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What is a society?
A society for the purposes of a lottery is one that is established and conducted for:
- charitable purposes
- the purpose of enabling participation, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity or
- any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain
The proceeds of any lottery must be devoted to those purposes. It is not permissible to establish a society lottery whose sole purpose is to facilitate lotteries – it must have some other purpose.
What is a small lottery?
A small lottery is one where the total value of tickets to be put on sale per single lottery must not exceed £20,000 or the aggregate value of tickets to be put on sale for all a society’s lotteries in a calendar year must not exceed £250,000.
If the promoter aims to exceed either of these figures the lottery would be classed as ‘large’ and must be licensed by the Gambling Commission.
Small Society Lotteries must be registered with the Local Authority within whose area their principal office is situated.
What are the limits placed on Small Society Lotteries?
- At least 20% of the lottery proceeds must be applied to the purposes of the lottery.
- No single prize may be worth more than £25,000.
- Rollovers between lotteries are permitted but only when every lottery affected is also a Small Society Lottery promoted by the same society and where the maximum single prize does not exceed £25,000 or 10% of the gross proceeds.
- Every ticket in the lottery must cost the same and the ticket fee must have been paid to the society before entry into the draw is allowed.
What must be done to comply with the Gambling Act?
- Every Small Society Lottery must be registered with the relevant Local Authority. There is an initial registration fee of £40.00 and an annual fee of £20.00 to maintain your registration.
- At least the minimum proportion of the proceeds must be channelled into the beneficial purpose of the society. To do otherwise is unlawful.
- A Return must be made to the Local Authority with whom the lottery is registered.
What information is required on the Return?
- The date when tickets were made available.
- The date of the draw and the value of prizes (including donated prizes and any rollover).
- The proceeds of the lottery.
- The amounts deducted by the promoter for the provision of prizes and the costs incurred in organising the lottery.
- Details of any costs incurred which were not paid for from the proceeds, the amount of these costs and their source of funding.
- The amount provided to the purpose of the society.
The Returns Form must be sent no later than 3 months from the date of the draw or, in the case of Scratch Cards, no later than 3 months from the last date on which the tickets were on sale.
The Return must be signed by two members of the society who must be aged at least 18 years and have been appointed (in writing) for that purpose.
What are the rules concerning tickets?
Tickets may be physical or virtual (e.g. in the form of an e-mail or text message) and must provide the following information:
- The name of the promoting society.
- The price of the ticket.
- The name and address of the person designated as being the promoter of the lottery or, if there is one, the external lottery manager.
- The date of the draw.
- Tickets may only be sold by and to persons over the age of 16 years.
Tickets may be sold from a kiosk, from within a shop or from door to door. They must not be sold in a street.
A written record is to be kept of any unsold or returned tickets. This record to be kept for at least one year from the date of the draw.
What are the rules concerning prizes?
Prizes can be either cash or non-monetary. The amount of money deducted from the proceeds to cover prizes must not exceed the limits mentioned earlier.
The amount including the costs of running the lottery must not exceed 80% of the proceeds.
Donated prizes would not be included in this because no money would have been drawn from the proceeds to cover their purchase.
Can the Local Authority refuse an application?
YES for any of the following reasons:
- If an operating licence (issued by the Gambling Commission to the applicant) has been revoked or an application for an operating licence has been refused within the past 5 years.
- If the society concerned cannot be deemed non-commercial.
If a person who will be connected with the promotion of the lottery has been convicted of a ‘relevant offence’.
- If information provided in or with the application for registration is found to be false or misleading.
However if we are minded to refuse an application we will inform the applicant of our intention and reasons and give them the opportunity to make representations against refusal. The matter may need to be decided at a formal Hearing of the Council’s Licensing Committee.
Any decision made at the Hearing may be appealed through the Magistrates Court.
Offences under the Gambling Act involving Small Society Lotteries
- Misusing the profits of a lottery.
- Purporting to operate a Small Society Lottery when not registered, or failing to make the required returns, or making false or misleading returns.
- Obstructing or failing to cooperate with an authorised person.
Giving false or misleading information to the Commission or the Licensing Authority (Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council).
Making An Application
Should you wish to apply please complete the application form and return it along with the form of certified members duly signed by all parties. The fee for a new application is £40.00.
Application Forms & Guidance Notes
Small Society Lottery Guidance Notes.pdf
Lotteries and the Law.pdf
Form to Name Certifying Members.pdf | <urn:uuid:574e8664-fc87-451d-829c-14c33eb8a9b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.merthyr.gov.uk/English/LeisureAndCulture/ArtsAndEntertainment/Pages/LicenceLottery.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943321 | 1,245 | 2.3125 | 2 |
22. Red Roses, Golden Arrows
Foreword: The Tooks make a banner of their own for Pippin to carry as he rides out to battle the Ruffians.
Pimmie shook out the banner so everyone could see it entire. Pervinca reached out and stretched it to its full width. Pearl leaned forward, studying the stitching of some of the roses; she had fussed endlessly over them. Eglantine picked up a fringed edge, rubbing it between her fingers as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Oh, my dears, it really is beautiful," she said. "Don’t you think so, Paladin?"
The Thain of the Shire nodded slowly, his face full of pride. "Yes, it is, Tina. All of you have done a wonderful job." His jaw tightened. "And now those ruffians will get a fine reminder of what it means to challenge the Tooks. This makes a splendid device for Peregrin to carry as he rides forth—a lucky thing it was almost done already."
The Took ladies had begun to sew and embroider the banner nearly six weeks ago, soon after Sharkey and his men had arrived and started their destruction in late September. Paladin had sent the messenger from Lotho Sackville-Baggins on his way with a warning that anyone who presumed to enter the Tookland without the Thain’s permission would be shot on sight. The Big Folk had laughed at that, they heard later, certain no hobbits would dare to kill them. But they stopped laughing after the first round of skirmishes, when they crawled back to their holes with many dead or wounded by the Took archers’ arrows.
It was Pimpernel who suggested one night at dinner that the Tooks ought to have a banner of some sort to fly over Great Smials, as both a gesture of defiance and a reminder of independence. All, particularly her sisters and mother, greeted her idea with great enthusiasm. The next morning, Eglantine rummaged through the storeroom where she kept the spare cloth, and found a good-sized square of forest green velvet.
"The color is just right since we live in the Green Hills, isn’t it?" she asked.
Pearl in turn contrived the design of a golden bow and arrows intertwined with and surrounded by red and white roses that honored their mother’s name. All the hobbit women in Great Smials formed a sewing circle and set to work with a will. They stitched and embroidered as though their lives depended on it, but none worked harder than Pearl.
She had been consumed by anxiety from the day the Tooks learned that Pippin, Merry and Frodo had ridden off together into the wild. Now she sewed until her eyes watered and her fingers bled, as though making the banner would somehow bring her kin back to the Shire safe and sound. She even set her two little girls, Amethyst and Lilac, to tatting fringe for the edges. Pimmie sewed on it as well, between the patrols she insisted on riding with her male cousins; she was one of the best archers in the family and was determined to make the ruffians pay in blood for what they were doing to the Shire.
By early November, it was almost finished, with only one strip of fringe left to attach. And then that very night, Pippin rode up to Great Smials, tall and proud in his sable and silver livery. His stunned family welcomed him with endless tears, kisses, and embraces, amazed at both his sudden return and his long journeys. When he declared he would be riding out again in the morning with a squadron of Took archers to help end Sharkey’s rule, his mother and sisters sat up half the night in flickering candlelight to complete the banner, so Pippin could carry it with him.
Paladin slipped the banner onto the staff in his hands and looked at the others. "Come," he said, "it’s time."
They walked in silence to the Great Door and stepped out. There, Pippin sat on his pony, a hundred archers mounted behind him, awaiting his command. Paladin marched down the flight of stairs and thrust the banner up to his son.
"Your battle standard, Peregrin," he said in a choked voice. "I know you will ride under it with courage—you have shown so much already. I am so very proud of you." He grasped Pippin’s hand firmly.
Pippin looked down at Paladin, and then turned his gaze to his mother and sisters standing on the stoop. "I will, Father, you needn’t worry about that." He smiled. "And I will be back sooner than you can imagine." He lifted his arm and brought it down sharply. "We ride!"
Everyone spurred their ponies into a gallop as they headed north to Hobbiton. Pippin raised the banner into the wind as he rode, letting it wave, the green and gold and red blazing in the autumn sunshine. His family watched as they held hands. Pearl turned to Pimmie, her face filled with concern.
"Will he be fine, do you think?"
Pimmie smiled. "Oh yes, Pippin will be just fine." She put her arm around Pearl’s waist. "He’s all grown up now, and not afraid of anything." She laughed then, her eyes shining. "We’re free, free for good—didn’t you know?"
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author. | <urn:uuid:4058b2c3-0c68-462f-8b95-b60676dcdaf5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.henneth-annun.net/challenge/chapter_view.cfm?ngid=97&stid=2223&spordinal=22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977556 | 1,316 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Senator Wants Federal Data Protection Law
These clouds look less fluffy than usual.
CREDIT: The Planet, via Flickr
The U.S. Senate will consider a bill aimed at protecting citizens' personal information from online data theft, and penalizing companies that don't adequately store and safeguard their customers' personal information.
Introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the Personal Data Protection and Breach Accountability Act of 2011 would force companies that hold online information for more than 10,000 people to follow strict guidelines to ensure the data is stored correctly, the New York Times reported.
The bill would impose fines on companies who don't follow the guidelines and leave customer data open to compromise , and open the door for customers to sue companies that don't adequately protect their data.
Blumenthal's bill would put the U.S. government in line with states such as Massachusetts, which has legislation that fines companies that improperly protect residents' digital data.
An impetus behind the bill, Blumenthal told the Times, is Sony's massive mishandling of personal data earlier this year, which put the personal data of more than 100 million customers at risk.
"The Sony data breach has become a poster child of why we need this law," Blumenthal told the Times. "We were working on this legislation before that data breach occurred, but Sony is a good example of why this law should exist."
Sony may be the most notable data breach of the year, but it's certainly not the only breach. Last week, Stanford University Hospital confirmed that the medical records of 20,000 emergency room patients were accidentally posted on a commercial website for nearly a year.
In the past few months, customers' personal online information has been exposed during breaches at Yale University , Purdue University, the Texas state comptroller's office and the University of Wisconsin.
- ((CONLINK|6828|How to Disappear Almost Completely â? | <urn:uuid:8c10b64c-f331-44a0-a050-bf918de6df94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technewsdaily.com/7155-senator-wants-federal-data-protection-law.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952007 | 390 | 2.28125 | 2 |
World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Costa Rica : Indigenous peoples
|Publisher||Minority Rights Group International|
|Publication Date||3 June 2008|
|Cite as||Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Costa Rica : Indigenous peoples, 3 June 2008, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749d3753.html [accessed 25 May 2013]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
Updated on 3 June 2008
Most of Costa Rica's indigenous peoples live in the isolated stretches of jungle near the Panamanian border in the south of the country. Twelve ethnic groups exist, although only six languages have survived and are now encouraged by government legislation that allows for bilingual education. The two largest groups are the Cabecares and the Bribris. Compared to the rest of the society the indigenous population generally lacks access to schools, health care, electricity and drinking water.
The Bribri culture has remained vibrant across several generations. This includes maintaining religion, agricultural practices, and respect and coexistence with nature. They continue to use and teach the Bribri language, which further aids in cultural preservation.
In 1973 the government set up the National Commission for Indigenous Affairs (CONAI) as the official institution for improving socio/economic and cultural situation of the indigenous population.
Later in 1977, the government passed the Indigenous Law that created the reserves and authorized measures to preserve indigenous language and culture.
CONAI is in dire need of funding and has been subject to the usual government neglect.
The indigenous people only earned their right to vote in 1994.
Indigenous peoples are supposed to participate in the management of their own affairs through CONAI but they complain that organization is fragmented and under funded and has not been very efficient or effective.
Many community leaders have complained that the government has not adequately protected indigenous land rights. On many reserves, most of the land has fallen into the hands of non-indigenous Costa Rican ranchers and farmers. In other areas, the reserves are threatened by mining and petroleum exploration, moves which have been sanctioned by successive amendments to the 1977 law.
The main issues affecting indigenous people are therefore encroachment on indigenous traditional lands, environmental degradation, unemployment and the lack of job opportunities on or near reservations. The loss of traditional agricultural practices, malnutrition, and lack of access to credit are also of concern as there is no legal formula for providing guarantees on communal properties. Concomitant to all this is family disintegration due to urban migration of youth in search of work.
The San Jose based organization Sejekto handles some of these complaints and has become the voice for those disillusioned with official organizations. The efforts of this NGO resulted in the 1994 establishment of the first private commercial indigenous bank in Latin America. It is designed to provide credit and other services to indigenous individuals and communities especially producers such as artisans and small-scale farmers.
Indigenous groups in Costa Rica are also using radio to preserve their cultures and traditions, resolve community problems and spread news from their villages in their own languages.
Health care has improved although it is still difficult to get necessary medical attention in remote areas of the country. Several new clinics have been built, but doctors are only available about two days a week. The incidence of mortality from disease is still far higher among indigenous people than the rest of the Costa Rican population. Clean water supply is limited and the principal cause of death among indigenous children is diarrhea.
Since 2000 a significant number of new elementary schools have been constructed however there are only two high schools on indigenous territory. Both of which were built through foreign cooperation. Bilingual education although sanctioned has no direct budget which hampers development of teaching materials and training of the indigenous teachers who are best able to transmit the traditional values and culture.
Indigenous groups in Costa Rica continue to be opposed to the El Diquis hydro-electric project which the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) plans to build in the southern province of Puntarenas.
The project which the government of Costa Rica recently declared to be in the "National interest" will flood the traditional lands of the Terraba and Chinakicha Nations. It would also have an indirect effect on the Curre, Boruca, Guaymi, Bribi, Ujarras, Cabagra and Salitre Peoples; who together represent nearly one half of Costa Rica's indigenous population.
Besides causing forced displacement, the project is likely to compromise and infringe upon indigenous beliefs and cultures. There are over 200 historical sites including ancient ruins and sacred grounds with burial areas which would all be destroyed by the flood waters.
Indigenous critics charge that despite being a signatory of both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and ILO Convention 169 the government of Costa Rica failed to consult with affected Indigenous groups in any meaningful manner before considering the project's viability.
Indigenous organizations such as the Association for the Defence of the Indigenous Rights of the Terraba, claim that what the ICE referred to as formal consultations was more of propaganda campaign to which the community was subjected with the specific aim of deceiving them.
Consequently indigenous activists have called on the government to respect the Rights and Territories of the Traditional Peoples in Costa Rica and stated their intention use every legal recourse to struggle for their lands and cultures.
As of February 2008 several other indigenous, campesino, and environmental groups have announced their support for what is set to develop into a National Movement for Indigenous Rights in Costa Rica. | <urn:uuid:5369b91e-f133-4842-9663-d8c706d5d163> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=type&type=COUNTRYREP&publisher=&coi=CRI&docid=49749d3753&skip=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956729 | 1,180 | 3.15625 | 3 |
- Infowars - http://www.infowars.com -
Face Scanners To Catch Underage Drinkers
May 13, 2008
Underage drinkers who attempt to buy alcohol may be thwarted by the technology that police use to identify suspected criminals.
A supermarket chain is introducing face recognition cameras to prevent staff mistakenly selling cigarettes and alcohol to under-18s.
The biometric technology is being piloted by Budgens at one of its London branches.
If successful, it could be rolled out across the country to create a database of youngsters who try to buy alcohol.
The system alerts a cashier if it ‘recognises’ someone who has previously been unable to prove they are 18.
It is believed to be the first time a British retailer has used the technology in this way.
The software takes measurements between key points on the face to make a template of a person’s features that is stored as a “token”.
Customers’ images are monitored and relayed to a control centre to be compared with under-18s already on record.
Future options include other retailers linking the scheme to their shops to create a giant database.
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Article printed from Infowars: http://www.infowars.com
URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/face-scanners-to-catch-underage-drinkers/
Copyright © 2013 Infowars. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:26226351-66ca-4732-8325-7d044d88f677> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infowars.com/face-scanners-to-catch-underage-drinkers/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915428 | 333 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The origin of Fort Dodge, now the Kansas Soldiers Home on Highway 400, just east of Dodge City, Kansas dates back to 1847, when Fort Mann was established at the Cimarron Crossing on the Santa Fe Trail a few miles west of the present Fort Dodge.
Col. Gilpin's volunteers were garrisoned at Fort Mann to protect Santa Fe Trail traffic from Indian attacks. His recommendation for several adobe posts along the course of the Trail were well received by the War Department and led to the establishment of Fort Dodge, Kansas at the close of the Civil War.
The importance of posts such as Fort Dodge in ensuring peaceful passage along the trail and eventual settling of the area and establishment of cities, such as Dodge City, has never been adequately recognized. Intensity of Indian assaults along the routes had resulted in suspension of mail service and lost travel by 1864.
Major General Grenville Dodge was placed in command of the 11th and 16th Kansas Calvary Regiments and began work during the harsh winter of 1865, to repair telegraph lines and reopen travel routes. The Indians usually refrained from combat in winter months.
The new post was ordered built on March 17, 1865, between two fordable crossings, The Mulberry 17 miles to the east, and the Cimarron 22 miles to the west. This was on the established Santa Fe Trail route called The Wet Route. About one mile to the east of the new Fort Dodge The Dry Route of the Santa Fe Trail merged with The Wet Route. The post rested in a narrow pasture off the river bank, overlooked by a limestone bluff to the north. This bluff extended into open plain where ravines proved handy to Indians approaching the fort, usually to steal horses and livestock.
Initial fortifications were crude earth dugouts excavated along the north bank of the Arkansas. Many men first stationed there were Confederates who preferred a fight with the Indians to lauguishing, perhaps dying, in northern prisons.
The soldiers had no lumber or hardware, so they had to use the available materials, grass and earth, to create the 70 sod dugouts. These were 10 X 12 feet in circumference and seven feet deep. A door to the south faced the river and a hole in the roof admitted air and light. Banks of earth were bunks for the soddies that slept from two to four men. Sanitation was poor and spring rains flooded the dugouts.
Pneumonia, dysentery, diarrhea and malaria were common that first year in the isolated fort. The General decided the soldiers named the dismal fort "Dodge" in its unpromising start to get even with him for bringing them there. The War Department made it official.
First shipments of lumber arrived in the summer of 1866 and officer's quarters and a temporary hospital were erected, still sod with wooden bunks. Supply houses and a horse corral were the first permanent building of lumber. A field oven was the first piece of army equipment that improved the soldiers' lot at the post. In early fort times a sutler's store was built and immediately the Sutler took advantage of the soldier's with pay in their pockets. When they began quarrying stone five to twelve miles to the North, desertion became on acute problem. It was a choice between hard work with the stone or facing the Indians.
A 43,000 acre military reservation was established. A cemetery, and guardhouse were built, along with a supply store for destitute civilians off the barren plains, who were sometimes victims of Indian raids. During the next two years, permanent facilities built of limestone were erected, including two barracks, a hospital, quartermaster buildings, a headquarters building and commanding officer's quarters. Several of these buildings still stand and are in use today, including the commanding officer's quarters, now the residence of the Superintendent of the Kansas Soldier's Home.
Both civilians and soldiers quarried the stone utilizing 60 teamsters and 200 mules to haul it. Lt. George A Hesselberger directed the construction. He demonstated a taste for durability and subtle beauty that is still apparent in those buildings still in use at the Fort.
Stones used were of varying length, but were cut to 18 inches in height and two foot thickness. Each barracks held 50 men and was equipped with a kitchen, mess room, 2nd dormitory. Latrines were erected behind the barracks. The hospital had a ward room, adequate for the sick of four companies, as well as an administration section and kitchen.
The Commanding Officer's quarters was the only two story structure on the post. The bottom floor had administrative rooms where the Commanding Officer could host fellow officers or hold court martials. The second floor, provided with rifle ports, was for family use. There were blacksmith shops to keep horses shod and sixty wagons in repair. Two large corrals of sod for the quartermaster and cavalry with four feet thick walls kept the Indians from raiding the supply of mounts and also protected horses and herds from the severe winters of those first years.
Negro troops that made up a large part of the population of the post after the Civil War were segregated and were housed in a 20 X 40 foot structure, part of which served as storage. They were also segregated at the hospital in a small separate frame structure. All buildings were placed in a circle facing inward to form the parade grounds.
Skilled craftsmen made from $85 to $199 a month, and unskilled laborers made $35, however, there was always a shortage of men and materials. Lumber and hardware were delivered from eastern Kansas or Santa Fe, New Mexico, where a thousand feet of board could be delivered for only $30.
Many problems encountered during the construction were local in origin, including frequent Indian attacks on the Fort, and shortages of supply wagons, and work details. Few workers could be enticed to work at hard, dirty labor for $35 a month, with the possibility of a scalping thrown in for good measure.
The men at the Fort received criticism from headquarters for their seeming lack of control of the Indians. General Marcy came out to investigate and his wagon train was attacked enroute. Once there, he sent back a critical report of the newly erected buildings, saying "quarters are so magnificent and smoothly dressed that they appeared to be designed for the National Capitol." The director of the building, Lt. Hesselberger, was singled out for criticism. His feat was rewarded with a court martial and his name on the dedication stone was covered over with a buffalo robe during subsequent ceremony's.
A barracks used once for cholera victims was converted to a recreation room. The chaplain, Major White, complained that the spiritual and cultural life of the men was neglected, while their less noble interests were catered to. As a result, church services were held in the building on Sunday, although the chaplain complained frequently of having to conduct his worship rites from a pool table.
Life was hard on the plains, and desertions were frequent. Dr. Tremaine, the post surgeon, was an advocate of better treatment and reduction of unnecessary hardships for the troopers.
In addition to providing protection for commercial trade routes, Fort Dodge also provided safeguards for frontier communities, including Dodge City, Kansas. The Fort distributed food and water to civilians during th esevere winter of 1874, just two years after the establishmennt of Dodge City. It also contributed a column to the Dodge City newspaper on military and social activities at the post.
The Sutler's store was a very popular spot on the reservation. Whiskey could be served from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. each evening, with three drinks allowed per man. However, it appeared the count was not always accurate, since drunkenness was a common offense. The guard house, an 18 by 28 foot structure, was always full, even though reserved for the worst offenders.
Fort Dodge's cemetery held the bodies of many of Dodge City's early day residents, as well as those of the post inhabitants. One of these is Edward Masterson, brother of Bat, who was buried after being shot by a drunken gunfighter. The saying then was "The rich are buried at the Fort and the cowhands and poor are buried on Boot Hill and gone to hell."
As civilization advanced, the Indians found no sanctuary from the white man's army. General William T. Sherman, a typical example of the military mind set then, was sure that all attempts at civilization of the Indian was ricdiculous. Extermination or reduction of their status to that of paupers with complete dependence on the government was his idea for their fate. Many easterners were shocked at the treatment of the Indian. The men on the frontier had reason to complain of the Easterners lack of comprehension of the savagery of the Indian.
With the coming of the railroad to Dodge City in 1872, and the threat of extinction of the buffalo, the Indians conducted a final outburst of violence in an attempt to preserve their livelihood. At that time, buffalo hides were selling for $3.50 each and plenty of hunters were on the scene to benefit from the price. By 1873, most of the buffalo had been anihilated, even to the south of the Arkansas river where the Medicine Lodge supposedly protected the buffalo and Indian's rights. In 1874 the army renewed engagements against the Indians, for asserting their rights by attacks to the north of the Arkansas River. General Nelson Miles kept up these attacks until the spirit of the Plains Indians was broken, and their wild and Independent culture had virtually disappeared
Between 1870 and 1875, more new buildings went up at Fort Dodge. Eleven sets of officer and family quarters were erected, as well as buildings for civilian employees. A new guardhouse replaced the old, overcrowded original structure. A grainery for storing one million pounds of grain was also erected. Between 1874 and 1882 military life on the post was fairly stable. Most excitement came out of Dodge City where trail herds waited to be sold. Longhorns strayed onto the reservation, sometimes tearing down laundry and threatening soldiers and their families.
In 1878 there were 100,000 cattle driven to Dodge City. Poor relations existed between the cowboys and the soldiers. A uniformed man could not enter town without being harassed by a cowman, often aided by a local lawman. The drinking establishments often took advantage of the soldiers.
At one time in 1877 Col. William Lewis took a detachment and marched on the city. The town judge hoisted a white flag and arbitration ensued. Dodge City's famed "Peace Commission" was formed during the Saloon Wars of 1883, with the help of Col. Richard Dodge, who was furious when his personal servant, a young black, was shot and left to die in the street. The Commission had on its roster such famed names as Wyatt Earp, W. H. Harris, W. F. Petillon, Luke Short, Charlie Bassett, Frank McLain, Neal Brown and Bat Masterson.
The last of the Indian scares was an attempted migration by the Cheyennes under Dull Knife, from El Reno, Oklahoma to their former home in South Dakota. during the Indian's march through Kansas, several dozen settler's were killed. Although several Indians were brought back to Topeka for trial, with Ford County Attorney Michael Sutton as prosecuting attorney, the natives were acquitted for lack of evidence.
In December 1880, some of Fort Dodge's reserved Lands were opened to homesteaders. The first 75 homesteaders were claimed by Dodge City residents that included gamblers, saloon keepers, prostitutes, and a few actual homesteaders. In 1889, the rest of the area was opened, creating a real land rush.
On April 5, 1882 the Fort was abandoned by the U.S. Army. The last of the troops marched southward to Camp Supply when the flag was lowered on October 2, 1882. Fort Dodge, Guardian of the commercial frontier, the cattleman and homesteader, had fulfilled its purpose.
For the next eight years the land and Fort were managed by a Department of Interior custodian. One of these, Dodge City entrepreneur Robert Wright, managed to exploit the facilities by housing drovers who awaited the sale of their cattle, and by purchasing land surrounding the Fort with money he earned selling whiskey and buffalo hides. In January 1890, Fort Dodge was deeded to the State of Kansas for use as a Soldiers Home.
Old troopers began arriving. Most of them were Civil War veterans. Others were veterans of the Mexican and Indian Wars, many of whom had served with great honor in the Army. Records show these early residents did not always retire peacefully. Many were dismissed from the Soldiers' Home for quarrelsomeness, drunkenness, and the like. Even croquet had to be abandoned as a form of recreation when the mallets proved to be to handy a weapon to settle quarrels among the oldsters.
Eventually, dependents and relatives of Kansas veterans were admitted along with Confederate and Negro veterans.
The Kansas Soldiers Home now includes a library/museum, a modern intensive nursing home, a recreation center, five residence halls, and 60 cottages. Names of the streets and buildings honor great American Presidents and military heros, including Eisenhower, Nimitz, Sheridan, Garfield, Custer, Lincoln, Dewey and Walt. Veterans of the Mexican, Civil, Indian, Spanish-American, Philippines, Boxer Rebellion, World War I, and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars have all been occupants.
The peaceful park, quiet shaded tree lined walks, dignified buildings, both old and new, and other markers seem a far cry from the dugouts and forsaken soldiers barely existing on the Arkansas River bank in 1865.
Fort Dodge has a new cemetery which was opened in 2002 called the
Kansas Veterans' Cemetery
"Visit The Gift Shop At Fort Dodge, Kansas"
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St. John, Ks. | <urn:uuid:ff00b979-2ca2-49b8-a927-2f1ab450d1d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/research/fort-dodge.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982967 | 2,887 | 3.8125 | 4 |
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Sharsheret provides culturally sensitive support to young Jewish women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer as well as to those facing the risk of developing breast cancer, and offers related resources for Jewish communities and health care organizations.
Sharsheret is a national organization of cancer survivors dedicated to addressing the unique concerns of young Jewish women facing breast cancer. Sharsheret, Hebrew for "chain," was founded in 2001 by Rochelle Shoretz, a former Law Clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recognized the need for a breast cancer organization that would provide culturally sensitive support for Jewish women after her own diagnosis at age 28. Since the organization's founding, Sharsheret has responded to thousands of phone calls from health care professionals, Jewish organizations, women's organizations, women affected by breast cancer, their families, and friends. Sharsheret's efforts to support young women and educate health care professionals have been recognized with prestigious awards and significant media coverage. The organization has been featured in more than 75 publications and media outlets nationwide, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Self Magazine, and CBS News.
The concerns of pre-menopausal women facing breast cancer are unique. Young women are dating, marrying, having children, and raising children. Their cancers tend to be more aggressive, may result in early menopause, and are associated with higher mortality rates, yet breast cancer research studies often fail to include pre-menopausal women. Young Jewish women face additional concerns, including:
According to a 2001 assessment of the breast cancer needs of young women commissioned by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, "Young women need to be able to see and talk to young survivors in order to believe it's possible to survive breast cancer and they are not alone." Information provided to young women "should be targeted; women need to perceive information as personally relevant to women in their age group and culture."
Sharsheret's Link Program provides a culturally sensitive peer support network that targets the particular concerns of each caller in a program designed to accommodate the active lives of younger women. Sharsheret's programs also provide an avenue for young survivors to shape their own difficult cancer experiences into empowering opportunities to support those diagnosed after them. Sharsheret Outreach and Education Programs educate general breast cancer organizations about the concerns unique to Jewish women so that those organizations may better serve the needs of their Jewish patients. Sharsheret is the only national organization addressing the concerns of Jewish women of all backgrounds fighting a disease that has significantly impacted Jewish women and men in ways Sharsheret will explore and address in the years ahead. | <urn:uuid:e1dfd6c7-0f3b-48a1-b5c0-c32e6306fa6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gloriagemma.org/resources_view.php/647/69/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948176 | 604 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Battery life has long been the Achilles heel of laptops, and whole-day duration a promise yet to be fulfilled, but a new start-up is taking a different approach to solving this issue by working on laptops so energy efficient they'll supposedly be able to run on a standard battery for 20 to 40 hours before needing a recharge.
That could be possible through ultra-low power screens
developed by Mary Lou Jepsen, the former head of Intelís display division and chief technology officer at OLPC. Such screens are one of the key features on the XO laptop, they cost a third that of traditional LCD screens and use about a tenth of the power. Increased battery life is just one of the advantages this technology brings, however, as they are also touted as being readable in direct sunlight and having a fully saturated HDTV-quality color mode.
The company, Pixel Qi, expects to begin shipping the screens for laptops and e-books as soon as the second half of 2009 and plans to develop entire laptop and PC designs around its new technology to create the most power efficient models possible. | <urn:uuid:402aa875-97d2-4801-8835-952f61a40a0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techspot.com/news/32656-start-up-works-to-raise-laptop-battery-life-up-to-40-hours.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963659 | 221 | 2.1875 | 2 |
EU funded UNESCO project to encourage people to make use of their Right to Information
An important and timely initiative to encourage citizens to claim their rights according to Nepal’s 2007 Right to Information Act has just started with the launch of the project “Empowering people to enjoy their Right to Information for greater accountability of Nepal’s power holders”.
The project, which is funded by the European Union under its European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, will be managed by UNESCO. The European Union has extended a contribution of EUR 290,000 (NPR 20.9 Million) for the EUR 365,000 project.
Main project partners are the Federation of Nepali Journalists, representing a majority of Nepal’s journalists, and Citizen’s Campaign for Right to Information, specialized in campaigning related to the Right to Information.
"The European Union has stepped in to support the efforts of its partners in ensuring the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act since it is hoped that doing so will contribute to better good governance, more transparency, accountability and democratic consolidation in the long run," says Alexander Spachis, Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to Nepal.
“One of the cornerstones of the success of Nepal’s peace process is an open and informed society. The project intends to improve transparency and accountability of decision-making”, says Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu.
Nepal adopted the Right to information Act in 2007 with great expectations for improved transparency and accountability of the government. Despite the legal guarantee and the establishment of the Nepal Information Commission, the implementation of the law has been facing challenges. The aim of the RTI Act, to make the decision-making transparent and hold the State accountable, is still far from being realized. People do not have easy access to public information, and public agencies are not proactively providing this information.
Working with three main target groups: journalists, local “change agents” and government officials, the project aims to improve the transparency of Nepal’s government and the accountability of decision-making through a broader implementation of the Right to Information Act.
It works towards three specific objectives: citizens have access to information that is relevant to them and are hence motivated to exercise their democratic rights; journalists recognize their role as the watchdogs of the power holders and proactively seek and publish correct and timely information; and local level government officials understand their role as public servants and are more willing to share public information.
The project will contribute to foster transparent and inclusive decision-making processes and prevalence of democratic practices within the political institutions and increased media-responsiveness.
Launched in 2006, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) aims to provide support for the promotion of democracy and human rights in non-EU countries.
UNESCO’s mandate as set out in its 1945 Constitution specifically calls on the Organization to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the fundamental right of freedom of expression encompasses the freedom to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
Kathmandu, 20 February 2013
Press release UNESCO/KAT 04/2013 | <urn:uuid:6a116feb-f2a4-4e35-b8e9-20137a4713ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unesco.org/new/en/kathmandu/about-this-office/single-view/news/eu_funded_unesco_project_to_encourage_people_to_make_use_of_their_right_to_information/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925941 | 680 | 2.484375 | 2 |
IPhone apps as kids are a significant emerging aspiration. string the fall of 2008, there were only a handful of iPhone apps considering kids in the App Store. 1 bout later, magnetism the Education collection (curtain close to 6000 apps) on the iTunes App Store, half of the inauguration 100 Paid Apps are iPhone applications for children. Many of those are iTouch apps since kids designed owing to toddlers and preschoolers.
Apple itself recognizes the importance of this extra emerging market. During the week of October 5, 2009, Apple featured 10 iPhone applications whereas offspring. These apps were included in the “Apps for Toddlers” promotion thanks to “App Store Essentials” on the Homepage of the App food. There is also a Kids Games category in the App Store further featured iPhone “Apps for Kids” under the Children’s bebop category in iTunes. magnetism addition, microcosm has also featured <a href=http://www.swagsoft.com>best iphone apps owing to kids</a> in its commercials. | <urn:uuid:d2e896cc-9f7e-4084-8e8a-e0fa766eff9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crunchbase.com/person/aldric-chang | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945165 | 221 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Mar. 13, 2012 "Bows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air;" we've looked at clouds that way. But the interface between clouds and clear air isn't as well-defined as these imaginative shapes might lead us to believe. Detecting that hazy line can help scientists to better understand the processes that lead to cloud formation, which is important for good weather forecasts and climate modeling. Now atmospheric scientists from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom have designed a sunlight-measuring tool that uses the natural swinging and spinning of a rising weather balloon to distinguish clouds from clear air and may provide higher-resolution measurements of cloud boundaries than is currently possible.
The researchers describe their device in a paper published in the American Institute of Physics' journal Review of Scientific Instruments.
Traditional cloud detection using weather balloons relies on measurements of temperature and relative humidity. The Reading researchers reasoned that they could sense clouds optically, using a simple and inexpensive design: a light sensor carried on a weather balloon. This sensor responds to the intensity of light, producing a maximum reading when pointing directly at the Sun in clear air but reduced readings at oblique angles to the Sun. As the sensor swings beneath a moving balloon, its orientation to the Sun changes continually, resulting in large fluctuations in the sensor's light intensity readings in cloudless conditions. But inside a cloud -- where light intensity is roughly the same in all directions -- the fluctuations become much smaller. The team showed that cloud edges could be detected by looking for an abrupt change in the size of these fluctuations.
Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the new instrument worked consistently over the wide range of temperatures that weather balloons encounter. In test flights, the optical technique was able to detect cloud boundaries with greater precision than traditional relative humidity measurements alone. Though this method works best to detect the upper boundaries of clouds, the researchers say that the new system could also be used to determine lower boundaries of clouds in broken cloud conditions or for high-level clouds.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
- Keri A. Nicoll and Giles Harrison. Balloon-borne disposable radiometer for cloud detection. Review of Scientific Instruments, 2012
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:1f16f5cd-953b-42ee-b968-914bdec6cffa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313092056.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927002 | 453 | 4 | 4 |
Activity 5: Training seminars and workshops
Training workshop on calibration
hosted by Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia
Regional Instrument Centre (RIC)
Ljubljana, 10 – 14 May 2010
The WMO project on “Regional cooperation in South Eastern Europe for meteorological, hydrological and climate data management and exchange in support of disaster risk reduction” (DRR/SEE Project), financed by the Directorate General Enlargement of the European Commission, includes an activity on enhancing the capacity of the NMHSs of the Western Balkans countries for standardized calibration and maintenance of observational instruments. The main objecrtive of the activity is to ensure sustainable quality of the meteorological and hydrological data produced and exchanged in the region.
The proposed capacity building activity is divided in two components: i) An assessment mission to each target country, and ii) a Training Workshop on Calibration at the Regional Instrument Centre, Slovenia. The Workshop is intended for NMHSs of the countries participating in the DRR/SEE Project.
Training workshop is proposed for two persons from each NMHS involved in the calibration and maintenance (preferably: a calibration laboratory manager and a technician). First two days are dedicated to quality assurance issues, last three days of workshop will be dedicated to practical work in laboratory. Managers are invited to be present during the first two days and technical personal will be present all five days of the workshop.
Participants in the practical part of the workshop will be divided into two groups:
1. Group A: Participants with good knowledge of calibration methods (their national NMHSs have a calibration laboratory in their service). Practical work will be focused on calibration methods and uncertainty evaluation of precise electronic instruments for temperature, relative humidity and air pressure.
2. Group B: Participants with some knowledge of calibration methods (their NMHSs do not have a calibration laboratory in their service). Practical work will be focused on calibration of classical instruments for temperature, relative humidity and air pressure instruments. Calibration and use of travelling standards will also be described. | <urn:uuid:5a0ed094-d61a-4f0c-aead-1a689d556187> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/dra/eur/DRR_SEEProject_workshop_calibr.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912285 | 427 | 1.8125 | 2 |
What others are saying about the Taxonomy, continued
"Using Taxonomy codes has made searching easier and faster. We would be lost without it!"
-Betty Hanacek and Marioly Botero, United Way 211, Atlanta
"When Points of Light wanted to develop our own Taxonomy we found out who the expert was and it was AIRS and Georgia Sales, and together we were able to create a taxonomy for volunteer opportunities and volunteers within the AIRS/211 LA Taxonomy. This was one of the best partnerships I’ve experienced: Points of Light had the subject expertise and volunteer reviewers and Georgia had the encyclopedic knowledge of how to develop a taxonomy, and the framework of codes that saved us time, energy and effort."
—David Styers, Points of Light Foundation
The Taxonomy serves as the underlying structure for our Community Disaster Information System. We have found the Taxonomy to be the most comprehensive categorization of community-based resources for disaster preparedness and response."
—Douglas Troy, Professor, Miami University
"A well-structured and rich controlled vocabulary for human services."
—Dr Ali Shiri, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta
"The taxonomy would enhance open access to government as navigating through it is very intuitive and straightforward."
—Andrew LeFrancq, Ministry of Government Services, Ontario Government
"Like the Dewey Decimal System, the Taxonomy gives information and referral systems around the country a common structure for coding human services in their communities."
-Carol Davis, United Way of Connecticut/2-1-1 Infoline
"The AIRS/211 LA County Taxonomy is particularly helpful because of its flexibility. The five level system permits small and large organizations to index at the level best suited to their needs."
-Diane Gatto, United Way 211/First Call for Help, Cleveland
"As the health and human services field changes, so does the Taxonomy. The fact that the Taxonomy includes 'see also' and 'use references' is invaluable, as they make it easier to find the correct term and explore other options while indexing your database."
-Cathleen Kelly, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Mental Health Association of NYC
"As we confront process and technological challenges of merging databases, the Taxonomy has given us a common language to talk about services. It was an easy decision for us to adopt the Taxonomy as a cornerstone of how we will provide information about services in Nebraska."
-Nancy Shank, University of Nebraska Public Policy Center
"TAXONOMY is one of a small number of critical standards for bringing the field of I&R out of the shadows. Without a standard, there is no system. And without a system , we will never have the visibility we need to fulfill our mission. I urge you to use it."
-Gil Evans, Past President, AIRS
"The AIRS/211 LA County Taxonomy is one of the best examples of a highly detailed and precise taxonomy designed especially for information and referral (I&R) programs. We commend this taxonomy to I&R programs looking for good models."
"We appreciate the Taxonomy's precise structure and carefully worded and defined individual terms. We can't imagine managing our resource database without the Taxonomy.
- We've learned how to customize it to meet our own needs by deciding what level we want to index any given concept. Rather than using all of the nearly 7,000 service terms (not counting the additional 1,300 target terms), we've settled on a manageable core set of about 1,300 terms. And we use a fairly small set of target terms to focus the indexing more precisely when that's needed.
- If we can't figure out how to index a concept, we post a note to the AIRS Taxonomy Listserv and invariably get useful advice from other users. If it turns out that no appropriate Taxonomy term exists, one generally gets created and shared with us.
- When new updates are released to subscribers, we run a special utility that our software developer created to integrate new and changed terms into the Taxonomy embedded in our resource database.
- Best of all, we can focus our attention on keeping our resource data accurate and up-to-date rather than on maintaining the Taxonomy.
"Life is good for us with the AIRS/211 LA County Taxonomy!"
-Dick Manikowski, Detroit Public Library - TIP Service | <urn:uuid:69f28def-24c6-425c-a419-766896d6d503> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.211taxonomy.org/resources/quotes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920306 | 927 | 1.65625 | 2 |
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ScienceDaily are reporting: New Wound Dressing May Lead To Maggot Therapy Without The Maggots
Scientists in the United Kingdom have developed a new wound dressing that could bring the benefits of maggot therapy to patients without putting live Greenbottle fly (blowfly) larvae into non-healing wounds.
The joint research project of Stephen Britland from Bradford University and David Pritchard of Nottingham University included colleagues from the Bradford-based biotechnology company AGT Sciences Ltd. It describes development and preliminary testing in laboratory cell cultures of the new hydrogel dressing in a report scheduled for publication in the Oct. 6 issue of the ACS bimonthly journal Biotechnology Progress.
The researchers note resurgence in medical use of larval biotherapy -- intentionally introducing blowfly maggots into non-healing wounds to clean away dead tissue.
Medical use of the technique led to observations suggesting that maggots' excretions and secretions (ESs) also may encourage regeneration of tissue and wound healing. Realizing that the ESs would have to be delivered in a controlled fashion, Britland's group developed the hydrogel dressing, which slowly releases maggot ESs.
"The present prototype hydrogel wound dressing could potentially be deployed as a device to deliver insect-derived active products to skin wounds in vivo to encourage tissue regeneration." | <urn:uuid:927a18bc-7c98-4517-93c7-491c07ebf379> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.php?t=2872 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919686 | 451 | 1.820313 | 2 |
California Utilities Nail 20% Renewables Goal
Two of California’s largest utilities are now getting 20% of their energy from renewables as required by the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) – 20% by 2010.
Ok, they’re a year late, but Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. hit the target in 2011.
That’s pretty impressive considering the law was passed five years ago (in 2006) and 10 years ago, San Diego Gas & Electric sourced just 1% from renewables. Now, it’s 1.4 million customers get 20% of their electricity from renewables.
Last month, the state hit another exciting milestone – California now gets about 5% of its electricity from wind.
In 2009, California raised the bar, requiring utilities to source 33% of energy from renewables by 2020. Last year, that executive order was passed into law.
Although 29 states and Washington DC have an RPS, most are in the low, single digits. Still, most states are on track to meet those mimimal standards, which together would result in 115 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025 – representing billions in investments and clean energy jobs.
But California is one of the few states to raise the bar as the target gets close to being met – here’s why that’s important.
Once utilities get close to the mandated target they tend to pull back on further investments and even reduce incentives for homeowners and businesses to install clean energy.
Take Colorado, where some utilities are close to achieving its RPS of 30% by 2020. That achievement represents $1 billion in investment, but few see utilities continuing to spend that once the goal has been met. Instead, renewable energy tends to plateau instead of continuing to rise.
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- New CPV Efficiency Record for Amonix | <urn:uuid:7324ca9f-2817-4477-9c9d-ac6ac530bf56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.solarfeeds.com/california-utilities-nail-20-renewables-goal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916452 | 565 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Marylanders supported Question
4 and became the first state in the nation to decide by popular vote that
undocumented immigrants can be eligible for in-state college tuition if
students have attended a high school in the state for three years and if they
or their parents have paid state income taxes during that time.
Makes History – Question 6 – Marriage Equality
A tremendous stride for equal
rights and social justice was made in Maryland on election night, as voters
upheld the state’s Marriage Equality law, sending Question 6 to victory by 52%-48%. Despite losing in 18 of the 24 jurisdictions, proponents ran up big vote
numbers in Montgomery County and fought to a near draw in Frederick, Baltimore
County, and Prince George’s. Maryland was joined by voters in Maine as the
first two states to ever successfully win same-sex marriage rights at the
Expansion Approved – Question 7 Passes
After the $90 million campaign
battle between casino operators on different sides of the issue, the voters had
their say and approved Question 7, 52%-48%. Although the percentage differential was identical to that of Marriage Equality
(Question 6), the coalition of supporters was vastly different. The
county-by-county returns show proponents won 12 of the 24 jurisdictions in the
state, including sizeable majorities in Montgomery, Prince George’s, and
Approve ALL Statewide Ballot Questions
While Questions 4, 6, and 7
were the most discussed and debated, there was a total of seven statewide
ballot questions. Maryland
voters cast majority votes FOR all seven.
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Take a look at these resources on voter registrationso you understand all your voting options and can make your vote count on Election Day. | <urn:uuid:f48c2ea2-7bc5-4857-82cd-051c1396a432> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marylandeducators.org/elections/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945293 | 531 | 1.875 | 2 |
On Monday, actor Michael Douglas appeared on The Today Show for the first time since his 31-year-old son Cameron was sentenced to five years for heroin possession and conspiring to sell crystal meth.
Some commentators have claimed that Cameron’s five-year sentence—half the 10-year mandatory minimum—reflected celebrity treatment. But, celebrity scion or not, the court system grants judges latitude to consider the circumstances. In this case, Cameron’s life-ruling addiction may have influenced Judge Berman’s decision to save him from an unreasonable—and counterproductive—prison term. What he, and others struggling with substance abuse, need is comprehensive drug treatment, not simply a long stint in jail.
Cameron Douglas is a classic and tragic example of early onset drug use. In fact, as his Oscar-winning dad told Matt Lauer, his eight months under federal lockup while awaiting his sentence was his longest period of sobriety since age 13. Although Michael Douglas expressed optimism that this time, his son would kick the habit and “start afresh,” we as treatment professionals know that it’s not so simple. When someone starts using at such a young age, his addiction becomes a disease of the whole person that affects thinking, attitude, and behavior. Without treatment—no matter how long Cameron stays behind bars—his chances of long-term recovery are remote to non-existent.
While it’s unclear where Cameron will serve his time, we can only hope that Judge Berman’s recommendation to the Federal Bureau of Prisons includes appropriate time in treatment—and a parole condition that he receives continuing care. We at Phoenix House have a long history of working with parolees and ensuring that they receive the services they need to remain drug-free. These recovery management services are what will matter most in saving Cameron’s life—and preventing him from landing in jail again for drug-related crimes.
For Cameron’s sake—and the sake of the 23 million Americans who meet criteria for substance abuse—I hope that criminal justice reform brings greater recognition that addiction is a chronic medical condition. Incarcerating drug users without providing them with the help they need drains state and federal budgets and wastes taxpayer dollars. It doesn’t give substance abusers the tools to find their way, nor does it effectively fight crime. We need to get the word out: jail time alone will never work.
David Deitch, Ph.D.
Consultant and former Chief Clinical Officer, Phoenix House
Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego
Back to Index | <urn:uuid:2e6be208-bb20-497a-864c-355bc1215796> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenixhouse.org/news-and-views/our-perspectives/cameron-douglas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953836 | 535 | 1.945313 | 2 |
As a musician, jazz enthusiast, and author of numerous publications about musicians and dancers, Scott E. Brown, M.D.
, takes the business of performing arts seriously. His practice focuses on the particular needs of musicians and dancers.
A specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation and an authority in chronic pain, Dr. Brown takes a holistic approach to treatment, designing the most appropriate individual course of therapy for each patient’s unique needs. Evaluation includes a complete medical and performing history, physical examination, and biomechanical assessment.
Treatment is available for tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle cramps, myofascial pain, overuse syndromes, arthritis, chronic pain, nerve entrapment, motor control problems, low back pain, foot and ankle pain, and other joint pain.
Aside from conventional techniques, patients may be referred for complementary approaches such as acupuncture, massage and movement therapies.
Treatment may include a prescribed regimen of relative rest, special therapeutic exercise, instrument modification, injection techniques and physical therapy.
Dr. Brown is available for electrodiagnostic consultations for nerve and muscle disorders. He provides general rehabilitation for severely disabled patients, including amputees and those who have had a stroke, and addresses musculoskeletal injuries that occur in the workplace.
Scott E. Brown, M.D.
Serving as chief, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Dr. Brown has a strong interest in the physical challenges faced by performing artists. He is a past president of the Performing Arts Medicine Association. He was the initial editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, the official journal of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science.
A frequent speaker on rehabilitation issues, Dr. Brown has written for many publications about performing arts medicine, rehabilitation and workers’ compensation, and teaches the class “Anatomy and Injury Prevention for Musicians” at the Peabody Conservatory. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book, “The Life and Music of James P. Johnson – A Case of Mistaken Identity” (Scarecrow Press, 1986) as well as other articles devoted to music.
He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, pain medicine, and electrodiagnostic medicine.
To schedule a consultation, call 410-601-WELL (9355)
Musicians should bring their instruments to the appointment, if possible. Dancers should bring footwear and shorts. A piano is available in the office. | <urn:uuid:f0e9c5f4-d5fb-4066-ad98-5f65efc29da0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifebridgehealth.org/Sinai/MedicalGuidanceandTreatmentforPerformingArtists.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925465 | 522 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Lots of sites and people that and who really ought to know better are claiming that the google doodle up in honor of Alan Turing is a "Turing machine". It's not. It isn't! Just because there's a tape, that doesn't make it a Turing machine! The doodle dealy resembles far more closely google's new graphical programming language. Ok? Turing machines don't have conditional branching of control flow (or "control flow"), they don't have looping constructs, they don't finish when "control flow" goes off all the way to the right.
It is true that you could model the behavior of any of the doodle things using a Turing machine, but that's not the same.
So don't YOU be tempted to claim that it is one, either.
This is neat:
[Monica Gagliano], along with fellow researchers Stefano Mancuso and Daniel Robert, used powerful acoustic instrumentation which allowed them to hear clicking sounds coming from the roots of corn saplings. They also found that when they suspended the young roots in water and played a continuous noise at 200 Hz - a similar frequency to the clicks - the plants grew towards the source of the sound.
Gagliano and her team concluded that plants are indeed communicating with each other by making clicking sounds that travel easily through soil. It's thought that, like the methyl jasmonate, these signals are warning of incoming threats.
The discovery shows that the role of sound in plants, a field of study referred to as bioacoustics, has yet to be fully explored and understood. It's quite possible, notes Gagliano, that some form of sensitivity to sound and vibrations may also play an important role in the life of plants.
My friend finally ended her disastrous relationship and will be moving back into her own house. What would she like in her care package from me?
I have been thinking about large-scale technical failures lately, airports in particular. Denver, Heathrow, and Berlin all had major failures in attempting to expand their airports. Software that manages much larger numbers of entities then a day's worth of baggage and passengers is common, and while not easy to write, is not at all cutting-edge. For instance, cellular networks are now successfully deployed in places with very unreliable electrical infrastructure; there is open-source software for managing a cellular network.
This essay about the interface between employee workflow and software was interesting reading. People have personalities and conflicts, while cellular traffic doesn't.
She makes the point that China's terminal expansions have been successful because of heavy rehearsal. OK fine, but surprising. First off, autocratic building methodology often leads to huge resource waste and safety problems (Chinese high-speed rail, eg) rather than flawless operations and good design. This failure mode due to there being no good way to send information to decision-makers in autocracy, so they are mighty but blind. Secondly, my limited experience with Chinese organizational style suggests that there must have been extreme pressure from above for the airport expansions to go smoothly. So, in comments, please explain to me how large organizations work, both interpersonally and financially, also, please explain how to think about contemporary China.
Hawaii said "I did it like this" and so I started singing Paul Revere, and she stared at me agape for the entire thing. When I finished, she asked me to sing it again. Then she sang a bunch of jumbled up rhythmic nonsense involving punching piano players in the face. Serious highlight of parenting.
I'm going to go ahead and confess that when I pull up to a 4-way stop at the same time as other cars, I have no idea what to do. As far as I can tell, the rules are to make eye contact or wait for someone to be assertive and go. Or to just be that person.
(I know the person on the right gets to go, but I lose that thought in the moment. (( Who is furthest right in a circle?)) Especially if there are three cars present. Especially a five-way intersection with stop signs. There are several heavily trafficked four-way and one five-way that I come to often, so this comes up.)
I just picked up some raisins in order to make GORP, and I was surprised to read this tip on the "Storage & Handling" section of the label:
There are people out there plumping their raisins? To what end does one plump a raisin?
The rise and fall of adventure playgrounds in New York. I wish there were more photos in the article.
When we've taken road trips, fast food places with playscapes have been a life-saver. I find myself fascinated by their utter injury-free design. A series of tubes going up two stories, with platforms encased in netting, and a ballpit near the bottom. There is no drop more than two feet that a child can possibly find. Totally monotonous and un-inspired, but clearly designed so that an unsupervised three year old there cannot possibly get hurt.
I'm being flip about it, but I loathe the impulse to run colleges and universities more like businesses. It's not quite the "the consumer model" of higher education, where students/parents feel entitled to dictate what they want from their product. That I can at least understand - if you're going $10K in debt, you don't want to be jerked around along with it. But when the capitalist impulse comes from the administration/board of regents side of things, you end up strangling the institution.
It's just not a profitable venture to educate people. It's resource-intensive, and the benefits extend to all of society when it's done well. People like Dragas are so fucking short-sighted.
Man, these guys are really good at covering Toto's "Africa." And a bunch of other songs.
It's a weird thing to be good at: covering other people's music really well. But that's generally what I go for when I play with cover bands, so I appreciate the effort. It's not half-assed, you know?
I had no idea that sometimes the mohel sucks away the baby penis blood with his mouth. Sometimes the babies get herpes from the mohel, so they should probably stop this variant of circumcision.
There's interest in a meetup before Unfoggetarian pauses endlessly and leaves NYC. I migh or might not be able to make it, but anyone who can should come to FS after work tomorrow.
Rainbow Fish is a book I never heard of before having kids, but it's pretty popular these days. Hawaiian Punch's class created rainbow fishes at daycare, out of CDs, for example.
Plot synopsis: Rainbow fish has beautiful scales. Little blue fish asks "Can I have one of your scales?" Rainbow fish says no. Rainbow fish loses all his friends and is very unhappy. Goes on a journey to find out how to be happy. Wise old Octopus says "Give away all of your beautiful scales, and you will be happy." Rainbow fish does not like this idea at all.
Little blue fish comes around again and asks for a scale. This time Rainbow fish gives him one. Starts to feel a little better. Other fish come around and want a beautiful rainbow scale. Rainbow fish obliges and obliges until his scales are all gone. But now he has lots of friends and he's happy. The end.
According to the Wiki page, this book is controversial because it promotes socialism. In that interpretation, the beautiful scales represent wealth. BUT! OR! HEY! Possibly the beautiful scales represent beautiful scales, and the Rainbow fish literally has to give away his body to whoever wants it, in order to achieve happiness. WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK.
But obviously "Call Me Maybe" is bubble gum pop at its very finest.
To me, a light headache is the most unpleasant of the minor aches and pains. I'd rather be mildly nauseated, or have mild muscle aches and pains, or cold symptoms, than a headache. This assumes that we can compare such pains and assert that they are "equivalently bad", which we can, measured obviously in mouse-orgasms.
I do in fact have a light headache. I just took some Tylenol, though, which tends to knock them out pretty speedily. | <urn:uuid:1e56ff4f-aeae-4150-9dc2-4bc549e0c5e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unfogged.com/archives/week_2012_06_17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964671 | 1,754 | 2.59375 | 3 |
I just happened across the Help My Kid Learn website during the week and wondered how it came about. It seems that as part of the national literacy and numeracy strategy, the Department of Education and Skills (DES) asked the National Adult Literacy Agency to highlight the role that parents and communities can play in improving children’s literacy and numeracy, using media, online resources and celebrity endorsements. The website’s purpose is to provide fun activities that parents can do with their children to develop their literacy and numeracy. It includes general information, fun activities and useful tips. Help My Kid Learn is a website where people can see that supporting a child’s literacy and numeracy development is a natural, easy and fun activity that can be integrated into any part of their day.
You can choose to browse the site depending on the age of the child: 0-2, 3-4, 5-7, 8-9 or 10-12. Within each section there are suggestions for activities under the headings Talk, Play, Read, Write, Count. Some are tips, others are links to websites, activities or ebooks. It certainly looks like a good site to recommend to parents to compliment the work being done in schools. | <urn:uuid:7819d7b3-8bf6-40e5-bb1a-44b436906048> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seomraranga.com/2012/09/help-my-kid-learn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952809 | 252 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Academic Integrity is the cornerstone of a University education.
"Embedded in academic integrity are fundamental values and principles that together reinforce educational mission and academic processes..." (Drinan, 1999).
"Academic integrity... focuses on standing up for the five values fundamental to the academic process, even when it is difficult to do so. The value of academic honesty is primary and a rerequisite to the other four ... trust... fairness, respect and responsibility." "...Without trust, there are severe limits in the cooperation needed to accumulate knowledge or verify the achievement of requisite skills and perspectives among students... Fairness guarantees that students are not disadvantaged by the dishonesty of a few. Respect means acknowledging the worth and work of others and not treating them as objects. Responsibility is defined in terms of accountability... taking action in the face of wrongdoing (Drinan, 1999)."
Academic dishonesty diminishes the university as an institution and all members of the university community. With that in mind, the links to the left will redirect you to either the undergraduate or graduate Academic Integrity policies, which are available to assist the UC Santa Cruz community in defining, supporting and upholding these values essential to the academic process. | <urn:uuid:a45d525b-4ef8-48f2-a473-23b95cb76fc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucsc.edu/academics/academic-integrity/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931757 | 240 | 2.640625 | 3 |
New York Times v. United
["Pentagon Papers" Case]
THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
Decided June 30, 1971
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
403 U.S. 713
We granted certiorari in these cases in which the United States seeks to enjoin the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing the contents of a classified study entitled "History of U.S. Decision-Making Process on Viet Nam Policy."
"Any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity." Near v. Minnesota (1931). The Government "thus carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint." The District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the New York Times case, and the District Court for the District of Columbia and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in the Washington Post case, held that the Government had not met that burden. We agree.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is therefore affirmed. The order of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is reversed, and the case is remanded with directions to enter a judgment affirming the judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. The stays entered June 25, 1971, by the Court are vacated. The judgments shall issue forthwith.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK, with whom MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS joins, concurring.
....We are asked to hold that, despite the First Amendment's emphatic command, the Executive Branch, the Congress, and the Judiciary can make laws enjoining publication of current news and abridging freedom of the press in the name of "national security." The Government does not even attempt to rely on any act of Congress. Instead, it makes the bold and dangerously far-reaching contention that the courts should take it upon themselves to "make" a law abridging freedom of the press in the name of equity, presidential power and national security, even when the representatives of the people in Congress have adhered to the command of the First Amendment and refused to make such a law. To find that the President has "inherent power" to halt the publication of news by resort to the courts would wipe out the First Amendment and destroy the fundamental liberty and security of the very people the Government hopes to make "secure." No one can read the history of the adoption of the First Amendment without being convinced beyond any doubt that it was injunctions like those sought here that Madison and his collaborators intended to outlaw in this Nation for all time....MR. JUSTICE STEWART, with whom MR. JUSTICE WHITE joins, concurring.
In the governmental structure created by our Constitution, the Executive is endowed with enormous power in the two related areas of national defense and international relations. This power, largely unchecked by the Legislative and Judicial branches, has been pressed to the very hilt since the advent of the nuclear missile age. For better or for worse, the simple fact is that a President of the United States possesses vastly greater constitutional independence in these two vital areas of power than does, say, a prime minister of a country with a parliamentary form of government.
In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry -- in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For, without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.
Yet it is elementary that the successful conduct of international diplomacy and the maintenance of an effective national defense require both confidentiality and secrecy. Other nations can hardly deal with this Nation in an atmosphere of mutual trust unless they can be assured that their confidences will be kept. And, within our own executive departments, the development of considered and intelligent international policies would be impossible if those charged with their formulation could not communicate with each other freely, frankly, and in confidence. In the area of basic national defense, the frequent need for absolute secrecy is, of course, self-evident.
I think there can be but one answer to this dilemma, if dilemma it be. The responsibility must be where the power is. If the Constitution gives the Executive a large degree of unshared power in the conduct of foreign affairs and the maintenance of our national defense, then, under the Constitution, the Executive must have the largely unshared duty to determine and preserve the degree of internal security necessary to exercise that power successfully. It is an awesome responsibility, requiring judgment and wisdom of a high order. I should suppose that moral, political, and practical considerations would dictate that a very first principle of that wisdom would be an insistence upon avoiding secrecy for its own sake. For when everything is classified, then nothing is classified, and the system becomes one to be disregarded by the cynical or the careless, and to be manipulated by those intent on self-protection or self-promotion. I should suppose, in short, that the hallmark of a truly effective internal security system would be the maximum possible disclosure, recognizing that secrecy can best be preserved only when credibility is truly maintained. But, be that as it may, it is clear to me that it is the constitutional duty of the Executive -- as a matter of sovereign prerogative, and not as a matter of law as the courts know law -- through the promulgation and enforcement of executive regulations, to protect the confidentiality necessary to carry out its responsibilities in the fields of international relations and national defense.
This is not to say that Congress and the courts have no role to play. Undoubtedly, Congress has the power to enact specific and appropriate criminal laws to protect government property and preserve government secrets. Congress has passed such laws, and several of them are of very colorable relevance to the apparent circumstances of these cases. And if a criminal prosecution is instituted, it will be the responsibility of the courts to decide the applicability of the criminal law under which the charge is brought. Moreover, if Congress should pass a specific law authorizing civil proceedings in this field, the courts would likewise have the duty to decide the constitutionality of such a law, as well as its applicability to the facts proved.
But in the cases before us, we are asked neither to construe specific regulations nor to apply specific laws. We are asked, instead, to perform a function that the Constitution gave to the Executive, not the Judiciary. We are asked, quite simply, to prevent the publication by two newspapers of material that the Executive Branch insists should not, in the national interest, be published. I am convinced that the Executive is correct with respect to some of the documents involved. But I cannot say that disclosure of any of them will surely result in direct, immediate, and irreparable damage to our Nation or its people. That being so, there can under the First Amendment be but one judicial resolution of the issues before us. I join the judgments of the Court.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE, with whom MR. JUSTICE STEWART joins, concurring.
I concur in today's judgments, but only because of the concededly extraordinary protection against prior restraints enjoyed by the press under our constitutional system. I do not say that in no circumstances would the First Amendment permit an injunction against publishing information about government plans or operations. Nor, after examining the materials the Government characterizes as the most sensitive and destructive, can I deny that revelation of these documents will do substantial damage to public interests. Indeed, I am confident that their disclosure will have that result. But I nevertheless agree that the United States has not satisfied the very heavy burden that it must meet to warrant an injunction against publication in these cases, at least in the absence of express and appropriately limited congressional authorization for prior restraints in circumstances such as these....
MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL, concurring.
The Government contends that the only issue in these cases is whether, in a suit by the United States, "the First Amendment bars a court from prohibiting a newspaper from publishing material whose disclosure would pose a 'grave and immediate danger to the security of the United States.' " With all due respect, I believe the ultimate issue in these cases is even more basic than the one posed by the Solicitor General. The issue is whether this Court or the Congress has the power to make law.
In these cases, there is no problem concerning the President's power to classify information as "secret" or "top secret." Congress has specifically recognized Presidential authority to classify documents and information. Nor is there any issue here regarding the President's power as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief to protect national security by disciplining employees who disclose information and by taking precautions to prevent leaks.
The problem here is whether, in these particular cases, the Executive Branch has authority to invoke the equity jurisdiction of the courts to protect what it believes to be the national interest. The Government argues that, in addition to the inherent power of any government to protect itself, the President's power to conduct foreign affairs and his position as Commander in Chief give him authority to impose censorship on the press to protect his ability to deal effectively with foreign nations and to conduct the military affairs of the country....
It would, however, be utterly inconsistent with the concept of separation of powers for this Court to use its power of contempt to prevent behavior that Congress has specifically declined to prohibit. There would be a similar damage to the basic concept of these co-equal branches of Government if, when the Executive Branch has adequate authority granted by Congress to protect "national security," it can choose, instead, to invoke the contempt power of a court to enjoin the threatened conduct. The Constitution provides that Congress shall make laws, the President execute laws, and courts interpret laws. It may be more convenient for the Executive Branch if it need only convince a judge to prohibit conduct, rather than ask the Congress to pass a law, and it may be more convenient to enforce a contempt order than to seek a criminal conviction in a jury trial. Moreover, it may be considered politically wise to get a court to share the responsibility for arresting those who the Executive Branch has probable cause to believe are violating the law. But convenience and political considerations of the moment do not justify a basic departure from the principles of our system of government.
In these cases, we are not faced with a situation where Congress has failed to provide the Executive with broad power to protect the Nation from disclosure of damaging state secrets. Congress has, on several occasions, given extensive consideration to the problem of protecting the military and strategic secrets of the United States. This consideration has resulted in the enactment of statutes making it a crime to receive, disclose, communicate, withhold, and publish certain documents, photographs, instruments, appliances, and information....
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER, dissenting....MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and MR. JUSTICE BLACKMUN join, dissenting....
Exploring Constitutional Law | <urn:uuid:f6e04147-e2bc-42dd-9889-140336d39343> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/pentpapersII.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950412 | 2,288 | 1.671875 | 2 |
David Cameron flew into Afghanistan on Thursday for a Christmas visit to troops serving there, days after announcing that thousands of them would head home in 2013.
The prime minister landed in Camp Bastion in southern Helmand province amid tight security and then headed north to visit soldiers at a base 40 miles away in the troubled Gereshk valley.
At a yard where troops were packing up military equipment to send home, he described the decision to bring nearly 4,000 British men and women home last year as a sign of success.
“We have a staged plan for drawing down our troops which is based on the staged plan for building up the Afghan army and the Afghan police force,” he said. “Frankly the Afghan army is doing better than we expected, there’s more of them than we expected and that’s why we are able to bring home so many troops.”
Cameron said this week that senior officers were impressed with the capabilities of Afghan forces, despite the setbacks of “green on blue” attacks this year in which 12 British troops have been killed by their Afghan colleagues.
Already 500 soldiers have departed in the first stage of a withdrawal that will leave just over 5,000 troops in the country in 2014, and no combat forces after that. Most UK bases and checkpoints in Helmand have already closed, although there is still fierce fighting in some parts of the province.
Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, conceded this week that the withdrawal of Nato forces would lead to “messy compromises”, and that it is likely “some parts of Afghanistan will not be under central government control”. He added, “It is not a perfect democracy and it never will be.”
But the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, welcomed Cameron’s announcement as a “timely decision” by the UK government.
“Afghan security forces are prepared to ensure security and protect their country,” the presidential palace said.
Cameron said the handover was in line with Afghan aspirations to secure their own country, while ensuring the UK had met its main security objective — preventing the country from becoming a base for al-Qaida or similar groups as it had been under Taliban rule over a decade ago.
“When I sit in No. 10 Downing Street and look at where the plots that we face in terms of terror, where they come from, far fewer come from this part of the world than used to be the case when we first came to Afghanistan, so we have made real progress,” he said.
British leaders have in the past spent tens of millions of pounds of aid on building up the Afghan government and state. Cameron said they would leave behind a struggling but improved place.
“Well of course this is a deeply challenged country, it has huge levels of poverty and instability and problems,” he said.
“But it’s a far better place than it was here when we came in 2001 — the economy has grown, there are more children in school, there are more health services available. And there is, crucially — because this is our main national interest — there’s an Afghan army and an Afghan police force.”
Heavy fog delayed the landing of Cameron’s plane in Camp Bastion.
After an overnight flight, he was diverted to nearby Kandahar airfield for refuelling. The unexpected stop meant Cameron had to cancel some plans, including a trip to the post office to see Christmas post arriving. In the afternoon he headed to a small base on the Helmand River where he dined with troops.
He also remembered the 433 British troops who have died in Afghanistan. “It is tough, it is difficult, we paid a high price and I once again pay tribute to all those who have fallen and their families and their loved ones who miss them so much.”A news blackout on the visit, enforced for security reasons, was lifted late on Thursday.
Cameron’s trip came just a few months after a Taliban suicide squad burst into the base, killing two US marines and torching Harrier jets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
By arrangement with the Guardian | <urn:uuid:05a74850-5965-4b16-aa80-53e72db24f10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beta.dawn.com/news/773062/troop-pullout-from-afghanistan-a-sign-of-success-cameron | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972255 | 871 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Earlier we reported in Bush Administration Demands Search Data; Google Says No, Yahoo & MSN Said Yes that the US Government seeks to force Google to hand over search data. That story explains more about the situation, and there have been a number of postscripts from when it was first written. Along with that, we've been able to obtain copies of the three court documents filed in the case. Below you'll find links to each document, along with a summary of what's in each of them.
Alberto Gonzalez, as Attorney General of the United States vs. Google
Notice of Motion to Compel Compliance (PDF File)
- The motions requests that Google comply with a subpoena filed by the Attorney General and "produce" for inspection and copying the materials the Government is asking for.
- After the lead government attorney conferred with Google, Google has chosen not to comply with subpoena.
- Google is asking the court to make Google comply
- The filing then goes into a background explanation about the Children's Online Protection Act (COPA) and how the government is developing its defense of the constitutionality of COPA. They believe that COPA is, "more effective than filtering software in protecting from harmful exposure to harmful material on the Internet."
- In preparation of the case, subpoenas were issued to Google and "other entities" that operate search engines to produce two sets materials.
- First, the subpoena asks Google to produce an electronic file contain, "[a]ll URL's that are available to be located on your companys' search engine as of July 31, 2005.
- However, after "lengthy negotiation" the government changed and "narrowed" their request and asked for a "multi- stage random sample of one million URLS from Google's database ie, a random selection of the various databases in which those URL's are stored, and a random sample of the URL's held in those selected databases.
- Second, Google was asked to "produce an electronic file containing [a]ll queries entered into the Google engine between July 1 and July 31 inclusive.
- Again, after lengthy negotiations the government the government changed their request and asked for an electronic file "containing the text of any search string entered into Google's search engine for a one week period (absent any personal information identifying the person who entered the query).
- Google has still refused to comply with these requests in any way.
- The Government says that access to this information would be of "significant significance" in the preoperation of the their case. Specifically why?
- "The production set of queries entered into Google's search engine would assist the Government in its efforts to understand the behavior of current web users, to estimate how often web users encounter harmful-to-minors material in the course of their searches, and to measure the effectiveness of filtering in screening that material."
- This information would also help the Government understand what, "web sites people find through the use of search engines, to determine the character of those sites, to estimate the prevalence of harmful-to-minors material on those sites, and to measure the effectiveness of filtering software on that harmful to minors material.
- The document continues into a discussion with plenty of legalese and citations and again points out the Google has failed to comply and lists some of the reason Google objects to this.
- Google first objects to this on the grounds of relevancy.
- Google also objects on the grounds that if they would provide what the government asks for, they would be required to produce information identifying the users of its search engines.
- The Government claims that this is "illusory" since they have specifically asked for a random sample containing no personally identifying information to any search string.
- The Government said that it has received compliance from search entities with files containing no personally identifying information.
- Google also contends that the information they're being asked to produce is "redundant" since the Government has asked other engines to produce similar files. The Government argues that this "misunderstands" what's being requested. "The production set of queries from Google's database, in combination with similar productions from other search engine operators will assist the Government in developing a sample of the overall universe of search engines queries, while accounting for the potential of any variations in the type of queries that are entered into different search engines."
- The Government says that since Google is the market leader, its response, "would be of value" in developing the Governments overall sample of queries.
- Google says that complying would also force Google to share trade secrets because the total number of queries receives in a day is a trade secret. The Government adds that if this was the case, a district court has said that these numbers would not be disclosed.
- Finally, according to the filing, Google says that it will be subject to an "undue burden" in complying. The Government claims that this is not the case whatsoever. The Government adds that they would be "willing to work" with Google to specify a multistage sample. They are also willing to compensate Google for its work and complying with the subpoena.
- The filing ends with the Government saying that, "This court should require Google to comply with the subpoena on the same terms it's competitors have."
Declaration Of Joel McElvain (PDF File)
The second filing is a declaration by Government attorney, Joel McElvain, who I believe the lead attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in this matter. It also helps produce a timeline of events to this point.
- A copy of the original subpoena, originally signed on August 25, 2005
- Detailed info and definitions about Google was to submit to the Government.
- A several page letter, dated October 25, 2005, from Ashok Ramani, Commercial Litigation Counsel, Google sent to Joel McElvain with his objection to the subpoena. THIS IS A MUST READ!!!
- "It is against Google's competitive interest to be viewed as reflecting the whole world wide web."
- Worth noting that Google says that the government tried to use Archive.org/Wayback Machine and found the results unsatisfactory. From the letter, "...given the www.archive.org's stated purpose, one would expect them -- with an appropriate consulting relationship to create the results the DEFENDANT wanted.
- The Governments request is seen as redundant because they already has URLs from at least one other engine
- From the letter, "Though the search engines doubtlessly have some differences in the URLS, they store, what distinguishes Google from it's competitors is the sophistication of Google's search engine in locating and ordering relevant results."
- On the burden to Google. "Google would have to spend a disproportionate amount of engineering time and resources to (i) number (even in rough terms) in real time the URLs contained in its search database and (ii) extract based on that initial numbering the URLs selected by Professor Stark.
- Google also objects because it could "endanger" its "crown-jewel trade secrets." Specficially, they would have to disclose the approximate number of URLs in its database and "some" details on how it crawls URLs, "such as the number of servers, server distribution, and how often Google crawls the World Wide Web."
- More objections. "Google objects to the Defendant's view of Google's highly proprietary queries database as a free resource that Defendant can use, some levels removed, to formulate its own defense."
- "Moreover, Google's acceeding to the Request would suggest that it is willing to reveal information about those who use its services. This is not a perception Google is willing to accept. And one can envision scenarios where queries alone could reveal identifying information about a specific Google user, which is another outcome we cannot accept.
- The letter discusses how the Government is willing to narrow what's asked for in the subpeona This is summarized in the Alberto Gonzalez, as Attorney General of the United States vs. Google section of this post.
- McElvain discusses how Google asked for and was granted two extensions to serve their objections to the subpeona until October 10, 2005. He then writes, "In our several discussions prior to the service of those objections we had offered to limit the scope of of the requests for production, and you had indicated Google's willingness to consider compliance with the subpeona along with the narrowed terms that we had suggested. Your written objection also reiterated your hope to reach a resolution regarding Google's compliance with the subpeona. However, shortly after the service of your objections, you telephoned me to inform me that Google would decline to comply with the subpeona.
- More conversations between the Government and Google take place on December 12th and December 21st to discuss the technical aspects of the request. Finally, on December 21st, MacElvain was informed that Google would not comply with the subpeona.
- The final document is a protective order in the ACLU v. U.S. case.
Key Quotes and Passages from the Letter
Next, we find another letter. This time it's from DOJ's McElvain to Google's Ramani. This later is dated December 23, 2005.
Declaration Of Philip B Stark (PDF File)This document is a declaration by Philipp Stark, Ph.D who was the person to work on the project. Dr. Stark is a Professor of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Stark explains how he has had conversations with the USDOJ, Google and other search providers, "to develop practical approaches to sampling their databases or URLs and search queries."
- He adds that he has started to analyze the samples produced by search providers other than Google.
- He writes, "Reviewing user queries to search engines will help us understand the search behavior of current web users, to estimate how often web users encounter HTM materials through searches, and to measure the effectiveness of filters in screening those materials.
Stark goes on to add more about his approach while including Google results are directly relevant.
Know your Ambiguous Customer: Effective Multi-Channel Tracking
Wednesday, June 5 at 1pm ET - Learn why a move from the "batch and blast" email approach enables better conversations with your customers.
Register today - don't miss this free webinar! | <urn:uuid:ef3cfe23-b8aa-47d0-98c8-c50ec1d4d0b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2059839/Court-Documents-Summary-Of-United-States-Versus-Google-Over-Search-Data | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95279 | 2,138 | 2.21875 | 2 |
|Learning about Natural Disasters - Games and projects for you and your friends (IDNDR-DIRDN)|
Be a Reporter!
One way you can tell your community about natural disasters is by being a reporter for community events. You can do reports or interviews for radio, tv, newspapers, magazines, books or even report "live" at a community event.
Good reporting is about telling a story. For example, you can tell how your class made a community risk and resource map, places you visited, people you interviewed, what you learned, and if people then took action.
Contact journalists or event organizers as soon as you start to plan your reporting project, so they can include your results and give you ideas on how to get started.
Remember that the success of a reporting project depends very much on your timing. Plan with your teacher to do reporting for the anniversary of a major disaster, for the UN International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction (second Wednesday of October each year), or for a special day, week or month dedicated to protection against natural disasters in your country.
Use Books, Magazines or Newspapers
One way of reporting is to write about a local event. For example, the city of Yokohama, Japan invited 11 and 12 year olds in the city to attend part of a United Nations conference about reducing the effects of natural disasters. The mayor included their impressions in the official book that the city published about the conference. Here is an excerpt:
A United World
"I learned that damage from natural disasters is increasing, and I found it very strange - because I thought that through scientific progress, humans had actually reduced the damages from disasters... According to explanations I heard at the conference, people cut forests and the water cannot be kept in the ground Then we have more and more floods and landslides...
World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction
But in order to live more happily, this conference discussed what can tee done end what we should do to make happier lives for people all over the world."
Yuki Hiraga, 12 years old
Radio is a good way to reach many people. Why not try...
... Songs. In Ecuador in 1993, children recently recorded a song about preparing for earthquakes and it was played on the radio. The song, based on salsa melodies and traditional Andean music, was also performed at community outdoor events.
...Talk Shows. For example, during the monthly children's programme on Radio Slovenia, "Dobro jutro" (Good Morning), children discussed questions such as:
· What would you do if you were alone at home and the floor started to shake?
· What would you do if someone dropped a burning match on the floors
· There has been a disaster and you have to go to a shelter. What kind of food do you take with you?
...Quiz Contests. In the British Virgin Islands, the radio station had a quiz contest each day for two weeks to celebrate IDNDR Day in October 1995. Children telephoned the radio station with their answers. Prizes included sleeping bags, radios, lanterns and first aid kits.
Adapted from materials provided by the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, Republic of Slovenia; Office of Disaster Preparedness, British Virgin Islands; Children's Television Workshop (CTW), USA. The CTW activities were part of its first international earthquake safety program, conducted through the Ministries of Education and Civil Defense of Ecuador, and which included radio programmes, radio and tv spots, a soccer ball with safety messages, a cassette with stories, and a colouring book. | <urn:uuid:3e2a0c6b-cec8-4be5-847c-a93bc0ba515b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0who--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-0l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-10&a=d&c=who&cl=CL4.3&d=HASHf69dd0ab7c0e422e1ec4be.8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965401 | 736 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Primary school children are to be taught about the importance of healthy eating while older pupils will be shown how to cook under new Government proposals to cut down on obesity in youngsters.
The move follows recommendations from restaurateurs Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent's School Food Plan which encourages healthy eating.
Previously, only primary schools had to give basic lessons about food preparation and hygiene while in secondary schools it was only a design and technology option with no requirement to teach pupils about nutrition.
From next year all pupils in primary schools will learn the principles of healthy eating, where food comes from and basic cooking techniques, while in secondary schools at Key Stage 3 it will be compulsory for students to learn about nutrition, having a balanced diet and be taught cooking techniques as well as how to cook various dishes.
Dimbleby, who co-founded restaurant chain Leon with Vincent, said: "I am delighted that the Department for Education has listened to us and the many others who were calling for cooking to get such a strong emphasis in the new National Curriculum. Obesity and diet-related illnesses are major issues facing this country - as big a challenge in their way as poor education.
"We have simply carried the baton the last few metres taking on the great work that has been done by the Children's Food Trust, Food For Life, School Food Matters, Jamie Oliver and many, many others both supporting schools and working in them.
"Our work on the curriculum is just a small part of our overall School Food Plan, which we hope will radically improve what is eaten in schools and how food is woven into school life."
Vincent said: "We have been adamant that knowing how to cook should be an entitlement for every child in school. And we've been equally determined that the curriculum ensures kids can cook a wholesome range of savoury main meals that they will enjoy, and which will improve their lives and those of their children in the future.
"We promised a School Food Plan based on action and on quick wins. This big step forward will show people that we are fulfilling that promise. There's a lot more to come."
The Department of Health estimates that diet related ill health costs the NHS approximately £6 billion a year. England now has one of the highest obesity rates in the developed world, with 60% of adults and one third of children overweight or obese, according to Government statistics from 2011. | <urn:uuid:38c7b872-5d45-4435-82e2-09f6e7ecfef4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/healthy-eating-lessons-on-the-menu-29059742.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976525 | 488 | 3.15625 | 3 |
You have to be aware of the uselessness of your self-importance and of your personal history. If you really want to learn, you have to remodel most of your behaviour. You take yourself too seriously. You are too damn important in your own mind. That must be changed! You are so goddamn important that you feel justified to be annoyed with everything. You're so damn important that you can afford to leave if things don't go your way. I suppose you think that shows you have character. That's nonsense! You're weak, and conceited! In the course of your life you have not ever finished anything because of that sense of disproportionate importance that you attach to yourself.
Self-importance is another thing that must be dropped, just like personal history. The world around us is very mysterious. It doesn't yield its secrets easily. Now we are concerned with losing self-importance. It takes a very long time to clean out the garbage that a luminous being picks up in the world. We are so stiff and feel so self-important.
Self-importance is man's greatest enemy. What weakens him is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of his fellow men. Self-importance requires that one spend most of one's life offended by something or someone, because it also requires we also make what others do important to us. Don't let your self-importance run rampant. To be angry at people means that one considers their acts to be important. It is a projected form of self-importance. It is imperative to cease to feel that way, and we can only do this by shifting our perception. The acts of men cannot be important enough to offset our only viable alternative: our unchangeable encounter with infinity.
It doesn't matter what anybody says or does. You must be an impeccable warrior yourself. The fight is right here in this chest. It takes all the time and all the energy we have to conquer the idiocy in us. And that's what matters. The rest is of no importance. To be an impeccable warrior will give you vigour and youth and power.
You need to learn to be dispassionate. The world of people goes up and down and people go up and down with their world; warriors have no business following them in their ups and downs. The art of sorcerers is to be outside everything and be unnoticeable. And more than anything else, the art of sorcerers is never to waste their power.
There is no need for us to say anything about others. There is no need for you or for me to regard other's actions in our thoughts one way or another. The worst thing we can do is to force people to agree with us. I mean that we shouldn't try to impose our will when people don't behave the way we want them to. The worst thing one can do is to confront human beings bluntly. A warrior proceeds strategically. If one wants to stop our fellow men one must always be outside the circle that presses them. That way one can always direct the pressure.
If you think about yourself too much it gives you a strange fatigue that makes you shut off the world around you and cling to your arguments. A light and amenable disposition is needed in order to withstand the impact and the strangeness of the knowledge I am teaching you. Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy, and vain. To be a man of knowledge one needs to be light and fluid.
You are a serious person, but your seriousness is attached to what you do, not to what goes on outside you. You dwell upon yourself too much. That's the trouble. Dwelling upon the self too much produces a terrible fatigue. Seek and see the marvels all around you. You will get tired if you keep look at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else.
As long as one feels that they're the most important thing in the world, they cannot really appreciate the world around them. They are like a horse with blinders; all it sees is itself, as apart from everything else. The distinction of self-importance separates them from their environment, preventing them from uniting with it.
To help you lose self-importance talk to little plants. It doesn't matter what you say to a plant, what's important is the feeling of liking it, and treating it as an equal. A man who gathers plants must apologize every time for taking them and must assure them that someday his own body will serve as food for them. So, all in all, the plants and ourselves are even. Neither we nor they are more or less important. From now on talk to the little plants, talk until you lose all sense of importance. Talk to them until you can do it in front of others. You must talk to them in a loud and clear voice if you want them to answer you. The world around us is a mystery, and men are no better than anything else. If a little plant is generous with us we must thank her, or perhaps she will not let us go.
You must talk to the plants you're going to pick before you pick them. In order to see the plants you must talk to them personally, you must get to know them individually; then the plants can tell you anything you care to know about them. You fail to understand that I am not joking. You think everything in the world is simple to understand because everything you do is a routine that is simple to understand.
The thrust of the warriors' way is to dethrone self-importance. And everything warriors do is directed toward accomplishing this goal. Self-importance can't be fought with niceties. Every effort should be made to eradicate self-importance from the lives of warriors. Without self-importance we are invulnerable. Warriors prepare themselves to be aware, and full awareness comes to them only when there is no more self-importance left in them. Only when they are nothing do they become everything.
Shamans have unmasked self-importance and found that it is self-pity masquerading as something else. No matter how much you like to feel sorry for yourself, you have to change that. It doesn't jibe with the life of a warrior. Self-
importance is the motivating force for every attack of melancholy. A warrior is someone who seeks freedom. Sad
ness is not freedom. We must snap out of it. Warriors are entitled to have profound states of sadness, but that sadness is there only to make them laugh.
|Prev: Erasing Personal History||Table of Contents||Next: Death is an Advisor| | <urn:uuid:54944b08-5c87-45db-84ad-8e4ad16c9933> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://essential-knowledge.net/tag/need/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974307 | 1,373 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Tips For Traveling With Your Pet
Think about your pet's unique character
Often times though, not all pet lovers would be recommended to take their pet along on vacation to Cabot pet friendly hotel. Ahead of fitting your current pet in to your vacation plans, give some thought to his or her age, temperament, as well as physical health. In the event that your pet is youthful, energetic, and with excellent nature, you're likely to be in a position to take your pet with you and wholly delight in your vacation in Arkansas. If your family pet is more aged, however, or perhaps not in their healthiest years, it may be far better to leave them at home within the care of friends or family member.
Bring along a pet carrier
When taking your trip to Cabot - AR, your safest way for your family pet to travel around is normally inside a transporter. Certainly never allow them to ride in people's lap or perhaps unfastened in any spot of the family car, back or front. Select a pet carrier that can be big enough for the family pet, however, not too big that it really is not protective. The right overall size pet transporter is barely big enough so as that he / she may fit inside it by itself as well as stand, turnaround, sit and lay down easily as they're enroute to your pet friendly Cabot hotel destination. Domestic pet carriers are really a requirement if you find yourself traveling by air, but if you will be driving and do not have sufficient room, protect your animal using a special seat belt for animals in the center of your back seat.
Ready your four-legged friend for the lengthy drive.
If you will be going to Cabot Arkansas by car or truck, make certain the family pet is at ease with the getaway. Ready them for the much longer drive by taking them over a few shorter trips starting up 2-3 weeks ahead of the get-away. Progressively stretch out the span of time in the car to ensure that your companion can become more well-off and much less susceptible to car sickness.
Nourish them at proper time frames
Your animal's stomach could be a lot more sensitive to motion sickness than your own. With that being said, avoid nourishing your pet right before you depart for your pet friendly Cabot place. Give him a light amount of food 2-3 hrs before driving or 4-6 hrs prior to flying. By no means feed your family pet inside of a moving auto. | <urn:uuid:a55ee129-1e15-4b0d-9bd7-df53f1f30ab8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.istaygreen.org/petcity.cfm/st/AR/city/Cabot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965065 | 509 | 1.710938 | 2 |
White Paper: The Insurance IndustryIncreases in population and household income and age are resulting in continued growth of transaction and advertising mail from the insurance industry. Insurance companies emphasize service to and relationship with customers as two of the most important aspects of their business, particularly as baby boomers hit retirement and their children gather wealth.
What is driving mail volume growth in the insurance industry, and what are the main implications for the future? What change drivers have strong statistical relationships with mail volume? What do we learn from a systematic assessment of past correlations and their usefulness for understanding market changes and anticipating future developments?
Insurance companies are a major sender of bills and solicitations mail to households and businesses. Continued increases in population, household income and age, and business establishments have had a positive effect on these mail streams. As households become wealthier, they tend to spend more on insurance services and acquire additional account relationships (e.g., property, casualty, life, health insurance) with financial institutions. These new relationships result in even more bills, statements and relationship mail.
Mail volumes from insurance carriers continue to grow. First-Class mail to households from the insurance industry grew by more than 2.7 percent per year since 2000 (from 4 to 5 billion pieces), at a time when total First-Class mail declined by about 1.4 percent annually. | <urn:uuid:88c825d1-be4d-49fa-87ab-caa14d9c14b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/white-paper-the-insurance-industry/printarticle/90157/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959392 | 268 | 1.820313 | 2 |
|News and media|
Cyanobacterial warning update - North Waikato Lakes, Ngaroto and Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake)Monitoring results from late March have shown that cyanobacterial cells are at high levels in all five lakes which are routinely tested. The current bloom in Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake) has also become a more significant health risk, especially for small children.
Rotoroa has had a health warning since mid February due to the presence of high numbers of cyanobacterial cells. The risk to the public has this week increased considerably because the wind has caused cells to become concentrated and form scums, particularly around the northern shores of the lake. High levels of cyanobacterial toxin is present in this scum.
All contact with scums around the lake shore is hazardous to human health. Children’s smaller size makes them particularly vulnerable, and dogs may also be harmed.
There are now health warnings in place for all the lakes outside Hamilton which are regularly tested. Waahi has a new warning, and existing warnings remain in place for Ngaroto, Whangape, Hakanoa and Waikare.
Environment Waikato is no longer routinely testing Lake Kainui but caution is always advised for users of this lake, because of its history of cyanobacterial blooms.
As always, these test results should be used for general guidance only, as cyanobacteria and their toxins will not be evenly spread through any lake and as in Rotoroa may be concentrated in some areas by wind and water movements.
During blooms, lakes should not be used for any activity which involves skin contact with the water. Scums are a particular risk and contact with scums should be avoided. If contact does occur, skin should be rinsed clean and clothing changed as soon as possible.
If people still choose to do this when warnings are in place, they should shower and change their clothing as soon as possible afterwards, even if no symptoms are noticeable.
Swallowing water from lakes affected by blooms should also be avoided.
While not everyone will be affected, for some, the risks include rash, skin and eye irritation, allergy symptoms such as hayfever and asthma and possibly stomach upsets such as diarrhoea and vomiting.
These effects may not appear until some time after contact with the affected water. Long term exposure to cyanobacterial toxins may bring additional health risks. Scums on any lake are likely to contain high levels of toxin.
The Waikato DHB Population Health Service would like to be informed about health problems which develop after exposure to any of the Waikato lakes.
Up-to-date information on cyanobacterial cell counts is available from local councils and Environment Waikato.
The Environment Waikato website has up-to-date results.
Health advice is available from the Population Health Service (07) 839 8899 in and out of hours.
Hamilton Lake specific advice is available from the Parks and Gardens Unit, Hamilton City Council (07) 838 6649.
Date: 31 March 2011
Mary Anne Gill
Waikato District Health Board
021 705 213 | <urn:uuid:1c9c6f5f-0a48-420b-9ce0-cc048aa2d2ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.waikatodhb.govt.nz/news/pageid/2145870289 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955656 | 653 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Architectural engineering has many elements in common with civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, but is specifically directed toward the building industry. It focuses on building systems, which include design of systems such as heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; illumination and electrical systems; structural building systems; and construction methods applied to buildings. The program is administered by the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering. Students also take courses in architectural history and architectural design from the College of Architecture and Planning.
The educational objective of the architectural engineering program is to develop graduates who acquire the broad knowledge and skills necessary to successfully begin and sustain a career, and to become leaders who advance the state-of-the art, in one of four core disciplines of the building industry:
The outcomes that students are expected to have attained upon graduation with the bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering are:
The areas of knowledge that define these objectives include both technical and non-technical areas.
Technical areas are:
Non-technical areas include:
Course code for this program is AREN.
There is a broad core of requirements for all students. Students are also expected to choose, in consultation with faculty advisors, elective courses to add depth in one or more specialty areas. Such specialty areas include structural analysis and design, construction engineering, building energy analysis, mechanical systems, and illumination. A list of recommended electives is available to help students select a coherent academic program that enhances one of these areas.
Required Courses and Semester Credit Hours
Upon consultation with their advisors, students are expected to select technical elective courses applicable to their areas of interest and specialization. The areas of specialization are construction engineering and management, mechanical systems, illumination, and structural engineering.
In addition to the courses listed below, other courses not listed may be proposed by a student and approved by the advisor if they are found to be applicable.
* For well-qualified undergraduates.
The master's and doctoral programs have just been approved, with details forthcoming. Please contact the department with any questions at firstname.lastname@example.org or see their website a tcivil.colorado.edu.
Graduate credit is offered in the following courses: | <urn:uuid:43f26f80-3bfb-4fb6-94b6-70b7caf29a13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colorado.edu/catalog/2012-13/content/architectural-engineering | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95419 | 457 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Cowan on the Countercult
Reviewed by Louis Midgley
By bearing false witness against our LDS neighbors, we evangelicals have often sinned not only against Mormons but against the God who calls us to be truth-tellers.1
Richard J. Mouw
Douglas Cowan, a former clergyman who teaches sociology and religious studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, answers the question posed in the title of his book with a resounding yes. While a few Latter-day Saints may have a better command of the literature produced by the anti-Mormon element of the countercult than anyone else, Cowan clearly has a better command of the entire movement. Bearing False Witness is thus the most competent assessment of the countercult industry as a whole.
Cowan's conclusion that the countercult movement bears false witness flows in part from his analysis of what he calls "religious pluralism." For him the "Christian countercult is that branch of evangelical Protestantism most concerned about the growth of religious pluralism" (p. 4). What this expression identifies is the rather recent emergence and then rapid expansion of legally unrestrained choice available to citizens, mostly of republics, between competing religions (or between different versions of some larger religious traditions). He sees this as central to the activities and operations of the countercult. When those in control of regimes (absolute monarchs) were in command and religious establishments prevailed that supported the king, there was essentially little or no religious choice, at least that could be manifest in the public sphere, even when some marginal religion was tolerated by a regime.
What is it that has made possible the diversity of religious alternatives currently available to individuals in modern republics? Cowan claims that it is free choice between religious beliefs, including quite secular alternatives to a traditional faith in God, such as varieties of humanism or movements like National Socialism or Bolshevism. The range of religious choices that is currently available—including not to believe in God—has created a kind of free market in which those with religious commitments must compete for the attention and loyalty of consumers. And, according to Cowan, this situation "invariably threaten[s] the sense of ontological uniqueness that has marked Christianity since its rise to dominance in the West" (p. 4).
Cowan seems to see the free market, in which rival faiths must compete, as an improvement over the previous situation in which those with political power determined the religion of their subjects and enforced their opinions with the sword. He quotes James Madison as having argued that "during almost fifteen centuries . . . the legal establishment of Christianity [has] been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution" (p. 217 n. 1 to chap. 7). But the freeing of faith from the impact of the links between clergy and princes—remember the old formula "no Bishop, no King"—has not been entirely well received even by those who claim to venerate freedom of conscience.
The unease felt by a faction of conservative Protestants, especially in the United States, has resulted in the countercult movement. In an effort to rid the world of competing faiths, it has replaced cavalry and field artillery, police, and prisons with ferocious rhetoric and sometimes violent and obscene religious propaganda. Cowan describes the variety within the countercult movement that runs all the way from the operations of large, wealthy, corrupt corporations—for example, the Christian Research Institute (CRI)—to tiny mom-and-pop operations or to Web sites operated by businesses or from bedrooms, and from a host of obvious miscreants and nutcases through amateurs and "experts" with phony credentials to a few modestly competent people. The movement lacks probity in part because there is no quality control.
The core of Cowan's analysis runs as follows: countercultists passionately believe something, and what they believe clearly "contributes to their behavior in the world" (p. 5). At this point in his argument, Cowan draws on the literature of sociology to make the following point: beliefs, whatever their contents, may not necessarily be congruent with actual reality (p. 5), or at least with what others think of as reality. Why? Individuals and groups have socially constructed understandings of the world; hence "individuals and groups operate within the constraints of perceived reality" (p. 5). This seems quite obvious. But there is a corollary. When we strive to understand a movement, we must seek to understand its views of reality—that is, we must strive to grasp its worldview. It will, of course, be the case that individuals and groups will insist that their perception of reality—their worldview—is the actual reality and that all other understandings are distortions or corruptions. This is certainly the case with the countercult. Cowan strives "to describe the subjective construction of reality that governs countercult action" (p. 5). Thus he wants "to understand as far as one is able the various units of knowledge, clusters of beliefs, information filters, and logical processes around which countercult groups constitute themselves" (p. 5).
To this point Cowan's analysis seems to me straightforward and unproblematic. We can easily test it by asking ourselves if we believe we are essentially right—that is, right on the crucial issues. Has anyone ever met a rational individual who insists that his or her perception of the world is intentionally distorted and hence false? Of course not. And this means that there is a powerful impulse to see those whose opinions differ radically from ours as deficient in their understanding or as wrong. But there is one additional step. It is to picture those who are wrong as driven by dangerous perversities or even demonic forces and hence as diabolic monsters worthy of very harsh treatment.
At this point in his argument, Cowan holds that countercultists see a radical conflict of worldviews. Of course, they see their own worldview, which they know as an infallible description of actual reality, under threat from competing worldviews in what amounts to a free market available to consumers of religious truth claims. Countercultists, it turns out, also insist that their worldview is "unique, exclusive, and insuperable" (p. 6). This explains why countercultists assume that they have a mandate from heaven to convert (or destroy) those with a different, and therefore false, worldview (p. 6).
These features of the countercult ethos flow, especially in America, which is the heartland of the movement, from the current free market in religion. And it is this market, and the resulting choices offered to consumers, that requires boundary marking or what Cowan describes as reality maintenance (pp. 5-7, 9, 43-60) by countercultists. Later he uses this argument to explain why countercultists have target groups. They actually need targets—enemies—against which they can define themselves. The need for a target is so great that, if an external target is not readily available, they tend to turn on each other. At times the internal fighting among and between countercultists is more intense than the war they are presumably dedicated to fighting with the enemy without. It is this effort to preserve their identity that fuels their behavior. They feel a need to clearly identify, both for themselves and for their constituents, exactly which symbolic universe they inhabit. And they do this by "bearing false witness" against competing universes.
This explains the propensity—even when there is an intellectual understanding that some language is being used or misused for propaganda purposes—to keep it around anyway and to exploit it unmercifully. A good example of this is the constant abuse of the otherwise perfectly harmless word cult. That word—like its relatives culture, cultivar, or cultivate—identifies the ways in which some groups are set apart from others. People who really do know better than to misuse the word, or who could easily know that it is being abused, use it anyway. Given this fact, the problem, then, is to explain this odd behavior. Cowan has, I believe, sketched a plausible explanation for why contemporary conservative Protestants—even when they have realized the difficulties in attacking others with self-serving definitions of the word cult—have ended up silently adopting the label countercult to describe their own behavior.2
However, Cowan goes further in his analysis of the countercult than merely pointing to such oddities and anomalies. He identifies the defining elements of the countercult worldview—that is, what all the competing factions have in common. These defining dogmas are, from Cowan's perspective, an insistence on the inerrancy, infallibility, and insuperability of their ideology. The notion that the Bible is somehow inerrant, however that is understood, is thus silently translated into a belief that a certain understanding of Christianity is inerrant. The countercult world is, according to Cowan, grounded in the notion that those who speak for it have the one and only correct interpretation of the final truth, which is found only in their understanding of the Bible. Countercultists are driven to see any deviation from their interpretation of the essentials of Christian faith, or of their infallible understanding of their "paper pope," as an intentional, even demonic, misunderstanding of reality. The Protestant insistence on the sufficiency and inerrancy of the Bible, which explains what appears to be the bibliolatry that lurks near the surface of countercult rhetoric, is now also employed by sectarian anti-Mormons to slam the door shut on the possibility of or need for any additional revelations.
This ideology also explains how and why they need an enemy and why they feel impelled to bear false witness against that enemy (false at least to those outside their worldview). This also explains exactly why the veritable father of the countercult movement—Walter Martin—systematically misused the word cult when he employed it as a political weapon or in propaganda. Prior to the emergence of a free market for religious ideas, one would simply have called upon the prince to imprison or kill the offenders, to send an army to pillage and burn the enemy, or to fire not merely rhetorical but real artillery at the dreaded, demonic other. This is my explanation for why it was the clergy who once led mobs against Latter-day Saints and why it is religious groups who even now shout obscenities around Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Cowan's epistemology does not consist of some arcane philosophical novelty that one might find in a postmodern ideology. Instead, he explains that he first collected and read anti-Mormon literature and then turned to the general countercult literature. He tried to engage in conversations with countercultists to confirm his impressions of their views. When he went back to the university to pursue his doctorate, he drew on this knowledge for his dissertation, for which he also employed some sociological literature. For this book, however, he has winnowed out much of the sociological jargon, which makes it more readable. And he has further expanded his knowledge of the literature produced and marketed by countercultists. Currently, he seems the best informed person on the countercult as a social movement.
Countercultists will likely be troubled by Bearing False Witness for two reasons. First, they will be upset to see themselves and their movement treated as one might treat juvenile gangs—that is, as a strange and unseemly anomaly on the social and religious horizon. They will also be stunned to see how easily Cowan has been able to expose the soft underbelly of the countercult world, with the phony degrees, the inflated personal and professional claims, the illegal and immoral behavior, the pompous posturing, the vicious internal quarreling, and the incompetent and dishonest literature. These folks want to be seen as heroic white knights riding in to save others from demonic forces. I am confident that even those few countercultists who sense that something is rotten in their personal Denmark will be troubled to have Cowan's book floating around for just anyone to pick up and read—assuming that the clients of the countercult are at all interested in understanding how others see both them and those who manipulate and flatter them. Bearing False Witness will be brushed aside by indignant countercultists as the work of another evil "cult apologist." In fact, Cowan has already had that pejorative label pinned on him, and I anticipate that further efforts to deal with his findings will result in similar labels.
The countercult world recognizes only good guys and bad guys; there is simply no room for an honest difference of opinion or for lending a respectful ear. Those who venture to do that sort of thing risk being demonized by the countercult for the reasons Cowan sets out.
"Bearing False Witness": A Brief Addendum
As I was drafting this essay, Richard Mouw's admission that, "by bearing false witness" against Latter-day Saints, evangelicals have sinned "against the God who calls us to be truth-tellers"3 seemed to me an appropriate headnote that would express forcefully and succinctly the conclusion reached by Douglas Cowan, if not about evangelicals generally, at least about the anti-Mormon element within the unseemly countercult movement. Then, on 14 November 2004 in a speech given in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square at a rally organized by evangelicals seeking more friendly relations with the Saints, Mouw—who is known as an uncommonly courteous, decent person—repeated and embellished the remark that I have quoted. He granted that "public relations between our two communities have been—to put it mildly—decidedly unfriendly."4
Mouw, who is well known for his support of so-called interfaith dialogues,5 reported that "over the past half-dozen years" he has "been a member of a small group of evangelical scholars who have been engaged in lengthy closed-door discussions about spiritual and theological matters with a small group of our LDS counterparts."6 There have been disagreements, he indicated, "but our arguments have been conducted in a sincere desire genuinely to understand each other."7 These private conversations have included not only a few Latter-day Saint scholars and some evangelicals but, among others, David Neff, the editor of Christianity Today, the paramount evangelical publication.
Mouw commented that he has "learned much in this continuing dialogue."8 He also said that he is
now convinced that we evangelicals have often seriously misrepresented the beliefs and practices of the Mormon community. Indeed, let me state it bluntly to the LDS folks here this evening: we have sinned against you. The God of the Scriptures makes it clear that it is a terrible thing to bear false witness against our neighbors, and we have been guilty of that sort of transgression in things we have said about you.9
These remarks offended many countercultists and some of their clientele, and Mouw has found it necessary to defend himself.10 There was much concern among the Caliban11 that he had maligned those who employ what they call "legitimate confrontational evangelism" or "genuine confrontational evangelism" that attempts to "publicly demonstrate the LDS false gospel."12 When challenged to indicate who exactly has been guilty of the sin of bearing false witness, Mouw specifically identified Walter Martin, the veritable father of the countercult movement, and Dave Hunt as primary examples.13 Significantly, Martin and Hunt were two of the culprits dealt with by Cowan. But it also turns out that some of those busy raking Mouw over the coals are equally guilty of bearing false witness.
I desire genuinely friendly relations with evangelicals. But the anarchy that is Protestantism does not permit our friends to put a stop to the excesses committed against the faith of the Saints by countercultists. As the firestorm over Mouw's remarks seems to demonstrate, even a modest request for countercult probity is likely to generate an additional target within evangelical/fundamentalist ranks. The result, for evangelicals courageous enough to speak the truth, will likely be more rancid Caliban mischief. | <urn:uuid:8aba2b0f-4baf-4011-993d-dd3bc9d42f88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?reviewed_books&vol=16&num=2&id=563 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967449 | 3,342 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Not that long ago I wrote here about Daniel Yergin’s latest book, the long-awaited follow up to his authoritative history of human use of oil. I concluded by noting:
[How] difficult [it would be for] Dr. Yergin to fully confront the dilemma implicit in his work – that the presence of affordable hydrocarbons (oil and/or natural gas) for indefinite future will create a strong pull constantly moving us away from making the reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions that science tells us we need to make in order to save ourselves.
Sadly, this is not a challenge that Dr. Yergin has taken up. The New York published an essay by Dr. Yergin in its widely-read Sunday Opinion section about the changing face of petroleum supply as the United States has dramatically increased its oil and gas production. As influential commentator Joe Romm notes in a blog post this new Yergin piece completely ignores the issue of climate. Romm argues that, “While Yergin is happy to detail America’s new orgy of fossil production, he is has nothing to say about how we could do this in an environmentally sound way, in part, I suspect, because he knows that we can’t.”
But this head-on collision of climate and increased gas and oil production is not unique to Daniel Yergin. Over at Foreign Policy, Steve LeVine provocatively asks “Can we survive the new golden age of oil?“ He surveys the opinions of various experts about how oil and gas production around the world will continue to expand in all kinds of places including in North America and in the Eastern Mediterranean noting that:
What these experts have not said, however, is that while this new golden age may indeed shake up the currently rich and powerful and create new regional forces, it could also accelerate the swamping of the planet in melted Arctic ice. So much new oil may flood the market that crude and gasoline prices might moderate and lessen consumer incentives to economize. “In the absence of U.S. leadership, I tend to agree with NASA’s James Hansen that it is ‘game over for the planet,’” Peter Rutland, a professor at Wesleyan University, told me in an email exchange.
These thoughts, and related exploration of the same theme by Michael Levi, should provide us all with a real jolt. It is simply not true that declining supplies and rising prices of oil and gas will bring about the fundamental changes that will be needed to avert climate disaster. And if you think the U.S. Federal government or a global agreement will save the day – you just haven’t been paying attention.
Dr. Yergin and others who describe a world with continued high availability (and low prices) of petroleum are presenting us with a gordian knot – and among the only folks holding a sword are the local, state and regional leaders from both government and business who are working to build a new economy around clean, zero emissions technology and practices. | <urn:uuid:21bb94e3-86aa-48d0-aa33-ee2b1892b067> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clf.org/blog/tag/oil-and-gas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950426 | 630 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Plea Bargaining, Even When You're Innocent
Listen to/Watch entire show:
The Bill of Rights guarantees a trial by jury to every American accused of a crime. So why do more than 95 percent of defendants plead guilty, often despite the fact that they’re not? If the criminal justice system met the Constitutional standard, would it collapse? Also, the politics of the June 1 jobs numbers. On Reporter’s Notebook, is sex-selection a reality in the US?
Banner image by Scott Olson/Getty Images
The Politics of the June 1 Jobs Numbers ()
Just 69,000 private sector jobs were created in May, and the unemployment rate crept up from 8.1 to 8.2 percent. President Obama tried to make the best of bad news from today's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first Friday of every month until November could be decisive in the presidential campaign, according to Chris Cillizza, managing editor of the Washington Post's political section and author of The Fix blog.
Why Do Innocent People Plead Guilty? ()
The Sixth Amendment guarantees a fair trial to every American accused of a crime. But trials are no longer the basis of the criminal justice system. A US Supreme Court majority has said it's not trial by jury that determines "who goes to jail and for how long," it's plea bargaining. More than 90 percent of criminal cases are decided by plea bargains — and many people plead guilty — even when they're innocent. Do they know what they're doing? Are the law and the justice system rigged to favor the prosecution? What would happen if every defendant demanded a jury trial?
- Justin Brooks: California Innocence Project, @CWSL_News
- Lucian Dervan: Southern Illinois University School of Law, @SIUSchoolofLaw
- Scott Burns: National District Attorneys Association
- Laurie Levenson: Loyola Law School
Does Sex Selection Happen in America? ()
Yesterday, House Republicans failed to enact a ban on abortions based on the sex of a child, but assert that they succeeded in embarrassing Democrats, claiming that Democrats don't support women's rights as much as they say. How persistent is so-called "sex selection" in the US? While it's "hard to assess, since it's rarely something people will admit to doing," it appears that "educated guessing" does exist, especially in certain ethnic communities. Anat Shenker Osorio co-wrote the recent article that appeared in RH Reality Check and the Atlantic magazine.
Engage & Discuss
BROUGHT TO YOU BY | <urn:uuid:ace4fa63-82b3-4309-af57-98fcdf4fce35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/tp/tp120601plea_bargaining_even/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953916 | 533 | 2.34375 | 2 |
will cast preliminary votes on the fate of the Affordable Care Act. The result, which can change over the coming weeks as the justices prepare and exchange opinions and dissents, will not be announced to the public until June, but the political markets are doing business trading shares on one of the key questions: Whether the court will strike down the heart of the legislation, which requires most Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.Today, the nine Supreme Court justices
The latest forecasts give 62.8 percent odds that the Supreme Court will strike down the so-called individual mandate. But there is less precision in this forecast than we see in elections. When the Signal creates forecasts for who is going to be the next president, we can use multiple prediction markets, polls, and fundamental data. We have a track record of how this data has worked in the past, so we can calibrate forecasts based on those historical correlation. There are no polls of Supreme Court justices and a good deal of uncertainty in the one market taking action on the outcome.
That prediction market, Intrade, betrays its uncertainty by the wide variety of prices people are willing to pay for or sell a contract on the odds. In markets with high certainties where people are confident in the information they have, like elections, the price of placing a bid is within a small range of the overall price. In this case, we see a range in prices that is 4.75 times larger than the distance between buyers and sellers in the market on Obama's odds of reelection. Even people with the highest amount of information are uncertain of the outcome.
Because the measure is Obama's signature domestic accomplishment, many people are more interested in the impact the decision has on politics than it has on healthcare. We'll see how Obama's odds of reelection move when the decision comes out. It's not a foregone conclusion what this relationship will be--there are those who argue that the having the law overturned will benefit Obama by relieving his campaign of a political liability. But I am not personally that interested in the effect of healthcare on the election. I am more interested in the effect of the election on healthcare.
This is because--if I may replace my economist hat with an analyst hat for a moment--I believe the individual mandate is a fundamentally conservative idea that is masquerading as a liberal one in this election.
There are three choices for how to respond to the uninsured when they require health care. The first is to let them die if they are faced with catastrophic medical costs. We as a country have deemed that unacceptable, so we allow people in this situation to receive emergency care which, if they cannot afford it, is ultimately paid for by the insurance companies in the form of higher fees charged by the hospitals in order to absorb these costs. That means the cost ultimately is born by the insured. Second, we can raise taxes and have the government pay for insurance, which conservatives of course do not like. Third, we can find a private solution, like the individual mandate, that provides for full insurance coverage, but does not rely on government taxes. This raises the number of healthy people on insurance, which allows the system to accommodate higher-cost customers--the basic concept behind market-based insurance.
Following along with PredictWise for the latest likelihood of the Supreme Court overturning the healthcare individual mandate.
David Rothschild is an economist at Yahoo! Research. He has a Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Follow him on Twitter @DavMicRot and email him at email@example.com.
Want more? Visit The Signal blog, connect with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. Handy with a camera? Join the Yahoo! News Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action. | <urn:uuid:07089cfc-c251-4c0b-8b03-ff5f7d41d2f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/signal/markets-predict-supreme-court-overturn-health-care-law-171930393.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959764 | 783 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Did you know?
The trunk of the baobab tree can store more than 30,000 gallons of water.
The Sunland Baobab, near the sub-tropical town of Tzaneen, is the country's biggest baobab. The Sunland Baobab has a circumference of some 47metres and stretches to a height of 22 metres. It's so big there's room enough for a small pub inside. The Sunland Baobab is understandably, one of the area's most popular attractions.
The Sunland Baobab is situated on a farm owned by the Van Heerden family, who take care of this majestic specimen. The small pub inside the tree was created all the way back in 1933, and today is still a most unusual place to have a drink! The country's biggest baobab tree is famous around the world and has even appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
The Sunland Baobab, like all baobabs, is a source of great myth and legend. Limpopo province has adopted the baobab as its tourist icon, and the tree is also known as the upside-down-tree. Legend has it that the early San people believed the baobab tree offended God and as punishment, God planted the tree upside down. When you see a baobab tree in winter you will know what the San people meant. The branches look like roots pointing skyward.
Few trees embody the spirit of Africa quite like the baobab. In ancient times kings, elders and leaders held meetings under the spreading branches of huge babobabs, believing that the spirit of the baobab would guide them in making the right decisions for their people.
The scientific name for the baobab is Adansonia digitata.Baobabs are succulents, comprising 80% moisture which makes them very useful to both animals and humans. They provide shelter for a variety of creatures, including bush babies and fruit bats that pollinate the flowers. Baboons love the fruit of the baobab, and elephants browse the leaves and strip the bark for moisture.
If you're exploring the attractions of the Tzaneen area, don't miss the chance to see the Sunland Baobab, the country's biggest.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Heather van Heerden, Sunland Baobab
Tel: +27 (0) 15 309 9039 | <urn:uuid:ef5cb8f7-fc3b-43cc-aa6f-b0659f8dd733> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southafrica.net/media/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-sunland-baobab | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943277 | 508 | 2.84375 | 3 |
These devices are designed for full-switching power factor correction in motor drive applications in the 3-6kW power range. The FPDB20PH60 (600V/20A), FPDB30PH60 (600V/30A), and FPDB50PH60 (600V/50A) all integrate two fast-recovery diodes, two freewheeling diodes, two IGBTs, a gate-driver IC, a shunt resistor and a thermistor into one package measuring 44 x 26.8 mm. They are half the size of other devices, and use 40 kHz-switching operation for less power loss, typically providing 99 percent power factor. They have under-voltage and over-current protection through integrated gate-driving IC, and offer an isolation voltage rating of 2,500 Vrms/min.
Lantronix Inc. has expanded its line of controllers for sensor networks with the release of a rugged controller that improves management of automation systems used in a number of industries, including manufacturing, oil and gas, and chemicals.
Inspired by the hooks a parasitic worm uses to penetrate its host's intestines, the Karp Lab has invented a flexible adhesive patch covered with microneedles that adheres well to wet, soft tissues, but doesn't cause damage when removed.
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is | <urn:uuid:f30fbc3e-bf49-47cf-a04f-757fa491941a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=225772 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934488 | 412 | 1.6875 | 2 |
An article published this month argues, based on economic and other data, that
Israeli Arabs’ standard of living has risen dramatically, while Israeli Arab
leaders have increasingly radicalized their community.
Karsh, a scholar of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College and
a principal research fellow at the Middle East Forum, published an article –
which is an updated version of a 2003 piece in Commentary magazine dealing with
Israeli Arabs – in the January issue of Israel Affairs and on the website of the
Middle East Forum.
Entitled “Israel’s Arabs: Deprived or Radicalized?”
the article cites statistical evidence demonstrating that Israeli Arabs have had
an increasingly better quality of life since the Jews began settling in large
numbers in British Mandate-era Palestine. For this reason, Arabs continued to
move to Jewish population centers in order to improve their socioeconomic living
However, Karsh presents a paradox: as Israeli Arabs’ living
conditions have continued to improve since the early 20th century, the Arab
population has become more radicalized.
He attributes this mostly to
extremist leadership, which began with Jerusalem Mufti Hajj Amin Husseini, who
planned to conduct mass murder of Israel’s Jews and allied himself with Hitler
during World War II. Proving his point, just last week, Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas paid tribute to Husseini and his legacy as a great man
who should be emulated by all Arabs.
Israeli-Arab MKs such as Ahmed
Tibi and Haneen Zoabi have also been at the center of controversy in Israel for
their strong pro-Palestinian stances. Tibi refused a request to be interviewed,
saying he was “not interested” in the subject.
In the article, Karsh
mentions Azmi Bishara – a former member of Knesset and the founder of the Balad
party who praised Hezbollah and called for “a state of all its citizens,” a
phrase typically used in calls for Israel to lose its identity as a Jewish
Bishara ended up fleeing Israel after being charged with
cooperating with terrorists.
Karsh says that Arab leaders tend to blame
Israel for all of their problems and incite violence and hatred against the
However, he argues that Israeli Arabs are anything but
deprived and marginalized, stating that they “have made astounding social and
“Far from lagging behind, their rate of development
has often surpassed that of the Jewish sector, with the result that the gap
between the two communities has steadily narrowed,” the professor declares in
“Health statistics are but one indicator. Perhaps most
significantly, mortality rates among Israeli Arabs have fallen by over
two-thirds since the establishment of the Jewish state, while life expectancy
has increased 30 years, reaching 78.5 (women 80.7, men 76.3) in 2009. At the end
of the 1940s, life expectancy of Israeli Arabs was fifteen years lower than that
of their Jewish counterparts; by the 1970s, the gap had decreased to 2-3 years
and has remained virtually unchanged since then (3.7 years in 2009),” he
“Not only does this compare favorably with the Arab and Muslim
worlds, but the average Israeli Arab male can expect to live longer than his
American (76 years in 2007) and many European counterparts.”
conversation with Karsh, he said that “the facts speak for themselves” and that
Israeli Arabs “are not discriminated against in any major way,” according to the
Karsh said that “Arab cities are less congested than Jewish ones,”
and that security profiling and other issues are often not a result of racism,
but of history.
He also cited statistics showing that infant mortality
rates have similarly gone down from 56 per 1,000 births in 1950 to 6.5 in 2008,
which is “slightly above the US mortality rate and much lower than that of the
neighboring Middle Eastern states. In Algeria, for example, it is 24.9
deaths/1,000 live births, in Egypt 30, in Iraq 40, in Iran 41.”
Arabs have also excelled in education. In 1961, the average Israeli Arab spent
one year in school and today the average is over 11.
In higher education,
“fifty years ago, a mere 4% of Arab teachers held academic degrees; by 1999, the
figure had vaulted to 47%,” the study finds. Another interesting statistic is
that illiteracy dramatically decreased from 57.2% to 7.7%.
Karsh goes on
to cite other statistics, such as those showing that the Arab unemployment rate
has dropped below that of Jewish periphery towns.
“The truth is that the
growing defiance of the state, its policies, and its values was not rooted in
socioeconomic deprivation but rather in the steady radicalization of the Israeli
Arab community by its ever more militant leadership, not unlike their mandatory
predecessors,” he concludes in the piece.
On the other hand, Karsh says
that the facts demonstrate that there are some positive signs. He cites a 2007
survey that reveals a “a surprisingly high level of support for the idea of
voluntary civil service among Israeli Arabs: 75% among young Arabs (aged 16-22),
71.9% among Arab men and 89% among Arab women say they would support the idea of
voluntary civil service.”
In addition, he states that when Israeli Arabs
are asked whether they would like to be part of a future Palestinian state or
remain Israeli citizens, they overwhelmingly say they would like to remain
Israeli citizens. Karsh also calls for new Israeli leaders that “would pay
greater heed to the wishes of their constituents and halt their steady drive
toward an allout collision.”
These ideas echo those of Atef Krenawi, the
founder of new Arab political party Hope for Change.
In an interview last
month with The Jerusalem Post, he said, “In my almost 20 years in public life, I
came to see that the Arab leadership only cares about itself, about keeping its
salaries and its seats in the Knesset, and not about the citizens of Israel.
Moreover, they’re doing great damage in the way they deal with the Palestinian
Authority and the neighboring Arab countries.
We as Israeli Arabs need to
be a bridge to peace, not fodder for more war.” | <urn:uuid:233b3379-cfea-42c8-a997-60894fb8c389> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Academic-Israeli-Arab-pols-fomenting-extremism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9597 | 1,399 | 2.03125 | 2 |
New Zealand has a rich and fascinating history, reflecting our unque mix of Māori and European culture.
Māori were the first to arrive in New Zealand, journeying in canoes from Hawaiki about 1,000 years ago. A Dutchman, Abel Tasman, was the first European to sight the country but it was the British who made New Zealand part of their empire.
In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, an agreement between the British Crown and Maori. It established British law in New Zealand and is considered New Zealand’s founding document. The building where the treaty was signed has been preserved and, today, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a popular attraction.
You'll find amazing Māori historic sites and taonga (treasures) - as well as beautiful colonial-era buildings - dotted throughout the country. A walk around any New Zealand city today shows what a culturally diverse and fascinating country we have become. | <urn:uuid:3150841c-b056-41bf-9cba-fdfcd9300224> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newzealand.com/nieuw-zeeland/arts+history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980184 | 199 | 3.09375 | 3 |
6. Asset purchase program: Mortgage rates in 2010 are expected to climb from 2009's extremely low levels. After the Federal Reserve announced plans to purchase debt and mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year, rates on 30-year fixed conforming mortgages fell to historic lows, plunging to 4.97 percent in late November from 6.19 a year earlier. But the Fed's asset purchase program is scheduled to expire at the end of the first quarter of 2010, and a lack of private demand for mortgage-backed securities could lead to higher rates. Keep in mind that the Fed has already extended this program once. And if it appears that the market needs additional government support to keep rates low, the Fed could always decide to remain in the market. Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com expects rates to increase from current levels to between 5 and 5.25 percent by the end of March 2010.
7. Jumbo mortgages: Rates on more expensive home loans—or jumbo mortgages—have dropped to extremely attractive levels, hitting 5.88 percent in the week that ended November 27. "That ranks with all-time bests," Gumbinger says. But while he expects rates on jumbo mortgages to remain historically attractive throughout 2010, many borrowers won't be able to obtain them. That's because most banks have to keep jumbo mortgages on their books and therefore apply much stricter lending standards to them. (Smaller conforming loans can be sold off to Fannie and Freddie.) "Your down payment requirements [for jumbo mortgages] are anywhere between 40 percent down to 20 percent down, depending upon what is happening in your marketplace," Gumbinger says. "You may have to show superhuman strength in terms of credit, [and] you may have to show extraordinary income size."
8. Fed rate hike: In attempting to jump-start the economy, the Fed has slashed its benchmark federal funds rate to as low as zero percent. And even as some express concerns about future inflation, the central bank in early November said that economic conditions were "likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period." As such, economists don't expect the Fed to raise rates anytime soon. "The statement does not lead us to change our view that the Fed will keep rates unchanged until the September 2010 meeting, when we expect the first rate hike," Dean Maki of Barclays Capital Research said in a report. But while an increased federal funds rate could push rates on certain products—such as adjustable rate mortgages or home equity lines of credit—higher, it has little direct influence on fixed mortgage rates.
9. Recovery: A recovery in the U.S. economy may also lead to increased mortgage costs. That's because economic improvement could create more demand for credit, which pushes rates higher. At the same time, a recovery could embolden investors to move money out of ultrasafe assets like 10-year treasuries and into more risky investments. And since 30-year fixed mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year treasury note, such a development would put upward pressure on mortgage rates. Gumbinger says that economic improvement and other factors could push rates on 30-year fixed mortgages as high as 5.75 percent by midsummer. "After that, you are going to be at the whims of the economy," he says.
10. Fannie and Freddie's future: A wild card in the outlook for mortgage rates is the administration's plans for Fannie and Freddie. The two mortgage finance giants—which buy home loans from banks—are a key source of liquidity for the market. The government-chartered companies have long been controversial, and speculation about their future has been mounting since their shaky finances forced Uncle Sam to take over last year. The administration's plans for their future—which could include liquidation or converting them to public utilities—could become clearer in early 2010. This decision could have profound implications for mortgage rates, Gumbinger says. "We could have some dislocations in the supply chains with mortgages depending upon how immediate or how gradual the changes to the structures of those companies are," he says. | <urn:uuid:1384d126-dac1-4a87-998b-9597cd760c5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2009/12/03/getting-a-mortgage-in-2010-10-things-to-know?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970511 | 847 | 1.671875 | 2 |
I am working on a tennis game. I have designed a two -dimensional court with each of the individual parts of the court (eg right service court) as an instance of a movie clip. I want to distort the court so that the far end looks farther away - the court becomes a trapezium. When detecting whether the ball lands on a particular court section, is the hit test done on the original two-dimensional shape or on the distorted shape?
Europe, Middle East and Africa | <urn:uuid:ed44221a-6b40-4600-a7a3-ea93914c7ef6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.adobe.com/message/4423709 | 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 | 0.911726 | 99 | 2.109375 | 2 |
I agree that the 'tension' indicator would be a good idea if it were visible before you cast your vote. And I prefer your simplified method of deriving it. But, for nodes where you can see the reputation (nodes you wrote, or nodes you've voted on) why not just show the total upvotes and total downvotes? What better 'tension' indicator can there be?
As for people getting all worried that the votes on their nodes have not all been positive, wouldn't showing the total votes cast help to minimize the worry?
I would bet that even some of the Best Nodes got some downvotes. Surely, someone clicked off a -- on some of those. If not on the Best Nodes of All Time nodes, certainly on the Best Nodes of This Week nodes...
Seeing that 'it happens to everyone' might make the occasional downvote less painful for those whose self-image is tied too closely to their current Perlmonks XP value.
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| ] || ] || | <urn:uuid:794dce7f-63dc-49f2-8425-e13c69b724a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perlmonks.org/?parent=169037;node_id=3333 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901997 | 475 | 1.617188 | 2 |
This morning I came across an interesting article titled “Why you Should Drink Warm Water and Lemon.” Well when I wake up in the morning I go straight for 32 ounces of cold water, so I was curious to learn why warm lemon water was a good thing. According to the article, it boosts your immune system, aids in digestion, clears skin, helps with weight loss, and balances pH. Balances pH? Am I back in chemistry class? Apparently lemons are an incredibly alkaline food, and now I know you are wondering why that even matters. (I was too!) Then I remembered last year reading The Paleo Diet for Athletes, which also discusses alkaline and acidic foods. Today, I decided to refresh my knowledge on alkaline foods…
What is the idea behind eating alkaline foods and why is this particularly important for athletes?
Rich Roll, who is an ultratriathlete vegan, strongly believes in plant power. One of the benefits he says for eating a plant based diet is that their alkaline properties help reduce inflammation, which helps with recovery. This is in contrast to acid producing foods such as meat and dairy. Now don’t get confused with what the food is outside of your body. It’s what the food does inside your body that is important.
The typical Western diet is net acid producing because of foods such as grains, cheeses, and salty processed foods. The athlete has even more blood acidosis going on because of the by-products of exercise. Your blood however, will do all that it can to maintain a pH of around 7.4. If there is too much acidosis going on, your blood will do all that it can to maintain that pH. If this means taking calcium from your bones and breaking down muscle tissues, then that is what will happen. To stop this from happening, you should eat net alkaline producing foods. There are a lot of alkaline foods you can eat. Just think green veggies, tropical fruit, berries, and tofu. Here are a few detailed lists of these foods:
Benefits of eating an alkaline diet include helping with inflammation, heart disease, type II diabetes, and increasing mineral absorption. Luckily I have a bag of lemons in my refrigerator so I’ll be able to have my warm water with lemon tomorrow. I think it’s so incredible the role diet can play in our ability to perform, recover, and take on the day. I am the worst for coming home after a long Saturday workout and going straight for the not so good for me food. Soft pretzels from Flying Saucer are my favorite. I think if I really want to achieve my running dreams, I need to pay a little more attention to my diet. I plan to start experimenting with this idea of alkaline foods. Let’s see how it goes!
Happy Trails and Happy Running,
(Source: The Paleo Diet for Athletes) | <urn:uuid:365b4e0c-5941-4058-a94d-c7eba2b6e5bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.iruninspired.com/2012/06/07/alkaline-foods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963265 | 603 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Explanation of the Topic...
|Part 1||Introduction to Stockholders' Equity, What is a Corporation?|
|Part 2||Common Stock, Accounting for Stockholders' Equity|
|Part 3||Paid-in Capital or Contributed Capital, Retained Earnings|
|Part 4||Treasury Stock, Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income|
|Part 5||Stock Splits and Stock Dividends|
|Part 6||Cash Dividends on Common Stock|
|Part 7||Preferred Stock|
|Part 8||Entries to the Retained Earnings Account, Book Value|
|Part 9||Earnings Per Share, Other|
If a corporation has issued only one type, or class, of stock it will be common stock. ("Preferred stock" is discussed later.) While "common" sounds rather ordinary, it is the common stockholders who elect the board of directors, vote on whether to have a merger with another company, and get huge returns on their investment if the corporation becomes successful.
When an investor gives a corporation money in return for part ownership, the corporation issues a certificate of ownership interest to the stockholder. This certificate is known as a stock certificate, capital stock, or stock. (Today the larger corporations will handle the shares or stock electronically.)
Stock is the evidence of an ownership interest, it is not a loan to the corporation; stock does not come due or mature. A stockholder owns the stock until he/she decides to sell it. If stockholders want to sell their stock, they must find a buyer usually through the services of a stockbroker. Nowhere on the stock certificate is it indicated what the stock is worth (or what price was paid to acquire it). In a market of buyers and sellers, the current value of any stock fluctuates moment-by-moment.
A corporation's accounting records are involved in stock transactions only when the corporation is the issuer, seller, or buyer of its own stock. For example, if 500,000 shares of Apple Computer stock are traded on the stock exchange today, and if none of those shares is issued, sold, or repurchased by Apple Computer, then Apple Computer's accounting records are not affected. The corporation will go about its routine business operations without even noticing that there were some changes in its ownership.
Some investors may have large ownership interests in a given corporation, while other investors own a very small part. To keep track of each investor's ownership interest, corporations use a unit of measurement referred to as a "share" (or "share of stock"). The number of shares that an investor owns is printed on the investor's stock certificate. This information is also noted in the corporate secretary's record, a record which is not connected to the corporation's accounting records.
The ratio of investors to stock owned is different for every corporation and it may change many times per day depending on who is selling or buying stock. If an investor owns 1,000 shares and the corporation has issued a total of 100,000 shares outstanding, the investor is said to have a 1% ownership interest in the corporation. The other owners have the combined remaining 99% ownership interest.
When a business applies for incorporation to a secretary of state, its approved application will specify the classes (or types) of stock, the par value of the stock, and the number of shares it is authorized to issue. (Shares are often issued in exchange for cash. However, shares of stock can be issued in exchange for services or plant assets.) When its articles of incorporation are prepared, a business will often request authorization to issue a larger number of shares than what is immediately needed. By planning ahead this way, the business avoids the inconvenience of having to go back to the state if and when more shares are needed to raise more capital.
To illustrate, assume that the organizers of a new corporation need to issue 1,000 shares of common stock to get their corporation up and running. They keep in mind, however, that in one year they will need to issue additional shares to fund a planned factory expansion. Five years from now they foresee buying out another company and realize they will need to issue more shares at that time for the acquisition. As a result, they decide that their articles of incorporation should authorize 100,000 shares of common stock, even though only 1,000 shares will be issued at the time that the corporation is formed.
When a corporation sells some of its authorized shares, the shares are described as "issued." The number of issued shares is often considerably less than the number of authorized shares.
Corporations issue (or sell) shares of stock to obtain cash from investors, to acquire another company (the new shares are given to the owners of the other company in exchange for their ownership interest), to acquire certain assets or services, and as an incentive/reward for key officers of the corporation.
The "par value" of a share of stock is sometimes defined as the legal capital of a corporation. The par value of common stock is usually a very small insignificant amount that was required by state laws many years ago. Because of those existing laws whenever a share of stock is issued, the par value is recorded in a separate stockholders' equity account in the general ledger. Any proceeds that exceed the par value are credited to another stockholders' equity account. This required accounting (discussed later) means that you can determine the number of issued shares by dividing the balance in the par value account by the par value per share.
If a share of stock has been issued and has not been reacquired by the corporation, it is said to be "outstanding." For example, if a corporation initially sells 2,000 shares of its stock to investors, and if the corporation did not reacquire any of this stock, this corporation is said to have 2,000 shares of stock outstanding. The number of outstanding shares is always less than or equal to the number of issued shares. The number of issued shares is always less than (or equal to) the authorized number of shares.
Here is a mathematical presentation:
number of outstanding shares ≤ number of issued shares ≤ number of authorized sharesWhen a corporation reacquires shares of its own stock and does not retire them, the corporation is said to have "treasury stock." (Treasury stock will be discussed later.) The number of outstanding shares is equal to the number of issued shares minus the number of treasury shares.
number of outstanding shares = number of issued shares – number of treasury shares
Here are the terms in descending order (largest to smallest) based on hypothetical amounts:
AUTHORIZED 100,000 shares ISSUED 1,000 shares * OUTSTANDING 900 shares *
* The difference between the ISSUED shares and the OUTSTANDING shares is the number of shares of TREASURY STOCK (100 shares in this example).
A corporation's balance sheet reports its assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity. Stockholders' equity is the difference (or residual) of assets minus liabilities.
Because of the cost principle (and other accounting principles), assets are generally reported on the balance sheet at cost (or lower) amounts. As a result, it would be incorrect to assume that the total amount of stockholders' equity is equal to the current value, or worth, of the corporation. (For a more thorough discussion of the balance sheet, see Explanation of Balance Sheet.)
Because of legal requirements, the stockholders' equity section of a corporation's balance sheet is more expansive than the owner's equity section of a sole proprietorship's balance sheet. (For example, state laws require that corporations keep separate in their records the amounts received through investors from the amounts earned through business activity.) State laws may also require that the par value be reported in a separate account.
Below are the items that a corporation is required to report on its balance sheet in the stockholder's equity section. We will discuss them in the order they would appear on a balance sheet:
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We understand how difficult accounting can be. That's why each accounting topic includes a clear explanation, reinforcing quizzes, Q&A, puzzles, dictionary of terms, etc. | <urn:uuid:dfbe5811-99b5-4801-96a9-f617355b1221> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accountingcoach.com/online-accounting-course/17Xpg02.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945295 | 1,834 | 2.890625 | 3 |
TORONTO, Ontario, Aug. 13, 2012 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Graphology, long derided as a parlor game in North America, is widely used clinically in Israel and Europe, according to Annette Poizner, Ed.D., a Registered Social Worker practicing in Toronto (http://annettepoizner.com/). Poizner, a certified graphologist, published doctoral research which explored graphology use within psychotherapy. That study, performed at the University of Toronto, is summarized in her just published textbook, “Clinical Graphology: An Interpretive Manual for Mental Health Practitioners” (ISBN: 978-0398087265; Charles C Thomas Publisher).
Determined to educate therapists and counselors about the way graphology can inform clinical practice, Poizner has presented academically, lecturing at universities and presenting at conferences such as that of the Canadian Psychological Association. She has also published in academic journals and, with a blog on the Huffington Post, routinely writes in the popular press.
Now, her new book, “Clinical Graphology: An Interpretive Manual for Mental Health Practitioners” (hardcover; $47.95, June 2012), is the first of its kind to target a clinical audience, bearing the stamp of Charles C Thomas Publisher, a scholarly publishing house that produces materials for mainstream mental health professionals.
Poizner reflects, “Each individual is fundamentally expressive, having a preferred way of moving, a preferred rhythm and style. Those preferences are expressed through gesture, mannerisms, and facial expressions … also in handwriting.” Since handwriting leaves a written trace which can be reviewed at leisure, Poizner asserts that handwriting can be usefully analyzed.
She notes that graphology should not be used in isolation, but always in tandem with other assessment measures. “In my experience, graphology can help identify personality style and even point to the hidden root causes of tenacious problems that have not responded to conventional therapy. Yet, handwriting is potentially affected by drug use, health difficulties, even writing conditions. As a tool, it has its limits.”
Despite those limits, she asserts graphology still has value to psychotherapists. “If handwriting analysis helps therapists quickly generate tentative ideas about clients and if the process of using it is potentially rich and even intriguing, then my thought is we should use it.” She adds, “and we can be discerning about how and when to use it, and towards what end.”
In clinical practice for almost 20 years, Poizner routinely collects handwriting samples and administers other projective tests when doing psychotherapy. To date, her work, representing an innovation in mental health care, has been featured in dailies across Canada and in Reader’s Digest.
More information: http://annettepoizner.com/ .
View PDF brochure for book: http://annettepoizner.com/bookflyer.pdf .
NEWS SOURCE: Annette Poizner :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press(R) Newswire, a service of Neotrope(R). View all current news at the Send2Press for Journalists Portal: http://Send2PressNewswire.com/ . | <urn:uuid:11d8211b-a451-49ec-8d35-784c672ead9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://send2pressnewswire.com/2012/08/13/s2p6512_045818.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926544 | 696 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Bishop Won’t Let Group Publicly Honor Gay Student
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Overruling school officials, a Catholic bishop in Iowa said Monday he would not let a group that promotes equal rights for gays and lesbians present a college scholarship to an openly gay student during an upcoming award ceremony.
Bishop Martin Amos in Davenport said the Eychaner Foundation would not be allowed to present the Matthew Shepard Scholarship to Keaton Fuller during the May 20 ceremony at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Clinton, saying the group’s support for gay rights conflicts with church doctrine.
The announcement comes after a school official signed a document last month that promised to let a representative of the foundation’s scholarship committee present the award to Fuller.
In an open letter released Monday, Fuller said he’s never felt so "invalidated and unaccepted" as he did when he heard that news last week. He said he and his family were asking the school to reverse its decision, and he launched an online petition Monday that was signed by hundreds of supporters within its first hours.
"This whole ordeal has been incredibly hurtful, and I am even sadder that this will be one of my last experiences to remember my high school years by," Fuller wrote.
The bishop’s decision also stunned school officials, who had encouraged Fuller to apply for the award and wrote letters on his behalf.
Founded by Iowa businessman and gay rights activist Rich Eychaner, the Des Moines-based foundation has awarded more than 130 Matthew Shepard scholarships to graduating high school seniors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender since 2000. It is named for the gay Wyoming college student killed in 1998.
Citing his scholastic achievement and work fighting homophobia, the foundation chose Fuller this spring as one of three students for the gold scholarship, which is worth up to $40,000 over four years to attend one of Iowa’s three public universities. Fuller, 18, plans to go to the University of Iowa.
Fuller is believed to be the first gay student at a Catholic high school to attend multiple school dances with a partner of the same sex, said foundation executive director Michael Bowser.
"We were very proud of him for that," he said.
Bowser said the group’s award presentations are part of the scholarship process because they send a message of acceptance. He said three other Catholic schools had rejected presentations for scholarship recipients in prior years, but the group thought Prince of Peace would be the first to allow it, given the staff’s support for Fuller.
Despite the school’s promise, Amos told Fuller’s parents last week that church policies on guest speakers would prohibit it, the Diocese of Davenport said in a statement. The policy says, "We cannot allow any one or any organization which promotes a position that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church to present at a diocesan institution."
The diocese’s statement congratulated Fuller for winning "the generous award," and said it would be announced by a school employee during the assembly.
School Board President Edward O’Neill said he was disappointed by the bishop’s decision. He said Fuller was a talented student who was accepted by his peers after coming out years ago. He said Fuller had taken his boyfriend to prom over the weekend and other school dances without controversy.
O’Neill said board members were briefed on the scholarship last month, and they were aware a foundation representative planned to present the scholarship. No one raised an objection until the bishop got involved, he said.
"We preach tolerance and acceptance but then we turn around and we don’t practice what we preach," he said. "If the bishop says we’re not going to do it, I can voice my objection to it, but there’s not a whole lot I can do."
Eychaner issued a statement saying he was shocked that the bishop believes the foundation’s work clashes with church teachings, noting it promotes tolerance and fights bullying. And he said he was confused how the bishop found the award itself acceptable to be announced but not by its sponsor. | <urn:uuid:77f10076-e485-4d89-9dfe-841a025f6dc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edgemiami.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=religion&sc3=&id=132768 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982744 | 863 | 1.523438 | 2 |
One of the long-standing mysteries of our family history is how my great great grandfather Richard Vause, who lived in Hull, met his bride Matilda Park, who was born in Belfast and lived in Bath. He was living in Hull in the 1851 census, and at the beginning of 1852 they were married in Bath and very soon sailed to Natal.
Now we’ve found a couple of census records that could explain how they met.
One of Matilda Park’s sisters was Margaret Martin Park, who married James Drake, a surgeon dentist, at St Saviour’s Church, Bath, on 8 June 1848, and the 1851 census shows them in Hull, as visitors in the home of Simeon Mosely, also a surgeon dentist, at 15 Whitefriars Gate, Holy Trinity, Hull. Their daughter Mary Edith Drake was born in Hull in about December 1850.
Perhaps James Drake and Simeon Mosely were partners in a dental practice, and perhaps Richard Vause was one of their patients, and maybe Matilda Park went to Hull to visit her sister. A lot of maybes, perhaps, or perhapses, maybe. But the fact that members of the Park family were living in Hull in 1850 could explain how Richard Vause met them.
In the 1861 census the Drake family were living at Castle Church, Staffordshire, and in 1871 in Warwickshire, where Margaret Drake appears to have died in 1878.
Mary Edith Drake was later known as Edith, and was single, living on her own means in Penge, London, in the 1891 census. She appears to have been the only child, and does not seem to have married, so there’s no point in looking for present-day relatives from that branch of the family.
Perhaps one thing that could be added is that last week I was contacted by Peter Henderson, who is researching a William Park/Mary Martin family for a friend. That family is in Scotland, and it is not the same family as the one I have been describing here. Peter said a Catherine Raw had a family tree that has conflated the two families. Richard and Matilda Vause’s eldest daughter Polly did marry a John James Raw, so there is a link between the Vause and Raw families, though I’m not sure where Catherine fits in. But the Park/Martin family of Scotland appears to be entirely separate, with no link to ours. | <urn:uuid:99ab8aae-c5e2-4fa6-be79-9d3b1c823226> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/park-vause-and-drake-families-of-hull-and-bath/ | 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 | 0.990456 | 515 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Barter, bargain, haggle
As our economy continues to sputter along, wise people will do everything possible to reduce debt and hold down costs. If you happen to be someone who is or lives in a household that is subject to very little debt, you have an opportunity to take advantage of some of the bargains that are out there. This is a great time to be in the market for a car, a house, clothes, food or almost anything else.
And there are some new ways to make sure that you get the best possible price. For instance, I have discovered that there seems to be more interest in bargaining or “haggling” than there has been in recent years. In our culture, the art of haggling has almost never been used over the past 40 to 50 years. Haggling is about to make a big comeback. I once heard a marketing campaign for a car dealership that was advertising the “no dicker sticker”. They seemed to think that people were not buying cars because of the hassle that came with settling on a price, so they advertised that “the price you see is the price you pay”. Every time I saw the commercial, I said to myself that “everyone knows to never pay sticker price for a car. Furthermore, I like to bargain, especially when it comes to a car. If I pay sticker price, I am probably overpaying significantly for that car.” I never went to that car dealership – first, because I almost never buy cars from a big dealership and second, if I did go to a dealership, I most certainly want to argue about the price.
I first learned to bargain while going to garage sales with my mother when I was a kid. She never paid the stated price and many times she practically stole the items that she was purchasing. We went to rummage sales all the time and I grew up thinking that people always bartered at rummages. So when I set up my own yard sale, I overpriced everything and did not sell all that much. I was anticipating that people would offer me less than the price on the tape. Almost no one did and I ended up having to carry all that stuff back inside. People were walking away simply because they did not have the guts to ask for a lower price.
I recently picked up a great toy for my children at a rummage sale around the corner from our house. I eventually purchased the item for 25% of the asking price – of course I initially asked for 35% less, the seller bargained and we eventually settled on a price. I walked away thinking that I got a deal and the seller got rid of an item that was probably in the way and made a little cash on the side.
Rummage sales aren’t the only place to ask for a lower price. I do it all the time at the company I work. We buy a number of items in bulk and I always ask for a discount based on volume or even extra business. I’ll say something like, “if you give us item A for $——-, then we will also purchase item B from you”. I always try to get add-ons or bulk prices, etc. Once we go a steak-egg-hashbrowns-toast-oj-coffee breakfast for $3.80 per person.
I recently acquired a new mobile phone for a bargain price. The thing about wireless phones is that the company makes almost no money off of the phone. They want you in a plan – that’s where the money is. Of course, I could have chosen from several models that were free “with plan”, but I kind of need a smartphone for my day job as well as blogging. Texting, Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, and more are all applications that I use on a regular basis – on my phone. The phone that I decided that I needed was from the Blackberry family and the sticker price for someone in my situation was $185. I hemmed and hawed around for a few minutes and the salesperson offered it to me for $75. I hemmed and hawed a bit more and then left the store ostensibly to go ask my wife if she approved of this purchase. When I returned with Mrs. Stew an hour later, we hemmed and hawed some more and after about 15 minutes, the salesperson offered it to me for $40. I took the phone home.
I have started to used haggling in more and more places that I frequent. Here are some strategies that make bargaining more effective:
- Make your first offer ludicrously low.
- Be willing to walk away . . . and do it!
- Be honest about your intent to purchase. Do not go through this exercise if you are not legitimately planning to buy.
- Make them say a number first – especially with cars. The first person to say a number, will be the one to get the short end of the bargain. I have made this mistake more than once.
- Don’t let them know that you really, really want it.
- Have no shame – not in an abusive way, but don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. The worst they can do is say no.
- Be a frequent customer.
- Be as informed as possible about prices for equivalent items at other vendors.
I recently sent this email to one of my vendors:
Thanks for the price quote, Chris.You always come in lower . . . but one of these days, I’m going to get you.
I will let you know when we are ready to order.
This is a vendor who I have worked with for several years and who always gives me the best price, but I want him to know that I am always looking for a better price. So far, my business has gone to him, but one of these days . . .
Photo by silverfox09
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Spielberg stops ‘Robopocalypse’
Did evil master robot order suspension of production?
(MCT) — Robot-domination fans around the world are grieving now that Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has suspended production on the long-anticipated science fiction extravaganza “Robopocalypse.”
The proposed film is based on the novel of the same name by robot scientist Daniel H. Wilson about what happens to humans when robots take over the world.
“I’m disappointed,” Wilson told me in a telephone interview Thursday. “Hopefully, it will come together on down the line. Hollywood is fickle, man.”
Spielberg released a statement saying the movie was too expensive to produce and the script “is not ready.”
Many robot stories are variants of the “Frankenstein” tale: Man creates life, becomes his own god and pays for it. In modern tellings, humans are virtual slaves to technology. Once robots walk among us, some foolish scientist decides to give them “feelings,” and everything goes to hell. They become self-aware, they turn evil and then they use our dependence on technology to hunt us down and crush our skulls.
So isn’t it possible that Spielberg is already under evil robot control, since robots about to go evil wouldn’t want this movie out before they’re ready?
“That’s possible,” Wilson said. “But it’s pretty unlikely. If there is a superintelligent machine out there pulling the strings, I don’t think the movie industry would be the first place they’d start.”
The first thing we need are some new rules for robots. The first is that all evil robots, like evil apes, criminal masterminds, Darth Vaders (and Madonna), end up using English accents.
“Perhaps it’s because the English design the speech synthesis capabilities?” Wilson asked. “I don’t know if it stands for all of the British. Then you’ve got your Austrian accents, as in the Terminator.
“It seems that the good robots are always shouting about ‘Danger, Will Robinson,’” Wilson said.
In American accents.
Another thing about evil robots: They have superstrength and flash red eyes before they kill.
“If you look at robots in robot uprising movies, from the perspective of a consumer products person, you’ve got to wonder: Who decided to give them red eyes?” Wilson said.
“Who decided to make them strong enough to jump off of a building and leave cracks in the pavement and then get up and walk away? I have a feeling that the best way to make a robot is to make it incapable of harming a person, by making it too weak or slow to even accidentally hurt someone.
“In real life, when we start seeing these robots in our lives, they’re going to be a lot slower and more gentle than what’s been portrayed.”
Like those carpet-cleaning robots you’ve seen, gentle little disks that wouldn’t harm a cat as they suck up crumbs and stray bobby pins and such. Once they start speaking proper English — Hollywood’s shortcut to symbolize supreme intelligence — we’re dead.
Yet if evil robots were really smart, you’d think they’d engineer some reproductive organs to have little robots of their own.
“I would be much more afraid of robots if they had genitalia,” he said. “One robot’s got genitalia, the other one doesn’t, I’m running faster from the robot with genitalia.”
Another rule of robots is that just when red-eyed asexual robots are wreaking havoc far away, a grizzled, middle-aged human is sitting next to the campfire in the relatively safe wilderness.
He starts reminiscing about the good old days, those days before all that frightening technology took over the world and was subverted by evil. He smiles, talking in low tones of V-8 engines and Detroit steel and chocolate sodas. And, as he sighs, wistfully, the robots leap out from the bushes and crushes his skull with clomping feet.
“Except for the ‘crushed by a robot’ thing, I think you’re describing Thanksgiving for every family in the United States,” Wilson said. “That’s pretty much the way it is, right? Every new generation has new technology that the older generation struggles to understand. They remember a better time when things were simpler.”
Ah, those days when you could order a chocolate soda, and robots wouldn’t crush your head.
Fools among you will dismiss sci-fi as the peculiar domain of nerds, but the thing is, good sci-fi is highly political. And “Robopocalypse” is no exception.
The survivors flee to an Indian reservation. Whenever they use technology, the robots detect it, and track them. So humans are forced to live off the grid. No more texting during dinner.
“In Robopocalypse, some humans don’t make it. They go out there in the country, and they starve. It’s about what happens when we experience a drastic change in our environment,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s latest book, “Amped,” is about scientific discoveries designed to help those born with mental and physical disabilities.
But then the technology explodes. The disabled who have been given new powers eclipse the unimpaired. Does a parent compel a child to have brain surgery because others in her class are surpassing her? Can a nation force its people to artificially augment themselves because a rival country is doing it wholesale?
“The whole field of neuroprosthetics and biomedical engineering is blowing up right now,” Wilson said. “It’ll be really interesting to watch how this technology comes into our bodies and changes us.
“Every new piece of technology is like a lily pad,” he said. “And it’s tough to know just when to jump off.”
You’ll know, when the robots start sounding like Jude Law. Then it’s time to run.
©2012 the Chicago Tribune
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If your passion is to design, develop or maintain computer system software, or to develop computing solutions, a degree in computer science is a perfect match. At Olivet, you will also learn how to be a Christian professional.Focus on one or more of these career possibilities:
Putting knowledge to work
Senior capstone project and senior research problems: Gain valuable research and practical application experience under the guidance of a faculty member. Recent projects include:
Study abroad programs: Two ideal opportunities for computer studies are Korean Nazarene University in Cheonan Republic of Korea, and Africa Nazarene University in Nairobi, Kenya.Technology mission trips: Our department’s motto is “Minds for Computing and Hearts for Serving.” Serve on a mission trip with other computer science students. Use your valuable technology talents and skills to help others. Students recently served in Los Angeles, Costa Rica and Honduras, helping set up computer labs, teaching people how to use computers, and fixing hardware and software problems.Computer Science Club: Enjoy social activities, parties, outdoor social events and guest speakers with other CS majors. Take part in presenting your own research during one of our professional seminars. Participate in a service project to help area residents. Recently, we worked with junior high and high school students in the greater Kankakee area with their project for robotics competition. On campus, we are available to help students, staff and faculty with their computer problems.CareersIf you are a person who:
then a degree in computer science may be for you!After graduation, begin working right away to get experience in your field. As you progress in your career, consider pursuing a master’s degree. An advanced degree is more valuable to you once you have on-the-job experience.Possible careers include: software engineer, Web developer, systems analyst, software architect, software designer, computer sales, software sales, researcher, entrepreneurPossible types of employers include: Government agencies, banks, consulting companies, software companies, hospitals, universities and colleges, computer services companies, industrial research and development laboratoryComputer Science is part of the Department of Computer Science within the School of Professional Studies.
Build your résumé by working for Olivet's industry recognized Department of Information Technology while still a student. | <urn:uuid:4f2ca44f-ea1d-4273-97fd-dfdf836e0169> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.olivet.edu/academics/computer-science-major/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921661 | 466 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Way You Water
By Amy Levin-Epstein for Green Goes Simple
Watering the lawn, running in the sprinkler, lazy days by the pool -- each of these summer activities proves that water is a central part of warm-weather fun. So how do you cut back on water use -- without cutting back on the fun?
“In the U.S., the average person uses between 100 to 175 gallons of water daily,” says Caroline Howell, founder of GreenBeanie, a green home and lifestyle consultant. “To put this in perspective, the average person in Africa uses a mere 5 gallons a day.” Clearly, people aren’t doing all they can to conserve water, a limited resource that -- if used improperly -- can result in sky-high summer bills.
Fortunately, hope is not lost! Howell has many easy tips to conserve water -- and save some cash -- this summer.
Wake up and Water
If you douse your lawn and garden under the midafternoon sun, a good chunk of that precious liquid will evaporate before it reaches root level. “Watering the lawn and garden should be done in the early morning hours before the sun comes up,” says Howell.
Sprinkle Your Lawn Smartly
Inefficiency equals major waste, so look for products that fix leaks and help water get to your parched plants and lawn. A noodle sprinkler can help improve your aim and keep your garden truly green. And if you have an automatic sprinkler -- which is already eco-friendly! -- make sure to override the system and shut it off whenever rain is on the way.
Conserve During Playtime
Kids are going to want to run through the sprinkler, so look for a low-flow option that reduces the amount of water used. And if they’re turning into prunes trying to stay cool with the sprinkler, give them water pistols. They will not only get some exercise while running around, but also use much less water.
Reuse Rain and Shower Water
“You can capture rainwater with barrels connected to your gutters, and then use this for watering your lawn,” says Howell. It’s not as hard as you may think -- there are many preconfigured kits available online, and you can also build your own system.
Rain isn’t the only water you can collect and reuse. “I have a bucket in the shower that captures a gallon of water while it’s getting hot,” says Howell. “I use this water on the plants on my patio.”
Protect Your Pool From Evaporation
“Put a cover on your pool to stop evaporation, which saves significant water in warmer months,” says Howell. There are even solar covers that will heat the pool naturally, so you’ll save water and energy!
Lead by Example
Kids learn from watching you, so show them easy, everyday ways to save water. Turn off faucets while brushing your teeth and shut down the hose while soaping up the car. They’ll follow your lead and you’ll see some big savings!
Amy Levin-Epstein is a freelance writer who’s been published in magazines like Glamour, Self and Prevention, on websites like AOL, Babble and Details.com and in newspapers like the New York Post and the Boston Globe. You can read more of her writing at AmyLevinEpstein.com. Her articles have previously appeared on Green Goes Simple.
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Pressure on senators to direct money to their states can be tremendous, whether it's done by budget earmarks or some other way. Appropriations bills are only one avenue to deliver the goods.
A bipartisan group of four US senators announced Tuesday that they’ll push for a vote on a plan to ban earmarks. The lawmakers involved – Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Democrats Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Mark Udall of Colorado – want a moratorium on earmarks to go into effect immediately and last at least through 2013.
“Earmarks are not only wasteful but are terrible distractions for both parties. The sooner we get rid of earmarks the sooner we can go to work on the difficult task of getting our budget under control,” said Senator Coburn in a statement on the group’s effort.
This hands-across-the-aisle move is only the latest in a series of things indicating that earmarks, or pet projects of lawmakers, may be about to end. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky, a longtime defender of earmark spending, has switched sides, for instance, and now supports a ban. So does President Obama. | <urn:uuid:6b922ce9-e933-4115-81c5-22f824621535> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/1117/Senate-ban-on-budget-earmarks-Can-it-really-work | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933892 | 250 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Court quashes a portion of land acquired for Somapura industrial layout
The Karnataka High Court on Friday found that the State government had permitted an industrial layout in the catchment area of Tippagondanahalli (T.G. Halli) reservoir, a drinking water source to Bangalore, despite the area being declared “ecologically sensitive” by the government itself.
This came to the court’s notice in petitions, filed by some owners of agricultural land in the catchment area, challenging acquisition of their land for the Somapura industrial area by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).
Drinking water source
Observing that “one cannot comprehend that an industrial area and a catchment area for drinking water can coexist by mere regulation,” Justice A.S. Bopanna on Friday quashed the notifications acquiring 6 acres of agricultural land at Chandanahosahalli village of Somapura hobli of Nelamangala taluk near Bangalore.
The court wondered what was so pressing about the layout in such a vulnerable area and why it could not be formed somewhere outside the catchment area.
Besides, the court pointed out, a presentation made by Karnataka to the Ministry of Environment seeking clearance depicts that the area is not in ecologically sensitive zone though the entire area has been treated as ecologically sensitive by the government!
The court also found from the record that the government did not consider the impact of the industrial layout before acquiring the land despite Supreme Court guidelines. | <urn:uuid:b358de80-9300-412b-bb67-7f9c7e1116cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/government-allowed-industrial-layout-in-reservoir-catchment-area/article3971526.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944738 | 316 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Will the taxpayer make any money from the bailouts?Submitted by northstar on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 12:56
I know this sounds like a really dumb question and I feel like we probably won't.
I was wondering today about it because some institutions have paid back their portion of the bailout including interest. Shouldn't the interest be seperated and put into escrow or something, so the taxpayer gets something back even if we don't recoop all the rest of the money we taxpayers were forced to give to the bailout?
Or, are they just going to take the interest and roll it forward to pay down the bailout? I doubt that'll happen, it'll probaly end up in some fatcats pocket.
Who gets the interest? | <urn:uuid:1062ebbd-e086-4692-829b-f2dc9f7f39ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailypaul.com/106530/will-the-taxpayer-make-any-money-from-the-bailouts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975552 | 159 | 1.921875 | 2 |
I am not sure what you think those photos and video shows?
The video shows what you would expect to see from an arduino reading an analogue pin with nothing connected to it. This is the normal behavior from a fully working board.
The pictures just show a normal arduino.
mistake of connecting the pin that adjusts the contrast directly to gnd without resistance,
I can't see how this would affect the arduino, it might damage the LCD but you are putting a short on your USB power supply.
It is just possible that you have damaged the poly fuse however so get a meter and measure the 5V line and see what it reads. | <urn:uuid:56b47ca9-ba57-41c2-b151-2302a6c84de9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=91157.msg684424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963912 | 135 | 1.710938 | 2 |
If you’re going to overdraw your checking account by $100 or less, your most cost-effective bet is to borrow money from a payday lender, not to use an overdraft service or let your check bounce.
That’s the conclusion drawn from a recent study, “The Best & Worst Places for Overdrawing,” conducted by Lake Bluff, Ill.-based research firm Moebs Services. The study, which surveyed 1,240 banks, 1,292 credit unions and 832 major retailers. including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Walgreens and Safeway, reveals the most costly way to overdraw a checking account is through a bank or credit union that does not offer an overdraft service. In this case, the institution will charge a median nonsufficient funds fee of $28 and the retailer that received the bad check will charge a median price of $30, bringing the total damage to $58.
Large banks with $50 billion or more in assets charge a median overdraft price of $34 per check, and community banks and credit unions charge $25, Moebs said. But the median charge for a small loan of $100 or less is just $17.50 from payday lenders, which Moebs Services CEO Mike Moebs said. He added although payday lenders carry a stigma, they are used more often than one might think. Of the 34 million checking account users that rely on short-term finance, 19 million people, most of whom have a credit score of less than 600, use payday lenders while 15 million rely on overdrafts.
“The payday lender is the one driving the overdraft market, and very few in the credit union management market know that,” Moebs said.
In order to compete with payday lenders, Moebs recommends credit unions offer low-priced overdraft services and target members with low credit scores.
“If a credit union truly wanted to serve its entire potential membership, why not act like a payday lender?” Moebs said. “Credit unions should go after the members who choose not to open a checking account because they’re afraid they will overdraw. If I were a credit union, I would get heavily into the overdraft business, go after the people with low FICO scores and lower my overdraft price.”
One credit union that understands the benefits of overdraft services is the $300 million City County CU of Fort Lauderdale based in Margate, Fla. Chris Oldag, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said approximately 70% of the CU’s membership uses its overdraft service. He pointed out that without overdraft coverage, members could spur a detrimental chain of events due to a returned check for a mortgage payment, auto payment or rent, for example.
A returned check [could break a relationship with the provider of a regular service, like a day care or a landlord,” Oldag said. “Think of the cascading events that could occur if your returned rent check causes your landlord’s house payment check to bounce. Overdrafts are a welcomed service.”
The study also found that 20.5% of banks and credit unions no longer provide overdraft services, and 40% of national retailers don’t accept checks. Half of the consumers who overdraw their checking accounts do so by $40 or less, and 34 million consumers, or about 26% of consumer checking accounts, do this 10 or more times per year, Moebs said.
Moebs also examined regional overdraft fee differences. The firm determined that the least expensive place to overdraw a checking account is San Francisco, with a median price of $22.50. The most expensive location is Miami, with a median price of $30.95. | <urn:uuid:e8415e2b-c41f-4268-991e-1be9b2f6cb8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cutimes.com/2011/09/14/moebs-study-urges-cus-to-go-toe-to-toe-with-payday?t=online-mobile-banking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950077 | 780 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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| Ebbing and Flowing Well (Chapel) |
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|Description ||The site of the well as seen from above at the roadside. The area is fenced off from the surrounding farmland and very soft underfoot, implying a fair flow of water.|
|The ebbing and flowing well was long regarded as a natural wonder of the Peak District. According to local sources the ebbing and flowing was due to a natural underground syphon. For some reason, thought to be the collapse of the syphon or some other change to the underground water table, this process no longer occurs. The well ceased to ebb and flow possibly as long ago as a hundred years or more.|
|Some years ago the road by the well was 'remade'. It is believed this ruined the ebbing & flowing.|
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Megalithic Portal eGallery, images of megaliths and prehistoric sites worldwide, free to view. | <urn:uuid:e4fa3a9f-c603-4064-aa3b-88be39698df0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=13507&orderby=ratingA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939094 | 258 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Shade Tree Tool Box Cart
I think that right after fire, wheels are the the most important tool used by humans. I am always on the lookout for ways to reduce work effort and putting objects on wheels is one of the first things I consider. In the best of all possible worlds, I would have a large, well lighted, air conditioned shop where I could tow the Cub if it quits or needs service. But the reality is that when I need to work on the Cub, it is usually easier to bring the tools to the Cub rather than the other way around.
I have a plastic tool box that holds all the wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, etc. that I need to work on the Cub. As you might imagine, once all that steel is loaded into the box, it becomes quite heavy. In addition, the weight puts a strain on the top-mounted handle. Since I don't want to lug this thing around, wheels are called for.
I would appreciate any feedback you have. This link will take you to the Feedback thread: Shade Tree Feedback
- Problem Definition
The problem definition is "Make a cart which will allow this 60 pound tool box easily to move over rough terrain."
The cart should meet the following requirements:
1. A minimum wheel diameter of 6" and preferably 8" to 10". Dirt clods, ruts and rocks will act as chocks on smaller wheels.
2. A tricycle wheel arrangement for stability.
3. A handle to grasp and allow the cart to be pushed and pulled.
4. A low center of gravity to prevent the box from tipping over.
5. Allow the box to be opened without restriction.
6. Support for the top tool trays when the box is opened. With no support, the box will flip over backwards with the top tool trays opened up.
7. Tool box supports that allow the box to sit on the frame securely but not require the box be bolted to the frame.
- Tool Cart Frame
A search of the "parts pile" turned up a pair of 10" wheels from a golf cart, a swiveling front caster from an old wheel chair, a broken push scooter that some kid abandoned by a dumpster, and assorted pieces of steel. Here is a picture of the assembled tool cart.
The main wheels are mounted on 5/8" bolts that had the heads removed and inserted in the square tubing. This makes a strong and light axle that will easily support the tool box. The tool box supports are pieces of angle iron with a tab turned up to prevent the box from sliding to the rear and side to side. The front support is also angle iron preventing forward movement.
The size of the front caster required that the neck of frame arch up to the caster bearing. This arch also provides support for the top and tool trays when the box is opened. The steel straps which wrap around the caster bearing also provide the location for the steering handle taken from the busted scooter.
Here is a picture of the tool box placed in the frame. Notice that the tool box is placed forward of the center of the rear axle. If the tool box is centered over the rear axle, any upward movement on the cart handle will cause the box to roll over and fall off the back of the cart. (Trust me on this one...)
Here is a picture of the box opened up showing the support for the tool trays.
This is a pretty simple and cheap item to build and will make working on your Cub a little easier. I expect that your "parts pile" has different stuff than mine, but with a little imagination you can probably find something that will work for your own toolbox cart. BTW If you have not been haunting pawn shops for old SAE/American tools, I suggest you put pawn shops on your list. Almost all the tools in my "tool box on wheels" came from pawn shops or garage sales. Keep your eyes peeled and dig through the junk tools until you find the good stuff. It is there, you just have to look for it. | <urn:uuid:c8d707e5-f25b-4a8b-b65c-e7a04a179eb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=144&t=42509&mobile=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939573 | 842 | 2.078125 | 2 |
March 22, 2012 — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) on Tuesday signed into law a bill (HB 461) that will extend the waiting period for women seeking abortion care to 72 hours, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The law will take effect May 7, giving the state the longest waiting period in the nation. A similar law mandating a 72-hour waiting period in South Dakota has been put on hold by a federal judge.
Currently, women must wait 24 hours before an abortion in Utah (Gehrke, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/20). Herbert "felt the bill appropriately allows a woman who's facing that decision to fully weigh her options and the implications of that decision," Ally Isom, a spokesperson for the governor, said (Dobuzinskis, Reuters/Chicago Tribune, 3/20).
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the law will require women to wait 72 hours after a face-to-face consultation, in which they are told about the fetus' development and given information about options other than abortion. Doctors would be permitted to bypass the waiting period if an abortion is necessary to prevent an infection.
The law does not provide an exemption for nonviable pregnancies, noted Marina Lowe, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah. "It's just sort of cruel to tell a woman that" she has to carry a nonviable pregnancy for three more days, Lowe said, adding, "It also raises the question of: What is the state's interest in requiring a woman to wait 72 hours if there's no chance of the pregnancy resulting in a baby?" (Salt Lake Tribune, 3/20).
The Utah measure differs from the South Dakota law in that the Utah waiting period starts after a consultation with any health professional, whereas South Dakota requires the consultation to be with an abortion provider. Isom expressed confidence that the Utah law could withstand a court challenge (Reuters/Chicago Tribune, 3/20).
Repro Health Watch — an exciting new edition of the Women’s Health Policy Report — compiles and distributes media coverage of proposed and enacted state laws and ballot initiatives affecting women's access to comprehensive reproductive health care, as well as litigation in response to those provisions. | <urn:uuid:151ec6b4-e5b6-411f-aac1-74282e0e15a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=32720&security=3161&news_iv_ctrl=3323 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932322 | 454 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Joy Pansini went shopping for colleges this year and found the colleges shopping for her.
The 18-year-old senior at the Institute of Notre Dame applied to 11 schools, visited 10, gained admission to nine. All nine offered her scholarships and other inducements if she'd sign up:
From Virginia Tech, a laptop computer if she'd choose the Blacksburg, Va., school. An offer of free instrumental music lessons came from the University of Delaware. From the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the prospect of overseas study trips with like-minded honors students.
Pansini, who graduated from IND on Sunday, chose UMBC because the Catonsville university offered her the ultimate inducement: a full scholarship for four years, small honors classes taught by senior faculty and the opportunity to do serious research as an undergraduate.
She learned, Pansini said, that colleges can be like banks seeking depositors. If a set of dishes or an all-weather cooler might tip the balance in favor of opening an account, the prospect of a subsidized study trip to Ireland might tip the balance in favor of Anywhere University.
Higher education experts say more and more colleges and universities are courting bright students not only with merit scholarships that amount to sticker-price discounts, but with inducements such as those offered Pansini. And unlike the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association governing the recruitment of student athletes, practically anything is fair game in recruiting brains.
A lot to offer
There are other come-ons: Some schools waive application fees, pay campus meal costs and offer still-undecided high school seniors free tickets to athletic and cultural events and even free parking on campus.
Numerous schools, including the University of Maryland College Park, reward National Merit Finalists, the top 1 percent of high school graduates, with scholarships ranging from $750 to $2,000 (depending on need) in return for being the finalists' first choice. (The University of Alabama sweetened the pot this year with the offer of a laptop computer to Merit Finalists.)
One reason the bidding war is so fierce is that the ranks of high school graduates have decreased from 3 million in 1980 to 2.5 million this spring, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. And students are applying to more colleges -- as many as 15 or 20 -- in part because they are aware they can shop for the best deal.
But the biggest factor may be the serious entry of low-cost public schools in the bidding sweepstakes. "The competition for high-achieving students has always been intense, but with the public universities seriously pursuing the same students, it's incredibly intense," said Kevin Coveney, vice president for admissions and enrollment management at Washington College on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
"What you're seeing is a lot more competition for a pool of students that hasn't expanded," said David Merkowitz, director of public affairs for the American Council on Education, higher education's umbrella trade group.
"Higher education is interested in quality, and that goes for public and private colleges, across the board. The publics are in there fighting now for the same students who used to go to the prestigious high-priced privates."
Washington College has countered the competition from public universities in Maryland and Delaware, among others, by offering $10,000-a-year scholarships to high school members of the National Honor Society. Half of the freshman class has won such "Presidential Scholars" discounts, said Coveney. "The program is intended to help us compete to the broadest possible extent."
Winners of John Marshall Scholarships at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., get a generous merit scholarship, a grant toward the purchase of a computer -- and are eligible for up to $3,000 for "travel and/or talent development."
"They can study classical ballet in Russia if they want," said an F&Mspokeswoman.
Laptop computers were a "fairly common offer" in his search for a college, said Aaron Bodoh-Creed, 17, one of the top graduates this spring from Howard County's Oakland Mills High School. Bodoh-Creed, a National Merit Finalist, turned down Cal Tech and Stanford, among others, to enter the honors program at the University of Maryland College Park.
Despite scholarship and loan offers from several private schools with yearly costs of nearly $30,000, Bodoh-Creed said, he grabbed at College Park's offer of "a free ride plus a little." His middle-income family, he said, is in that "unfortunate niche where we don't get a whole lot of scholarship aid, but we can't pay the whole bill, either."
California State University, Long Beach, using private funds, offers full scholarships to any California high school valedictorian. | <urn:uuid:87cc1627-fcf6-4967-8390-e86bc9c8e3fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-06-03/news/1997154001_1_university-of-maryland-colleges-and-universities-maryland-college-park | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957224 | 999 | 1.742188 | 2 |
As the annual Burning Man Festival approaches, Justin Lanphear prepares The Triceratops for its 385-mile journey to Black Rock City, Nev. The repurposed Frito-Lay delivery van that now looks like a prehistoric beast is Eugene’s most prominent art car.
“About six years ago I realized I could buy a house, or I could build The Triceratops,” Lanphear says. “I realized that if I bought a house, I would never build the triceratops. So I found out where to get these decommissioned delivery vans, and I went for it.”
Lanphear says that the vehicle type and shape was what gave him the idea to create a triceratops. Together with a small group of friends, he designed and modified the delivery van into a “mutant vehicle,” using aluminum and plexiglass. It took them six months.
Lanphear doesn’t own any other vehicles, mostly because he believes in promoting environmentally sustainable forms of travel. This is why The Triceratops is run on biodiesel, and is capable of holding up to 40 passengers.
“My group of friends just kept getting bigger, and I wanted something that could be sort of a camp hub at Burning Man.” Lanphear says.
After six trips to the world-renowned festival at Black Rock City, the inside of The Triceratops looks like a space ship that’s returned from a distant galaxy. Fur and cushions line the inside seats and walls, a ladder leads to the top hatch and upper open-air level, giant flasks, funhouse mirrors and oversized stuffed animals adorn the bar area, trinkets, toys and bizarre memorabilia hang all over the front cabin. It’s a party mobile that looks like dinosaur, drives like a tank and gets about 15 miles to the gallon on the highway.
“Yeah, I get some looks driving this thing down the highway sometimes,” Lanphear says. “It doesn’t drive very fast, it peaks out at about 57 miles per hour. I’ve never had any trouble or ever been pulled over or anything.”
The whole thing can light up like a Christmas tree. Lanphear explains that in accordance with Burning Man’s Department of Mutant Vehicle laws, The Triceratops uses lights to demarcate the front, rear and passenger-loading portions of the vehicle. This is so no one out in the desert at night can miss the several-ton art car and accidentally slam into it.
At four o’clock in the morning on Friday, Aug. 24, Lanphear and a crew of about 14 dedicated “burners” will embark upon their journey into the desert of Nevada. The bright lights and pointy horns of The Triceratops will lead the way.
“This year is supposed to be pretty harsh, weather wise,” Lanphear says. “But as always I’m looking forward to it.” | <urn:uuid:d0fab630-0ad2-4254-b4bc-dadfa1fa2c7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eugeneweekly.com/article/prehistoric-playa-prowler | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942799 | 651 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Cost of living in Emmanuel College rooms (new system)
Rooms are classified into grades, according to their size. The larger the room, the higher the grade - and the higher the rent.
As of October 2012 the rent system changed. For details of the changes please see the following documents:
The main changes associated with rents were:
- catering fixed cost is now included in the weekly rent. It still varies with location from college in the way set out below. This will therefore vary the rents set by college in the document above.
- in order to ensure that students know their rent throughout their courses at Emmanuel, the rent payable on each grade will increase with interest (RPI) each year.
- students on new courses therefore have their "starting rent" set in the year they start their course. Students who were already here before then and are continuing courses simply see the rents from the 2011-2012 year increase with RPI. This means students in different years will pay different rents for the same grade of room. Students who arrive for the 2013-2014 year will see a different rent from students who arrived in the 2012-2013 year. The links above detail who college consider to be students on new courses. Since this document was published, the bursary has agreed that students who join Emmanuel with two year scholarships from Williams College will be classed as continuing their course when they move from their first year to their second year.
- at the same time as changing to this cohort system, college have decided to increase rents so that a grade 5 room is in line with the uiniversity average. This will guarantee that 80% of rooms at Emmanuel cost less than the university average. However, this means that in higher grades there is a large increase in rent. This change is being phased in so that no one year sees the full increase.
Cost of living in Emmanuel College rooms (old system)
The cost of each grade of room per week is detailed in the table below:
|Room Grade||2008 - 2009||2009 - 2010||2010 - 2011||2011 - 2012|
Prior to 2005/2006, a £20 termly charge was made for use of the College Network; this has now been subsumed into rents.
Outside of NPR rooms are charged at £11.95 per day.
PhD students are charged for four terms per year, at 12 weeks per term.
Catering Fixed Charge
There is also a catering fixed charge (CFC) included in your rent (and not itemised). This is charged by college to cover the cost of running the dining hall as well as provision of kitchens in graduate housing.
If you live on the college site, including Park Lodge and Park Terrace, you pay £160.40.
If you live in other college accomodation, your fees vary by band:
Band AEmmanuel Road, Parker Street, Park Lodge, Park Terrace, Parside, Warkworth Street: £128.30
Band BBlantyre House, Cutter Ferry House, Glisson Road, Norwich Street, Tenison Road: £64.20
Band CHills Road, Suffolk House, Milton Road: £32.10 | <urn:uuid:693fe461-4122-47c7-b59c-3bd537739914> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emmamcr.org.uk/index.php?page=accommodation_costs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951817 | 657 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A person who connects with people from different countries through friendship and understanding, a person with a global attitude who keeps values of sacrifice and selflessness at heart, is whom we call a global citizen. At Global Schools, we believe that every child must receive equal and valuable opportunities to excel in academic programmes, participate in sports, hone qualities of leadership and get involved in extra-curricular activities. That is, truly, a holistic educational experience which shapes future-ready citizens of tomorrow.
As a strong believer in the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, what pleases me the most is that universal values have been incorporated in the curriculum at Global Schools, and children have the opportunity of learning human values from a young age. The environmental activities conducted across our campuses worldwide present an excellent opportunity for students to work towards critical issues facing the environment today. This is the essence of globalisation of education.
Justice C S Dharmadhikari
Co-Founder and President
Global Schools Foundation (GSF) | <urn:uuid:77243539-8916-4139-a04e-249b5770d58e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalschoolsfoundation.org/giisqueenstown/Management/MessagefromPresident.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932853 | 202 | 2.15625 | 2 |
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6 Signs The US May Be Headed for War in Iran
Is the United States moving toward military action with Iran?
The resignation of the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is setting off alarms that the Bush administration is intent on using military force to stop Iran's moves toward gaining nuclear weapons. In announcing his sudden resignation today following a report on his views in Esquire, Adm. William Fallon didn't directly deny that he differs with President Bush over at least aspects of the president's policy on Iran. For his part, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it is "ridiculous" to think that the departure of Fallon -- whose Central Command has been working on contingency plans for strikes on Iran as well as overseeing Iraq -- signals that the United States is planning to go to war with Iran.
Fallon's resignation, ending a 41-year Navy career, has reignited the buzz of speculation over what the Bush administration intends to do given that its troubled, sluggish diplomatic effort has failed to slow Iran's nuclear advances. Those activities include the advancing process of uranium enrichment, a key step to producing the material necessary to fuel a bomb, though the Iranians assert the work is to produce nuclear fuel for civilian power reactors not weapons.
Here are six developments that may have Iran as a common thread. And, if it comes to war, they may be seen as clues as to what was planned. None of them is conclusive, and each has a credible non-Iran related explanation:
1. Fallon's resignation: With the Army fully engaged in Iraq, much of the contingency planning for possible military action has fallen to the Navy, which has looked at the use of carrier-based warplanes and sea-launched missiles as the weapons to destroy Iran's air defenses and nuclear infrastructure. Centcom commands the U.S. naval forces in and near the Persian Gulf. In the aftermath of the problems with the Iraq war, there has been much discussion within the military that senior military officers should have resigned at the time when they disagreed with the White House.
2. Vice President Cheney's peace trip: Cheney, who is seen as a leading hawk on Iran, is going on what is described as a Mideast trip to try to give a boost to stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But he has also scheduled two other stops: One, Oman, is a key military ally and logistics hub for military operations in the Persian Gulf. It also faces Iran across the narrow, vital Strait of Hormuz, the vulnerable oil transit chokepoint into and out of the Persian Gulf that Iran has threatened to blockade in the event of war. Cheney is also going to Saudi Arabia, whose support would be sought before any military action given its ability to increase oil supplies if Iran's oil is cutoff. Back in March 2002, Cheney made a high-profile Mideast trip to Saudi Arabia and other nations that officials said at the time was about diplomacy toward Iraq and not war, which began a year later.
3. Israeli airstrike on Syria: Israel's airstrike deep in Syria last October was reported to have targeted a nuclear-related facility, but details have remained sketchy and some experts have been skeptical that Syria had a covert nuclear program. An alternative scenario floating in Israel and Lebanon is that the real purpose of the strike was to force Syria to switch on the targeting electronics for newly received Russian anti-aircraft defenses. The location of the strike is seen as on a likely flight path to Iran (also crossing the friendly Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq), and knowing the electronic signatures of the defensive systems is necessary to reduce the risks for warplanes heading to targets in Iran.
4. Warships off Lebanon: Two U.S. warships took up positions off Lebanon earlier this month, replacing the USS Cole. The deployment was said to signal U.S. concern over the political stalemate in Lebanon and the influence of Syria in that country. But the United States also would want its warships in the eastern Mediterranean in the event of military action against Iran to keep Iranian ally Syria in check and to help provide air cover to Israel against Iranian missile reprisals. One of the newly deployed ships, the USS Ross, is an Aegis guided missile destroyer, a top system to defense against air attacks.
5. Israeli comments: Israeli President Shimon Peres said earlier this month that Israel will not consider unilateral action to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. In the past, though, Israeli officials have quite consistently said they were prepared to act alone -- if that becomes necessary -- to ensure that Iran does not cross a nuclear weapons threshold. Was Peres speaking for himself, or has President Bush given the Israeli an assurance that they won't have to act alone?
6.Israel's war with Hezbollah: While this seems a bit old, Israel's July 2006 war in Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces was seen at the time as a step that Israel would want to take if it anticipated a clash with Iran. The radical Shiite group is seen not only as a threat on it own but also as a possible Iranian surrogate force in the event of war with Iran. So it was important for Israel to push Hezbollah forces back from their positions on Lebanon's border with Israel and to do enough damage to Hezbollah's Iranian-supplied arsenals to reduce its capabilities. Since then, Hezbollah has been able to rearm, though a United Nations force polices a border area buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Defense Secretary Gates said that Fallon, 63, asked for permission to retire. Gates said the decision, effective March 31, was entirely Fallon's and that Gates believed it was "the right thing to do." In Esquire, an article on Fallon portrayed him as opposed to President Bush's Iran policy and said he was a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program. In his statement, Fallon said he agreed with the president's "policy objectives" but was silent on whether he opposed aspects of the president's plans. "Recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president's policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts in the Centcom region," Fallon, said in the statement issued by Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Fla. "And although I don't believe there have ever been any differences about the objectives of our policy in the Central Command area of responsibility, the simple perception that there is makes it difficult for me to effectively serve America's interests there," he said. Gates announced that Fallon's top deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, will take over temporarily when Fallon leaves. A permanent successor, requiring nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate, might not be designated in the near term.
© 2008 US News & World Report
The Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. | <urn:uuid:9e46718d-0ba2-4ecc-9db4-00b5a893f8c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/13/7676?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976326 | 1,399 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Massage Therapy is widely recognized as an effective means of reducing the incidence of stress-related disorders and relieving soft-tissue pain and dysfunction. Massage Therapy is an important and respected part of the allied health and spa industries. The Therapeutic Massage program at Daytona College provides training in therapeutic massage with knowledge of the structure and function of the human body.
You’ll receive training in:
- Allied modalities
- Law and ethics
- Prevention of medical errors
You’ll be prepared for the National Certification Examination offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork for licensure as a massage therapist in the state of Florida. Your license qualifies you for entry-level employment as a Licensed Massage Therapist.
*This program is only offered on-campus. | <urn:uuid:5302b858-9ea3-439b-9380-eb19d33e107c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daytonacollege.edu/therapeutic-massage-diploma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913937 | 167 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Swallowing chewing gum, taste buds and drinking milk
What happens if you swallow chewing gum? Plus: can a woman's tastebuds change during and after pregnancy?; and can drinking milk cause osteoporosis?
- MP3 (00:36:56; 17Mb 48kb)
Issues discussed this week include:
- Could I rub the legs of a dead cricket together and still make its chirping sound?
- Do you need to use testosterone boosters to build big muscles?
- Can drinking milk, or any type of dairy product, cause osteoporosis?
- Can fizzy drinks start freezing by turning the bottle around?
- Can a woman's tastebuds change during and after pregnancy?
- What causes water dowsing?
- Why does sneezing cause some people to get goose-bumps?
- Is there such a thing as the 'third eye'? (pineal gland)
- Why do some people feel the cold more than others?
- Would a vinyl album made from nano-tubes last forever?
- Can very fit people who smoke cigarettes have better lung capacity?
- Why do short-sighted people using swimming goggles see well under water?
- How does the human body translate heat energy in to an electrical impulse?
- How are decibels used to measure sound?
- Does marijuana consumption affect fertility?
- Why do the atoms in frozen water expand?
- What happens to the digestive system when you swallow chewing gum?
- Can humans produce human-growth hormones naturally? | <urn:uuid:ab1a269d-505c-4231-9c61-682ff46e1a2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/science/audio/2012/03/01/3443375.htm?topic=space | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909519 | 328 | 2 | 2 |
Edging Into the Future
Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation
Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, Editors
"Edging into the Future effectively maps where science fiction has come in the last fifteen years and opens a number of new avenues of exploration for scholars in the field. It also confirms the vitality of science fiction as a cultural form that, even as it is transformed by its transactions with other genres and technologies, continues to provide insights about contemporary life as no other art form can."—Contemporary Literature
"The savvy critical essays in this provocative collection investigate the interface between science fiction and postmodern culture. . . . Highly recommended for readers at all levels."—Choice
Edging into the Future explores contemporary science fiction literature and media as imaginative expressions of an already science-fictional present and as literal descriptions of postmodern culture. Thirteen noted scholars and writers, including Brian Attebery, Gwyneth Jones, and Gary K. Wolfe, provide an overview of the state of contemporary science fiction and emphasize the diversity of ways in which science fiction as a narrative mode and as a social discourse comments upon contemporary cultural, political, and technological transformations.
As the essays in Edging into the Future demonstrate, science fiction is both symptomatic of cultural disruption and change and an expression of our desire to give shape and meaning to that change. These essays examine a variety of science fiction forms, from literature to rock 'n' roll, and from film to anime and hypermedia, exploring such topics as generic transformation, the relationship of the body to technology, gender and sexuality, the construction of both individual and communal subjects, and the contemporary sense of an ending. They point to the intriguing directions in which science fiction continues to develop, while demonstrating that the challenge for the genre today is less to extrapolate a distant future than to keep up with a permanently mutable present in which genres, subjects, bodies, communities, and futures are all in flux.
The essays in this collection, representing a multiplicity of perspectives, are bound together by their common focus on science fiction literature and media as forms of cultural expression uniquely suited to address the pressures and promises of contemporary culture.
Veronica Hollinger is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at Trent University in Ontario. Joan Gordon is Associate Professor of Literature at Nassau Community College. Together they coedited the volume Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. | <urn:uuid:2b74da21-37cb-4d8f-9d73-99aa2050bb5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13759.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928711 | 495 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Parents and teachers often tell children to pay attention — to be a “good listener.” But what if your child’s brain doesn’t know how to listen?
That’s the challenge for children with auditory processing disorder, a poorly understood syndrome that interferes with the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret sounds. It’s been estimated that 2 to 5 percent of children have the disorder, said Gail D. Chermak, an expert on speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University, and it’s likely that many cases have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
The symptoms of A.P.D. — trouble paying attention and following directions, low academic performance, behavior problems and poor reading and vocabulary — are often mistaken for attention problems or even autism.
But now the disorder is getting some overdue attention, thanks in part to the talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell and her 10-year-old son, Blake, who has A.P.D.
In the foreword to a new book, “The Sound of Hope” (Ballantine) — by Lois Kam Heymann, the speech pathologist and auditory therapist who helped Blake — Ms. O’Donnell recounts how she learned something was amiss.
It began with a haircut before her son started first grade. Blake had already been working with a speech therapist on his vague responses and other difficulties, so when he asked for a “little haircut” and she pressed him on his meaning, she told the barber he wanted short hair like his brother’s. But in the car later, Blake erupted in tears, and Ms. O’Donnell realized her mistake. By “little haircut,” Blake meant little hair should be cut. He wanted a trim.
“I pulled off on the freeway and hugged him,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “I said: ‘Blakey, I’m really sorry. I didn’t understand you. I’ll do better.’ ”
That was a turning point. Ms. O’Donnell’s quest to do better led her to Ms. Heymann, who determined that while Blake could hear perfectly well, he had trouble distinguishing between sounds. To him, words like “tangerine” and “tambourine,” “bed” and “dead,” may sound the same.
“The child hears ‘And the girl went to dead,’ and they know it doesn’t make sense,” Ms. Heymann told me. “But while they try to figure it out, the teacher continues talking and now they’re behind. Those sounds are being distorted or misinterpreted, and it affects how the child is going to learn speech and language.”
Blake’s brain struggled to retain the words he heard, resulting in a limited vocabulary and trouble with reading and spelling. Abstract language, metaphors like “cover third base,” even “knock-knock” jokes, were confusing and frustrating.
Children with auditory processing problems often can’t filter out other sounds. The teacher’s voice, a chair scraping the floor and crinkling paper are all heard at the same level. “The normal reaction by the parent is ‘Why don’t you listen?’ ” Ms. Heymann said. “They were listening, but they weren’t hearing the right thing.”
The solution is often a comprehensive approach, at school and at home. To dampen unwanted noise, strips of felt or tennis balls may be placed on the legs of chairs and desks. Parents work to simplify language and avoid metaphors and abstract references.
The O’Donnell household cut back on large, noisy gatherings that were upsetting to Blake. Twice-weekly sessions focusing on sounds and words, using rhyme and body gestures, helped him catch up on the learning he had missed.
Help inside the classroom is essential. One family in Westchester County, who asked not to be named to protect their son’s privacy, met with his teachers and agreed on an array of adaptations — including having his teacher wear a small microphone that directed her voice more clearly to a speaker on the student’s desk so he could better distinguish her voice from competing sounds.
Nobody knows exactly why auditory processing skills don’t fully develop in every child, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Scientists are conducting brain-imaging studies to better understand the neural basis of the condition and find out if there are different forms.
Reassuringly, the disorder seems to have little or nothing to do with intelligence. Blake has an encyclopedic knowledge of animals — he once corrected his mother for referring to a puma as a mountain lion. The Westchester child is now a 17-year-old high school student being recruited by top colleges.
“He’s in accelerated Latin, honors science classes,” said his mother. “I remember I used to dream of the day he would be able to wake up in the morning and just say, ‘Mommy.’ ”
Not every child does so well, and some children with A.P.D. have other developmental and social problems. But Ms. O’Donnell says that treatment is not just about better grades.
“It definitely affected his whole world,” she said of her son. “Not just learning. It cuts them off from society, from interactions. To see the difference in who he is today versus who he was two years ago, and then to contemplate what would have happened had we not been able to catch it — I think he would have been lost.”
A version of this article appeared in print on April 27, 2010, on page D5 of the New York edition. | <urn:uuid:f4c0baba-4d98-45e7-8153-cf9aa9aa903a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/little-known-disorder-can-take-a-toll-on-learning/?apage=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972208 | 1,253 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Why does the buyer of my business want me to sign a noncompetition agreement?
Noncompetition agreements are a customary part of a business sale. A noncompetition agreement is a contract between you and a buyer that prohibits you from competing with the business you have just sold. The scope and duration are mutually agreed upon between you and the buyer. The agreement may be written as a stand-alone contract or as a clause in the sales contract.
Overly broad noncompetition agreements may be difficult to enforce. To be enforceable, the agreement should:
- Limit the amount of time to which the agreement applies
- Limit the geographic area to which it applies
- Detail the scope of the prohibited activity
By assuring the buyer that you won't compete for business within a mutually agreed-upon area for a specific duration, you may be able to use a noncompetition agreement to secure a future income stream. An agreement can be structured so the buyer pays you a sum of money over a period of time specifically for the purpose of not competing.
Once you sign a noncompetition agreement, you are generally prohibited from starting a similar business or offering your services to a competitor within the scope and duration specified in the agreement. A noncompetition agreement may be more likely to be enforced if you receive a separate payment for it. Courts may reason that you not only received compensation for your business but also received separate consideration for the specific purpose of not competing.
Laws regulate the enforceability of noncompetition agreements in many states. They may be unenforceable in some states, and their enforcement may be limited in others. Consult an attorney to determine whether and to what extent noncompetition agreements are enforceable in your state. | <urn:uuid:f078cd67-c286-4571-b2f3-b08f78c0d4d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Topics/In-the-Workplace/Noncompetition-Agreements/Why-does-the-buyer-of-my-business-want-me-to-sign-a-noncompetition-agreement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961134 | 354 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Yields 9 pancakes
Add water slowly until you are sure how much is needed. Everything from altitude to the age of the flour can affect the amount required.
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾–1 cup boiling water
¼ cup sesame oil
Place the flour in a large bowl. Add the boiling water and quickly stir with a wooden spoon.
As soon as you can withstand the heat, knead the warm dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough in half. Roll each half into a 9-inch cylinder. Using a tape measure, lightly score and cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. You will have 18 pieces at this point.
Shape each piece into a ball and then flatten into a circle between the palms of your hands. Brush the top of each piece with sesame oil, and then place the pieces on top of each other, oiled sides together.
Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the pieces into a 5½–6-inch circle. (Don't worry if the edges overlap.) Continue with the rest of the dough.
Heat a dry pan on low-medium heat. When the pan is hot, add one of the paired pancakes and cook on each side for 2 minutes or until brown bubbles appear (the second side will cook more quickly).
Remove from the pan and pull the pancakes apart while they are still hot. Place on a plate and cover with a damp cloth while cooking the remainder.
Pancakes for Dinner
Besides making a tasty snack, mandarin pancakes are served with the northern dishes mu shu pork and Peking duck. In the case of mu shu pork, the pork is wrapped in the pancakes, which are brushed with hoisin sauce. To be completely authentic, the sauce should be brushed on with Green Onion Brushes (page 73). | <urn:uuid:c0f89f6c-eda0-4f1d-b2da-bf3cc826849e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netplaces.com/chinese-cooking/desserts-and-snacks/mandarin-pancakes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927131 | 396 | 1.890625 | 2 |
The Literature Network administrators have advised us to post all of our poems into a single thread. The following thread, "Auntie's Anti-Poetry," contains several poems. When commenting on a particular poem, please indicate the title of the work in your reply.
“When I wrote that, God and I knew what it meant, but now God alone knows.”
The Puzzle and the Pity
We cannot see the ciphers, such a stretch
of forest, dense with senseless reason, and
no rhyme. A murky stream from a source unknown
churns deep beneath our unschooled reckoning.
From splatters of thoughts in scatter-shot lines
we seek some soul-balm from the sensitive,
at bottom as sincere as an infant’s cry:
a babble, sure, yet rarefied as Yeats.
We dread the water, then attempt to wade.
Too swiftly comes the splashback: “too mainstream,” “derivative,” “colloquial,” “too trite,”
or “déclassé,” or worst of all, ignored.
Listen, we don't do this because it’s easy
or that we can (or think we can.) We see
an empty page as an anti-Everest
that may be worth the risk of an unsafe climb
in front of us, because it isn't there. | <urn:uuid:0061bdf7-8564-4375-b4e3-68eaaea88be3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?45537-Auntie-s-Anti-Poems | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936387 | 313 | 1.804688 | 2 |
In his earlier novel The Glass Palace, Amitav Ghosh has King Thebaw of Burma watching the milling crowds at the Rangoon waterfront through his binoculars. Exiled by the British from Burma, Thebaw wonders,
“What vast, what incomprehensible power, to move people in such huge numbers from one place to another-emperors, kings, farmers, dockworkers, soldiers, coolies, policemen. Why? Why this furious movement-people taken from one place to another, to pull rickshaws, to sit blind in exile? And where would his own people go, now that they were a part of this empire?”
This single thought, my favorite sequence from this book, sums it all; the British domination, exile of Indian rulers, the spurt in trade, the growing harbors, the movement of people. In short, it is the kaleidoscope through which one could see imperial Britain at the height of its power.
If I had to pick up similar lines from Ghosh’s latest novel, The Hungry Tide, lines that could be called the pulse of the book, it would be when Kusum tells Nirmal Bose
“Saar, this island has to be saved for its trees, it has to be saved for its animals, it is a part of a reserve forest, it belongs to a project to save tigers, which is paid for by people from all around the world. Who are these people, I wondered, who love animals so much that they are willing to kill us for them? Do they know what is being done in their name? Where do they live, these people? Do they have children, do they have mothers, fathers? As I thought of these things, it seemed to me that this whole world had become a place of animals, and our fault, our crime was that we were just human beings, trying to live as human beings always have, from the water and the soil.” (pp. 216)
This dichotomy, wildlife versus human suffering or destruction of the ecosystem versus human survival couldn’t have been put in better words.
The Hungry Tide is set in the Sunderbans, a delta made by the river Ganges in the eastern coast of India. The river separates into small strands and channels as it approaches the sea, making the Sundarbans a tide country where water reaches inlands everyday only to disappear later. Teeming with crocodiles, snakes and man-eating tigers, it is a place where nature’s beauty is harsh and vengeful, making the struggle for human existence an intense task.
A very unlikely event occurs here: Piyali Roy, an American scientist, meets Kanai, a suave Delhiite. Piya is in the area on a research grant to study dolphins, while Kanai is visiting his aunt Nilima, popularly called Mashima or local aunt. Nilima and her husband, Nirmal Bose, have lived in the Sunderbans since 1950, Nirmal working as teacher while Nilima heads the Badabon Trust, a welfare organization devoted to community development on the islands. After Nirmal’s death, Nilima discovers a packet of papers written by her late husband to Kanai, her favorite nephew. Expecting these to be poems or writings of some literary value, she summons Kanai to Lusibari in the Sunderbans, where she lives. Piya, in the meantime, takes the help of Fokir, a young illiterate fisherman, for her research on dolphins.
Intertwined in the plot are the characters of Kusum, Horen and Moyna. Together these characters weave several parallel plots: the plight of the displaced people (highlighted in the Morichjhapi incident), the struggle for land, the constant fight for survival in a dangerous and fragile ecosystem, and all those interactions that strengthen human bonds, understanding and emotion. Through Nirmal-Kusum-Horen, and later Piya-Fokir-Kanai, Ghosh also explores the sense of connection between people that transcends class, cultures, language and gender.
In this brilliant piece of work, Ghosh not only succeeds in telling a great story that is woven into the local community, customs and environment; he also makes dexterous use of the local words and incorporates it into the text. Through such works, Ghosh is also creating spaces within the English literary world for expression of the multilayered and multicultural complexities of indigenous peoples. May his tribe increase.
Click here for
Shampa Chatterjee's interview with The Hungry Tide author Amitav Ghosh
Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Shampa Chatterjee, 2005 | <urn:uuid:c3cc0346-fcd1-45b8-b95b-ce573ae98a64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.curledup.com/hungryti.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959337 | 993 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Tri-State Biodiesel fights myths
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Brent Baker, president of Tri-State Biodiesel in New York City, recently found himself fielding an increased number of phone calls from people wondering what is so great about biodiesel – isn't it the reason people are starving? Doesn't it take more energy to make than it creates? What about greenhouse gas emissions and the rainforests?
Baker became so frustrated about having to constantly defend biodiesel to people who were being misled by incorrect information that he decided to do something about it on a larger level. A few months ago, he began writing statements to potential clients and other interested parties setting the facts straight about biodiesel. Now, he's heading a national "grassroots" movement for others to do the same. "I like to call it a 'push back'," Baker said.
One of the things he's frustrated about is that all biofuels are constantly lumped into one group by the mainstream media and biodiesel is often referred to as being the same as corn ethanol. "We're going to try to do what we can here in New York and with our circle of colleagues in the biodiesel industry to push back on that," Baker said. "I think our society is sophisticated enough now that we can say "biodiesel" when we're talking about biodiesel and "ethanol" when we're talking about ethanol."
The National Biodiesel Board, of which Tri-State Biodiesel is a member, told Baker they are in the process of forming their own public relations campaign. However, Baker thinks his grassroots movement can compliment their efforts and he hopes it will catch on with others in the industry.
Baker's goal is to appeal to three different groups of people. The first being members of the biodiesel industry and the biodiesel movement. "Our first step was to get this notion of 'let's make an effort to speak up and coordinate our efforts with the NBB and with each other'," he said.
The second part of Baker's plan is to inform political leaders and customers on a local level. He's doing his part in New York and hopes that biodiesel proponents across the country will do something similar.
Finally, Baker plans to reach out to the press and the general public to set the record straight on biodiesel. "We're trying to get the information out there as best we can," he said.
A newsletter addressing the myths and facts about biodiesel can be found on Tri-State Biodiesel' Web site – www.tristatebiodiesel.com. Baker encourages anyone interested to use the newsletter for their own public relations campaign or any other way they choose to help push back misinformation about biodiesel. | <urn:uuid:5a4add46-54b6-4941-92da-474980dff11c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/2501/tri-state-biodiesel-fights-myths | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968805 | 625 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Indiana Jones named himself after a dog — but maybe he should have picked a cat.
A stray cat discovered an ancient Roman catacomb on Tuesday. Mirko Curti and a friend followed the feline into a tomb that dates back more than 2,000 years.
The pair started following the cat when he spotted it near his apartment building around 10 p.m.
The cat hurried into a cavern near a limestone rock cliff in Curti's residential neighborhood, reported The Guardian.
"(W)e followed the sound of its (meow)ing," Curti said.
They managed to enter the cave's small opening. The entrance was guarded by rocks until earlier in the week when heavy rain caused them to fall away, archeologists said.
Once inside Curti realized that the cat led him into a tomb littered with human bones and surrounded by ancient Roman funeral urns.
Curti described the finding as "the most incredible experience (of my life)."
Archeologists, who were called to the scene, estimated that the cave was from between the first century B.C. and the second century A.D., according to The Guardian.
The bones, archeologists said, likely fell into the tomb from a chamber higher in the cliff.
Rome already had its fair share of historical sites, but thanks to a wayward cat it has one more. Maybe archeologists should consider taking them along on upcoming expeditions.
From The New York Daily News - | <urn:uuid:5f96ad9a-48ef-40a9-a674-14435ad28175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysoutex.com/pages/full_story_blogs/push?article-Jones-%20&id=20572435 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982986 | 305 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Federal Study Shows Need For Seawall Repair on Roosevelt Island
NEW YORK, NY - Originally requested in September of 1997, the final Roosevelt Island Seawall Study performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), was received this week by the Roosevelt Island Operating Committee (RIOC) and Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY). The study investigated the condition of the seawall that structurally supports Roosevelt Island as well as the non-sea-walled, South-End shoreline of the island. The seawall study states, “While imminent failure is not a concern, an appropriate preventative maintenance program should be undertaken.”
Congresswoman Maloney wrote to the USACOE on May 16, 2001 to urge completion of the report saying that delays for the study were, “potentially damaging to the deteriorating infrastructure on the island.” Under Maloney’s direction, her staff contacted RIOC and the USACOE on numerous occasions over the past two years, to inquire about the study’s delay and push for action.
Today, Maloney said, “We can breathe a little easier knowing there is no immediate danger for residents on the island, but if the repair work is delayed as much as this study was, costs will certainly go up and the seawall will deteriorate even more. Now that we know the extent of the damage, RIOC should make every effort move forward with repair work immediately.”
The study advocates wall repair, rather than wall replacement that could cost 10 times as much, for the existing seawall, noting particular concern for the Northwest shoreline and the Eastern sections adjacent to an underground steam-tunnel. The estimated cost for this repair work is $2,582,000. Besides repair work, the USACOE recommends further testing of the walls and the establishment of a design/maintenance standard for the seawall. To protect the Southern shoreline from storms and erosion, the study finds a vinyl sheet pile (a wall of hard plastic anchored into the ground) to be the most cost-effective and environmentally desirable. The estimated cost is $3,640,000, bringing the total cost for seawall maintenance and shore stabilization to $6,222,000.
Regarding funding, the study finds that future storm damage would not put the island’s infrastructure at enough risk to warrant a federal shore protection project. The study does state, however, that the island may receive federal assistance for the maintenance of the deteriorating steam tunnel that serves two hospitals, and runs the length of the island, through the Continuing Authorities Program and the Flood Control Act of 1946. Finally, USACOE advises that federal funds may be available through the New York Harbor Collection and Removal of Drift Debris Project to remove shoreline and river debris during repair work. Maloney said, “I will be working to secure whatever federal funds are warranted for this important project and I look forward to working with state and city officials to move forward with all aspects of the project as well.” | <urn:uuid:afc6975a-8f54-49f1-8e4c-6c4156669a47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://maloney.house.gov/press-release/federal-study-shows-need-seawall-repair-roosevelt-island | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941784 | 625 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Dungbeetle diversity linked to urban ecosystem health
Dungbeetle research conducted by first year Queensland University students could influence urban planning in south-east Queensland.
Lecturer Robbie Wilson says urban growth is putting pressure on natural habitats and dungbeetle diversity is an indicator of the environment's health.
Dr Wilson says research findings will be fed back to their industry partners so future development will not put ecosystems in jeopardy.
"Those [partners] are the Brisbane City Council, Redlands City Council and Gold Coast," he said.
"[It will] give them guidelines as to what we need to maintain throughout urban development so we can keep as many animals present here in South East Queensland as we can."
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, community-and-society, environment, science-and-technology, animal-science, invertebrates, ecology, entomology, brisbane-4000, australia, qld, cleveland-4163, southport-4215 | <urn:uuid:9f2e6609-860b-4017-a678-4692a142e659> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-03-28/dungbeetle-diversity-linked-to-urban-ecosystem/1633702 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915133 | 214 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Sony recently announced that it would film the Wimbledon finals in 3D for the very first time. But, what does it take to take the world's most revered tennis tournament into the next dimension? And where can we watch it? Pocket-lint was invited along to the first full, pre-tournament 3D test on Centre Court at South West London's famous tennis ground to find out how the magic happens.
"We believe Wimbledon is the biggest and best tennis tournament in the world and we're proud of our innovation. We want to push the boundaries even further."
That's Wimbledon commercial director Mick Desmond's view on the 3D trial for 2011.
As it stands, Wimbledon is no stranger to advances in technology. The tournament has a rich history of innovation since it was first broadcast on TV back in 1937. One such milestone was in 1967, when the first official colour broadcast in the UK took place with four hours of live coverage of Wimbledon screened on BBC 2.
In 2009, a retractable roof was introduced to Centre Court to prevent play getting stopped by the unreliable British weather, as well as to spare us from another impromptu performance from Cliff Richard (this actually happened in 1996).
Last of all, it was announced in March 2011 that the Wimbledon tennis finals would be filmed in 3D and beamed to 3D-capable cinemas around the country for the first time. Viewers are no stranger to three-dimensional sports on TV but, until now, football has been the big draw. However, head of production for Sony 3D at Wimbledon Duncan Humphreys, is hoping this summer's tournament is going to change all that.
"Tennis is designed for 3D. The arena is small and contained, the crowd is also relatively small and close to the action and it's a fast-paced game."
Humphreys also happens to be creative director of a company called Can Communications - Sony's production partner in the venture. Founded in 2002, Can Communicate has a solid background in producing 3D content. The company made its first 3D film trials in 2005 and carried out experimental filming at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The production house has worked on other projects including Channel 4's 3D week in 2009 which included "The Queen in 3D" and "The Derren Brown 3D Magic Show". On top of those, Humphreys and his team have worked with Sony on the 2010 World Cup where 25 3D matches were shown on TV in 15 countries that support the platform and in 650 cinemas throughout 30 countries where there was no home 3D available. This year's Wimbledon men's and ladies' finals (as well as the men's semi-finals) will be broadcast to Apollo Cinemas throughout the UK. Wimbledon's Mick Desmond explained why.
"It's all about creating a community in cinemas. People will be able to see Wimbledon in a way they've never seen it before."
Apollo is the largest independent cinema chain in the UK and has already seen success at screening live ballet and opera performances to sell-out crowds. All of the company's cinemas are now fully kitted out with the Sony 4K projection system and 3D capability, and the tennis from Wimbledon will be broadcast to most of them in June. Apollo is planning these screenings as full-blown events, offering Wimbledon staples such as strawberries and cream and Pimms, and even kitting the staff out in tennis whites.
So, while the cinemas are sorted, there's as yet been no confirmation from the BBC as to who, if anyone, will be showing the 3D broadcasts on UK TV. Fifteen overseas broadcasters have confirmed to be taking the feed but not a peep from Auntie.
That said, Sony recently let slip to Pocket-lint that the BBC could technically show the 3D footage from Wimbledon on its own HD channel using the same technique employed by Sky who currently operates the only 3D broadcast channel in the UK. Whether or not that will happen is unknown but the one thing for sure is that with the contest due to start in a matter of weeks, we should be finding out very soon indeed.
In TV terms, Wimbledon is a very big deal. It attracts a global audience of 365 million people in 180 countries with an average of 12,140 hours of coverage broadcast worldwide, so how it's actually shot and delivered in 3D is of no small significance either.
First, the picture is captured on a 3D camera rig. The rigs are placed lower than 2D camera set-tups to create the added depth. The image is then fed through to the camera control unit in the outside broadcast truck and on to Sony's MPE-200 stereo image processor. From there it goes on to the vision mixing desk, under the watchful eye of the director, before it's fed through a dual stream recorder and onto the 3D signal encoder. Glad you asked? The final stage is to send the footage to the broadcast satellite from where it's beamed to 3D-enabled cinemas and 3D-capable TVs.
The production system for Wimbledon is actually very similar to the one at the 2010 World Cup. One year on though and there have been a few changes. There are now two separate cable feeds from each camera, rather than a fibre combiner and the cameras themselves are smaller which makes the rigs lighter, easier to set up and cheaper to run. The use of 3D cameras at Wimbledon will also mean that a wider shot than normal will be taken which is going to lead to a interesting new view on proceedings for those at home.
As well as the shooting, the BBC has already given its graphics the 3D treatment in time for first service in June and the next step is to do the same for Hawkeye - the much-loved technology recently acquired by Sony that maps moving objects on sports coverage, most notable in cricket.
The 3D trial day on Centre Court to which Pocket-lint was invited was the first time that the 3D setup had been tested. Two 11-year-old tennis players provided the sporting expertise for the half-hour test with an exhibition that would have put most adults to shame. Although five pairs of Sony HDC-P1 cameras will be used for the actual broadcast, the trial used just three camera rigs as well as the main 2D camera, the feed from which was converted to 3D. All seemed to go pretty well including the moment when a tennis ball hit one of them and became lodged within the rig.
Once the trial footage had been recorded, we were invited back to a screening room to check out the results. The video from the dedicated 3D cameras looked great - sharp, defined and the the illusion of depth on the screen was very impressive. The converted picture from the main 2D camera, however, looked a little strange. The court lines appeared to float slightly above the ground, and this, in fact, was one of the main reasons that the trial was carried out - to ensure that the 2D to 3D conversion is properly calibrated for an effective three-dimensional picture that's also comfortable to watch. Some work still to be done then.
If the 3D broadcasts from Wimbledon prove popular, then we can expect to see a larger selection of matches shown in future. The BBC currently holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2014 while a goverment mandate means that the finals must be shown live and in full on terrestrial TV. Whether the BBC manages to hold on after 2014 remains to be seen.
Sony is already in talks to produce the 3D broadcasts for the 2014 football World Cup, but will 3D have more mass market appeal by then? Sony's David Bush thinks that there's still some way to go.
"There's definitely not enough content yet but people who've enjoyed good 3D already are willing the industry to produce more of it, so the interest is definitely there."
Despite the minor teething problems with the main cam, the 3D trial looked good. The illusion of depth certainly makes watching the tennis more immersive and better than conventional 2D. There's still a long way to go before 3D becomes the norm for televised sporting fixtures, but taking Wimbledon into the third dimension is sure to give it a welcome boost. | <urn:uuid:881517c8-6bec-4ac0-b776-90af69210216> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/110152-wimbledon-3d-behind-the-scenes-bbc-sony | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972484 | 1,713 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Published March 12, 2013Read another story about the MIdwest Training CenterVisit Washburn Tech online
Washburn Tech's sparkling new Midwest Training Center was highlighted Tuesday morning as a model of excellence in Kansas and nationally by state lawmakers, business leaders and industry executives.
The Midwest Training Center for Climate and Energy Control Technologies will serve 16 students at a time and offer both continuing education for current industry professionals and credentials for entry level heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians.
Blake Flanders, vice president of workforce development for the Kansas Board of Regents, said the training center was an example of “boots on the ground” in the state’s effort to substantially increase its proportion of skilled workers by 2018.
“This is a local response to the statewide vision of being able to get our Kansas workforce up to what the need is going to be,” he said.
Governor Sam Brownback toured the facility Tuesday and called it “one of the great models around the country.”
Brownback praised Washburn Tech and industry partners Trane and Snap-on tools for bringing the training center from idea to fruition so quickly.
“This is really what we need to do,” he said.
Flanders said the training center is a model collaboration in response to Senate Bill 155 of 2012. The law, which went into effect in July, makes technical education courses free for high school students and provides their home school districts a $1,000 incentive if they graduate with a technical certification. An estimated 6,000 Kansas high school students are taking advantage of the new opportunity this year.
“Juniors and seniors in high school, working adults who want to update their skills or adults not currently participating in the economy” all will benefit from programs like the Midwest Training Center, Flanders said. And by increasing the number of potential employees available, he said, businesses are enticed to open, stay and grow in Kansas.
Washburn Tech will begin in April its next short course designed to give students a taste of the field before they make a commitment.
Washburn Tech Dean Clark Coco said the new training center represented a unique opportunity.
“We’re going to do more than educate,” he said. “We’re going to change lives.” | <urn:uuid:7ff3adec-dfc8-4742-90f1-6d90c6b42a56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washburn.edu/about/stories/mtc-opening.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957162 | 480 | 1.554688 | 2 |
In a disclosure that is likely to lead to some uncomfortable questions the United States Federal Reserve revealed this week that it had spent vast sums of money to prop up the balance sheets of foreign banks between December 2007 and March 2010.
While the U.S. central bank said its support, extended to financial institutions during the worst of the global credit market crisis, was aimed at stabilising markets and restoring the flow of credit to American families and businesses, the fact that many of the 21,000 credit market transactions benefited institutions such as the United Kingdom?s Barclays Bank came as a surprise to most observers.
In particular the Fed?s Term Auction Facility, under which the central bank directly provided term funds to a ?broader range of counterparties and against a broader range of collateral,? was widely disbursed among the U.S.-based branches of non-U.S. banks.
Other than Barclays foreign-incorporated banks benefiting from this facility included the Britain?s Bank of Scotland, Abbey National and Lloyds TSB, Ireland?s Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland, French Societe Generale, Puerto Rico?s Banco Popular, Swiss UBS, Belgian Dexia, Brazil?s Ita? Unibanco, German Bayerische Landesbank, Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank.
The Federal Reserve however maintained that all U.S. depository institutions and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign institutions that maintained deposits subject to reserve requirements were eligible to borrow from the Federal Reserve?s discount window.
Yet according to reports, the TAF was used over 4,200 times by numerous foreign banks and though industry watchdogs had already come down heavily on the Treasury Department for its relief programme that ran in parallel to the Fed?s policies. Under the former over $700 billion had been supplied to European counterparties to U.S. banks. | <urn:uuid:30ba5b4f-ca7c-456e-8cb5-2716064c678b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/data-reveals-feds-crisis-lending-to-foreign-banks/article927827.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964451 | 388 | 2.03125 | 2 |
People who took cod liver oil every day were 34% less likely to be depressed than were those who had not, according to a new study. Researchers examined the diets of 21,835 Norwegian participants aged 40 to 49 and 70 to 79. They found that 2.5% of those who used cod liver oil every day had high levels of depression compared to 3.8% of those who did not use cod liver oil. Doctors considered other factors that might contribute to depression including age, gender, smoking, consuming coffee or alcohol, physical activity and education. Scientists noted that in the 40 to 49 year old group, those who had taken cod liver oil the longest were least likely to be depressed. The doctors recommend taking 500 mg of cod liver oil per day. | <urn:uuid:557e39d0-9186-4c3d-a1b0-bc52ec9df753> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nutritionexpress.com/article+index/health+concerns/depression+mood/showarticle.aspx?articleid=878 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99097 | 153 | 2.359375 | 2 |
- Application Performance
- Cyber Range Deployment
- Data Center Performance
- Load Balancer Testing
- Low Latency Networks
- Mobile Network Security
- Mobility Performance
- Network Performance
- Network Security
- Network Visibility
- Product R&D
DDoS Attacks Create New Strife in the Banking World
Last week saw several major banks such as Wells Fargo and U.S. Bankcorp undergo concerted cyber attacks that nearly shut down their websites and slowed customer access. Theories abound as to the ultimate perpetrator of the attacks, from the famed “Anonymous” group to a foreign power such as Iran. What isn’t under dispute, however, is the nature of the attack: DDoS.
Denial of service (DoS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are the oldest methods of disabling IP networks. DDoS attacks are one of the least technically complicated to unleash, but are also one of the most instantaneously obvious – which makes them a go to option for anybody wanting to immediately hurt a website or web presence. They continue to remain one of the most effective ways to impact the performance of IP networks or services, or completely restrict access to a network, service, or application for legitimate users.
By definition, the intent of a DoS/DDoS attack is to partially restrict or completely deny access of legitimate users to resources provided by a victim’s network, computer, or service. When this attempt is initiated from a single host, the attack is called a DoS attack. While DoS attacks can be successful mounted using a single host with limited resource, the majority of the attacks require a group of malicious hosts that flood the victim’s network with an overwhelming amount of attack packets. This type of attack is called distributed DoS.
The Zombie Apocalypse
According to Internet World Stats, the worldwide Internet population in June of 2012 was over 2 billion users. Many of the Internet users browse the Internet without appropriate security software, or by using operating systems and software that is not properly updated. Attackers use automated techniques to discover such systems and use known vulnerabilities to install DDoS tools on those system. Such infected computers are called Zombie computers.
The attacks on Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, and other banks were sent through high-powered application servers. The attackers targeted these application servers to build the network for the DDoS. Due to the power capabilities of the application servers, the amount of traffic sent to the banking websites was unprecedented (CNN has an article detailing the nature and process of this current attack).
Relying on hundreds to thousands of infected computers that have been previously infected with worms or trojans that facilitate remote control for an attacker, large DDoS attacks can be coordinated. Larger botnets can exceed 100,000 zombie computers, which can generate aggregated traffic from 10Gbps to 100Gbps – more than most ISPs can handle.
An Ounce of Prevention…
Early detection of DDoS, as well as pre-planned strategies for dealing with a DDoS, are the best ways of limiting the damage done by this attack method. Denial of service attacks often use dozens of attack techniques designed to overload network and security devices. Pre-deployment testing and production network monitoring will give network operators a leg up for circumventing this malicious intrusion. This type of testing requires test equipment capable of simulating thousands of computers.
"Detecting a DDoS against your systems is obviously an uncomfortable situation,” says Steve McGregory, Director of Application and Threat Intelligence for Ixia BreakingPoint. “Preparedness, with a plan to mitigate these attacks, is the way to relieve such fears. Having a system like the BreakingPoint FireStorm, that can emulate these DDoS scenarios, gives you the tools to prepare against DDoS attacks"
Kristi Thiele, Senior Systems Engineer at Ixia BreakingPoint, recently posted a blog detailing how to test defenses and people tasked with responding to a DDoS attack with a “fire drill” – the moment you realize your network is under attack is not the time to test. “It’s imperative that network operators figure out beforehand where they are vulnerable, and not be caught off-guard when a DDoS attack hits,” she said. “Understanding the limits of your network pre-deployment and having a validated plan to deal with an attack are crucial to surviving a major hit.”
The networking and security infrastructure must be tested to ensure that none of the denial of service attacks, singly or in combination, is able to succeed in disabling key services. In addition, the ability of the systems to accept new connections and provide an acceptable level of performance must be measured and known ahead of an attack.
Ixia BreakingPoint DDoS testing solutions
Ixia BreakingPoint DoS evaluation services
Ixia BreakingPoint DDoS blog resources
About Ixia and BreakingPoint | <urn:uuid:2f7b135b-ab0b-4790-8560-daef40434395> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ixiacom.com/ixia-blog/ddos-attacks-create-new-strife-banking-world/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936772 | 1,012 | 2.546875 | 3 |
This is the first time teens have been invited to present at the conference.
“We are just so excited to be chosen for this great honor,” Jerry Don Woods, vice president of the Dardanelle School President Association, said. “It’s an honor for the students and the adults who participate in the Teen Leadership Summit. It’s amazing to think that we might influence schools around the nation.”
Woods, along with Margie Smith, a member of the Russellville School District, submitted a proposal titled Kaizen! Peer Pressure Done Right — How Rural Arkansas Students bring about “Good Change,” which outlined various projects local schools had implemented in their school groups.
Currently Dardanelle, Pottsville and Russellville School Districts have committed to sending two teen delegates from each district to the national conference.
Smith said any school district that participates in the Teen Leadership Summit and would like to send a representative can contact her at 967-1657.
“We really hope to be able to do some fundraising or find some local businesses that would sponsor students from some of the smaller schools,” Smith said. “We don’t want anyone to be left out of this exciting opportunity.”
The national presentation in April will follow the local summit in September.
Seventy students, chaperons and sponsors are expected to attend the Teen Leadership Summit 2012 Sept. 24-25 at Arkansas Tech Lake Point Conference Center.
Funding for each district to attend is provided by the Allstate Foundation.
Local businesses and organizations will provide personnel to serve as facilitators and volunteers from the River Valley Prevention Coalition will also be in attendance.
The idea to attend the teen summit sprang from a general meeting of the River Valley Prevention Coalition in response to data surrounding the rise of risky teen behaviors.
Smith said the discussion turned to a peer to peer model and soon after the five high schools in Pope County were invited to the first summit.
Three years ago Yell County and its four high schools were invited to join.
“The summit is always a really fun time for the students,” Smith said. “Each district will have its own student-led prevention coalition and carry out their action plans formed at the summit. In the past, there have been some really cool student projects that had such a positive impact on their school, that have come out of the summit. I’m always fascinated to see what the students create and share with their student bodies. Sometimes we don’t give our youth the credit they deserve.”
Smith said some of the student projects included PSAs about bullying, texting while driving, drinking and driving, held assemblies with the grim reaper (showing how a youth in America is killed every 15 minutes in a car crash), held road blocks and gave out Smarties and Dumb Dumb candy to drivers that showed good and bad driving practices.
“Dardanelle EAST Lab created a program called Don’t Drive InTEXTicated and presented at their national conference and won a national volunteer award,” Smith said. “We have included Morrilton High School for our 2012 summit.”
Woods said Smith has been a champion for the Teen Summit from the start and he commended her dedication to seeing that local school districts are consistently recognized for the positive peer to peer relationships developed and impacting the communities. | <urn:uuid:72e77e0d-db05-4c03-9869-7273434528ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.couriernews.com/view/full_story/20075041/article-Teens-invited-to-national-conference?instance=home_special | 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 | 0.971042 | 709 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Bill hopes to protect student-athletes
Experts say athletes get back into game too soon after head injuries
Kobe Bryant is back in the game after a concussion forced the NBA star to ride the bench.
He broke his nose when he took an elbow to the face during last weekend's All-Star game.
But thanks to a series of NBA-required tests, clearance from a neurologist and living 24 hours symptom free, the Los Angeles Lakers guard suited up for Wednesday night's game.
Most people know that professional athletes have access to the best medical care out there. But many wonder what is being done right now to protect student-athletes from getting back into the game too soon after a big hit or brain injury.
Unfortunately, right now there is not much being done to protect student-athletes when it comes to getting back to practice after a head injury. It's usually up to the coaches and the parents to see if the student should keep playing.
But there is a new law that, if passed, would require coaches to remove players who they believe have a concussion, and the player must have a doctor's approval to return.
The Florida House has approved the bill, which is now waiting on the Senate's approval. Bills like this make parents of young athletes very happy.
When temperatures rise, the ice rink is the coolest place to be. But like all contact sports, the game of hockey does carry a big risk.
"A guy came kind of on a blind side and just hit me," said teenage hockey player Jacob. "I hit my head on the ice."
For 13-year-old Jacob, the effects were immediate.
"I didn't even remember coming off the ice. My dad asked me what happened and I didn't know. I wasn't really aware of anything," he said.
Jacob's dad said he was the first one out to see Jacob and that he didn't look himself.
Jacob was diagnosed with a concussion.
According to doctors, a concussion is a complex pathophysiological injury to the brain.
Because that injury may not be obvious on an MRI or CAT scan, parents and coaches need to know what to look for.
The warning signs include a headache, dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, confusion and memory problems.
Doctors said sometimes symptoms evolve. A person could have mild symptoms from the first minute to hour, but then over the next 24 hours, he or she might have more of an evolving symptom pattern.
The key to treating a concussion is allowing time for the brain to heal.
Doctors say that coaches need to at least go by, "When in doubt, sit them out."
After a break from the game, Jacob was fine and back on the ice, with visions of one day becoming a pro hockey player just like his dad.
"I just try to be myself out there," Jacob said.
More than 30 states already have laws in place that are similar to those proposed in Florida.
The Florida High School Athletic Association already backs the new measures.
Copyright 2012 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:b0631c1b-83f8-4d67-8a04-c73099ed9f87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/news/Bill-hopes-to-protect-student-athletes/-/475880/9190664/-/view/print/-/tkamrxz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977014 | 657 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Since one of the many guidelines for Pioneer Week involve low-tech entertainment, I thought I'd provide some ideas for keeping the kids busy that come straight out of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
Making butter - Yep, I've discussed this ad nauseum before, but in the Little House books, Laura's mom would grate carrot into the milk while she was heating it to give it a yellow color. I suspect the milk was heated probably for home pasteurization. Raw milk foodies may disagree with me on this one.
Anyway, now's your chance to make butter again, this time with an authentic yellow tinge to it - just make sure you strain out the carrots and let the milk return to room temperature (about 65 degrees) before making the butter. [From Little House in the Big Woods.]
Making apple studded cloves - No, this isn't another reference to greening your sex life. This is the fall alternative to making clove studded oranges around Christmas time and the process is mostly the same.
Basically, take an apple and a jar of cloves. Using a toothpick, prescore the apple with holes for placing the cloves. You'll want to do this to save your fingers from being shredded by the clove heads. Now push the clove stems into the apple skin, making sure you completely cover the apple. For a more modern interpretation, you can make spirals, stripes or the visage of Sponge Bob.
Now take your studded apple and place it in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of your favorite dried ground spices such as cinnamon, ginger, orris root, allspice and nutmeg. Roll your apple around in the spices. Leave the apple in its bowl with the spices for a few weeks in a warm, dry area of the house. A couple times a day (maybe when you brush your teeth), roll the apple around again.
When it is completely dried out and shrivelled evenly, your apple is done. You may now tie a ribbon around it and hang it in your homestead. Apparently, these cloves scented orbs were used as natural moth repellents. [From Little House in the Big Woods.]
Making sugar snow - I know some of you are already getting snow, but the rest of us will just have to fake it using ice put in the blender or food processor.
Heat a cup of maple syrup up to 245 to 255 degrees F. As soon as the syrup reaches temperature, pour or drizzle it immediately, without stirring, over packed snow or shaved ice, making "circles, and curlicues, and squiggledy things" as Laura and Mary did.
Because the mixture cools so rapidly, the supersaturated solution does not have a chance to crystallize and forms a a thin glassy, taffy-like sheet over the snow/ice. Traditionally, sugar snow is served with sour pickles to cut the sweetness, and saltines or plain doughnuts. [From Little House in the Big Woods.]
Making dried apple sauce - Who knew you could make applesauce from dried apples? Well, I certainly didn't. Put about 8 ounces of dried apple slices in a saucepan and cover them with boiling water. Let them soak for about 15 minutes or until they are tender adding additional water if necessary.
Once the apples are tender, remove them from the water and mash them with a potato masher, adding sugar and cinnamon to taste. Simmer the applesauce over low heat for about 3 minutes. May be served warm or cold. Applesauce should be stored in the refrigerator. [From By the Shores of Silver Lake]
Making rag curls for little girls - Skip the curling iron or other torture devices and add a little curl to your girl's hair by using rag curls. The concept is relatively easy.
Taking strips of fabric one inch wide and about 8 - 12 inches long (depending on length of hair), roll sections of damp hair (starting at the ends) under towards the scalp. When you reach your scalp, tie the ends of the rag together. Let dry and remove. Voila! Curls. [From Little House in the Big Woods.]
Living like Little House on the Prairie
Hitch up your wagon for Pioneer Week
Getting outfitted for Pioneer Week
Frontier House (the movie discussion we never had) | <urn:uuid:e57dbe4d-775c-41a7-a9fb-dce9873bbe0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/2008/10/old-fashioned-activities-for-pioneer.html?showComment=1225439160000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941225 | 901 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec, City, pop 48 930 (2006c), 48 206 (2001c), inc 1960. Dollard-des-Ormeaux is located on the northwest side of the Île de Montréal, near the Rivière des Prairies. It is enclosed by the municipalities of Pierrefonds, Roxboro, St-Laurent, Kirkland, Pointe Claire and Dorval.
The territory that would become Dollard-des-Ormeaux was originally part of the Parish of Ste-Geneviève, founded in 1741. This parish suffered a series of divisions. Dollard-des-Ormeaux became a distinct municipality after the decision by the parish to impose a tax for road improvements. It received the name Dollard-des-Ormeaux on the advice of a notary named Ernest Jasmin. He felt the resident's fiery spirit matched the character of the historical figure, Adam Daulac, also known as DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX
In 1924, it officially became the village municipality of Dollard-des-Ormeaux. In 1960, Dollard-des-Ormeaux became a town and joined the Montréal Urban Community in 1970.
Dollard-des-Ormeaux began to develop as a residential suburb of Montréal in the 1960s. In 1961, there were a total of 1800 residents. Ten years later the population had grown to 25 000. The bulk of the land, 77%, is for residential construction. Most people commute each day to downtown Montréal, only a few minutes away. | <urn:uuid:a02a5a22-eccf-4d1a-8c65-97844a167341> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/dollarddesormeaux | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953864 | 342 | 2 | 2 |
NEWTOWN -- First Selectman Pat Llodra is disgusted by an associate professor's allegations that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings was a hoax, and angry at Florida Atlantic University for employing him.
Llodra said the blog and public remarks by communications professor James Tracy are "wholly wrong, inconsiderate and insensitive" and that he would use this traumatic loss for "outlandish conspiracy theories" is "an insult to all caring people."
Tracy writes in a blog titled "Memory Hole," that the coverage of the shooting was "intended primarily for public consumption to further larger political ends." Tracy's lengthy assessment of the massacre is that it was a contrived event, and he suggests some survivors and families who spoke on camera were "crisis actors."
In a news release, Llodra said, "Shame on you, too, FAU, to even have someone like this on your payroll."
Tracy's voice mail in his college office said Thursday that it was "not accepting messages."
The university would not say whether he has been disciplined or removed from their faculty. The media relations office said the university does not comment on personnel matters.
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders did release a statement saying that Tracy's remarks about the Sandy Hook tragedy do not reflect the views of the university, "and I am personally saddened by any media stories that have added pain felt by the victims' families.
"FAU joins the entire nation and people around the world in feeling profound grief for the lives lost on that awful day," Saunders said of the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 20 first-graders, four teachers, the principal and a school psychologist. The gunman, Adam Lanza, also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, before going to the school, and killed himself after his shooting spree.
"Our hearts break for the victims, their loved ones and friends, and all the people of Newtown," Saunders wrote. "The world lost innocent children and brave adults whose lives were dedicated to education. In the aftermath of this terrible tragedy, we learned of the tremendous heroism of the Sandy Hook teachers and administrators. We admire their courage in the face of unspeakable horror and we honor their memory."
Several residents and Newtown leaders asked about Tracy's remarks declined to be comment, aside from saying that to do so would be to give publicity to someone who deserves none. Beyond her official statement, Llodra said she would have no further comment as she has no desire to engage with "extremists."
"Professor Tracy is an embarrassment to me as an educator and should be to you (FAU) as well," Llodra said in her written statement. "I can assure you, sadly, that the events here in Newtown unfolded exactly as are being reported, with the horrible outcome of the violent death of 26 innocent people, including 20 children."
Llodra attended virtually all of those funerals, memorial services and calling hours.
"I ask that every media outlet and the university remove all such insensitive statements being made by Mr. Tracy," Llodra wrote. "Haven't these parents and the community been hurt enough?" | <urn:uuid:9a6a1f24-6991-4527-8d24-83909aa4b902> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Llodra-slams-shootings-denier-university-4184338.php | 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 | 0.977848 | 648 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Speaker of the House John Boehner, front, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, right. / Evan Vucci, AP
For the past four years, Republicans have defined themselves less by what they are for than by what they are against - basically anything supported by President Obama.
Republicans professed to be deeply concerned about runaway Medicare spending, then skewered Obama during the 2010 and 2012 campaigns for making cuts to the program. They attacked him for his deficits, then broke off debt-reduction talks in 2011. And they assailed his signature health care law, even though it borrowed heavily from GOP proposals dating to the early 1990s.
But on Monday, four weeks before the so-called fiscal cliff, came a glimmer of hope that Republicans can stand for something. Speaker John Boehner and other House Republicans presented a serious, though not sufficiently specific, plan for starting to restrain deficits.
Unlike previous GOP plans, this one recognizes that new tax revenue has to be part of the solution. Boehner's proposal calls for $800 billion in new revenue over 10 years. It also includes $1.1 trillion in entitlement cuts, including such steps as bumping up the Medicare retirement age and changing the formula for calculating how Social Security benefits grow. This demonstrates more political courage than the Democrats have shown, and a recognition that benefit programs are the main drivers of long-term deficits.
Federal health care spending alone is projected to top $1 trillion in the current fiscal year, more than one-fourth of all outlays. The proposed $600 billion cut would come to roughly 4% of the $14 trillion to $15 trillion Washington is on track to spend on health care in the next decade. To be precise, it is not even a cut but a restraint of the rate of growth.
The Republican offer is based on a back-of-the envelope proposal that Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and co-chairman of a bipartisan deficit commission, offered to a congressional committee last year. It is also similar to what Obama and Boehner were discussing in private meetings in 2011 before those talks collapsed.
Obama and fellow Democrats would do well to treat it for what it is: a credible bid to start dealing with runaway deficits. In fact, it is superior to the offer Obama put on the table last week, as it more aggressively targets the government's biggest budget problems and refrains from adding costly spending.
The new GOP plan is, to be sure, far from perfect, particularly on the revenue side. Republicans continue to insist that additional tax revenue should come only from closing deductions, credits and other "tax expenditures," not from the higher rates they have pledged to oppose. This prompted Obama on Tuesday to call the plan "out of balance."
It also raises a number of practical problems. One is that major tax overhaul is not going to happen in the next four weeks, and Congress and Obama need some kind of down payment on the deficit now. Another is that an approach based solely on limiting deductions would hit middle-class taxpayers much harder than one that blended the closing of loopholes with higher marginal rates for upper-income workers.
Even so, it's encouraging to see Republicans making positive contributions. Dealing with the fiscal cliff requires leaders of both parties to level with voters, stand up to their most conservative and liberal wings, put forth bold ideas and be willing to cut deals.
Sources USA TODAY research, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Notes Figures are 10-year totals and don't include 2011 Budget Control Act. Republicans estimate the Obama savings at closer to $1.7 trillion.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Editorial: GOP finally stands for something | <urn:uuid:a3244b45-d2d5-43d6-829d-894b43a45e6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courier-journal.com/usatoday/article/1747205?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961631 | 753 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Included in this file are materials to set up a leaf-sorting center in your primary classroom. Students will sort a collection of leaves by shape and then complete a bar graph to show the results.
This lesson is part of a larger unit on "trees." This unit includes MANY resources and integrates the subject areas of science, math, balanced literacy, drama and art. See the following link for more details: | <urn:uuid:3f462ca5-6110-4bc7-932d-23fd1faf3e2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Leaf-Sorting-a-sciencemath-center-114661 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932244 | 86 | 3.640625 | 4 |
The Oregon Department of Transportation reports fewer traffic fatalities this year than last year during the Memorial Day weekend. Three people died in separate crashes over the three-day weekend. Four people died over the 2011 holiday weekend.
Lieutenant Gregg Hastings is with the Oregon State Police. He says it’s difficult to pinpoint just one reason for the relatively low numbers.
“I think everyone is grateful that we were half of what is the average for the Memorial holiday period, which historically since 1970 on average six people have died in traffic crashes. There were still three fatalities and three people who lost their lives in very unique crashes," Hastings says.
Hastings says high gas prices may have given people a reason to stay off the roads this weekend. Oregon State Police statistics show fewer drunken driving arrests as well. Troopers arrested 61 impaired drivers, down from 88 arrests last year. | <urn:uuid:2e84f0a0-0c0f-4dde-bfd7-65fe0cfc11b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opb.org/news/article/low-number-fatalities-over-memorial-holiday/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98132 | 177 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Quite often we get asked about soap drawers (sometimes called a draw) on washing machines and, in a separate article some time ago here, we covered how to clean your soap drawer and why you should do it but, we didn't actually explain how they work in any great detail.
This leads us onto what appears to be a common problem fro some people, water being left in the softener compartment of the washing machine's soap drawer.
Now I would ask that you bear with this as we will first of all have to explain how this very simple system works and, to some extent, how fabric conditioner or softener works as well. But, if you bear with it and read the article fully you will understand how they work, what causes problems and how to fix them yourself.
Contrary to what most people think, the fabric conditioner or softener compartment is actually really, really simple in it's operation.
The following shows how incoming water displaces the fabric softener in the detergent drawer, creating a siphoning effect and allows it to run into the drum where your laundry is. Bear in mind during all of this that this process will only take place on the final rinse and at no other point of the program.
Fabric softener shown in yellow is added to the softener compartment of the washing machine soap drawer.
The softener cannot at this point escape from the detergent drawer unless the compartment is overfilled and creates a siphoning effect.
On the final rinse the water is directed into the softener compartment of the washing machine soap dispenser drawer and this causes a siphon to be triggered.
The fabric conditioiner as well as the incoming water is drawn through this siphon and into the washing machine drum.
Due to the amount of water coming into the washing machine, water will also fall over the back of the compartment as there is too great a volume to be dealt with solely by the siphon. This is why the back of this particular compartment may be lower than the others.
The siphon will continue until the water is drained almost completely from the compartment leaving it empty and ready to be refilled for the next wash load.
And essentially, that's how the fabric conditioner comparment works on a washing machine or washer dryer. It is a desperately simple system that relies on no moving parts at all, only incoming water.
There are effectively two ways to get water into the softener compartment, either by way of a dedicated water valve to deliver water to the correct compartment in the washing machine soap drawer or, by using a sort of diverter system either mechanically on older machines or, increasingly, by using a dual fill water valve.
The first system employed has become less common due to pricing considerations, putting an extra valve on the washing machine costs more money and as manufacturers seek to cut costs this has become less common. However, in fairness, adding an additional valve whilst perhaps more ideal in some ways, also adds an additional point of failure, so there are pros and cons to this as with most things.
The big advantage in this type of arrangement of filling your washing machine is that it will often work or, work better, on lower water pressures.
Normally where this system is used your washing machine will be fitted with a three way water valve. One water valve will feed to the pre-wash compartment, one to the main wash compartment and the third to the fabric softener compartment.
This is the easiest system to understand as, put simply, the water valve which feeds the fabric conditioner compartment is the only point of failure. If the fabric conditioner is not removed from the soap detergent drawer then it is almost a stone cold certainty that the water inlet valve has failed and need to be replaced. Experienced washing machine engineers can often replace only the single solenoid if the actual valve body is not faulty but, for most people, replacing the entire valve assembly is the only option.
In days gone past when all we had were old clunky mechanical timers, mounted on the front of those were what was known as timer cams. These cams would push a simple rod system linked to the soap dispenser top and manually direct the incoming water where it needed to go at that point in the wash program. This type of system is pretty much extinct now since technology has moved on and, almost exclusively, electronic controllers are employed.
Now the most common method, especially on cheap washing amchines and washer dryers, is to use the incoming water pressure to force water into the central section of the detergent drawer where you will now often find the fabric softener compartment located.
Usually this is a dead giveaway that the washing machine is using the cheap dual valve system and not a multi-valve system.
How it works is really very simple.
When the normal wash or pre-wash filling is required only one of the two valves opens allowing the washing machine to fill in the desired compartment, one set at either side of hte fabric softener compartment.
On the final rinse only, both valves open at once causing the water to meet and be diverted into the central compartment. Of course some will often still end up in the other compartments as well but, it is the only time that water will enter that central fabric softener compartment.
If one of the washing machine water valves fails, it won't work and the fabric conditioner will not be removed.
If the water pressure is too low the water may not be diverted properly and again, the fabric softener may not be removed.
Apart from the above which explains what fabric softener may not be removed the single most common issue is with people complaining that water is not removed from the conditioner compartment.
When the machine is new the most likely cause is that the washing machine is very slightly tipped forward. It is very, very common that washing machines are not installed correctly and/or correctly levelled so do check this in the first instance before reporting a fault as, if it is an installation issue it normally will not be covered by any warranty and you may have to pay to have the rectification work carried out.
If the machine is completely level and, you have now of course checked that, then you can try raising the front feet by a couple of millimeters so that the washing machine is very slightly tilted backwards. This often clears these issues.
On older machines it is normally just a dirty detergent drawer or soap tray that is the problem. Almost universally the fabric softener siphon will be able to come off and be cleaned, this need to be done thoroughly if you use conditioner.
For more on how to clean the soap drawer please see this article. | <urn:uuid:36b39ec6-ba72-4564-96f8-1aaf2db378d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix-it-yourself/washing-machine-washer-dryer/3395-washing-machine-fabric-softener-issues.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962504 | 1,375 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Allows users to compare health scores
Aviva has launched a healthy living Facebook app just a week after introducing a stress management mobile app.
Aviva Health 100 rates users’ health and allows them to compare scores with friends and family, before providing them with advice and goals on how to become fitter and healthier.
Users will be able to share their progress with others using the ‘goals tracker’ function.
The app is available to all Facebook users and initially invites people to answer a short quiz about their lifestyle, including diet, exercise, drinking and smoking habits. This information is used to generate a health score out of 100.
Tips and videos featuring health and fitness experts and professional athletes are available to provide inspiration and information on exercise and healthy eating.
Dr Doug Wright, medical director at Aviva UK Health, said: “We’ve developed the Aviva Health 100 Facebook app to help people take control of their health.
“It’s designed to help people gauge how healthy they are and to provide expert advice, guidance and inspiration on how to improve their lifestyle. However fit people are, the app is fun and will appeal to all.”
Aviva also offers MyHealthCounts, a health management programme, exclusively to customers with its Healthier Solutions private medical insurance.
The service invites Aviva customers to take a more comprehensive health and lifestyle questionnaire, and offers up to 15% discount on renewal premiums for those who can demonstrate a good health status.
And last week the provider launched an app for iPhones and Android mobiles, My Stress Kit, designed to identify the causes of stress and help manage its symptoms. | <urn:uuid:9170e9bc-c20d-49c7-941c-1cbdb2922d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hi-mag.com/health-insurance/product-area/pmi/article399360.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94496 | 340 | 1.65625 | 2 |
We fortunately welcome a new year without a tax increase.
For the past several years, I warned that if Congress didn’t act by the end of last year, the rates at which Americans were taxed would automatically increase. Fortunately, Congress acted to avoid this scheduled hike with 14 days to spare.
The tax package that was assembled in December represented a true bipartisan agreement. Bipartisanship is something politicians talk about a lot, but seldom seem able to do. But, circumstances did not allow either party to dictate its perfect bill. So, while neither party got everything it wanted, there were provisions in the package to appeal to both sides of the aisle, and most of us agreed it would be very bad for all Americans to allow taxes to be increased.
The most important things this bill did, in my view, was to freeze all existing income, capital gains, and dividend tax rates and reform the death tax for the next two years. Without legislation, taxes would have skyrocketed for all Americans. Low income Americans would have seen their taxes go up by 50 percent, for example. And so, by maintaining current tax rates and instituting death tax reform, the bill provided positive economic certainty to families and to job creators.
Tax increases would certainly hurt the economy. Looking back at 1936, for example, when President Roosevelt raised taxes on high earners. The shaky economy plunged back into depression and unemployment skyrocketed. Democratic tax increases combined with Republican tariffs showed that neither party had a monopoly on bad ideas.
Freezing the tax rates at their current levels, on the other hand, will help the economy and to facilitate job growth. Some on the liberal left seem to think that tax provisions in this bill should implement their particular philosophy of class warfare. But the tax code is not a vehicle for punishing certain taxpayers, as some on the left seem to think. I would hope we all agree we want to help job creators as well as job seekers. Ideology should not trump those concerns — on either the right or left.
The key thing is that tax rates matter to growth. Businesses must be allowed to retain earnings so they can expand, invest, and hire new workers. In my view, any comprehensive tax-reform package Congress might consider this year should include significant reductions in capital taxation. For now, I’m glad that members of both parties have decided to at least block a capital-tax increase, which would have had a severe impact on job-creating investment.
Americans are looking for solutions to unemployment and reviving our sluggish economy. Keeping tax rates where they are and providing some certainty is a good place to start. | <urn:uuid:95623a4e-5914-429b-91fb-cdb76cadc5f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2011/jan/07/heading-2011-little-certainty/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975478 | 537 | 2.03125 | 2 |
"I learned that even though
there are things that feel like mistakes, that even though life
sometimes feels like punishment, that those feelings are not
the Truth. I learned that my emotional truth was being dictated
by my subconscious
perspectives of life, by the definitions of life that had been imposed
on me as a child, by the subconscious attitudes that I had adopted
of the emotional traumas I had experienced as a child.
Perspective is a key to
I had to change and enlarge my perspectives of myself and my own
of other people, of God and of this life business. Our
of life dictates our relationship with life. We have a
dysfunctional relationship with life because we were taught to have a
dysfunctional perspective of this life business, dysfunctional
definitions of who we are and why
we are here.
It is kind of like the old joke about
three blind men describing an elephant by touch. Each one of them
is telling his own Truth, they just have a lousy perspective.
Codependence is all about having a lousy relationship with life, with
being human, because we have a lousy perspective on life as a human."
(All quotes in this color are
Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls)
One of the gifts of the twelve step
recovery process, of learning to apply the Serenity Prayer in our
lives, is that
we start to learn how to take responsibility without blaming - either
self or others. We learn how to take responsibility for the
we do have the power to change - and hold others responsible for their
of the street. This powerful, life changing paradigm shift was in
fact the spark that set off the series of articles I have been writing
for this Suite 101 page since my January article.
" In recovery it is very important to
take responsibility while also learning to stop giving power to the
polarized blame and shame of the disease. Therein lies a
tale." - To Parents of Alcoholics / Addicts January 2002
There are so many facets and levels to
the process of making this paradigm shift that I will probably be
writing articles about it for the rest of the year. It is so
vital because it changes our relationship with self and with life -
which in turns changes how we relate to other people.
When I use the term paradigm shift, I
am talking about changing the context, the framework, in which we view
life. Like the quote above about the 3 blind men from my book, if
we are not looking at a larger picture we are not seeing clearly.
If we are viewing
our self and life out of eyes that are limited by polarized, shame
beliefs, then we are not seeing life clearly - we are not seeing the
Our perspective of anything dictates
our relationship with that thing. And our perspectives are set up
the intellectual paradigm we are empowering - by the attitudes,
and definitions that we are holding, both consciously and
That is why it is so important to
practicing intellectual discernment. To start looking at the
beliefs, and definitions that are dictating our perspectives of
We can change our relationship with life - and with all the components
life - by changing our perspectives.
This includes our perspective of our
emotions. Because we grew up in emotionally dishonest and
dysfunctional cultures, we learned to have a dysfunctional relationship
with our own emotions. It is through learning to have some
intellectual discernment that we can start changing our attitude
towards our own emotions - and then we can also start practicing
I will be talking about some different
aspects of both intellectual and emotional discernment in coming
articles. For this article I want to make a point about how important
this process is by using the example of some basic dysfunctional
beliefs that are at the foundation of our relationship with life.
These are the beliefs that we learned from the fairy tales we heard in
We learned that when we meet our
or Princess we will live happily-ever-after. We got the message
there was a destination to reach in life where we would find a state of
that is happily-ever-after.
That is not true. It is not the
way life works. You know that now. As an adult, you
and intellectually know that there is no happily-ever-after - if you
ever stopped to think about it.
Unfortunately however, that belief is
programmed into our subconscious intellectual paradigm and as such, it
determines our perspective of life, of romance, of our self - and thus
dictates our emotional relationship with those aspects of our human
We are set up to feel like failures in
life, and in romantic relationships, because we do not get to reach
happily-ever-after. We judge and shame ourselves because we
haven't lived up to the fairy tale. We blame ourselves - or we
blame others for this feeling of failure.
This feeling of failure is an illusion
based upon a fairy tale. It is based upon beliefs about life that
are not true - that have never been true. It is part of our
programming and the only way to change it is to change that
programming - and heal the emotional wounds that we have experienced
our dysfunctional relationships with life and romance set us up to feel
We cannot do that without looking
within. We need to become willing to start shining the light of
consciousness into the darkness of our subconscious in order to take
power away from that which is in the dark. Looking outside to
find the answers does not work.
It is only by looking within that we can start healing and recovering
from the false beliefs that we learned in childhood.
It is vital for us to start awakening
to the reality that we have the power to change our beliefs. We
the power to choose a different intellectual paradigm to define our
life. That is what working the twelve steps can do for us - cause
a paradigm shift our relationship with life. The more conscious
we get about how the process works the quicker we can make the
We have the power to change the
attitudes, beliefs, and definitions that are dictating our relationship
with life. We can start practicing discernment - picking the baby
out of the bath water - once we are willing to start looking within
without shame and blame. The key to doing this is to detach from
our own process enough to develop an objective perspective of our
To use the blind men and the elephant
analogy, this means to realize that we aren't really blind - we have
just had our eyes closed, have been living unconsciously. We can
open our eyes and step back to look at the elephant from a better
perspective. We can walk around it and look at it from all
angles. We have a choice to
open our eyes and see more clearly. We do not have to be trapped
the programming from our childhood. We have a choice.
We lived life unconsciously because we
did not know any other way. It is not shameful - not something to
judge ourselves for. Once we get in enough pain we start becoming
willing to look for another way. That is when we can start to
learn and practice discernment. That is when we can begin our | <urn:uuid:2991057e-d454-4125-b507-87cfd359442a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.joy2meu.com/Intellectual_Discernment.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94437 | 1,541 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Has the idea of American exceptionalism hobbled the study of American history? NYU University Professor of the Humanities Thomas Bender argues that it has. A study of American history taking into account world events and viewpoints, he argues, would result in a more contextualized and cosmopolitan discipline, helping historians to better understand what happened in American history and why, but also what it means. Bender traces the study of history from the “men of letters” historians of the nineteenth century to historians of the Cold War and the present day, explaining how calls for a more worldly American history curriculum have been rebuffed.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Bender on American Exceptionalism
Posted by Dan Ernst
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has posted a downloadable lecture by the historian Thomas Bender, New York University, who, a few years back, wrote a terrific antiexceptionalist history of America (pictured below). Bender originally delivered the lecture, entitled "American History: Views from Abroad," on June 23, 2008. Here is the Institute's description: | <urn:uuid:47a01f26-5a2d-4ea6-88a1-ab471c5f62cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/bender-on-american-exceptionalism.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939869 | 221 | 2.25 | 2 |
Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital, heard a Muslim orchestra, seen a Muslim band march in a parade, witnessed a Muslim charity,
shaken hands with a Muslim Girl Scout, seen a Muslim Candy Striper, or seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life ????
The answer is no, you did not.
Just ask yourself WHY ???
Barack Obama, during his Cairo speech, said:
“I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America’s history.”
Representative Allen West calls out President Obama on Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian Backfire
Hat tip to The Blaze for this story
‘Repudiate the Muslim Brotherhood’: Allen West Calls for Obama to Immediately Cut All American Foreign Aid to Egypt Following Election Results
Congressman Allen West (R-Fla.) on Sunday called for President Barack Obama to immediately cut off all American foreign aid to Egypt and to denounce the results of its presidential election after Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate Mohammed Morsi’s victory.
“A year ago there were those of us who warned the Obama administration of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt,” West wrote. “We were castigated as alarmists and loose cannons. Today our predictions have come to reality and the ominous specter reminding us of the Iranian revolution is evident.”
“What an incredible foreign policy faux pas by the second coming of President Jimmy Carter, the Obama administration,” West said. “I call upon President Barack Obama to cut off American foreign aid to Egypt, denounce the results of this election, repudiate the Muslim Brotherhood, and all radical Islamist political entities.
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN’S RESPONSE:
Dear Mr. Obama:
Were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed?
Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.
Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day?
Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.
Can you show me one Muslim signature on the
Declaration of Independence?
Bill of Rights?
Didn’t think so.
Did Muslims fight for this country’s freedom from England?
Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America?
No, they did not.
In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery.
Your own half-brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even
though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as “pug nosed slaves.”
Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your
family’s “rich Islamic heritage,” doesn’t it Mr. Obama?
Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country?
There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr.
or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era?
Again, not present.
In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband.
Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights, aren’t they?
Where were Muslims during World War II?
They were aligned with Adolf Hitler.
The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews.
Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001?
If they weren’t flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field
in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East. No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world
celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day.
Strangely, the very “moderate” Muslims who’s asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11.
To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.
(Representative Allen West Explains the Mission of Islam)
A must see Video
And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the “rich heritage” Muslims have here in America.
Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates.
They were Muslim.
And now we can add November 5, 2009 – the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That, Mr. Obama is the Muslim heritage in America
Muslim Heritage, NOT!
Mr. President, exactly what Planet are you living on?
- Representative Allen West calls out President Obama on Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian Backfire (votingamerican.wordpress.com)
- Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Obama Invites Muslim Brotherhood Leader to White House (thegatewaypundit.com)
- Call for Jihad against Israel. Supported by Obama? (genomega1.wordpress.com) | <urn:uuid:f1e8f86a-7e81-41d1-ae5a-892f61a34832> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/president-obama-on-the-history-of-islam-in-america/ | 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 | 0.952253 | 1,136 | 1.9375 | 2 |
New Warnings for MS Drug Gilenya After FDA Review
Heart Risk Safety Concerns Added to Multiple Sclerosis Drug's Label
By Cari Nierenberg
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD
April 20, 2012 -- Novartis, the maker of the drug Gilenya (fingolimod), a once-daily oral capsule taken for multiple sclerosis, has added stronger warnings to labels and prescription information about the drug's possible heart risks, according to a company statement.
Labels will now recommend that all patients have an electrocardiogram (ECG) before taking their first dose of the MS drug. In addition, those starting treatment with Gilenya are also advised to get a second ECG six hours after their first dose of the medication.
New patients are advised to take the drug for the first time in their doctor's office with hourly blood pressure and heart rate checks during a six-hour monitoring period.
The revised label information will not affect people currently taking the drug. But it may apply to them if they stop taking Gilenya for more than two weeks and need to restart the treatment. They would need to repeat the ECGs as well as the six-hour monitoring period.
These changes follow an FDA report in December 2011 of an MS patient who died within 24 hours of taking the first dose of Gilenya. The agency is still looking into whether the drug was responsible for the patient's death.
The drug is known to slow heart rate, especially in the first 30 days of its use. It may also leave some people feeling dizzy or tired, or they may feel heart palpitations or chest pain that usually improves within the first 24 hours of treatment.
In the U.S., labels will also recommend that people with certain heart conditions or those taking certain medications for these heart problems would need to be monitored overnight by a health professional after taking their first dose of this MS drug.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, about 400,000 Americans have MS. The autoimmune disease affects the brain and spinal cord, which can result in weakness in one or more limbs, balance problems, and numbness.
Risks vs. Benefits
Gilenya is taken once a day by mouth to reduce the number of MS flares in people with relapsing types of MS. It was approved for use by the FDA in September 2010.
It's the first MS treatment to be taken orally; other medications for this condition are given by injection.
The drug is also known to lower the number of white blood cells in the blood, so another possible side effect of Gilenya is an increased risk of serious infection. It may also cause vision, breathing, or liver problems in some people.
Recently, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit watchdog group, has urged the FDA to put more restrictions on the use of Gilenya. The group reviewed the number of side effects of the drug reported to the FDA MedWatch program in the second quarter of 2011, and it concluded that "the FDA and manufacturer should consider substantial restrictions on its use and enhanced monitoring."
The drug's manufacturer, while adding new restrictions to its label, still stresses its value for patients with relapsing types of MS.
"Gilenya represents an important treatment option for relapsing forms of MS," says Barry Singer, MD, director of the MS Center for Innovations in Care at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, in a statement. "Choosing appropriate patients for Gilenya therapy and patient safety is essential."
News release, Novartis.
FDA Drug Safety Communication, Dec. 20, 2011.
QuarterWatch, Monitoring FDA MedWatch Reports: "Signals for Fingolimod and Infliximab."
© 2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Find out what women really need. | <urn:uuid:958e9eb1-d439-498f-8de0-78916c7c03f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=157389 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940554 | 797 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Wright sketched several pictures of Broadacre City, and with his students built a large model showing what a typical area might be like. Some views can be found on the web through Google's image search.
Broadcre City is not meant to be enclosed in the manner of small towns or isolated rural farms. Life there would be enriched by its linkages; Broadacre City celebrates mobility, not small town locality.
Wright's claim that isolation only has value if it can be broken at any moment shows how his proposal is not an individualist utopia for self-sufficient pioneers. It is a linked society, with its links defined by the technology of his time. Were it built today it would have more kinds of links.
Today's denser links produce the opposite problem; insistent connection that needs to give way to isolation at times, finding calmness in a sea of flows. Given Wright's dislike of the crowded city, perhaps our condition would not surprise him, and for an updated Broadacre he would need to invent new kinds of distancing as well as new kinds of linking. | <urn:uuid:c4787e5e-d6ef-49f5-be38-267085dde91f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dkolb.org/sprawlingplaces/thenewci/broada_2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975867 | 222 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The History of Stingerettes
We all know of the glitter and glamour, high kicks, large props, and bright blue eye shadow. For many years now little girls in Stephenville have grown up with dreams of being on the football field during half time performing as a SHS Stingerette. This long line of girls dates back to as early as 1953, the era of shoo-bop songs, high ponytails, and rolled up jeans.
The first group of young women carried batons and called themselves the Stingerettes. This group of thirty-six girls did not start out dancing, but instead performed seven minute marching and twirling routines. Any one interested in being a part of this group was welcome to be a Stingerette. They had no sponsor, instead, the band director, Mr. Joe Ganthem, over saw the group. As a result, they were associated with the band, performing with them on the field at half time. The first uniforms were white short-sleeved blouses and navy shorts. The drum majorette wore white shorts with a blue blouse. The second year the mothers made field dresses. These were royal blue corduroy with a gold corduroy belt with the initial "S" embroidered in the middle. The skirt made a full circle and was lined in gold with gold bloomers. The drum majorette wore the exact opposite. They wore white majorette boots with blue tassels. Mrs. Linda Stone Savage, a member of the original Stingerette team told of a few disastrous performances, such as the routine where the team was supposed to form a wheel with crepe paper. As the rain came down, the paper became soggy, drooping and bleeding on anything it touched. After a few routines like this, the Stingerettes were nicknamed "the Stinkerettes". The twirling corp was led by a drum majorette; they also had group officers consisting of a president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, and sgt.-at-arms. Also, just as the group does now, they had a Stingerette Beau; the first Stingerette Beau was Max Smithey.
Lara Lowrie By 1956, the Stings had their own sponsors, Miss Wadena George and Mr. Sam Houston. Also, in addition to the previous officers, the group added a historian and a reporter. The Stingerette leader was Glenna Dover. The group continued to perform at football half times and also marched in parades, such as the Erath County Fair Parade. By this time, the Stingerettes had evolved into a drill team. Instead of carrying batons, the Stings performed formations, group routines, precision marching routines, and kick routines. The 1957 sponsor was Mrs. Annie Leatherwood; the leader was Jerry Byrd. In 1958, Captain Barbara Howell led the drill team. The 60's brought new looks to the half time shows. In addition to the precision routines, props were also used. The 1961 Stephenville yearbook shows balloons being used for the half-time show. That year, the Stings marched in the Tarleton Homecoming Parade and performed on national T.V. for the Dallas Texan football game in the Cotton Bowl. The 1962 yearbook mentions that being a sting can now earn a year's credit for graduation. Prior to this, Stingerettes were an extracurricular activity. In 1968, the director was Mrs. Harwell and in 1976, the director was Mrs. Hopson. In 1978, the director was Pam Skinner Phillips, and in the early 90's the director was Karleen McDougal. The current director, Sherrie Evans, began her tenure in 1994. Mrs. Evans brought a personal pride to the organization, as she herself was a line member and officer of the Stings during her high school years.
Over the years, the Stingerettes have changed in many aspects; however, some things never change. Long hours of practice, rain or shine, early or late, have always been an important part of the Stingerette organization. The original group of girls took twirling lessons during the summer and practiced in the park. They began practicing two weeks before school started and had after-school practices with the band during the year. The 1956 SHS yearbook shows the Stings planning for football game performance and working at an early morning practice. Today, the Stingerettes practice vigorously up to five hours a day after school. The routines are critiqued to perfection.
Officers have always been elected from the line. In previous years, the officers carried different ranks; there were lieutenants and captains, in 1978, there were seven officers. Today's group is led by eight officers who share responsibility equally, thus bringing more unity to the organization.
While some things stay the same, other things change. The most important change in the Stingerette organization is the very nature of their performance. Today, the Stingerette organization consists of a group of talented and trained dancers. As a result, the field routines have evolved into carefully choreographed and polished performances. The recognition of the importance of dance developed into a part of the fine arts curriculum both at the high school and junior high levels. Dance classes are now available from seventh grade through twelfth grade. Also, a class has been established for the drill team itself, during which the Stings develop half time and pep rally routines during the football season, and prepare for dance competitions during the spring semester.
Uniforms have undergone many changes over the years. From the blue shorts of the first group of Stings to the blue corduroy field dresses, the Stingerettes have displayed a variety of uniforms. In 1964, the uniforms included sailor hats and in 1974, the group donned sunbonnets. Mrs. Evans has added flair to the organization's uniforms by using a different combination of basic dance wear for each show. One of the more traditional outfits is the field dress that maintains the spirit of the field dresses worn in 1954. They are still a royal blue with gold sequined trim. The officers’ field dress is royal blue trimmed in white sequins. A favorite costume is the gold sequined tux and tails worn over a black cat suit. One important change has been the footwear. Today's Stings perform barefoot during the half time shows. If you want to find out the condition of a football field, just ask today's Stingerette.
The original group of Stingerettes required little outside funding. The uniforms were made and provided by parents. As the focus of the organization broadened to greater precision and dance, more training for the girls was required. Also, supporting dance competitions and the cost of costumes must be funded outside the school budget. Some of the early fundraisers were variety shows, hayrides, wiener roasts, picnics, and candy sales. Also, in the earlier years, the groups sponsored a "Kiddie Party" where students came dressed up as young children and participated in a variety of games and events. Today, some of the traditional fundraisers include candy and candle sales, homemade ice cream booths, concession stands, sidewalk painting, and the annual "Cindefella" pageant.
Tradition is a basis for any organization, therefore, one of the main things that has not changed over the years, only added upon, are the awards and traditions. One of these traditions is that every year there is a freshman to come up and receive a single senior, as someone to look up to in what can be a scary time. Every out-of-town game, the freshman buys their senior’s dinner to carry along on the bus. However, the seniors can never help picking on these new line members a little. They try to come up with ridiculous songs just to embarrass the freshmen in front of other people. The most well known thing the freshman had to do is, whenever they heard a senior shout "button-up", they would stand on one leg, thumb on their forehead while singing a senior song. Also, each Stingerette has a "Secret Sting". Presents for special occasions and thoughts of encouragement are sent to the secret Sting. The secret pals reveal themselves at the annual Stingerette banquet.
The 50th Anniversary of the Stingerette organization will be celebrated in the fall of 2003. From a group of thirty-six girls carrying batons to a dance and drill team of sixty-seven the Stings have maintained one common element. Being a part of Stingerettes helps these young women in many ways. They learn how to get along with 67 other people, be leaders and role models, and also they have to learn team discipline, teamwork, patience, and responsibility. They have the opportunity to develop their talents, set goals, and grow into productive citizens. Along the way, they have made friends and memories that they will remember for a lifetime. | <urn:uuid:5b183260-aab9-4a0c-a2c6-05558f3f6ec8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tarleton.edu/library/crosstimbers/k12/sville/SSP00005P.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973673 | 1,837 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Reporting Jim Donovan
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – As college costs climb, so does the amount of the nation’s student loan debt. Rather than taking out another loan, 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan looks at some other ways to cut college costs.
Almost 67% of college students who graduated in 2012 had loans, so it’s worth your while to look into other options. Tuition waivers and academic reciprocation agreements can help eliminate college costs just as easily.
For high school seniors awaiting acceptance letters or adults pondering a career change that requires further education, tuition costs can be a big factor in deciding where to go to school.
With Americans carrying more than one trillion dollars in student loan debt, Bankrate.com looked at some of the lesser-known ways to cut college costs, starting with state tuition aid. In addition to federal aid programs, states hand out billions in aid each year to qualified students.
Another route to consider is loan forgiveness for in-demand professions like teachers, health care and legal defense – either through federal or state programs.
Bankrate also says students should be aware of the Academic Common Market. It’s a cooperative between 14 southern states, Delaware and Maryland that allows students to pay in-state tuition rates outside of their home state if their field of study isn’t offered at a public university in the state where they live.
If multiple siblings are headed to the same college at the same time, contact the school’s financial aid office to inquire about a family discount, since some schools do offer them.
For more information visit:
Academic Common Market: http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/academic_common_market.html | <urn:uuid:68b02a3e-07bf-4325-b18c-8779e6e4e38c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/02/19/3-on-your-side-saving-on-tuition-costs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945748 | 365 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Islam is one religion that openly promotes not only the peace and understanding within the religion but also with people belonging to other religions as well. Islam teaches that humanity should live in peace and harmony, and makes it mandatory for every Muslim to respect other religions. Islam is the only religion that states that any man who makes an action to harm or cause grievance to another person is responsible for a grave error, one that is akin to his having harmed all of mankind. It is just an example that makes it clear that Islam by far is the most secular religion, which believes in letting the people of other religion preach their own religion. There are a number of instance that one gets from the manuscripts of Islamic literature. Islam sermonizes that, forget killing anyone, it further stresses on being kind in one’s dealings with every person, of any cast, creed, color, sex, belief and religion in this whole world and makes it mandatory for every Muslim to spread the peaceful message of Islam.
Islam, if understood in the true context is an inviting and sensitive part of life; it is not a religion that estranges non-Muslims for that matter. In fact, the concept of ‘dawa’ meaning inviting everyone to Islam is a basic principle of Islam, wherein a Muslim has to be a source of guidance for a non-follower in the pursuit of truth. Unfortunately some people or ideologies in the world have stereotyped the Islamic concept.
Islamic history tells us that the religion has always opposed theocracy and supported democracy, and also taken measures to guarantee rights of women as well as non-Muslims in Islamic countries. Islamic ideology also believes in defending freedom of thought and the belief in the great potential of human progress. Islam believes in active contribution towards the civil society and encourages dialog process with other social groups. Imparting education to children is of paramount importance for any Muslim. Islamist have also come forward urged to world to look both the inheritance and experience of others to develop a highly effective democratic political system, which suits today’s global age.
Presently there are many Islamic countries in the world like Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, who have come up and taken a stance for the unison of humanity as a whole and against those stereotypes who by their myopic vision have made Islam look like a very strict religion. It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned countries have a total Muslim population of more than 80%. In these countries every individual is free to practice any religion and no compulsion or oppression is impressed upon the non-followers in such countries. India, the world’s largest democracy, in which Muslims form the 2nd largest majority, practices secularism. The embodiment or the epitome of secularism in India can be seen in the family of the Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Mr. Omar Abdullah, being a Muslim by faith, has married a Sikh lady and his sister has married to a Hindu man and his mother is a practicing Catholic. What better example of secularism can one find? Belonging to a prominent Muslim family, Mr. Abdullah’s family is an example of Islam allows tolerance and understanding.
Islam is a religion that allows marriages with people of specific faiths. There are limitations, but the fact remains that there is relaxation in terms of human will and a person is free to make a choice. There are many religions that do not allow inter faith marriages but Islam unlike many religions, allow marriages with people of other religions also. Followers of Islam can marry Christians and Jews, who are also followers of the revealed religions, people who follow the revealed Holy Scriptures.
Inter-religious harmony can be best seen within Islam. The Final Prophet of Islam Hz Mohammed always presented the first portions of gifts received by his family to his neighbors, who were of Jewish faith. Many Muslims have taken the call of inter-faith harmony a step further; many non-Muslim personalities are being invited as the chief guests at the gatherings of events and functions organized by Muslim organizations and events held by Muslim clerics across various countries of the world.
The Holy Qur’an teaches that whosoever kills a person without justifiable cause will be punished as if he has killed the whole world. The other teaching of the Holy Qur’an is that there is no compulsion in the Islamic faith. Even the Holy Prophet has said, “Each one of you is free in matters of faith. You are our Zimmi (a non-Muslim living in a Muslim country). God and his Messenger shall be fully responsible for your safety.”
It is clear from various verses of the Holy Qur’an that in the teachings of Islam there can be no compulsion in matters of faith. God Almighty has left the choice of which belief to accept to be determined by the conscience of each individual. | <urn:uuid:6bb39028-24a2-462c-97c2-9905e729407e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.islamonline.com/news/articles/103/Islam-is-not-a-religion-that-imposes-its-rule.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963105 | 980 | 3.03125 | 3 |