long periods in the desert under the Egyptian sky which was lightened by the beautiful stars (A Century of Master Drawings, Watercolours, and Works in Egg Tempera. London: Peter Nahum).
What was interesting about him is that all the sketches that he drew while he was in Egypt turned later into paintings. His childhood paintings were mostly about animals. Around the year 1827 he started to travel with his father where he started in Scotland and then to Spain Italy and the East. He had lots of sketchbooks, documenting some very beautiful sites that he was impressed by. His sketchbooks were published later and were known as “Drawings of the Alhambra” and “Spanish Characters”. Lewis liked Italy and Egypt so he decided to spend some time in both countries. It can be argued that he liked the relaxed life that people were doing in Egypt where he also met William Thackeray who was sporting eastern garb living the life of a Turkish Pasha (Lewis, Major-General Michael. John Frederick Lewis. Leigh-on-Sea: F. Lewis Publishers, 1978)
One of the reasons why John Frederick Lewis was an orientalist painter is because he was living the life of a Turkish Pasha in Egypt. He was wearing traditional Egyptian clothes where he would be amazed by their inspirational clothes. Because he lived the life of a Turkish Pasha most of his paintings would paint “harem” which in English language would be translated as joy.
A man - in a long yellow gown, with a long beard somewhat tinged with gray, with his head shaved, and wearing on it first a white wadded cotton nightcap, second, a red tarboosh - made his appearance and welcomed me... | <urn:uuid:0745890b-37c9-4319-8007-1f2b40a15eb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/199085.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990867 | 431 | 2.921875 | 3 |
BINT JBEIL, Lebanon - Eight months after Israeli attacks left devastation
across many villages in southern Lebanon, reconstruction comes with mounting
anger toward both Israel and the central Lebanese government.
The war that raged between Israel and Hezbollah July 12 to Aug. 14 last year
destroyed many villages in the south and left others badly damaged.
Within hours of the cease-fire, about a million people who had fled southern
Lebanon began to return, many to wrecked homes. One of the towns almost completely
destroyed was Bint Jbeil, less than 5 km from the Lebanese-Israeli border.
"Israeli warplanes would bomb us, then their tanks up above the hill outside
our city would shell people when they fled their homes," mayor Ali Beydoun told
IPS at his partially destroyed house. "I have come back to work on rebuilding
our home, while my family is staying in Dahiyeh in Beirut." Dahiyeh is a southern
suburb of Beirut that was also bombed heavily by Israeli warplanes.
Beydoun is just as angry with the current Lebanese government as with the
"We support the opposition to the government because we want our rights and
we want justice and support in rebuilding from the war," he said. "At least
the head of the government should come see what happened to his own country."
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora never visited southern Lebanon to see
what happened during the war. Beydoun says, "Instead he went on holiday to Jordan.
Is it possible for a prime minister not to know or care about his own country?"
Rather than funding from the Lebanese government, Bint Jbeil is being rebuilt
primarily with money from Qatar and with some help from Hezbollah, which was
first on the scene with funding and relief supplies for the residents.
Others are angry with the local government.
"The local municipality isn't letting us rebuild our homes the way they were,"
Bilal Hussein Jama'a told IPS. "They want to build a bigger road and more modern
housing units, but this could affect my house as I had [it] before."
Jama'a, who stayed in the conflict-ridden city for the first 17 days of the
war, is also up against both the Israeli military and the Lebanese government.
"They can bomb us one day and we'll rebuild the next because we are not afraid
of them," he said. "But the rebuilding is on our own, with the help of Qatar
and Hezbollah and Iran, but not from our own impotent government."
Jama'a said he supported "100 percent" the continuing sit-in near the parliament
in Beirut led by several opposition parties.
Residents are angry that there is no support from the government but the government
steps in to regulate construction paid for by others.
Hussein Ayoub, now rebuilding his house in the border village Maroun er Ras,
said a rich Kuwaiti was financing reconstruction of several houses in his village.
"The man wanted to pay directly, but Siniora forced him to pay through the
Lebanese government," he said. "We're not getting our rights, and the government
is responsible, so we must protest to demand our rights now."
He added, "I'm disgusted with state interference with how I want to rebuild
my home. They send people to come check how I'm building it, but with no assistance
Amnesty International stated after the war ended that many of the attacks
on Lebanon's civilian infrastructure were collective punishment, not the "collateral
damage" that Israel claimed.
United Nations Development Program spokesman Jean Fabre estimated in August
2006 that economic losses to Lebanon from the month-long war amounted to "at
least 15 billion dollars."
According to the Lebanese government, more than 1,100 Lebanese civilians were
killed during the war. Forty-three Israeli civilians were killed by Hezbollah
The fighting is over, but tension continues to hang over the region. A Lebanese
soldier at a border post who asked not to be named told IPS that Israeli warplanes
have been flying into Lebanese airspace nearly every week in violation of the
UN-brokered cease-fire agreement.
"We see the drones [unmanned espionage aircraft] nearly every single day,"
the Lebanese soldier added. This IPS correspondent observed an Israeli warplane
overhead in southern Lebanon, and at least one military drone.
(Inter Press Service) | <urn:uuid:840f5234-7278-4394-a97b-45f6054748d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=10861 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975575 | 942 | 1.710938 | 2 |
showing proposed additions and alterations 1919"
Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) was a Chicago architect with a background in landscape design. He is closely associated with the Prairie School, a uniquely American style of architecture that favoured horizontal lines (reflecting prairies) and whose most famous practitioner was Frank Lloyd Wright.
Griffin worked under Wright for a few years at the beginning of the 20th century until they had a dispute over salary payments. Ultimately, this led to an irreconcilable estrangement, and it seems Wright was rather disparaging of Griffin's talents whenever he referred to him later on.
One of the benefits of the association with Wright (beyond the obvious professional influence) was that Griffin met his future wife, Marion Mahony, at the Wright office. She, too, was an architect and a particularly gifted draughtsman (draughtswoman?).
"In the 28 years of their architectural partnership, the Griffins designed over 350 building, landscape and urban-design projects as well as designing construction materials, interiors, furniture and other household items."Dare I suggest that their marriage was established on a strong foundation? It was while they were on their honeymoon that the Griffins learned of a competition to design the city of Canberra which would become the new capital city of Australia (1927). They "worked feverishly to prepare the plans" before the submission deadline.
Their proposal was of course the winning entry (1912) and gave the Griffins international recognition. Of the Canberra plan, Walter Burley Griffin remarked:
"I have planned a city that is not like any other in the world. I have planned it not in a way that I expected any government authorities in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city - a city that meets my ideal of the city of the future."Whether or not a survey among Australians today would give such a favourable review of the outcome is perhaps a moot point. The circular alignments and satellite arrangements of the suburbs evoke an overtly artificial reality, but after visiting (and, significantly, not living in) Canberra many times over the last couple of decades, I've become comfortable with its atmosphere at least. And, as a government bureaucracy-heavy city, it's fairly well appointed with amenities like good quality transport and roads, as well as cultural establishments. It's also close to our snowfields which is a big plus! An eponymous lake, built in 1963 in the centre of Canberra, assures that anyone who visits the city is familiar with the name of Burley Griffin.
The Griffins moved to Australia soon after their Canberra design was selected and they stayed for the next twenty-odd years. Walter Burley Griffin died in Lucknow in India in 1937 following a two year stint working in the sub-continent.
I was particularly taken with the modernist/Art Deco building designs and I'm sure I've over emphasised - in the selection above - the prevalence of incinerator designs among his legacy. It would be a starving architect that tried to rely upon municipal incinerator designing for a decent living in today's world.
- The Australian National Library purchased the last private collection of Walter Burley Griffin material in recent years. The images above were selected from more than two thousand drawings, lithographs, photographs, transparencies, postcards and negatives that were digitised and uploaded late last year (The Eric Milton Nicholls Collection). [I think I must have searched on 'plan' or 'drawing' or the somesuch]
- The extensive Griffin Society site (Australia) has a large gallery of images.
- 'An Ideal City - the 1912 Competition to Design Canberra' is a great site. They have the top forty six short-listed designs from the competition - a kind of 'unrealised Canberra' - from which I would have appropriated some images if they weren't all posted within Zoomify constraints.
- 'Walter Burley Griffin - In His Own Right' - an extensive PBS site arising from a documentary made a decade ago.
- 'Prairie Styles - An Online Museum of Prairie Style Architecture' has a quick overview gallery of some houses in Illinois designed by Griffin (before leaving for Australia).
- The Walter Burley Griffin Society of America.
- Wikipedia: Walter Burley Griffin/Prairie School. | <urn:uuid:b62efda4-b917-4d18-96a5-cb3c6bc1d298> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/03/walter-burley-griffin.html?showComment=1206737820000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969712 | 891 | 2 | 2 |
TORONTO -- With outdoor perimeter detection an integral part of many security strategies, STR International, Inc. is introducing the R-300, an affordable, high quality microwave perimeter protection detector, to the North American market. Designed to continuously learn and adjust to changes in weather and terrain height, the R-300 virtually eliminates false alarms and is about one third less the cost of similar microwave perimeter products.
"The false alarms that other systems generate make them not only inconvenient, but very impractical," explained Eugene Gerstein, managing director of STR International. "For example, many competitive outdoor perimeter systems cannot differentiate between significant snowfall and an intruder, which causes false alarms and costs end users both time and money."
The R-300 provides a large area of coverage, while operating under extreme conditions. Acting as an early warning system, the R-300 can protect a zone with a length of up to 1,000 feet and detect a walking or crawling human at 1 to 30 feet per second. The system can also be tested remotely, eliminating the need to travel to remote locations where it may be set up. The R-300 is also durable, built to withstand temperatures of -58 to 149 degrees Fahrenheit and up to 100 percent relative humidity with a 77 degrees Fahrenheit air temperature.
Based on high-quality Russian technology, the R-300 provides true microwave perimeter protection in a small (160mm x 115mm x 45mm), lightweight (about two pounds for a set of two), attractive shatter and weather proof plastic package.
Currently used in prisons, parking lots, factories, hospitals and other high-security areas, the R-300 is affordable enough to be used in residential applications as well.
STR International offers several other microwave perimeter protection detectors, including multi-range and mobile versions. As is the case with all of the company's products, the R-300 is easy to learn and to install. The company, which recently became a PSA Security Network-approved vendor, also offers training and technical support to ensure that dealers and installers have everything they require. STR International also stands behind the R-300's durability with a three-year warranty.
STR International is online at www.strsecurity.com. | <urn:uuid:b64d6749-2e22-4c57-b662-f7b49c573d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.securityinfowatch.com/press_release/10594847/str-introduces-affordable-microwave-perimeter-protection-detector-to-north-america | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926895 | 449 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Contributed by Claude T. Hardison, Jr.
Information submitted October 24, 2007 by:
Claude Thomas Hardison, Jr., President
Col. Benjamin Cleveland Chapter, Cleveland, TN
Tennessee Society, Sons of the American Revolution
Johann Koonce (1675-1711), his wife Alice, a young daughter, and two sons, George and Michael, were Palatines who came to the Colony of North Carolina from Germany. They were with a group of Palatines and Swiss who settled near Core Creek, NC. On September 22 / 23, 1711 the Tuscarora Indians attacked the settlers and killed or captured many of them. Johann, his wife, his oldest son and daughter were all killed. George was seven years old when taken prisoner and was later freed by a contingent of militia from South Carolina in 1712 that raided the Tuscarora camps and freed the Colonist who had been captured.
George Koonce (1704-1778) an orphan and assigned by the Courts to be raised by Esquire Jacob Miller. George obtained a sound family life structure and education living with Jacob Miller, (Muller in German). In 1720 George is shown on the tax list in Carven Co. NC in the household of Jacob Sheets, (Shultz in German), husband of Catherine Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller. About 1725 George Koonce married, became a large landholder, planter and raised a family of seven sons, one of which was Michael Koonce.
Captain Michael Koonce (1730-1782) was born in Craven Co. NC. Like his father and brothers, he lived in the vicinity of Great Chinquapin Creek, on the north side of the Trent River, in what was later Jones County, NC. He was a Planter, Public Official, Captain in the Jones County Militia, and he amassed a personal fortune in land and slaves, possessing some 4,000 acres at the time of his death.
As a young man, he served as Constable and as an Assessor of Property in Craven Co. and when Jones Co. was formed from Craven in 1778, he became one of the first Justices of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. Both Michael Koonce and his brother John Koonce held the rank of Captain in the Jones Co. Militia during the Revolutionary War. Their names are included at an earlier date, along with those of George and Tobias Koonce, in a muster of the Carven Co. Militia for the years 1754-1756. The military rank of Captain Michael Koonce is recorded in a grant of land in 1779 and records pertaining to the Revolutionary War service of Captain Michael Koonce are found in the Revolution War Accounts of the Comptroller’s Office at Kinston, NC, 1776-1780 (Book A.P.45, State Archives.) “ The United States of America to the State of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina, as allowed by a Committee of Claims, dated April 1780” …
”Voucher #275 to Michael Koonce, for a gun” …”Voucher $285, to Michael Koonce, for a gun.”
Mrs. Elizabeth Koonce, wife of Michael, was also allowed compensation for supplies furnished the Patriot Cause. (Book D. pp 197, 310.) Captain Michael Koonce, Planter, Public Official, and Revolutionary War Patriot died at the age of 52. Captain Michael Koonce and his wives (1) Elizabeth Simmons, (2) Elizabeth Jarman had 7 children, one of which was Rev. Elijah Koonce. Elijah Koonce (1780-1840), the youngest son of Michael, became a Reverend and lived on his land near Joshua’s Creek. He married twice. His first wife was Temperance Blackshear, daughter of Elisha Stout Blackshear. All of Elijah’s children were with Temperance. One of his sons was James Wiley Benjamin Koonce. James Wiley Benjamin Koonce (1814-1855) was a Planter in Jones Co. NC and whose son was Richard H. Koonce. (1844-1855) who served in the Confederate Army and was wounded twice, prisoner of war, and who returned home to marry Eliza King and have several children, one of which was my Grandmother, Addie Berth Koonce (1879-1964) who married Edward Henry Hardison and they had a son Claude Thomas Hardison (1903-1970) who married Ila Mae Neese, who were my parents.
It was through the Revolutionary War Patriot, Captain Michael Koonce, that I was able to become a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. This year I was elected President of the Col. Benjamin Cleveland Chapter, Cleveland, TN, Tennessee Society, SAR. This linage has also enabled my two sons, Claude Thomas Hardison, III and Paul Michael Hardison to become SAR members, as well as my Grandson, Trent Thomas Hardison, to become a member of the Children of the American Revolution. | <urn:uuid:3ff0f7a1-07ee-44b9-a669-06ff947f092a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncgenweb.us/jones/military/captain-michael-koonce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977334 | 1,078 | 2.875 | 3 |
Kerala's Mural Treasures
New Indian wealth spurs renaissanceof remarkable wall-painting tradition
For decades the great tradition of mural painting in the South Indian state of Kerala stood on the precipice of extinction. It was old stuff, museum stuff, Keralites thought, and ready to recycle. Who would miss it, anyway? Turns out, lots of people. The art that inspired kings and temple priests for thousands of years has been resuscitated, this time by wealthy individuals and corporations who recognize its genius and can pay for the privilege. This is one of the unexpected perks of India's economic resurgence. Huge mural paintings, once found only on the walls of temples and palaces, now adorn five-star hotel lobbies and the homes of India's rich and famous--with 55 billionaires, India ranks fourth in the world. Art lovers are motivated by aesthetic value, but others purchase art as a status symbol. It's cool to be a connoisseur.
Kerala's murals stand tall in India's artistic history, with their technical excellence, spiritualized storytelling, bold strokes, bright colors and uniquely idealized people, animals and trees. Only the Indian state of Rajasthan has more murals than Kerala.
Experts tell us Kerala's mural tradition evolved as a complement to her unique architectural style, originating with the prehistoric rock paintings found in the Anjanad Valley. Archaeologists believe these paintings belong to different epochs, from the upper Paleolithic (before the last ice age) to the early historic period. Rock engravings dating to these ancient times have also been discovered in the Edakkal caves in Wayanad and at Perumkadavila in Tiruvananthapuram district.
Recent mural history can be traced to the seventh and eighth century ce. It is not unlikely that the early Kerala murals and architecture came heavily under the influence of the Pallava dynasty. During the 13th century the first frescos were created at Kanthaloor, Temple in Tiruvananthapuram district. From then to the sixteenth century, hundreds of works blossomed in palaces and sacred chambers throughout the state, a treasure trove of imagery depicting the many manifestations of Siva, Vishnu in His various incarnations and the beloved Ganesha.
Archaeological evidence indicates the most prolific period of mural art in Kerala began in the mid-sixteenth century. Many of the most exquisite murals were painted during the 15th and 16th centuries, when the second Bhakti movement swept through Kerala. That revival was lead by great literary geniuses like Melapattur Narayanan Bhattatiri (1560-1646) and Putanam Nambudiri (1547-1640), pure bhaktars whose devotional literature kindled spiritual art. It is probable that the leading names of the movement, like Ezhuthachan, Melpathoor, Poonthanam, the venerable sage Vilwamangalam and the eighteen poets of the Zamorin's court, were instrumental in reviving the tradition of religious arts in those years.
The finest illustrations of this period are considered to be the Mattanchery Palace panels, depicting the Ramayana and the marriage of Parvati, and the temple paintings at Thrissur, Chemmanthitta and Thodeekkalam. Of all the ancient works, only two are dated: one in 1691 in the Pallimanna Siva Temple at Trichur, and a second in 1731 in the Sankaranarayana shrine of the Vadakkunatha Temple complex.
Srikumara's Shilparatna, a sixteenth century Sanskrit text on painting and related subjects, must have been enormously useful to early artists. This treatise, which discusses all aspects of painting, aesthetic as well as technical, has been acclaimed as a rare work on the techniques of Indian art, the like of which has never been published.
Decline and Resurgence
With the invasion of the Muslim warrior Tippu Sultan (1766-1782) and the later takeover of the Travancore temple trusts by the British (1811), wall-painting art fell out of favor in the 18th century. For 150 years it languished, and those who knew the art grew fewer and fewer.
It took a disaster to halt the decline. In 1970 a fire broke out in Guruvayur Temple, burning down the walls and obliterating the murals. Faced with replacing the masterpieces, temple authorities realized, to their dismay, how few competent mural artists were available. Only three veterans could be summoned for the recreations: Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair, M.K. Sreenivasan and K.K. Varier. "It is because of them that we are able to enjoy the wonderful works of art in the temple today," said a devotee of Guruvayoorappan.
The incident awakened the Guruvayur Devaswom to the urgency for revival of this traditional and uniquely Keralite art form. Driven in part by the prodding of Dr. M.G. Sasibhooshan, the Institute of Mural Painting was established in 1989. Today it thrives, offering a five-year course inside the temple premises (see sidebar this page). Institutions for learning and research in mural arts have also come up at the Sree Sankara Sanskrit College in Kalady, the Malayala Kalagram in Mahe and the Vastu Vidhya Gurukulam at Aranmula. Mural painting is also taught in the Banaras Hindu University in north India.
Even local Christian churches, recognizing this revival and the importance of mural art in Kerala, have employed this art form to depict the Last Supper and other Christian stories, in the attempt to give their imported history a distinctively local look.
Color and Content
The subjects for murals are typically derived from religious culture and texts, peopled with highly stylized pictures of the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. Other common subjects are rishis and sages, their exploits and those of kings and warriors, as well as royal attendants, processions and the significant events which define the history of the place.
Dr. Subbanna Sreenivasa Rao, a leading writer on the subject (see his work at Sulekha.com) told us, "The human and the godly figures depicted in Kerala murals are strong and voluminous, drawn in running, smooth curves and subtle darkening of colors. The exquisite shading depicts the fullness and roundness of their form, resembling the paintings of Ajanta.
"The figures are highly stylized and rendered with elongated eyes, painted lips, exaggerated eyebrows and explicit body and hand gestures (mudras), decorated with elaborate headdresses and exuberant, overflowing ornaments. The strong and voluminous figures of Kerala murals with their elaborate headdresses have a close association with the characters from the dance dramas of Kerala.
"The expression of the emotions, too, comes out rather strongly. As compared to these figures, the animals, birds and plants drawn in the pictures appear closer to life. The wild and erotic scenes also are overtly shown without much reservation. The Gods, humans and animals are shown in combat and lovemaking. The murals take a holistic approach to existence, almost obliterating the thin dividing line between the sublime and the mundane, between religion and art."
These subjects are not fanciful representations of the artists' imagination but motifs exactingly drawn from the Dhyana slokas, which are not mere prayers or hymns but word-pictures or verbal images of the Deities. These verses describe precisely the Deity's form, aspects, countenance, the details of facial and bodily expressions, posture, the number of arms, heads and eyes, ornaments, objects held in the hands, etc. Suresh Muthukulam estimates there are more than 2,000 such verses which help artists like him to visualize and paint the sacred forms. These slokas also lay down the theory of proper color schemes, the skillful management of which provides stylized balance and rhythm to the paintings.
Murals depict the epics, like Ramayana, and the classic frolics of Krishna as well as the mystic forms of Siva and Shakti. They recount the Hindu myths and the Kerala forms of worship and lifestyle. As backdrops to these highly stylized works, flora and fauna and other aspects of nature are also pictured.
In his Mural Paintings in Travancore K.P. Padmanabhan Tampy writes, "The great and distinctive art displayed in these paintings reveals a wonderful vitality and intensity of feeling, meditative charm, divine majesty, decorative delicacy, unique verisimilitude, subtle charm of color, fine texture and marvelous draftsmanship. The Kerala murals blend harmoniously with their surrounding architecture, wood carvings and decorative art."
Unlike the temple wall-paintings of nearby Tamil Nadu, which relate to either Siva or Vishnu, Kerala murals present Siva and Vishnu rather evenly. There are paintings of Siva worshiping Vishnu, and Vishnu offering worship to Siva. Kerala especially adores the depiction of Siva and Vishnu as one Being in the form of Hari-Hara, a common subject on the fresco walls.
Unique to Kerala murals is the Pancha-mala (five garlands) system, in which borders are decorated with relief-figures of animals, birds, flowers, vines and such: the Bhootha-mala depicts goblins and dwarfs; Mruga-mala, animals such as elephants and deer; Pakshi-mala, rows of parrot-like birds; Vana-mala, floral motifs; and finally, the Chithra-mala is composed of decorative designs.
Kerala murals are also typified by their rich, warm and loud colors. A traditional Kerala mural strictly follows the Pancha-varna (five colors) scheme, using only red, yellow, green, black and white. In fact, it is this adherence to a limited earthy palette that gives the murals much of their distinctive look and feel.
White, yellow, black and red are the pure colors, according to Shilparatna. The ocher yellow, ocher red, white, bluish green and pure green are the more important colors.
All pigments are derived from natural materials, such as minerals and stones, oils, juices., roots and herbs. The yellow and red colors are mixed from minerals (arsenic sulfide and mercuric sulfide), green from the juice of a plant locally called Eravikkara, black from the soot of oil lamps. White, the base, is prepared with lime. Colors are mixed in a wooden bowl with tender coconut water and exudates from the neem tree. Other methods, minerals and herbs are occasionally used, but always natural.
The colors relate to the gunas, or attributes, of the subjects. For instance, green is employed for depicting the sattva (balanced, pure or divine) divinities; red and yellow for rajas (active, irascible) characters, and white for tamas (inert or base) events and creatures.
The brushes used are of three types--flat, medium and fine. Flat brushes are made from the hair found on the ears of calves, medium from the hair on a goat's belly and the fine brushes from delicate blades of grass.
Mural artists are not merely illustrators but chemists as well, creating a complex concoction that will not only receive the organic pigments but will then resist the erosion of the elements for hundreds of years. Mr. K. U. Krishnakumar, Principal of the Institute of Mural Painting in Guruvayoor, explains that the walls must be painstakingly prepared with a rough plastering of lime and sand mixed with the juice of kadukkai or of a vine called chunnambuvelli, all dissolved with palm sugar (jaggery). A smooth plaster--a similar mix with ground cotton added--is then applied. After ten days, 25 to 30 coats of quicklime and tender coconut water are applied, creating a thickness of about half an inch. Lemon juice is used to mellow the alkalinity of the surface. The mural is painted only after the wall is completely dry, using the fresco (Italian for fresh) technique of mural painting, which involves the rapid application of water-soluble pigments in a damp lime wash.
The art itself is defined in six stages, artist Muthukulam notes. Lekhya karma is the first, where sketching of the outlines is done in a light yellow color. Second comes the rekha karma which enhances and gives dimension to the outlines. The third stage, called varna karma, breathes life into the subject with the addition of colors. In the fourth stage, vartana karma, shading is added for depth and definition. Lekha karma is the tedious outlining of all forms, usually with black. The final stage is called dvika karma, where life is given to the eyes of the Deities and people, "awakening or stirring the work to life." This is also called samarpanam, which means an offering from the artist. A fine coat of resin is then painted on the surface to give it a glossy look.
While the ancient procedures remain fairly intact, modern times have brought changes. To meet the demands of clients and for display at distant exhibitions, Kerala paintings are often executed these days on plywood, cloth, paper and canvas. But the old genius is still evident in the work of Suresh Muthukulam and his students, in their renderings of modern Kerala village life, of contemporary Indian biographies and of the eternal Divinities. The old Kerala masters might be startled to see the murals in the lobby of the Mumbai Hyatt or on pillars in Delhi's Imperial Hotel; but even the most irascible of them would smile to know that his craft is alive and well in the 21st century.PIpi
The comments are owned by the author. We aren't responsible for their content. | <urn:uuid:a1d9d4ab-c009-4554-b3c2-3fa4005ef1c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5320 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94419 | 2,991 | 3.125 | 3 |
Zero Regio is an integrated project co-financed by the European Commission in the 6th framework programme.
The project consists of construction and demonstration of hydrogen infrastructure in two European regions for supplying fuel cell passenger cars. The project aims at developing and demonstrating zero emission road transport systems in normal daily use for the European cities.
Under the coordination of Infraserv GmbH & Co Höchst KG altogether 16 partners from 4 European member states form the project consortium. The kick-off meeting of the project took place in November 2004 at Infraserv, Höchst industrial park. Total execution period for this important EU project is 5 years.
Multi-fuel-station at the Industrial Park Höchst
At the industrial park Höchst a large hydrogen source (30 Mm3/y) is available as a bi-product of a chemical plant. This has been used for thermal conversion so far. This source will be connected via a 1.7 km long transport line to a public service station for supplying hydrogen, similar to gasoline and Diesel. The service station will supply liquid hydrogen at -253°C as well as compressed hydrogen gas. For gas refuelling a 350 bar and a 700 bar dispenser will be employed.
In Lombardia hydrogen will be available from a central production facility as well as from an ‘On-Site’ reformer facility developed within the project. The reformer will produce hydrogen from natural gas at the service station. A dispenser unit for hydrogen gas at 300 bar will be built and integrated in the public multi-fuel service station to be built within the project like at Höchst.
FIAT Panda Hydrogen at the SAPIO plant area
After the construction of hydrogen infrastructure fuel cell vehicles (F-Cell, class-A from Daimler-Chrysler in Rhein-Main) will be driven in normal daily use in different applications. The demonstration phase (last 3 years) of the project will be accompanied by an evaluation of the data acquired during the fleet tests with respect to energy efficiency, environmental impact and socio-economic aspects.
Experience gained during the fleet tests and the results obtained in the project will contribute to the short and medium time frame objective of the European Commission of replacing 5% of motor fuel in road transport by hydrogen by the year 2020. | <urn:uuid:5f17e270-61f6-4072-b1ac-e55f6f402336> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zeroregio.de/front_content.php?idcat=185 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917165 | 481 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The study claims that 23 per cent of the males and 13 per cent of the females questioned claimed to feel addicted to games. 44 per cent also stated that they believed their friends were addicted.
The report also claims that the average 8-12 year old now plays 13 hours of video games per week, with the average 13-18 year old playing 14 hours. This is a concern, it goes on to say, because children “who spend more time playing video games are more likely to perform more poorly in school, get into physical fights and/or be physically heavier”.
Dr. Douglas Gentile, the director for research for the National Institute on Media and Family stated: “It is important that people realise that playing a lot is not the same thing as pathological play. For something to be an addiction, it has to mean more to you do it a lot. It has to mean that you do it in such a way that it damages your life.
“Almost one out of every ten youth gamers show enough symptoms of damage to their school, family, and psychological functioning to merit serious concern.” | <urn:uuid:d4dd77d7-0cf4-4d96-8c23-eb13efad8ae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/report-claims-gaming-addiction-is-real | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969577 | 229 | 2.578125 | 3 |
On This Date in History: On July 29, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The cruiser was returning from Tinian Island where it had secretly delivered the atomic bomb. Because it was a secret mission, details of its schedule were shrouded. So much so that its late arrival went unnoticed. The Americans had intercepted a message from the sub describing the ship they had sunk. The Americans just assumed it was a boast and didn’t follow up. If you remember Jaws then you know the story as told by Captain Quint, who said he was a crew member of the doomed ship. Nearly 1200 men were on the ship.
About 400 died from the torpedo blast. Some 900 men went into the water but only 318 were rescued. No one showed up for a rescue for 84 hours in during that time nearly 500 men were devoured by sharks. Quint said he’d never wear a life jacket again. The Captain of the Indianapolis, Charles B McVay III, never sailed again and on this date in 1945 he became the only officer in US naval history to be court-martialed for losing a ship in war time. McVay committed suicide in 1968 and many speculate he took his own life due to guilt. His father had been a Rear Admiral in the US Navy and that most likely just added to his grief. But, during the Clinton Administration, Captain McVay was exonerated from fault by Congress in October 2000. In spite of the Congressional official exoneration, the US Navy records still indicate the Captain Charles McVay was found guilty in a Court-Martial for losing the USS Indianapolis while he was in command.
Weather Bottom Line: It’s going to stay chilly over the weekend. Our average high this time of year is around 49 and Saturday and Sunday we will have highs somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 degrees below that. On Monday, another system drops down that may bring a rain snow mix or some insignificant snow. What I am more interested in resides later in the week. By Wednesday or Thursday, another system drops down and moves through. The GFS was advertising about a half inch of snow. It’s interesting because the GFS is the model that got the snow right today for Houston. The NAM was claiming it would be dry. The TV stations haven’t caught on to this feature yet as they too say rain…but I think that it holds some promise…but its 5 days away so we’ll see how it unfolds. Needless to say…we ain’t warmin’ up any time soon. We’ve shifted out of that November pattern that brought us one of the few warmer than average months in 2009. | <urn:uuid:61a5ce7a-6ea8-445e-a9e3-34a9264cca10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://symonsez.wordpress.com/tag/charles-b-mcvay-iii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984705 | 555 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Couple Guilty in Child Parking Lot Death
Posted: December 7, 2012 at 3:26 a.m.
A couple was found guilty Thursday in the death of their great-grandson in a car in the Springdale Walmart parking lot.
At A Glance
Hyperthermia is elevated body temperature occurring when a body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. Extreme temperature elevation then becomes a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment to prevent disability or fatal heat stroke.
Source: The Medical Dictionary
This story is only available from our archives. | <urn:uuid:92131f6a-dbec-4cf7-b12d-80f591ae4000> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2012/dec/07/couple-guilty-child-parking-lot-death/?news-arkansas-nwa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904918 | 112 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Muay Thai, otherwise known as Thai boxing, is the beloved national sport of Thailand. Although it is similar to western-style boxing, the posture, stance and rules of Muay Thai are quite different. Perhaps the most well-known Muay Thai moves are the powerful sweeping kicks delivered by boxers who have desensitised their shins by repeatedly smashing them against banana trees or punching bags. Elbows and knees play the most important part in a match and are used to deliver devastating blows to the opponent’s head and body. Pretty much anything goes during a match; only the head cannot be used to deliver blows to an opponent. Attending a Muay Thai fight is not for the weak of heart. It is ultra-violent, bloody and explosive.
Some Muay Thai matches are put on just for show to entertain tourists while giving them an overview of the sport. But real Muay Thai matches are happening all over the country on any given day and can take place either in a large stadium or in a make shift ring out in the middle of nowhere. When the fighters choose to really go at it, the spine-tingling sounds of well-delivered and fierce blows can be heard over the roaring crowd and the wild and chaotic-sounding musical accompaniment that goes with it.
The earliest accounts of Muay Thai originate from the 15th and 16th centuries when Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) were waging war on one another. Over time, the combat style evolved and improved. Muay Thai is a vicious form of unarmed combat even today and is considered one of the ultimate styles when it comes to hand to hand fighting. No one trained in another martial art has been capable of defeating an expert Muay Thai fighter.
Muay Thai was not only used in times of war but also as a form of exercise and a way to test the strength and skill of men. King Rama V, who took the throne in 1868, organised the art of Muay Thai into a sport. He built a Royal Boxing Camp within the palace, organised Muay Thai contests throughout the Kingdom and organised Muay Thai training camps and curricula. Muay Thai fights, which used to take place in a ring drawn on the ground, were soon taking place in the proper rings of today. During the reign of King Rama V the popularity of Muay Thai skyrocketed and its popularity is still evident today.
Thai television stations telecast fights at the weekend. The better seats for an important title fight cost good money. The more important the fight, the more gambling that will take place on its behalf. A Muay Thai champion is a Michael Schumacher or David Beckham of sorts and little kids dream of growing up one day to be just like them. Some boxers fight for a title. Others fight for money. Many males participate in a Muay Thai fight as a rite-of-passage into manhood.
There are 16 weight divisions in Muay Thai and, similar to western-style boxing, fights take place in rings covered by canvas with four posts that support the ropes. Five three-minute rounds separated by two-minute breaks leave the fighters exhausted and the crowds cheering for more.
There is much ritual surrounding the art of Muay Thai. A Thai boxer usually adopts the name of his training camp as his own last name and his relationship with his trainer is a close one filled with respect. Before a boxer begins a fight, he will dance the ‘ram muay’ (boxing dance) as a way to honour both his trainer and the boxing spirits as ringside musicians manage to make a heck of a lot of noise with only a few instruments. Every fighter wears a headband and armbands, and both are sacred objects. The headband will be removed before the fight begins but the armbands will be worn throughout the event and hold small Buddha amulets inside that offer protection to the fighter.
Lumpini and Ratchadmnoen Stadiums are the two best-known venues for Muay Thai fights in Bangkok but fights can be found in the smallest of towns. Another aspect worth investigating is one of the thousands of Muay Thai training camps throughout the country. The number of foreigners attending these camps is steadily on the rise but be warned. Trainees must follow a strict daily routine similar to that of a military boot camp. Another interesting feature of Thailand’s Muay Thai scene: transexual Muay Thai boxer Parinya Kiatbusaba who left the sport after a successful career (17 knockouts in 22 fights) at age 18 using his winnings to have sex reassignment surgery. | <urn:uuid:34c32f27-2c63-4f39-ab9b-4bba9bc8a342> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://katswindow.net/posts/muay-thai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960808 | 952 | 2.375 | 2 |
At North Heights we often describe ourselves as "biblical" Christians. By this we mean that we hold the Christian Scriptures as the final rule of right belief and conduct. The Bible is our "first precedent." What was normative for the New Testament church sets the standard by which we gauge our lives 2,000 years later.
But saying we are "biblical" does not clarify how we approach the Bible itself. Theologians call this "hermeneutics." Our hermeneutic is the style and standards we use when handling the Bible. Specifically, how do we wield our sword? Once we read the Bible, and affirm our faith in its authority, how do we go about applying what it says to our lives?
In Acts 15, the early church addressed her first major theological crisis. As a result of Paul's and Barnabas's successful mission trip, many Gentiles were now flooding into the church. Did these new believers have to become Torah observers? Did they have to become circumcised? When they converted to faith in Jesus did they also have to convert their culture? Did they have to live their lives as Jews? This was, of course, a matter of huge significance for these new believers.
That first council decided that the Gentile believers did not have to become Jewish to follow Jesus. This opened the door for great cultural latitude in the church. Jesus, the light, could shine through any color window and the result would be a beautiful mosaic of diversity.
The leaders in Acts 15 did lay down three universal prohibitions that they said were for all Christians in any culture: no occult activity, no sexual immorality, and no confusion of the blood atonement of Jesus. In all other matters they were flexible. Aside from these absolutes, all else was relative to context, what Luther called adiophora, or "things indifferent." This council decision became the precedent and the theological basis for Christian freedom and for a basic Christian approach to scriptural application.
During the Reformation, Martin Luther made a judgment call about the cultural impact of his reforms that he believed stemmed from Acts 15. Luther's goals were foremost theological. But as parishes across Europe switched from Catholic to Protestant, as priests became pastors and church cathedrals became sanctuaries, Luther had to decide how radical to take the changes.
John Calvin and others took a more vigorous approach. Calvin said, in essence, "If a matter is not in the Bible we won't do it." Calvinists consequently broke stained-glass windows and defrocked their pastors. Their hermeneutic required that unless the New Testament specifically permitted musical instruments, for instance, they would not have them. And they didn't. And today, some still don't.
Luther, on the other hand, taking Acts 15 as his guideline, said, "Unless a matter is categorically forbidden in the Bible we will allow it." Thus Lutherans preserved their windows and robes on pastors, decisions that at the time were broadly and culturally sensitive given the extent and pace of change the continent was enduring.
Luther thus became the father of what we might call an "evangelical hermeneutic." Calvin used what we might term a "fundamentalist hermeneutic." While each one considered the Bible authoritative in his ministry, each came to a different conclusion based on how he approached the Bible.
A question like, "should we allow drums and guitar in worship?" may be controversial in the contemporary church. Because it is not specifically endorsed in Scripture, the fundamentalist tradition often chooses to forbid it. But because this practice is not categorically prohibited in Scripture, the evangelical tradition usually welcomes freedom of worship expression.
At North Heights, we follow Luther's approach more than Calvin's. Unless a matter is categorically forbidden, and unless it falls within the three prohibitions of Acts 15, we generally approach it as adiophora and tend to take a grace/freedom stance. We boldly and unapologetically affirm the Bible as our authority.
Understanding how we approach applying the Bible is of utmost importance in creating an atmosphere of love and unity in our fellowship. | <urn:uuid:e6618001-6b52-429c-a138-9069c383600c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nhlc.org/more-info/what_we_believe/how_we_approach_scripture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966113 | 844 | 2.421875 | 2 |
"The White House response to a petition on building a Death Star (and the resulting media attention) led to some pretty interesting data here at NASA.gov. While the petitioners wanted to focus on a big project done a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the response led to thousands of Americans finding out about projects NASA is currently working on right here on Earth and in our Solar System."
White House Deletes Death Star Funds from NASA's FY2014 Budget, Earlier post
Hey - Let's Make NASA Build a Deathstar! (Update), Earlier post
Marc's note: Jim Wilson points out the upside of the failed petition, increased awareness.
"In November 2012 the people asked for a death star. The government said NO! In light of continuing threats we should build it ourselves." | <urn:uuid:40e08c6a-7bcf-4cf2-95e1-c31dc12f340a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nasawatch.com/archives/2013/02/failed-petition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914972 | 164 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Many so-called experts completely misunderstand the vital role of the hip flexors in controlling and motivating athletic movement. They miss the complex interrelationship between the hip flexors and the abdominal muscles. So many trainers avoid hip flexion exercises. But that’s a big mistake, according to Coach Greg Glassman. He deplores rampant “superstition, confusion and fraud” and discusses 3 important ab exercises.
In the glute-ham developer sit-up the range of motion is from as far back in hip and back extension as you are comfortable up to where you can touch the pads above the shin and instep. We’ve used this sit-up to teach our athletes how to fully engage the rectus femoris to improve the quality of hip flexion.
In the hollow rock athletes lay face up on the ground with their arms stretched overhead and their legs out straight. They raise their arms and legs about one foot off of the floor and attempt to assume the shape of a rocker on a rocking chair, then gently, slowly, teeter back and forth. A seemingly innocuous little exercise, the hollow rock is a staple of gymnastics conditioning and excruciatingly tough when performed correctly.
The L-sit is little known outside the gymnastics community but may be the most effective ab exercise. The L-sit is performed by supporting the body entirely by the arms and holding the legs straight out in front. Athletes who have developed their L-sit to the point where they can hold it for three minutes subsequently find all other ab work easy. | <urn:uuid:e5f61919-7573-4b0b-8000-2fc22efba83d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journal.crossfit.com/2003/05/three-important-ab-exercises-m.tpl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945646 | 320 | 2.125 | 2 |
Ants are one of the most thriving groups of insects. They are defined as social insects that live in colonies. Colonies are usually located in the ground, but many enter our homes looking for shelter and food. Ants eat almost every type of food, but those entering homes are looking specifically for sweets and anything with protein. They also can cause pain from stings or bites. They will spoil your food, and damage your property.
The United States hosts almost 1,000 different species of ants. Of these, only 25 species commonly infest homes. There are six different species of ants that commonly infest St. George homes. The most common ants found in St. George include:
Argentine Ants: Though the Argentine Ant is a small, non-stinging ant, it is very territorial and aggressive and will drive away or kill competing ant species. They make a chemical called iridomyr-mecin which they smear on their enemies to kill them or make them run away. Neighboring colonies of Argentine ants appear not to be aggressive toward each other, allowing for the rapid spread and domination of this species. More…
Black Ants: Little black ants can carry 20 times their bodies weight. During the night, workers move eggs and young larvae deeper underground to protect them from the cold. More…
Carpenter Ants: Carpenter ants do not actually eat the wood they remove during nest-building activities. Instead, they deposit it in piles just outside the entrances to the colony. The wood is used solely as a nesting site. More…
Fire Ants: Most red imported fire ant stings result in a raised welt that becomes a white pustule. If a person is allergic, however, he or she may experience a more grave reaction. Victims rarely receive a single sting; instead, a person typically receives many hundred stings simultaneously. Red imported fire ant colonies may contain numerous queens and have multiple satellite colonies. Up to 200 mounds per acre have been found. More…
Harvester Ants: Harvester ant colonies are typically widely separated; however, there can be heavy infestations in pasture and rangeland. These ants are known to destroy agricultural crops and can significantly reduce crop yields if left uncontrolled. They colonize in ornamental turf and landscape areas where their presence is undesirable. More…
Pharaoh Ants: Pharaoh ants mechanically transmit disease and contaminate sterile materials. Mature colonies can contain 300,000 or more members. More…
Ants attack and defend themselves by biting or stinging. When an ant stings, it will inject an acidic chemical which can cause pain, swelling, and/or irritation. Because of this, some ant species are widely considered a pest control problem. Unfortunately, because of the adaptive nature of most ant colonies, eliminating the entire group is nearly impossible. Therefore, it becomes a matter of controlling the local pest population, rather than exterminating the entire colony.
If you are a St. George, UT resident, and you are seeing Black, Fire, Carpenter, Pharaoh, Harvester, or Argentine Ants in your home, contact an ant control specialist today!
56 North 500 East
St. George, UT 84770
Truly Nolen Pest Control
630 North 3050 East
St. George, UT 84790
3568 West 900 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84104 | <urn:uuid:3fcdcab8-b006-4dd2-8205-939e5347337a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pestcontrolstgeorge.com/tag/ant-sting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929102 | 698 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Question Your World: What's the Future of Fuel?
What’s the future of fuel? There are many ideas that have been presented ranging from solar to wind to hydropower. The growing energy needs of our planet will require some creative thinking and likely some ideas that don’t reside in the standard energy toolbox that we are accustomed to today. With that said, a sweet new idea has been brought to the table that involves using sugar to help fuel the world of tomorrow. Learn more in this week’s Question Your World Radio report by the Science Museum of Virginia.
An international group of researchers have been working with the US Department of Energy and have recently presented a very interesting idea on how sugar polymers could help provide a form of fuel that would work with our existing vehicles.
This discovery is centered on an enzyme that could enhance the growth of cell walls in plants. The thicker cell walls would contain an abundance of a sugar polymer called Galactan. In theory, using this sugar polymer and a fermentation process, scientists could create fuel.
In addition to this, the plant in use would not be a food plant. Currently we use corn to help make the ethanol as a vital component to the gas we use. Corn is certainly an edible item that could be used to feed many people around the world, but a sizeable amount is going into the production of fuel. This new idea would involve using non-food plants, thus not impacting the global production of food.
Wait, there’s more! The process by which this fuel would be made would involve having large areas dedicated to vast fields to grow these plants. Plants take in CO2 as they grow, thus (globally) consuming the CO2 that is put out by vehicle emissions. The plants with enhanced cell walls would effectively be a carbon neutral process, meaning it balances out the input and output of CO2 in our atmosphere. Making this a step in the right direction for dealing with the large amount of unchecked emissions, which we experience today.
So, a carbon neutral process that doesn’t take food out of the mouths of others AND works in the existing vehicles we have today? Galactan fuel is definitely a creative idea that warrants more research and attention.
Article by Prabir Mehta, Science Museum of Virginia | <urn:uuid:a33eaf13-5065-48c9-8349-53df6e2aaa45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ideastations.org/articles/question-your-world-whats-future-of-fuel-2013-02-20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961705 | 473 | 3.390625 | 3 |
These photographs were taken so that emphasis would be placed on the position of the viewer in relation to the subject depicted in the photograph. The subject, according to the viewer’s perspective, appears to be upside down. However, the photographs are not upside down – it is the perspective at which the pictures were taken that creates this deception. Here, a parallel is drawn between the image that is seen and the way that transgender people are currently perceived in society. The way that transgender people are ‘seen’ is only one of many possible viewpoints, and as such, should not be taken as a definitive interpretation of reality.
The use of fabrics and exotic backgrounds in these pictures was a way to realise the telling of a different story to the more usual representations of transgender people – a way of presenting transsexual embodiment as magnificent and desirable.
C-type colour photographs, 100cm x 125cm. 5 photographs in the series. | <urn:uuid:78d7a327-ca80-47e6-97a8-abbaff3645b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saradavidmann.com/viewpoint.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97072 | 187 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Closing the Circle
After enduring a thrashing in the notorious Golfo de Penas, an open body of water renowned for its relentlessly foul disposition-its short, nasty, bottomless cross-seas coupled with gale-force winds made for probably the worst stomach-turning night of the entire expedition-we were rewarded with a benign run up to Puerto Montt. Next was a fast, lovely, 550-nautical-mile passage before brisk southerlies to the bustling Chilean city of Valparaíso, where my old sailing mate Mauricio Ojeda had secured us a berth in the smart little basin of the Club de Yates Higuerillas, in the nearby resort village of Concón.
Following a relaxing, enjoyable week in "Valpo" to recharge the figurative batteries after 4,000 hard miles from Mar del Plata, Argentina, we set sail for the 1,300-nautical-mile journey to Lima, Peru. On the last day of February, some 72 hours later, the inbox for our satellite-based email accounts was besieged with queries: Were we still in Chile? Was everyone OK? Did Ocean Watch weather the tsunami?
Though we were still off the coast of Chile, it was the first we'd heard about the quake.
In the aftermath of an earthquake, tsunamis race across the ocean floor with enormous force and energy, and the one that spun off the devastating Chilean temblor shot across the deep Pacific basin at hundreds of miles per hour. It's when those depths grow shallow, along coastlines and islands, and all that undersea inertia reaches the end of the runway with nowhere left to go, that tsunamis become lethal. At the surface of the vast ocean, however, many miles offshore, Ocean Watch sailed safely on.
One of the first emails we received came from our friend Mauricio, still in Valparaiso: "Ocean Watch was lucky to sail. We had troubles at the club. Although there was not a violent tsunami in our area, the sea completely receded after the earthquake, drying out the marina. Boats lay on the bottom, high and dry. When the sea slowly came back, the level reached an altitude much higher than normal, by eight feet. Most of the boats floated again, but three yachts were sunk. Piers were affected. But our problems at the club are only of material costs. No casualties."
Would the steel, 44-ton Ocean Watch have picked herself up off the ocean floor and survived the grounding? We'll never know. Once again, all we could do was invoke one of our recurring themes: Just how lucky could we get?
Once in Peru, we anchored off the welcoming facilities of the Yacht Club Peruano, in the resort village of Callao, a short distance from the teeming city of Lima. There, as in many of our destinations, we welcomed hundreds of school kids aboard to tour the boat and visit with teachers and staff from Seattle's Pacific Science Center, the expedition's other primary supporter. As always, the bright, curious, engaging students-who seem to understand more about the threats to our oceans than we adults, the creators of those threats-left us cautiously hopeful about the future.
In mid-March, we pushed on for the Galápagos archipelago. According to the pilot charts, in normal years, steady easterly trade winds would fuel the trip from Peru on to the equator. But the strong 2010 El Niño effectively switched off the trades as well as the usual coastal upwelling and northerly currents that generally prevail off the upper flank of western South America. With calm seas and water temperatures nearing 90 degrees F, what should've been a sweet sail turned into an uneventful delivery trip almost exclusively under power. The main diversion was hacking away the discarded longline fishing gear we wrapped around the propeller about midway through. | <urn:uuid:5ee7cc26-e66c-4b4d-be00-b1d1da226c8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cruisingworld.com/people/closing-the-circle?page=0,1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952487 | 803 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Folklore has it that during a pre-delivery test run on the autostrada in January 1975, this 1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopa Speciale’ (chassis number 1120056) achieved a speed of 202 miles per hour (326 kph), making it the first production road car to break the 200 MPH mark. While today’s consensus dismisses the 200 MPH claim, this Countach can stake a legitimate claim of being the fastest road car in the world, at that time.
The car had been specially ordered by Albert Silvera, a wealthy car collector living in Haiti who was a VIP customer of both Lamborghini and Ferrari. One of the items that Silvera specified for his Countach was a pair of Heuer Rally Master dash-mounted timepieces, consisting of a matching 8-day Master Time clock and a 12-hour Monte Carlo stopwatch.
This is a brief overview of the Silvera Countach, with a focus on the Heuer timepieces that were factory-installed, upon Mr/ Silvera’s request. | <urn:uuid:4a24c174-54cc-4d8f-8ba1-0e4a4dde891c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onthedash.com/thoughts/category/mounted-onthedash/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938464 | 228 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Farmer's Excursion to Lincoln, 1875
In 1866 businessmen in Nebraska City organized the Midland Pacific Railway Company (later the Nebraska Railway Company). The railroad built into Lincoln in 1871 and completed a branch line to Brownville in 1875.
One of the ways in which the Midland Pacific rewarded its local benefactors was by distributing free tickets to those who had benefitted the railroad during construction. The Nebraska City News of February 27, 1875, reported a "Farmers Excursion" from the Barney and Minersville area of Otoe County to Lincoln. Lawson Cook (nominally in charge of the excursion) and others had received free Midland Pacific tickets to distribute as a reward for giving the railroad free right-of-way through their land and for land donations to the road. An educational excursion to Lincoln was organized. The News reported that over one hundred Otoe County farmers participated, listed their names, and added that at least five had never ridden on a train before.
"When the Brakeman sang out 'Lincoln,' every one on board was pleased, and many were even gratified. Here Prof. [S. R.] Thompson, Dean of the Agricultural College, met the party with wagons and buggies, and conducted them out to the celebrated 'Model Farm,' now under his superintendency. . . . [and] located about two miles from the State University." Later the excursionists visited the school's main campus before returning home the next day via the Midland Pacific.
Unfortunately, some took advantage of the excursion to engage in less educational activities than touring university facilities. A succeeding page in the February 27 News reported an incident during the return to Otoe County under the title "More Whiskey Infernalism." According to the News, "a few ruffianly whiskey-soakers got themselves smuggled in to decent company" on the recent trip. "At Lincoln their principal employment was visiting saloons and drinking whiskey. . . . As soon as the [return] train started from Lincoln they commenced again, drinking, card-playing, ripping and swearing like fiends." An altercation between two excursionists led to a shooting in which a third man was wounded in the hand. "For ten or fifteen minutes there was the most intense confusion and excitement" until the pistol was finally taken from the assailant. He was arrested and removed from the train at Palmyra.
(October 2000 )
Return to Timeline Index | <urn:uuid:2179d38f-0845-4b77-aaa1-5c2c266a9223> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/farmers_excursion_1875.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977189 | 508 | 2.125 | 2 |
Market research leagues 2011
Behavioural economics is changing the way that market research agencies do business, with more UK brands embracing the technique as they attempt to influence consumers.
Domino's Pizza integrated behaviour economics into its brand strategy
Earlier this year, Domino's Pizza incorporated behavioural economics (BE) into its marketing strategy to help it decide what kinds of incentives to offer customers.
The chain is the latest of several UK brands, including Lloyds TSB, Hyundai and Transport for London, to use BE.
The technique, also known as 'nudge theory', examines consumer activity by understanding the social, cognitive and emotional factors behind purchase decisions.
BE has given a label to a well-known problem: what people say doesn't correspond to what people do. The theory explores, for example, why people give different answers to the same questions when these are asked or framed differently, and why they are more attracted to short-term rewards than to a longer-term, better deal.
'This label provides an academic underpinning for techniques and approaches that have been used for years,' says Sid Simmons, chairman of agency Incite. 'It also reinforces the need to link behavioural data, such as the frequency of shopping, to attitudes and claimed intention to use in the future.'
The agency used BE for a study for the National Blood Donation service, to identify ways of encouraging greater contributions. The ideas generated ranged from giving some people badges, because they wanted to be recognised for their effort, to simply providing more 'on-site' collection services for those who wanted the experience to be quick and easy.
So, to what extent is BE turning traditional market research methods on their head? Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy UK, the ad agency sister of research firm TNS, is a former president of the IPA. Under Sutherland, the body carried out research showing that emotional advertising has a higher return on investment than rational variants.
Sutherland gives two examples of how the sector has been challenged. He argues that the understanding that a lot of human decision-making takes place at an instinctive level is significant as much conventional research assumes that respondents have full access to the mental processes behind their actions.
'There is also the understanding that, at different stages of a customer journey, or simply in different moods, modes or contexts, consumers may deploy various heuristics to help them decide,' he says. 'Research is generally not context-sensitive, which may mean it lacks real predictive value.'
Many of the agencies ranked in Marketing's latest annual market research league table, in which TNS retains the top spot, believe that BE is giving the industry more legitimacy and opportunities.
'Drawing a more formal connection between people's behaviour and the economic realities that underpin or benefit them has made our lives as qualitative researchers easier,' says Dr Bob Cook, director of innovation and inspiration at research agency Firefish. 'Brands find it easier to apply research insight to business objectives as the complexities of non-rational influence on decision-making are explained and formalised.'
The agency has used BE to create roadmaps for brands that enable them to identify a desired customer behaviour or attitude and plan a realistic way to bring this about.
It claims this works well with some of the 'lifelogging' (where a wearable camera automatically takes photos of the world as seen and experienced by a subject) views and ethnographic methodologies the agency is developing. Cook says this offers a realistic version of people's existing behaviour, from which to develop insight and, eventually, strategy. With increasing interest in BE from brands, it is not surprising that market research agencies are developing fresh approaches incorporating the technique. Peter Harrison, creative director at agency Brainjuicer, says that market research is looking at more contextual approaches, resulting in a rise in shopper marketing, real-time research and mobile ethnography, all of which offer a better grasp of the behavioural issues at play.
'Brands are looking at creating experiences for customers beyond just advertising,' he adds. 'Nike, for example, is creating large-scale games, such as Nike GRID, and the Old Spice Guy YouTube campaign was successful, largely due to the way it responded to comments from "real" people. By creating experiences such as these, brands are making strong connections with consumers' intuitive, unconscious minds, with no product messages in sight.'
Jane Shirley, group managing director for insight and chief executive of Cello Research Group, says that most brand managers and market research companies are increasingly engaging with the more 'fuzzy' logic that goes with BE.
The intention is to shape market research that delivers findings that get closer to how consumers make purchasing and usage choices.
Brands are also looking to engage consumers on more than one level. More and more data suggests that decisions are often made out of respondents' cognitive awareness and are then post-rationalised,' says Shirley. 'Brands look to appeal at an unconscious level first, and then give purchasers "reasons to believe" post purchase decision, a reversal in many respects of traditional "product marketing" thinking.'
There are several BE-related challenges facing the sector, however. Sutherland points out that many research firms invest too much in attitudinal research, as opposed to behavioural research. 'The other issue is that deeper forms of engagement may be necessary to disentangle consumers' true decision-making factors from those they present as a rationalisation of their actions,' he says.
Research agency Monkey See carried out a study recently (see opposite) looking at how, although most people claimed their choice of breakfast was not influenced by others, the majority ate the same as someone else near them; more than one would expect by chance. Further investigation showed that different types of breakfast and brands have different levels of 'contagiousness'.
The challenge, therefore, is how to integrate insight into what people are doing with what they say they think and do. This needs to be done in a way that cuts through the tendency to post-rationalise. 'Integration is critical, as simply observing what people do leaves a significant gap in knowledge about why they do it, and what the implication of their actions are on how they might act in the future,' says Justin Sampson, chairman of research agency ICM. 'Not all changes in behaviour lead to long-lasting changes of attitude.'
For researchers, he adds, the challenge of doing this effectively differs according to whether you are observing the online or offline world. The measurability of online journeys offers opportunities to integrate behavioural data with attitudinal research.
'Such single-source panels are increasingly used by clients, although it would be wrong to think that one panel will solve the particular needs of all clients,' adds Sampson. 'Tailored approaches must be considered.'
ICM is working with a brand in the technology sector, where it has established an on-going panel that measures the technical performance of its service. The outputs from this are then combined with satisfaction levels, and brand attitudes that are captured through a traditional questionnaire-based approach.
Ultimately, though, is BE a better approach than previous attempts to understand consumers? According to Brainjuicer's Harrison, the technique offers a more holistic understanding of consumers and decision-making.
'It helps to complete the story that is created by traditional market research methodologies,' he says. 'This is not to say that our standard approaches are wrong, just that they are incomplete. By adopting a behavioural approach to our research, we will be able to create more resonant insights and make more confident and accurate predictions about human behaviour.'
Jeremy Griffiths, director of marketing science at research agency Maritz, argues that behavioural economics usefully supplements the market research industry's traditional approaches.
'BE isn't a single method,' he says. 'As an area of inquiry, the only downside to taking advantage of it is that it requires a bit of time to take in the material, and then funds to conduct some empirical studies to test whether the ideas we get from BE really improve our practice of marketing research.'
Cello Research Group continues to use traditional market research techniques, including segmentation, and contends that a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches remain extremely useful.
'However, project design, data generation and interpretation are informed and influenced by the thinking and approaches we have been developing over the years, which incorporate elements from BE,' says Cello's Shirley.
With the number of brands turning to BE likely to rise, market research agencies are exploring different ways of integrating the approach with traditional research methods. Agency Firefish, for example, is looking into using a mix of people with different perspectives on the world to consider the same set of attitudes and behaviour. With lifelogging output, the agency can combine the perspectives of academics, researchers, marketing professionals and members of the subjects' peer group to create a holistic understanding of their behaviour, and then determine how that might be positively influenced.
While BE is becoming a more useful tool for the market research industry, it still relies on the generation of extensive, reliable qualitative data, and the intelligence of the researcher.
Firefish's Cook concludes: 'As with other approaches that gain traction with the research industry, behavioural economics can easily become something that is used to dress up average research, as opposed to truly offering fresh understanding that can help brands create positive influence.'
CASE STUDY: WEETABIX
Market research agency Monkey See, which specialises in BE, recently carried out a study on the UK cereal market, focusing on Weetabix. The research, which was undertaken as a case study, was not commissioned by Weetabix. The brand was, however, eager to hear about the findings.
'We are interested in behavioural economics and were keen to hear about Monkey See's approach,' says Francesca Davies, marketing manager at Weetabix. 'We were impressed and felt it endorsed findings we have seen in other research, as well as providing new angles.'
The study used a combination of pioneering research tools, question areas and techniques such as qualitative and quantitative research (including observation and questioning) and statistical techniques. Key findings about cereal selection included the following:
Love for Weetabix This is not the driving factor. It is a strong brand; however, just 47% of people cited this 'love' as a reason they choose to eat Weetabix for breakfast. More than half was accounted for by other reasons such as their tendencies, ease and the influence of others.
Laziness - This overrides desire for a 'healthy option'. People may say they want their cereal to be healthy, but actually, the overwhelming tendency in the morning is for something 'quick and easy', resulting in 83% of respondents choosing their cereal by default (without thinking).
That default is often the laziest option - people are more likely to pour Corn Flakes out of an 'easy' pack than fiddle with Weetabix's inner packaging.
The upward trend in hot cereals and oats can, to some extent, be explained by the highly appealing nature of this type of porridge: 85% of those who see it eaten by another person choose it for themselves. At 37%, Weetabix was cited as one of the 'least-contagious' cereals on the market..
Information was collated by Marketing by sending a survey to each agency.
The respondents have been ranked according to their 2010 turnover.
For agencies affected by the US Sarabnes-Oxley Act, which restricts the amount of information firms are allowed to make public, we have used Companies House data provided by Kingston Smith W1.
Marketing takes care to publish accurate company data, but cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions in the leagues.
Founded 1965. Subsidiary WPP. Chief executive Andrew Czarnowski. No work breakdown provided. www.tns-ri.co.uk
Founded 1957. Subsidiary GfK SE. 38.6% quantitative, 6.9% qualitative, 30% continuous/syndicated, 8.5% mystery shopping, 16% field marketing. www.gfknop.com
Founded 1946. Subsidiary Ipsos SA. Chief executive Ben Page. 68% quantitative, 13% qualitative, 17% continuous/syndicated, 2% other. www.ipsos-mori.com
Founded 1972. Privately owned. Chief executive Peter Haigh. 100% continuous/syndicated. www.mintel.com
Founded 2004. Publicly quoted. Chief executive Jane Shirley. 50% quantitative, 47% qualitative, 3% continuous/syndicated. www.cello-group.co.uk
Founded 1979. Subsidiary SymphonyIRI Group. President Nigel Howlett. Breakdown not provided. www.symphonyiri.co.uk
Hall & Partners Europe
Founded 1992. Subsidiary Diversified Agency Services. Chief executive Paul Edwards. 55% quantitative, 13% qualitative, 32% other. www.hallandpartners.co,
Insight Research Group
Founded 1983. Subsidiary Cello Group. Joint group managing directors Jane Shirley, Nicola Cowland. No breakdown provided. www.insightrg.com
Founded 1989. Subsidiary Creston. Chairman Justin Sampson. 31% quantitative, 33.5% qualitative, 34% continuous/syndicated, 0.3% mystery shopping, 1.2% other. www.icmresearch.com
Harris Interactive UK
Founded 1956. Publicly quoted. Managing director Alexander Blayney. 57% quantitative, 7% qualitative,36% other. www.harrisinteractive.com/europe
SPA Future Thinking
Founded 2010. Privately owned. Chief executive Jon Priest. Breakdown not provided. www.spafuturethinking.com
Founded 1997. Subsidiary Omnicom Group. Joint managing directors Kirsty Fuller, Maggie Collier. 89% qualitative, 11% other. www.flamingo-international.com
Founded 2000. Publicly quoted. Chief executive Tim Britton. 85% quantitative, 5% qualitative, 10% continuous/syndicated. www.yougov.com
Founded 1989. Subsidiary Cello Group. Managing director Vincent Nolan. No breakdown provided. www.2cv.co.uk
Business Research Group
Founded 1991. Privately owned. Chief executive Don Wildey. 50% quantitative, 20% qualitative, 30% other. www.brg.co.uk
Founded 2007. Publicly quoted. Chief executive Crispin Beale. 65% quantitative, 25% qualitative, 5% mystery shopping, 5% other. www.cie.uk.com
Founded 1988. Subsidiary Media Square. Chief executive John Connaughton. No work breakdown provided. www.illuminas-global.com
Founded 2003. Privately owned. Chief executive Tim Ogle. 2% quantitative, 7% qualitative, 6% continuous/syndicated, 84% mystery shopping,1% other. www.retaileyes.co.uk
Founded 1973. Subsidiary Maritz Holdings. Managing director Stephan Thun. 4% qualitative, 85% continuous/syndicated, 11% mystery shopping. www.maritzresearch.co.uk
Incite Marketing Planning
Founded 2000. Privately owned. Managing director Roger Banks. 58% quantitative, 22% qualitative, 20% other. www.incite.ws
Founded 1999. Publicly quoted. Chief executive John Kearon. 92.41% quantitative, 7.59% qualitative. www.brainjuicer.com
Founded 1987. Privately owned. Managing director Virginia Monk. 17% quantitative, 4% qualitative, 79% continuous/syndicated. www.networkresearch.co.uk
Founded 1984. Subsidiary Cello Group. Joint managing directors Chris Stead, Phil Stubington. No breakdown provided. www.rsconsulting.com
Leapfrog Research & Planning
Founded 1994. Subsidiary Cello Group. Chief executive Judy Taylor. No breakdown provided. www.leapfrogresearch.co.uk
The Futures Company
Founded 1974. Subsidiary WPP. Chief executive Will Galgey. 30% quantitative, 30% qualitative, 10% continuous/syndicated, 30% other. www.thefuturescompany.com
Founded 2000. Privately owned. Chief executive Jem Fawcus. 2% quantitative, 98% qualitative. www.firefish.ltd.uk
Founded 1965. Privately owned. Joint managing directors Jan Shury and Mark Speed. 84% quantitative, 15% qualitative, 1% mystery shopping. www.iffresearch.com
Founded 1985. Privately owned. Managing director Wendy Mitchell. 17% quantitative, 83% qualitative. www.rdsiresearch.com
ABA Market Research
Founded 1994. Privately owned. Managing director Alison Bainbridge. 20% quantiative, 21% qualitative, 44% continuous/syndicated, 15% mystery shopping. www.abaresearch.co.uk
Grass Roots UK
Founded 1980. Subsidiary The Grass Roots Group. Managing director Andy Lister. 26% quantitative, 74% mystery shopping. www.grassrootsmeasurement.com
Founded 1992. Subsidiary Kadence International Business Research. Chairman Simon Everard. 60% quantitative, 40% qualitative. www.kadence.com
Founded 1999. Privately owned. Director Chris Russell. 50% quantitative, 35% qualitative, 15% mystery shopping. www.edigitalresearch.com
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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Seven hundred years before Israeli paratroopers restored the Old City of Jerusalem to Jewish hands, a great sage was rejuvenating Jewish life in the holy city, building the cornerstone for many generations to follow.
Nachmanides, also known as Ramban (an acronym of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman), was born in Spain in 1195. He was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, the Talmud, and philosophy.
Nachmanides lived during an era when the Land of Israel suffered a wave of rulers who conquered and wreaked devastation. In 1099, Crusaders sacked Jerusalem and massacred both the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants. Saladin the Muslim wrested control of Jerusalem in 1187, and over the next 50 years, a succession of conquerors arrived: the Tartars, the Mongols, and the Mamelukes.
These invasions left Jerusalem bereft of Jews, and the city in ruins.
The Barcelona Disputation
Meanwhile in Spain, anti-Jewish sentiment was pushing Jews to convert. (This eventually manifested in the Inquisitions and expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.) One technique was to "prove Judaism wrong" by holding a religious debate -- a disputation -- between a rabbi and a priest.
Such undertakings were fraught with danger. If the rabbi lost (i.e. Judaism was "proven wrong"), Jews would be forced to convert en masse. And if the rabbi won, things weren't necessarily any better: In one disputation, the rabbi won the dispute but Talmud books were burned by the cartload anyway.
In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. The topic of the debate focused on a key difference between Judaism and Christianity: defining who is the messiah, and proving whether or not he had "already come."
Nachmanides won the battle, but lost the war. His arguments earned the king's respect (and a prize of 300 gold coins!), but the Church ordered Nachmanides to be tried on the charge of blasphemy, and he was forced to flee Spain.
So it was that at age 72, Nachmanides decided to move to the desolate ruins of Jerusalem.
Aware of the dismal situation in Israel, Nachmanides seemed to be planning Jerusalem's revival before he arrived. Just prior to his departure, he delivered a sermon about the holiness of the land and the importance of giving charity. He was perhaps priming his congregants to support endeavors of building religious institutions within the land.
In 1267, after a long and perilous journey, Nachmanides arrived at the port city of Acco. After a brief stay, he traveled to Jerusalem where he was struck by its desolation. Buildings were dilapidated and abandoned. There were so few Jews that he could not even find 10 men for a minyan to pray!
In a letter to his son, Nachmanides wrote:
Many are [Israel's] forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all.
Yet Nachmanides saw hope. He recalled the Torah verses (Leviticus 26:32-33) in which God describes Israel during the period of exile:
So devastated will I leave the land, that your enemies who live there will be astonished... Your land will remain desolate, and your cities in ruins.
Nachmanides wrote in a commentary on this verse:
That which God states here, "So devastated will I leave the land that your enemies..." constitutes a good tiding, proclaiming that during all our exiles, our land will not accept our enemies. This is a great proof and assurance to us, for in the entire inhabited world one cannot find such a good and large land which was always lived in, and yet is as ruined as it is [today]. For since the time that we left it, it has not accepted any nation or people, and they all try to settle it, but to no avail.
Indeed, during the many centuries of Israel's exile from its land, no conqueror ever succeeded in permanently settling the land or causing the desert to blossom. In the ruins of Jerusalem, Nachmanides saw a fulfillment of God's promise that the land was waiting for the Jews to return.
Cornerstone of a Community
Nachmanides immediately set into action rebuilding the Jewish community. He chose a ruined house outside the Old City walls on Mount Zion -- one with marble pillars and a beautiful arch -- and began construction of a synagogue. Torah scrolls that had been removed before the Mongol invasion and transported to the city of Shechem, were returned.
Word of Nachmanides' presence brought more residents to Jerusalem. In a mere three weeks, the aptly-named Ramban Synagogue was ready for use, just as Rosh Hashana had arrived. And on that high holy day, Nachmanides delivered a sermon urging the new arrivals to remain in Jerusalem.
The next task was to set up a yeshiva. As word spread, students journeyed to Jerusalem to be near the revered scholar, teacher and leader. Nachmanides succeeded in laying a foundation of Jewish renewal, and after one year, he returned to Acco to lead the congregation there.
Back to the Future
After Nachmanides' death in 1270, the Ramban Synagogue was moved inside the Old City walls. It was built below ground level, because at the time Muslim law forbade any Jewish place of worship to be taller than any Muslim place of worship.
Over time, the Jewish community of Jerusalem increased until it once again became the center of Jewish life in Israel. Sephardim and Ashkenazim prayed and studied together in the Ramban Synagogue for the next 300 years. Then in 1589, due to Muslim incitement, the city's governor, Abu Sufrin, turned the synagogue into a warehouse. By then, however, the Jewish community was well established. It would continue and increase for centuries hence, until 1948 when…
During the early stages of the Israeli War of Independence, forces of the Hagana valiantly fought a desperate battle to hold onto the Old City. Ultimately they surrendered to the Jordanians, who occupied the Old City and evicted all the Jewish residents. Dozens of synagogues were destroyed and the remnants of hundreds of years of Jewish existence in Jerusalem were virtually wiped out. The Ramban Synagogue itself was turned into a dumpsite.
Independence was achieved, but Jerusalem's ancient streets again lay empty, as during the dark days of the Crusades.
It was 19 years later, in June 1967, that Jerusalem was reunited. Many of the ancient synagogues were rebuilt, and the Jewish community of the Old City was restored.
In the center of today's thriving Jewish Quarter stands the Ramban Synagogue. The history and holiness can be felt in its every brick and archway. It is a place bustling with prayer and Torah learning, its presence a living testimony to the efforts of Nachmanides, 700 years earlier, which reverberate loudly till today. | <urn:uuid:660da91b-ff17-42e7-ae29-4b581011178a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aish.com/jw/j/48956656.html?s=raw | 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 | 0.969502 | 1,534 | 3.65625 | 4 |
SITE 4.13: On the gravel slope below the southern habitation plain is a large boulder with the faint remains of animal engravings. Better preserved is an engraving of an oryx that is exceptional not only for having extremely large hooves (shown in plan view, to indicate them as spoor) on its two legs, but also for the four small cupules that apparently have been arranged just above each spoor and at both sides of its legs (Figure 27 A). The meaning of this striking arrangement is not clear. However, a similar "cupule" oryx is found at site 4.15, strengthening the impression that both the arrangement and the association with oryx are intentional. This does not mean, however, that these cupules are contemporary; they may well be later (though most probably not earlier).
SITE 4.14: Opposite the well-known painting of the "walking human" in the shelter on the southern habitation plain is a vertical wall that is covered with delicately engraved figures of animals. Partially superimposing an animal are two distinct rows of small cupules. The upper row comprises 12 cupules and the lower row 10 cupules. What Scherz did not record however is a row of three, possibly five, small depressions near the bottom of the panel; two of those depressions seem to be superimposed upon a giraffe. They may be part of a (feline) spoor, especially as they seem to have claw-marks just above some of the curved row of cupule-toes (these depressions are for that reason excluded as cupules in this survey). Also not recorded previously is a row of cupules on the left-hand side of the panel, which has up to five small cupules, also possibly superimposed upon an animal. All the rows run parallel to ground level (Figure 28).
SITE 4.15: Overlooking a small enclosure situated behind (south of) the painted shelter (and accessible through a narrow passage from the shelter) and east of the two enormous decorated blocks (D15 and D16) is a small, decorated boulder (not numbered by Scherz and therefore labelled D4d by me). On its vertical, west-facing panel are three or four animal engravings, one of which is an oryx with large spoor as hooves, while four small cupules are arranged on either side of the legs of the oryx (Figure 27 B), just like the cupules accompanying the oryx on stone 4.13.
Just below the frieze of four ostriches on the vertical west face of the lavishly decorated boulder (D16) are two slightly curved rows of five small depressions which are said to represent a spoor of a lion. Therefore these depressions are not regarded to be true cupules.
SITE 4.16: Just below and to the right (west) of the entrance to the small plain in front of the "Carstenplatte" (G1) is a large NE sloping slab of which the lower part is covered with grooves, pecked areas and some rather indistinct animal engravings. It, however, also has some cupules, not mentioned by Scherz (1975). Near the south end is a group of possibly eight cupules of much varying sizes. They seem to enclose a small animal engraving with two rather "out of place" horns, possibly of an oryx or rather, kudu. One of the cupules has a serpentine groove that seems to be super-imposed by a ninth possible cupule (Figure 29).
Near its centre and immediately below a ledge are three, possibly five, much worn cupules, one touching a much larger but very shallow recessed disc (Figure 30). West of the disc is a group of two animals one of which (Figure 30) has three extensions, each ending in a small disc or cupule. There are more small depressions on this panel that could be man made (e.g. below the faint animals)
SITE 4.17: Further south from stone 4.16 is a large cube-shaped block (the largest block in Figure 30) occupying the centre of the small enclosure in front of the "Carstenplatte". On a west facing vertical panel are two rather distinct giraffes and the some much-weathered remains of other animals. Near the centre of the west facing panel is a group of thin lines together forming a cigar-shape parallel to ground level. This form is associated with eight possible cupules, one actually (but incidentally?) forming the head of a bird (ostrich?) engraving (Figure 31).
SITE 4.18: This is the "Carstenplatte", a large part of which is covered with beautiful animal engravings. Near the centre of the panel is a relatively very small indeterminable animal that has been superficially pecked out.
Click for Enlargement
It has two legs. Its rather thicker back leg seems to have a small cupule attached to it and is therefore also somewhat longer. The cupule definitely is deeper than the rest of the animal but has the same patination (Figure 32). It is uncertain whether the cupule is contemporary.
Near its east side, among some animal engravings, is a vertical belt of small and shallow depressions, many of which look like weathered cupules (Figure 33). One giraffe seems to have been carved over a part of this group, possibly obliterating some of the depressions. The "cupules" have a patination that is similar to the stone and, if indeed of anthropic origin, they just possibly are older than the lighter patinated animal engravings.
SITE 4.19: Much lower down the rocky slope is another small plain overlooked by a large vertical rock face (H23) featuring two very large spoor (of rhinoceros? - see Figure 93). Near its west edge are two cup-and-ring designs with a rather shallow central cupule each (not mentioned by Scherz). Immediately above these cup-and-rings is a pair of feline spoor that uses small cupules for toes (Figure 34). Spoor "B" is interesting as it has seven toes and above four or five of the toes are single dots - the claw marks? - compare with the marks on stone B7 (see site 4.2) and 4.14. To the left of spoor "A" are three single cupules arranged in a triangle, reminding us of the arrangement at stone 4.4, but most likely these three have been "randomly" executed. On this rock panel are possibly twelve more much weathered shallow depressions that could be cupules.
The relative chronology of the rock-art elements on panel 4.19 is rather obscure. Especially many of the geometric designs are heavily patinated, whereas others seem to have been reworked. But in general the animals and spoor look younger and in some cases seem to have been superimposed upon much older (geometric) grooves.
SITE 4.20: Situated still lower down, almost in the riverbed (which is unrecognisable in the dry season), is a large broken boulder. Its slightly west sloping, flat upper surface features some animal engravings, but also geometric designs and at least 13 cupules. Some of the cupules are enclosed by ringmarks, which may point to contemporaneity. The cupules and geometric designs are distributed apparently randomly across the cracked panel, whereas the surviving animal figures all have been arranged along its west edge, except for some indeterminate grooves and a giraffe, the head of which is discernible along the north edge (to the right of inset 2 in Figure 35), its neck only hardly visible.
One configuration is particularly interesting. Near the west edge is the engraving of an oryx that seems to be superimposed by two parallel grooves that connect two cup-and-ring designs (inset 2 in Figure 35). These parallel grooves are slightly lighter patinated than the oryx and this may indicate that the geometric design is later, but it equally may have been reworked.
This is one of the very few stones at Twyfelfontein, where we find geometric and iconic designs together with cupules. Possibly they have been executed by different cultures. Based on the general assumption that geometric art involving cupules and circular motifs is earlier than animal imagery, I suggest that also at panel 4.20 the animal engravings are younger. However, there are so many different degrees of patination concerning the different graphic elements and of the natural surface of the stone that it is actually impossible to establish with certainty a relative chronology for all rock-art elements on this panel. Scherz (1975: 196) also acknowledges that only the edges still show the "original" bluish patination, whereas the centre is much smoother and more yellow/brown of colour. Scherz suggests that food had been ground on the central part of this stone (which apparently split afterwards). The grinding obliterated most of the engravings (inset 1 in Figure 35). Also notice that the edges have also been (naturally or culturally?) flaked. This is one of the most interesting cupule stones in the area.
SITE 4.21.1: This stone (Figure 36, see also Figure 95) could not be located during our survey. We asked several of the guides, explaining what should be engraved on the rock, but they either did not know the stone, or took us to the "Springbockplatte" (F12 - Figure 89), where indeed several feline spoor have been engraved, but no true cupules. Although Scherz' book includes a good photograph of panel 4.21.1, it only shows 28 of a group of actually 31 cupules. The 31 cupules are all situated on the lower part of the rock below feline and kudu spoor.
Sven Ouzman surveyed the site in March 2002. He was so kind as to confirm the approximate location of sites 4.21.1 and 4.21.2 on the map (Figure 14). He describes this panel as follows. On the outside of the overhang and at the entrance to the smallest part of the tunnel (Figure 95) is a vertical rock face with a 750mm x 700mm engraved cluster comprising 11 feline spoor, two antelope spoor and 31 cupules. The cupules measure between 16mm 35mm in diameter and between 4mm 11mm deep. The spoor are all engraved in pecked-infill and vary from 55mm x 40mm in size to 80mm x 75mm. Two of the feline spoor are shown with claws extended. On the outer face of the rock block there are 3 faded human figures in red paint representing a Bushman rock painting episode (Ouzman 2002).
Figure 36 clearly shows the difference in patination between the darker cupules and the lighter spoor, which may indicate a time lapse between the execution of the cupules and the (possibly later) spoor.
SITE 4.21.2: This site, just outside of the main declared monument area, is named the Grosser Malereiblock by Scherz. According to Ouzman it is located on the 640m contour and comprises a large overhang making for a cave-like space up to 2m deep and up to 3m high on a large rock block with a sloping and reasonably extensive floor area. This cave-like overhang is sited next to large upstanding rock block complex.
On the south wall Ouzman (2002) reports possible cupules: Just outside the painted shelter are four pecked-infill engraved spoor one antelope, two equid and a horseshoe-like spoor, probably also zebra. There are two other pecked areas. Less than 10m from the paintings there are five more spoor associated with little dots/cupules (numbers not stated).
SITE 4.22 and SITE 4.23: Like stone 4.21.1, these two rocks could not be found by us on several occasions, although stone 4.23 could be located by Sven Ouzman in March 2002. Its position on the map (Figure 14) is therefore approximately correct.
Scherz records seven "Punktkreise" at site 4.22 (C6c) and one "Punktkreis" on 4.23 (C2), but in both cases there is no special mention of "Löcher" (holes) or "Näpfchen" (cupules) in his description. There could be more cupules on such rocks, as is the case with stones 4.2 and 4.20, but they may also be absent like at panel B7. It also must be noted here that many "Punktkreise", as recorded by Scherz, do not have a true cupule at their centre, but instead a superficially executed dot or just a pecked area.
SITE 5.1: On the plateau (which is not at all flat) and directly above Twyfelfontein site 4 are two simple engraved sites (marked 5 in Figure 2). The westernmost of these sites (K3) includes a flat-topped boulder with seven depressions. According to Scherz these most probably are grinding hollows (1975: 198, Tafel 159.2).
However, the four largest depressions are said to measure (depth/diameter): 72/82, 60/73, 57/65 and 56/57mm. Therefore, these depressions could represent large cupules, especially the smaller examples. However, as this site was not visited, neither by us nor by Sven Ouzman, these seven depressions are not included as cupules in this survey. | <urn:uuid:2faa454f-e4c5-43cc-a52d-d9dcaa75bdbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/namibia/twyfelfontein_cupules7.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960426 | 2,898 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Sustainable Building Features
The 200,000 square foot Academic and Student Rec Center (ASRC) is a LEED Gold Certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and features many innovative and sustainable features throughout the building. This certification makes it only one of a handful of its type in the country and mirrors Portland State's commitment to sustainability.
Below are listed the sustainability features of the building.
LOCATION / CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS / APPLIANCES
LOCATION / CONSTRUCTION
The ASRC was built in January 2010 on a Brownfield site, a pre-existing under-used location, to minimize environmental impact and preserve natural spaces. The central downtown location capitalizes on existing utility infrastructure and public transportation. Site selection and full utilization of this important downtown block completes the University’s 1992 Master Plan. A vibrant transportation hub, streetcar, light rail and bus transportation are all directly adjacent to and fully integrated with pedestrian and vehicle modes.8.8% of the material used in construction was regionally sourced.
Construction debris was carefully handled. 95% of the demolition and construction waste was diverted from landfill. All materials were evaluated with sustainable criteria. Over 10% (post consumer + ó pre-consumer) of the total value of material in the project has recycled content. Over 10% of the value of material used has been extracted, processed and manufactured regionally (within 500 miles of the site).
Counters within the facility are wheelchair accessible and there is a power wheelchair charging station located on the second floor near Member Services.
Water usage is reduced by over 85% with water efficient strategies. Reclaimed water and dual flush fixtures for toilets, infrared sensor control faucets and low flow heads, and highly efficient irrigation contribute to the projected 300,000 gallons per year savings.
Storm Water Usage
Storm water management strategies include storage, treatment and reclamation. Rainwater from the roof is captured, stored and reused on-site to flush toilets and, in the case of emergency, serves as fire suppression water. Eco-roof planters on the fifth level terrace retain and treat storm water reducing overflow from the fire water-tank during winter months. Site storm water is also treated with a water quality filtration system.
Water Bottle Refilling Stations
Patrons are encouraged to use re-usable water bottles in lieu of disposable plastic bottles and can re-fill their water at the refilling stations on the third and fourth floors. Additionally, all drinking fountains and refilling stations offer filtered water.
ReRev is a system that captures the kinetic energy generated by aerobic exercise on a bank of 12 Precor elliptical machines in an efficient and cost effective way. It converts otherwise wasted energy into productive renewable energy that feeds back into the building’s electrical system. A typical 30-minute cardio workout produces 50 watt hours of clean, carbon-free electricity. That is enough electricity to run: a CFL light bulb for 2 hours and 30 minutes, a cell phone charger for 6 full charges, power a laptop for one hour, or run a desktop computer for 30 minutes.
Daylighting (use of natural light on the interior) and connection between interior spaces and interior to exterior spaces was a design priority. The North side of the building has very large windows, while the South side has smaller windows. This optimizes the heating/cooling systems by not having to turn on the air conditioning in the afternoons. Daylight controlled electric light fixtures turn off when daylight conditions are sufficient for the task or space use, provide better lighting and reducing the electricity demand and the building cooling load. This building uses 29% less energy than a comparable code compliant building.
There are occupancy sensors throughout the facility that turn off the lights when there is no activity in those areas to reduce the electricity used.
Air Quality Control
Indoor air quality improvements due to control of construction dust and debris and use of low-emitting adhesives, paint, carpets and formaldehyde free casework contribute to user comfort and increased worked productivity.
Highly efficient mechanical and electrical equipment; effective daylighting; high performance exterior envelop with exterior sun screens, insulated dual pane glazing and highly insulated wall; flexible ventilation system; reuse of existing well water drawn from and re-injected to the aquifer to eliminate cooling plant; all incorporated to reduce energy consumption by 29%.
The Gymnasium features a flexible system of manually operable windows, relief vents and paddle fans that allow building operators to take advantage of the natural air currents thus minimize the need to use mechanical heating and cooling equipment. The fans used in the gym and weight room are Powerfoil X paddle fans manufactured by Big Ass Fans.
Water from a pre-existing well is circulated through the building for cooling and then re-injected into the aquifer.
MATERIALS / APPLIANCES
The benches in the Natatorium are made out of Ipe wood from south and Central America. Botanical name: Tabebuiaw ipe. This wood is made from rapidly growing, sustainably harvested, and fairly traded. It is also durable and resistant to rot.
The gym features three courts. Two are Connor wood courts featuring Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified maple wood floors. Under the wood is a Conner Neoshok pad and a Regupol sound Pad. The third gym is a Multi-athletic Court with dasher boards. This area features Connor Elastiplus flooring and arena board by Becker Arena Products.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, and not for profit organization that was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. The FSC standards represent the world's strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes.
The Multi-purpose rooms feature Forest Stewardship Council certified wood from Connor flooring. These rooms use Conner Neoshok and Red Neoshok pads. The multi-purpose rooms utilize natural lighting and operable windows to manage temperature. The yoga mats used in class are purchased from a local company to reduce carbon footprint.
Highly efficient washers and dryers were purchased to maximize washing capability with minimum energy use. The washers are soft-mount Speed Queen OPAL Softmount SX55 models. This model reaches a G-force of 418. According to Athletic Business, highly efficient washers can save up to 50% on energy costs and use 30% less water than a normal washer. One of the features specifically mentioned is the G-force capability. Gs in excess of 200 are responsible for low water usage and a reduction in drying time. The dryers are Speed Queen dryer OPAL Drying Tumbler models. Towel service is available for a small fee, which reflects the true cost of providing clean towels.
Furniture selected for the Rec Center includes pieces with 100% recycled cloth and the Mirra office chairs selected are 96% recyclable at the end of their useful life. Furniture for the lounge area was purchased from EcoPDX and Tropical Salvage, made exclusively of old, reclaimed tropical hardwoods.
Weight Room Equipment
Weight room equipment was selected for purchase based on a sustainability rating matrix that was created to assess the recycled content, use of alternative energy, and recycled materials.
Carpeting is made of recycled materials, and all of the paint is low VOC to reduce toxic fumes.
Paper, glass, and plastic recycling containers are located on every floor.
The wall is a Nicros traversing, bouldering and climbing wall. The wall is 32’ high climbing portion with belay platform, as well as a 14’ high bouldering wall. The floor is a Surface America PlayBound surface, which is made of 100% post-consumer recycled rubber from tires.
Nicros is an environmentally conscious company that follows the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System which encourages global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. Nicros pre-fabricates components to keep scrap and extra shipping weight down, which conserves fuel and sources heavy materials locally instead of shipping.
NATATORIUM (Swimming Pool/Spa)
Air Flow Systems
Features a 25 yard, six-lane lap pool which has a depth of three feet, six inches to seven feet. There is also a ten-person spa in the natatorium. The airflow systems in the natatorium are linked to sensors to reduce fan-use when it is not needed. This area also uses a heat recovery system to pre-heat incoming water, and efficient condensing boiler.
The Rec Center keeps the pool at 82 degrees. This prevents excessive heating costs and reduces condensation.
UV Filtration System
The natatorium (simply means a building that contains a swimming pool) is unique because the pool and spa are connected to a UV filtration system; this is an alternate chemical procedure that cleans the water. When someone brings debris into the pool or spa, such as sweat or shampoo, the chlorine combines with the debris and the result is called “combined chlorine”. The UV process begins to work when the water is filtered through a machine where the UV light kills off the debris, thus the chlorine is useable again and gets recycled back into the pool. In traditional pools, the combined chlorine never leaves the pool and more chlorine has to be added continuously so that there is enough chlorine available to attach to the debris. Ultimately, the UV process used in the natatorium keeps the odor down and the pool cleaner.
Eco-roof planters on the fifth level terrace retain and treat storm water reducing overflow from the fire water-tank during winter months and preloading the fire suppression system.
A rooftop solar array was installed, which is intended to create energy for the power wheelchair charging station on the second floor.
A reflective roof minimizes heat entering the building from the sun. | <urn:uuid:730ceb98-312c-4505-9f26-e83f127156d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pdx.edu/recreation/sustainable-building-features | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931645 | 2,065 | 2.03125 | 2 |
David Cook (game designer)
|Born||East Lansing, Michigan|
|Other names||David "Zeb" Cook|
Early life
Cook was born in East Lansing, Michigan, and grew up on a farm in Iowa where his father worked as a farmer and a college professor. In junior high school, Cook playing wargames such as Avalon Hill's Blitzkrieg and Afrika Korps. "I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn’t any role-playing available then," although in college, he was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game through the University of Iowa gaming club.
Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb"; the name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z', as well as his resemblance to the James Arness character Zeb Macahan in the TV series How the West Was Won.
Cook responded to an ad in Dragon magazine for a game designer position at TSR. After completing the designer test that the company then used, and writing a sample module section, Cook became the third full-time game designer hired by TSR. He later became Senior Designer. “Game designing is hard work,” he says, “but everything worth doing is hard work. The important thing is to do it well, and to have fun while you’re doing it.” Cook created role-playing games, modules, family board games, card games, rulebooks, and party mystery games.
He created the Partyzone mystery game line, and The Spy Ring scenario, the first Partyzone game, was named one of the Top 100 Games of 1985 by Games Magazine. Other notable works for TSR include the Conan the Barbarian, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, and Star Frontiers role-playing games, and the Sirocco and Escape from New York games. Cook also wrote several influential early adventure modules for D&D and AD&D, such as A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City, X1: The Isle of Dread, and X4: Master of the Desert Nomads and X5: Temple of Death (the 'Desert Nomads' series). Other module work included CM4: Earthshaker!, AC5: Dragon Tiles II, AC2: D&D Game Combat Shield, B6: The Veiled Society, CB1: Conan Unchained!, M1: Blizzard Pass for D&D and AD&D, and Top Secret module TS005: Orient Express and Boot Hill module BH2: Lost Conquistador Mine.
Cook, with Jim Ward, Steve Winter, and Mike Breault, co-wrote the adventure scenario that was adapted into the game Pool of Radiance. Cook is particularly known for being the lead designer on the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and the Planescape campaign setting. One reviewer described that work as "the finest game world ever produced for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". He was the primary author of the original Oriental Adventures, ostensibly under the guidance and direction of Gary Gygax, which amongst other things introduced the concept of non-weapon proficiencies into AD&D, and designed the far eastern setting, Kara-Tur.
Cook left TSR in 1994 to work in the field of electronic media. He was the lead designer on City of Villains computer game for Cryptic Studios. After he left Cryptic, he joined Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment as the lead systems designer for the video game Stargate Worlds. In 2001 he was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame.
See also
- Amazing Engine
- Dwellers of the Forbidden City
- List of Dungeons & Dragons modules
- Scourge of the Slave Lords
- "TSR Profiles". Dragon (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.) (#104): 63. December 1985.
- The Dragon editors (September 1989). "The Envelope, Please!". Dragon (149): 20–21.
- Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch (2005-08-22). "City of Villains A Chat with Zeb Cook (PC)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- Scott Haring; Andrew Hartsock (August 1994). "Pyramid Pick: Planescape". Pyramid (Steve Jackson Games) #8. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- * David Cook, "Oriental opens new vistas", Dragon 104:20-21, Dec 1985.
- Shepherd, Ashley (February 1986). "Open Box: Dungeon Modules". White Dwarf (Games Workshop) (74): 9–10. ISSN 0265-8712.
- Jeff Woleslagle; Phil Comeau (2006-05-11). "Stargate Worlds Q&A with David "Zeb" Cook From Cities to Worlds". TenTonHammer.com.
- Damon White (2003-06-28). "Winners of Origins Game Awards". GamingReport.com. Retrieved 2008-02-27. | <urn:uuid:dbee064c-e563-426d-95d1-728d74504c0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cook_(game_designer) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931808 | 1,103 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Calibration may be required when the scale is first set up for use, or if the scale is moved to a different altitude or gravitation. This is necessary because the weight of a mass in one location is not necessarily the same in another location. Also, with time and use, mechanical deviations can occur.
Digital scales lose calibration from time to time and need re-adjusting. Though the details vary somewhat, the basic procedure for getting your off-point scale working accurately again follows a handful of common steps, which is explained in the user manual of your particular digital scale.
Important: Always perform calibration procedure after first turning the unit on and allowing it to warm up and stabilize for 20 seconds. Calibrate your scale at regular intervals if the scale is subject to weather or altitude changes or if the display shows Out2. Incorrect calibration can occur if you do not follow the steps exactly. If your scale does not perform accurately, please also try replacing your batteries. You will require a particular size of weight to re-calibrate your scale. The size of weight required for each scale is stated in the user manual.
A calibrating procedure for one scale does not mean it is the same procedure for another scale. When calibrating a digital scale you must correctly follow its programming procedure. We often assume a scale has been freshly calibrated when it has not. Many error messages and calibration errors can be identified, and eliminated, by simply following the detailed instruction manual supplied with the unit. Additionally, if your scale reads to the hundredths place we recommend you become very familiar with calibration. If your scale has this level of accuracy we strongly suggest calibrating your scale each time it is used. This high level of sensitivity (0.01g) provides you with highly refined results so always ensure you are starting correctly.
Overloading your digital scale can, and probably will, fatally damage your scale. They are only made to weigh to their maximum rated capacity. If you place an object on your scale beyond its capacity you can permanently damage your scale. Be selective with the objectives you are weighing. All digital scales can be permanently damaged if you overload them. The load cell is not made to take the additional weight. They are made with very sensitive and delicate load cells.
The number one reason for problematic scales is due to weak batteries or battery related issues. Scales must have a stable power supply or they will provide you with unstable results. Only purchase high quality batteries for your scale. If you do not, then replace the batteries often. Another issue related to batteries is the connections. Battery terminals must make a solid connection with your batteries to operate correctly. Ensure your terminals are connecting to the battery and not the plastic assembly of the scale.
All scales (whether mechanical or digital) require a flat stable surface in order to obtain an accurate result. This is especially true when you are calibrating your scale. If it has been calibrated inaccurately, it will only provide you with inaccurate results. An incorrect calibration will inhibit repeatability. Always ensure you have a flat surface. | <urn:uuid:33d3d884-67c8-47e1-a50a-d3907c5cff07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalscales2u.co.uk/content/WhatisCalibration-19.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928956 | 622 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Ph10mm outdoor smd 3-in-1 full color LED display
SMD(Surface Mounted Device) is a method for constructing electronic circuits in which the light chips are mounted directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards. Our use this technology in indoor LED display
have a long time, and ours best new way is used it in outdoor screens. Each SMD pixel consists of red, green, and blue diodes mounted on a chipset, which is then mounted on the driver PC board. The diodes are very small and are set very close together. The difference is that the maximum viewing distance is reduced by 25% than common led display but advanced by 50% than indoor led display
with the same solution. | <urn:uuid:af8e6831-aec3-4977-b4c5-84b96d604503> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sbc-led.com/P10-outdoor-led-display.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96143 | 150 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Respiratory infections account for significant excess morbidity and mortality among older people each winter. Influenza A virus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) have emerged as two of the most important viruses for this age group. The resultant morbidity and mortality among these populations is substantial. Natural RSV infection in adults of various ages with mild, moderate, and severe RSV disease will be evaluated in order to accomplish the following primary objectives: to assess the effect of aging on the immune response to natural RSV infection; to assess the effect of aging on the clearance of RSV infection; to assess the effect of aging on the innate immune response to natural RSV infection; to assess the possibility of virus spread to the lower airways and; to assess the role of the RSV-specific immune response in the pathogenesis of severe disease. Study participants will include approximately 2000 persons, male and female, greater than or equal to age 21, including healthy persons, persons with common medical conditions (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, thyroid conditions, arthritis, coronary artery disease, skin cancer, etc), persons with underlying chronic pulmonary or cardiac conditions, and persons with signs and symptoms of acute respiratory tract illness who reside in the Upstate, New York area. A prospective cohort of ~800 persons will be recruited prior to the onset of RSV season in year one and followed for respiratory illnesses during each RSV season for three years or until the subject has a documented RSV illness. This group will contain persons of various ages and a spectrum of medical conditions. This population will be used to evaluate age-related differences in the immune response to RSV and viral shedding patterns.These volunteers are expected to provide primarily cases of mild to moderately severe RSV disease. A second group of subjects with signs and symptoms of acute respiratory tract illness will be recruited from the Lifetime After hours Urgent Care Center, Rochester General Hospital emergency room and inpatient medical service. Those identified with RSV infection will provide cases of moderate to severe RSV disease. At the end of RSV season, a control group will be selected. This group will be comprised from subjects chosen from the prospective cohort who did not have an RSV infection during that winter season. Controls will be matched by age and underlying conditions for each of the RSV infected subjects. The following outcome measures will be assessed: RSV severity: severe disease=hospitalized cases, mild-moderate disease=non-hospitalized cases; virus load: quantity and duration of RSV shedding as determined by quantitative RT-PCR; T cell responses; antibody: acute serum IgG to RSV F and G proteins by EIA and and neutralization titer to RSV A2 or B1 virus depending upon the infecting strain; local innate immune response: maximum IL-6 or IL-8 or MIP-1 alpha levels in nasal secretions; systemic innate immune response: maximum number of NK cells in the peripheral blood; and systemic inflammation: maximum serum IL-6 or C reactive protein value. | <urn:uuid:8e40e464-ca4a-43da-85bf-c838122f194a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00246480?term=rsv+niaid&recr=open&rank=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920113 | 615 | 2.75 | 3 |
More than 42,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict since the uprising began in March 2011, according to opposition activists. CNN cannot confirm claims by the government or the opposition because of government restrictions that prevent journalists from reporting freely within Syria.
During the Syrian rebellion, anti-government fighters have routinely used the Web to transmit bloody images, including what they say are military attacks on civilians.
Rebel leaders accused the government of creating the blackout to hide its mass killings from the outside world.
"The regime knows that Internet is the main communication method for us," Jade said. "Taking that down is almost like blinding the normal Internet users related to the revolution."
Internet and cell phone coverage were restored Saturday to most Syrian provinces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The same day, state media reported the Internet and communications lines were back in service in Damascus and its suburbs, blaming the outage on a malfunction in the main grid.
A Web security expert said the outage was almost certainly the work of the Syrian government.
Prince said his firm's investigations showed that all four Internet cables linking Syria to the outside world would have had to been cut simultaneously for a whole country outage to occur.
As winter nears in Syria, people are being forced back to restive neighborhoods
Al-Sakhour is on the frontlines of the Syrian civil war and is the last place most civilians want to be. | <urn:uuid:da871675-8b99-4f73-859e-4761836c1a04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wpbf.com/news/nationalnews/Opposition-accuses-Syria-of-mental-war/-/8788944/17624770/-/item/1/-/xmwwo8z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973878 | 287 | 2.28125 | 2 |
In 2007, Kenya’s disputed presidential election descended into violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed. On 4 March all eyes will be on Kenya, as once again the country goes to the polls in what is set to be another heated election. We will be examining the results and what they mean for the future of the country. The government has faced criticism that it has not done enough to bring to justice those that incited violence at the 2007 election. The International Criminal Court (ICC) stepped in, resulting in four Kenyans facing charges of crimes against humanity at the Hague. Two of these are Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, who are running on a joint ticket for president and vice president, raising the stakes yet further in March. Since the last election, a new constitution has come into force which has divided Kenya into 47 new counties, each with its own governor and parliament. The overarching idea of the new constitution is that the people will decide. Is this likely to be effective or wil it create further division? | <urn:uuid:d6ec7a1d-31e7-4432-8468-99064cfc0d20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/28789997-elections-in-kenya-is-bloodshed-inevitable-at-the-frontline-club | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976523 | 213 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer (MLS) is the highest level soccer league in the United States sanctioned by the professional division of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer), a member of FIFA. MLS was formed in 1996, following the staging of a successful FIFA World Cup in the United States in 1994. MLS began with ten teams. The Chicago Fire and the Miami Fusion joined in 1998. Most of the players in the league are from the United States but some are renowned international players, with Latin America being being the home the region for the largest number of the international stars.
Unlike many other professional sports leagues in the United States, MLS is organized as a "single-entity" organization, in which the league contracts directly with the players, in an effort to control spending and maximize exposure. Each team has an owner/investor and the league allows an owner to have more than one team.
The full roster for each MLS team is limited to a maximum of 18 senior players, plus a maximum of six (6) roster-protected players. Of the 18 senior players, MLS teams are allowed a maximum of three (3) international players on their active roster. In MLS, a player is not considered an international (regardless of eligibility to play for the U.S. National Team) if he is a U. S. citizen, is a resident alien (green card), or under asylum protection. This criteria, defining an international player, has been established by U.S. Soccer and is in accordance with U. S. Immigration and Naturalization laws which requires that MLS not limit or restrict the number of lawful permanent or temporary residents, asylees or refugees permitted to play on any team's active roster.
In 1999, the city of Columbus, Ohio built Columbus Crew Stadium, the first stadium ever built specifically for soccer in the United States. A major goal of MLS management is to build such stadiums, which are often called "soccer-specific stadiums".
The Miami Fusion played in Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which was a former high school stadium which had been converted into a soccer-specific stadium. However, MLS contracted following the 2001 season, from 12 back to 10 teams, and the Miami Fusion ceased operation, as did the Tampa Bay Mutiny.
A new soccer-specific stadium, the new home of the LA Galaxy beginning with the 2003 season, opened at Home Depot Center (HDC) in Carson, California. In the first year of operation, the HDC hosted the MLS All Star Game, the 2003 Women’s World Cup (including the championship final), and the 2003 MLS Cup Final. The Galaxy previously played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
MLS attendance was strong the first season, declined slightly each of the following years, before stabilizing in a successful 2002 season.
Quality of play in MLS has improved in the the league's first few years. The success of the United States Men's National Team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan/Korea has been partly attributed to skills built through play in MLS.
|Table of contents|
2 Past MLS Cup Championship Games
3 MLS Commissioners
4 External Links
Current Member Teams
Past MLS Cup Championship Games
See Major League Soccer All-Star Game | <urn:uuid:2600648a-6dae-4105-bbd9-c0a1e2a2b6fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/m/major-league-soccer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960067 | 672 | 2.046875 | 2 |
|Health benefits of exercise are well documented by the medical profession. Insurance companies, as well as States, are coming to the realization that something has to be done about obesity in the United States. Newspapers, daily, have such articles on the front page, "Bill Geared to Help Heavy Americans/Program Aims to Slim Down Number of Obese and Overweight," (Houston Chronicle in Summer of 2004 ). Three days later, once again front page news, "Obesity Officially Declared a Disease/Medicare Ruling Lifts Road Block to Coverage," and then an article on Governor Perry appointing a new Fitness Czar for Texas.
Citizens are becoming well-educated in the rewards of exercise. They know they can lower their Lousy cholesterol (LDL) and raise their Healthy cholesterol (HDL), lower blood pressure, reduce stress and condition their bodies; these are just a few of the many benefits. Stress, computers, television and fast food restaurants are causing adults and children to become overweight and contribute to health problems.
30 Minute Fitness Centers: An Important Commodity In Our Society
Thirty-minute fitness centers for men and women are popping up everywhere. The main reason is that time is such an important commodity in our society. People are turning to 30-minute fitness centers because they can condition their bodies, develop and maintain muscle, all in 20-30 minutes.
Larger gyms that have been sitting back and watching, are now deciding that they also want the circuits to capture the Baby Boomers, and those who are de-conditioned and can't commit to an hour a day to workout.
Franchises are popping up over night. Those who desire a circuit gym, yet "resist" the idea of paying monthly fees, are opening gyms as independents, choosing a name of their own and opening them near their own neighborhoods.
Companies are beginning to develop monthly packages for the small independent gyms to help them with ideas for projects, motivational concepts and additional profit centers, so they will have the advantages of a franchise.
The very first ever hydraulic circuit certification, which meets the standards of ACE and adds to your college credits, has been developed by two Ohio professors David Jones and Bob Cochrane.
" The parents are teaching their children the benefits of exercise at an early age in order to combat the climbing obesity rates. "Workshops are being developed for Independent Fitness Centers where they can earn hydraulic certification, discover new ideas, network with other owners, learn about new profit centers and much, much more. Weekends are being used for these workshops, so gyms owners don't have to take time from their gyms to attend. One such workshop is the Harmony Workshop being held in Houston from October 22-24, 2004 which is geared for all circuit club owners, both franchaised and independent.
A Circuit Circle Within a Hydraulic Circuit Circle
Designers gyms with French motifs, animal prints and oceanic scenes are becoming the fashion. And what else does the future bring? Family 30-minute workouts - a circle within a circle. Mommy and daddy on the outside circuit and the young "Johnny" and "Mary" on the inside circuit. And guess what will happen? The family will exercise together, the parents observe their own children, and they encourage each other. The parents are teaching their children the benefits of exercise at an early age in order to combat the climbing obesity rates.
You will see obesity and wellness centers coming to the forefront where doctors are in attendance where weight and vitals are monitored.
For future gym owners, education is needed. The best designs in equipment are essential. Speed is not the answer, instead, strong movements of between 8-10 repetitions in 30 seconds is encouraged. Once again, excellent equipment is the key.
Look to the future… Watch for the workshops… Get to know the companies that will provide hydraulic certification and small gym development packages.
About Symanthia Harper
Symanthia Harper is the Owner of Shapes for Women. She can be contacted at 800.453.1526, or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org, or visit ShapesForWomen.com.
Visit the Author's website at: www.shapesforwomen.com
Back to Articles. | <urn:uuid:9d650942-d9bd-419d-833d-114d29380a48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fitcommerce.com/Blueprint/Page.aspx?pageId=60&tabIndex=5&portalId=2&cid=1194&linkId=2280 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959293 | 878 | 2.28125 | 2 |
I am teaching causal inference today and was reminded of this article from the British Medical Journal. Below is the abstract:
Objective To explore the perceived wisdom that papal mortality is related to the success of the Welsh rugby union team.
Design Retrospective observational study of historical Vatican and sporting data.
Main outcome measure Papal deaths between 1883 and the present day.
Results There is no evidence of a link between papal deaths and any home nation grand slams (when one nation succeeds in beating all other competing teams in every match). There was, however, weak statistical evidence to support an association between Welsh performance and the number of papal deaths.
Conclusion Given the dominant Welsh performances of 2008, the Vatican medical team should take special care of the pontiff this Christmas.
The pope implausibly survived Wales 2012 win. The 2013 version is going on with Wales expected to do well….
[Cross-posted at The Monkey Cage]
Feed the Political AnimalDonate
Washington Monthly depends on donations from readers like you. | <urn:uuid:cee27fb7-db9d-4da1-9009-c0a15f4ad0d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2013/02/does_nuclear_superiority_matte_1042950.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931087 | 209 | 2.28125 | 2 |
It seems that there were probably two incidents, one described in Matthew, Mark and John, and one described in Luke.
The accounts in Matthew, Mark, and John all seem to be one account:
- All take place in Bethany
- Mark and John both mention that it is pure nard
- Mark and John both mention the figure of 300 denarii
- In all three, some of the disciples are indignant that the perfume wasn't sold for the poor
- Jesus mentions that this is to prepare him for his burial
- All take place around the time of the triumphal entry
Luke's account reads a bit differently:
- It takes place at the home of a Pharisee, probably in Galilee
- Chronologically, it seems to occur much earlier in Jesus' ministry than the account in the other three
- The indignation raised about the event is by the Pharisee that the woman is a great sinner
- Jesus uses the opportunity to tell a parable
There are differences between John and the Matthew and Mark accounts, but these aren't nearly as difficult to reconcile. However, the position, purpose, and details of the Luke account are disparate enough that many scholars consider that to be a separate story. In fact, some think that John's mention of Mary wiping Jesus' feet with her hair is a mistake and that John confused the two accounts. However, Carson points out that in both Matthew and Mark, Jesus says that the perfume was poured "on my body" and suggests that John has different theological reasons for mentioning the feet than Matthew and Mark have for mentioning the head. | <urn:uuid:1f5cb945-cf7e-47d1-92c6-1761e2c5641d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1358/was-jesus-anointed-once-or-twice-on-the-feet-with-perfume/1574 | 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 | 0.982488 | 331 | 2.421875 | 2 |
When performance or behavior during the development or test phase is not what you’ve expected, the normal way to go is explain or explain analyze the statements involved.
But how about production environments? And how can you tell what has happened? The most common scenario is probably when the behavior is unacceptable, so instant action is required. That is not the way you, as a DBA, want to be notified how about the dissatisfaction of the performance.
Some time ago, glenn fawcett of sun microsystems encountered probably a situation in which he wanted to know what was going on on a database level. He also had experience with the oracle database, and with a statistics package called “statspack”. What glenn did, was emulate some of the functionality of statspack, and create a version for postgresql, heavily focussed on logical IO and physical IO.
Later, this package was lost, and corresponding page also. In fact, I managed to get the package using the internet time machine (http://www.archive.org/web/web.php). Glenn recently got notified of this fact, and created a post about the package on his blog.
Well, I got into the same situation as Glenn. I have a postgresql database, and want to know what’s going on. In fact, I want to know more than just logical and physical IO, I want to know everything that is available. I also want to know postgresql version, database size, parameters, etc. Also, I want to make use of it to do analysis on daily basis of the snapshots, so I can do capacity management and do predictions about growth and performance.
That is why I’ve enhanced pgstatspack, and made it available open source: http://pgfoundry.org/projects/pgstatspack | <urn:uuid:e1a2c633-0d8b-4c55-9308-2637f333073a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fritshoogland.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/introducing-pgstatspack-a-statistics-package-for-postgresql/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950932 | 383 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
- Sandwick Kirk was built.
- Malcolm Laing became Member of Parliament for Orkney & Shetland.
- Turnips introduced.
- US President Thomas Jefferson became the proud owner of a four horned Shetland Ram, and started breeding Shetland Sheep on what is now known as the South Lawn at the Whitehouse. Full accounts of this somewhat colourful part of US Presidential history can be read hereand here.
- The so-called "Faroe Fishing" started c. 1807. Shetland based fully decked smacks and schooners, who went to fishing grounds mainly at the Faroe Banks, but ocasionally to Rockall, Iceland and the Davis Straits to fish by lines for cod. Three or four trips were usually made each year, the catch was stored in salt onboard and dried on Shetland beaches upon their return. A catch of approx 30 - 40 tons of fish was considered a good trip.
The Atlas (1807), a barque, of and from Leith, Scotland, for the West Indies, wrecked on the Ness of Ireland after having perviously been towed in to Bigton Wick in a badly storm damaged condition. One man was lost. | <urn:uuid:75cd1860-e88e-46ca-8d83-f9edb8d3e8f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shetlopedia.com/1807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968114 | 266 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Territorial A-ZA | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9
150 results for Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866: |
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Authors: Hill, Hiram
Date: December 12, 1855
Hiram Hill arrived in Lawrence, Kansas Territory shortly after the end of the Wakarusa War. This letter to his wife reviewed the events of the war, made mention of women's assistance, described Hill's journey from Leavenworth with Mr. Conway, and gave an account of Thomas W. Barber's funeral, at which Charles Robinson and James Lane spoke. Barber was killed south of Lawrence on the 6th. Hill had met Mr. Whitney, Judge Johnson, Mr. Haskell, and Mr. Simpson, and planned to visit Charles Robinson. Hill also detailed Governor Shannon's settlement with free state leaders at Lawrence.
Keywords: American Indians (see also Native Americans); Funerals; Health; Hill, Hiram; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Lawrence, Kansas Territory; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894; Shannon, Wilson, 1802-1877; Town development; Travel; Wakarusa War, November-December 1855; Women
Authors: Emery, James Stanley; Foster, Charles A.; Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Parrott, Marcus J., 1828-1879; Roberts, William Y.; Robinson, Charles ; Smith, George W.; Sylvester, S. D.; Wakefield, J. A.
This broadside represented the efforts of free state supporters to encourage residents to vote in the election for the delegate to represent Kansas Territory in Congress that was held October 9, 1855. It listed the polling places, the instructions to judges, and the qualifications for "lawful" voters. This document was probably related to a circular letter signed by Charles Robinson that encouraged free state supporters to see that elections were conducted according to the printed procedures for both the election for delegates to Congress and for delegates to the constitutional convention. The broadside indicated that it had been signed by nearly 1000 persons but space allowed for the printing of the following names only: C. K Holliday, J. A. Wakefield, C. Robinson, J. H. Lane, C. A. Foster, M. J. Parrott, S. D. Sylvester, W. Y. Roberts, G. W. Smith and J. S. Emery. This election was held under the auspices of the Topeka Movement.
Keywords: Elections; Emery, James Stanley; Foster, Charles A.; Free state cause; Free state movement (see also Topeka Movement); Free state supporters; Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Parrott, Marcus J., 1828-1879; Roberts, William Young; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894; Smith, George W.; Sylvester, S. D.; Topeka Movement (see also Free state movement); Wakefield, John A.
Constitutional Convention Proclamation
Authors: Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866
This broadside signed by J. H. Lane was addressed "to the legal voters of Kansas Territory." It contained a great deal of free state rhetoric about the failure of the territorial government. The proclamation was issued in support of the elections that were to be held by the Topeka Movement to elect delegates to a constitutional convention. This document listed the polling places, instructions to elections judges and qualification for legal voters. J. K. Goodin was listed as secretary.
Keywords: Election, Topeka Constitution delegates to convention, October 1855; Elections; Free state cause; Free state movement (see also Topeka Movement); Goodin, Joel Kishler; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Topeka Movement (see also Free state movement)
Letter, J. H. Lane to Gov. of Minnesota [Willis A. Gorman]
Authors: Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Robinson, Charles
Date: January 22, 1856
This "Appeal of Gen. Lane & Gov. Robinson" to Willis A. Gorman, the territorial governor of Minnesota, was a call for assistance during Kansas Territory's present crisis: the territory face, wrote Lane and Robinson from Lawrence, K.T., on January 22, 1856, "an overwhelming force of the Citizens of Missouri" organized for invasion on the Missouri border.
Keywords: Free state cause; Gorman, Willis A.; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Minnesota; Missouri; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894
Letter, [Josiah Miller] to Dear Father and Mother
Authors: Miller, Josiah
Date: January 25, 1856
Josiah Miller, responding to his family's concerns about traveling West, wrote to his Father and Mother in South Carolina. He told them that they would be better off leaving the South, and that they should begin their travels west as soon as they were ready, in spite of any violent conflict that might be taking place in Kansas Territory. Miller referred to a specific incident occurring a few days earlier on January 17, when free state men, on their way home from an election of State officers under the Topeka Constitution, were attacked by a group of Missourians. Miller also communicated that, although he was a free state man, he did not like the "Yankees' " approach to the conflict with the proslavery supporters.
Keywords: Barber, Thomas W.; Brown, Reese P.; Emigration and immigration; Free state perspective; Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866; Miller, Josiah; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894; South Carolina; Southerners
|See previous results||See results 21 - 25| | <urn:uuid:14e2037e-ad25-4ebd-a031-e09c3c432217> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.territorialkansasonline.org/~imlskto/cgi-bin/index.php?SCREEN=keyword&selected_keyword=Lane,%20James%20Henry,%201814-1866&sort_by=true&submit=Go&startsearchat=15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937238 | 1,294 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Freedom House, a U.S.-based international nongovernmental organization, has selected Assis Malaquias, PhD, Academic Chair for Defense Economics at the Africa Center, to serve as the expert adviser for the Angola and Mozambique reports in its 2011 edition of Countries at the Crossroads.
Countries at the Crossroads is the highly regarded annual survey of democratic governance produced by Freedom House. Freedom House conducts research on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Its annual report is widely used by political scientists and advocacy organizations. It is also frequently consulted by journalists and academics, and serves as a basis for dialogue among NGOs, development agencies, and governments.
As an expert adviser, Dr. Malaquias will review the reports on Angola and Mozambique by Countries at the Crossroads authors and offer his critique of the content.
Dr. Malaquias oversees curriculum and program development in the area of defense economics at the Africa Center. He recently authored the chapter “UNITA’s Insurgency Lifecycle” for the book Violent Non-State Actors in World Politics, analyzing the complex role of UNITA in Angola.
Since 2003, Countries at the Crossroads has covered 60 countries worldwide (now expanded to 70), providing in-depth examination of accountability and public voice, civil liberties, rule of law, and anticorruption and transparency. In addition to being published as a book volume, Countries at the Crossroads is included in the World Bank’s Governance Matters set of indicators and serves as a primary source of information and guidance for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. | <urn:uuid:4504e97f-235f-4423-a221-15a350bbf78a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://africacenter.org/2010/12/freedom-house-selects-dr-malaquias-as-expert-advisor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944963 | 338 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Handel's Messiah - Dunedin Consort - Choral Journal
19 May 2009Choral Journal
Richard A.A. Larraga
In his liner notes for Messiah, John Butt asks the question, "why the Dublin version?" Which raises the question, "why another recording of any version?" In recording the 1742 Dublin version (the first of all Messiah performances), Butt offers us insight not only into Handel's working methodology, but also into alternative movements which may be of use to the choir director interested in performing something familiar, yet not, from this most enduring of works.
In a gentle nod to Richard Taruskin, Butt notes that recording the Dublin version does not necessarily mean "we are presenting the work in its ‘best' or indeed in its entirely ‘original' form." All this reminds us that there can be no definitive version of Messiah. Handel always tailored his performances to the forces at hand. Realizing that his Dublin soloists were not of London caliber, he simplified, deleted, and arranged movements to suit the situation. The Dublin orchestra consisted only of strings, two trumpets, timpani, and harpsichord (Handel had his organ transported to Ireland for the performances). He didn't ask that oboes be hired, but worked with the forces at hand. We might take a broader lesson from his example, when next confronted by an "urtext" score demanding, say, offstage ophicleides or pairs of serpents.
For Dublin, Handel also:
- presented Rejoice, greatly as a full da capo aria in 12/8;
- arranged a lyrical alto aria in each Part (He shall feed His flock transposed to F; He was despised; If God be for us transposed to C minor) for the noted "Mrs. Cibber";
- replaced How beautiful are the feet with a duet for two altos and chorus (Break forth into joy). (The resulting movement is a piece more church choirs should explore);
- shortened The trumpet shall sound; O death, where is thy sting; and Why do the nations;
- replaced But who may abide; Thou art gone up on high; and Thou shalt break them with recitatives;
- put in four extra measures in the ritornello to Ev'ry valley and enlarged the Pifa
- set in-cor-rup-tible in The Trumpet shall sound as in-cor-rup-tible!
Butt's sound world is ascetically pristine. All lines are clearly heard and seem to have been polished to a uniform brilliance. The Dunedin Consort and Players offer a hearty, clean performance of limited emotional and dynamic range. On the whole, the chorus sings very well. Diction is nicely articulated, although not necessarily consistent: the Hallelujah Chorus starts with a crisp King of Kings that devolves into ‘ing of ‘ings in later iterations. Yet the trill at For the Lord God is simply delicious-don't we all wish our choirs could do that?
The soloists are somewhat uneven. Soprano Susan Hamilton offers a lovely boy-soprano sound with little in the way of emotional involvement. Alto Clare Wilkinson delivers a more nuanced performance, as does bass Matthew Brook. Still, one wishes there was a more consistent expressive core to the proceedings.
Butt's tempi generally allow the music to breathe and grow. Rejoice, greatly is, however, marred by too jaunty a tempo; the resulting music-especially when it sprints headlong into the 4/4 B section-feels rushed, with no affinity for that section's contrasting emotional weight. Other movements fare better: the Amen has a wonderfully elegiac feel to it. The orchestra is actually the star of this performance. They play with stylish vigor, using an approach that balances elegance with dramatic tension.
Related LinksDunedin ConsortMessiah (Dublin Version, 1742) | <urn:uuid:c0b6590f-5e48-439f-8fd2-a8ce21339f83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linnrecords.com/review-george-frideric-handel-messiah-dublin-version-1742-john-butt-dunedin-consort-ckd-285-choral-journal.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943594 | 827 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Its brutal regime keeps this fascinating country isolated from the rest of the world. But does staying away help?
The rising sun is burning the mist from the mountains that flank Inle Lake as my wife and I set off from our hotel in a long, narrow wooden boat.
For an hour we glide through some of the astounding villages of bamboo homes on spindly stilts that dot the 40 sq miles of hyacinth-strewn water.
We pass great floating beds of matted weed on which the lake-dwellers grow cucumbers and tomatoes. We watch fishermen balancing on one leg on their rickety wooden canoes while they use the other to paddle, leaving a hand free to plunge their conical nets | <urn:uuid:fa3e3f6b-d54a-40f6-9650-24698869299a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/travel/destinations/southeastasia/article1736648.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939107 | 148 | 1.53125 | 2 |
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On Air Staff and WPM Interns
Tue August 16, 2011
Cups Down: Scientists Crack 'The Coffee Ring Effect'
A lot of simple things in science turn out to be quite complicated. Take, for example, coffee: you may have noticed that a spilled drop of coffee doesn't dry as a brown blob, but rather as a clear blob with a dark ring around the edge.
It's taken physicists more than a decade to figure out why this effect, known technically as "the coffee ring effect," happens. But now they think they have an answer.
The scientists who cracked the problem weren't initially studying the coffee ring effect at all — Peter Yunker and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania were studying how different shaped particles, like spheres, egg-shaped, or even more elongated particles — pack together when the liquid they are in evaporates.
So first they looked at what happened when liquids with spherical particles evaporated — these formed a ring like coffee does.
"But when we evaporated the drop with the elongated particles, instead of forming a ring, they were spread out across the entire area covered by the drop," Yunker says.
This was the aha moment: Maybe it was the shape of the particles that were responsible for the coffee ring effect. Coffee does have particles in it, but Yunker didn't know whether they were spherical or not.
So he did what any good scientist would do: "We went down to the building coffee machine, put 35 cents in, got a cup of coffee, went back upstairs to the microscope, put it on a slide, took a look, and, at least on the micron scale, the particles that we saw were spherical in shape," he says.
Deforming The Drop
That might be enough proof for most people. But Yunker wanted to look at the effect in conditions he could control precisely, like the size of the particles and their exact shape. So he decided to make particles that could easily be manipulated.
"Our particles were made from polystyrene, so they're just plastic particles," he says.
Sure enough, when he let a drop of liquid with round particles in it evaporate, it formed a ring. When he tried it with elongated particles, he saw no ring. So why did the shape make a difference?
"When an elongated particle reaches the surface of the drop, it deforms the surface," Yunker says. Deforming the surface of the drop seems to be the key. "When spheres reach the surface of the drop, their shape does not induce the same deformation."
Without the deformation, the particles travel to the edge of the drop and form a ring. With the deformation that the elliptical particles cause, there's no ring. (You can see this effect in the video at the bottom of this page.)
Results of the study (which was not sponsored by Starbucks) appear in the journal, Nature.
From Coffee To Printers
Arjun Yodh, director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter at the University of Pennsylvania, was a co-author on the paper.
"At some level it was a curiosity, but then actually there's a lot of interesting physics about why it happens," Yodh says, and there are practical applications that go beyond coffee. "A lot of times when you're drying something, you'd rather make it uniform than to make it all congregate to the edge.
Think of a thin film of paint or ink from an inkjet printer — you don't want darker edges around each letter in a document.
Joan Curry, a chemist at the University of Arizona, says the new research appears to have solved that problem. "They found a variable that they can tweak — apparently it's not too hard to do — and they can change whether this film is uniform or not." | <urn:uuid:6beb483d-f5ca-4213-8705-3463a0a7102a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wyomingpublicradio.net/post/cups-down-scientists-crack-coffee-ring-effect | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975477 | 879 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Global Study Analyzes Parents’ Math Attitudes, Capabilities and Students’ Active Engagement in Math-Related Learning
WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) unveiled new research exploring parental attitudes toward math, parents’ perceived math capabilities and the level of active engagement in math-related learning among 10-14 year olds across the United States, England and Singapore. Raytheon conducted this study as part of its continuous focus on education and the five year anniversary of the company’s MathMovesU® program, which is designed to inspire middle school students to get excited about math and science.
While only 43 percent of 2010 U.S. high school graduates met the ACT college entrance exam “college readiness” benchmark, the study shows that parents can play a key role in helping their children prepare for math and math-related careers. However, the research demonstrates parents must be given the right information and tools in order to provide the required level of support. Eduventures, an independent education research firm, conducted the research during October 2010.
The study reveals a clear trend — while parents in the U.S. are more confident in their abilities to help their 10-14 year-old children, these children are tasked with performing math at a lower level than their Singaporean peers. This higher performance in Singapore reflected in the survey indicates parents there feel less able to support their children and therefore turn to experts for help. Parents in Singapore are four times as likely as those in the U.S. to hire a tutor. Further, Singapore students are more likely to engage in active math-related learning, which contributes to greater ongoing math proficiency.
“I am excited about this research and the opportunities for the United States to increase its global competitiveness by improving students’ math and science experience,” said Raytheon Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson. “This study identifies areas we can explore to help create an environment that encourages excellence in engineering and technology in the future.”
“Ensuring that middle schoolers are on-track in math is essential to their graduating from high school college- and work-ready. Parents are a critical factor in this process,” said Brian F. Fitzgerald, executive director of the Business-Higher Education Forum. “This research demonstrates that parents must be better equipped with sound information and strategies in order to support their child’s math learning.”
“Cross-cultural research of math learning activities provides parents and educators insight into how to reinforce the delicate balance of support versus autonomy required for adolescent-age students,” said Lia Schultz, senior consultant and research analyst at Eduventures. “Because parents are so influential in the college decision-making process, they have a profound need for concrete information on college preparedness for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) pathways.”
Key findings include:
- Parents in all regions lack a clear understanding of their children’s math performance, though the gaps are most evident in the U.S. and England. Seventy eight percent of U.S. parents and 76 percent of English parents believe their child performs in the top 20 percent of their peer group in math.
- U.S. parents are more confident in their ability to help in all areas of math than their peers. However, once middle school-level math is introduced, confidence wanes. Only 45 percent of U.S. parents report a high ability to help with algebra; 37 percent report the same for geometry.
- While few parents believe they have a high ability to help students with more math concepts commonly assigned to middle school students, this does not seem to deter them from taking the lead role in helping their children. In the U.S., 77 percent of parents responding to the survey say they provide math help while only 10 percent report engaging tutors; trends were similar in England. Forty-two percent of parents in Singapore turn to tutors.
- Parents may be the most common provider of math support, but those in the U.S. and England are less likely to report receiving information about how to help their child. In fact, 51 percent of parents in Singapore say they receive information from their child’s school to help prepare for math exams; only one in four parents in the U.S. and England report the same.
- While 92 percent of parents in Singapore ensure their children receive extra math instruction beyond regular classroom work, only 47 percent of parents in the U.S. and 48 percent of parents in England do the same.
- While U.S. students are more likely than those in Singapore to participate in spelling competitions, the opposite holds true in math. One-third of parents in Singapore say their child participates in a math competition, while less than one-tenth of U.S. parents report such activity. One-fifth of parents in England say their child participates in a math competition.
The report summarizing key findings of this study, titled “A Cross-Country Exploration of Math-Related Learning in the United States, England and Singapore: Parent Perceptions and Practices Regarding Math Education During the Middle School Years,” is available on Raytheon’s website.
In October 2010, Eduventures surveyed 1,144 parents of middle school age students (ages 10 to 14) with 110 questions related to math education, homework and activities related to math and preparedness for college and careers. The study was designed to allow cross-country comparison of parent information from three countries of focus: the United States, England and Singapore. In addition, 12 scholars and in-country educational experts participated in in-depth interviews as part of the research project.
Raytheon’s MathMovesU program is committed to increasing middle school students’ interest in math and science education by engaging them in hands-on, interactive activities. The innovative programs of MathMovesU include Raytheon’s Sum of all Thrills(TM) experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the “In the Numbers” game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon; the company’s three-year sponsorship of the National MATHCOUNTS® competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program providing more than $1 million in annual funding to students and teachers. Follow us on Twitter @raytheonmmu.
Raytheon Company, with 2009 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 88 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 75,000 people worldwide.
Contact: Corinne Kovalsky 781.522.5144 email@example.com
SOURCE Raytheon Company | <urn:uuid:cff1c934-0fa3-4876-a925-67b7df5e9720> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1961128/global_study_analyzes_parents_math_attitudes_capabilities_and_students_active/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94855 | 1,508 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Canary grass (Phalaris canariensis) was first discovered in the Canary Islands where it is a natural food for the local bird population. The seeds are easy to open and most budgerigars (budgies) feed their chicks these seeds. Long and narrow in shape, many seed diets are made up of about 50% canary grass.
Imported to the United States and Canada in the 1970s, this natural-growing weed can be a delicious and nutritious addition to your bird's diet. It can be used for any seed-eating small birds such as canaries or parakeets.
One of the biggest benefits to canary grass is its low fat content - only 6%. Compared to higher calorie treats, we highly recommend it as a treat for pudgy parakeets or any other small bird that tends to get overweight.
Because it comes on its own stalk and is all natural, canary grass can give your bird the joy of working for his food, which provides much-needed stimulation.
If you are looking for a low-fat treat to entertain as well as to please, canary grass is an excellent choice. | <urn:uuid:7d10276f-90e7-4670-95c7-d8f59c0fc871> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drsfostersmith.com/PIC/Article.cfm?d=157&category=610&articleid=541 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968912 | 238 | 2.375 | 2 |
7-minute essay slows the loathe in marriages
Could a little homework help save your marriage? Researchers in Chicago think so. They found that couples who spent just seven minutes every few months writing short essays about their recent fights reported being less unhappy a year later than similar couples who didn’t do the assignments.
The approach was simple – each couple was asked to reconsider a recent argument from the perspective of a neutral well-wisher.
“Spending 21 minutes a year reappraising conflict appears to yield a spectacular return on investment,” the team at Northwestern University concluded in their report, to be published in the journal Psychological Science.
The researchers point out that the writing assignment didn’t improve anyone’s marriage – but it helped slow the general decline in happiness that marks many, if not most, marriages over time.
“It doesn’t make them fight less often and it doesn’t make that fight less severe. What is does is it makes them less upset about the fights that they have,” said Eli Finkel of Northwestern University, who led the study.
“It was a really minimalist, easy-to-do intervention.”
The study involved 120 couples who volunteered after seeing newspaper ads for the study. They were all taking part in a much larger study that required them to attend workshops and fill out regular questionnaires about their love, intimacy, trust and in which they also described recent quarrels. They'd been married anywhere from a few months to 52 years, but on average had been married about 10 years.
Over the first year of the study, everyone showed some decline in their marital happiness.
Starting the second year, half the couples were randomly chosen to answer three extra questions online. Finkel estimates it should have taken about seven minutes to do, and the assigned couples did every four months – or three times each.
Here are the three questions:
1. Think about the specific disagreement that you just wrote about having with your partner. Think about this disagreement with your partner from the perspective of a neutral third party who wants the best for all involved; a person who sees things from a neutral point of view. How might this person think about the disagreement? How might he or she find the good that could come from it?
2. Some people find it helpful to take this third party perspective during their interactions with their romantic partner. However, almost everybody finds it challenging to take this third party perspective at all times. In your relationship with your partner, what obstacles do you face in trying to take this third partner perspective, especially when you’re having a disagreement with your partner?
3. Despite the obstacles to taking a third party perspective, people can be successful in doing so. Over the next four months, please try your best to take this third party perspective during interactions with your partner, especially during disagreements. How might you be most successful in taking this perspective in your interactions with your partner over the next four months? How might taking this perspective help you make the best of disagreements in your relationship?
At the end of the second year, half the couples indicated they were even less satisfied in their marriages than before. But the couples who answered just the three extra questions didn’t show the same decline, Finkel says.
That said, they didn’t get any happier, either. “Although the intervention preserved marital quality over time, it did not increase it,” Finkel’s team wrote.
So how might this apply to real-life couples – the kind who don’t volunteer to spend hours in marriage-counseling studies? “It’s probably worth trying,” Finkel says.
“Marital satisfaction tends to decline a bit over time and if we don’t do anything, that is probably likely to happen in our own marriage. But you can spend seven minutes every four months and maybe stop that from happening.” | <urn:uuid:1eb3f27f-a2a9-4895-a6b7-c6dfdb3a5d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/7-minute-essay-slows-the-loathe-in-marriages | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972672 | 819 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Cleaning Up Their Act: The Impacts of Marriage and Cohabitation on Licit and Illicit Drug Use (WP-03-02)
Greg J. Duncan, Bessie Wilkerson, and Paula EnglandDuncan, Wilkerson, and England use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate changes in binge drinking, marijuana use, and smoking surrounding young adults’ first experience of cohabitation and marriage. They find that both marriage and cohabitation are accompanied by decreases in some risk behaviors for both men and women, and estimated reductions associated with marriage are generally largest. Smoking is much less responsive to these events than binge drinking and marijuana use. Women are more likely than men to quit engaging in some of these behaviors altogether, while reductions in the total volume of risky behaviors are often larger for men than women, in part because men engage in the behaviors more frequently.
Greg J. Duncan, Human Development and Social Policy and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
Bessie Wilkerson, Doctoral Student, Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Paula England, Sociology and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University | <urn:uuid:93cbf760-9aeb-4e10-a817-40221d6562a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/publications/papers/2003/ipr-wp-03-02.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924073 | 237 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Watersheds summit spotlights conservation efforts
The annual watersheds summit, organized by the Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the First Presbyterian Church of Williamsport's fellowship hall, rear of 102 E. Third St. at Mulberry Street. It is open to the public.
The summit spotlights the volunteer efforts accomplished by local watershed groups during 2012 and upcoming plans for 2013.
Representatives of area watershed associations and conservation organizations will share how they work to preserve and enhance area streams and watersheds. Each year, the groups have carried out important projects, including improving stream habitat, stabilizing stream banks, monitoring water quality and educating land owners and the public about watershed issues.
Attendees also can learn about volunteer opportunities.
See free screening of Aldo Leopold documentary
The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy will hold two free screenings of "Green Fire," a full-length, documentary about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold, in January. They will be held:
Jan. 15 in the Community Arts Center, in partnership with Pennsylvania College of Technology and Lycoming College's Cleanwater Institute; and
Jan. 16 in The Victoria Theatre, Blossburg, in partnership with the Tioga County Countryside Council.
Doors for both showings open at 6:30 p.m., with the film starting at 7.
Although probably best known as the author of the conservation classic "A Sand County Almanac," Leopold also is renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist and wilderness advocate.
"Green Fire" portrays how Leopold's vision of a community that cares about both people and land - his call for a land ethic - ties together a wide range of modern conservation concerns and offers inspiration and insight for the future.
The screenings are made possible by the conservancy, Penn State's Center for Private Forests, Larson Design Group, and Andrew Harris, of the Comprehensive Financial Group. For more information, call the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy at 323-6222.
Hunter sponsors fundraiser for Wounded Warriors
MUNCY - Local outdoorsman Barry Sones will raise money for the PA Wounded Warriors organization with a game meal and slideshow of his archery hunts in Africa for elephant and cape buffalo and in Alaska for caribou. The event will be held 1 and 4 p.m. Jan. 26 at Moreland Community Church, 1300 Church Drive.
A new Hoyt bow package, carvings made by Muncy-area artist Steven Shaner and other items will be offered in a silent auction.
Reservations are required and may be made by calling Sones at 419-4749.
Game commissioners schedule January meeting
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's board of game commissioners will hold a quarterly meeting Jan. 27-29 in its headquarters at 2001 Elmerton Ave., just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81 in Dauphin County.
A copy of the agenda for the upcoming meeting will be posted online at www.pgc.state.pa.us in mid-January.
At 1 p.m. Jan. 27, the board will hear public recommendations for 2013-14 hunting and furtaking seasons and bag limits. Doors open at noon. Individuals interested in offering public testimony, limited to five minutes, may register at noon.
At 8:30 a.m. Jan. 28, the board will gather public comments and hear Game Commission staff reports. Doors open at 7:45 a.m. Registration for those interested in offering public testimony will begin at that time.
At the same time on Jan. 29, the Game Commission board will take up its prepared agenda to give preliminary approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for 2013-14 and establish other meeting dates for the coming year, among other things.
Antlerless deer license allocations for the 2013-14 seasons will be presented for the board to consider at its meeting in April. Harvest results from the 2012-13 deer seasons will be announced in mid-March.
Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show nears
HARRISBURG - The 58th Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show, featuring hundreds of new exhibitors, features and celebrities, will be held Feb. 2-10 at the State Farm Show Complex.
More than 200 new exhibitors showcasing guns, archery, fishing and boating, along with many new products, show specials and a new Tactical Gun and Accessories Section highlight this year's event. In addition, the show has made it easier to navigate the floor with color-coded halls, an online pre-show mapping program, and an easy-to-use mobile app.
Returning by popular demand will be the "Sportsman's Shop Gun Alley" featuring more gun manufacturers, gun representatives and gun retailers than ever before.
For information, visit www.easternsportshow.com.
Sportsman's Show & Flea Market planned
LEESPORT - The Sportsman's Show & Flea Market returns to the Leesport Farmers Market, 312 Gernants Church Road, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 9.
Admission is $8 from 8 to 9 a.m. and $4 after 9. Children are free.
For more information, visit www.ralphsfishing.com.
Club plans coyote hunt
SINNEMAHONING - The eighth annual Sinnemahoning Sportsmen's Association's Coyote Hunt will be held Feb. 15-17.
The hunting area is throughout the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.
Trapping is not allowed, but calls and dogs may be used.
A registration fee applies and all hunters must be members of the association. Membership dues may be paid upon registration.
Hunters must register prior to Feb. 15. On-site registrations will be accepted at club grounds, 15 Club Road, on Jan. 12, 19 and 26 and Feb. 2, 9 and 14.
Registration also may be done by mail, but envelopes must be postmarked by 11:59 p.m. Feb. 2.
For an application, call 814-263-4418 or 570-923-2188 weekdays, 814-546-2835 weekends, visit www.sinnemahoning-sportsmen.org or write to SSA, 15 Club Road, P.O. Box 102, Snnemahoning, PA 15861-0102.
Official weigh-ins will be done at the club at the following times:
3-7 p.m. Feb. 15 and 16
Prizes will be awarded after weigh-ins.
Hats and shirts commemmorating the coyote hunt will be available for purchase at the club.
Outdoor events sought
Do you have a meeting or outdoor event you'd like to publicize in the Sun-Gazette?
Announcements must be submitted at least three weeks prior to the date of the event, preferably earlier.
Information and news releases may be:
Mailed to Outdoor editor, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, 252 W. Fourth St., Williamsport PA 17701
Emailed to firstname.lastname@example.org
Dropped off at the Sun-Gazette office, 252 W. Fourth St., Williamsport
Submitted through the Outdoor section of the Virtual Newsroom on the paper's website, www.sungazette.com.
All submissions must contain the name, telephone number and, if available, email address of a contact person.
Photographs by area residents of trophy fish or game animals or other interesting outdoor occurrences also will be considered. Digital photos may be sent by email.
Hard-copy glossy prints, negatives or slides may be dropped off or mailed. Polaroid prints typically cannot be reprinted in the newspaper.
Only photos sent with a stamped, self-addressed envelope will be returned.
Announcements published in the "Outdoor Briefs" section will print in chronological order as space permits.
The Outdoors section is published weekly on Sundays, but it goes to print early on Wednesday mornings.
Therefore, all information for publication on any given Sunday must be submitted by noon on the Monday prior.
For more help, call 326-1551, ext. 3116. | <urn:uuid:e292594d-3cb2-487f-bac4-cba6d5b4b622> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/587695.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914455 | 1,742 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Commerce Township, Michigan
|Charter Township of Commerce, Michigan|
|— Charter township —|
|• Total||29.8 sq mi (77.3 km2)|
|• Land||27.6 sq mi (71.4 km2)|
|• Water||2.3 sq mi (5.9 km2)|
|Elevation||909 ft (277 m)|
|• Density||1,300/sq mi ( 520/km2)|
|Time zone||Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)|
|• Summer (DST)||EDT (UTC-4)|
|ZIP codes||48382, 48390|
|GNIS feature ID||1626125|
Charter Township of Commerce or more commonly Commerce Charter Township, is a charter township of Oakland County, and suburb of Detroit, located in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 40,186 at the 2010 census. The terrain is rolling hills with large expanses of flat farmland and suburbsuburban development. The Huron River runs mostly north-south through the township. Commerce was formerly a weekend and summer resort for Detroiters because of the area's small inland lakes and peaceful seclusion, but due to recent development the cottages are now all permanent homes. There has been a sharp increase in population in the last few years, mostly on or near the several lakes and golf courses. Much of Proud Lake State Recreation Area is within the township. The northern terminus of M-5 is in Commerce. The busy highway would have continued north to Interstate 75, but because of the area's high property value and the many lakes that dot the landscape such a project would have been far too costly.
In 1994, David Hahn, a 17-year old Eagle Scout, constructed a makeshift nuclear reactor in his backyard in Commerce Township, exposing himself and his neighbors-and maybe even as many as 40,000 people in the area-to radioactive materials and drawing the attention of the EPA. The event became a short-lived media sensation, and a book by Ken Silverstein called The Radioactive Boy Scout was written about the incident and published in 2004.
- Wolverine Lake is an incorporated village in the Township.
Additional there are 3 unincorporated communities in the Township:
- Commerce is located at Commerce and Sleeth Roads ( It was platted in 1836. ; Elevation: 945 ft./288 m.).
- Glengary is located on Benstein Road between Oakley Park and Glengary Roads ( ; Elevation: 922 ft./281 m.).
- Oakley Park is located on ( ; Elevation: 932 ft./284 m.).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 29.8 square miles (77 km2), of which 27.6 square miles (71 km2) is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2), or 7.61%, is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,764 people, 12,379 households, and 9,754 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,261.1 per square mile (486.9/km²). There were 12,924 housing units at an average density of 468.8 per square mile (181.0/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 96.73% White, 0.50% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.31% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population.
There were 12,379 households out of which 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.4% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the township the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.0 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $72,702, and the median income for a family was $79,976. Males had a median income of $61,087 versus $36,125 for females. The per capita income for the township was $33,104. About 2.4% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools serves the township. The district's high schools, Walled Lake Central High School, Walled Lake Northern High School, and Walled Lake Western High School are located in the township.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Commerce Township, Michigan
- "Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (QT-PL), Commerce charter township, Oakland County, Michigan". U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder 2. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Commerce, Michigan & GNIS in Google
- Walter Romig, Michigan Place Names, p. 128
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Glengary, Michigan & GNIS in Google
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Oakley Park, Michigan & GNIS in Google
- "Map of Entire District." (Archive) Walled Lake Consolidated Schools. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
- "Zoning Map." (Map) Commerce Township, Michigan. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
||Highland Township||White Lake Township||Waterford Township|
|Milford Township||West Bloomfield Township|
|Wixom City||Walled Lake City
|Farmington Hills City| | <urn:uuid:f25e1978-d8cf-4d7f-9161-e21ec0217c06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakley_Park,_Michigan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951025 | 1,401 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Stay sober behind the wheel this Labor Day
June 11, 2008 · Updated 6:25 PM
Its the official end of summer and with Labor Day comes barbecues, parties and family get-togethers to wrap up the season.
More often than not, alcohol is one of the key ingredients at many of these holiday shindigs. Its usually all just fun and games until someone has had too much to drink and they decide to get behind the wheel. Local law enforcement are on the lookout this holiday weekend for drunk drivers with increased emphasis patrols by the Washington State Patrol (WSP). Not only are local troopers going to be looking for drunk drivers on local highways, but also across the state.
The head officials of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Oregon State Police (OSP) and Washington State Patrol (WSP) will join rank-and-file officers and troopers on interstate freeways and secondary highways as part of a national increased enforcement effort of crash-related violations, according to a WSP news release.
The Combined Accident Reduction Effort (CARE) campaign kicked off yesterday and extends throughout the weekend.
Labor Day is historically a deadly holiday when it comes to traffic fatalities. During the extended holiday weekend last year, 11 people died in traffic collisions in Washington. WSP arrested 297 drivers who were under the influence, handed out 6,289 speeding citations and 687 occupant restraint citations.
We are coming to the end of summer, and a lot of people are expected to be out on the roads this holiday weekend, stated WSP Chief John R. Batiste in a news release. Do your part to keep our roads safe buckle up, use a designated driver and give yourself enough time to get where you are going.
Help prevent drunk driving deaths this weekend. If youre at a Labor Day gathering and spot someone who has been drinking whos about to drive home, take away their keys. They may not realize it, but its one of the biggest favors you can do for them.
Drunk driving is the nations most frequently committed violent crime, according to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).
High visibility enforcement is a proven method to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by drunk driving, according to MADD.
So is being alert and keeping an eye out for someone who you think is going to drink and drive. Dont let them or someone else become another statistic this Labor Day weekend.
To report a suspected drunk driver on the road, call 911 and report the make, model, color and license number of the vehicle and its direction of travel. | <urn:uuid:cf78f77a-34b4-4ad4-9e4b-63202f7f08a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centralkitsapreporter.com/opinion/18276894.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962855 | 529 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Reuse, Reclaim, Recycle
Membrane bioreactor technology is helping treatment facilities find usable water in some unlikely places
Water reuse has gone from being a positive environmental alternative to a growing necessity. Reusing wastewater saves money and the environment, but it can be expensive to pipe treated water through miles of distribution lines from a centralized reclamation facility to where it is needed.
The ability to economically and safely treat wastewater remotely for reuse provides a new, reliable, drought-proof supply of water that can benefit communities by reducing the reliance on over-stressed existing supplies and infrastructure, increasing availability of potable water, and improving the environment by decreasing discharges of wastewater to oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks.
That is just one of the reasons why satellite treatment plants are gaining popularity in wastewater reclamation treatment. The plants provide an alternate means of recycling and reusing water. They also save public works time and money and cause minimal infrastructure disruptions within communities.
Also called "sewer mining," this treatment method uses high-tech membrane bioreactor (MBR) units to tap into wastewater distribution lines close to where reclaimed water is needed. This localized installation eliminates the high costs of piping reclaimed water from a central treatment plant. Several units may be installed, depending on customer demands. The MBR units treat the water onsite for reuse and it is piped to an area close to where it is needed.
How MBRs Work
The MBR system uses an aerobic biological process and an integrated, immersed membrane-filtration system to produce high-quality effluent that meets the most stringent state reuse standards. The system captures minute particles, bacteria, and viruses as water passes through the membranes. Solids from the biological process are removed and returned to the sewer system where they are routed to the main wastewater treatment plant to undergo further treatment.
The biological process and membrane operating systems are located in separate tanks to optimize performance of the overall process and to simplify operation and maintenance. This form of filtration also eliminates the need for clarifiers and other peripheral equipment, process control, and maintenance normally associated with a conventional clarification process -- considerably reducing the overall footprint.
Replacing clarifiers with microfilters allows the biological process to be designed and operated as a high-rate wastewater treatment process. The system can provide advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal to meet the most stringent effluent requirements. By reducing the biological volume requirements and the maintenance-intensive clarifier technology, the footprint can be reduced to less than 50 percent of a conventional biological process.
Advancements in membrane filtration have fostered a new generation of compact MBR systems. These systems offer cost-effective water and wastewater treatment solutions to small communities, municipalities, developers, and industrial clients that require high-quality treatment with a small footprint, minimal installation costs, and reliable performance.
The MBR packaged plant is a robust wastewater treatment process with inherent features designed to reduce maintenance and provide reliable and efficient wastewater treatment for small-scale applications. Operation of the treatment process is easily automated and can be controlled with a microprocessor while delivering remote access for monitoring. The highly automated design helps operators meet the demands of stringent environmental requirements -- even at remote locations.
Benefits of Localized Treatment
In addition to benefiting from recycled water, public works that employ sewer mining enjoy several other advantages. First, they can postpone expansion of existing treatment facilities by relieving some of the load sent to the local wastewater treatment plant. They can also avoid the costs associated with installing reclaimed water piping and the resulting infrastructure disruptions. Because the satellite plant is a side stream to the main treatment plant, it does not need standby or redundant back-up equipment, occupies less space than a conventional treatment plant, and requires minimal operator attendance -- all of which further reduce costs.
If one of the satellite plants needs to be taken offline, untreated water simply bypasses the MBR unit and flows directly to the main wastewater treatment plant downstream where it is treated. Such a shutdown would only affect customers serviced by that particular plant, as opposed to all reclamation customers in the area.
Water recycled by the MBR system is used for landscape irrigation, groundwater replenishment, cooling tower feedwater, or other non-potable uses. And because wasted sludge from the MBR is treated at a centralized facility, odors are not usually an issue.
One Technology, Many Applications
Designed for wastewater applications from 25,000 gallons per day (gpd) to 100,000 gpd, this separation solution is ideally suited for a wide range of municipal and industrial wastewater applications, including:
- Residential development projects: single dwelling, housing cluster or subdivision;
- Commercial development projects;
- Remote installations;
- Emergency response wastewater treatment applications;
- Military bases and rapid infrastructure deployment;
- Sports facilities;
- Shopping centers; and
- Office parks.
Some municipalities have already taken advantage of the benefits of satellite treatment. For example, the Hawks Prairie Reclaimed Water Satellite Plant in Olympia, Wash., which reclaims wastewater from four separate communities, expects to save its 78,000 customers hundreds of millions of gallons of drinking water annually.
The Hawks Prairie satellite plant is the first of three planned reclaimed water satellites that are part of the community's 20-year wastewater resource management plan. In March 2005, Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire, asked the state legislature for $12 million to address drought-related issues in the state, citing the economic impact of drought conditions1. The state is currently under a drought and wildfire emergency -- reiterating the importance of strong water-management programs.
The Hawks Prairie location was chosen first because it has several potential users of the reclaimed water for irrigation, commercial, and institutional purposes. A portion of the treated wastewater is used for groundwater recharge, where the treated water filters through the ground to replenish groundwater supplies.
The Hawks Prairie project includes a reclaimed water plant, a series of constructed wetlands ponds, eight acres of groundwater recharge basins, and three miles of distribution pipelines. Most of the treatment process occurs in underground tanks, covered with above-ground roofs featuring water efficient plants and grasses1. Membrane bioreactor technology was chosen for its reliability to produce quality reuse water and its ability to be integrated into remote sites.
Currently, the plant treats 2 million gallons per day (mgd) of wastewater, and over time the plant will be expanded to handle up to 5 mgd. The reclaimed water meets Washington's "Class A" reclaimed water standards, which is the highest quality of water as defined by the Washington State Departments of Health and Ecology. It is suitable for irrigation, commercial, and industrial uses, and a variety of other environmentally beneficial uses.2
As part of the plan, each satellite plant will intercept existing regional sewer lines and extract municipal wastewater for local use. At the Hawks Prairie site, the clean water will travel three miles through a pipeline from the plant to the ponds and recharge site. Along the way, some of the water will be drawn off for irrigation or other beneficial uses.2
Located in the heart of Florida near Orlando, the city of Kissimmee is the new home to a 50,000-gpd MBR satellite treatment facility. In a region where water reuse is commonplace and necessary, the challenges of existing infrastructure, ever-growing populations, and drought stress the existing water supply. Personnel at the city of Kissimmee are hoping to learn from the new MBR demonstration facility operating at one of the city's water treatment plants.
The full-scale MBR demonstration facility has illustrated the viability of satellite treatment and sewer mining applications for the city through research and operating data. The plant has demonstrated that advanced treatment with MBR technology is a practical and reliable means of providing remote reclamation of wastewater. Minimal attention is required to operate the plant, and the reclaimed water's quality was excellent.
Even though the city already reclaims more than 3 million gallons of water for irrigation each day, it has a long-term, growing need for advanced wastewater treatment and reclaimed wastewater.
The Proof Is In the Numbers
On average, sewer mining satellite treatment plants can treat between 25,000 gpd and 100,000 gpd. Although conventional, centralized plants are usually capable of treating greater amounts, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are often lost each day within the distribution lines due to aging infrastructures.
Capital costs for a satellite treatment plant are higher than costs for a conventional plant because of their smaller scale. However, distribution system capital costs are avoided, or significantly reduced, with satellite plants. Additionally, as these plants are automated, they have considerably lower operating and maintenance costs than do centralized plants.
More and more developers are using satellite plant designs to integrate reuse for irrigation into planned communities. Small satellite plants are relatively easily integrated in planned communities around golf courses and recreation facilities. Also based on the exceptionally high quality effluent, this technology is well received by most state regulators, thereby expediting the approval process. In addition, the satellite plant can take the load off the main treatment facility, delaying costly expansions and permitting.
Robert W. McIlvaine of the McIlvaine Company predicts costs will continue to decrease as further advancements in membrane technologies are made.
Increased MBR Usage
The growing trend in MBR usage is still too new to track effectively. But Robert W. McIlvaine of the McIlvaine Company (www.mcilvainecompany.com), an environmental market research firm, has noticed a 30-percent to 40-percent increase in MBR sales over the past few years. Within that number, MBR usage for wastewater treatment has increased by 60 percent. Of those wastewater units, how many have been installed in satellite treatment plants still remain to be seen.
McIlvaine projects that, by 2007, the total installed base of membrane wastewater reclamation systems will increase in the United States to 786 million gallons per day (mgd) and in the world, to 1,855 mgd. In 2007, system sales for wastewater reclamation sales will be $262 million in the United States and $605 million worldwide.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection. | <urn:uuid:f69c9f06-488c-4511-8581-fe4ab2c4225f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eponline.com/articles/2005/11/01/reuse-reclaim-recycle.aspx?admgarea=ht.sustainability.waterreuse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934189 | 2,098 | 3.5 | 4 |
AbulEdu Calcul Mental is a software tool that trains children in mental calculation as stipulated by the French Ministry of Education for primary schools. Activities include addition, subtraction, multiplication of integers, addition tables (+2 to +9), times tables (x2 to x9), additional additives (to 10, to 100, to 1000), multiples (of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50), and orders of magnitude (with additions, subtractions, and multiplications). There is also an editor and selective launcher.
AeonWave-OpenAL is a thin OpenAL emulation layer that uses AeonWave to create one of the fastest rendering OpenAL implementations available. OpenAL is a cross-platform 3D audio API appropriate for use with gaming applications and many other types of audio applications. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL.
Alore is an object-oriented programming language with a clean syntax that resembles Python and Lua. It is optionally-typed like Google Dart. It is both a dynamic scripting language and a general-purpose language with static typing. It is aimed at most programming tasks, from short scripts to complex applications. It allows programmers to freely mix static and dynamic typing within a program. It has native threads and a very fast edit-test cycle. Programmers can always bypass type checking and run their programs immediately.
Apache Qpid is a messaging broker that implements the latest AMQP specification, providing transaction management, queuing, distribution, security, management, clustering, federation, heterogeneous multi-platform support, and much more. It is extremely fast and aims to be 100% AMQP Compliant.
AppDynamics an application performance management solution for mission-critical Java applications. It can organize user requests and business transactions, monitor business transaction health, identify and diagnose slow requests, identify and diagnose errors, and drill down. It is built from the ground up for highly distributed service-oriented environments. It has fast root cause diagnostics at the method/class level, but creates no more than 2% overhead, even in high-volume production deployments. It can not only manage applications, but dynamically scale them in cloud and virtual environments. | <urn:uuid:7a43d828-6c19-4187-809b-9ecc19c773d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freecode.com/tags/linux-32-and-64-bit?page=1&sort=name&with=&without=20003 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912878 | 450 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The House on Thursday passed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (HR 5297) by a vote of 237–187, and sent it to the President, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
The bill, which passed the Senate last week, expands loan programs through the Small Business Administration (SBA), strengthens small business preference programs for federal government projects, provides incentives for exporters, offers a variety of small business tax breaks and includes some revenue raisers.
Small Business Loans
The bill creates a Small Business Lending Fund to address ongoing effects of the financial crisis on small businesses by allowing the Treasury Department to make capital investments in eligible financial institutions to increase credit available for small businesses. Independent community banks may participate in a new $30 billion lending fund on the condition they make loans to small businesses and meet other requirements. Financial institutions (bank and savings and loan holding companies, depository institutions, and community development loan funds) with $10 billion or less in total assets may apply for capital investments of up to 3% of risk-weighted assets.
Other small business lending provisions in the act include:
Online information center. The bill directs the SBA to create an online lending platform that lists all lenders that make SBA-guaranteed loans and provides interest rates for each lender.
Nonprofit lenders pilot. The bill also creates an intermediary lending pilot program to allow certain private, nonprofit entities that seek or have been awarded SBA loans to make loans to small businesses. The pilot will allow $20 million in loans each year from 2011 to 2013 to not more than 20 eligible entities. Eligible nonprofit organizations may apply for up to $1 million for the purpose of lending up to $200,000 to eligible small businesses.
Increased maximums for Microloan Program. The bill increases the Microloan Program maximum loan amount to $50,000 from $35,000. The bill raises total outstanding loan commitment limits to $4.5 million from $1.5 million and the total gross loan amount to $5 million from $2 million. Increased government guarantees and outstanding loan commitments are effective until Jan. 1, 2011, when the percentage guarantees will revert to the original percentages and the total outstanding loan commitment will reduce to $3.75 million.
Increased participation limit for Section 7(a) business loans. It also increases the limit on the government’s participation in so-called Section 7(a) small business loans to 90% from 75% or 85% for all Section 7(a) loans regardless of loan amount.
Raises loan maximums for plant acquisition, construction, conversion and expansion. The new maximums under the SBA’s 504 Program are tiered in relation to the borrower’s plans to use the capital to support federal government priority goals and projects, mostly in the energy and manufacturing sectors. For nonpriority goals and projects, the maximum is increased to $5 million from $1.5 million for each small business concern; to $5 million from $2 million for each small business concern if the loan proceeds will be directed toward certain public policy goals; to $5.5 million from $4, million for each project of a small manufacturer; to $5.5 million from $4 million for each project that reduces the borrower’s energy consumption by at least 10%; and to $5.5 million from $4 million for each project that generates renewable energy or renewable fuels, such as biodiesel or ethanol production.
Reduced fees for American Reinvestment and Recovery Act SBA loan guarantees. The reduced fees for SBA loan guarantees enacted by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) are extended to Dec. 31, 2010 (from Sept. 30).
Low-interest refinancing for Local Development Business Loan Program. Up to $7.5 billion in low-interest refinancing is available under the SBA’s Local Development Business Loan Program. Up to $7.5 billion annually is available for loan refinancing for two years after enactment for qualifying loans. Qualifying conditions include meeting job creation and retention goals and providing collateral valued at least 125% of the amount financed.
Retail floor plan refinancing. Creates a floor plan refinancing program, under which the SBA can guarantee open-ended extensions of credit to small businesses if the loan is used to purchase certain eligible retail goods for resale.
Express loan enhancement. The maximum amount of express loans under Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act is increased to $1 million from $350,000 for one year from the date of enactment.
Small Business Federal Contracting
Federal agencies are called on to solicit bids from small businesses and federal contracting requirements are amended to encourage small businesses to bid for federal contracts.
The bill also establishes a Small Businesses Teaming Pilot Program, which will promote federal contracting opportunities for joint ventures and small businesses. The program is scheduled to run for five years.
Federal agencies are required to solicit bids from any responsible source, including small business concerns, teams and joint ventures, for multiple award contracts above the substantial bundling threshold of the agency. The bill also revises the federal contracting and reporting requirements. Electronic annual certifications of small business size and status are required for ongoing eligibility as a small business contractor. Small business classification criteria must be reviewed by the SBA at least once every five years.
The bill requires the Comptroller General to study strategic mentoring alliances between large and small businesses as a way of getting small businesses access to federal contracts. The study will examine potential competition between mentor and protégé, systems to assure substantive benefit to the protégé, and agency processes to administer or monitor such programs. The study must be completed within 180 days of the bill’s enactment.
Small Business Exports
The bill contains measures designed to encourage small businesses to become exporters or to increase their export activities. The SBA will create a pilot three-year trade and export promotion program that will make grants to states to carry out export programs that assist eligible small businesses.
A number of changes are made within the SBA’s Office of International Trade to increase the number of small businesses that export and the volume of small business exports.
Other Small Business Programs
The bill creates federal grants for small business development centers to provide technical assistance to small businesses seeking capital and credit and other opportunities. It also mandates regulatory relief for small businesses.
A seven-year small business credit initiative is established to allocate federal funds (up to $1.5 billion) to participating states.
Small Business Tax Relief
Many provisions are targeted to assist small business operations through additional tax deductions and tax credits or exclusions. The bill would exclude from taxes certain capital gains on sales of small-business stock, and accelerate business tax write-offs for purchases of new equipment and other expenses.
Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation. The bill increases the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense under IRC § 179 to $500,000 and increases the phaseout threshold amount to $2 million for tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011. The first-year 50% bonus depreciation available under IRC § 168(k) is extended for one year to apply to property acquired and placed in service in 2010 (or 2011 for certain long-lived and transportation property). The bill also allows taxpayers using the percentage-of-completion method to take into account the cost of qualified property as if bonus depreciation had not been enacted.
Qualified small business stock. The bill amends IRC § 1202 to increase the exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock from 50% to 100%, and the minimum tax preference does not apply. This provision applies to eligible stock acquired after the date of enactment and before Jan. 1, 2011.
Business credits. The carryback period for eligible small business credits under IRC § 38 is extended from one to five years. The bill also allows taxpayers to use eligible small business credits to offset both regular and alternative minimum tax liability. Both provisions are effective for credits determined in tax years beginning after 2009.
Built-in gains tax. For tax years beginning in 2011, the bill provides that for purposes of computing the section 1374 built-in gains tax, the recognition period is the five-year period beginning with the first day of the first tax year for which the corporation was an S corporation.
Self-employed individuals’ health insurance. The bill allows self-employed individuals who deduct the cost of health insurance for themselves and their spouses, dependents, and children under 27 years old as of the end of the tax year to take the deduction into account in calculating net earnings from self-employment for purposes of SECA taxes. This provision applies to the taxpayer’s tax years beginning after 2009.
Startup expenses. The bill increases the section 195 deduction for trade or business startup expenses from $5,000 to $10,000 for tax years beginning in 2010. The start of the limitation on the deduction is increased from $50,000 to $60,000. So for 2010 the amount of the deduction is the lesser of (1) the amount of the startup expenses or (2) $10,000, reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the startup expenditures exceed $60,000.
Reportable and listed transactions. The bill limits the section 6707A penalty for failure to disclose a reportable transaction (that is, a transaction determined by the IRS to have a potential for tax avoidance or evasion) to 75% of the decrease in tax resulting from the transaction. The maximum annual penalty allowed will be $10,000 in the case of a natural person and $50,000 for all other persons for failure to disclose a reportable transaction. For listed transactions, the maximum penalty will be $100,000 in the case of a natural person and $200,000 for all other persons. The minimum penalty is $5,000 for natural persons and $10,000 for all other persons.
The bill also requires the IRS to report to Congress by Dec. 31, 2010, and then annually, on penalties assessed for certain tax shelters and reportable transactions (under sections 6662A, 6700(a), 6707, 6707A and 6708). The penalty under section 6707A has been criticized because the penalty amounts often exceed the tax benefit of the targeted transactions. The IRS has since last July been working under a self-imposed moratorium on collection enforcement of the section 6707A penalty to give Congress time to amend the penalty amounts. The AICPA has recommended that the IRS be allowed to abate the section 6707A penalty in cases where the taxpayer has acted reasonably and in good faith. The AICPA also believes that judicial review should be allowed in cases where the IRS has assessed a penalty under section 6707A. The bill does not adopt either of these recommendations.
Cell phones. The bill removes cell phones from the definition of listed property. Thus, the heightened substantiation requirements and special depreciation rules that apply to listed property under IRC § 280A will no longer apply to cell phones. However, the Joint Committee on Taxation notes that this change “does not affect Treasury’s authority to determine the appropriate characterization of cell phones as a working condition fringe benefit under section 132(d) or that the personal use of such devices that are provided primarily for business purposes may constitute a de minimis fringe benefit, the value of which is so small as to make accounting for it administratively impracticable, under section 132(e).”
The AICPA recommended this statutory change in comments to the IRS in April 2008 and September 2009.
The bill also contains several revenue-raising provisions.
Section 457 plan Roth contributions. The bill allows participants in government section 457 plans to treat elective deferrals as Roth contributions, effective for tax years beginning after 2010.
Rollovers to Roth accounts. The bill also allows rollovers from elective deferral plans to Roth-designated accounts. If a section 401(k) plan, section 403(b) plan or governmental section 457(b) plan has a qualified designated Roth contribution program, a distribution to an employee (or a surviving spouse) from an account under the plan that is not a designated Roth account is permitted to be rolled over into a designated Roth account under the plan for the individual. This provision is effective for distributions made after the date of enactment.
Annuitization. The bill permits a portion of an annuity, endowment or life insurance contract to be annuitized while the balance is not annuitized, provided that the annuitization period is for 10 years or more, or is for the lives of one or more individuals.
Reporting rental income. The bill makes recipients of rental income from real estate generally subject to the same information reporting requirements as taxpayers engaged in a trade or business. In particular, rental income recipients making payments of $600 or more to a service provider (such as a plumber, painter or accountant) in the course of earning rental income are required to provide an information return (typically Form 1099-MISC) to the IRS and to the service provider. This provision will apply to payments made after Dec. 31, 2010.
Information returns. The bill also increases the penalties for failure to file a correct information return. The first-tier penalty increases from $15 to $30, and the calendar-year maximum increases from $75,000 to $250,000. The second-tier penalty increases from $30 to $60, and the calendar-year maximum increases from $150,000 to $500,000. The third-tier penalty increases from $50 to $100, and the calendar-year maximum increases from $250,000 to $1,500,000. For small business filers, the calendar-year maximum increases from $25,000 to $75,000 for the first-tier penalty, from $50,000 to $200,000 for the second-tier penalty, and from $100,000 to $500,000 for the third-tier penalty. The minimum penalty for each failure due to intentional disregard increases from $100 to $250.
Federal contractor levies. The bill allows the IRS to issue levies prior to a collections due process hearing with respect to federal tax liabilities of federal contractors identified under the Federal Payment Levy Program, effective for levies issued after the date of enactment.
Cellulosic biofuels. The bill excludes so-called crude tall oil from the definition of cellulosic biofuel for purposes of the section 40 tax credit for alcohol used as fuel. Crude tall oil is a byproduct of the paper-making industry. Earlier this year, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, PL 111-152, removed another paper byproduct—black liquor—from the definition of cellulosic biofuel.
Income from guarantees. This bill overrides the Tax Court’s recent decision in Container Corp., 134 TC no. 5 (2010), by amending the section 861 and 862 source rules to address income from guarantees issued after the date of enactment. Under new IRC § 861(a)(9), income from sources within the United States includes amounts received, whether directly or indirectly, from a noncorporate resident or a domestic corporation for the provision of a guarantee of indebtedness of the person or from any foreign person for the provision of a guarantee of any indebtedness of the person, if such amount is connected with income which is effectively connected (or treated as effectively connected) with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States.
Corporate estimated taxes. The bill increases the required corporate estimated tax payments factor for corporations with assets of at least $1 billion for payments due in July, August or September 2015.
-- Matthew G. Lamoreaux (firstname.lastname@example.org) is a JofA senior editor and Alistair M. Nevius (email@example.com) is editor-in-chief of The Tax Adviser and a JofA contributing editor.
More from the JofA:
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When Your Heart Has Been Shamed…Living With Codependence
Codependence is one of those terms that is used freely, but without a unified concrete meaning shared by those using the word.
At Heart Matters Counseling, we use the term as a way of describing a state of personal and interpersonal discomfort marked by a person’s inability to be in healthy relationship on three levels:
- Spiritually (with a Higher Power)
- Intrapersonally (with oneself)
- Interpersonally (with others)
The first two of these relational levels are foundational to the function of the third and are often overlooked as the primary issues to be addressed as problems arise in the relationships of couples, families and friends.
Another way to view the concept of codependence is in terms of level of maturity. A mature person is one who can handle relationship problems with a balance of consideration, compassion and care for the other as well for oneself.
A codependent, using the concepts we espouse at Heart Matters, has difficulty with their own sense of well-being, and; therefore, will be experienced by others as, perhaps, controlling, withdrawn or extreme in their behaviors and their expression of themselves.
In the main stream of Addiction Recovery treatment, the codependent is usually referred to as the co-addict, the enabling person to the addict; however, at Heart Matters, the therapists view both the addict and the co-addict as potentially having issues of immaturity which are enabling the relationship to function in an unhealthy manner. Codependent or immature people cannot produce intimate connection. Instead they discover intensity or enmeshment, which they often confuse as intimacy.
IN THE TOOLBOX OF A HEALTHY, MATURE PERSON, ONE WOULD FIND BALANCE IN AT LEAST FIVE AREAS:
• Esteem: The ability to see value, worth and significance in the self as one would also see these qualities in others. It is the balance between the extremes of worthlessness and grandiosity with many levels in between.
• Protection: The ability to protect and contain the self with healthy functional boundaries while honoring the boundaries of others.
• Identity: The ability to know and take ownership of one’s personhood as it is experienced through the intellect, emotions, behavior, physical body and spiritual connection of each individual.
• Care for the Self: The ability to balance the human need for community and the meeting of needs with independent thought and action. This capability is referred to as interdependence.
• Self-Control: The ability to manage one’s reality without living in extremes physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
At Heart Matters, we have coined the anachronism EPICS to help remember the important concepts mentioned above: esteem, protection, identity, care, and self-control. These five core issues are inherent in each individual’s story and their preparation, or lack of it, for healthy or unhealthy relationships. The ultimate goal at Heart Matters is to empower our clients to learn these fundamental skills so that can move out of their adaptations- “the who they aren’t” and move into their mature self- “the who they really are”- so that they can authentically live life in healthy relationship to themselves, to God and with others. | <urn:uuid:6c81df81-1e5c-4951-baaa-cbd04f0ce9a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theheartmatters.org/codependence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954566 | 684 | 2.25 | 2 |
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Water pollution law meant to assist oil sands.
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News July 5, 2012
OTTAWA — New laws offering the government more tools to “authorize” water pollution appear to be designed to remove obstacles for expansion of Canada’s oilpatch, says a Liberal MP from Montreal who spearheaded a parliamentary investigation into the environmental footprint of the oilsands.
“I just found it curious that they’re trying to hide their motive,” said Francis Scarpaleggia, the Liberal water critic. “This is all being done for the oil sands. It’s not being done for the pulp and paper industry. They have their house in order.”
Scarpaleggia made the comments in response to recent Postmedia News reports about a letter signed by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield that explained the government was amending the Canada’s Fisheries Act, previously considered to be the country’s strongest environmental protection law, in order to make it easier to “authorize” water pollution. »Read full story
email@example.com Original source article: Water pollution law meant to assist oil sands: Liberal MP
Changes to the Fisheries Act will give the government more options to allow industries to pollute fish habitats.
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News
OTTAWA — Changes to Canada’s environmental protection laws in the federal budget implementation bill will offer new tools to “authorize” water pollution, while allowing the government to outsource services to protect the country’s waterways, says Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield.
In a newly-released letter, Ashfield said the existing Fisheries Act, considered to be Canada’s strongest environmental protection law, has “long played an important role in preventing pollution of Canadian waters.” But he suggested it needed to be changed since it doesn’t provide enough options allowing industry to disrupt or contaminate fish habitat.
“There are currently few tools to authorize pollution other than by detailed regulations,” Ashfield wrote in the June 14 letter to Todd Panas, president of the Union of Environment Workers. “For example, the amended Fisheries Act will provide flexibility and establish new tools to authorize deposits of deleterious substances.”
The existing legislation prohibits the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat without a special authorization from the minister that is usually accompanied by requirements to compensate for the damage caused.
While a Toronto-based natural resources company was recently allowed to dump toxic tailings waste from a gold mine into fish habitat near Baker Lake, Nunavut, using a special authorization from the government, another company was forced to go back to the drawing board in November 2010 when former environment minister Jim Prentice refused to authorize its plans to turn Fish Lake in interior B.C. into a tailings dump. read entire article>>
Feds favour “responsible” growth in oilsands over sustainability: Documents
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News June 14, 2012
The federal government has turned away from promoting “environmentally sustainable development” of Canada’s oilsands sector, newly released internal records obtained by Postmedia News reveal.
OTTAWA — The federal government has turned away from promoting “environmentally sustainable development” of Canada’s oil sands sector, newly released internal records obtained by Postmedia News reveal.
Draft and final versions of a communications plan for last February’s announcement about improved environmental monitoring of the industrial sector that exploits natural bitumen deposits in Western Canada show someone in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government wanted to delete a pledge to ensure the “environmentally sustainable development” from a list of key public messages.
“The oil sands represent a significant, long-term economic benefit for all Canadians,” said a deleted portion of the communications plan, released through access to information legislation. “That being said, the oil sands must be developed in a sustainable manner.” read entire article>>
Producers find greener way to extract oil from oilsands
By Bill Kaufmann, QMI Agency Last Updated: June 13, 2012 9:53pm
CALGARY — Oilsands operators say they’re ready to zap dirty oil accusations with electromagnetic force.
No, they’re not targeting environmental activists with incapacitating rays, but instead they’re well on their way to using radio waves to more efficiently extract black gold from the oil sands.
A consortium of companies have field-tested the process that heats the oilsands electrically with radio waves, reducing the amount of steam and water needed to extract bitumen from sand.
European governments are weighing slapping a dirty oil label on the oilsands that producers fear could impact their marketability worldwide.
But the new technology could be a way to not only reduce costs, but also environmental damage and the outcry against Alberta’s massive resource, said Glen Schmidt, president of Laricina Energy Ltd.
“Canadian oilsands in-situ is already very competitive not only economically, but environmentally,” Schmidt said.
“This kind of technology continues to make it more competitive.”
In-situ production uses wells instead of mining to extract oilsands bitumen.
Laricina has teamed up with Nexen Inc., Suncor Energy, and Harris Corp. to develop the approach, having tested it in Florida in 2011 and in a Suncor oilsands well last January.
Oilpatch critics often point to the immense amount of water used in oilsands production.
But Schmidt said using the electromagnetic energy — combined with an oil solvent injected to move the bitumen — avoids using fossil fuels to generate steam.
Costs for industry are cut by bypassing the need for water treatment facilities, he said.
“Anytime you can improve operating or capital costs, you reduced the environmental impacts,” Schmidt said.
A larger pilot field test is scheduled for 2013 and the companies hope the process can become commercially viable before final testing.
Half of the $33 million cost of the project has been borne by the province, the other half by the consortium.
The three-day Global Petroleum Show in Calgary that’s drawn 2,200 exhibitors and about 65,000 visitors abounds with environmental technology.
Even so, environmentalists contend the mere burning of fossil fuels, even those extracted more responsibly, are hastening global warming.
And they argue planned dramatic increases in production will accelerate emissions. Full article and other news.
The above articles are courtesy of:Postmedia News, The London Free Press, Canoe Sun Media, Montreal Gazette, QMI, and Wikipedia.
- GMO Farming, Glyphosate Significant Causes of Water Pollution (activistpost.com)
- Tour of “massive” oilsands shows need for proper management: Mulcair (vancouversun.com)
- Mulcair stands by his oilsands views after Alta. visit (ctv.ca)
- (Deformed Fish A Product Of Oilsands, Says First Nation (huffingtonpost.ca)
- Budget cuts threaten federal green plan for oilsands and coal: scientist (junkscience.com)
- Mulcair’s position largely unchanged after oilsands tour (cbc.ca)
- Monitoring program will test sustainability of oilsands, says scientist (canada.com)
- Mulcair puts environment back on plate (lfpress.com)
- Enbridge can’t say if federal cuts would undermine oil spill response (theprovince.com)
- Oilsands profits inflated by lax environmental policing: Mulcair (junkscience.com)
- Canada suffering from unique ‘Dutch disease’ dubbed ‘oilsands fever’ by Alberta group (calgaryherald.com)
Oil sands water environmental issues
Oil sands extraction is generally held to be more environmentally damaging than conventional crude oil. It can affect the land when the bitumen is initially mined, water by its requirement of large quantities of water during separation of the oil and sand and the air due to the release of carbon dioxide and other emissions. Heavy metals such as vanadium, nickel, lead, cobalt, mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, copper, manganese, iron and zinc are naturally present in oil sands and may be concentrated by the extraction process. The environmental impact caused by oil sand extraction is frequently criticized by environmental groups such as Greenpeace, Climate Reality Project, 350.org, MoveOn, League of Conservation Voters, Patagonia, Sierra Club, and Energy Action Coalition. The European Union has indicated that it may vote to label oil sands oil as “highly polluting”. Although oil sands exports to Europe are minimal, the issue has caused friction between the EU and Canada.
Mining operations in the Athabasca oil sands. Note the close proximity of the Athabasca River to the tailings pond, which stores contaminated water from processing the oil sands. NASA Earth Observatory image, 2009.
Between 2 to 4.5 volume units of water are used to produce each volume unit of synthetic crude oil in an ex-situ mining operation. According to Greenpeace, the Canadian oil sands operations use 349 million cubic metres per annum (12.3 × 109 cu ft/a) of water, twice the amount of water used by the city of Calgary. Despite recycling, almost all of it ends up in tailings ponds. As of 2007, tailing ponds in Canada covered an area of approximately 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi). However, in SAGD operations, 90–95% of the water is recycled and only about 0.2 volume units of water is used per volume unit of bitumen produced.
For the Athabasca oil sand operations water is supplied from the Athabasca River, the ninth longest river in Canada. The average flow just downstream of Fort McMurray is 633 cubic metres per second (22,400 cu ft/s) with its highest daily average measuring 1,200 cubic metres per second (42,000 cu ft/s). Oil sands industries water license allocations totals about 1.8% of the Athabasca river flow. Actual use in 2006 was about 0.4%. In addition, according to the Water Management Framework for the Lower Athabasca River, during periods of low river flow water consumption from the Athabasca River is limited to 1.3% of annual average flow.
In December 2010, the Oil Sands Advisory Panel, commissioned by former environment minister Jim Prentice, found that the system in place for monitoring water quality in the region, including work by the Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program, the Alberta Water Research Institute, the Cumulative Environmental Management Association and others, was piecemeal and should become more comprehensive and coordinated. A major hindrance to the monitoring of oil sands produced waters has been the lack of identification of individual compounds present. By better understanding the nature of the highly complex mixture of compounds, including naphthenic acids, it may be possible to monitor rivers for leachate and also to remove toxic components. Such identification of individual acids has for many years proved to be impossible but a recent breakthrough in analysis has begun to reveal what is in the oil sands produced waters.
In October 2009, Suncor announced it was seeking government approval for a new process to recover tailings called Tailings Reduction Operations, which accelerates the settling of fine clay, sand, water, and residual bitumen in ponds after oil sands extraction. The technology involves dredging mature tailings from a pond bottom, mixing the suspension with a polymer flocculent, and spreading the sludge-like mixture over a “beach” with a shallow grade. According to the company, the process could reduce the time for water reclamation from tailings to weeks rather than years, with the recovered water being recycled into the oil sands plant. In addition to reducing the number of tailing ponds, Suncor claims that the process could reduce the time to reclaim a tailing pond from 40 years at present to 7–10 years, with land rehabilitation continuously following 7 to 10 years behind the mining operations.
Public health impacts
Concerns have been raised concerning the negative impacts that the oil sands have on public health, including higher than normal rates of cancer among residents of Fort Chipewyan. In August, 2011, the Alberta government initiated a provincial health study of the link between the higher rates of cancer and the oil sands. It has also been suggested that other wildlife has been negatively affected by the oil sands; for instance, moose were found in a 2006 study to have as high as 453 times the acceptable levels of arsenic in their systems, though later studies lowered this to 17 to 33 times the acceptable level (still causing a danger for human consumption).
View monthly posting’s calendar, become a subscriber or obtain RSS feed by going to the bottom index of this page. | <urn:uuid:7296a1f7-e5cd-41a6-a393-29cbd6d9f07e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savethewater.org/2012/07/08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935145 | 2,793 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Codes and Standards
Code of Conduct
Baxter’s Codes and Standards are designed for employees and also extend to the company’s relationships with suppliers, healthcare practitioners, medical institutions and patient organizations.
Baxter’s Code of Conduct defines the core principles that govern employee behavior at Baxter and how the company conducts its business. The Code applies to Baxter's board of directors, and all of its employees including the company’s chief executive officer and other senior management. It builds on Baxter’s long-standing commitment to leadership in ethical business practices, covering topics such as protection and use of company assets, accurate recordkeeping, competitive and confidential information, sales and marketing practices, anticorruption, insider trading, bioethics, conflicts of interest, gifts and trade compliance. The Code’s user-friendly format includes questions and answers, decision guides and lists of additional resources available to employees to help maintain a culture of integrity throughout Baxter.
As Baxter expands its global presence, the company has increased the number of languages in which its Code of Conduct is available. In 2011, Baxter translated the Code into Slovenian, for a total of 22 languages.
All new Baxter employees receive Code of Conduct training within the first three months of employment. Baxter’s corporate policies support the Code by defining Baxter’s intentions, setting behavioral expectations and requiring certain actions with respect to particular topics. A comprehensive Intranet site provides employees with additional information on corporate policies.
Baxter’s Code of Conduct reflects evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations governing industry practices, and also extends to the company’s relationships with healthcare professionals, medical institutions and patient organizations globally. This includes Baxter’s Global Anticorruption Policy, which covers how the company’s employees, contractors, agents and third parties conduct themselves with government officials. In addition, the Code requires the prompt reporting of suggested misconduct and outlines the consequences of failure to comply with applicable laws or Baxter's policies and procedures. Baxter provides ongoing training and a Code of Conduct website to keep employees up to date on the company’s ethics and compliance policies, topic-specific training and other tools and resources.
Standards for Baxter Suppliers
The company’s Ethics and Compliance Standards for Baxter Suppliers is designed to ensure that all Baxter suppliers also comply with the company’s Code of Conduct. These standards, translated into 20 languages, define policies and set common expectations about ethical behavior when doing business with Baxter. They also define the expected conduct when working for or on behalf of Baxter and are a formal part of standard Baxter supplier agreements. Baxter’s Purchasing and Supplier Management group evaluates and approves all key suppliers before any materials, components, products or services may be purchased. Suppliers must agree to abide by these standards which are incorporated into supplier agreements, to conduct business with Baxter (see Managing Supplier Performance for more information). Additionally, the Baxter Supplier Quality Standard specifically addresses sustainability issues, including indentured and child labor, employment standards, waste and energy reduction, and ethics.
In addition to the standards described above, Baxter has adopted other professional codes of ethics, including:
- AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals;
- Ethics & Compliance Officer Association (ECOA) Standards of Conduct for Business Ethics and Compliance Professionals;
- European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Code of Practice on Relationships with Patient Organizations;
- Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Principles and Standards of Ethical Supply Management Conduct;
- Professional Society of Engineers Code of Ethics for Engineers;
- Regulatory Affairs Professionals (RAPS) Code of Ethics for Regulatory Affairs Professionals; and
- Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) Code of Ethics for Compliance and Ethics Professionals. | <urn:uuid:19b9c1f9-95c7-4fc9-8954-87872b1f7e60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sustainability.baxter.com/governance-ethics-compliance/codes-and-standards.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91879 | 787 | 1.53125 | 2 |
This week we have two Write The Book Prompts, both suggested by Ann Hood. The first is to write your autobiography in 500 words. And the second is to find a copy of Sandra Cisnero's very short story, "My Name," which was part of her book, The House On Mango Street. Read that, and then write the story of your own name. Or, if you're working on a piece of fiction, write the story of your character's name. Ann says that these exercises have proven very useful in classes that she's taught and that they really help details of character to emerge. Due to copyright laws, I can't reproduce Sandra Cisneros' lovely vignette, My Name, on my podcast site. But if you google it, you'll probably find a copy floating out there in the world. Or, hey! Buy it! Writers supporting writers: always a good idea.
Good luck with these exercises and please listen next week for another.
Excerpt from Ann Hood's novel The Read Thread read with permission.
Music credits: 1) “Dreaming 1″ - John Fink; 2) “Filter” - Dorset Greens (a Vermont band featuring several South Burlington High School students) | <urn:uuid:77fb20f9-a397-4b82-a226-22de99a08a5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writethebook.podbean.com/2010/09/28/write-the-book-112-92710-ann-hood/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963843 | 255 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Your body language, nonverbal cues, tells a lot about how you perform at a job, career and on stage as a public speaker. Research suggests that nonverbal cues are more important than verbal ones. I came across one study that spoke about “body language comprises 55% of the force of any response, whereas the verbal content only provides 7%, and ‘paralanguage,’ or the intonation, pauses and sighs given when answering or speaking, represents 38% of the emphasis.
Our schools put more emphasis on the spoken word. I suggest you learn to use a few simple tips to accentuate your body language as a public speaker or even interview for a job.
Always lean forward. You will appear to be an interested listener. Leaning back projects lack of confidence.
Never look down. Maintain eye control at all times. This creates openness and honesty. As a speaker, face your audience left of center, right of center and center.
Have a relaxed, open posture with your arms in a comfortable position. Don’t fold your arms – this makes you appear hostile.
Make sure your facial expressions match your message. If you are speaking about something very sad, don’t smile! However, do smile when you are talking about something upbeat and positive.
If you want to appear confident and expressive, strive for a posture that is free and natural to your speaking style.
You can practice your stance by standing with your feet less than shoulder width apart. Stand tall, not slouched.
AND never put your hands in your pockets. Men often do this and even jingle their change. This is a No, No.
Want to practice your body language? Use a mirror and better yet, get a friend to take video footage of your talk.
Need some help? Get a speaker coach . . . like me! Email me at email@example.com
Finally, don’t overdue your hand gestures. I have seen some speakers who constantly flail their hands around – this is distracting and annoying. If you have a tendency to do this, use a hand-held microphone to keep your hands busy.
(c) 2012 www.schrift.com | <urn:uuid:a13f5f0e-6f5d-42f0-a2c3-a80f5676f164> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://schrift.com/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931101 | 457 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Wayne Shepard, Stuart
Letter: Accuracy of results, not speed, should be primary concern in elections
Wouldn't it be nice if we worried as much about the accuracy of election results as we do about the speed of election results?
The political parties like fast results so they can deliver their acceptance speeches surrounded by their friends at the election night party. The press likes fast results so they have lots of stuff with which to fill the next day's paper. The networks cannot wait for the polls to close in Alaska and Hawaii; the prime-time audience is waiting.
Now I find: The supervisor of elections must deliver the county's result to the state for certification on Nov. 18, regardless of whether they are accurate or not. And (per the Democrats) the canvassing board apparently is not allowed to recount all the ballots even if they want to, just some of them.
Personally, I think accuracy is the most important thing, speed is irrelevant. Each batch of ballots should be counted at least twice and recounted continuously until the results stop changing with each count. The supervisor of elections should not release the results until 100 percent of the votes are in. The networks should not be allowed to broadcast projected presidential results until all precincts in the United States are closed, even those in Hawaii; otherwise they should be prosecuted for subversion of the election process.
I must commend St. Lucie County Judge Dan Vaughn for stepping out of the process. It is a rare judge who accepts that it is not his job to do everyone else's. So why is the state making rules and regulations telling the supervisors of elections how to do their jobs? The supervisors are directly elected by the voters, not the Legislature. They are answerable to the voters and the governor and Legislature should leave them alone. | <urn:uuid:5fbbbf08-9133-43df-b3e2-dcea1494e40a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/nov/30/letter-accuracy-of-results-not-speed-should-be/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968074 | 363 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Related BLS programs | Related articles
May 1983, Vol. 106, No. 5
U.S. foreign trade prices in 1982:
import index falls, export indexes mixed
Mark J. Johnson
U.S. import prices1 fell 2.8 percent in 1982, as the worldwide economic slowdown and the strong U.S. dollar placed downward pressure on U.S. import prices. (See table 1.) The import price drop continued to the sharply reduced rate of increase in U.S. domestic prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index.
Crude petroleum import prices, which account for 25.8 percent of the weight of the all-import price index, fell 3.7 percent during the year, and were a major factor in the overall drop in import prices. Some other categories which contributed to this decline were intermediate manufactured products and telecommunications equipment.
The price indexes for exports cover 71 percent of the value of all exported products. For those exports measured, price increases were concentrated mainly in categories of finished manufactured goods. (See table 2.) Most semifinished goods and primary products showed price declines. These results were greatly influenced by the worldwide economic slump, the strong dollar, which tended to raise the prices of U.S. goods in foreign markets, and the drop in demand for U.S. exports by debt-affected nations. Grain and nonferrous metals were key categories which showed price declines, falling 7.3 and 4.3 percent, respectively. The index for machinery and transport equipment, which accounts for 35.3 percent of all exports, rose 3.9 percent.
This excerpt is from an article published in the May 1983 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
Read abstract Download full article in PDF (1,198K)
1 Howard N Fullerton, Jr., "The 1995 force: a first look," Monthly Labor Review, December 1980, pp. 11-21; and unpublished statistics.
Related BLS programs
International Price Indexes
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New international price series published by Nation and region.—June 1992.
Import and export prices gain ease in 1989.—Jun. 1990.
U.S. import and export prices continued to register sizable gains in 1988.—May 1989.
Rising export and import prices in 1987 reversed recent trend.—June 1988.
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Turning your invention into a business
First step: Write a good business plan and find a partner you can trust.
(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I invented a new way to produce electricity for which I am about to seek a provisional patent. If I get the patent, I know that there are potentially millions of dollars that could be made with my invention, but I don't know where to go from here, and financially I am not in any shape to go it alone. Please help!
- S. Guilani, Milwaukee, Wis.
Dear S.: If you're not in financial shape to bankroll your own business, you'll need investors who believe in your idea and then a plan on how to execute the idea after you've actually raised some money, according to Ben Lerer, founder of startup Thrillist.com.
"I believe that all really good ideas will find investors - the hard part is executing on the idea once you've actually raised the money," Lerer said.
Thrillist.com is a male-oriented e-mail service based in New York City with distribution in several cities. Lerer raised $1 million from investors and turned it into what he says is a multi-million dollar business that's growing by 10% to 15% each month.
"In order to find people willing to invest money in anything, you need to move past the idea stage. Invest time and energy, if you don't have money, to get it to the point where others will be interested and there's an actual tangible product they can touch or see," Lerer said.
That will require creating a business plan.
For tips on building a business plan look here: A business plan that will get you a loan
Another place to look for business planning advice is the Small Business Administration's website.
The next step is finding investors. Lerer's advice: start with people you already know and ask if they're willing to help out or point you in the right direction.
"If that doesn't turn anything up, the best approach is to research companies in your space to see how they got their start and who funded them," Lerer said. "The key is to put as many lines as possible in the water, so you're never left back at square one if a deal doesn't work out with the first person who seems interested."
Perseverance is essential, as is finding a partner to help see you through the difficult early stages of building a business.
"Trying to build something is 100 times harder all on your own," said Lerer. "Obviously finding the right partner isn't easy, but I think it can be the key to a successful business and can help make the early stages of money raising and product development that much more efficient." | <urn:uuid:cae9893e-3e2c-4d9b-b195-bdd1311b45c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/11/smbusiness/invention_investors.fsb/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971979 | 577 | 1.820313 | 2 |
William Whiston's father was Josiah Whiston who was a presbyterian minister at Norton. William's mother was Katherine Rosse, whose father Gabriel Rosse had been the minister of Norton parish immediately prior to Josiah Whiston. William, the fourth of his parents nine children, was born in the rectory at Norton. William was taught by his father until he was 17, but he also acted in a secretarial role by copying manuscripts for his father. In 1684 he went to the grammar school in Tamworth then, in 1686, after two years of school, he entered Clare College, Cambridge. He was very poor since his father died shortly before he went to university. However Whiston inherited the family library and was following his father's wishes that he train to become a presbyterian minister.
William attended Newton's lectures while at Cambridge and he showed great promise in mathematics. He obtained his B.A. in 1690, then obtained a fellowship at Clare College in 1691. Two years later he was awarded an M.A. and was ordained in the same year. He was encouraged by David Gregory at this time to study Newton's Principia. He returned to Cambridge, intending to take mathematics pupils, but ill health made him give up his position as a tutor at Clare College.
From 1694 to 1698 he was chaplain to the bishop of Norwich. During this period he wrote A New Theory of the Earth (1696), in which he claimed that the biblical stories of the creation, flood etc. could be explained scientifically as descriptions of events with historical bases. He relied heavily on applying Newton's physics (in fact the book was dedicated to Newton) and on the new ideas about geology which were then being developed, to support the biblical account. For example he claimed that the biblical flood was due to a comet hitting the Earth, an interesting theory given the current interest in theories of this type. Of course the work mixed science and religion to the extent that Whiston claimed that the comet was divinely guided. A New Theory of the Earth proved very popular with French and German translations appearing. Even those such as Buffon who criticised Whiston's book accepted some his ideas which they incorporated into their own theories.
In 1698 Whiston obtained a vicarage in Suffolk at Lowestoft-with-Kissingland. Up to this time he had continued to hold his fellowship at Clare College, but he resigned in June 1699 which he was forced to do in order to marry. He married Ruth Antrobus who was the daughter of the headmaster of the grammar school in Tamworth which he had attended. They had eight children, of whom four (Sarah, William, George, and John) reached adulthood. His father-in-law, George Antrobus, gave the newly married couple a farm near Dullingham in Cambridgeshire which provided them with an annual income. He was appointed assistant to Newton at Cambridge from February 1701. However Whiston fell out with Newton over Bible chronology for, unlike Newton's, his cosmology involved direct intervention by God. Despite this much of Whiston's religious beliefs seem close to those of Newton.
In May 1702 Whiston succeeded Newton as Lucasian professor and, in the following year, he published an edition of Euclid for the use of students at Cambridge. With Newton's agreement, Whiston published Newton's algebra lectures in 1707 under the title Arithmetica universalis and, three years later, his own astronomy lectures as Praelectiones astronomicae. The English version was published in 1715 as Astronomical Lectures. He lectured at Cambridge on mathematics and natural philosophy and, after Roger Cotes was appointed to the Plumian professorship in 1706, receiving strong recommendations from Whiston, they undertook joint research. Together they introduced the first courses on experimental physics at Cambridge.
Whiston also published religious works such as Essay on the Revelation (1706). He came to believe that the doctrine of the Trinity was incorrect (as did Newton) and, although at first careful not to publicly oppose the views of the established church, he later became bolder and published his views in Sermons and Essays (1709). These views were not popular and, after he refused to acknowledge that he was in error, he was brought before the heads of the Cambridge colleges charged with heresy. He was deprived of his chair on 30 October 1710 and dismissed from Cambridge University. He went to London where a court was set up by the lord chancellor to try him for heresy but, after the death of Queen Anne, proceedings against him were dropped. A German visitor to London who met him in 1710 described him as being:-
... of very quick and ardent spirit, tall and spare, with a pointed chin and wears his own hair. In looks, he greatly resembles Calvin. He is very fond of speaking and argues with great vehemence.
Whiston was now rather poor and lived off the income of a small farm near Newmarket. To make money he formed a partnership with Francis Hauksbee, who was twenty years his junior, and from 1713 they gave a course covering mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, and optics. In the following year they produced a course manual which was widely used and later formed the basis of some of the courses at Oxford. He lectured in the coffee-houses of London, being one of the first to demonstrate science experiments during the lectures. As time went on his financial position improved as various patrons provided an income for him. As a result, without needing to make money, he lectured less.
In 1714, along with Humphrey Ditton, Whiston approached parliament advising them to encourage work on solving the longitude problem by offering large financial rewards. The idea was supported by Newton, Clarke, Cotes, and Halley and the result was the Longitude Act passed by parliament later in 1714. Having been one of the main enthusiasts for the Longitude Act, Whiston now proposed a number of methods of finding the longitude at sea; there was a lot of money for a good solution but he never succeeded. The methods he proposed included having vessels stationed at fixed points across the Atlantic, having each fire a star shell at a fixed time each day. Ships would be able to calculate their distance from such a vessel by calculating the time taken for the sound of the shell to reach them afer the flash was observed. One of his proposals concerned magnetic inclination and is certainly not without interest. It is discussed in detail in . Howarth writes that Whiston:-
... made the first known maps showing the direction of magnetic inclination (for south-eastern England) in 1719 and 1720. He also anticipated Graham's 1723 measurement of the ratio of horizontal and vertical magnetic intensities, and he understood their relationship to magnetic inclination.
Howarth then tries to understand how Whiston fitted the planar isoclinic surfaces:-
This is of interest because his study precedes the publication of 'Meyer's method' by thirty-one years and the Legendre-Gauss 'method of least squares' by eighty-six years. It is suggested that Whiston fitted the surfaces using observations of inclination at a chosen triple of localities; and that he did this in order to use data from non-included localities as a check on his model.
Whiston published The Longitude and Latitude Found by the Inclinatory or Dipping Needle in 1721.
While he was being subjected to charges of heresy he was bold enough to set out his religious beliefs in a series of pamphlets Primitive Christianity Revived (1711-12). Wanting to return to an early form of Christianity, he founded the Society for Promoting Primitive Christianity in 1715 which held meetings in Whiston's London home. Continuing with his theme of science and religion, he published Astronomical Principles of Religion in 1717. He left the Church of England in 1747 because of his objection to the Athanasian creed, and joined the Baptists.
Lyndon Hall, where Whiston died, was the residence of Samuel Barker, the husband of Whiston's daughter Sarah. Ruth Whiston died in 1751, and Whiston died in the following year after being ill for one week. He was buried in Lyndon churchyard.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson | <urn:uuid:6aff15cb-675f-4cf7-968c-a969463a1dad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Printonly/Whiston.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986538 | 1,728 | 2.828125 | 3 |
January 02, 2009
| by Phil Lozen
For broadcast networks, there are two choices when it comes to HD telecasts: 720p and 1080i (the ATSC standard also covers 1080p but no one is broadcasting in that format currently). We breakdown the differences in the two formats and examine which TV networks use which format and why.
720p vs 1080i
720p displays 720 horizontal lines at the same time 60 times a second resulting in a progressive (hence the “p”) image display also known as 720p/60. 1080i puts 540 horizontal lines up at a time, first the even then the odd lines, resulting in an interlaced (there’s the “i”) 1,080-line picture 30 times a second, called 1080i/30. For a while before 1080p came into its own with HD DVD and Blu-ray, it was thought that 1080i was the king of the hill for HD resolution. However, 1080i is really best-suited for CRT-based HD sets that are designed for interlaced video and must be deinterlaced before being shown on a 1080p or 720p HD set.
So does that mean there’s no difference between the two since the image is being deinterlaced on nearly all HDTVs? If only it were that easy. Most of what ends up on TV is shot at 24 frames per second, except for sports and talk shows. People a lot smarter than I have done the math and for 24fps film, 1080i comes close to being a progressive image since it refreshed 30 times a second. However, for shows shot at 60fps such as live sports, there is a decided advantage to the progressive image that 720p offers.
As for deinterlacing, certainly some sets do a better job of handling the video processing than others, but in the end, there’s still 1,080 lines of resolution that are being painted on your screen. In many people’s minds - right or wrong - more pixels means a better image (think 8 megapixel digital cameras vs. 4 megapixel ones) with those extra pixels resulting in a crisper picture. Many networks seem to agree, including the one that generally showcases the best that HD has to offer: Discovery’s HD Theater.
720p is generally best suited for fast-moving action, such as sporting events. The ESPN family of networks bolsters that claim, as they broadcast in 720p. “Simply put, with 104 mph fastballs in baseball and 120 mph shots on goal in hockey, the line-by-line basis of progressive scan technology better captures the inherent fast action of sports. For ESPN, progressive scan technology makes perfect sense,” the network says on its Web site. 1080i, meanwhile, is generally thought to be ideal for shows where fast motion isn’t an issue, such as dramas and nature shows.
The vast majority of networks are broadcasting in 1080i. Our friends over at the AVS Forum have a running list of all the major networks and cable/satellite channels and their broadcast choices and as of this fall, only 22 of the listed 87 (not including PPV) have chosen 720p. A closer look reveals that of those 22, eight are owned by ABC parent Disney and nine by Fox parent company News Corp. That’s 77 percent of the channels broadcasting in 720p owned by two companies.
Here’s a look at the major broadcast networks and their choices: | <urn:uuid:8401fcc7-676c-4d5f-959b-eb82f438aa9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronichouse.com/article/network_hd_720p_vs_1080i/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966243 | 732 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The most non-linear, optical material
All-optical signal processing is a key requirement as modern photonic technologies progress towards signal modulation and transmission speeds unsuitable for electronic handling. Practical applications related to all-optical information processing are however severely limited by the inherently weak nonlinear effects in conventional materials that govern photon-photon interaction and diminish further as the switching speed increases. The recently discovered nonlocal optical behaviour of plasmonic nanorod metamaterials enables an enhanced ultrafast nonlinear optical response. A dramatic (80%) change of transmission through a subwavelength thick slab of metamaterial subjected to a low control light fluence has been observed in such metamaterials, with ultrafast switching speed in the THz regime. Both the ultrafast response and the optical nonlinearity are enhanced due to the modification of the nonlocal behaviour of the metamaterial by the control light. This response may be engineered by appropriate nanostructuring of the metal. Nonlocality-enhanced nonlinearity in metamaterials, demonstrated here in plasmonic nanorod composites, opens an avenue for ultrafast low-power all-optical information processing in subwavelength scale devices.
This work “Designed ultrafast optical nonlinearity in a plasmonic nanorod metamaterial enhanced by nonlocality“ has been published in Nature Nanotechnology 6, 107 (2011). For more information see King’s press-release here.
First insights into the Poisson's ratio of collagen fibrils
The Poisson's ratio is a very fundamental, physical property of solid bodies. It is a measure of how an object contracts when it is stretched. The Poisson's ratio is easy to determine for macroscopic bodies. However, for microscopic objects, such as collagen fibrils, which constitute the mechanical scaffold of bone, skin, hair and many other tissues, very sophisticated techniques have to be employed. We recently used Atomic Force Microscopy to perform force measurements with collagen and found that fibrils show a characteristic pattern of alternating, high and low Poisson's ratio with a periodicity of about 60-70 nm. From these measurements, we can draw some important conclusions about the internal structure of these fibrils, which have a diameter much smaller than the cells of the human body.
The work was carried out by a PhD student and is published in Applied Physics Letters (in press). For more information, please contact Dr Patrick Mesquida. | <urn:uuid:55060731-7a8f-436f-865b-461985a85fcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcl.ac.uk/nms/depts/physics/research/ebn/ResearchHighlights.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918541 | 520 | 2.421875 | 2 |
The International School for Holocaust Studies
Catalog of Educational Materials
At the International School for Holocaust Studies, our staff is dedicated to Holocaust education. It is through work in this field that our educational philosophy was formed and developed, outlining age-appropriate Holocaust education. This catalog contains information about various teaching units and methods produced and developed at the International School. These are designed to equip the teacher with tools for a variety of teaching methods: establishing study research centers, changing the learning environment, designing modular lesson frameworks and constructing ceremonies.
For more information please contact Mrs. Helen Rahamim
E-mail address: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:74607a4b-3ad6-4ebc-9861-70c89ffee820> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/units/index.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915991 | 134 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Make a difference in the challenge to confront global warming and prevent nuclear war and the development and use of nuclear weapons.
Climate change’s threats to human health and life are growing. Will you join our latest effort to roll back climate change?
Senate Global Warming Legislation Would Fail to Meet Necessary Targets
May 27, 2008
In June the U.S. Senate will begin debate on legislation to address global warming. The Climate Security Act, S. 3036, fails to meet the scientific targets that will be necessary to avoid the worst affects of climate change. While the bill and likely substitute amendment offered by Senator Boxer would initiate the first step in placing a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions so the United States can do its part to reduce the impacts of global warming, the final bill must have more effective implementation measures.
The bill would have the U.S. reduce emissions at affected facilities by approximately 19 percent in the next decade and then continue on a declining path after that. Unfortunately, this would be well short of the earlier goals of reaching a 20 percent reduction below 1990 levels that PSR has supported based on the best modeling data and scientific information available. In addition, there are several mechanisms that would allow the president to suspend the bill but no direction for the EPA to strengthen pollution controls if the U.S. discovers it is falling behind in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Encourage your senators to support debate on the Climate Security Act and call for the following improvements.
- Fewer giveaways to polluters — too many free allowances are given to the fossil fuel industry, especially coal. PSR will support amendments to reduce these allowances and require tighter pollution controls as criteria for being eligible for allowances.
- No nuclear subsidies — despite enormous government support in the form of tax credits, loan guarantees and limited liability already provided to the dangerous nuclear industry, it is asking for more. PSR opposes any financial support to the already mature nuclear industry.
- Scientific certainty — the greenhouse gas reductions called for in the bill are a starting point, but they fall short of the necessary goals. PSR is calling on the Senate to include a certainty provision that would allow the EPA to tighten controls and shorten reduction periods in order to avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change.
- Public health adaptation — though the bill has a focus on international adaptation needs, little is done to protect public health in the U.S. PSR is working to have language added to the bill that would provide funding for emergency management, public health needs and hospital services necessary as a result of global warming.
Please call or write your senators and tell them to support these improvements in the bill. This legislation needs to be the cornerstone for U.S. efforts and it must be effective if we are to confront climate change in a serious manner.
For more information contact Will Callaway at 202-667-4260 x 224 or email@example.com.
In the Spotlight
September 20, 2013
Conference: Climate Smart Southwest
Build new and fortify existing cross-cultural, community, and governmental partnerships to educate and engage community action to address the anticipated public health impacts of climate change in the Southwest, September 20-21. | <urn:uuid:b14ead51-555a-4b10-9f79-a76e4e164117> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psr.org/news-events/press-releases/senate-global-warming.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935557 | 655 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Bonobo is a component model for creating reusable software components and compound documents. It was created by the company Ximian (acquired by Novell) for compound documents used in GNOME.
Bonobo was designed and implemented to address the needs and problems of the free software community for developing large-scale applications. It is inspired by Microsoft's OLE and is quite similar to it. Bonobo components are analogous to KParts in KDE. Bonobo is based on the CORBA architecture. Bonobo can, for instance, be used to embed an HTML component to show some text or an SVG component to display statistics taken from a database.
Available components are:
Planned deprecation
The GNOME release has officially deprecated Bonobo sometime since GNOME 2.4, and developers have been advised to use or switch to an alternative such as D-Bus.
See also | <urn:uuid:a4175386-c6ea-4987-b0bc-2e0d2e5345fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo_(component_model) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95038 | 179 | 2.15625 | 2 |
If someone were to mention pre-fabricated housing, most people would probably conjure up images of dingy, ugly and generic box-like houses inferior to standard homes. However, recent prefab homes have taken a leap forward in terms of sustainability, practicality and comfort. The eco-friendly materials which make up the pods or modules of prefab houses are constructed in factories and can be configured in various ways to allow the buyer to add some creative flair to their housing style.
Standard prefab houses are a great way to save money and time when building a house, and ensuring it is highly sustainable, yet imagine if they were tiny prefab houses. Small prefabricated houses are an incredibly effective use of space, help with the increasingly pertinent issue of urban sprawl and housing density, and are also easily transportable and even less costly in terms of both time and money.
Here are ten of the most sustainable, imaginative and simply bewildering tiny prefab houses that will be sure to convert you in your thinking about the buildings of the future.
This portable house is Kent Griswold's second self-built house with tiny proportions. This 8.2 x 16.2 foot wide house manages to fit in five wooden windows, a pitch and steel roof, walls reinforced with hurricane straps and foam insulation. This little goldmine would be perfectly suitable as a beachside cottage, a guest house or even just a house for tiny living.
This majestic snow retreat is 99 square feet of luxury with endless interior design options. Complete with porch and even a loft area at the top, the box bungalow is the ultimate in effective use of space whilst ensuring comfort is still a high priority. The house is available from Tumbleweed Tiny House company, which was founded in 1997 by Jay Shafer. Shafer is dedicated to crafting high-quality and inventive small houses which have minimal impacts on the environments and are conducive to a slower, more relaxed style of living.
This tiny construction is the smallest green house available in Jay Schafer's range and comes from the 'House to Go' series, meaning it can easily be transported and towed anywhere. The XS stands for extra small and extra space-efficient because with only 11 feet in length and 7 feet in width, this house manages to somehow fit in a living room, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom. If you're planning to go caravaning across the countryside, why not just go 'housing' instead, because if built yourself this little beauty will only set you back $16,000.
Don't be fooled by the deceptive name, because this modern house offers much more than just a place t0 urinate. This construction by Alchemy Architects is spacious living in a non-spacious area at its best, and at an incredibly affordable price: the cost works out to be only $125 per square foot. The interior features IKEA cabinetry and kitchenware and floor to ceiling Anderson windows, making this off-grid living unique yet nevertheless comfortable.
This eco-friendly pine wood home is a trendy and creative design from Sustain Minihome. Complete with bar, sleeping loft, living room, bathroom and kitchen, you wouldn't know once inside the solo 36 bunkie that it's only 36 feet by 12 feet. As long as you have level ground, this prefab home can situated virtually anywhere, say on a rocky cliff overlooking the stunning Lake Rosseau in Canada.
A team of researchers and designers from London and the Technical University of Munich have really abided by the lore of less is more with their development of the m-ch. This tiny construction is designed for students, businessmen and sportsmen who require short stay living. The m-ch uses compact living methods as used in aircrafts, yachts and cars to create a 266cm cubed space that conveniently fits in two double beds, shower and toilet, a fold-out table, kitchen and storage space - what more could you want?
Minibox is 200SF of ecological and simple living. These versatile homes can be whatever you want them to be - a studio, backyard feature or a micro-home. Despite the small space, these prefab houses have been designed so effectively that you won't have to make any compromises on comfort. And these efficient, green houses come at only $42,500, making them within most individual's or family's home buying budget.
This stylish little wooden structure is the perfect option for those looking to live tiny, and in style. Kithaus offers a range of modern and revolutionary prefab homes, which are all made from patented lightweight M.H.S construction systems. The creation of their homes, such as this K4, takes only days and can be done almost anywhere because of the lightweight properties - a wilderness retreat made easy.
Katrina Cottages produces quaint and dainty little cottages, which are tiny, versatile and easily transportable. This Fish Camp styled house was designed by Steve Mouzon and is a mere 170 square feet. With it's effective use of space this cottage is not only cute to look at but also highly practical, incorporating a porch, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom into the small space.
Max had his 10ft x 20tf cabin built last year by Birky's Better Built Barns as his holiday and meditation retreat 25 miles north of his home in Washington State. The construction added up to about $10,500, which isn't bad for an off the grid, self-sufficient house set with all the necessities required for tiny living.
September 5, 2012 by Greta Mayr | <urn:uuid:b72cab32-f8eb-4cb7-b5f2-68a328a89c9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brisbane.concreteplayground.com.au/news/77151/the-top-ten-tiny-prefab-homes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9557 | 1,146 | 1.921875 | 2 |
How to Build a Soda Can Stove
If all you want to do is boil water, consider making the cat food can stove instead of the soda can stove. It's even easier to make than the soda can stove—plus it's lighter and acts as a built-in pot support! But if you need to do more than boil water, you're in the right place!
Most materials you need are probably already laying about your place. The one thing you might not have is a tape that won't burn when you use your stove! You can find a high-temperature tape in any decent hardware store. It's designed to be used on flues or mufflers or something—I don't really know. But it's made of material that won't burn or melt. A roll should cost under $10, but you can probably make a hundred stoves from a single roll. You don't need much!
- soda cans — a minimum of two are required, but a few extras for mistakes, simmer rings, and such could be useful. Get a six-pack and have a party! =)
- ruler or measuring tape
- scratch awl or other sharp instrument
- heavy-duty x-acto knife (or something similar)
- high-temperature tape (a.k.a. metal tape, aluminum tape, foil tape, muffler tape, or basically any kind of tape that won't burn)
Some people claim that the Pepsi can is the superior soda can option. I've used cans of Coke, root beer, and even grape soda and never noticed any difference, so drink what you like. It doesn't really make any difference!
Step 1: Create Burner Holes
Poke holes along the bottom edge of one of the cans with the scratch awl. Some people say smaller holes are more fuel efficient. Some people like bigger holes since it burns faster and hotter. I like 'normal' holes. The number of holes isn't especially important—just so long as they go around the rim more-or-less evenly. I typically poke two holes on opposite sides, then two more holes halfway between the original holes. Then four more holes between those first four. And then another eight holes between those first eight for a total of 16 holes.
Step 2: Create Main Opening
Cut out the bottom of the can you just poked the holes in. The can is fairly thick here, so it needs to be a sturdy instrument to do this. An X-acto knife would work, but use one with a heavy-duty blade on it. I'm using a knife from a Speedball linoleum cutting kit. Use whatever you have available. If the edges turn out particularly jagged, you can file them down now. (Or later, or not at all—doesn't matter to me!)
Step 3: Cut Out Stove Top
Measure up 20mm (3/4 in) from the bottom of the can and cut. This will be the top of your stove. To get an even cut, I mark a point at 20mm, then keep a Sharpie steady on a table while turning the can around against it. A clean, even mark completely around the can every time! It's easier to get a clean cut if you first do a rough cut to get the end of the can separated, then a second cut directly along the mark where it needs to be.
Step 4: Cut Tabs on Stove Top
Snip the edges of the stove top several times to form tabs. We'll be fitting the top of the stove into the bottom of the stove and these little tabs help insure it fits! I make eight evenly spaced snips around the stove top, to a point just below where the paint on the can stops.
Step 5: Cut Out Stove Bottom
Now it's time to grab a new can and cut out the bottom of it. Don't poke holes in it or cut out the bottom like you did for the top of the stove. This time, measure 25mm (1 in) from the bottom of the can and cut. If you want to get wild and crazy, you can make your stove as tall or short as you want by adjusting this measurement so it's 10mm shorter than the final height you desire for the stove. For your first stove, stick with the standard 25mm. Measure, mark, and cut.
Step 6: Cut Out Inner Wall
And now, the inner wall. Take the left over remains of one of the two previous cans you cut up. If you didn't mangle them too badly, you can cut out an inner wall from one of those. Otherwise, you'll have to operate on a third can. You need to cut out a strip that's 35mm (1 1/3 in) wide. (If you're going crazy and making your stove shorter or taller, measure to the desired height of your stove. In this case, our stove will be 35mm in height.)
Step 7: Size the Inner Wall
Size the inner wall in the stove bottom. You'll cut halfway through the strip on each end on opposite sides of the strip where the ends will lock together. When you lock the ends together, make sure the ends of the strip are inside the loop. It's self-locking and more stable that way. I've put a red X with the photo that shows the incorrect way to lock the ends of the inner wall.
Step 8: Trim the Inner Wall
Trim the inner wall. You can cut a small bit off the ends of the strip off to save a tiny smidgen of weight, but it's very important to cut three small notches about equal distance around one side of the strip. This allows the fuel to flow through the inner wall to the outer wall.
Step 9: Putting the Pieces Together
It's time to put the three pieces together. Start by placing the inner wall in the stove bottom, with the notched ends down. Then fit the top of the stove on, tucking the 'tabs' you snipped earlier inside of the stove bottom. A couple of hints to get that top on—it's not as easy as you may think! The sharp edges of the 'tabs' tend to get caught up when putting in the top, so curve the tabs slightly inward before you begin. You can see I've done this in the second photo below where it gives the top piece a ruffled look. The last bit of the top is hardest to squeeze in, so use a knife or some other thin object like a shoehorn to get it pushed in. Check that the inner wall is fitting into the grove of the stove top properly. Work the top on slowly and evenly, and eventually it'll all fit together like a puzzle.
Step 10: Taping It All Together
The stove should stay in one piece due to nothing more than the friction of the pieces, but it's not very secure like this. Use the high temperature tape to keep the stove together permanently. Depending on the width of the tape, you may have to cut it in half like I did. Then wrap it around the stove, securing the top and bottom of the stove together.
Step 11: Create a Simmer Ring (optional)
This optional simmer ring comes in handy if you want to bake yourself a treat or if a recipe calls for the food to simmer. It's made from the top of a soda can. Take off the tabs, then cut it out to just where the can curves downward the length of the can. Leave a little too much, then trim a small bit off at a time until it fits snugly over your stove.
Step 12: Create a Snuffer (optional)
This snuffer, when placed over a stove, will help you put it out. In general, I recommend just letting whatever leftover alcohol simply burn off. Once, while trying to conserve fuel, I tried to put the flame out, knocked the stove into my lap instead, and lit my crotch on fire. Really, let the alcohol burn off! But if you absolutely must conserve fuel, use this optional snuffer. It will starve the stove of oxygen and snuff out the flame. Usually a little oxygen still gets in so you have to tap the lid (not with a finger!) or pour water on it to get the flame completely out, but it will work.
Warnings aside, create the snuffer much like you did with the simmer ring, but use the bottom of a can instead of the top of it. Cut it too high, then trim off thin slices until it fits snugly over the stove.
That's it! You're done!
At least, you're done with the soda can stove itself. Now you can build a pot support for your stove, find some denatured alcohol, and figure out how to use your soda can stove. Feel like experimenting with your stove? Check out some of the reader suggestions I've gotten—they might give you some more ideas for tweaks or changes to this design. And finally, sometimes, people have reported to me that their stove didn't work for some reason or another, so I've started a new troubleshooting page to help out. If you're having soda can stove woes, check it out. It might have the answer to your problem stove! Enjoy! | <urn:uuid:6bd9daa3-bd42-4c8e-8816-5e43dc8daf69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thesodacanstove.com/alcohol-stove/how-to-build.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941779 | 1,926 | 1.828125 | 2 |
When it comes to the question of for-profits and American education, there's often more hysteria than analysis. Just this weekend, the New York Times published an extensive, shall we say, selectively sourced attack of for-profit venture K12 Inc. piling atop a similar piece a few weeks back by the Washington Post and other "the profiteers are coming!" exercises in The Nation and elsewhere. To engage in a bit of poetic license, when they look at for-profits, these journalists (and the experts that they quote) see Darth Vader.
Sure, there are valid and sensible concerns about the role of for-profits in schooling. But aggressively recruiting clients and cutting corners to make a buck is the flip side of the things that for-profits are uniquely positioned to do well--which is to squeeze cost structures, find new efficiencies, and rapidly scale. Whether for-profits do these things constructively or not is more about the rules and the marketplace than anything else. Consequently, when I see for-profits, I see not Darth Vader but the young Anakin Skywalker--a still-developing adolescent capable of doing great good or great harm.
I was flashing on this as I read Ben Wildavsky's new white paper, "Crossing to the Dark Side?" Wildavsky, a journalist, senior scholar in research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, and author of The Great Brain Race, interviewed a number of educators who have worked at both for-profit and traditional providers in higher education. Now employed at for-profits, the interviewees had previously worked as professors, deans, and presidents at institutions including Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, University of Minnesota, the University of Texas system, Princeton, University of Wisconsin, and so on. (Full disclosure: Ben penned the paper for my AEI series "Private Enterprise in American Education.")
First off, in a finding that may slightly help those who fear for-profits, Ben finds that "many interviewees were quick to acknowledge legitimate concerns over quality in the for-profit sector." Indeed, as Peter Smith, senior vice president for academic strategies and development for Kaplan Higher Education and founding president of Vermont's statewide community college system, told Ben, "I hold no favor for some of the abuses that have been discovered across the board--they're wrong; they're disgusting; they shouldn't happen."
Complicating the Darth Vader caricature of for-profits, however, is Ben's noting that the traditional and for-profit sectors have more in common than many accounts might suggest. He writes, "Notwithstanding the built-in differences between for-profits and not-for-profits on such core matters as faculty control of the curriculum, more structural similarities exist than outsiders might imagine...This is not a coincidence...because such structure and internal processes are needed to comply with accreditation requirements."
Ben also flags some of the potential strengths of for-profits. With regards to trial and error, and to measurement, he writes, "For-profits are much more entrepreneurial when it comes to creating courses, testing new modes of curriculum or instruction, and using data to measure learning outcomes and the quality of teaching. They are also much quicker to respond to market incentives to scale up a set of courses or add instructors... Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University and the University of Michigan, says this emphasis on responding to employer demands is a philosophical dividing line between traditional and for-profit higher education. 'In elite higher education, you think you know what people need, so you produce that. You're not out there asking firms or consumers, 'What do you want?'... Whereas at a place like DeVry, which is much more focused on career education, management is out there all the time talking to businesses, asking 'What do you want?'"
Regarding the role of faculty, Ben writes, "The primary duty of for-profit faculty is teaching, not research, which represents a huge departure from many research institutions." As such, Ben notes that, "[For-profit] faculty are evaluated much more systematically than in traditional higher education." This stands in contrast to the way many traditional institutions evaluate their faculty, said Thomas Boyd, dean of Kaplan business school and former associate dean of CSU Fullerton business school. At CSU Fullerton, Boyd recalled, "'It was sort of a protocol that you had to walk on eggshells when you talked about what they were doing in their classroom. Of course you couldn't go into the classroom and observe a professor. You could ask their permission, but you couldn't drop in on classes. That was considered very inappropriate, to watch how they were teaching.'"
When it comes to practical instruction and student support, Ben points out, "One reason among others that tenure is unheard of in for-profit colleges is that many of them hire working professionals or retired college instructors to teach courses whose emphasis is relentlessly practical. When Jorge Klor de Alva was putting together his vision for the University of Phoenix, he said having faculty with roles in the working world was crucial. 'We wanted practitioners,' said Klor de Alva. 'We used to say that you were teaching in the evening what the students would be able to apply to their workplace in the morning.'"
As for the takeaways, I think Ben's summary nails it. He writes, "To sum up, the lessons that for-profits can teach the rest of the postsecondary world begin with flexibility and speed. Institutions closely attuned to the practical needs of consumers, defined to include both students and prospective employers, can change course quickly when market demand for a particular vocational specialty changes...No doubt the for-profit nature of institutions like the University of Phoenix has contributed to some of their problems: heavy pressure for fast growth and profits, an emphasis on enrolling students quickly, and incentives to capture a growing pool of federal aid without accompanying incentives to ensure that students' future employment prospects are as strong as promised."
Sounding a lot more attuned to the mundane realities than do the spooky conspiracy theories that often pass for coverage of for-profits, Ben concludes, "For all their flaws, for all the dismaying practices and bad actors that continue to be associated with the [for-profit] sector, their innovative characteristics are well worth studying. The observations and experiences of those interviewed for this paper suggest that traditional colleges and universities will be badly mistaken if they assume that the travails of for-profits today mean that profitable lessons cannot be drawn from their successes to date--and those likely to occur in the future."
Now, for what it's worth, I think this is a far more useful take on the whole for-profit question than the histrionics that we're accustomed to. | <urn:uuid:c5cc3fda-0fdd-4cc1-9455-9567c332001b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2011/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96904 | 1,370 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Heartburn, GERD, indigestion, reflux are all different words to describe the same underlying condition. The terms are usually used to specify severity and frequency of the symptoms, though they are often confused and misused. Let’s clear this up.
So what is heartburn?
Heartburn usually describes a burning sensation felt in the chest, though the term itself is misleading; heartburn has absolutely nothing to do with the heart. A person experiences heartburn when stomach acid is allowed back into the esophagus.
Why does it happen?
Just like a car going the wrong way in traffic, food and stomach acid traveling the wrong way in the esophagus causes problems. When stomach acid and sometimes food is allowed back in the esophagus it causes the burning, painful irritation, or the symptom commonly known as ‘heartburn.’
This usually happens when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is under too much pressure, is weakened or malfunctions all together. The LES connects the base of the esophagus to the stomach and is responsible for allowing solids and liquids into the stomach and keeping them from moving in the opposite direction.
Okay, so that’s what happens in your body when you have heartburn. But what actually causes it? Mild to moderate heartburn can be traced to:
Eating too much
Eating too fast
Eating before bed
The good thing is that in these cases most people will be able to deal with the discomfort by taking a few antacids and avoiding the behavior that brought it on.
How is heartburn different from GERD?
Gastroesophogeal Reflux Disease happens when the LES is weakened and malfunctions consistently, and not just when a person overeats or gulps down their food. If the LES cannot close completely after food empties into the stomach, acid backs up into the esophagus on a fairly regular basis, and not just when too much food enters the stomach too quickly.
GERD is caused by any number of factors, both lifestyle and physiological. Most people will develop GERD as a result of sustained poor eating habits that cause too much stress on the LES. Big meals of acidic or overly processed food over a long period of time will eventually wear the LES out and it will not function properly.
Some patients have GERD caused by abnormalities in the nerve or muscle functions in their esophagus or stomach. Some of these abnormalities may be spontaneous muscle action (peristalsis) in the esophagus or adult-ringed esophagus, a condition that causes rings on the esophagus and persistent trouble swallowing.
In 30 to 40 percent of people, GERD is hereditary, mostly through inherited muscular or structural problems in the stomach or esophagus. Genetic causes are especially common in people with Barrett’s esophagus.
What kind of damage can GERD do? | <urn:uuid:5b193d4b-d3c8-4b52-98ba-16c82eaac615> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/795915/152200/heartburn | 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 | 0.926989 | 614 | 3.59375 | 4 |
One evening in Las Vegas, I dropped in on a bimonthly meeting of the Clark County Republican Party at which Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, was scheduled as the last speaker on a long program. The meeting was in a function room somewhere within the vastness of the Orleans Hotel and Casino, a coach-class establishment a couple of miles from the Strip. Several of the folding tables set up around the perimeter of the room had a martial air; at one, the Republican nominee for Congress in Nevada’s First District, Kenneth Wegner, a retired career Army man who looks like central casting’s idea of a nineteen-fifties F.B.I. agent, had an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle on display.
Three groups were given time at the podium. Gun Owners of America broke off from the National Rifle Association in the nineteen-seventies; many of its members considered the N.R.A. too soft in its defense of the Second Amendment. Among its causes is making sure that military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are not denied access to guns. Oath Keepers is a new organization, chartered in Las Vegas, made up of current and former police, military, and firefighters who have promised not to carry out orders that violate the U.S. Constitution, if such orders are given (from the organization’s declaration: “We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps”). The third group was the American Family Business Institute, which is dedicated to abolishing the inheritance tax.
Dick Patten, the head of the American Family Business Institute, spoke first. Like many of the people in the room, he trafficked in an amiably expressed hatred of Harry Reid, Nevada’s senior senator, the Senate Majority Leader, and Sharron Angle’s opponent. (“DUMP REID” T-shirts were the unifying fashion motif of the audience.) Patten described a day during the George W. Bush Administration when he was sitting in the Senate visitors’ gallery thinking he would finally witness the permanent abolition of the inheritance tax. He had met with several wavering Democratic senators, and he was confident they’d be with him.
Then he watched Harry Reid buttonhole the waverers on the floor: Mary Landrieu, of Louisiana; Maria Cantwell, of Washington; and Mark Pryor, of Arkansas. Reid, a slight, bland-looking man, the furthest thing from one’s picture of Lyndon Johnson enacting the same scene, approached the Senators, one after the other, leaned in close, and began arguing. As Patten perceived the scene (the Senators themselves perceived it differently), each of the three recoiled slightly, and then, as Reid spoke on and on, yielded with a visible sag. The Senate allowed only a temporary cessation of the tax, and Patten vowed to work hard to help get rid of Harry Reid and everything he represented: insiderism, vote trading, big government.
Someone got up and announced that Sharron Angle would speak next, because she had a plane to catch. Angle is a small woman, a sixty-one-year-old grandmother with a broad, open face, a toothy smile, and red hair worn in a pageboy. She has a friendly manner and a firm handshake, along with a set of basic political skills that Harry Reid lacks. These include the ability to chat pleasantly for a minute or two and then tactfully extract herself, and to say what she stands for quickly, with real passion but usually without seeming odd or threatening.
Since June, when she won the Republican nomination, Angle has spent much of her time raising money from national conservative organizations and trying to present herself as a reasonable member of the Party. This entails, among other things, avoiding the press. A famous YouTube video shows her running across a parking lot, pursued by a television crew. You can’t blame her. Back in the summer, a reporter from Talking Points Memo called her at home and succeeded in getting her husband, Ted, who once worked for the federal Bureau of Land Management, to indicate that the couple supports the Oath Keepers. There are no longer any such encounters.
That evening at the Orleans Hotel, she offered the expected set of scripted lines, but she made them sound genuine: “Our Contract with America is the Constitution”; “I want Harry Reid to stop doing more for Nevada—we can’t afford it!” She went on to offer a number of policy positions: repeal the health-care-reform bill; liquidate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal home-mortgage agencies; oppose the Administration’s lawsuit aimed at overturning Arizona’s immigration law. And then she bustled out, spared by the change in her schedule from having to share the podium with the evening’s more controversial speakers.
Nevada in 2010 is a kind of pilgrims’ shrine for people who don’t like the direction the American government has taken since 2008, when Democrats had control of both houses of Congress and won the White House. Harry Reid is the highest-ranking member of Congress whose seat is vulnerable, and Sharron Angle has been able to draw support both from small donors and from national organizations like the anti-tax Club for Growth, the Tea Party Express, and American Crossroads, the new conservative organization co-founded by Karl Rove. Her fund-raising trips have borne fruit. During July, August, and September, she raised fourteen million dollars.
One of the political pilgrims is Eric Odom, a thirty-one-year-old career conservative in a baseball cap, a soul patch, and beach sandals, who works as an online organizer and claims to have started the very first Tea Party group, just days after Rick Santelli’s famous rant in February of 2009 on CNBC from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade. I met Odom one day in Las Vegas, not long after he had moved back from Chicago just to help take down Reid. He and a few other young men rented a modest suite in an office park and prepared for months of Internet fund-raising, video production, and takeout pizza. As their Web site puts it, “We are dedicated to doing our part to help by letting every single Nevadan know what damage Harry has done to our State and our Country.” | <urn:uuid:fa95c61c-f31f-44d5-bcd0-6aa200199856> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/25/101025fa_fact_lemann?currentPage=all?currentPage=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969038 | 1,339 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Whether you want to lose five pounds or 50, dieting is not an easy task. The only thing that is easy is getting distracted by fads and quick-fix gimmicks. The surest path to success is focusing on tried-and-true techniques used by those who have successfully maintained substantial weight loss.
One source for such techniques is the National Weight Control Registry (www.nwcr.ws/default.htm). The registry tracks 10,000 people who maintain a substantial weight loss. To qualify, you must have sustained a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for one year or more. The registry’s website includes research studies explaining how registry members keep the weight off. Participants featured in the site’s “success stories” share their tips, which emphasize accountability, support systems and consistency.
Track food intake
Most of the registry’s success stories reference food logs or other records. Tracking food intake can be an eye-opening experience. Registry member Drew relates in his story that once he started tracking his food he realized he was eating 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day — a contributing factor to his high weight of 325 pounds.
Track your food the old-fashioned way with pen and paper, or establish a free account at a website like www.sparkpeople.com or www.myfitnesspal.com. (Both have smartphone apps for tracking on the go.)
Develop a support system
The success stories emphasize the importance of a support system. One participant even met his wife in a weight loss support group. Surrounding yourself with people who are also making healthy choices and respect your new lifestyle is important. Otherwise, you’ll succumb to temptation and sabotage your progress.
In addition to support from family and friends, you can find weight-loss buddies online. Both www.sparkpeople.com and www.myfitnesspal.com have busy message boards where dieters commiserate and celebrate together.
Set a fitness goal
Each of the National Weight Control Registry success stories mentions exercise. You simply can’t lose weight without burning calories through physical activity. One way to make exercise more palatable is to set a fitness goal that isn’t tied to the scale. Instead, aim to complete your first 5k or a sprint triathlon.
Once again, the Internet is a boon. The Couch to 5K program at www.coolrunning.com takes the guesswork out of creating a training plan — and once again, there are smartphone apps that will tell you exactly when to run and when to walk while you’re training.
Prepare your own food
More and more restaurants are publishing nutrition information these days, but if you want to truly be confident of your caloric intake, you need to prepare most of your own food. Success story Gary, who has maintained a 75-pound weight loss for more than eight years, says that he avoids fast food and cooks most of his own meals himself using as many organic ingredients as possible.
When it comes to weight loss, there’s no easy answer, but hard work and consistency will make it happen. | <urn:uuid:a9b886cd-a224-48c3-b0e7-6a492e9354d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imakenews.com/jerrydamsonnissan/e_article002434988.cfm?x=b11,0,w | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944545 | 646 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Pennsylvania Township Declares Freedom from Fracking
In Pennsylvania—a central target for natural gas drilling and the controversial drilling practice known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking"—local communities don’t have the legal authority to keep unwanted drilling from happening.
As fracking's impacts on water safety make headlines and public resistance to drilling grows, some towns have tried to use land use zoning to keep drilling companies out—but they can’t use zoning laws to stop an activity the state has declared legal. (At best, they can zone where the corporations site their drill pads. But since drilling is not vertical but horizontal, there’s no way to contain its impact on a community’s water and environment.)
Taking local control
One small community in western Pennsylvania wanted more say over what happens within its borders. Licking Township, population 500, chose to defy state law with its own local ordinance, banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within its borders. Licking sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that contains large and mostly untapped natural gas reserves. On Oct. 12, 2010, the Licking Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within the township.
"When it comes to land use issues and the preservation of important resources, the local community is best suited to set priorities as they feel impacts most acutely," said Mik Robertson, chairman of the Licking Township Supervisors.
Pennsylvania's preferential laws for drilling companies are not unique. For years, the drilling industry has worked closely with government to pave the way for widespread drilling, eliminating regulatory barriers that may stand in its way. The so-called “Halliburton Loophole” was inserted into the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt companies drilling for natural gas, including those drilling in the Marcellus Shale (which extends from New York to West Virginia) from having to comply. Corporations have also been exempted from a host of other laws and regulations, and states have enacted laws pre-empting municipalities from taking steps to reign in the industry.
The residents of Licking felt that they should be the ones to decide what happens in their township. "People have the right to determine what is suitable for their community, as they are most directly affected by intended or unintended consequences of resource extraction,” said Robertson.
The dangers of fracking
The residents of Licking aren't alone in their concerns about fracking. Across the Appalachian highlands, residents worried about the health effects of fracking have been calling on their elected officials to protect them. In New York, a citizen movement convinced the state Senate to place a 9-month moratorium on the practice while its safety is evaluated. However, the moratorium is only temporary and has not been voted into state law.
Fracking involves pumping water laced with sand and a cocktail of chemicals underground to fracture the shale rock and release the natural gas. In the process, thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater are produced and can contaminate waterways and drinking water. Natural gas wells are often driven through aquifers.
The impacts from drilling can include exploding wells, groundwater contamination, and fish kills. Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture quarantined cattle believed to have drunk from a frack wastewater spill. Their milk was no longer considered safe to drink.
A new study by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that fracking also releases uranium trapped in the rock, raising additional health concerns.
Collateral damage includes lost property value, drying up of mortgage loans for prospective home buyers, and the threatened loss of organic certification for farmers. And it’s not only rural communities feeling the pressure. In Pittsburgh and Buffalo (both of which straddle the Marcellus), gas extraction corporations have quietly signed leases with landowners to drill under the surface.
A new direction
Drafted with the help of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), the “Licking Township Community Water Rights and Self-Government Ordinance” is the first of its kind in the nation.
The City of Pittsburgh is also considering a CELDF-drafted ordinance, which is scheduled for a vote on November 16. With an expected veto-proof majority of City Council members in favor, that ordinance would impose an outright ban on gas drilling by corporations within city limits. Communities across the Marcellus Shale region, including Lehman Township in eastern Pennsylvania, are also considering CELDF ordinances that would ban corporations from drilling or from extracting water to use in drilling.
Protect Your Water Commons: Interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.
We are the most powerful protectors of our own sources of water.
In addition to banning corporate disposal of frack wastewater, Licking Township’s ordinance asserts the right to local self-government and the community’s right to a healthy environment and to clean water. In adopting the ordinance, Licking joins more than a dozen other communities in legally recognizing the rights of nature and subordinating corporate constitutional rights to the rights of human and natural communities.
By recognizing the rights of nature, Licking is effectively protecting ecosystems and natural communities within the township from efforts by corporations to drill there—or by higher levels of governments to authorize that drilling. Residents of the community are empowered by the ordinance to enforce those rights on behalf of threatened ecosystems.
By prohibiting the introduction of frack wastewater into the Township’s environment, Licking’s new law effectively blocks hydro-fracturing. Critics of the ordinance claim that, by denying corporations that violate its prohibitions the civil rights protections conferred on them by the courts, the ordinance goes too far.
Robertson responds to these charges, saying, “People have rights, like the gifts of nature. People have rights to property. Property does not have rights. Corporations are property."
Corporations may sue to overturn the ordinance, with the argument that it violates their corporate constitutional rights. Such a lawsuit would finally raise imperative questions about whose rights trump whose: Do the court-endowed privileges of corporations override the inalienable rights of the people and ecosystems of Licking Township, nullifying their claim to have a legal right to their health, safety, and welfare? Or does the community have the right to make critical decisions to protect its well-being—and that of the ecosystems upon which it depends?
Mari Margil and Ben Price wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Mari is the associate director and Ben is projects director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit, public interest law firm providing legal services to communities facing threats to their local environment, agriculture, economy, and quality of life.
- The Fight Against Fracking
How New Yorkers won a moratorium on a drilling practice that threatens their lives, homes, and water.
- How Felton, Calif., Achieved Water Independence: A tiny Californian town took back its water supply—and your town can too.
Communities Take Power: Communities across the country are declaring citizens' right and duty to protect their water, land, local economy, and way of life, even if it means taking on the enormous power of corporations.
That means, we rely on support from our readers.
Independent. Nonprofit. Subscriber-supported. | <urn:uuid:47b666ba-460f-4147-86c8-c61b8495b3b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/pennsylvania-township-declares-freedom-from-fracking?icl=yesemail_wkly20101029&ica=tnMargil | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948002 | 1,498 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Last Friday, the Parliament of Australia launched its new website, replacing the one that had been in place for 12 years. I had often used the old website to find a range of information on bills and parliamentary inquiries (i.e., investigations into particular issues). This includes explanatory memoranda (according to the glossary on the new site, an explanatory memorandum is “a paper which explains the purpose and details of bills or regulations, usually in a simple and non-technical way”), research papers by the Parliamentary Library, reports of Senate and House committees, as well as records of parliamentary proceedings (known in many Commonwealth countries as Hansard, these records are similar to the Congressional Record here in the U.S.). So I was eager to see if the replacement version provided tools to make the huge amount of information on the site more accessible.
First off, I love the new tool bars at the top of each page. This was also something that I found very helpful about the updates that were made to the Australian legislation website last year. They certainly make it much easier to quickly switch between different pages to find information. The tool bars and associated drop down boxes in this case are very simple and logical. The menu that shows on the left hand side of the page also allows you to clearly see the options for moving around the different components of a particular part of the site. It also means that there’s not too much information on each page – the focus is on providing links to take you to exactly what you want to find.
In addition to being able to search on particular pages (e.g., bills and Hansard), the ParlInfo search function that existed on the old site has been updated (including applying the presentation features of the new website and providing a new “What’s new” page that will list any future updates). There are various training videos available for ParlInfo (as well as written search tips, which are particularly useful if you’re a Kiwi like me and don’t feel like listening to the Aussie accent!).
In terms of following events or connecting with the Parliament, there are clear links to the live feeds of both the House and the Senate – these are on the main tool bar and only light up when each house is currently in session. The “Watch Parliament” page also has recorded videos, although the videos that are available now are only the very recent ones. It may be that the focus will be on uploading new content rather than archived material (there have been live webcasts of parliamentary proceedings since 1999), which can currently be requested.
The “Connect with us” page allows you to follow the Parliament using Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds, and there’s a link to the Parliamentary Library’s very informative blog as well. There are also different options for sharing the information that you find on the site. The share tool bar at the bottom of each page includes a huge number of social media possibilities, as well as email and print.
A new feature (that I think I will use a lot) lets you register to track bills and individual representatives. So if I want to follow the progress of a particular issue, such as the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2012 that was recently introduced, I can get updates when there are changes to the page for that bill. What’s really great is that if you’re on the page for a bill (or on the pages that provide information about Senators and Members); there’s a box right there that you can click on to register for updates.
There are some additional features that I quite like, such as the links to the websites of Australian state parliaments on the “About Parliament” page. Interestingly, they’ve also included an external link to a site that provides links to the websites of parliaments around the world (and on that site, the links for the U.S. Congress include THOMAS). I was also impressed by the pages related to Senators and Members, which allow you to search for a representative by zip code and electorate (i.e., district), and to browse by clicking on the relevant state on a map. The page for each representative contains all the information that a constituent might need, including websites, phone numbers, a map of their district, links to speeches, and even links to their Facebook and Twitter pages. There are also contact forms that allow for questions to be submitted directly to the representative’s office.
Apparently the development of the website hit a few significant bumps in the road along the way, including a major security breach by hackers and a “botched” IT upgrade last year. This delayed the launch by a year and caused the project to go over budget by about A$600,000. One Australian Senator, in typical Aussie forthright style, called the situation a “balls-up.”
In terms of the site itself, while I did find a few links that aren’t working at the moment as I was navigating around the site (and links to reports that I recently accessed appear to no longer be available and are not redirected to pages on the new site), I definitely like the new layout and features. Although I’m no technical expert, one thing that I like about the updated ComLaw site that doesn’t appear to be present on the Parliament site is the use of URLs that are “people readable” (they don’t contain a lot of different symbols, are shorter, and are therefore better for sharing and including in documents). Overall, however, being able to find and keep track of the wealth of accurate and up to date legislative information that the Australian Parliament makes available is of huge importance to my work, and the new website will certainly make that easier. | <urn:uuid:39d53ee1-34c2-4f43-87b1-a44f0f920d45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/02/the-australian-parliaments-new-website/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96632 | 1,194 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Major transformations are needed in the United States and around the world if we are to slow the impacts of climate change. Thankfully, today the global community is more aware of the threats facing the environment than ever before.
And the world is motivated to change.
For 25 years, WRI has partnered with businesses, governments, NGOs and civil society groups to develop innovative and transformative solutions to global environmental and development problems. To help accelerate the response to climate change, more such partnerships and innovations will be required.
In 2008, WRI will work with partners on these, and other, urgent climate issues:
- Accelerating the deployment of clean energy technologies in the U.S., India, and China
- Crafting a fair and inclusive global agreement to reduce emissions
- Building the market for cost-competitive renewable energy in the U.S. and Europe
- Providing analysis on policy options before Congress to ensure real GHG reductions
- Ensuring the impacts of climate change are factors in the energy security debate
- Showing international business and investors that emissions reduction requirements are not a threat, but an opportunity to develop and sell low carbon technology
These are big challenges, with big potential. Fortunately, people are realizing the benefits and opportunities that come when we – businesses, countries, individuals – live, work, and operate in ways that protect the planet and ensure its ability to provide for this generation and those to come.
I know you’ve taken action in your personal life to minimize your environmental impact. Today, you can enhance those actions by supporting the World Resources Institute.
WRI is more than a think tank. From sustainable transport systems and mentoring green entrepreneurs, to poverty reduction through sustainable resource management, WRI goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the environment. In doing so, we also improve people’s lives.
I invite you to become a partner in our work with a contribution for 2008. Together we can accelerate the world’s response to climate change. Together we can make a difference. | <urn:uuid:c0298b8a-3c7f-4367-b48b-bed585a3ea3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wri.org/stories/2007/12/accelerate-response-climate-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921604 | 413 | 2.25 | 2 |
Somatic societies place emphasis on bodily health and performance. They regard mental functions as secondary or derivative (the outcomes of corporeal processes, "healthy mind in a healthy body").
Cerebral societies emphasize mental functions over physiological and biochemical processes. They regard corporeal events as secondary or derivative (the outcome of mental processes, "mind over matter").
Elective societies believe that bodily illnesses are beyond the patient's control. Not so mental health problems: these are actually choices made by the sick. It is up to them to "decide" to "snap out" of their conditions ("heal thyself"). The locus of control is internal.
Providential societies believe that health problems of both kinds - bodily as well as mental - are the outcomes of the intervention or influence of a higher power (God, fate). Thus, diseases carry messages from God and are the expressions of a universal design and a supreme volition. The locus of control is external and healing depends on supplication, ritual, and magic.
Medicalized societies believe that the distinction between physiological disorders and mental ones (dualism) is spurious and is a result of our ignorance. All health-related processes and functions are bodily and are grounded in human biochemistry and genetics. As our knowledge regarding the human body grows, many dysfunctions, hitherto considered "mental", will be reduced to their corporeal components.
We are all terminally ill. It is a matter of time before we all die. Aging and death remain almost as mysterious as ever. We feel awed and uncomfortable when we contemplate these twin afflictions. Indeed, the very word denoting illness contains its own best definition: dis-ease. A mental component of lack of well being must exist SUBJECTIVELY. The person must FEEL bad, must experience discomfiture for his condition to qualify as a disease. To this extent, we are justified in classifying all diseases as "spiritual" or "mental".
Is there any other way of distinguishing health from sickness - a way that does NOT depend on the report that the patient provides regarding his subjective experience?
Some diseases are manifest and others are latent or immanent. Genetic diseases can exist - unmanifested - for generations. This raises the philosophical problem or whether a potential disease IS a disease? Are AIDS and Haemophilia carriers - sick? Should they be treated, ethically speaking? They experience no dis-ease, they report no symptoms, no signs are evident. On what moral grounds can we commit them to treatment? On the grounds of the "greater benefit" is the common response. Carriers threaten others and must be isolated or otherwise neutered. The threat inherent in them must be eradicated. This is a dangerous moral precedent. All kinds of people threaten our well-being: unsettling ideologists, the mentally handicapped, many politicians. Why should we single out our physical well-being as worthy of a privileged moral status? Why is our mental well being, for instance, of less import?
Moreover, the distinction between the psychic and the physical is hotly disputed, philosophically. The psychophysical problem is as intractable today as it ever was (if not more so). It is beyond doubt that the physical affects the mental and the other way around. This is what disciplines like psychiatry are all about. The ability to control "autonomous" bodily functions (such as heartbeat) and mental reactions to pathogens of the brain are proof of the artificialness of this distinction.
It is a result of the reductionist view of nature as divisible and summable. The sum of the parts, alas, is not always the whole and there is no such thing as an infinite set of the rules of nature, only an asymptotic approximation of it. The distinction between the patient and the outside world is superfluous and wrong. The patient AND his environment are ONE and the same. Disease is a perturbation in the operation and management of the complex ecosystem known as patient-world. Humans absorb their environment and feed it in equal measures. This on-going interaction IS the patient. We cannot exist without the intake of water, air, visual stimuli and food. Our environment is defined by our actions and output, physical and mental.
Thus, one must question the classical differentiation between "internal" and "external". Some illnesses are considered "endogenic" (=generated from the inside). Natural, "internal", causes - a heart defect, a biochemical imbalance, a genetic mutation, a metabolic process gone awry - cause disease. Aging and deformities also belong in this category.
In contrast, problems of nurturance and environment - early childhood abuse, for instance, or malnutrition - are "external" and so are the "classical" pathogens (germs and viruses) and accidents.
But this, again, is a counter-productive approach. Exogenic and Endogenic pathogenesis is inseparable. Mental states increase or decrease the susceptibility to externally induced disease. Talk therapy or abuse (external events) alter the biochemical balance of the brain. The inside constantly interacts with the outside and is so intertwined with it that all distinctions between them are artificial and misleading. The best example is, of course, medication: it is an external agent, it influences internal processes and it has a very strong mental correlate (=its efficacy is influenced by mental factors as in the placebo effect).
The very nature of dysfunction and sickness is highly culture-dependent. Societal parameters dictate right and wrong in health (especially mental health). It is all a matter of statistics. Certain diseases are accepted in certain parts of the world as a fact of life or even a sign of distinction (e.g., the paranoid schizophrenic as chosen by the gods). If there is no dis-ease there is no disease. That the physical or mental state of a person CAN be different - does not imply that it MUST be different or even that it is desirable that it should be different. In an over-populated world, sterility might be the desirable thing - or even the occasional epidemic. There is no such thing as ABSOLUTE dysfunction. The body and the mind ALWAYS function. They adapt themselves to their environment and if the latter changes - they change. Personality disorders are the best possible responses to abuse. Cancer may be the best possible response to carcinogens. Aging and death are definitely the best possible response to over-population. Perhaps the point of view of the single patient is incommensurate with the point of view of his species - but this should not serve to obscure the issues and derail rational debate.
As a result, it is logical to introduce the notion of "positive aberration". Certain hyper- or hypo- functioning can yield positive results and prove to be adaptive. The difference between positive and negative aberrations can never be "objective". Nature is morally-neutral and embodies no "values" or "preferences". It simply exists. WE, humans, introduce our value systems, prejudices and priorities into our activities, science included. It is better to be healthy, we say, because we feel better when we are healthy. Circularity aside - this is the only criterion that we can reasonably employ. If the patient feels good - it is not a disease, even if we all think it is. If the patient feels bad, ego-dystonic, unable to function - it is a disease, even when we all think it isn't. Needless to say that I am referring to that mythical creature, the fully informed patient. If someone is sick and knows no better (has never been healthy) - then his decision should be respected only after he is given the chance to experience health.
All the attempts to introduce "objective" yardsticks of health are plagued and philosophically contaminated by the insertion of values, preferences and priorities into the formula - or by subjecting the formula to them altogether. One such attempt is to define health as "an increase in order or efficiency of processes" as contrasted with illness which is "a decrease in order (=increase of entropy) and in the efficiency of processes". While being factually disputable, this dyad also suffers from a series of implicit value-judgements. For instance, why should we prefer life over death? Order to entropy? Efficiency to inefficiency?
Health and sickness are different states of affairs. Whether one is preferable to the other is a matter of the specific culture and society in which the question is posed. Health (and its lack) is determined by employing three "filters" as it were:
1. Is the body affected?
2. Is the person affected? (dis-ease, the bridge between "physical" and "mental illnesses)
3. Is society affected?
In the case of mental health the third question is often formulated as "is it normal" (=is it statistically the norm of this particular society in this particular time)?
We must re-humanize disease. By imposing upon issues of health the pretensions of the accurate sciences, we objectified the patient and the healer alike and utterly neglected that which cannot be quantified or measured - the human mind, the human spirit.
Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East as well as many other books and ebooks about topics in psychology, relationships, philosophy, economics, and international affairs. He served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, Global Politician, PopMatters, eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He was the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101. Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com You can download 30 of his free ebooks in http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/freebooks.html. | <urn:uuid:afb93509-0975-4941-9021-01c92b277be6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpolitician.com/print.asp?id=4968 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942746 | 2,037 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Children's Minister Marie Eagle has announced measures to improve safety on school buses in Northern Ireland.
The issue of seat belts on school buses is to be addressed
The minister said funding has been made available for more than 100 new buses which will have seat belts fitted.
Ms Eagle said she hoped the investment would help phase out the problem of pupils standing on school buses.
NI Children's Commissioner Barney McNeaney said while he welcomed the move, the same standards should apply on all bus services.
"We feel that there are other things we would like to see happen," he said.
"We will be pressing the minister to continue to look at the issues we have identified, not least the complex issue that there is between children using scheduled services to get to school as well as the education and library board buses."
Mr McNeaney said the same standards should apply to all bus services
Ms Eagle said the government would provide Translink with money to buy 110 single deck buses which would be commissioned especially for school use.
"These new buses will have seat belts and that will enable us to put an end to the routine practice of children having to stand on the way to school."
Keith Moffatt from Translink welcomed the news and said safety was a priority.
"The aim is to try and fit seat belts to dedicated school buses over the course of the coming years linked with our replacement bus programme," he said.
"So as we purchase new buses in the future for our Ulsterbus fleet, we will be equipping those with seat belts."
Eleanor Gill, chief executive of the General Consumer Council NI said that the council had been campaigning for a long time for better and safer transport for the 100,000 children who are travelling to school each day.
"We would like to see the abolition of the three-for-two rule, which allows for three children to sit in a space for two people," she said.
"We would also like to see the abolition of standing on buses which we feel adds to lack of safety, overcrowding and which can lead to poor behaviour and bullying.
"Above all, we want to see the phased introduction of seat belts on buses to ensure that our children are not an accident waiting to happen."
In June, a University of Ulster report into school transport in Northern Ireland found pupils did not feel safe.
It also said children were worried about the lack of seat belts on buses and recommended stopping three children sitting on a seat designed for two people.
The report, "Safer Journeys to School" was jointly funded by the Northern Ireland Children's Commissioner, the Department of Regional Development and the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland. | <urn:uuid:75bf4559-9c08-4f69-91f5-3f64a4804d4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5314882.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981602 | 547 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Chamber Raid: Hackers Target US Commerce Lobby
News that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had been hacked by intruders using China-based servers surfaced recently, though the attack actually happened many months ago and the extent of the data breach is still unclear. The Chamber reportedly learned of the break-in only when it was informed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As the U.S. government continues to pound out proposals for getting its IT security ducks in a row, it appears it's not the only party in Washington, D.C., to have a problem with network intrusion.
IT systems belonging to the lobbying group the United States Chamber of Commerce were breached by hackers using servers located in China, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Chamber reportedly learned of the break-in only when it was informed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. China's government has denied accusations that it was behind the hack.
The Chamber's members include most of the largest U.S. corporations, and the organization has more than 100 affiliates worldwide.
"We are already involved in a cyberwar with China, and we are only reading about a small percentage of the actual attacks that are occurring," Darren Hayes, the CIS program chair at Pace University, told TechNewsWorld.
About the Chamber Breach
Evidence reportedly shows the hackers were in the chamber's networks for at least six months, from November 2009 to May 2010. The breach of the chamber's systems was discovered and shut down in May of 2010, and it's not clear just why the information has leaked out more than 18 months later.
The attack is said to have involved at least 300 Internet addresses. Chamber officials apparently said internal investigators found that the hackers had focused on four employees who worked on Asia policy and had stolen six weeks' worth of their emails.
Some people familiar with the Chamber's internal investigation apparently believe that the hackers are suspected by U.S. officials of having ties to the Chinese government.
However, security experts have repeatedly said that suspecting a government of being behind cyberattacks because servers are located in its territory may be misleading, as cybercriminals often set up servers abroad to avoid detection, and it's easy to do so in China.
The Aftermath of the Attack
The Chamber of Commerce reportedly concluded that communications with fewer than 50 of its members were compromised, and it notified them. However, there's apparently been no evidence of harm to the organization or its members.
It's not quite clear what else was stolen, but the intruders used keyword searches to peruse documents in the chamber's servers.
The chamber reportedly found that the hackers had built at least six back doors to let them enter and leave the system as they pleased. They apparently also built in mechanisms that would communicate with computers in China every week or two.
A thermostat at a town house the chamber owns on Capitol Hill was reportedly communicating with an Internet address in China, and, in March, a printer used by chamber executives began printing out pages with Chinese characters.
The Circle of Life
Perhaps the chamber was the author of its own cybersecurity problems. It had circulated an internal draft document in May criticizing the White House's legislative proposals on cybersecurity as regulatory overreach, according to the Journal.
The White House had sent this proposal to Congress.
The main reason for the chamber's opposition was reportedly that the White House plan would require some companies running the most critical infrastructure to submit to more rigorous outside oversight of their cybersecurity practices. This would be costly, and cybersecurity assessments of companies by U.S. government agencies would be made public.
Cybersecurity experts warned at the time that this could sabotage the White House's efforts to beef up cybersecurity.
The Cybersecurity Full Court Life
"The fact that the Chamber ... had to be alerted by the FBI ... shows they did not have the appropriate endpoint monitoring capabilities and log management technology in place to see who was accessing their data and where it was going," Dave Pack, manager of LogRhythm Labs, told TechNewsWorld.
The chamber reportedly unplugged and destroyed some computers and overhauled its security system over a 36-hour period one weekend, thought that amounted to cleaning up after the fact.
"There is no denying that attacks will happen and the bad guys will get inside," Ken Pickering, development manager of security intelligence at Core Networks, told TechNewsWorld. "We advocate that an organization focus first on breach prevention instead of considering detection and isolation to be the only option," Pickering said. | <urn:uuid:4194d9eb-0a9b-4d59-81df-58f51a902839> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technewsworld.com/story/74053.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979363 | 930 | 1.789063 | 2 |
How to beat the heat: Workers find ways to keep cool as temps reach 90s again WITH VIDEO
Every now and then during scorching hot days, pizza cook Ryan Weber makes a trip into the walk-in cooler at Cheesy Luigi’s in Waterford.
“I keep the towels in there,” he said, standing near a 500-degree oven while temperatures outside were inching toward the mid-90s.
Those frosty towels waiting in the 38-degree cooler are then draped around his neck.
“It doesn’t get too bad unless we’re doing a lot of cooking,” he said.
“Once that starts, it gets really hot.”
Weber and workers like him who cannot escape their torrid environments have to figure out ways to stay cool in summer.
They’ll have to beat the heat again today with temperatures predicted to climb to the 90s again and winds gust to 20-25 mph.
“We have an air quality alert, or ozone action day,” said Matt Mosteiko, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in White Lake.
Hot weather, southwest winds, and abundant sunshine all contribute to elevated ozone levels, according to the SoutheastMichigan Council of Governments. Continued...
To keep the air clean, try not to refuel vehicles. If you can, refuel the night before or fill up in the evening when the weather is cooler. Don’t “top off” the tank. Reduce vehicle use by carpooling, using public transit, walking or working at home. Choose the lawn chair over the lawn mower.
No rain is in today’s forecast but showers are predicted Thursday as a cold front moves in.
Water, water everywhere
Mike Crandine, owner of Troy-based American Asphalt paving, relies on ice water.
“If I’m out in the heat, there is not any way to escape it,” he said.
“I just stay hydrated and get into air-conditioning when I can.”
Steve Bowen, Shelby Township-based DiPonio Contracting foreman, stood talking to workers at the Cesar Chavez Avenue road reconstruction site in Pontiac.
“You just have to stay hydrated and keep yourself wiped down. Any time we get a break, we do that in the shade,” he said as his six-man crew worked with heavy equipment nearby.
Sometimes crews put a cool compress on the back of their necks, he said.
“We keep eye on each other,” Bowen said. He’s seen workers faint in the heat. Continued...
“We used to do salt pills but now we have Gatorade. If gets too hot, we’ll work shorter days, and start earlier.”
Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County, said crews working outside are given a large jug of water in this heat.
“We encourage employees to drink more water than usual,” he said.
Kyle White with NJW Lawn and Landscape of Fenton was mowing a large lawn along Highland Road in Waterford. He shrugged off the heat.
“I drink lots of water and try to go into the truck and trailer when I can,” he said. Most summer days he is out from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., he said.
“You get used to the heat after awhile,” he said, smiling.
“It’s just another day and you just have to go with it.”
Don’t forget pets need extra care
Staff with the Animal Care Network reported already encountering dogs and cats suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
They recommend pet owners avoid vigorous exercise and walking, never leaving pets in a vehicle, keeping fresh cool water available at all times, keep dogs in a shaded area. Continued...
“Many dogs like to cool off in a ‘kiddy’ pool,” said staff in a written release.
Signs of heat stroke include increased temperature, vigorous panting, thick saliva, dark red gums, being prone and unwilling or unable to get up, collapse and/or loss of consciousness or dizziness and disorientation.
If heat stroke occurs, move the pet out of the heat and away from sun right away.
Begin cooling the pet down slowly by placing cool washcloth or towel on the body, especially foot pads and around the head. Do not use ice or very cool water. Slowly offer cool water; do not force it. Contact your veterinarian.
If you see a dog or cat in need of a help, staff say, become that dog’s advocate and speak with the owner. If that fails to improve the situation, contact your local animal shelter, humane society or animal control office.
Contact Carol Hopkins at 248-745-4645 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Twitter @OPCarolHopkins or on Facebook @OPcarolhopkins.
On this Ozone Action Day, temperatures are expected to reach 93 for most of Oakland County but the southeastern portion may see 97, according to Matt Mosteiko at the National Weather Service in White Lake. Rain is possible Thursday as a cold front moves through the region.
By the way summer begins at 7:09 p.m. today.
Tips to avoid heat illness from the Michigan Department of Community Health:
n Take a cool bath, shower or swim.
n Minimize direct exposure to the sun.
n Limit time outdoors as much as possible, but take frequent breaks if you must be outside.
n Stay hydrated — drink water or nonalcoholic fluids.
n Wear loose fitting, light-colored clothes.
n Check on your neighbors, friends and family members, especially those who are older or have health issues.
n Never leave children, seniors or pets unattended in a vehicle. Even with the windows rolled down, or just for a few minutes, it is never OK to leave anyone in a vehicle in extreme heat.
n Once the temperature reaches the high 90s, fans will not prevent heat illness.
Energy-saving tips from the Michigan Public Service Commission include:
n Install a programmable thermostat to lower utility bills and manage your heating and cooling systems efficiently. Make sure the batteries work.
n Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher's drying cycle.
n When not in a room, turn off lights, TVs, entertainment systems, computer and monitor.
n Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips; turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use. TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power.
n Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120°F.
n Take short showers instead of baths, and use low-flow showerheads for additional energy savings.
n Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
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Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for www.theoaklandpress.com.
Informs on and discusses current matters of legal interest to readers of The Oakland Press and to consumers of legal services in the community.
Caren Gittleman likes talking cats. She'll discuss everything about them. Share your stories and ask her questions about your favorite feline.
Roger Beukema shares news from Lansing that impacts sportsmen (this means ladies as well) and talks about things he finds when he goes overseas to visit his children, and adding your comments into the mix.
Join Jonathan Schechter as he shares thoughts on our natural world in Oakland County and beyond. | <urn:uuid:9d0cd3cb-44ac-4da2-9fd9-6ee13d84a256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/06/19/news/local_news/doc4fe119ec7ea8a589849476.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927914 | 1,917 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Apr 20th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Program Cover Design
Students in Art 204, Graphic Design Studio II were presented with a unique opportunity to design the program cover for the 2009 Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference. This is an example of a research project for a graphic designer. The student designers prepare themselves by researching the university colleges and many programs that are represented in the conference. Class instruction includes subjects in representation, semiotics and denotation of images as a way to present the concept for communication. Through use of peer and instructor review, each student developed their own design as a way to visually represent the conference. Some designers used metaphoric principles, others by use of a visual pun while some tried to capture the essence of the undergraduate research experience. This year’s cover design was selected by a jury of senior graphic design students, conference planning committee members, faculty, and staff. All cover design submissions are displayed in the Student Union Building for the duration of the conference.
Congratulations to Tony Montaño, first place winner, and Akiko Fry, Graphic Design Studio IV Students’ Choice winner. | <urn:uuid:b16c57d2-263f-4f9a-a9fb-32d378334733> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/under_conf/2009_under_conf/visual_09/1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937911 | 228 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The historian Thomas Lacquer, born in Turkey to German Jews who escaped their country in the wake of WWII, recalls being urged by his parents as a three-year-old to learn Turkish so that he could communicate with playmates in Istanbul.
“Let them learn German, I supposedly said; Turkish ‘ist eine hässliche Sprache.’”
Entitled “Prelude,” Lacquer’s is by far the most poignant of the 15 essays in Wendy Lesser’s collection The Genius of Language: Fifteen Writers Reflect on Their Mother Tongues.
“German was my mother tongue,” writes Lacquer. “I mean this partly in the usual sense — my first language was German. But it is also true that I spoke it almost entirely with my mother, grandmother and their woman friends…. I dwell on all of these childhood memories because German is for me the language of memory and loss, a linguistic Prelude…. My German is frozen, amber-like, not only in pre-war history but in childhood…”
The Lacquer family was uprooted again a few years after his comment about the Turkish language, only to land eventually in the coal towns of West Virginia, where his parents continued such Old World traditions as arranging lit candles on the Tannenbaum (until neighbors warned them that American fir trees, cut a month in advance, could well go up in flames).
Lacquer evokes “a childhood produced by the children of nineteenth-century Jews, who imagined the land of Goethe and Schiller with little of its reality or recent history.” He recalls that the family spoke German at the dinner table until he left for college because his grandmother claimed neither to speak nor understand English. “This was clearly false,” he writes. “She read English papers and watched English TV — but feigning ignorance allowed her to maintain the fiction of otherworldly incompetence that she seems to have cultivated all her life and that kept her entirely out of public view…”
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy? | <urn:uuid:21c3d002-84c0-4a4e-9f3d-ad2a54a83257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectator.org/archives/2004/09/16/found-in-translation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964142 | 612 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Historic conservation has been part of the conservation program of the Department of the Interior since 1906, and of the National Park Service since its establishment. The National Park Service Act itself named historic conservation as an important responsibility of the organization. Pursuant to the American Antiquities Act of 1906, the Department of the Interior, as early as 1916, had under its jurisdiction seven national monuments of historic and archeologic interest, as well as Mesa Verde National Park, which possesses the best preserved cliff dwellings in the United States. These areas were placed under the National Park Service on its establishment and formed the nucleus of its system of historic sites.
In the period between 1916 and 1931, the number of historic and archeologic areas administered by the Service steadily increased, and by the latter year totaled 19, among which were such important areas as George Washington Birthplace National Monument and Colonial National Monument (now a national historical park), commemorating the establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the United States, and the decisive American victory at Yorktown over Lord Cornwallis in 1781. Under the personal guidance of Mr. Albright, a program was evolved and a definite basis was laid for historical development.
The growing importance of historic areas in the system of national parks and monuments, and the wide variety of questions new to the Service that these areas presented, led, in 1931, to the creation of an historical division in the Branch of Research and Education to study problems relating to historic conservation. Verne E. Chatelain was appointed head of this division and under his supervision significant progress was made in formulating policies and methods of procedure. The necessity for specialized study of historical problems was greatly emphasized two years later when, by Executive Order, the 59 historic and archeologic areas administered by the War Department and the Department of Agriculture were transferred to the Department of the Interior. Included in the transferred areas were such outstanding battlefields of the War Between the States as Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Through this development, the National Park Service became the recognized custodian of all legally designated historic and archeologic monuments of the Federal Government.
As the historical and archeological program continued to broaden, it was recognized that it was desirable to extend the system to include most historic sites of national importance and to integrate the various pre-Columbian, colonial, military and other historically significant areas into a unified system which would tell the story of the United States from the earliest times. In order to facilitate the achievement of these objectives, the Branch of Historic Sites was established July 1, 1935, with Mr. Chatelain as acting head. The administration of scenic parks and historic sites, although involving many common problems, yet required such different methods of treatment that a separate branch to care for the broader planning and development of the historical program was essential. The functions of the branch were defined as the formulation of general policies, the supervision and coordination of the administrative policy and the interpretative and research programs of the different areas, and the Nation-wide survey of historic sites to determine which are of national importance.
In November 1934, with a view to formulating a national policy for historic conservation, Secretary of the Interior Ickes appointed J. Thomas Schneider to survey the progress made in this field in the United States and to study the legislation of the leading foreign countries.
It was largely on the basis of Mr. Schneider's recommendations that the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666), was framed. This Act, a landmark in historic conservation in the United States, greatly strengthened the legal foundation of the work of the Federal Government in this field. It declared as a national policy the preservation of historic American sites, buildings, objects and antiquities of national significance for the benefit and inspiration of the people, and empowered the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to effectuate this policy. The Act authorized a survey of historic and archeologic sites to determine which possessed exceptional value historically, and empowered the Secretary to make cooperative agreements with states and other political units, and with associations and individuals to preserve, maintain, or operate a historic site for public use, even though title to the property did not rest in the United States.
For the guidance of the Secretary and the National Park Service in carrying out this work, the Historic Sites Act created an Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments, which from the very beginning has been composed of eminent authorities in the fields of history, archeology, architecture, and human geography, such as Dr. Herbert E. Bolton, Dr. Waldo G. Leland, Dr. Clark Wissler, Mr. Frank M. Setzler, Dr. Fiske Kimball, and Dr. Hermon C. Bumpus.
Since the Historic Sites Act provided for a large measure of inter-bureau and inter-departmental cooperation, as well as for outside assistance, the National Park Service has taken advantage of this fact to obtain technical advice from a variety of organizations and institutions. Many invaluable benefits have been derived from the advice and assistance of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the staffs of numerous university departments of history and archeology. Through a constant interchange of ideas with these groups and with the assistance of its own Advisory Board, the National Park Service has developed a body of policies governing the survey, development and operation of historic sites, which constitutes the underlying basis for a national program of historical and archeological conservation.
Mr. Chatelain, who had been an important factor in the passage of the Historic Sites Act, and who had been acting head of the Branch of Historic Sites since its establishment on July 1, 1935, resigned in September 1936 and was succeeded by Branch Spalding, superintendent of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefield Memorial National Military Park. Under Mr. Spalding, the architectural and archeological work of the Branch was broadened, and important steps were taken toward establishing a permanent organization.
In May 1938, Ronald F. Lee was made head of the Branch. Under him, the technical services of the Branch have been greatly strengthened, notably in the field of archeology, and a system of cooperation was worked out with the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Archives whereby these institutions give technical advice to the National Park Service and assist in research problems.
At present, of the 155 areas administered by the National Park Service, 90 are primarily of historic or archeological interest. | <urn:uuid:db3b6afc-d263-4d78-9456-abefcf38ae28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/kieley/kieley15.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964786 | 1,321 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Overview: The Blues and the CrowsThe Nature Conservancy (TNC) is currently working in the Blue and John Crow Mountain ranges in Jamaica and they have provided the following information which wholly describes the differing areas.
Although the two mountain ranges - the Blue and the John Crow - are geographically side by side, their geology, soil and vegetation are vastly different. The Río Grande Valley separates the two ranges.
The Blue Mountains rise sharply within nine miles (15 kilometers) of the coast and are characterized by steep-sided valleys and deeply gorged rivers. The Grand Ridge, which forms the spine of the ridge, extends 10 miles (16 kilometers) and includes Blue Mountain Peak, the highest point in Jamaica (7,402 feet; 2,256 meters).
In contrast, the John Crow Mountains rise gently from the east to a maximum height of 3,740 feet (1,140 meters), and end abruptly in a steep escarpment to the west.
The mountainsides are covered with coffee fields, producing a blended brew that's among the leading exports of Jamaica. But for the nature enthusiast, the mountains reveal an astonishingly complex series of ecosystems that change radically as you climb from sea level to fog-shrouded peaks.
The Blue Mountains, Jamaica's highest peaks, form a virtual botanical Garden of Eden. Steep and exhausting, and invariably hot and muggy, the trails and hikes are not as hazardous -- or frightening -- as, say, the Alpine peaks of Switzerland and Austria. The foothills of the Blue Mountains begin on the outskirts of Kingston.
To the east of the Blue Mountains, moving toward the sea, are the John Crow Mountains, another vast area of scenic beauty, although the trails here are more overgrown than the more trodden paths of the Blue Mountains. The most dedicated hikers can go, in 3 days, from the Grand Ridge of the Blue Mountains to Port Antonio on the coast. But they need a machete to hack their way and blaze a trail.
Check out my Blue Mountain Peak page HERE
Getting ThereFrom Frommers:
If you're not a hiker, the easiest way to tour the Blue Mountains is by car, although you'll miss the most remote or difficult-to-reach beauty spots. You can, however, get quite a dramatic preview via the road. The main route into the Blue Mountains is the B1, which begins on the western outskirts of Kingston. Follow signposts to the hamlet of The Cooperage, the gateway to the mountains.
Though improved, this narrow road is still difficult; landslides do occur during the rainy season. Many drivers prefer a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Also watch for oncoming trucks -- the macho drivers won't give an inch. And remember that the last gas station (called "petrol" here) is on the outskirts of Papine, in northeast Kingston. You'll need to fill up there. Public transport in the mountains is hopelessly unreliable.
The following information is taken from my Blue Mountain Peak page - the "Getting There" section:
Hiking the trails to Blue Mountain Peak can be done from either the south side of the Island from Kingston or the north side from Port Antonio although entering the mountains from Kingston is much more common. Unless you’re staying at a hotel in Port Antonio that has information about hiking the mountain, good luck finding many (or any) locals who have made the journey or know how to get you to where you need to be. I started my Blue Mountain Peak adventure from Kingston and even still had trouble finding a cab driver who knew how to drive to Mavis Bank where many hikers begin their trek.
To get to the mountains from Kingston, Hire a JUTA taxi driver who knows his way around the mountains. You’ll head north out of the city on Old Hope Road which is paved and relatively well kept until you get to the one-way bridge in the small foothills village of Gordon Town. From here you’ll make a right and head over the bridge – this is when you’ll notice the neglect of the roads. Potholes, dips that lead to cliff ledges and old, rusted car wrecks along the side of the road are sure get your heart going as this is where the adventure truly begins – and I forgot to mention that you’ll be traveling along this one way mountain road at about 80 kilometers an hour, way too fast if you ask me. Expect the rest of the ride in the foothills to take another 30 minutes or so until you come to the town of Mavis Bank which sits in the Yallahs River Valley in the upper foothills.
From Mavis Bank, where you typically meet up with your guide, you’ll make the hour long, five mile drive up the narrow, steep, winding road through the upper foothills to the trailhead at Penlyne Castle near Abbey Green Coffee Plantation which sits at 4500 feet. “Abbey Green is a completely different world, where wind whistles through eucalyptus trees and mists billow over the mountainside only to evaporate in the sun.”* If you’re trekking the mountain alone and haven’t made plans to hire a guide and jeep be sure to ONLY attempt the road from Mavis Bank in a vehicle with four wheel drive – you won’t make it far without a Jeep or Land Rover.
“On the way up, you'll turn left through Hagley Gap – a one-street village where you can buy provisions and get a hot meal – after which you'll traverse one of the least road-like roads in Jamaica, with huge gullies carved through the clay by coursing water and a constant scree of small boulders in your path.”* Once at the trailhead, which is the beginning of a service road for trucks and jeeps in the upper reaches of the coffee plantation you’ll feel completely alone unless other hikers are coming to the area at the same time.
*Quotes from Rough Guides*
Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park
Similarly, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust provide information about the park:
The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (BJCMNP) is located in the eastern end of the island of Jamaica. It extends over a planimetric area of 495.2 km2 and represents 4.5% of Jamaica's land surface.
When topography is taken into consideration, the area is 78,212 hectares (193,292 acres). The mountains of the Park dominate the skyline of eastern Jamaica, and incorporate much of the hinterland of the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, St. Andrew and a small section of south-east St. Mary. The steep mountain slopes form the upper sections of ten (10) of the island's twenty-six (26) watershed management units. The highest point in the island - Blue Mountain Peak (2,256 meters) is located in the southern region of the Park. The BJCMNP is actually composed of three mountain ranges - the Port Royal, Blue, and John Crow Mountains, divided by the Buff Bay and Rio Grande Valleys on the north side of the ranges.
The BJCMNP contains the largest contiguous tract of closed broad-leaf forest in Jamaica, and its upper and lower montane rain-forests are recognized globally for their high biological diversity and threatened status. The core, Preservation Zone of the Park consists of closed primary forest with broadleaf trees and makes up 53.2% of the Park. 40% consists of modified forest, timber plantations and ruinate or degraded woodlands and these areas along with about 4% agricultural and residential make up the Preservation Zone Buffer and Recovery Zones. Outside these areas, a 1 km-wide band is considered the Buffer Zone, in which Park management works with the rural communities to promote environmentally sustainable livelihoods and sustained, appropriate management of the area's natural and cultural resources.
The Park is also essential for:
• absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen - cleansing the air and reducing global warming
• Necessary for conserving the highly erodible soil of the area - preventing soil erosion and landslides
• Vital for providing water - the Park supplies over 40% of the population of Jamaica with domestic water, in addition to water for agricultural, industrial and commercial usage
• A component of the socio-cultural traditions of the Maroons and rural Jamaican communities. These traditions include food, craft, language, music and dance, are all highlighted at Misty Bliss - an annual festival at Holywell - the Park's main recreation area.
Plants and Animals of the MountainsAnimals:
At least 150 resident and migratory bird species live in these mountains. Migratory species include the worm-eating warbler and the Swainson's warbler. The Jamaican blackbird, yellow-billed parrot, and ring-tailed pigeon are three of the 28 bird species found nowhere else on Earth.
These mountains also are prime habitat for tree frogs, giant swallowtail butterflies and the Jamaican hutia (a large rodent; also called the coney), the island's only land mammal. The hutia is similar in size to a groundhog.
Trees such as mahogany, cedar, mahoe and broadleaf make up Jamaica's largest remaining intact, closed canopy rain forest.
(From UNESCO) The forests of the mountains are:
• The last of two known habitats of the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio homerus) - the largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere
• Important habitat for many Jamaican birds, including all the endemic species such as the endangered Jamaican Blackbird (Neospar nigerrimus) and winter habitat for many migratory birds
• A refuge for Jamaican wildlife including the Jamaican Boa (Epicrates subflavus) and the Jamaican Hutia (Geocapromys brownii)
• Home to numerous endemic orchids, bromeliads, fern and other plants (including many on the IUCN Red List)
CampingM. Timothy O'Keefe writes:
The Jamaican Forestry Department offers cabins and dormitories in the Blue Mountains, but permits must be paid for and picked up in advance at the Kingston office. You cannot simply show up at the site and pay. JATCHA can make the reservations and have the permits waiting for you. No linens, blankets or kitchen utensils are at any of the forest camps.
Camping and cabin reservations for all but Whitfield Hall can be made by calling the forestry department at 876/924-2667 or 876/924-2668.
Hollywell National Recreation Park offers tent camping and several cabins with fireplace, small kitchen and full bathroom. (This site is often called Holywell National Recreation Area.)
Clydesdale is an old coffee plantation/pine nursery at 3,700 feet with a bunk bed dormitory that can sleep 30 and more. Flush toilets, showers and a fire pit for cooking.
The walk from Clydesdale to the public Cinchona Botanical Gardens takes about an hour, where tent camping is available.
On the hike up Blue Mountain Peak, most people overnight at the privately owned Whitfield Hall Hostel, which may also permit you to tent camp; 876/927-0986.
About 1 to 1-1/2 hours beyond Whitfield Hall on the way to the peak is the Portland Gap forestry hut at 5,200 feet. The hut is rustic and you sleep on the floor. It also has running water, an outhouse and space for about 30 tents. Given a choice between Whitfield Hall (which does supply linens, etc.) and the forest hut, there is no choice unless you like the hermit life.
At Blue Mountain Peak itself is a rough, graffiti-covered forest hut often used by partying groups from Kingston on weekends. Water may not be readily available, and it gets quite cold at the peak from December through February. Tent camping is permitted. | <urn:uuid:f4f6f522-ec54-46e0-86a1-eca7c7e8e5ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.summitpost.org/blue-mountains-and-john-crow-mountains/481930 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938045 | 2,515 | 2.5 | 2 |
News Releases By State
EPA Issues Annual Report on Chemicals Released Into Land, Air and Water in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Release Date: 01/16/2013
Contact Information: John Martin (212) 637-3662, email@example.com
- (New York, N.Y.) The annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report on the amount of toxic chemicals released to the land, air and water by industrial facilities in 2011 showed an increase for releases in the U.S. Virgin Islands over the past reporting year. The Toxics Release Inventory report issued today by the EPA covered four facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands that are required to report their releases. Total reported releases to land, air and water by these facilities increased from about 760,000 pounds in 2010 to about 1.8 million pounds in 2011. Much of the increase from 2010 was due to new requirements to report two chemicals released by the HOVENSA facility on St. Croix and a more accurate method used by HOVENSA to calculate emissions. HOVENSA is no longer operating as an oil refinery, which has significantly reduced its emissions.
“This report informs the public about the types of pollution in our communities and where they come from,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “It is an invaluable tool that shows the volume of pollutants that were coming from the HOVENSA facility when it was operating as a refinery.”
Since 1988, Toxic Release Inventory data has been provided to the public annually to help people learn more about the chemicals present in their local environment and gauge environmental trends over time. The inventory contains the most comprehensive information about chemicals released into the environment reported annually by certain industries and federal facilities. Most of these facilities have permits issued under federal regulations that set limits on the amount of chemicals that they are allowed to release into the air, water or land.
Facilities must report their toxic chemical releases by July 1 of each year. This year, the EPA made a preliminary set of data for 2011 available on July 31. Nationally, over 20,000 facilities reported on approximately 682 chemicals and chemical categories for calendar year 2011.
The full report is available at: http://epa.gov/tri/NationalAnalysis.
For program overview, visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri.
To view an area fact sheet, visit: http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2. | <urn:uuid:77105325-2b62-42c5-82fe-e9fb359e8343> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/8b770facf5edf6f185257359003fb69e/7cbd943c99835c5785257af5005e6295!OpenDocument&Start=1&Count=5&Expand=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948878 | 562 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Privacy vs. transparency… How much political staying power does this story have?... May jobs report: 175,000 jobs added last month; unemployment rate ticks up to 7.6%... The White House’s health-care PR problem… Ranking the 2016 GOPers… Christie’s appointment and Booker’s slam dunk… This week’s 2016 wrap… And other noteworthy nuggets from the NBC/WSJ poll.
This undated government photo shows an aerial view of the National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Meade, Md. The Obama administration on Thursday defended the National Security Agency's need to collect telephone records of U.S. citizens, calling such information "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."
*** Transparency problems: The news of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs has dominated the last 48 hours. To understand the political impact of this story, it’s perhaps instructive to look at it through this lens: privacy vs. transparency -- and transparency could be the most potent issue for an administration that promised to be the most transparent in history. What the White House has to understand is this: The president’s own credibility is on the line on this story when it comes to transparency. Candidate Obama expressed outrage over many of these programs back in the day and at the time, and when pressed at the time his outrage usually centered on how the tactics were implemented, not necessarily with the tactics themselves. The president promised more transparency about some of these operations, tactics and about making sure the public was comfortable that there was a serious process when it comes to oversight of these programs. You can’t just take anyone’s word for it, even he has said that numerous times. And that’s the political problem he needs to nip in the bud. The public expects a level of secrecy but not an abuse of it and they certainly expect an explanation.
*** Privacy less an issue: As privacy issue, it’s likely that the American public will collectively shrug its shoulders over this. Why? Because they probably realize that corporations are already tracking their every purchase and that surveillance cameras are already capturing their every movement. And even if they don’t shrug and it bothers them, they probably feel a bit powerless about it. But as a transparency issue, the story might have more legs. The whole reason this has become front-page news -- when USA Today had already reported about the NSA phone-record program back in 2006 -- is because of its secrecy. And the question the Obama administration must ask itself is: Would it be better off if the American public knew about this? Would it restore more trust in the government?
*** How much staying power does this story have? As a strictly partisan issue, however, we’re not sure this story has staying power. After all, outside of a handful of libertarian Republicans (Rand Paul, Mike Lee), GOP politicians are defending the NSA’s programs. On the Democratic side of the aisle, there are critics too, but it appears to be a minority of the party. As we figured would happen, bipartisanship broke out in a big way yesterday on this issue -- both in support of the tactics and in opposition. But that bipartisanship on both sides of this issue probably also means it’s not exactly an issue that will have political staying power. If you’ve learned anything about American politics, a story becomes supercharged when the opposition party begins raising its voice in unison. And out of all the controversies the Obama administration is facing (IRS, Benghazi, leak investigations, and now NSA), this is one a majority of Republicans have no problem with.
*** 175,000 jobs added in May, unemployment rate ticks up to 7.6%: Meanwhile, here are the breaking job numbers from May, per the AP: “U.S. employers added 175,000 jobs in May, steady hiring but below the more robust pace that took place during the fall and winter. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April. The increase occurred because more people began looking for work, a good sign.” This economy is trying so hard to recover; call it stagnant progress. Many Democrats are going to be arguing today that if it wasn’t for the austerity standoff in Washington (including sequester), the economy would be recovering A LOT faster. The Republicans will likely focus their ire on the slowness of this recovery on the new tax increases. But make no mistake: Progress is being made.
*** The White House’s health-care PR problem: In California at 11:50 am ET, President Obama delivers a statement to reporters on implementing the Affordable Care Act. And it’s another opportunity to mention the numbers from our recent NBC/WSJ poll: The health-care law’s unpopularity has reached new heights -- 49% say it’s a bad idea (the higher number recorded on this question since the poll began measuring it in ’09), while just 37% say it’s a good idea. The poll also finds that 38% say they and their family will be worse off under the health-care law, which also is the highest percentage on this question that dates back to 2010. By comparison, 19% say they'll be better off, and 39 percent say the law won't make much of a difference. The poll, however, shows deep divisions by political party and health insurance status. By a 35%-to-11% margin, Democrats say they'll be better off under the health-care law. But Republicans say they'll be worse off, 67% to 4%. What's more, those who currently don't have health insurance have a more positive view of the health-care law than those who have insurance -- either through individual purchase or through their employer. Bottom line here: The Obama White House has a massive PR problem with health care. And it probably doesn’t help that opponents have outspent supporters on TV ads by a 5-to-1 ratio since 2010, per Kantar Media CMAG.
*** Ranking the GOP 2016ers: Since December, our NBC/WSJ poll has begun measuring potential 2016 candidates. And here’s a fun little exercise: We’re ranking these GOP politicians among Republican respondents in the poll, as well conservatives respondents. Here’s the order among Republicans:
Paul Ryan (62%-13%)
Rand Paul (53%-6%)
Marco Rubio (49%-6%)
Jeb Bush (48%-7%)
Chris Christie: (40%-16%)
Scott Walker (21%-5%)
Ted Cruz (21%-6%)
And here’s the ranking among conservative respondents in our poll:
Paul Ryan (58%-11%)
Rand Paul (47%-5%)
Marco Rubio (45%-6%)
Jeb Bush (44%-7%)
Chris Christie (33%-15%)
Ted Cruz (21%-6%)
Scott Walker (19%-5%).
So note how well Ryan and Paul are faring, and note how Christie is trailing among these groups.
*** Christie’s appointment and Booker’s slam dunk: Speaking of Christie, he announced yesterday that he was appointing state Attorney General Jeff Chiesa to temporarily fill the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) passing. Make no mistake: Appointing a caretaker like Chiesa wasn’t Christie’s first choice, but he had no choice after announcing that the Senate election would take place in October. (If you’re a Republican, you’d rather want to run alongside Christie in November, or wait until 2014.) But here’s perhaps the biggest story out New Jersey this week: No one has been more helped by this entire process than Cory Booker. Quick Democratic primary? Check. Two Democratic congressmen who are also running (Pallone and Holt) that might split the anti-Booker vote? Check. October general election? Check. On paper, Booker’s election is starting to look like a slam dunk.
*** This week’s 2016 wrap: Also this week, Hillary Clinton spoke at Frank Lautenberg’s funeral; she was argued over during a Massachusetts Senate debate; and at a fashion awards gala she joked about her pantsuits. Wearing one designed by Oscar de la Renta, she said she had pitched a new reality show, “Project Pantsuit.”… Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at Lautenberg’s funeral and the L.A. Times dubbed him, “King of the eulogy.”… Martin O’Malley’s (D-MD) still dealing with the fallout of a scandal at a Baltimore jail… Marco Rubio continues to walk a very fine line on immigration reform, speaking out at times against the very bill he helped author and voted for out of committee… Raul Labrador may have walked away from the group negotiating a compromise immigration bill in the House, but Paul Ryan endorsed it, calling it a “good product” and “good policy.”… And Rand Paul’s not happy with the NSA or President Obama; he claimed Obama’s “bent towards authoritarianism is probably worse” than Bush; and that we’re living in the novel “1984.” …
*** By the way, here are the fav/unfav numbers among ALL the potential 2016ers from this week’s NBC/WSJ poll:
African Americans: 76%-12%
African Americans: 41%-11%
Tea Party supporters: 40%-22%
African Americans: 5%-18%
Tea Party supporters: 28%-10%
African Americans: 6%-32%
Tea Party supporters: 53%-10%
African Americans: 5%-12%
Tea Party: 33%-4%
*** Other noteworthy nuggets from our NBC/WSJ poll: Chris Christie has better ratings among liberal Democrats (44% positive, 14% negative) than he does among Tea Party Republicans (37% positive, 23% negative)… Eric Holder is viewed overwhelmingly negatively by Republicans (4% positive, 55% negative) and independents (5% positive, 32% negative). Democrats are more likely to view Holder positively than negatively, but their feelings are just so-so (19% positive, 13% negative). Perhaps most striking, Holder is much better known among Republicans (72% name ID) than he is among Democrats (50% name ID)… While all socioeconomic groups view the Internal Revenue Service in a negative light, those with incomes under $30,000 are almost twice as likely to view the IRS positively (27%) as those with incomes of more than $75,000 (14%)… Among Tea Party Republicans, Ted Cruz has a name ID of 57%, plus a 28% positive, 7% negative personal rating. But among non-Tea Party Republicans, his name ID is just 22%, and he has a 7% positive, 5% negative rating… And Among those who believe that the Dow hitting highs is a sign that the economy is doing better overall, 68% are satisfied with the economy and 31% are dissatisfied. But among those who believe that the Dow highs are an indication that corporations and the wealthy are doing better but not the overall economy, just 26% are satisfied with the economy and 74% are dissatisfied.
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Check us out on Facebook and also on Twitter. Follow us @chucktodd, @mmurraypolitics, @DomenicoNBC, @brookebrower | <urn:uuid:0cbd594a-555a-4fd9-9126-9677e33a2e7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firstread.nbcnews.com/decision-2016?nvo=0&58479621%7Ca%7Cnu%7C30%7C1%7Ct%7Ca%7C0=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933549 | 2,527 | 1.75 | 2 |
Huff, puff and wind power
Putting politics before the evidence when it comes to wind power is bad for energy users and the British economy. George Osborne's overtures to his "NIMBY" backbenchers may end up winning him few friends.
In February a group of more than 100 backbench Conservative MPs sent a letter to the Prime Minister arguing for deep cuts in the support provided for onshore wind. Many of these MPs represent rural constituencies where wind farms may be built. This kicked off a major political spat over the summer with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, championing their cause and picking a fight with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, about the support levels provided. Davey won but only after horse trading that saw the Chancellor advance several steps along his "dash for gas".
It is absolutely right that the views of local people are taken into account about developments in their areas. But in support of their argument the MPs criticised wind power technology claiming that it is inefficient and less reliable than other technologies. These MPs appear to have taken their lead from a number of think-tank reports that have made similar claims. One report has made the somewhat surprising claim that wind power is not an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. We decided to get to the bottom of these claims and assess the evidence.
A fortnight ago IPPR published a report called Beyond the Bluster that addresses two questions: is wind power an effective way to reduce carbon emissions? Is wind power a reliable and secure energy source?
To produce this report we drew on the expertise of a leading renewable energy consultancy, GL Garrad Hassan, which is owned by GL Group, a business with interests in the oil and gas sectors. We thought it appropriate to cooperate with those who have an advanced understanding of the technology. To ensure the validity and objectivity of GL Garrad Hassan's work the report was peer reviewed by Professor Nick Jenkins of the Institute of Energy, Cardiff University. All work on the report was carried out on a pro bono basis.
The conclusions of the report were unambiguous. Wind power is an effective way for reducing carbon emissions. We demonstrate this using a simple model of the UK energy system which examines the impact of an additional ‘marginal' plant. This is backed up with empirical data on measured emission reductions from wind power in the US.
We also found that wind power will be a secure and reliable energy source at the levels of deployment expected in the UK by 2020. We know this because wind power is largely predictable and because it varies at rates similar to existing electricity demand it can easily be integrated into Britain's existing electricity system. We highlight in the report how other countries have already achieved what is planned for the UK by 2020 without experiencing any problems. After 2020 the outlook becomes more challenging but for now there is little to worry about.
By ignoring the facts to appease his party, the Chancellor is not developing policy in the best interests of energy users or the wider economy.
First, inconsistent support from government will increase the riskiness with which businesses regard investment opportunities. This in turn increases their cost of capital and will therefore lead to higher energy bills for businesses and consumers.
Second, an uncertain investment outlook of this kind will make businesses in the supply chain less likely to invest here. As a result components will end up being imported, meaning fewer jobs for Brits. This would be a huge missed opportunity given Britain's comparative advantage in this area.
The UK has the greatest wind resource, both onshore and offshore, in Europe. Onshore wind power is currently the cheapest of the renewable technologies and therefore a lower ambition for this technology will make more expensive forms of low carbon generation a necessity with higher energy bills as a result. In relation to offshore wind, Britain has the opportunity to be a world leader, with the Carbon Trust estimating it could contribute £3-10bn annually to the economy between 2010 and 2050.
Tellingly, on publishing the report several journalists in the north got in touch wanting to know how the economic prospects of their areas could be affected if the prospects of the wind industry are dented by changes to government policy.
Indeed, Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, cited IPPR's work in an address at Holyrood on his legislative programme for the coming year. Meanwhile Chris Heaton Harris MP, the agitator spearheading the backbenchers, chose to ignore the content of the report and instead attacked it on the basis of its authorship.
George Osborne does not appear to care about the economic advantages of wind power and has tried to slash support levels for the technology without evidence to show why this would be cost-effective. This is a clumsy political strategy. While it might please "NIMBY" backbenchers the effect would be to undermine the potential for job creation elsewhere. | <urn:uuid:48bc1490-697f-43bf-b4d5-8251e7536aec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ippr.org/articles/56/9609/huff-puff-and-wind-power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95971 | 988 | 2.1875 | 2 |
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Up A Tree / Curious George And The Trash
series: Curious George
air date: 4/25/13 2:30 PM
Up A Tree: When George tires of table manners and house rules, he decides to build a tree house in the country yard - a nest of his own where using his feet to eat corn on the cob and to paint on the walls would be perfectly acceptable. Armed with his Handy Monkey Tool Set, George gathers as many building materials as possible. But he quickly learns that creating a house from scratch just might take more than a pile of plywood and a handful of nails. What he needs is a design plan to make this work - and forgiveness for accidentally stealing supplies from Quint's dock and Mrs. Renkin's chicken coop! Curious George and the Trash: Just as he is preparing to have his new driver's license photo taken, The Man with the Yellow Hat suddenly finds himself hatless - thanks to George, who accidentally crushes it. After dropping the hat off at the dry-cleaner to have it fixed, The Man asks George to wait at home for it to be delivered while he goes on a neighborhood jog. But when the hat arrives, George mistakes it for a look-a-like garbage box and tosses it down the trash chute. George's desperate attempt to recover his friend's most prized possession leads the monkey on a race through the labyrinth of the city's garbage system.
WARNING: Email reminders for this program have already been sent out. Your reminder may not reach the intended address in time for this program's airing.
Back to TV Schedule | <urn:uuid:7549e9c6-ce15-458a-ade3-8cab0054aa03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.klru.org/schedule/email-reminder/?id=197241&airtime=2:30%20PM&airdate=4/25/13&channel=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950523 | 361 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Prasat Preah Vihear was built in the 11 and 12th centuries by successive Khmer rulers, Suryavarman I and Suryavarman II.
It sits on top of a very high cliff in in the Dangrek Mountains of Cambodia. It's unusual in that the orientation is North-South, instead of the traditional alignment to the East. The architecture is predominantly the Banteay Srei style, with other styles added in later years. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled the site belonged to Cambodia in 1962 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Recent controversy, sparked by election year politics in both Cambodia and Thailand brought troops from both sides. The argument has gone on for over a century.
We visited from Thailand, with Pirom, our wonderful guide from Surin. We walked across the border and up to the temple.
( if you zoom in too much the border shifts )
Wikipedia has a good article about it --> Preah Vihear on Wikipedia | <urn:uuid:3f92f81b-27e7-4e98-8c64-675c03b9657c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sabathedog.org/preah_vihear/pv.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949704 | 211 | 2.609375 | 3 |
While working on my own book for Apress, Free Software for Creative People, I've also been typesetting a 240 page poetry book by Richard McKane using Scribus, for the publisher Hearing Eye. Years ago I used to use Quark Xpress for this sort of project, so I was pleased to find out that free software can now do the same job.
I used the Free Software font Deja Vu Serif Book because of its support for the Turkish characters used in the manuscript, which used to be a real typesetting challenge on proprietary software. Modern Turkish has all kinds of characters that aren't used in the standard Latin alphabet -- the letter i with no dot, for instance. Fonts left these characters out, and importing documents often failed to recognise them, leaving the pages to be manually corrected. Fortunately, Scribus and GNU/Linux have much better support for internationalisation than the System 7 and System 8 Macs that I learned typesetting on.
These are my tips for book production with Scribus:
Use the latest upstream stable version of Scribus. The GNU/Linux distribution packages are often a release or two behind, and you really don't want that.
Unless you have a very fast CPU in your computer, break the book document up into sections or chapters - it will make the editing process much more bearable. It also keeps the sections separate at the proofing and corrections stage.
Import master pages from one section to another to maintain consistency, such as margin and page number formatting.
Export each section as an individual PDF file. Then use pdftk to stitch the section together into a single inside pages PDF for your litho platemaker or print-on-demand digital press. No doubt the cover will be required as a separate PDF. | <urn:uuid:5003808a-c5eb-4fde-b9bd-830a1e8302ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/producing_book_scribus_useful_tips | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917719 | 363 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Also Born on May 18
Who Shares Your Birthday?
The Day You Were Born
The Year You Were Born
1920–2005, pope (1978–), a Pole named Karol Jozef Wojtyla, born in Wadowice; successor of John Paul I.
He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (1522–23) and the first Polish pope. Ordained a priest in 1946, he taught ethics at Kraków and Lublin universities and published works on theological and philosophical topics as well as poetry and a play. He was consecrated a bishop in 1958, became archbishop of Kraków in 1964, was a prominent spokesman for the Polish Church at the Second Vatican Council (see Vatican Council, Second), and was made a cardinal in 1967.
As pope, John Paul II has continued to implement the decisions of Vatican II and has placed special emphasis on Marian devotion. He has traveled widely, increasing the international character of the papacy. In the first decade alone of his pontificate he visited 50 countries, despite the physical setback caused by his being shot in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, by a Turkish terrorist. John Paul has continued to travel widely despite his increasing age and frailty, and by 2003 had visited more than 125 nations, having made 100 trips abroad. In 1998 he visited Cuba; in 1999 he visited Romania and Georgia, becoming the first pope to visit predominantly Orthodox countries; in 2000 he visited the Holy Land; in 2001 he retraced St. Paul's missionary journeys in Greece, Syria, and Malta and visited Ukraine; and in 2002 he visited Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Guatemala, and Mexico. He also has expanded international representation in the College of Cardinals and Roman Curia.
John Paul has pursued ecumenism (primarily with the Anglican Communion and Orthodox churches) and has taken various steps to improve relations with Jews, including Vatican recognition of Israel and acknowledgment of Catholic failures in responding to the Holocaust. Conservative on doctrine and issues relating to women, he also has been strongly critical of liberation theology and of those who call themselves Catholics yet continually question the church's teachings. In a 1995 encyclical he reasserted the church's condemnation of abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment. However, he also considers it the church's responsibility to grapple with social questions and has been an outspoken commentator on world events. John Paul has issued two encyclicals (1981, 1991) on economic issues in which he praised free-market economies but criticized the inadequacies and injustices of both capitalism and Communism. He expressed his opposition to the imposition (1981) of martial law in Poland and used the resources of the church behind the scenes to support Solidarity prior to the collapse of Communism in his native country. His 1998 encyclical, Fides et Ratio, condemned both atheism and faith unsupported by reason and affirmed the place of reason and philosophy in religion.
Yesterday's Birthdays | Tomorrow's Birthdays
Who2. Copyright © 1998-2006 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:ee007b85-4f2a-402b-af13-adff9015fbb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/birthday | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97158 | 632 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Where Can You Get a Flu Vaccination?
It's never been easier to find a setting for a flu vaccination, including:
- Doctor's offices
- State and local health department offices*
- Retail pharmacies*
- Retail health clinics*
- Workplaces and schools*
Don't forget: A flu vaccination is advised for everyone six months old or older and offers you the best chance to avoid the flu or complications from the flu.
Ask your doctor about whether getting a flu vaccination is right for you.
* To verify covered benefits, including flu vaccinations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico members should check their benefit booklet or call the customer service number on the back of their member ID card. | <urn:uuid:68f7e014-ac2e-43b4-b075-7f70023008b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bcbsnm.com/health/preventive_care/flu_vaccination_settings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937631 | 146 | 1.820313 | 2 |
So you bought the EasyBloom to take precise soil moisture readings. You have a spreadsheet plotting plant growth over time. But you’re still schelpping out to water the lawn like all your Luddite neighbors. Where’s your sense of pride? You’re a geek! You should be using technology to make your life better. Here, we’ll help get you started with this Instructable on using Linux to water your lawn!
What more do you want? It’s the weekend. If you want to horse around with manually watering your lawn, by all means do so. I’m not going to stop you. | <urn:uuid:921988c2-d39b-4018-b83c-96afaa44bcd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/14/use-linux-to-water-your-lawn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909182 | 136 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Medical care and you
Focus of this section is on information about diabetes and optimal therapy according to individual medical needs. Below you will find some videos and tools for overcoming barriers to optimal therapy for your inspiration.
Tool for overcoming barriers to optimal therapy - Click here
Sometimes people delay or try to avoid taking insulin and other medicines. But these can be the most effective tools for lowering your blood sugar levels to prevent future health problems. Watch the videos of people who changed their attitudes about taking their meds.
Tools to improve the role of medical care in your life
DAWN Insulin Dialogue Toolkit
The insulin dialogue toolkit helps the patient and the care team to work together to identify, explore and address the most common psychosocial barriers preventing timely initiation of insulin therapy. Go to Insulin Dialogue Toolkit | <urn:uuid:5b9a48ce-0fd1-482b-8ae0-734cbd7db5a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.novonordisk.com/diabetes_care/social_support/medical_care_and_you/medical_care_and_you.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907914 | 164 | 2.0625 | 2 |
I want this car in the US soon...!
The latest offering from Gordon Murray Design is not a fire-breathing supercar, but a green-themed urban people mover in two versions — one with a 3-cylinder gas engine and the other electric with a lithium-ion battery pack. The design offers seating for three, with the passengers behind the centrally located driver, and is smaller than the Smart.
In electric form (T.27), a 25-kilowatt electric motor and 12-kilowatt-hour battery pack replace the gas engine. The range target is 80 to 100 miles. The T.27 “closely follows” the T.25’s layout and geometry, but is not identical. The company received a $6.7 million investment from Britain’s Technology Strategy Board to build the E.V. version, which will be drivable next year, said Mr. Murray.
The low-carbon claims are the result of a lightweight design derived from what Mr. Murray calls “new manufacturing techniques.” According to The Telegraph, the T.25 taps into a process called iStream, in development for 15 years, which “drastically simplifies the process of manufacturing cars, allowing the plants to be 20 percent smaller than existing car factories” and significantly lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Mr. Murray said his unconventional manufacturing process will result in “the lowest full life-cycle carbon footprint of any vehicle ever made.” | <urn:uuid:0cfaaa0f-2953-4b45-836a-7d72a32024a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bibhu.tumblr.com/tagged/car/chrono | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944131 | 309 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Since the very dawn of the human age, knowledge has been the essential building block of civilization and the foundation for all that is and can be known of the physical universe. It is the most precious resource in existence, a binding force that separates Man from beast, and also from the Very Dumb Man, such as yourself. Without knowledge, one cannot know with total certainty that the Earth orbits the sun; that one race is objectively superior to another; that a male cayjyx will only molt at the precise apogee of the winter quonstant. Without knowledge, life would have no Onion Book Of Known Knowledge, and thus no meaning.
But what does it mean to know something? An exceedingly perceptive and illuminating question, you will agree. All human beings begin to know from the moment of conception. As infants, we instinctively know how to breathe and sleep. By age 7 or 8, most humans know the rudiments of international tax law, perhaps not down to the particulars of every bilateral treaty or tax information exchange agreement (TIEA), but certainly insofar as thin capitalization or the legal distinction of tangible versus intangible property is concerned. Likewise, by the time one reaches young adulthood, one can be said to instinctively know that life is devoid of all meaning, and that the grim sepulchre of death looms all too clearly in the encroaching future.
Yet most knowledge in the universe comes from a special process known as learning, and the foundation of all learning - and all knowledge - is a powerful but microscopic particle called a fact. Science tells us the average human brain contains roughly 345 facts, as well as an estimated 13,500 fact fragments that have either been damaged beyond repair or have grafted themselves onto nearby nonfacts to create a mutated and highly invasive species of fact-fiction hybrid. Research suggests that a normal human brain is able to distort and disregard facts at a rate only equaled in clinical trials by certain varieties of freshwater fish.
Thus, civilizations throughout history have formulated a number of practices for transmitting knowledge so that facts can be adequately retained. The ancient Sumerians transmitted knowledge by holding a man at spearpoint and forcing him to repeat a fact for two straight weeks, stabbing him forcefully in the abdomen should he ever recite any part of it incorrectly. The Greeks transmitted knowledge by dangling a perfectly tanned, naked, hairless boy just out of a man's reach until such time as he could precisely recall at least one fact of moderate size. The Finnish people continue to practice a highly experimental and hazardous form of surgical fact-implantation known as Hyökätä Tosiasia, wherein an individual is placed in a barbiturate-induced coma and injected with a small mechanized termite that lays 40 to 50 bioengineered fact "eggs" that feed hungrily on unused brain matter and blood.
No matter how it is transmitted, the societal benefits of knowledge are widely documented and indisputable. Also widely documented and indisputable is the fact that you, the reader, are dumb, and almost unfathomably so. Therefore, it is the express purpose of this august volume to make you not only less dumb, but also more aware of you paralyzing dumbness, more acutely conscious of the way your dumbness limits you, and more deeply ashamed of the way your dumbness serves as a constant source of disappointment to your family, your intellectual betters, and to the human species as a whole. If the great ongoing project of knowledge is to survive, it falls upon books such as this to tow the writhing, reeking dumb mass of humanity toward that distant shore of intellectual enlightenment, and you, reader, are a part of this grand adventure. A small and laughably inconsequential part, but a part nonetheless.
So let us now commence with all the knowledge that is yet known by Man. We do not expect one to understand all of the contents of this book, or even some, or even more than six. But rest assured, from this day forward your empty, meaningless life shall never be quite so pathetic and desperate - nor quite so blissful in its wanton ignorance. And with that, we bid you good luck.
A NOTE ON HOW THIS REFERENCE VOLUME WAS COMPOSED
The task of researching, writing, compiling, and editing this 183rd Imperial Edition of The Onion Book Of Known Knowledge was an arduous and costly process requiring thousands upon thousands of man-hours of labor in addition to a production budget exceeding $740 million. While the means utilized to generate the material in this book were not always strictly permissible in a moral or legal sense, the importance of producing an essential fount of knowledge to stand for all eternity was ultimately placed above such trifling considerations.
Each entry in this volume was assigned to a different preeminent scholar who was responsible for shepherding that specific entry, and that specific entry alone, into being. These scholars were forced to sign contracts whereby they were made to resign from their regular occupations, divorce their spouses, desert their children, and immerse themselves entirely in their single entry for as many years as it took for them to become the greatest living authority on that subject.
For example, the entry on ANT required Dr. James Huntington of the University of East Anglia to live alone among a colony of Linepithema humile ants in the Argentine wilderness for four and a half decades, a scholarly endeavor that apparently caused Dr. Huntington to go quite mad, but which nonetheless produced an entry of impeccable accuracy and pedagogical richness that was eventually cut for space. Those scholars who died gathering information on their entry - and many hundreds did - were within 48 hours replaced with a new academic who was forced to start entirely from scratch.
Each of the esteemed writers who participated in this process was required to deliver entries of at least 400,000 words, which would then be edited down by our editorial board to a length of anywhere from one to 300 words, at which point the scholars would then be paid the industry standard of $0.78 per word for their efforts. Once the book was delivered to the publisher, all the scholars were then murdered to prevent the invaluable information they gathered from being disseminated in competing works of reference. Please enjoy this reference volume. | <urn:uuid:b76eae53-9ed3-4310-9907-3a5356a4a977> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reddit.com/r/firstpage/comments/13jdlk/the_onion_book_of_known_knowledge_a_definitive/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961643 | 1,276 | 2.8125 | 3 |
|Digital Photo Restoration|
Digital restoration of a photograph is essentially the process of making a digital copy of the photo and restoring or repairing any imperfections, such as scratches, spots, holes, tears, etc. The original photo is scanned to create a digital copy and the entire restoration process is applied to the digital copy. The original photo is not changed in any way.
When the restoration process is completed you will be contacted by mail or email to notify you that a proof of the restored photo is available to be reviewed online. You will be invoiced for the restoration after you have approved the work. Examples of restored photos may be seen here.
|Making a digital copy of the original photo|
The digital restoration process begins with a digital scan of the original photograph. I prefer to do the scanning myself to ensure that I have a photo quality scan of the photo. If you prefer not to mail the photo, then you have a couple options: scan the photo yourself or have a local copy or photo shop scan the photo and send me the digital image on a CD.
|How to ship the photo|
Your photo must be protected during shipment. Pack the photo between two pieces of stiff cardboard. If your photo is in pieces or is fragile please place the photo in an envelope, place the envelope between two pieces of cardboard and press the cardboard together and secure with tape. Never use tape directly on a photo.
Place the cardboard-enclosed photo into a padded envelope or use a photo mailing envelope that may be purchased from an office supply store.
Mail the photo by U.S. Mail. It is a good idea to insure the package and purchase delivery confirmation.
|What you will get|
The result of the restoration process is a good quality photo. You will receive one or more prints or a digital image on a CD or both.
|What is the cost?|
A photo that requires simple retouching (removing small blemishes, scratches, etc.) will cost about $20. More extensive repair work and providing prints will increase the cost. When I receive the original or digital image of the original I will reply to you with a quote. | <urn:uuid:76b882ca-8c39-40eb-8245-6ad912904119> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oneoldgoat.com/photores.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922708 | 446 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Justin Bassett got an unusual request at a recent job interview: he was asked to hand over his Facebook login credentials.
Bassett, who refused to provide the information and promptly withdrew his application, was surprised by the interviewer’s request. He considered it a blatant invasion of privacy and made the split-second decision that he didn’t want to work for any employer that would take such a cavalier attitude towards its employees’ personal information (the full story can be found here).
As surprising as this story may be, however, it’s not entirely unprecedented. Many employers are turning to social networks to snoop for information not just on potential employees, but current ones as well. Recall recently a Canadian woman, Nathalie Blanchard, who lost her sick leave benefits after photos of herself on vacation surfaced on Facebook.
Asking someone to give up their personal login information is definitely a step too far, if not several. But there are risks involved with sharing too much of ourselves on social networks. We simply don’t always know who’s reading about us. One potentially incriminating photograph, fairly or unfairly, can cost you a job – or prevent you from getting one.
For further reading on the subject at Working.com: | <urn:uuid:ae65a7ed-251d-4d34-9524-36f5554b1bb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://o.canada.com/2012/03/20/job-applicant-refuses-to-hand-over-facebook-login/?comment=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968492 | 262 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Transferware souvenirs from the 1800s & 1900s.
The transfer printing process began in 1756 and was developed by John Sadler and Guy Green of Liverpool. It was then adopted by Josiah Wedgwood who used it on his ivory based "Creamware."
Transfer printing is a process by which a pattern or design is etched onto a copper (or other metal) plate. The plate is then inked and the pattern is "transferred" to a special tissue. The inked tissue is then laid onto the already bisque fired ceramic item, glazed, and fired again.
Initially patterns were transferred to the ceramic items after glazing, but the ink often wore off, thus "underprinting" was born. Transfer items have a crisp, almost decal look about them. If you look closely you can often see the place where the transfer design ends. Often these are the areas where the pattern does not quite match, like wallpaper.
This exhibit consists of items with the image of Campbell Hall from the WOU Archives. Most of the blank procelain shapes were imported from Germany. The transferware images may have been applied in this country.
LOCATION: 1st Floor | <urn:uuid:1f8df09d-b320-4ec6-908a-37409a75d14b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wou.edu/provost/library/exhibits/exhibits2002-03/WOUArchives/WOUarchives.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980409 | 246 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Over Labour Day weekend, I watched the Shrek movie series for the first time. I will readily admit that I enjoyed them: engaging storylines, very funny scenes, and some great one-liners. For those of you who have not seen the movies, the following is the basic storyline (spoiler alert). Shrek is an ogre who lives a solitary life in his swamp eating disgusting things, taking mud baths, and farting excessively. A likeable, although rough, character, Shrek is forced out of his beloved swamp to go on a quest to rescue the princess Fiona from her dragon-guarded tower. Along the way, Shrek is joined by a smart aleck talking donkey, imaginatively named Donkey. Together, they manage to rescue the princess, not by slaying the female dragon, but through Donkey’s wooing of her – the dragon and donkey become a couple. After the rescue, they discover that the princess is cursed; by day she is a beautiful human princess, but by night she is a hideous ogre. Only true love’s first kiss can break the spell. She ends up falling in love with and then kissing Shrek, thus breaking the spell. However, instead of choosing the permanent form of a human princess, Fiona chooses the permanent form of an ogress and marries Shrek. This angers the Fairy Godmother, who had an agreement with the king that her son, Prince Charming, would be the one to rescue and marry Fiona. Prince Charming is portrayed as a dislikable, useless, mother-dominated fop, and his mother as evil and conniving, as they try (and fail) to come between Shrek and Fiona. The king himself is none too happy about having an ogre as a son-in-law, yet he comes to terms with the situation and accepts Shrek before he dies. With the king’s death, the kingdom passes to Shrek, but he just wants return to his primitive life in the swamp. So Shrek seeks out and finds the only other possible heir, Arthur Pendragon, a snotty, maladjusted teenager who is picked on by his entire high school, and sets him on the throne instead. Thus released from his responsibilities, Shrek finally returns to his swamp, disgusting cuisine, mud baths, and excessive farting with Fiona and their brood of three children. Throughout the series of movies, emotional love is held up as the only guiding standard for morality and conduct.
As has been discussed previously on this site, fairy tales and folklore are much more than simple stories. They are organic expressions of a people which function as a vehicle to pass history, wisdom, values, and ideals down through the generations. Fairy tales hold up heroes as role models and create a shared national heritage. Fairy tales are generally viewed as the purview of the very young, but this is because it is during the early impressible years of life that it is most important for these stories to be heard. The fairy tales told to us as young children help shape our values and worldview in a very real way. It is in this light that we should see European fairy tales, stories of chivalry, King Arthur, and the bold knight slaying the dragon and rescuing the princess. Old European fairy tales are especially great due to the fact that most them originate from a time in which the culture was thoroughly saturated with Christianity and are thus imbibed with Christian morality. They are more than mere stories.
We must thus view Shrek as a kind of anti-fairy tale in which all the old European values and ideals are twisted and turned on their head. This really should not come as a surprise, considering that the author of the book on which the movies were based, William Steig, is a member of a certain Middle Eastern tribe with a very pronounced hatred of old European culture and Christian morality, and with a love for twisting and perverting Western culture. Aside from the not-so-subtle miscegenation and anything-is-okay-as-long-as-you-do-it-for-”love” attitude, the biggest thing that bothered me about the movies was that the ideals were completely backwards. Man should strive to materially better himself, and beauty is something to be admired and desired. In the second movie, Shrek and Fiona have the opportunity to become human, a handsome prince and a beautiful princess, and to become king and queen later; but they reject that option and choose instead to remain as hideous ogres and return to the swamp. Throughout Scripture, wealth and beauty are presented as positive attributes, as long as they are not idols. God Himself is described as beautiful (for example, Psalm 27:4), and prosperity is a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 5:19), while ugliness and poverty are portrayed as punishments by God. Thus to hold up intentional ugliness and poverty as an ideal to be aspired to, as the Shrek movies do, is a violation of Isaiah 5:20. Many of us are not born to castles or great physical beauty, but the Christian mandate to be good stewards of our gifts means that we should strive to better ourselves, not degrade ourselves or stagnate. We should certainly be content in the estate God has placed us, but the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 makes it quite clear what God thinks about people who do not use His gifts to their best advantage regardless of the level of their estate. If born in the swamp, we should aim for the castle, not be content to wallow in the mud.
The turning of things on their head is something of a necessity in good humor, and so I would still maintain that older teenagers and above can get some good recreational humor out of the Shrek movies, as I did. Additionally, the movies can be a good opportunity for parents to discuss worldview issues and miscegenation with teenage children. However, due to the values and ideals promoted in the films, the Shrek movies most definitely stand apart from the true fairy tale genre and are inappropriate for young children. | <urn:uuid:fb57ad0e-8b0d-4c35-b8cd-3e78e61ca884> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://faithandheritage.com/2011/09/shrek-the-anti-fairy-tale/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973337 | 1,250 | 1.507813 | 2 |