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Gilles de la Tourette in 1885 described nine patients with multiple tics. Tourette characterized the condition as the onset of multiple tics in childhood with a fluctuating chronic course associated with verbal tics and echolalia. Coprolalia occurred in about half of his patients. Tourette noticed that his patients did not deteriorate psychologically and that they were able to maintain their sanity despite their affliction. Charcot named the disease after Tourette. Wilson, who translated the classical text of Miege and Fiendel on tics, wrote that he could find no case report of recent times.
The authors of this book state that they have collected detailed data on more than 400 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Their data include genetic, demographic, medical, neurological, developmental, psychological, and social information along with detailed histories of the symptoms and the courses of the patients with and without treatment. Shapiro and his colleagues note | <urn:uuid:52ad99bc-c43f-4a1f-b5f3-f0a9d001c642> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=360662 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960033 | 192 | 3.484375 | 3 |
By: Sara Davies and Richard P. Hastings
We provide a selective review, based mainly on publications from the past 10 years, of potential uses of computer technology in clinical psychology services for people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. The review is organized according to three general stages of a scientist-practitioner working model: assessment, formulation, and intervention. Examples of technologies that can facilitate the work of practitioners at each of these stages are given. In conclusion, we identify a number of practical difficulties with the uptake of computer technologies, and issues for future research. We also emphasize the potential for using computers to assist in staff training activities in mental retardation services, and supporting the advocacy activities of people with mental retardation and their careers. | <urn:uuid:cab801d8-8505-4cfd-85ee-0775333be746> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://daddcec.org/ArticleDetails/tabid/76/ArticleID/230/Computer-Technology-in-Clinical-Psychology-Services-for-People-with-Mental-Retardation-A-Review.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946117 | 149 | 2.5 | 2 |
The case began in 2002 when the U.S. government sought a subpoena for all 104 urine tests of baseball players in an investigation of the private drug testing company that had conducted the tests, the same company federal officials had suspected of supplying steriods to players. Courts steadfastly issued a warrant to seize only the test results for 10 players against whom federal officials had probable cause to believe had tested positive. However, federal officials seized all 104 urine test results, and both the players and the company — Comprehensive Testing Services, Inc. — have sued to keep the test results private. The press has revealed that four of those tested positive included Alex Rodrigues, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez, though their test results were not released. The courts have consistently ruled in favor of CTS, Inc. and the players, but the government under two presidential administrations has obstinately refused to return the test results.
The November 23 U.S. government appeal by Kagan and 22 other federal attorneys followed a special “limited en banc” appellate court rehearing where judges ruled by a 9-2 vote that “the government’s search protocol must be designed to uncover only the information for which it has probable cause, and only that information may be examined by the case agents.” In that sense, the court rightly censured the Bush-era Justice Department that brazenly ignored the legal limits of the searches courts authorized them to conduct.
But the Ninth Circuit Court “limited en banc” ruling also set out new sweeping new rules for the conduct of searches of electronic devices in the Internet age that clearly exceeded its authority under Article III of the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Circuit has traditionally been perceived as the most activist appellate court in the nation, and the ruling called for judges to require prosecutors to sign a waiver to prevent the use of evidence found in plain sight that comes from a search warrant that is not related to the search target. “Magistrates should insist that the government waive reliance upon the plain view doctrine in digital evidence cases,” the court charged.
The “plain sight” search doctrine is an ancient one in Anglo-American jurisprudence, where police officers are not required to get a search warrant when incriminating evidence is viewable in plain sight by a law enforcement officer performing legal duties. (An example of when the "plain sight" doctrine comes into play would be when a police officer pulls a driver over for speeding and he sees a large bag of drugs propped up in the back seat.) But the application of the doctrine has been complicated by the electronic age, where computers contain all sorts of private information about people's lives. Prosecutors who seize computers with a warrant have recently believed that they are at liberty to search the entire hard drives of computers for any incriminating activity, even if it didn't relate to the subject of the warrant.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that warrants specifically mention what is to be searched, and what is being searched for:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The court's ruling was perhaps — as it claims — a sincere attempt “to strike a proper balance between the government’s legitimate interest in law enforcement and the people’s right to privacy and property in their papers and effects, as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.” But the Constitutional role of courts is not to draw up broad-based rules. Rather, it is to simply decide controversies under rules already passed into law by the legislature under the U.S. Constitution.
And that is how Kagan is nominally attacking the decision. She has argued that the “the en banc panel reached well beyond the issues before it and purported to establish binding new procedures for the issuance and execution of warrants in future cases involving computer searches.... The seminal issues surrounding computer searches should be resolved in actual controversies — not through 'guidance' that 'magistrate judges must be vigilant in observing.'” The decision by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski proposes a solution that would ordinarily be handled through the legislative process, rather than through a heavy-handed judicial edict. Kagan rightly argues that the Kozinski decision goes far beyond the issues at hand, which simply involves the executive branch brazenly ignoring a clearly written and limited court warrant.
But Kagan's real complaint is that “sweeping new rules for warrants to search computers that are having an immediate and detrimental effect on law enforcement efforts.” She wants no court supervision over warrants — often used as investigative dragnets — concluding that “for courts to supervise the execution of warrants raises serious constitutional concerns.” And she makes this absurd argument despite the Fourth Amendment prohibition against issuing a warrant except "upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Not surprisingly, Kagan and the rest of the executive branch apparatus view a court warrant as an invitation to seize whatever it wants under any circumstances. Kagan claims that “the Supreme Court has made clear that, subject to the Fourth Amendment’s general protection against unreasonable searches, 'it is generally left to the discretion of the executing officers to determine the details of how best to proceed with the performance of a search authorized by warrant.'” Kagan is partly right when she claims that “the detailed protocols announced by the en banc panel conflict with Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Fourth Amendment.” But “interpretation” is just the problem, as only people interested in ignoring the requirements of the U.S. Constitution need an interpreter to read the plain-English sentences comprising that document. The Fourth Amendment is not unclear in what the four requirements for a “reasonable” search are for anyone with a high school-level reading ability.
Kagan complains that “In some districts, computer searches have ground to a complete halt, and, throughout the Circuit, investigations have been delayed or impeded.” That's entirely possible with the requirement that prosecutors swear off the “plain sight” rule. "Federal agents received information from their counterparts in San Diego that two individuals had filmed themselves raping a 4-year-old girl and traded the images via the Internet," Kagan wrote. "The agents did not obtain a warrant to search the suspects' computers, however, because of concerns that any evidence discovered about other potential victims could not be disclosed by the filter team. The agents therefore referred the case to state authorities."
To the extent that the Ninth Circuit ruling cuts out the legitimate “plain sight” doctrine and allows criminals to go free from overuse of the “exclusionary rule” throwing out illegally obtained evidence, the Ninth Circuit decision needs to be revised. But the Ninth Circuit decision should also be correctly taken as a rightful rebuke of executive branch overreaching on searches. Rules deliniating the difference between legitimate plain-sight cases and an unconstitutional electronic investigative dragnet need to be drawn up. The legislative process could very well act to eliminate the “dragnet” approach applied to search warrants for electronics practiced by law enforcement in recent years, a practice that is clearly eroding the significance of the Fourth Amendment protection of citizens' privacy. | <urn:uuid:ffb0c41b-3f20-42e7-8e40-ac07c03ee7e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/7683-fourth-amendment-under-seige-again | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958709 | 1,544 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Check out the a really thought-provoking article on composer work habits at the New Music Box:
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 19th, 2006 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Classical Music, Composers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Sorry. Somehow the comments got turned off on this one. It’s okay now.
thanks for turning them on, jerry. i read this article a few days ago. what i found interesting was that so many people said they needed time or money. but aren’t they really the same thing? the trick is finding a way to earn money that is less dependent on your time, like earning royalites or investing.
I think that there is a problem with the tone of the study. It seems to me to be saying “Composers aren’t producing enough.” And, if held to the standards of composers 200 years ago, that might be correct. Mozart had many fundamental stylistic decisions already made for him. Today we don’t have that same language background. Two pieces of mine might share some traits but the language can be radically different from one to the next. If Mozart had to reinvent his pitch language every time he sat down I bet he wouldn’t have written so much.
Also, the majority of “professional composers” in the US are most likely holding faculty jobs. Composition makes up a smaller percentage of their time than teaching and administrivia. Add in the copying and marketing hours necessary in today’s musical climate and you have even fewer hours to write music. If Mozart had to teach full time, maintain a web site, oversee recordings of his music, as well as seek funding sources for his output, he might not have written so many operas.
So, in a way I understand what the study is saying. On the other hand, though, we have a lot of additional responsibilities that cut into our time. While I don’t always get a chance to put something down on paper my brain is constantly composing. I think many others are the same way. We compose all the time.
Well, don’t you think they’re a little different, Andrea? There’s the time spent on creative work, and the time spent to make money. If you can get the two to coincide, great. If not, you still want to maximize your purely creative time.
One way is to create the maximum pool of money that will allow you to then be able shift your time spent to creative work. If you’re blessed with a bunch of money to start, that part’s already taken care of. If not, you can go one of two ways: give up large parts of your creative time while you build up some funds, and catch up creatively afterward, or keep your creative time by living with less money. That sounds more comfortable, but it can mean that you may never have the funds to realize your more ambitious work. (There is another option: try to maximally make money and maximally create in the same space of time. The rare, rare success in this can have a handsome payback, but it more often just leads to crappy art and life.)
Jay: I agree with you that Dennis gives a slight impression of being a bit obsessed with productivity. As to Mozart I believe Mozart did not have a website, but he did have to spend a lot of time selling himself, and he did teach.
Furthermore, I’m always skeptical about any ‘language’ argument, but that’s because I feel composers today too easily confuse the notions of language, vocabulary/”style” and structure/form. “Language” in music I think is largely a question of how you hear things less than of how you construct things. One doesn’t really with every work fundamentally re-design the way one might hear it, even if you do change, say, pitch structures, forms, or your gestural vocabulary. In that sense, I think it’s extremely rare for any composer to change language more than say four of five times in the course of a life. (I could say that Cage for example went from expressionist to percussive to neoclassical to pointilist to happenings to, er, OK, I’ll call the post-Cheap Imitation bit postmodern – his career in a mere five “to”s! oh drat, and then there’s those “new-age”-y number pieces. Six, then?)
Then, it’s also a question of what level of musical you look at – the variety in the kinds of gesture, in “style”, you can find in Mozart, on just about every level, is incredible, and in many of his pieces hardly anything is quite done in some one-size-fits-all way. Think merely of the last 2 symphonies. At best you might put the whole thing together vaguely describing the language as “high classical style” or whatever.
Jay Batzner wrote:
“… the majority of “professional composers†in the US are most likely holding faculty jobs”
(a) The number of composers certainly dwarfs the number of teaching positions for available composers. (b) Ff the main source of your income is something other than composing, like teaching, then are you really a “professional composer”? (c) Given the negligible amount of money even potentially available to composers of serious music, is “professional” really a useful distinction?
” “Language†in music I think is largely a question of how you hear things less than of how you construct things.”
makes no sense – should be “more than…” of course!
Jay writes: Two pieces of mine might share some traits but the language can be radically different from one to the next. If Mozart had to reinvent his pitch language every time he sat down I bet he wouldn’t have written so much.
I’m with Samuel when it comes to usuing “language”, but I get what you’re saying. The part that surprises me a little is that while you do say it “can” be different, you’re almost implying that it must be different. Jay, do you really feel compelled to re-examine your “language” down to the first nut and bolt every time you want to make a piece? I know there was a certain amount of this imperative floating around (though those who actually could accomplish it were/are almost nonexistent), but I thought we were long past that pretension as any kind of dominant trend.
“(b) Ff the main source of your income is something other than composing, like teaching, then are you really a “professional composerâ€? (c) Given the negligible amount of money even potentially available to composers of serious music, is “professional†really a useful distinction?”
I know many instrumentalists who perform in all sorts of ensembles but their main income comes from their teaching posts at a university – are you saying that they aren’t professional instrumentalists because they teach?
I’m sure we could have a debate about what a professional composer is…someone told me once that if someone else wants to pay you for writing music for them (or pay you for music you’ve already written), then you’re a professsional composer. Sounds as good as anything else I’ve heard. In any case, how one brings in their income (or even how much that income is) shouldn’t matter squat. What do you have to say with your music? That might mean a bit more…
BTW – Jerry’s already mentioned that he’d prefer to not have (intentionally) anonymous postings here.
Hello everyone, first post here.
Regarding Jay’s comment: Productivity is a temporary focus. Its source is my real obsession with the poor visibility of composers, and our self-destructive tendencies with respect to the larger (potential) listening public. I’ve been pursuing composer visibility since the first festival I directed in 1973. For ten years it was a composer radio show. This time around it’s exploring productivity and composers’ attitudes toward it.
The “We Are All Mozart” project is an experiment in visibility. Those interested in composer-community visibility might like to read a summary of my presentation to the National Extension Tourism Conference two weeks ago. http://maltedmedia.com/people/bathory/waam-20060912.html
I guess I’m in the minority. Composing for me, while I do take it “seriously,” is essentially a diversion from performing. Given unlimited time and money, I would probably produce the same amount of music and it would be of lesser quality.
Add 30 points to your I.Q....blognoggle
BRIDGE 3 Disks
For Christian Wolff
California Ear Unit
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and Comments (RSS). | <urn:uuid:93c7a369-4a49-4494-939c-9cd198734d4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sequenza21.com/forum/2006/09/composer-metrics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961873 | 1,981 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Swollen legs, and sometimes also the hands, occurs during pregnancy as a result of edema or water retention. During a pregnancy, there are some big changes occurring in the expectant mother’s body and some of which will become apparent as cases of edema. The main cause of edema is water retention in the tissues of the body. During pregnancy, the most frequent parts of the body where fluid can quickly build up include the feet, ankles and also the hands.
Fluid retention is very common in pregnant women and it can cause a fairly moderate level of discomfort. The normal circulation of blood from the vein which connects the legs to the heart is easily disturbed because of the increases strain of pregnancy. This often results in the blood beginning to accumulate in some areas and eventually the liquid from the blood will build up in the tissues of a localised area such as the ankles. This causes the ankles to appear puffy and swollen.
Water retention is a common complaint among pregnant women especially in the final phase of pregnancy. Often, the pregnant women complain of thick legs and ankles, a bloated face and every now and then swollen hands and fingers. Pregnant women can take some reassurance that they are not alone and many other women also experience this water retention.
The water in the legs is not there to begin with, but usually occurs only in late pregnancy. This is generally because the uterus is getting bigger and with time begins pressing on the pelvis, making the flow of blood more difficult. The connective tissue is very compliant and therefore the water collects there. The legs and ankles can look normal in the morning but by the evening can be quite swollen until the end of the day. Standing for long periods and hot temperatures can also increase the swelling.
If in addition to the water retention you also suffer from dizziness, headache, tinnitus, or pain in the upper abdominal region occur, you should consult your doctor or midwife urgently. These are signs of pre-pre-eclampsia, which can pose a threat to life for you and your unborn child. | <urn:uuid:d5fda277-a816-438e-ae9e-a2d769713196> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://birth.net/edema-in-pregnancy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962312 | 425 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Do Toxins in the Environment Make You Obese?
The adage that obesity is the sole result of excessive caloric intake and insufficient physical activity is undoubtedly true, but there’s a lot of evidence which suggests that how your body metabolizes calories relies on a lot of unusual variables:
Although it is self-evident that fat cannot be accumulated without a higher caloric intake than expenditure, recent research in a number of laboratories suggests the existence of chemicals that alter regulation of energy balance to favor weight gain and obesity. These obesogens derail the homeostatic mechanisms important for weight control, such that exposed individuals are predisposed to weight gain, despite normal diet and exercise.
“Obesogen” is the term that refers to chemicals you ingest incidentally which promote fat storage. They’re not added directly to food, but you consume them through indirect exposure. For example an obesogen called DEHP is a chemical that’s leached into food due to contact with plastic during the manufacturing process for many foods.
Types of Obesogens
Classes of obesogens include, but are not limited to:
- Phthalates – a class of chemical compounds used to soften plastics used in surface repellents. Phthalates tend to negatively impact your baseline level of fat metabolism.
- Organotins – Organic pollutants found in PVC plastics, pesticides, and industrial water systems. TBT is a common organotin that’s been linked to heightened fat tissue accumulation in infants.
- Xenoestrogens – Estrogen mimicking chemicals that alter the endocrine system in harmful ways. Bisphenol A is the most famous xenoestrogen, and most humans usually ingest it in harmful quantities.
When they enter your body, they work in a similar manner to pharmaceutical drugs by targeting fat mediating hormones and receptors. Some research suggests long term metabolic set points can be heavily altered if you have a high amount of exposure to obesogen like compounds in the womb.
Overall, the idea that your body’s ability to keep a healthy weight is deeply influenced by indirect exposure to a variety of chemicals that are essential to the industrial process is troublesome. Their breadth of use creates “neighborhood effects” that make exposure all but inevitable, even for the pickiest of consumers. | <urn:uuid:636263bc-0030-433d-b0cf-ed4a07ecc393> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.healthkismet.com/obesogens-compounds-cause-obesity-metabolic-disorder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936146 | 479 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Concerned about the strength of teeth-whitening chemicals and by the growing number of non-dental venues through which they’re being sold, the American Dental Assn. today asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to evaluate the compounds for safety and classify them.
Currently, teeth whiteners, which commonly use hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide as the active ingredient, are neither drug nor cosmetic device nor medical device, according to the dental association.
The ADA wants the FDA to put the chemicals in a category and evaluate them for safety.
Depending on the outcome of that evaluation, the whitening compounds could be available on an unrestricted, over-the-counter basis or, if determined to be at the upper end of risky, could be restricted to prescription-only availability.
“Without appropriate regulation, the application of chemically-based tooth whitening/bleaching agents may result in harm to both hard and soft tissues in the mouth,” the ADA said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg.
Dr. Ron Zentz, senior director of the ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs, said the FDA was supposed to have classified whiteners years ago but never finished the task.
Zentz said there was no particular tipping point for the ADA’s request, but the letter to Hamburg notes that a lot of business is being transacted outside of dentists’ offices, with potential harm to consumers – not to mention to dentists’ bottom lines.
“The tremendous expansion of products available directly to consumers and application of products in venues such as shopping malls, cruise ships, and salons is troubling since consumers have little or no assurance regarding the safety of product ingredients, doses or the professional qualifications of individuals employed in these non-dental settings,” the letter states.
-- Andrew Zajac
Photo illustration credit: Los Angeles Times | <urn:uuid:4fc3fe93-b4a6-49ab-aeca-61f6c794a512> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/molars-incisors-and-canines-oh-my.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934226 | 395 | 2.359375 | 2 |
I have learned a lot over the years working in the field of grief, loss and trauma. One very important concept that research supports, is the idea that following a traumatic event, it is important to help people to focus on who came to help them. Being able to identify the helpers is an important ingredient in acquiring resiliency for both children and adults. Mr.Fred Rogers, television host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, shared this important quote, 'When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”' Mr. Rogers' mom was very wise and taught her son well.
As we began to recover in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which affected so many in our area, some in devastating ways, I was so touched and inspired by the many stories I heard first hand as well as from others in person, on Facebook, and on the news, about the many wonderful helpers during and after the storm. The stories were heartwarming to know that so many people were willing to help one another out in some way, even though many of the helpers were challenged themselves, physically, emotionally, financially, and/or spiritually as a result of the storm. Of course there were the heroic life saving rescues, but there were also smaller acts that may not have made the headlines, but were so uplifting and wonderful. There were neighbors who shared their generators via extension cords; neighbors who helped to cut down trees that had fallen on to another neighbor's home, friends who invited friends or acquaintances into their homes for a hot cup of coffee, a meal, a shower, to do laundry or even to sleep over, sometimes for several days. Some waited for hours in gas lines and brough along a gas can to share with a neighbor who was out of gas. Quite a few businesses opened up their doors as soon as they could, and were generous enough to serve as charging stations for people’s phones and computers as well as a place to warm up. Community centers opened up to serve as shelters, charging stations, places to go for ice, water, updates or just some comforting words.
Now in this season of Thanksgiving, I can’t think of a better time to thank those who were there for you, are there for you now, who have supported you or encouraged you along the way during difficult times in your own life.
This week, a good friend of mine was supporting someone she is close to who was about to undergo surgery. I sent a reassuring text to my friend and her reply made me smile. She told me that the young woman she was awaiting surgery with, let’s call her Annie, had ‘Team Annie” at her side. Immediately I remembered seeing Breaking Dawn Part 2 this past week, and how the manager of the theater was trying to get those of us waiting in line for over two hours, psyched up. He loudly asked, “Who here is Team Edward?” Many shouts. Then he asked, “Who here is Team Jacob?” More shouting. If you haven't seen the Twilight series just know that there are two leading handsome male actors who play Edward and Jacob, and most fans have decided by now whose team they are on.
After hearing my friend use the term, “Team Annie,” to refer to her friend's support system, I was struck at the importance of this concept. "Annie’s team" consisted of a few people close to her, who would be supporting her in different ways, following her surgery and through her recovery process.
The photo I have included is a picture of an amazing poster of my first cousin Christopher. He has been in Tampa General Hospital since Sep. 20 undergoing an ordeal that is too complex to share in this blog. He is only 50 and a dad of two young boys and has an amazing wife, Carmen, who had been advocating for him every step of the journey and is by his side constantly. She has learned about more medical terms, procedures, and medications than she ever cared to know. She has been amazing. However, she alone cannot make up “Team Christopher”, as she would have burned out and gotten sick herself. It is very important to enlist others to serve on a support team. Over the past two months, Carmen generously shared daily updates about Chris's progress on Facebook, which allowed so many of us to be able to share in their difficult but amazing journey. Many members of “Team Christopher” have been able to show support, provide encouragement, share a song or prayer and stay involved even from miles away through texts, FB posts, phone calls, letters and things such as this poster. The poster was created by many of Chris’ friends and colleagues with his photo made up of hundreds of tiny photos of people who love him and are cheering for his recovery. This poster hangs on the wall in his hospital room for him and his family to see daily. I am happy to share that Chris and his “Team Christopher” poster are both finally going home on Friday, to rehabilitate in the comfort of his own home with his loving family by his side and with the continued support of his team.
So who is on your team? Who are those people who cheer you on or support you emotionally, physically, mentally and/or spiritually? Who do you turn to when you’re faced with some of life’s toughest challenges? Make a list of those who consider to be on your team. Call it Team ______ (fill in your name). You don’t need to have hundreds as my cousin Chris may have. You simply need 3 or 4 so that no one person gets burned out. Some may also include their faith on their team, their pet, and even a beloved deceased friend or relative who once provided much encouragement, support or strength. Get creative but do think about your team. A good way to meet potential team members is to volunteer. Volunteer in your local community or go to volunteermatch.org and find a way to volunteer a bit of your time and energy to something you believe in. You will meet others, help someone else, gain a sense of purpose and meaning and it can help you to feel less overwhelmed by your own circumstances. There is also a local crisis hot-line called Contact We Care that anyone can call who may be in crisis or if they simply need someone to listen. That number is 908-232-2880. They are also always looking for people to volunteer to operate the hot-line.
Always remember to thank your team. Let them each know how much you appreciate them and are grateful for them being on your team. It can be as simple as writing a note, telling them in person, making a phone call, or sending an email or text. Maybe ask them who is on their team. Teaching this concept to children and teens is also very important. Finally, whose teams are you on? Who might identify you as one of their supporters? It is as important to be on someone’s team as it is to have a team of your own. Teams help us not feel so alone, help us to feel less overwhelmed with life circumstances and also serve as a wonderful way to connect with others which is also another important ingredient in resiliency.
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”
~ Cynthia Ozick
Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and thanks to those of who have been and continue to be on Team Lisa. I appreciate you all so very much.
For more information on grief and loss visit my website:
For daily quotes and resources on grief and loss "like" Grief Speaks on Facebook | <urn:uuid:1b94087d-5e27-47e6-a81d-ccc2d397a8d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://springfield.patch.com/blog_posts/edward-has-a-team-jacob-has-a-team-who-is-on-your-team | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989318 | 1,601 | 1.976563 | 2 |
In line with the Paris declaration on aid effectiveness, donor countries have committed themselves to increasingly rely on partner countries' public financial management (PFM) systems instead of setting up parallel systems for managing program funds. As a result, donors have become increasingly concerned with the quality of PFM systems in the receiving country and are providing support to strengthen the PFM systems.
What is public financial management?
PFM includes all components of a country's budget process - both upstream (including strategic planning, medium term expenditure framework, annual budgeting) and downstream (including revenue management, procurement, control, accounting, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, audits and oversight).
Why reinforce PFM systems?
Good public financial management systems are important for democratic governance, macro-economic stability, effective use of resources available and poverty reduction. Good PFM systems can also help prevent corruption and foster aid effectiveness. A sound PFM system is a precondition for making it possible to effectively channel resources to service delivery like e.g. basic education and health services. Ineffective PFM systems, on the other hand, can hamper development and increase the risk of corruption.
How does Norad?
Norway supports several broad PFM reforms in our partner countries usually together with other donors at country level or through multi donor organizations. Norway also supports development of PFM areas like supreme audit institution, including core funding of the INTOSAI Development Initiative, tax administration and public financial management of oil resources (see also Tax for Development and Oil for Development). Norad provides advice and cooperate with Norwegian Embassies, The Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and several Norwegian and international partners.
Norad and the Ministry are also supporting a program for developing and maintaining a framework for assessing a country's public financial management system (The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Performance Management Framework, see www.pefa.org ). Since its introduction in 2005, the PEFA framework has been applied in more than 125 countries. Norway has used the framework for a self-assessment of the public financial management in Norway (Norad Report 15/2008).
Which countries receives support
Norway supports public financial management reform programs through basked funding and bilateral cooperation in countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique and Nepal. | <urn:uuid:26c64b8f-4ac7-4719-bbed-b738a8cf07b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.norad.no/en/thematic-areas/macroeconomics-and-public-administration/public-financial-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928186 | 469 | 2.3125 | 2 |
There are many forms of cyber bullying, including:
- The sending of aggressive, threatening or mean messages to another person’s email or cell phone
- The spreading of hurtful and/or malicious rumors about a person, using web sites, email accounts, social networks or cell phones.
- The stealing of a person’s cyber identities (e.g., email account) and their use to attack, threaten or malign this person or others.
- The use of real or fake identities to initiate, sustain and develop sexually-oriented interaction with youth or adults on the web.
- The use of websites, email accounts or cell phones to post, disseminate and distribute unflattering or sexually oriented images about a person.
Though cyber bullying is a relatively new social phenomenon, the statistics are quite alarming:
- Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.
- More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber threats online.
- Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.
- Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.
Source: i-Safe Foundation
Teens, adults, parents, schools, social organizations, web-based organizations and the authorities can and should fight cyber bullying.
- Awareness is a necessary condition – Learn, educate yourself and your environment and do not ignore signs of cyber bullying
- Educate your kids about cyber bullying, explain why and how it is wrong and potentially hurtful
- Make and enforce clear rules designed to mitigate against committing and being a victim of cyber bullying
- Inculcate in your family, organization, company, a culture of ethical cyber culture
- Define clear rules of “do” and “don’t” pertaining to cyber behavior
- Create an atmosphere of openness, conducive to discussion, disclosure and reporting of cyber bullying
- Monitor teen and youngsters’ online activities
- Report signs of cyber bullying to the authorities, to school administrators and to social network operators
- Encourage teens never to share personal information online or to meet someone they only know online
- Keep the computer in a shared space like the family room, and do not allow teens to have Internet access in their own rooms
Many cyber bullies think that bullying others online is funny. Cyber bullies may not realize the consequences for themselves of cyber bullying. The things teens post online now may reflect badly on them later when they apply for college or a job. Cyber bullies can lose their cell phone or online accounts for cyber bullying. Also, cyber bullies and their parents may face legal charges for cyber bullying, and if the cyber bullying was sexual in nature or involved sexting, the results can include being registered as a sex offender. Teens may think that if they use a fake name they won’t get caught, but there are many ways to track some one who is cyber bullying.
Cyber Bullying Statistics that may Shock You!
The Facts about Cyber Bullying
Cyberbullying: Confronting the Modern Face of Bullying
TAL Global is an international security consulting and risk management firm that provides a comprehensive array of investigative, disaster mitigation planning and risk management services. Our extensive international network of professionals enables us to provide our clients with the highest level of security and loss prevention services around the globe. Our commitment to an impeccable standard of ethics has earned us an unparalleled international reputation for professionalism and excellence among many Fortune 500 corporations.
Recent News & Posting: | <urn:uuid:d36fcb61-b141-4fa8-91fd-87755de9a3dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.talglobal.com/cyber-bullying-the-facts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918208 | 736 | 4 | 4 |
We’re back. Day Four. Anyone having fun yet? Today Ezra Taft Benson shares fundamentals nine, ten, and eleven from his classic talk, “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet.” In his own words:
Ninth: The prophet can receive revelation on any matter—temporal or spiritual.
Said Brigham Young:
Some of the leading men in Kirtland were much opposed to Joseph the Prophet, meddling with temporal affairs. . . .
In a public meeting of the Saints, I said, “Ye Elders of Israel, . . . will some of you draw the line of demarcation, between the spiritual and temporal in the Kingdom of God, so that I may understand it?” Not one of them could do it. . . .
I defy any man on earth to point out the path a Prophet of God should walk in, or point out his duty, and just how far he must go, in dictating temporal or spiritual things. Temporal and spiritual things are inseparably connected, and ever will be. [Journal of Discourses, 10:363-364]
Tenth: The prophet may be involved in civic matters.
When a people are righteous they want the best to lead them in government. Alma was the head of the Church and of the government in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was mayor of Nauvoo, and Brigham Young was governor of Utah. Isaiah was deeply involved in giving counsel on political matters and of his words the Lord Himself said, “Great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1). Those who would remove prophets from politics would take God out of government.
Eleventh: The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
The learned may feel the prophet is only inspired when he agrees with them; otherwise, the prophet is just giving his opinion—speaking as a man. The rich may feel they have no need to take counsel of a lowly prophet.
In the Book of Mormon we read:
O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.
And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. [2 Nephi 9:28, 29, 42; emphasis added]
General Conference Preparation tip of the day: I now give you my two favorite talks/articles that are specifically about General Conference and preparing your heart for the messages. (And I made little graphics for each one to remember a key point.) Click on the image to go to the article.
“An Ensign to the Nations,” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
and “General Conference–No Ordinary Blessing,” by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf | <urn:uuid:e90fc677-3caf-40ac-a251-fba1c0376044> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://diapersanddivinity.com/2012/10/04/14-fundamentals-in-following-the-prophet-day-4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966118 | 741 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Guest Blogger Wednesday: A Piece of SF History, Right Under Your Feet (Sort Of).
Every Wednesday, we'll be featuring a Guest Blogger who will share their insights into city life, Our Fair MUNI, or anything that comes to mind. This week's guest writer is "Mason Powell," who's been a contributor to the site since its beginnings in 2005, and provides behind the scenes help, including designing our famous The N Is Near T shirts!
Yes, that's a picture of a manhole cover. I took it while leaving the KPIX Eye on Blogs blogger party last fall! Now, I don't usually go around looking at manhole covers, but this one was different. It had the markings of the old United Railroads!
For those of us who are not transit nerds, a little background. The URR was the main transportation provider in San Francisco between 1902 and 1921. After it went bankrupt, it reorganized into the Market Street Railway, which was eventually sold to Muni in 1944. The company's #1,#2, and #3 lines all passed by here. Today the #2 and #3 lines are still running on Sutter Street, more or less, and keeping watch over (or is it under?) all of this is a piece of our transportation history.
Would you like to be a guest blogger? Email me and tell me a little about yourself and what you'd like to write about! Most of our spots are filled for now, but there's always room for more! | <urn:uuid:5e30e6fd-403e-41cc-b54e-fcf68eded5da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.njudahchronicles.com/2009/05/guest_blogger_wednesday_a_piece_of_sf_hi.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978583 | 316 | 1.609375 | 2 |
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Last Tuesday, Fritz Hauteau started to feel very ill. He had diarrhea; he was vomiting; he was feeling weaker and weaker. "Everything hurt," he said, "I was so sick to my stomach and my whole body hurt." Neighbors in his tent city in the Delmas section of the capital called Hauteau's brother, who hailed a motorcycle taxi and took Fritz to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, where a "diarrhea treatment center" had been installed after the current cholera epidemic was discovered in Haiti last month.
(Story continues below)
Early in the epidemic, Haitians and journalists alike were frustrated by the government's refusal to acknowledge the scope of the problem. Repeatedly people with telltale cholera symptoms: "rice water diarrhea," excessive vomiting of any remaining traces of water, and serious dehydration, were said to need "laboratory confirmation" before being added to the official tally.
As Francois Servranckx, communications advisor for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), explains: "In general in an epidemic whether its cholera or meningitis, at first we try to confirm through laboratory testing the presence of the bacteria in a certain number of cases. But once its presence is confirmed we don't do tests on each person; we do clinical diagnostics."
Cholera has migrated south from the rural Artibonite region and, as anticipated, has infiltrated the quake-ravaged capital. The diarrhea treatment center at the general hospital here is now overwhelmed with unambiguous cases of the disease. "We had people all over the floor," says Dr. Yves Lambert, director of the center. "We had to call tap-taps [the public transport vehicle in Haiti where benches line the back of a pick up] to take them to other centers."
When I met Fritz Hauteau at the diarrhea treatment center, he was sleeping, dehydrated, shrunken, and weak, curled on a cot in a corner of the room. Hauteau was one of the 18,383 Haitians hospitalized for cholera in the past month, and luckily not one of the more than 1,100 counted dead.
By the time he was released from the hospital, Hauteau's tent had been battered by heavy rains from Hurricane Tomas and was now contaminated. "It was completely soiled and not safe, so I threw it away," his brother explained. Meanwhile, evictions of "squatters" has continued as land owners grow tired of seemingly permanent campers who set up on their properties after the earthquake ten months ago. "The owner doesn't want people there, so he won't let me come back," Hauteau explained.
I asked a contact at one of the international NGOs set up in Port-au-Prince what someone in need of a tent should do. The response: "Delmas 18--I don't think we work there. Ask him who the camp manager is, and let me know how it goes." Hauteau said there was no camp manager, even though 60 people were living on the property.
So can the NGO's help directly? "NGOs do give things out, but not everyone finds it," explained Hauteau's brother, "they give it to their own people." And the government? "There is no government," said Hauteau. So what are you going to do? He shrugged, "I don't know."
The Human Element
Haiti is colloquially known as the "Republic of NGOs." Over 10,000 organizations work in the country. In fact, Haiti has the second highest number of NGOs per capita in the world after India.
These organizations are now scrambling to hand out water purification tablets, but every NGO has a differently defined segment of the population that they aim to work with: women, people living with HIV, children, this camp or that, this area of this slum, that village, this school, that orphanage. No one can replace the government, of course, and many NGOs struggle to coordinate with the highly bureaucratic and often inefficient state institutions. Some actively renounce coordination with the state, because they find it too corrupt and inhibiting.
The government is meanwhile strapped for cash, despite an ostensible influx of aid. Less than 38 percent of the aid pledged to Haiti at a post-quake donors conference in March has been disbursed. Most of it has gone to these NGOs, rather than the state. The tax system is broken, and most Haitians work in the informal sector, off the government's already weak radar. Investing in Haiti can take six months of bureaucratic tangles, limiting business growth and the income it brings.
Hanz Legagneur, director of the ministry of public health for the West department (which includes Port-au-Prince) outlined for me the number of cholera deaths and cases in several of the cities. I asked him how many were in the capital and he gave me the number in MSF centers. But when I asked for numbers from the General Hospital, he said, "I don't have those numbers, those are under the direction of the University." MSF set up that treatment center, but they are no longer controlling it, and don't list it as one of their centers. So who knows? No one.
Medically, cholera is easy to prevent and treat. But in Haiti, it is proving impossible to control. What Haiti needs to combat cholera is a functioning water and sewage system. But no one--neither the water-and-sanitation "cluster" of organizations, nor UNICEF, nor DINEPA, the Haitian water and sanitation authority--has accomplished this.
So Haitians like Hauteau and his brother share a single public toilet with the other families on their block and find water any way they can. Hauteau's brother buys buckets of untreated water from a private company that brings a water truck through his neighborhood and adds chlorine. Hauteau said he sometimes buys bottled water, but couldn't afford to everyday, so he drank tap water--which gave him cholera.
Haiti's cholera outbreak is now a full-fledged humanitarian disaster, but at heart it is a management issue. If NGOs want to commit to an effective course of action and help end this epidemic, they will have to focus and coordinate their efforts rapidly and rigorously on the basic conditions that are sustaining it.
This article available online at: | <urn:uuid:e8a6e47b-3563-40dd-a78e-f55aa140aa98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlantic.com/international/print/2010/11/whats-causing-the-cholera-epidemic-in-haiti-we-are/66769/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974818 | 1,357 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Today is the transit of Venus, when that planet passes in front of the sun. Hopefully the bad weather blanketing much of New Zealand doesn’t preclude at least some people from observing the event.
Observing the transit was one of Captain Cook’s primary objectives for the Endeavour expedition, and this was done in Tahiti in 1769. But the expedition had other aims as well, including exploration and discovery.
The botanists on board the Endeavour, led by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, collected plant specimens wherever the ship put to shore.
At noon this Friday (8th June 2012), Steve Cafferty from the Natural History Museum, London, will talk about the botanical discoveries made during Cook’s first voyage. Plant specimens collected from New Zealand by Banks and Solander will be on display.
Additionally, Te Papa Research Fellow Patrick Brownsey has just published an article about Banks and Solander’s collecting in New Zealand. The article is free to download from the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand until 31st July 2012.
Te Papa holds over 500 specimens collected by Banks and Solander during the Endeavour expedition. High-resolution images of most of them are freely available from Te Papa’s Collections Online Website. | <urn:uuid:84b8d6b4-9c4a-4b3d-bc06-b51e82d4a262> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/tag/captain-james-cook/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95354 | 265 | 3.28125 | 3 |
You wouldn’t expect a vegetable garden to thrive without proper care, or your car to work reliably without oil and proper maintenance.
So why assume that you’ll get the best out of employees simply by providing a paycheck?
Employees are like any other investment you make in your small business. You break even when you pay a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work. But when employees are encouraged and inspired to give more than 100 percent every day, you’ll receive a far greater return on those wages. Best of all, many tactics for motivating employees are easy to implement.
Here are some starting points for creating and sustaining a motivated, dynamic work environment:
Communicate with them
Meet with your employees regularly to review upcoming priorities, recent successes and issues, and other related topics. Ask for their opinions and ideas, and encourage discussions that can be continued informally, via group emails or at the next meeting. Make sure each opinion is valued and seek to correct misinformation and false assumptions.
Get to know them
Complement formal meetings with informal chats about nonbusiness issues. Don’t pry, but strive to learn about their personal lives. Celebrating birthdays is a small-business staple, but also look for other milestones to recognize, such as a child’s wedding or acceptance to college. Also be ready to offer sympathy to employees facing difficulties, such as a family illness or death.
Look for smaller tasks and projects that can be delegated to one or more employees. This will help build their skills and give you extra time to focus on your business’s “big picture” issues. They also may find ways to do these kinds of tasks more efficiently, saving time and money in the process.
Would you want to be criticized for a mistake in front of your co-workers? Nobody does. What’s more, criticism may do nothing to solve the problem. Instead, take the employee aside and try to find out why the mistake occurred. It may be a misunderstanding in the process, or that the employee was distracted by a personal issue. Work together to find a solution, and then monitor subsequent performance. If the mistakes keep occurring, more serious action may be needed.
Get employees thinking or giving extra effort by offering appropriate rewards. It doesn’t have to be cash. The lure of an extra day off is all many people need to achieve certain goals or go above and beyond. Also, celebrate company milestones with a party, company outing or other event.
SCORE is a nonprofit, public-service organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed as small-business owners. The local SCORE office is at 201 Penn St., Suite 501. For details, call 610-376-3497 or go to www.reading.score.org.
Powered by Facebook Comments | <urn:uuid:c3c9574c-1a55-4b9c-8be7-9c9d43c8a034> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://businessweekly.readingeagle.com/take-care-of-employees-and-they-will-take-care-of-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943509 | 585 | 1.640625 | 2 |
By Fred Morley
With the federal budget set to be tabled this afternoon, how expenditure review will roll out regionally should be on the minds of business and government in Halifax. Good fiscal numbers recently have reduced the likelihood of massive cuts. However, there will be some cuts as government reallocates funding to priority areas.
Rumblings of major federal employment and reallocation of efforts to national priorities harkens back to the mid-1990s when deep and disproportionate federal spending cuts significantly undercut Nova Scotia`s economy.
A tale of two cities
In the early 1990s close to 6000 federal jobs and about a quarter of a billion dollars in annual income and consumer spending disappeared permanently from the province. These cuts continue to have a big impact on Nova Scotia`s economy even 15 years later. Now that we seem headed into another period of belt tightening, it’s worthwhile to understand what happened last time when a surprisingly high percentage of cuts and resulting pain came to Nova Scotia.
In 1990, over 21,000 federal public servants were employed in Nova Scotia, compared to 104,000 in Ottawa in the national capital region. As expenditure review took hold, federal employment fell to a low of 91,000 in Ottawa in 1997. The low point for Nova Scotia was 15, 730 a couple of years later. By this time Ottawa had begun to rebuild and federal jobs had surged by 4,000…even as cuts were still happening elsewhere in the country.
Over the 1990s (1990 to 2000) Ottawa lost a total of 5,372 jobs, while Halifax lost 5,247. From the low-point of expenditure control in 1997 to 2011, Ottawa added 45,240 jobs, while Halifax added a total of 480.
Even in recent times, Ottawa has continued to add federal employment. In the six years from 2005 to 2011, the National Capitol Region added 24,544 jobs compared to 140 in Halifax over the same period.
It took Halifax 10 years to recover from the federal job cuts. And our recovery came primarily from sustained job creation in the private sector.
If history is any measure, the bottom line for a new fiscal imperative to cut federal jobs doesn’t look very good for Nova Scotia. As deficit reduction efforts roll out, it is my hope that government has a mind to past pain and retaining key regional innovation capacity. Fingers crossed.
Author: Fred Morley
Fred Morley is the Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at the Greater Halifax Partnership. | <urn:uuid:c522b72e-bd63-4941-81a2-94bb6adfbb6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smartcityblog.greaterhalifax.com/smartcity/2012/03/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954018 | 508 | 1.671875 | 2 |
There is a report on ECDL 2004 by Jonas Holmstr�m in the current D-lib Magazine.
Lorcan Dempsey from OCLC (Online Library Computer Center) spoke [ppt] about the rapidly changing library landscape and introduced some interesting new terminology. One of the most apparent changes libraries face is the change in expectations created by Google and Amazon--or 'Why can't the OPAC work as Google/Amazon?' This change in expectations was labelled the 'Amazoogle' effect. Dempsey also argued for the need for a theory or big picture without which libraries are vulnerable to--among other things--'Marchitecture' and 'Techeology'. As Dempsey defined it, Marchitecture denotes an architecture produced by a vendor for marketing purposes, and techeology is a mixture of technology and ideology. Dempsey made some very good points outlining common biases he feels are hampering the advancement of digital libraries. [Report on the 8th European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL 2004): 12 - 16 September 2004, Bath, United Kingdom]I can claim credit for Amazoogle and techeology, but not alas marchitecture. | <urn:uuid:479cdcbc-eac3-45b3-8ece-0d311802d6d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000450.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913977 | 237 | 1.859375 | 2 |
With thanks to Channel 4 for video content
In Beijing GB fielded just one athlete, but since then the sport has invested significantly in recruiting and developing new talent for the sport. In total seven wheelchair fencers were selected to compete in London.
GB Fencing worked closely with the British Paralympic Association to help some of their most newly recruited athletes prepare for London 2012, including participating in a ParalympicsGB programme called the Talent Transition Programme (TTP), designed to provide athletes with an intensive introduction to elite sport.
In changes from previous Paralympic Games, for London 2012 the Team event was reintroduced into the schedule (men’s Foil and women’s Epee Team events only). In preparation, Great Britain entered athletes into the women's Team event at the 2010 World Championships, which was the first time in over 20 years that GB had been represented in this event. For the Paralympic Games, a team consists of three fencers, at least one of which must be a Class B fencer. In London the women's team comprised Gemma Collis, Justine Moore and Gabi Down and the men's team comprised Simon Wilson, David Heaton and Craig McCann.
The Wheelchair Fencing squad that competed at London 2012 gained valuable experience and the sport will undoubtedly be able to build on the lessons learned there before the next summer Games in Rio in 2016.
- First year at a Paralympic Games:
- Rome 1960
- Brief history:
- Wheelchair Fencing was introduced to the Stoke Mandeville International Games by Dr Ludwig Guttmann in 1953
- Eligible impairment groups:
- Participation is open to athletes with spinal injuries, lower leg amputations and cerebral palsy. Athletes requiring the general use of a wheelchair are also eligible.
- London medal table:
1 - China (six gold, three silver, one bronze)
2 - Hong Kong (two gold, one silver, four bronze)
3 - Poland (two gold, zero silver, one bronze)
- Did you know:
- British fencers have not been in the medals at a Paralympic Games since Caz Walton’s gold in the Epee at Seoul in 1988. Walton is one of Britain’s most successful Paralympians with 10 gold medals.
- London 2012 venue:
- Rio 2016 Venue
- Deodoro Arena, Deodoro Zone
The competition takes place in the form of pool stages followed by direct elimination rounds. During a contest the fencers’ wheelchairs are fastened into medal frames on the floor, allowing freedom of the upper body only.
Although fencers cannot move back and forth, the fact there are no restrictions to upper body movement means duals are as exciting and fast as in non-disabled Fencing events.
Fencers record hits by striking their opponent cleanly in the valid area, with successful hits recorded by the electronic equipment.
There are three disciplines in Wheelchair Fencing, and they are based on the type of sword used – the Foil, the Epee and the Sabre.
In the Foil event, fencers are only permitted to strike the trunk area of the opponent, whereas in the Sabre and Epee, anywhere above the waist is a valid target area.
Bouts last a maximum of four minutes in the preliminary stages, with victory going to the first fencer to score five valid hits or the one with the most hits at the end of the four minutes. Bouts in the first round of competition are the best of nine hits. The top competitors are promoted to a direct elimination, where bouts are awarded to the first get to 15 hits.
In the knockout stages, bouts consist of three rounds of three minutes. The winner is the first to score 15 hits, or the highest scorer at the completion of the contest. In the event of a tie, an extra one-minute sudden death bout is held, with the first person to score a valid hit taking the contest.
Classification divisions are based on impairment.
Category A is for those fencers who have been classified as either Class 3 or Class 4 fencer. These athletes have a good sitting balance, either with or without the support of their lower limbs. Athletes with a low level spinal lesion, athletes with double above the knee amputation and comparable impairments can compete in this class.
Category B is for those fencers who have been classified as a Class 2 fencer. These athletes have a fair sitting balance and an unaffected fencing arm. They most often have paraplegia or incomplete tetraplegia with fencing arms that are minimally affected.
There is a third classification, Class C, for those fencers who have been classified as a Class 1A or 1B fencer. This classification features at international competition but is not included at the Paralympic Games. | <urn:uuid:c2679601-e11e-40c9-8d12-5a972fbedf41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paralympics.org.uk/sports/wheelchair-fencing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954869 | 1,004 | 1.570313 | 2 |
One of the most notable bishops of France at the time of the Investiture struggles and the most important canonist before Gratian in the Occident, born of a noble family about 1040; died in 1116. From the neighbourhood of Beauvais, his native country, he went for his studies first to Paris and thence to the Abbey of Bee in Normandy, at the same time as Anselm of Canterbury, to attend the lectures given by Lanfranc. About 1080 he became, at the desire of his bishop, prior of the canons of St-Quentin at Beauvais. He was then one of the best teachers in France, and so prepared himself to infuse a new life into the celebrated schools of Chartres, of which city he was appointed bishop in 1090, his predecessor, Geoffroy, having been deposed for simony. His episcopal government, at first opposed by the tenants of Geoffroy, ranged over a period of twenty-five years. No man, perhaps, is better portrayed in his writing than is Ivo in his letters and sermons; in both he appears as a man always faithful to his duties, high-minded, full of zeal and piety, sound in his judgments, a keen jurist, straight-forward, mindful of others' rights, devoted to the papacy and to his country, at the same time openly disapproving of what he considered wrong. This explains why he has been sometimes quoted as a patron of Gallican Liberties and looked upon by Flaccus Illyricus as one of the "witnesses to the truth" in his "Catalogus". Very often Ivo was consulted on theological, liturgical, political, and especially canonical matters. Of his life little more is known than may be gathered from his letters. As bishop he strongly opposed Philip the First, who wished to desert Bertha, his legitimate wife, and marry Bertrade of Anjou (1092); his opposition gained him a prison cell. In the Investiture struggle then raging in France, and especially in Germany, Ivo represented the moderate party. Though he died too early to witness the final triumph of his ideas with the Concordat of Worms (1122), his endeavours and his doctrines may be said to have paved the way for an agreement satisfactory to both sides. His views on the subject are fully expressed in several of his letters, especially those of the years 1099, 1106, and 1111 (Epistolae, lx, clxxxix, ccxxxii, ccxxxvi, ccxxxvii, etc.); these letters are still of interest as to the question of the relationship between Church and State, the efficacy of sacraments administered by heretics, the sin of simony, etc.
The printed works of Ivo of Chartres may be arranged into three categories; canonical writings, letters, and sermons.
For the canonical works cf. COLLECTIONS OF ANCIENT CANONS, sub-title Collection of Yvo of Chartres. Suffice it to mention here the "Decretum" in seventeen books and the "Panormia" in eight books, the latter being undoubtedly the work of Ivo himself, with material taken from the former. Both of these were composed before 1096, but the "Panormia" enjoyed a far greater success than the "Decretum"; we immediately find it at Durham and elsewhere in England, at Naumburg in Germany, etc. One of the improvements of this collection on the works of Burchard of Worms (d. 1025) consists in this: that Ivo gives a far greater number of canons, adding to those of Burchard canons taken from Italian sources. As may be easily seen, theology and canon law are not yet precisely marked off from one another"--a defect which holds also for previous collections; the chapters on the Trinity, Incarnation, and especially the sacraments are worth seeing in this connection. But the most important feature of Ivo's work is perhaps his preface, "Prologus", which give new rules for solving the old problem of the discrepancies occurring in the texts of the Fathers and the councils.
The letters of Ivo, 288 in number (Merlet has added 40 more), from which we gather nearly all that we know of his life, are in the edition of Migne together with those of his correspondents. Many are of a special interest as to the political and religious questions of the time; not a few are answers to difficulties referring to moral, liturgical, or canonical matters; some discuss problems of dogmatics. The popularity of these letters was very great, as may be gathered from the fact that they appear in the catalogues of many monastic libraries; numerous manuscripts are still extant.
The twenty-five sermons are sometimes treatises on liturgical, dogmatic, or moral questions and bear witness to the great piety and science of Bishop Ivo. The "Micrologus" which has been attributed to him belongs to Bernold of Constance. Other works, such as the "Tripartita" (collection of canons), "Commentary on the Psalms", etc., are still unprinted.
Influence of writings The influence of Ivo's works may be seen in the writings of nearly all the theologians and canonists of his day and for some time afterwards: Alger of Liège and Hugh of St. Victor, not to mention others, depend largely on the materials put together in the "Decretum" and "Panormia"; and Hugh has also borrowed from Ivo's sermons on Holy orders, dedication of churches, etc. The connection of ideas between the "Prologus" and the scheme of Abelard's "Sic et Non" or Gratian's "Concordantia" is obvious. The saint's feast is kept, since 1570, on 20 May; it is not known when he was canonized.
Ivo's works are found in P.L., CLXI, Decretum and Panormia: CLXII, Letters and Sermons in Mon. Germ. His.: Lites Imperatorum et Pontificum, II, 640-57; MERLET, Lettres de Saint Ives eveque de Chartres (1885); FOURNIER, Les collections canoniques attribuees a Yves de Chartres in Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Chartres (1896 et 1897); IDEM, Yves de Chartres et le Droit canonique in Revuedes Questions Historiques (1898); Histoire litteraire de la France, X, 102-47.
APA citation. (1910). St. Ivo of Chartres. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08257a.htm
MLA citation. "St. Ivo of Chartres." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08257a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to St. Ivo of Chartres.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:830dab38-a7d4-40f2-800b-28390db63b76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ww.newadvent.org/cathen/08257a.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961714 | 1,629 | 2.765625 | 3 |
planted the Church in their own blood;
they drank of the Lord's cup,
and became the friends of God... et amici Dei facti sunt."
where, on the
eve of All-Hallow-Mas,
the Feast of All Saints,
we have time to spend a few moments before the holy relics
put forth for veneration in the chapel for the feast-day.
In the darkness of the night and the howling of the wind,
far away from the world and all that one finds there on such a night as this,
how wonderful to spend a few moments in the company of these
our ancestors in the faith
who have chosen to guide their relics to our island home...
the martyrs who died so brutally centuries ago,
the confessors, the doctors
who enlightened the Church in every province of the ancient world,
the virgins and widows,
the monks and nuns, who loved God and left the world
before we were even thought of, before we were even born.
Relics from every clime and every land.
Our Lord the King of Glory, crowns one of His martyr saints.
As the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King wanes
and that of all the Saints dawns
we remember you and pray for you and your intentions.
The holy Divine Office tells us that
Our Lord crowned His saints with glory and honour
and madest them to have dominion over the works of His hands.
Whatever your intentions, your sufferings, your pains and hurts,
may the holy ones of God
who repose on our island
with that dominion given to them
and lead you to that Heavenly Crown
which Our Lord has promised to them that love Him.
The Crown Above
O come let us worship the Lord, the King of kings,
for He is Himself the Crown of all the Saints...
corona Sanctorum omnium." | <urn:uuid:fc596aa5-53fc-49c7-b9e4-0be5f2a1493f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papastronsay.blogspot.com/2010/10/best-eve-of-all-hallow-mas.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947752 | 406 | 1.757813 | 2 |
What are Varicose Veins?
Varicose veins are bulging veins that are abnormally dilated. Varicose veins are typically 3mm or larger in diameter. These dilated veins may be only cosmetic, or can cause leg pain, aches, swelling, heaviness, fatigue, itching, restless legs, and throbbing. Severe varicose veins may decrease circulation while causing changes in skin, inflammation, phlebitis, or even ulceration of the lower leg.
Normal veins have one-way valves that keep blood flowing toward the heart and lungs. A varicose vein has valves that are not functioning properly. Because the valves are not functioning the blood tends to pool in the vein, thereby causing an increased pressure on the wall of the vein. This refluxing of flow then causes the vein to dilate and increases in size over time. This can feed into other veins causing more varicose veins and spider veins.
What are Spider Veins?
"Spider veins" are small red, blue or purple veins that commonly appear on the upper thighs, calves and ankles. It is estimated that at least one third of the adult female population is affected by this common problem. People often seek treatment for cosmetic reasons. Spider veins can, however, cause physical symptoms depending on the severity. These symptoms may include aching, heaviness, stinging sensations, itching, and night cramps.
Spider veins may be isolated or associated with “feeder” veins. They can also be associated with larger underlying malfunctioning veins. It is always recommended to rule out the underlying cause if there are associated symptoms with spider veins prior to treatment. Typical treatments for spider veins are Sclerotherapy and superficial lasers.
What causes Varicose Veins?
There are many causes of varicose veins. The following factors may play a part in the development of varicose veins and spider veins.
Heredity – There is a significant relationship between heredity and the development of varicose veins and spider veins.
Age – The development of varicose veins and spider veins may occur at any age but usually occurs between the ages of 18 and 35 years.
Gender – Females are affected approximately four times more frequently than males.
Pregnancy – Pregnancy is a common factor contributing to the formation of varicose veins and spider veins. The most important factor is circulating hormones that relax the vein walls. There is also a significant increase in the blood volume during pregnancy which tends to distend veins, causing valve dysfunction which leads to blood refluxing (flowing backwards) into veins. Additionally, later in pregnancy, the enlarged uterus can contribute by causing higher vein pressure leading to dilated veins. Varicose veins that develop during pregnancy may spontaneously improve or even disappear a few months after birth.
Lifestyle / Occupation – People who are involved with prolonged standing or sitting with their daily activities have an increased risk of developing varicose veins. Simply by the gravity forces of the blood continuously pressing against the closed valves causing the valves to fail, and leading to distention in the veins.
A few lifestyle factors that may contribute to developing varicose veins:
- Prolonged standing or sitting
- Number of pregnancies
- Birth control pills / Hormone replacement therapy
- Chronic constipation
- Severity of menstrual cycles
- Sedentary lifestyle
How can I prevent getting Varicose Veins?
Since there are multiple causes of varicose veins, prevention is somewhat difficult to determine. Below are some tips that may help in the prevention of both varicose and spider veins, and if you have varicose or spider veins, these may help slow their progression.
- Elevate your legs when possible.
- Exercise daily. Walking, climbing stairs, cycling and swimming help with the calf muscle pump action to prevent blood from pooling causing varicose veins.
- Move your legs frequently. Flexing your ankles periodically will also help.
- Avoid sitting without moving legs for extended periods of time.
- Wear support compression hose. These hose tend to reduce pooling and pressure on leg veins. They may also reduce the risk of forming a deep vein blood clot.
- Maintain your ideal body weight to reduce pressure on your legs. Avoid prolonged sitting and standing.
- Avoid excessive heat on your legs, such as hot tubs and hot baths.
Are vein procedures covered by insurance? | <urn:uuid:5efeed63-9beb-4241-8c8a-a9fc9952ba73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxly.com/health/healthy-women/Varicose-Vein-Vein-Treatment/-/140822/8811848/-/46s7d4/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946621 | 915 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Washington, DC – People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker released the following comments on what President Obama’s reelection means for the Supreme Court:
“The future of the Supreme Court is one of the most important consequences of any presidential election, but this time the choice was especially momentous. With the right wing maintaining a narrow majority on the Court, a Romney victory could have meant an entrenched bias on the Court for decades to come.
“Voters were aware of this possibility, and in large numbers rejected it. A Hart Research poll commissioned by People For the American Way and allies in October found that 63 percent of voters saw the Supreme Court as an important issue in determining their vote, and swing voters, by an eleven-point margin, trusted President Obama over Mitt Romney to pick the next Supreme Court justice. In particular, voters were concerned that Romney would choose justices who would side unfairly with corporations over ordinary Americans. That is why both President Obama and Vice President Biden repeatedly emphasized the Court: they recognized it as a winning issue for them.
“This decisive victory gives President Obama a mandate to pick talented, fair-minded jurists on the federal bench and on the Supreme Court. He should use that leverage to fill judicial vacancies with strong candidates and leave a lasting legacy on our courts.” | <urn:uuid:4299f839-1c02-4646-b677-70dfa48e5d53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pfaw.org/press-releases/2012/11/obama-reelection-mandate-strong-fair-supreme-court-picks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968527 | 269 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Jabber jaws is what my parents called me when I was little. I would talk and talk and talk with barely a breath in between my words. However, I was painfully shy when I was not around my family or close friends. Cat is not shy, she will talk to anyone, anywhere. So she talks when she is home, she talks to the checker at the grocery store, she talks to the lady on the bus, she talks to whoever will listen. I am glad that she is so outgoing but it is starting to scare me a little. We have talked to her about strangers but instead of just not talking to strangers she will say "you are a stranger so I will not talk to you." Then she begins to tell this "stranger" her life story including all of our names and her birth date. We talk to her about being a nice girl and not needing to talk to everyone she sees, but I don't want to thwart her curiosity. She loves learning about people. How do you deal with this issue? | <urn:uuid:8f184e08-4fcd-4ba9-8e0c-21147f9eea91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifeinmamaland.blogspot.com/2006/05/jabber-jaws.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99384 | 218 | 1.875 | 2 |
One of the central debates facing Christianity from its onset surrounded essential requirements
for acceptance into the community of believers. More specifically, some wondered whether or not particular ethnic heritage or cultural traditions were mandatory, whereas others considered various beliefs and behaviors surrounding food and other existing customs. As the small number of Jesus' original disciples expanded both numerically and geographically, complicated deliberations continually surfaced: What is central? What is indispensable? What aspects of the Christian faith are open to change, and which can be considered non-negotiable?
Approximately two-thousand years after Jesus' death and resurrection, the critical questions remain: What is essential to faith in Jesus and acceptance in Christian communities, and what can be negotiated depending upon time and place? The Christian church has expanded to nearly every corner of the globe, and as churches are located in diverse cultural settings, such considerations are critically important for the future of global church companionship. In addition, as a result of numerous disagreements about the essentials of Christian faith, there is also difference of opinion between a growing list of Christian denominations: Anabaptist, Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and so forth. While each church body claims the label of "Christian," there are discrepancies in opinion, variation in belief, and sadly, often heated dispute about authority and authenticity. The resulting reality is often a great deal of confusion and disregard, especially amongst young people and others who search for a more meaningful sense of purpose, community, peace, and genuine belief in a higher power greater than themselves.
When trying to better understand the nature of differences, denominationalism, and division within Christian churches, the best lesson I received came from a group of women in a local kitchen in South Africa, where I work. I was in the midst of a cultural cooking lesson when I overhead a discussion about one of the favorite local dishes: chicken fried rice. As I listened to the animated conversation, I soon learned that nearly every person in the community had her/his special style of chicken fried rice, to the point that one could eat the dish each day at a different home and it would never taste the same (and yes, I can speak from personal experience on this matter!). However, while each dish had its own unique spices and side ingredients which added to the overall flavor (and nearly each person was convinced her own style was best!), what remained essential
to the dish of chicken fried rice was, of course, chicken and rice. It was essential
. While the ingredients surrounding the chicken and rice could be altered depending upon individual taste and availability of resources, the dish required
chicken and rice. This culinary reality, and the subsequent discussion amongst the cooks that day, provided a fresh method to interpret global Christianity and ecumenical cooperation in our world today.
Similar to immense levels of pride bestowed upon a home-made dish of chicken fried rice, there are many Christian denominational leaders who are convinced they have the "best tasting brand" of organized Christian faith (and those who believe otherwise must be corrected, convinced, and converted!). Whether one considers denominational affiliation or even geographical location, there is all too often a sense amongst leadership that their own interpretation of Christian faith "tastes" better than the rest. While there is nothing inherently wrong with a high sense of denominational self-esteem, such beliefs all too often transform into institutional arrogance, which in turn leads to competition and distrust amongst Christian denominations. Sadly, but not surprisingly, such irresponsible behavior amongst church leaders typically leads to growing division and provides numerous stumbling blocks for those wishing to increase their participation in communities of faith.
While denominational leaders may feel strongly about their own taste of church, one of the great ills of Christian history, at its beginning as well as today, is when non-essential items are expressed as fundamental.
When missionaries from the global north arrived on African soil there were few instances in which local believers were allowed to place "local spice" upon the imported brand of Christian faith. More often than not, instead of allowing African churches to take on a native flavor, the northern hemisphere essence was forced upon indigenous people, to the point that countless non-essential items were considered as vital to Christian faith and acceptance within particular denominations. As a result, for numerous generations various Africans have been required to sing, speak, sit, stand, dress, believe, and administer in a specific (European) manner in order to be considered "proper Christians" and receive love from God. As a result of ongoing foreign control and localized fear of retribution, numerous church bodies in Africa and throughout the global south continue to strongly resemble those in the north, often at the tragic expense of indigenous belief and expression.
In addition to challenges surrounding global church companionship, there is also disturbing levels of ecumenical dispute, strained cooperative attempts, and even "communion breaking" between Christian denominations. Due to various strong convictions surrounding use of the Bible, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and as of late, female ordination, homosexuality, abortion, and issues surrounding faith and social justice, instead of collaboration and mutual support around common causes, numerous church bodies refuse communication and even reject others from full participation in worship and joint leadership opportunities. With too many leaders soaked in stubbornness and convinced of their own theological certainty and superiority, not enough are willing to acknowledge that "different" does not necessarily equate to "wrong", and that genuine dialogue and relationship building requires openness and vulnerability from all sides involved. Unfortunately, as pastors and other institutional directors wish to exude public confidence for their followers, it would appear that too many perceive openness and flexibility as signs of weakness, instead of acknowledging humility and the ability to listen as signs of faithfulness, maturity, and Christ-like leadership.
On a different note, while one "ditch" of global and ecumenical relations is division, the other is blind approval. As a result, while openness is indeed crucial in an increasingly connected and diverse global and ecumenical community, in no way should we advocate for an "anything goes" policy in which all beliefs and actions are always acceptable in all places and in every time. One who accepts everything usually stands for nothing. As Jesus spoke and acted in direct opposition against various destructive powers during his day and age, those who claim to live as his followers two thousand years later are also called to do likewise within their own cultural context. In addition, as Jesus promoted life in its fullness through forgiveness and reconciliation, those who strive to participate in God's mission today through Christian church participation are inspired through the Holy Spirit to respond to God's love through faith in Jesus and acts of kindness, peace, and justice. And so, while rigidity and dogmatism are dangers which threaten global and ecumenical companionship, an acceptance of extreme relativism or apathy is equally destructive.
With the above being said, the journey of walking faithfully between the "two ditches" of global and ecumenical companionship requires reflection upon what is essential, or in other words, what truly constitutes a deliberate divide or intentional cooperation within the Christian church. However, such answers are difficult – or even impossible – to discover. One the one hand, we are never
justified in excluding others as fellow participants within the church, but on the other hand, communion implies a sense of agreement. In other words, while no
conflict should divide the church, any
dispute has the potential to do just that! As a result, the "certain answer" so desperately desired cannot be found. Ultimately, the crucial and difficult task is that, just as Jesus was able to boldly and
humbly live out his beliefs faithfully and
fruitfully through appreciation and
critique of his cultural and
religious traditions, we in the present day and age must also engage in a consistent process of theological and
cultural critique. In other words, instead of seeking answers of absolute certainty, we must – through faith – continually wrestle with the ongoing tensions of confessional and contextual fidelity.
The friction surrounding basic elements of Christian faith is nothing new, for one of the many lessons that Jesus wished to instill upon his first followers was a grasp of the critical difference between essentials and expendables, or in other words, a healthy tension of diversity and unity. Jesus knew that loving God and all beings in the created world was essential for fullness of life, yet he also knew that such actions would take place in different ways depending upon circumstances impacted by place and time. In a sense, Jesus knew to stand firm when central ingredients of faith were under attack, yet he also recognized that diversity and unity work in cooperation with one another and serve as building blocks for a vibrant community of believers. Among other things, Jesus was well-aware that diversity in excess would lead to sustained division, yet he also realized that an obsession with unity would eventually lead to synthetic harmony and bland uniformity (with disputes and negativity lurking underneath the surface). As a result, Jesus repeatedly tried to promote the core values of faith while also empowering followers to engage in creative and diverse practice. With all the above in mind, these lessons from Jesus remain critically important today.
There is nothing wrong with strong convictions surrounding theology and action, for those with passion and enthusiasm repeatedly steer Christian communities in bold and creative directions. However, it is equally important to acknowledge that a particular "taste" of faith and practice which one has acquired over numerous years may not be universally appropriate. In addition, as imperfect human beings with countless limitations, our beliefs and behaviors will always fall short of faultless faithfulness, thus our need for confession and forgiveness is constant and an attitude of graciousness a necessary consequence. While theological confidence is admirable and valuable, a lack of humility is extremely dangerous. As a result, because God continues to be revealed through ever-changing circumstances, perhaps our goal as participants in God's mission is not to duplicate one particular taste of Christianity and shove it down various theological throats. To the contrary, perhaps participation in God's mission is about empowering others and trusting the Holy Spirit to work through different people, methods, places, and circumstances. When such experiences of accompaniment take place, and dialogue for the purpose of understanding takes precedence over goals of persuasion or conquest, God is present in and through the interaction, unity and diversity is more fully realized, and a more faithful and fruitful global and ecumenical movement is a result.
The Rev. Brian Konkol is an ordained pastor with the ELCA and serves as a Country Coordinator for the South Africa-based Young Adults in Global Mission program.
© October 2010
Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE)
Volume 10, Issue 10 | <urn:uuid:d37c266b-a723-4721-9691-f825a49f1812> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Journal-of-Lutheran-Ethics/Issues/October-2010/A-Globally-Inclusive-Ecumenical-Model-for-the-21st-Century.aspx | 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 | 0.962283 | 2,175 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Click on any phrase to play the video at that point.Close
I grew up watching Star Trek. I love Star Trek. Star Trek made me want to see alien creatures, creatures from a far-distant world. But basically, I figured out that I could find those alien creatures right on Earth.
And what I do is I study insects. I'm obsessed with insects, particularly insect flight. I think the evolution of insect flight is perhaps one of the most important events in the history of life. Without insects, there'd be no flowering plants. Without flowering plants, there would be no clever, fruit-eating primates giving TED Talks.
Now, David and Hidehiko and Ketaki gave a very compelling story about the similarities between fruit flies and humans, and there are many similarities, and so you might think that if humans are similar to fruit flies, the favorite behavior of a fruit fly might be this, for example -- (Laughter) but in my talk, I don't want to emphasize on the similarities between humans and fruit flies, but rather the differences, and focus on the behaviors that I think fruit flies excel at doing.
And so I want to show you a high-speed video sequence of a fly shot at 7,000 frames per second in infrared lighting, and to the right, off-screen, is an electronic looming predator that is going to go at the fly. The fly is going to sense this predator. It is going to extend its legs out. It's going to sashay away to live to fly another day. Now I have carefully cropped this sequence to be exactly the duration of a human eye blink, so in the time that it would take you to blink your eye, the fly has seen this looming predator, estimated its position, initiated a motor pattern to fly it away, beating its wings at 220 times a second as it does so. I think this is a fascinating behavior that shows how fast the fly's brain can process information.
Now, flight -- what does it take to fly? Well, in order to fly, just as in a human aircraft, you need wings that can generate sufficient aerodynamic forces, you need an engine sufficient to generate the power required for flight, and you need a controller, and in the first human aircraft, the controller was basically the brain of Orville and Wilbur sitting in the cockpit.
Now, how does this compare to a fly? Well, I spent a lot of my early career trying to figure out how insect wings generate enough force to keep the flies in the air. And you might have heard how engineers proved that bumblebees couldn't fly. Well, the problem was in thinking that the insect wings function in the way that aircraft wings work. But they don't. And we tackle this problem by building giant, dynamically scaled model robot insects that would flap in giant pools of mineral oil where we could study the aerodynamic forces. And it turns out that the insects flap their wings in a very clever way, at a very high angle of attack that creates a structure at the leading edge of the wing, a little tornado-like structure called a leading edge vortex, and it's that vortex that actually enables the wings to make enough force for the animal to stay in the air. But the thing that's actually most -- so, what's fascinating is not so much that the wing has some interesting morphology. What's clever is the way the fly flaps it, which of course ultimately is controlled by the nervous system, and this is what enables flies to perform these remarkable aerial maneuvers.
Now, what about the engine? The engine of the fly is absolutely fascinating. They have two types of flight muscle: so-called power muscle, which is stretch-activated, which means that it activates itself and does not need to be controlled on a contraction-by-contraction basis by the nervous system. It's specialized to generate the enormous power required for flight, and it fills the middle portion of the fly, so when a fly hits your windshield, it's basically the power muscle that you're looking at. But attached to the base of the wing is a set of little, tiny control muscles that are not very powerful at all, but they're very fast, and they're able to reconfigure the hinge of the wing on a stroke-by-stroke basis, and this is what enables the fly to change its wing and generate the changes in aerodynamic forces which change its flight trajectory. And of course, the role of the nervous system is to control all this.
So let's look at the controller. Now flies excel in the sorts of sensors that they carry to this problem. They have antennae that sense odors and detect wind detection. They have a sophisticated eye which is the fastest visual system on the planet. They have another set of eyes on the top of their head. We have no idea what they do. They have sensors on their wing. Their wing is covered with sensors, including sensors that sense deformation of the wing. They can even taste with their wings. One of the most sophisticated sensors a fly has is a structure called the halteres. The halteres are actually gyroscopes. These devices beat back and forth about 200 hertz during flight, and the animal can use them to sense its body rotation and initiate very, very fast corrective maneuvers. But all of this sensory information has to be processed by a brain, and yes, indeed, flies have a brain, a brain of about 100,000 neurons.
Now several people at this conference have already suggested that fruit flies could serve neuroscience because they're a simple model of brain function. And the basic punchline of my talk is, I'd like to turn that over on its head. I don't think they're a simple model of anything. And I think that flies are a great model. They're a great model for flies. (Laughter)
And let's explore this notion of simplicity. So I think, unfortunately, a lot of neuroscientists, we're all somewhat narcissistic. When we think of brain, we of course imagine our own brain. But remember that this kind of brain, which is much, much smaller — instead of 100 billion neurons, it has 100,000 neurons — but this is the most common form of brain on the planet and has been for 400 million years. And is it fair to say that it's simple? Well, it's simple in the sense that it has fewer neurons, but is that a fair metric? And I would propose it's not a fair metric. So let's sort of think about this. I think we have to compare -- (Laughter) — we have to compare the size of the brain with what the brain can do. So I propose we have a Trump number, and the Trump number is the ratio of this man's behavioral repertoire to the number of neurons in his brain. We'll calculate the Trump number for the fruit fly. Now, how many people here think the Trump number is higher for the fruit fly?
Now I realize that it is a little bit absurd to compare the behavioral repertoire of a human to a fly. But let's take another animal just as an example. Here's a mouse. A mouse has about 1,000 times as many neurons as a fly. I used to study mice. When I studied mice, I used to talk really slowly. And then something happened when I started to work on flies. (Laughter) And I think if you compare the natural history of flies and mice, it's really comparable. They have to forage for food. They have to engage in courtship. They have sex. They hide from predators. They do a lot of the similar things. But I would argue that flies do more. So for example, I'm going to show you a sequence, and I have to say, some of my funding comes from the military, so I'm showing this classified sequence and you cannot discuss it outside of this room. Okay? So I want you to look at the payload at the tail of the fruit fly. Watch it very closely, and you'll see why my six-year-old son now wants to be a neuroscientist. Wait for it. Pshhew. So at least you'll admit that if fruit flies are not as clever as mice, they're at least as clever as pigeons. (Laughter)
Now, I want to get across that it's not just a matter of numbers but also the challenge for a fly to compute everything its brain has to compute with such tiny neurons. So this is a beautiful image of a visual interneuron from a mouse that came from Jeff Lichtman's lab, and you can see the wonderful images of brains that he showed in his talk. But up in the corner, in the right corner, you'll see, at the same scale, a visual interneuron from a fly. And I'll expand this up. And it's a beautifully complex neuron. It's just very, very tiny, and there's lots of biophysical challenges with trying to compute information with tiny, tiny neurons.
How small can neurons get? Well, look at this interesting insect. It looks sort of like a fly. It has wings, it has eyes, it has antennae, its legs, complicated life history, it's a parasite, it has to fly around and find caterpillars to parasatize, but not only is its brain the size of a salt grain, which is comparable for a fruit fly, it is the size of a salt grain. So here's some other organisms at the similar scale. This animal is the size of a paramecium and an amoeba, and it has a brain of 7,000 neurons that's so small -- you know these things called cell bodies you've been hearing about, where the nucleus of the neuron is? This animal gets rid of them because they take up too much space. So this is a session on frontiers in neuroscience. I would posit that one frontier in neuroscience is to figure out how the brain of that thing works.
But let's think about this. How can you make a small number of neurons do a lot? And I think, from an engineering perspective, you think of multiplexing. You can take a hardware and have that hardware do different things at different times, or have different parts of the hardware doing different things. And these are the two concepts I'd like to explore. And they're not concepts that I've come up with, but concepts that have been proposed by others in the past.
And one idea comes from lessons from chewing crabs. And I don't mean chewing the crabs. I grew up in Baltimore, and I chew crabs very, very well. But I'm talking about the crabs actually doing the chewing. Crab chewing is actually really fascinating. Crabs have this complicated structure under their carapace called the gastric mill that grinds their food in a variety of different ways. And here's an endoscopic movie of this structure. The amazing thing about this is that it's controlled by a really tiny set of neurons, about two dozen neurons that can produce a vast variety of different motor patterns, and the reason it can do this is that this little tiny ganglion in the crab is actually inundated by many, many neuromodulators. You heard about neuromodulators earlier. There are more neuromodulators that alter, that innervate this structure than actually neurons in the structure, and they're able to generate a complicated set of patterns. And this is the work by Eve Marder and her many colleagues who've been studying this fascinating system that show how a smaller cluster of neurons can do many, many, many things because of neuromodulation that can take place on a moment-by-moment basis. So this is basically multiplexing in time. Imagine a network of neurons with one neuromodulator. You select one set of cells to perform one sort of behavior, another neuromodulator, another set of cells, a different pattern, and you can imagine you could extrapolate to a very, very complicated system.
Is there any evidence that flies do this? Well, for many years in my laboratory and other laboratories around the world, we've been studying fly behaviors in little flight simulators. You can tether a fly to a little stick. You can measure the aerodynamic forces it's creating. You can let the fly play a little video game by letting it fly around in a visual display. So let me show you a little tiny sequence of this. Here's a fly and a large infrared view of the fly in the flight simulator, and this is a game the flies love to play. You allow them to steer towards the little stripe, and they'll just steer towards that stripe forever. It's part of their visual guidance system. But very, very recently, it's been possible to modify these sorts of behavioral arenas for physiologies. So this is the preparation that one of my former post-docs, Gaby Maimon, who's now at Rockefeller, developed, and it's basically a flight simulator but under conditions where you actually can stick an electrode in the brain of the fly and record from a genetically identified neuron in the fly's brain. And this is what one of these experiments looks like. It was a sequence taken from another post-doc in the lab, Bettina Schnell. The green trace at the bottom is the membrane potential of a neuron in the fly's brain, and you'll see the fly start to fly, and the fly is actually controlling the rotation of that visual pattern itself by its own wing motion, and you can see this visual interneuron respond to the pattern of wing motion as the fly flies. So for the first time we've actually been able to record from neurons in the fly's brain while the fly is performing sophisticated behaviors such as flight. And one of the lessons we've been learning is that the physiology of cells that we've been studying for many years in quiescent flies is not the same as the physiology of those cells when the flies actually engage in active behaviors like flying and walking and so forth. And why is the physiology different? Well it turns out it's these neuromodulators, just like the neuromodulators in that little tiny ganglion in the crabs. So here's a picture of the octopamine system. Octopamine is a neuromodulator that seems to play an important role in flight and other behaviors. But this is just one of many neuromodulators that's in the fly's brain. So I really think that, as we learn more, it's going to turn out that the whole fly brain is just like a large version of this stomatogastric ganglion, and that's one of the reasons why it can do so much with so few neurons.
Now, another idea, another way of multiplexing is multiplexing in space, having different parts of a neuron do different things at the same time. So here's two sort of canonical neurons from a vertebrate and an invertebrate, a human pyramidal neuron from Ramon y Cajal, and another cell to the right, a non-spiking interneuron, and this is the work of Alan Watson and Malcolm Burrows many years ago, and Malcolm Burrows came up with a pretty interesting idea based on the fact that this neuron from a locust does not fire action potentials. It's a non-spiking cell. So a typical cell, like the neurons in our brain, has a region called the dendrites that receives input, and that input sums together and will produce action potentials that run down the axon and then activate all the output regions of the neuron. But non-spiking neurons are actually quite complicated because they can have input synapses and output synapses all interdigitated, and there's no single action potential that drives all the outputs at the same time. So there's a possibility that you have computational compartments that allow the different parts of the neuron to do different things at the same time.
So these basic concepts of multitasking in time and multitasking in space, I think these are things that are true in our brains as well, but I think the insects are the true masters of this. So I hope you think of insects a little bit differently next time, and as I say up here, please think before you swat.
Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation.
An insect's ability to fly is perhaps one of the greatest feats of evolution. Michael Dickinson looks at how a fruit fly takes flight with such delicate wings, thanks to a clever flapping motion and flight muscles that are both powerful and nimble. But the secret ingredient: the incredible fly brain. (Filmed at TEDxCaltech.)
Most people are irritated by the buzzing of a fly's wings. But biologist Michael Dickinson views the sound with a deep sense of wonder. Full bio » | <urn:uuid:dcbaa542-e93b-4642-8c6d-c9fd795295f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_dickinson_how_a_fly_flies.html?c=610523 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968785 | 3,497 | 2.1875 | 2 |
WebMD Medical News
Laura J. Martin, MD
Sept. 8, 2010 -- People who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to reduce heart disease risk may also be cutting their risk for developing the painful inflammatory joint disease rheumatoid arthritis.
The regular use of statins was associated with a 42% reduction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk in a newly reported study of patients enrolled in one of Israel's largest health plans.
Study researcher Gabriel Chodick, MD, called the risk reduction "important and meaningful," but he says more research is needed to confirm the association.
"It would certainly be premature to suggest taking statins to prevent rheumatoid arthritis," he tells WebMD. "But one important message is that people who have been prescribed them should adhere to treatment. Right now about 75% of people who begin taking statins stop within two years."
The most widely prescribed class of drugs in the world, statins such as Crestor, Lescol, Lipitor, Pravachol, and Zocor reduce cholesterol in the blood by blocking an enzyme in the liver associated with its production.
There is also a suggestion that statins reduce systemic inflammation and may be protective against RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases.
Several studies have suggested a role for statins in slowing the progression of disease among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but others failed to find a protective benefit for statin use.
In the newly published study, Chodick and colleagues examined data on 1.8 million members of Israel's Maccabi Healthcare Services HMO. Between 1998 and 2007, 2,578 new cases of rheumatoid arthritis were identified in this group.
The analysis revealed that patients who took statins for at least eight years during the decade-long study period were roughly 40% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than people who did not take statins at all or who took them less persistently.
A more modest 15% reduction in osteoarthritis risk was seen in persistent statin users. Like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis is a chronic, degenerative joint disease. But it is not driven by inflammation, so statin use is not as likely to affect its development or progression.
The study appears in the September issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.
Harvard Medical School rheumatologist and RA researcher Daniel H. Solomon, MD, MPH, says the fact that a reduction in osteoarthritis risk was seen in long-term statin users calls into question the rheumatoid arthritis findings.
Solomon is chief of clinical sciences in rheumatology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"A more profound effect was seen for RA, but there was a reduction in osteoarthritis," he tells WebMD. "This should make us wonder if this is a direct biologic effect associated with statin use or if it is really about the fact that people who stay on statins may be more health minded in general."
Solomon says prospective studies, which follow patients over time, are warranted to better understand the role of statins, if any, in rheumatoid arthritis.
"This finding is interesting and worth pursuing," he says. "But this is not the type of study that can really tell us if there is a causal relationship."
SOURCES:Chodick, G. PLoS Medicine, September 2010; vol 7: online edition.Gabriel Chodick, PhD, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel.Daniel H. Solomon, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; chief of the section of clinical sciences in rheumatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.News release, PLoS Medicine.
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The Health News section does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information. | <urn:uuid:ef52393e-8bfc-47c1-a531-6dcade1d6b58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fox23news.com/webmd/rheumatoid/story/Cholesterol-Lowering-Drugs-May-Cut-RA-Risk/y0rnvPPAIk-3hEdZQJCejw.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95245 | 827 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The numbers keep going up.
400 bodies have been found in Darayya, which has been a site of opposition support near the Syrian capital of Damascus. That is twice as many killed last weekend than had been estimated. The killings are being described as the single worst massacre of the Syrian civil war, which is dragging into its 18th month.
Almost 5,000: This is the number of Syrian refugees that the United Nations refugee agency says is arriving in Turkey daily, up from 500 earlier in the month.
Heavy shelling is being reported in Damascus, Aleppo and northwest Idlib.
Call For a “Safe” Zone
At this point, Western powers have all but given up on a diplomatic solution. French President Francois Hollande proposed on Monday that Syria’s divided opposition seek to form a provisional government; while he said France is prepared to recognize it, the US said such a step is premature.
With what is clearly an escalating humanitarian crisis, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has proposed creating a humanitarian “safe” zone under the UN, in which refugees could be sheltered and humanitarian aid distributed. On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that creating such a buffer zone would be impossible, without imposing a no-fly zone would involve the deployment of forces on the ground.
Assad Claims He’s Routing Out Terrorists
In an interview with pro-government TV station al-Dunya, President Bashar al-Assad said that creating such a buffer zone “firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria.” He also said that the military “needs time to win the battle” and said that his government is “fighting a battle both regionally and internationally” against terrorists and others. He also claimed that he was being interviewed from within the presidential palace in Damascus; Assad’s whereabouts have been kept under wraps since a bomb in Damascus killed four senior security issues including his minister of defense in July.
Atrocities in Darayya
Survivors of the killings in Darayya are giving accounts of cold-blooded killings in which members of the militia, the Shabiha, went house to house after — a pattern seen earlier to subdue the uprising — a city was first surrounded and attacked with shelling and tanks for days.
Said a Darayya residen, Abu Mua’tasim, to the Guardian: ”The Syrian army stayed in some of the houses. One belonged to my friend. People were forced to serve them food and tea. Just before they were leaving they killed the people in the house …I know the family.”
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Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers. | <urn:uuid:2d7367fc-63ac-4d16-916b-33853ce54592> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.care2.com/causes/400-dead-darayya-massacre-bloodiest-yet-in-syria.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977515 | 596 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Speed is the rate of motion, or equivalently the rate of change in position, often expressed as distance d traveled per unit of time t.
Speed is a scalar quantity with dimensions distance/time; the equivalent vector quantity to speed is known as velocity. Speed is measured in the same physical units of measurement as velocity, but does not contain the element of direction that velocity has. Speed is thus the magnitude component of velocity.
In mathematical notation, it is simply: v = d / t
where v:speed, d:distance, and t:time.
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Post a Comment | <urn:uuid:80b0933e-3295-484b-8db5-81d478e415ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tulyn.com/speed.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919574 | 583 | 4.15625 | 4 |
for your Carpets & Flooring
Is the carpet suitable for its purpose ?
Almost all carpet samples are now labelled as to their suitability
for use in different areas of the home, under normal domestic usage.
Before finally deciding on which material is to be installed, check
carefully that it is suitable for the location for which it is intended,
not to do so could result in costly disappointment. In rooms where
a lot of computer equipment is to be used, or high tech musical
equipment, thought should be given to fitting material made especially
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have the capacity to store it, especially in a very dry environment.
Prevention of this can be effected by the introduction of moisture
into the atmosphere, perhaps by the use of humidifiers etc. In general,
long piled carpets are not suitable for use on stairs.
Secondary backed carpets, fitted over a good underlay, will give
a better performance in heavy wear areas such as living/dining rooms
Vacuum cleaning is vital in maintaining the carpets appearance
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local conditions dictate, this should be done daily to remove dry
soil, dust and grit, which can damage carpet fibers, and to restore
flattened pile to an upright position. An upright cleaner, with
strong suction and rotating brushes, is the most effective in this,
provided that the dust container is emptied frequently. Much of
the efficiency is lost as these fill up. Suction only type of cleaners
on loop pile carpets.
Accidental Spillages/Spot Cleaning
It is vital that accidental spillages are dealt with both very
quickly and correctly, as failure to do so can result in carpets
being permanently marked and, in extreme cases, severely damaged.
Any hot liquid which contains colour, from tea and coffee through
to vomit, simulates dye conditions and is vital that the substance
is removed from the carpet immediately. Scotchgard treatments, in
line with all other protective treatments, provide stain resistance
only - THEY DO NOT PROVIDE STAIN PROOFING. Their effectiveness is
still dependent on prompt and correct treatment of stains &
Golden Rules For Stains And Spillages
- NEVER USE WASHING UP LIQUIDS. Scoop up solids with a knife or
spoon. Determine method of stain removal from the chart.
- ALWAYS blot up the spillage using white absorbent paper, until
no more shows on the paper when pressure is applied.
- Before treating stain, test treatments on an inconspicuous
part of the carpet for possible colour change.
- With blotting or dabbing motion, work inwards from the edges
of the stain to prevent it spreading. NEVER rub or scrub at the
surface of the pile, this will damage the carpet surface very
badly and leave a permanent mark.
- When attempting to remove stains, ensure that the carpet is
dry before proceeding to the next step in order of treatment.
Once all the spillage has been removed, if necessary dab the affected
area with clean tepid water, taking care not to over wet the carpet,
and working inwards from the edges to prevent spreading, then
blot by applying pressure to absorbent white material.
- Once the stain is removed, allow the area to dry and at the
same time, ensure that the pile is lying in the same direction
as the main carpet. When thoroughly dry, brush the pile very gently
to loosen any residues. The area can then be vacuum cleaned to
remove all traces of both the stain and the treatment.
- NEVER walk on or place objects on damp carpets. Where accidental
staining has taken place and not been detected for some time,
the services of a professional cleaning company should be sought
as the substances will have penetrated, and dried into, the fibers
of the carpet.
Reference: Carpet Care by Cavalier | <urn:uuid:3c203982-5fe3-4115-bd83-05e2a59235b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.staffordcarpets.co.uk/carpet_care.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911955 | 845 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Alternatively Spliced Genes as Biomarkers for Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Psychosis: A Blood-Based Spliceome-Profiling Exploratory Study.
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: Transcriptomic biomarkers of psychiatric diseases obtained from a query of peripheral tissues that are clinically accessible (e.g., blood cells instead of post-mortem brain tissue) have substantial practical appeal to discern the molecular subtypes of common complex diseases such as major psychosis. To this end, spliceome-profiling is a new methodological approach that has considerable conceptual relevance for discovery and clinical translation of novel biomarkers for psychiatric illnesses. Advances in microarray technology now allow for improved sensitivity in measuring the transcriptome while simultaneously querying the "exome" (all exons) and "spliceome" (all alternatively spliced variants). The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of spliceome-profiling to discern transcriptomic biomarkers of psychosis. METHODS: We measured exome and spliceome expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 13 schizophrenia patients, nine bipolar disorder patients, and eight healthy control subjects. Each diagnostic group was compared to each other, and the combined group of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia patients was also compared to the control group. Furthermore, we compared subjects with a history of psychosis to subjects without such history. RESULTS: After applying Bonferroni corrections for the 21,866 full-length gene transcripts analyzed, we found significant interactions between diagnostic group and exon identity, consistent with group differences in rates or types of alternative splicing. Relative to the control group, 18 genes in the bipolar disorder group, eight genes in the schizophrenia group, and 15 genes in the combined bipolar disorder and schizophrenia group appeared differentially spliced. Importantly, thirty-three genes showed differential splicing patterns between the bipolar disorder and schizophrenia groups. More frequent exon inclusion and/or over-expression was observed in psychosis. Finally, these observations are reconciled with an analysis of the ontologies, the pathways and the protein domains significantly over-represented among the alternatively spliced genes, several of which support prior discoveries. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first blood-based spliceome-profiling study of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to be reported. The battery of alternatively spliced genes and exons identified in this discovery-oriented exploratory study, if replicated, may have potential utility to discern the molecular subtypes of psychosis. Spliceome-profiling, as a new methodological approach in transcriptomics, warrants further work to evaluate its utility in personalized medicine. Potentially, this approach could also permit the future development of tissue-sampling methodologies in a form that is more acceptable to patients and thereby allow monitoring of dynamic and time-dependent plasticity in disease severity and response to therapeutic interventions in clinical psychiatry.
Article: Human QKI, a potential regulator of mRNA expression of human oligodendrocyte-related genes involved in schizophrenia.[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The quaking viable mouse mutation (qk(v)) is a deletion including the 5' regulatory region of the quaking gene (Qki), which causes body tremor and severe dysmyelination in mouse. The function of the human quaking gene, called quaking homolog KH domain RNA-binding (mouse) (QKI), is not well known. We have previously shown that QKI is a new candidate gene for schizophrenia. Here we show that human QKI mRNA levels can account for a high proportion (47%) of normal interindividual mRNA expression variation (and covariation) of six oligodendrocyte-related genes (PLP1, MAG, MBP, TF, SOX10, and CDKN1B) in 55 human brain autopsy samples from individuals without psychiatric diagnoses. In addition, the tightly coexpressed myelin-related genes (PLP1, MAG, and TF) have decreased mRNA levels in 55 schizophrenic patients, as compared with 55 control individuals, and most of this difference (68-96%) can be explained by variation in the relative mRNA levels of QKI-7kb, the same QKI splice variant previously shown to be down-regulated in patients with schizophrenia. Taken together, our results suggest that QKI levels may regulate oligodendrocyte differentiation and maturation in human brain, in a similar way as in mouse. Moreover, we hypothesize that previously observed decreased activity of myelin-related genes in schizophrenia might be caused by disturbed QKI splicing.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 06/2006; 103(19):7482-7. · 9.68 Impact Factor
[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Chromosome 5q21-33 has been implicated in harboring risk genes for schizophrenia. In this paper, we report evidence that multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms in and around interleukin 3 (IL3) are associated with the disease in the Irish Study of High-Density Schizophrenia Families (ISHDSF), the Irish Case-Control Study of Schizophrenia (ICCSS) and the Irish Trio Study of Schizophrenia (ITRIO). The associations are sex-specific and depend on the family history (FH) of schizophrenia. In all three samples, rs31400 shows female-specific and FH-dependent associations (P=0.0062, 0.0647 and 0.0284 for the ISHDSF, ICCSS and ITRIO, respectively). Several markers have similar associations in one or two of the three samples. In haplotype analyses, identical risk and protective haplotypes are identified in the ISHDSF and ITRIO samples in several multimarker combinations. For ICCSS, the same haplotypes are implicated; however, the risk haplotypes observed in the family samples become protective. Several significant markers, rs440970, rs31400 and rs2069803, are located in and around known estrogen response elements, promoter and enhancer of the IL3 gene. They may explain the sex-specific associations and be functional for the expression of IL3 gene.Molecular Psychiatry 04/2007; 12(3):273-82. · 13.67 Impact Factor
[show abstract] [hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) has been found to be associated with schizophrenia in several populations. Consistently, mutant mice heterozygous for either NRG1 or its receptor, ErbB4, show a behavioral phenotype that overlaps with mouse models for schizophrenia. These observations raised the hypothesis that impaired NRG1-ErbB4 signaling may contribute to schizophrenia susceptibility. Nineteen SNPs encompassing the ErbB4 gene were selected from the HapMap database and genotyped in genomic DNA isolated from 59 Ashkenazi schizophrenia patients and 130 matched controls. Expression analysis of ErbB4 splice variants was performed on postmortem DLPFC samples obtained from Caucasian patients and controls by real-time PCR. We found a highly significant difference between patient and control groups in three SNPs from one linkage disequilibrium (LD) block both in allele (P = 0.013, 0.0045, 0.0049) and genotype frequencies (P = 0.00013, 0.000021, 0.00018), as well as a risk haplotype (P = 0.00044). Expression analysis indicated that the CYT-1 isoform is overexpressed in patients (P = 0.047) and that juxtamembrane (JM)-a displays a similar trend (P = 0.081). This study provides a direct link between ErbB4 and the disease. We propose that NRG1 and its receptor ErbB4 are components of a biological pathway, involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics 04/2006; 141B(2):142-8. · 3.70 Impact Factor | <urn:uuid:381774dc-287f-4867-8816-dc93686578b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51089173_Alternatively_Spliced_Genes_as_Biomarkers_for_Schizophrenia_Bipolar_Disorder_and_Psychosis_A_Blood-Based_Spliceome-Profiling_Exploratory_Study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902556 | 1,659 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Helen Thomas Deserves Praise
by Paul Findley
Fearless, decent seeker-of-truth Helen Thomas, 89, the preeminent challenger of political power for a half-century as dean of White House correspondents, has resigned her position with Hearts Newspapers. She acted in the wake of controversy that erupted when she told reporters “Jews should get the hell out of Palestine.” While speaking plainly on behalf of the rule of law in Occupied Palestine, her message was submerged when reporters gave it an anti-Semitic twist by quoting words out of context.
It is a sad finale to an unprecedented career in aggressive, constructive journalism. In her departure from the White House newsroom, America is the loser. The Washington press corps contains few with Thomas’ talent in challenging power close-up.
The fiascos start when Thomas made an extemporaneous burst of passion at a White House briefing in late May. She declared, “Jews should get the hell out of Palestine.” When asked where they should go, Thomas said they should “go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.” Her intent was unmistakable: Jews are unlawfully residing in Occupied Palestine and should leave. She made no reference to Jews in pre-1967 Israel, where all Jews can lawfully reside.
Out-of-context reports on her comments stirred angry controversy. Several commentators failed to report the words “America and everywhere else.” This left Thomas’ quoted words suggesting only Poland and German, countries identified with extermination camps for Jews in World War II, as the only destinations for those Thom would expel. The warped reports led Diane Nine, her longtime literary agent and friend, to cut ties. She was uninvited after agreeing to be commencement speaker at a Washington, D.C. high school, and was falsely smeared as a bigot and anti-Semite by leaders of Jewish organizations. Time columnist Joe Klein wanted her moved from her traditional front row seat to the back at future White House news briefings. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who served President George W. Bush ,! ! told reporters she should be fired by employer Hearst Newspapers or at least lose her White House credentials.
Attempts to link Thomas’ outburst to Nazi crematories are contemptible. In denouncing Thomas, Klein and others mention only Poland and Germany as places Thomas wants Jews now in Palestine to go. If they included “America and everywhere else,” as Thomas actually stated, the attempted linkage of past Holocaust crematories would be blurred if not lost.
True to her reputation, Thomas spoke up for human rights, the fundamental property rights of Palestinians that are violated at an ever-rising pace in Occupied Palestine by the government of Israel, with no serious opposition from the United States, Israel’s main benefactor. Thanks to an intimidated U.S. media, most Americans are unaware of the plight of Palestinians, who are all Arab and mostly Muslim. Almost all Jews who live in what is left of Palestine are euphemistically called “settlers” by U.S. media, not as unlawful occupiers. By residing in Palestine, they violate international law, Geneva Accords, and clear stipulations of the UN Charter. The rare exceptions are a handful of Jews who belong to a peaceful, independent sect.
This dark, undeserved cloud over the reputation of an unrelenting grand champion of human rights will have a silver lining if it awakens the American people to their own quiet, complicit role in Israel’s sustained violation of Palestinian rights.
I offer unique credentials in defending Thomas. Although a lifelong admirer, I first met her in October 2009 at a dinner in Washington. When I greeted her, she addressed me as They Dare to Speak Out Findley, using the title of my bestseller book published in 1985. At my invitation she spoke this past April to a capacity, enthusiastic crowd at Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois. While hosting her at dinner the previous evening, I found her a delightful, warm, compassionate human being dedicated to equal justice for all.
For her edifying outburst, Helen Thomas should be congratulated, not condemned. It could prove to be one of her finest contributions in our nation’s often-faltering quest for justice.
Paul Findley resides in Jacksonville, Illinois. He served 22 years as a U.S. representative from Illinois. He is famously known for his ground breaking book “Dare to Speak Out”. He is the author of a highly praised biography, A. Lincoln: The Crucible of Congress and four books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the latest being a memoir tentatively titled, Taking the High Road: Confronting Bias, Bigotry, War. It is scheduled for publication next spring by Lawrence Hill Books.
Paul Findley on Israel
Mr. Paul Findley, who served as a Republican congressman from Illinois for 22 years, is the author of ‘They Dare to Speak Out’ and a member of the American Educational Trust’s Foreign Relations Committee. This is a partial piece of a symposium on ISRAEL SET UP FOR DESTRUCTION
Paul Findley on USS Liberty
Former congressman talks about US navy ship attacked by Israel during the 1967 six day war at the ADC 2007 convention
If you liked this article, please consider making a donation to Intifada Palestine by clicking on the following PayPal link. Thank you! | <urn:uuid:c038d516-afec-436c-a19d-e697db4bc88d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/06/helen-thomas-deserves-praise/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949132 | 1,123 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Most people are able to achieve asthma control by taking 1 or 2 puffs of a controller medicine containing an inhaled steroid (such as Flovent and Pulmicort) 1 to 2 times a day. The steroids work over time to reduce inflammation in the airways and prevent permanant damage to the lungs. In addition, many people occassionally use a bronchodilator (such as Xopenex, also known as short-acting bronchodilators), to prevent exercise-induced attacks and to relieve the symptoms of an oncoming asthma attack. (It's important to note that inhaled steroids DO NOT immediately relieve asthma symptoms. Likewise, bronchodilators DO NOT relieve inflammation in the airways.)
But for people who have severe persistent asthma, an inhaled steroid is often not enough. Yes it helps, but it doesn't bring about consistent and/or complete asthma control. These people will often benefit greatly from taking a long-acting beta agonist (such as Serevent or Foradil) in addition to the inhaled steroid.
What's a beta agonist? It's a bronchodilator that asthmatics take every 12 hours to relieve and prevent bronchospasms (tightening of the airways). These long-acting beta agonists should NOT be used for breathing emergencies.
It's possible to use 2 different inhalers and take the medicines one at a time. But you do have another option -- what is called a combination inhaler. Advair is one example; Symbicort is another. Both pair an inhaled steroid with a long-acting beta agonist (or bronchodilator).
I think it's pretty obvious that using one of the combination inhalers would be more convenient than juggling 2 different inhalers (plus your short-acting bronchodilator). That's a no-brainer. But recent research has suggested that using a combination inhaler is also safer than taking the 2 types of medicine individually.
Researchers out of Kaiser Permanente did a retrospective study (meaning they analyzed past study results) to look at the safety of asthma medications. They found that people taking Advair had lower mortality rates than people taking an inhaled steroid and a long-acting beta agonist separately.
One theory is that having the drugs combined in one device just makes it easier to follow the doctor's instructions. There is simply less margin for error. But the study failed to completely rule out other possible influencing factors, so more detailed study will be needed before we can draw any lasting conclusions.
Still, it is an interesting twist on our body of knowledge about the safety of asthma medicines, and I look forward to seeing the data validated down the line. | <urn:uuid:7492c48a-5dc9-4b1f-ae6e-cf4b75765234> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/asthma/c/962/25630/combination-increased | 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 | 0.944263 | 558 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Boards and Societies
Dr. Paul Getz and Dr. Tracy Campbell are board certified by the American Board of Dermatology. The mission of the ABD is to serve the public interest by promoting excellence in the practice of dermatology through lifelong certification. It is a voluntary, non-profit, private, autonomous organization formed for the primary purpose of protecting the public interest by establishing and maintaining high standards of training, education and qualifications of physicians rendering care in dermatology. The objective of all of its activities is to provide assurance that a diplomate of the Board possesses and maintains the knowledge and skills essential for the provision of superior, specialized care to patients with cutaneous diseases.
Dr. Paul Getz and Dr. Morayo Adisa are members of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The AAD is the largest national professional society for the specialty of dermatology. With a membership of over 16,000, it represents virtually all practicing dermatologists in the United States. The Academy is committed to excellence in patient care, medical and public education, research, professionalism and member service and support. Its purposes are to educate dermatologists and the public, and to represent the specialty on issues concerning other professional organizations, the public, industry, and the government. Membership in the AAD includes board certified dermatologists, other dermatologists, and other physicians and health care providers from all over the world who have an interest in the field of dermatology.
Dr. Paul Getz and Dr. Tracy Campbell are members of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS). Founded in 1970, the ASDS and its nearly 4,700 members are at the forefront of the development of safe, in-office procedures that are saving lives by diagnosing and treating potentially deadly skin cancers earlier and more effectively.
Dr. Tracy Campbell is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues. Its members, delegates, trustees, council members, section members, medical societies and countless other physicians, medical students and staff all play an integral role in the success of the organization.
Dr. Paul Getz is a member of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS). Its vision is to be the world's preeminent resource for biomedical laser and other related technologies research, education and clinical knowledge. The Society values excellence, integrity, leadership, professionalism and a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge generation.
Dr. Tracy Campbell is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. The AACS is a professional medical society whose members are dedicated to patient safety and physician education in cosmetic surgery. Most members are dermatological surgeons, facial plastic surgeons, head and neck surgeons, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, general surgeons, plastic surgeons or ocular plastic surgeons — all of whom specialize in cosmetic surgery. AACS is the organization that represents cosmetic surgeons in the American Medical Association through its seat in the AMA House of Delegates.
Medical Professionals in Other Areas
Dr. Katherine Orlick is a skilled and experienced board-certified dermatologist in Tucson, Arizona. She offers a plethora of skin care services like laser hair removal, IPL Fotofacial and Botox® Cosmetic. At Foothills Dermatology & Facial Plastic Surgery, she teams up with facial plastic surgeon Dr. Jerold Olson. Visit their website for the complete list of services available.
Board-certified surgeon, Dr. Victor Lacombe, offers facial plastic surgery and laser skin care services to his Santa Rosa patients. Many men and women choose Dr. Lacombe to help them improve their appearance by reducing the signs of age spots, acne or pigmentation with laser skin care treatments. Visit Dr. Lacombe’s website for more detailed information.
LASIK is a blade-free vision correction procedure that is growing in popularity in California. At Pacific Eye in California, we perform this refractive eye surgery procedure as well as others like cataract eye surgery. Visit our website for the complete list of services available.
For silky, smooth skin in Orange County, California, many women visit Dr. Monica Bonakdar for laser hair removal. These treatments can be used on your legs, underarms, bikini area, back and many other areas! Visit Dr. Bonakdar’s website to learn more about this skin care service and see if it is the right choice for you!
When looking for a skilled dermatologist in San Diego for your skin care needs, many men and women go to Dermatology Specialists, Inc. This practice consists of a group of experienced physicians who work together to offer their patients a wide variety of services. Popular options include acne treatments, skin cancer surgery, Botox® Cosmetic and laser hair removal. Visit their website for more information.
Many men and women from Fresno, California look for a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon in order to enhance their appearance. Because of this, they visit cosmetic surgeon Dr. Paul Stallman. He offers a wide variety of procedures including face lifts, eyelid surgery and Botox® Cosmetic. Visit Dr. Stallman’s website for the complete list of services available.
With many years of training and experience, Dr. Susan Stuart specializes in skin care services in San Diego. Many men and women visit her in order to get a more rejuvenated appearance with Botox® Cosmetic. This treatment reduces wrinkles on your face, leaving you with a more refreshed look. Visit Dr. Stuart’s website for more detailed information.
Orange County skin care specialist, Dr. Monica Bonakdar, uses her many years of training and experience to give her patients quality results. She offers a wide variety of services including Botox® Cosmetic, laser hair removal and SmartlipoTM. Visit her website for the complete list of services available.
In order to enhance their vision, many men and women go to Shiley Eye Center in San Diego for LASIK surgery. Visit their website to learn more detailed information and see if this eye care procedure is right for you!
At The Center for Aesthetic Facial Surgery, cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Michael Menachof, is a facelift specialist. Many men and women from Denver visit him for this plastic surgery procedure as well as others like eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and Botox® Cosmetic. Visit his website for more information.
Receiving facial cosmetic surgery in Baton Rouge can be a great option for you to accomplish a balanced and more appealing appearance for your face. Learn more by contacting Dr. Kevin Duplechain and requesting a consultation.
Face lifts in Maryland and Washington, DC are one of the most frequently performed cosmetic surgery procedures. This surgery can dramatically improve your appearance by reducing signs of aging like wrinkles and sagging skin. Board-certified facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Houtan Chaboki, specializes in this procedure as well as others like eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty. Visit his website to learn more detailed information.
Dr. Anna Petropoulos is a board-certified facial plastic surgeon serving men and women from Boston, Massachusetts. She offers facial plastic surgery procedures as well as non-surgical and skin care services. Popular options include laser hair removal, Botox® Cosmetic and eyelid surgery. Visit her website for the complete list of services available.
Offering cosmetic surgery procedures and skin care services in Boston, the skilled doctors at SkinCare Physicians are determined to give their patients quality results. They offer services like eyelid surgery, liposuction and Botox® Cosmetic. Learn more detailed information about each of these procedures on their website!
When searching for a dermatology practice in the Andover area, many men and women choose Worcester Dermatology Associates, PC. Here, Dr. Seth Kates is a skilled dermatologist offering cosmetic dermatology as well as medical dermatology. Visit his website to learn about the many different services available!
Serving men and women from Detroit, Michigan, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Albert Cattell offers both clinical dermatology and cosmetic services. Popular options include laser hair removal, Botox® Cosmetic and Mohs Micrographic Surgery for skin cancer. Visit his website for more information.
Outlook Eyecare in New Jersey offers their patients laser vision correction surgery with CustomVue® LASIK. This surgery gives patients a quality of vision without glasses or contacts! Visit their website for more detailed information.
Dr. Lisa Airan is a world-class NYC cosmetic dermatologist. She offers both medical and cosmetic dermatology services including Botox® Cosmetic, injectable fillers and laser hair removal. Visit Dr. Airan’s website to learn more about her and the wide variety of services she offers.
If you live in Dallas and need skin care help, visit Dallas Center for Dermatology and Aesthetics for your dermatology needs. Their Doctors are board-certified and able to help you achieve your ideal look!
Liberty Belle Skin Centre is a laser clinic serving men and women from Melbourne. Headed by Dr. Chris Moss, they offer a variety of services including laser hair removal and vein treatments. Visit his website for the complete list of services available.
When looking to eliminate fat deposits and smooth your skin in Vancouver, many men and women visit skin care specialist, Dr. Martin Braun, for Lipodissolve. This treatment has all the same benefits as liposuction without having to having to go under general anesthesia! Visit his website for more detailed information.
Tired of shaving, waxing or even tweezing your unwanted hair? It might be time to consider laser hair removal in Calgary. At ReNue, Dr. Jason McWhirter specializes in state of the art skin care services like this, as well as others like Botox® Cosmetic and laser vein treatments. Visit his website for more detailed information.
At one of his many offices in Toronto, Ontario, board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Rival specializes in procedures like eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and ear surgery. Visit his website to learn more about each of these procedures and see which one is right for you!
Shaving, waxing or even tweezing your unwanted hair can consume a lot of time and energy. Because of this, many men and women from Calgary visit skin care specialist Dr. Jason McWhirter for laser hair removal. Visit his website to learn more about this treatment, and see if it is the right choice for you!
Hair loss can affect both men and women in Toronto, Ontario. Whether it is a receding hairline, bald patches near the crown, or just thinning hair, these signs can be reversed with a hair transplant. At Bertucci Medspa, Dr. Vince Bertucci uses a natural approach to hair transplant surgery. Visit his website to learn about this approach and book your consultation today! | <urn:uuid:cd1ce5a2-3baa-491b-b06b-3eac43e2432f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dundeedermatology.com/links.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94482 | 2,256 | 1.5 | 2 |
Inner Mongolia Museum
The Inner Mongolia Museum is a regional museum located at the intersection of Xinhua Dajie and Zhongshan Lu in the heart of Hohhot City. Covering an ...
White Pagoda, also called Wanbu Huayanjing Pagoda, is located in the White Tower Village of the east suburb of Hohhot. Being one of the famous eight ...
Five Pagoda Temple
Located in the older part of the Hohhot city in the vicinity of Qingcheng Park，the Buddhist temple Five-Pagoda is also known as the "Precious Pagod ...
100 meters away from Dazhao Temple, Xilituzhao is the largest Lamasery in Hohhot. It was originally a small temple built in 1585, and expanded to th ...
Lies in 9 km south of Hohhot and in the bank of Dahei River, Zhaojun Tomb is one of the largest Han tombs of over 2000 years. It is listed as one of ...
Dazhao Temple is the oldest building and the largest temple in Hohhot. It is located in the old part of Hohhot and was built in 1580 during Ming Dyn ...
Located 100 kilometers north of Hohhot, Xilamuren means "Yellow River" in Mongolian language. It is also called Zhaohe, because a Lama temple (Tuzha ...
Gegentala Grassland is situated 145 km north of Hohhot, meaning a grazing land in summer in Mongolian. Because of its plainness, wideness and lush g ...
Recommended China Tour Packages Including Hohhot
Find something useful to you at Easy Tour China website. | <urn:uuid:37e0f1ca-94cd-4158-93e5-dd17e7650f1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.easytourchina.com/scene-c34-hohhot | 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 | 0.950829 | 353 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Studio Urvois use open and minimalist architecture to create an intimate living space
Through a play on transparency and reflection, earthworks and rugged textures, this family house blends into the sloped pine forest of the weathered Breton coast. The initial request was to fully enjoy the views onto the oceanic environment from inside and outside and by all weather conditions. The resulting square glass pavilion, set on a half buried masonry base, offers a sheltered viewpoint onto Brittany's infamously varying and beautiful skyscape, while the lower level organises the five bedrooms' views and access onto the garden and the bay beyond.
Both levels are clearly differentiated in their construction methods and material qualities. Above, the steel structure, enclosed in a semi reflective glass envelope visually merges with the surrounding landscape during the daytime and acts as a light box in the evening. The blurring of boundaries between inside and outside is reinforced by the continuity of the slate floor tiles' pattern and even level from the common room to the terrace. The glass pavilion's open plan common room is served by an off-centred wood clad box containing the kitchen, lavatory and storage space. The adjoining glass and wood staircase and its continuous wall of shelves wall lead into the lower private quarters anticipating their warmer material qualities.
As a complement to the very open and minimalist architecture above, the lower level meets all the requirements of a habitat for intimacy, comfort and convenience. The floor finish changes to a warmer oak flooring. The central hallway, sunlit on both ends by the stairwell and a glass ceiling, connects the bedroom area to various underground utility rooms. The linear arrangement along the seaside façade provides all bedroom suites with equal views. The masonry plinth's exterior walls are clad in coloured schist stone mirroring the material quality of the surrounding pine trees and ground cover, thus merging the house into the natural environment.
The vast interior spaces translate on the outside to a mirage-like vision. From the access above, the house appears as just the glass pavilion set on the slope, the lower level nestled, invisible, into the slope, whereas from the bay, the glass's reflection of the surrounding pine trees and the dark reddish schist cladding of the base make the house entirely disappear into the coastline.
The landscape, designed by Breton landscape architect Erwan Tymen, extends the architecture into the landscape through the use of linear retaining walls, mineral textures of gravel and stone elements, and the dark reddish colors of bark ground cover.
The technical details are as follows: a composite waterproofing and insulating material on the rooftop terrace, special reflective double pane insulating glass facades and a rainwater collection system which provides 40% of water needs in the household; under floor heating with an air pump. | <urn:uuid:943e6de7-b804-4b89-a933-f0924731bbbb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=18576®ion=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927624 | 572 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Marilyn: The LIFE Covers, 1952-1962
More on LifeView Again
While the legend of Marilyn Monroe will always be closely associated with LIFE — her first cover shoot for the magazine, in April 1952, made by the great Philippe Halsman, remains one of the most famous and collectible covers in the history of the magazine — it might surprise some people to learn how seldom she actually appeared in the magazine itself.
There’s little question that LIFE recognized Marilyn’s singular, profound appeal from early on in her career, but she only graced LIFE’s cover six times while she was alive. (She appeared on several more covers after her death in August 1962, including later editions after the magazine ceased publishing as a weekly.) Six times — that’s fewer than Dwight Eisenhower, for example, while Liz Taylor holds the record with fourteen appearances on the cover of the premier photographic magazine of the age.
And yet … when one considers that Marilyn’s run of six covers occurred during a span of a mere 10 years, and that had she lived she might well have challenged Taylor’s supremacy, her close connection to the magazine — and, by extension, her centrality to the American conversation around fame, celebrity, sex and media in the 20th century — is cast in a much clearer, brighter light. On top of all that, when one recalls that several of her covers are regarded as classics (her debut and a later Halsman, from 1959, of her jumping, glancing back over shoulder; the Ed Clark shot from 1953 featuring Marilyn and Jane Russell in form-fitting red sequined dresses; a Lawrence Schiller shot of a smiling Marilyn by a pool in June 1962, just two months before her death) the notion that Marilyn helped define what LIFE looked and felt like in the 1950s takes on far greater force.
(Speaking of the 1950s, please note what might be the most incongruous clash of word-and-image ever to appear on the cover of LIFE — or on the cover of any magazine, for that matter. In the very first slide in the gallery, and quite easily overlooked by anyone whose eyes are, understandably, drawn solely to the gorgeous woman gazing out from the April 17, 1952, issue of LIFE, one can read these rather dramatic, if head-scratching, words: THERE IS A CASE FOR INTERPLANETARY SAUCERS.
Indeed? There really is a case for flying saucers? Well, well. Fascinating. Now, if we can just get back to this rising young actress named Marilyn Monroe …)
In the end, the LIFE covers on which Marilyn appeared — we’re featuring seven here in this gallery, as well as spreads from the articles that accompanied them — the covers are really just reminders of what a true movie star looked like six long decades ago. Seen today, almost exactly 50 years after her death at the age of 36, do these pictures of Marilyn assume another, deeper resonance than they might have had for, say, a LIFE subscriber in Omaha or Minneapolis or a small town in North Carolina encountering them for the first time?
Probably, yes. But if we can, even for a little while, look at these LIFE covers of Marilyn with fresh eyes, keeping at bay the knowledge of what ultimately lay in store for the still-young, troubled, enigmatic superstar, there’s a chance that we, too, can see them all over again, as if for the very first time. | <urn:uuid:905bfe98-0b4b-4aec-b97f-d7c08109bdb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://life.time.com/icons/marilyn-the-life-covers-1952-1962/?iid=nf-x-mostpop2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963884 | 725 | 1.664063 | 2 |
On Wednesday, June 1st, Mark Bayer filed his Petition for Dissolution at the Peoria County Courthouse, the first of two such petitions filed yesterday in Peoria and possibly the first same sex divorce filing in the state. The two men were married in Canada in 2006 and moved to Peoria two years later. The Bayer case could set precedent for the application of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act to a same-sax couple.
Joshua Haid, the Chicago attorney who is representing Bayer, says he expects the court will treat Bayer’s divorce no differently than any other. Before June 1st, Illinois recognized Bayer and his partner only as two people living in the same house. Now, they have all the rights and obligations of any other couple undergoing a divorce. “Yesterday my client could of been kicked out of the house,” Haid said. “Today, he could not.”
As reported by Michael Boren of the Peoria Journal Star.
Related Post: What You Need to Know About Civil Unions in Illinois | <urn:uuid:d2a1ebaf-42b2-477f-a7c2-711e55cd8501> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familylawtopics.com/2011/06/first-divorce-filing-for-same-sex-couple-in-illinois/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974442 | 219 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Teach children about love, not sex
The National Association of Headteachers is discussing whether children should be taught about pornography “in an age-appropriate way,” as part of the national curriculum. How would this work in practice? I imagine first thing on a Monday morning and the teacher’s instruction: “Take out your iPhones and click on ‘catch up red hot housewives’.” Not quite – not for the nine-year-olds, at least. It is envisaged that these younger children should be taught about “internet safety” while they would have to wait patiently until, as teenagers, they will “cover the issues in more detail.”
This is a bad idea from the start. For we know that advertising works. I mean, there are probably, even in our debauched and world-weary times, a good percentage of children who have not stumbled upon pornographic images. The proposed education programme will remedy this deficiency and so ensure that all children are acquainted with filth.
This blatant propaganda and corruption of children – for that is what it amounts to – is not excused by declaring that it will take place in an educational context. What is the difference between education and advertising? If you are to teach about the evils of pornography, you first have to show examples of what pornography is. And we know only too well that advertising works. Having been introduced to the forbidden fruit – albeit with the fruiterer’s best intentions – won’t the children wish to eat it?
Sion Humphreys, described as a “policy adviser,” says, “Children are growing up in an overtly sexualised world which includes easy access to porn, and they need the skills to deal with that.” The glibness in that statement pours out as smoothly as castor oil, but it is meaningless nonetheless. For it presupposes that there are such things as “skills” to be employed in dealing with pornography.
This sort of talk is an example of a mistake identified by Wittgenstein: “We name a process and think we understand what it is.” In other words, that policy adviser talks as if there were identifiable skills to be used to help children deal with pornography. Before uttering a puerile sentence like that, we want to know of the adviser precisely what these “skills” are. And, of course, he can’t tell us – because there aren’t any.
Pornography is an inevitable though unfortunate constituent of our decadent culture. And it is addictive, an example of what C S Lewis described as “an ever-increasing craving for an ever-decreasing pleasure”. Pornography is not erotic, but the opposite of the erotic.
So difficult the educational task, it drives me to Greek. We need to discover ways of introducing the young to eros rather than porne. Find ways to teach them what love really means.
Stop blaming the state for Britain's obesity, and start eating less and running around more
January 2nd, 2013 10:29
The Sentencing Council is a useless, expensive quango. We don't need it: sentencing should be left to judges
December 6th, 2012 16:00
The Boy Scouts were founded as a Christian organisation, not a tree-hugging 'values-based' atheist coven
December 4th, 2012 10:08
Paralysed by political correctness, the West looks on as Egypt and Syria follow Iran into Islamofascism
December 3rd, 2012 9:57
Dave's Tories are washouts, a busted flush, finished: their support is draining away to Ukip like flood water
November 30th, 2012 11:03 | <urn:uuid:89dc0a7d-db5c-4f3d-a52b-21f86908c15c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/petermullen/100186548/teach-children-about-love-not-sex/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961551 | 784 | 2.09375 | 2 |
So You Want to Be a Better Writer: Clichés
Maxie van Roye
Volume 21 Issue 18 2013-05-17
It’s crunch time, and you’ve been a bit overwhelmed. You’ve been burning the candle at both ends and finally your blood and sweat and tears have paid off. You don’t have delusions of grandeur, but you think that what you wrote turned out fairly well.
Ignorance is bliss . . . until the grades arrive. That’s when you discover to your horror that, despite your Herculean efforts, your essay fell flat.
That’s hard to swallow.
Whether you’re writing for business or pleasure—or it’s an academic requirement—the words you use matter. So here’s the deal. It goes without saying that spelling errors, improper grammar, and the like will create a poor impression. Almost worse, though, is when impeccable grammar is combined with heavy reliance on trite popular expressions. I hate to say this, but you may be sabotaging yourself with the overuse of clichés.
Clichés are easy to spot: they’re those tried and true expressions that everyone knows and everyone uses, because they’re usually on the tip of the tongue. The problem is, of course, that these tried and true expressions have been, well, tried. Many, many, many times—enough that their truth is no longer relevant, and now they’ve just become annoying.
Clichés, unfortunately, kill reader interest. Although you can use them to your heart’s content, you may find that despite your great ideas, no one will take you seriously. Your written work could be a diamond in the rough, but no one may ever know because they can’t make it past the first few paragraphs without cringing. In this dog-eat-dog world, where competition is high and first impressions matter, the movers and shakers are the ones who stand out. You don’t want to stand out as being intensely unoriginal.
So here’s a good rule of thumb: avoid clichés like the plague.
Maybe you’re thinking I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. But when all is said and done, I happen to know a thing or two about what readers (and editors) want—and what they don’t.
It’s time to get down to brass tacks. Learn the most common clichés, and keep them out of your writing. Clichés can spoil the flow of your piece—and obscure your thoughts, even if they’re otherwise brilliant. Find new, original ways of saying things instead of leaning on trite popular expressions.
Discouraged? Look on the bright side: if you had a dollar for every time this article used a cliché, odds are you’d end up filthy rich.
To comment on this article, email email@example.com.
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Why the Millennium Seed Bank partnership is helping to save the world's plants
Plants are important for life, and some plants and habitats are under threat. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership is helping to save the world's plants and habitats at risk of extinction.
MSB's Michiel Van Slageren and Micah Visoiu of DPIW, collecting seeds on the road between Mount Field and Strathgordon, close to the World Heritage Area national park in south-central Tasmania, Australia
Seed banks provide insurance against the loss of plant species in the wild. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership (MSBP) has already saved the seeds from six plant species that are now extinct in the wild. We have saved the seeds from many more species that are down to just a few plants.
Most of the seeds saved at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank will survive for decades under seed bank conditions. Many will remain viable for hundreds of years. Visit the MSBP's seed count to find out how many new species and seeds we've saved.
Safeguarding the power of plants for our future
Seed banks provide options for the future use of plants. Scientists at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership test each seed collection to make sure we know how to germinate them. This means we can turn the seeds we conserve into plants in the future and investigate their properties to find out if they can be used in new ways.
If these plants are lost in the wild, our seeds will be the only remaining material from these species available for use in medicines, crop improvements, and all other uses of plants.
Saving habitats world wide
Seed banks also provide a source of high quality seed material for use in the recovery and restoration of threatened plants and habitats.
Some of our partners in the UK have successfully reintroduced starfruit to Greenham Common helping to secure the future of one of the UK's most rare aquatic plants. Our partners in the USA have regenerated tall grass prairie ensuring the re-establishment and long-term protection of a highly endangered ecosystem.
Our work in Madagascar has also resulted in the rehabilitation of mined lands. This is important because mining activities in the counrty have previously caused depletion of littoral forest zones. With a management programme in place, improved stewardship of these forests will ensure their protection and sustainable use by the local people that rely on them.
How you can help...
Plants are under threat in today's world. If we continue on our current path, we will lose a species a day for the next 50 years.
By making a donation to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership, you can help one of the largest and most ambitious conservation projects in the world make a real difference. Find out how your donation can make a difference.
Keep up to date with events and news from Kew | <urn:uuid:19fcd865-8b4c-4e54-93a0-ff7d724d50d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/save-seed-prosper/millennium-seed-bank/about-the-msb/seed-banks-save-plants/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930096 | 587 | 3.421875 | 3 |
SIMPLE PRINTERS' FLEURON
I LANSTON TYPE COMPANY I GERALD GIAMPA I
¶ ONE OF THE DESIGN PROOFS of a work in progress for the John Dreyfus. You can easily find the cut, snip and slide movements of the typographical ornaments on the left hand side of the page. If you look you will see evidence of other cut, paste and repeats.
The finished material was in soft colours and was intended for the book binding. Pictures to follow in the near future.
To illustrate the John Dreyfus book, a fixed number of units where used. Not nearly as many as is shown here.
OVERLAY DISCOVERS NEW PATTERNS
¶ THIS PIECE WAS BUILT FROM TRIANGLE ORNAMENTS turned left and right, up and under. This is a work in progress. The typographical suites of fleurons were inked, newsprint proofs were pulled. | <urn:uuid:49f7a4ef-cb57-4cfb-b24b-99e3b752c5de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.p22.com/lanston/giampa/DreyfusProofs.html | 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 | 0.943884 | 206 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Oct. 25th blog post, www.merrylibrarian.com
Book drops. It seems simple, doesn’t it? A name like “book drop” doesn’t leave much room for mystery…you’d think.
A recent poll of librarians has proven otherwise, however. Across the nation, patrons of public libraries have confused a book drop with trash receptacles, a donation box, urinals, chicken coops… The list goes on and on.
While we may never understand how or why this confusion occurs, we do know that the result of patron confusion–though sometimes disturbing–is frequently amusing. So, until the government provides libraries with several billion dollars to launch an education campaign on proper book drop use, we have taken it upon ourselves to provide you with this useful list of book drop dos and don’ts–all based on the true stories that have been sent in from around the world.
1. Situation: You work at a library in the city of Las Vegas, NV. As you approach the book drop, you hear the sound of squawking and scratching.
Don’t…Assume you’re crazy. You may be miles from the nearest farm, but there actually are chickens in your book drop…complete with food and water. Hey, it happens.
Do… Tell your coworkers to fire up the bar-be-que, baby!
2. Situation: Upon opening the book drop, you are pummeled by the stench of garbage. And on top of the rubbish heap in your book drop? A used maxi pad.
Don’t…Toss your cookies into the book drop. You’d only have to clean that up, too. -- Read More | <urn:uuid:e2987e3a-9eb7-480d-b69f-9128d618d054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lisnews.org/blog/merrylibrarian | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93289 | 367 | 1.929688 | 2 |
SHPE Foundation directs and operates several national initiatives for Hispanic middle school and high school students across the United States are mentored to pursue a technical career in engineering, science, math, and technology. These programs are intended to both enrich students' educational experience and recruit students into engineering fields of study. Students have the opportunity to perform hands-on activities, learn about college admission requirements, college financial aid, college expectations, and scholarships opportunities, participate in competitions, and attend workshops and seminars hosted by prominent Latino/a scientists and engineers working with cutting-edge technology.
In summary, SHPE Foundation pre-college programs are meant to encourage and motivate Latino/a students to:
- Complete high school
- Attend college, preferably a 4-year college/university
- Pursue a college major in science, technology, engineering or math or related field
- Pursue a technical career.
Following is a brief description of the pre-college initiatives and partnerships directed and managed by SHPE Foundation. For additional information, select the menu options on the left.
ACE Mini-Grants – Competitive funding opportunity for SHPE Jr, student and professional chapters to conduct local pre-college educational enrichment and outreach activities.
SHPE Jr. Chapters – Formal network of chapter programs residing in local high schools in connection with a SHPE student and/or SHPE professional chapter. High school students are provided mentorship, tutoring and other educational enrichment services throughout the year and receive special incentives for other programs.
Pre-College Symposia – The Pre-College Symposia convenes over 1000 middle school and high school students to the largest HIspanic pre-college national conference focus on STEM. The three-day conference includes workshops on college choice, financial aid and careers in STEM, college fair, and events and activities focused on STEM.
Regional Science Bowls – In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, provides Hispanic middle school and high school students a “jeopardy”-style competition on biology, chemistry, physics, math, astronomy, earth science and general science.
Edu-Comic Book – Provides middle school students an entertaining yet educational insight into engineering. | <urn:uuid:8de72c31-6078-4beb-b352-6874ebdebf5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shpefoundation.org/pre-college/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937409 | 448 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Children’s Hospital Model – Scale 1:200
We were very pleased to be involved with this extremely important local project. This compact, portable model is being used to help raise funds to build the second phase of the much needed Children’s Hospital for Wales. The proposed new building is modelled in full colour and detail adjacent to the existing phase 1 building which is shown as a white massing block. The rest of the general hospital context buildings can be seen in the background, shown as grey massing blocks.
University Campus Model – Scale 1:333
Produced for Queens University Belfast, this master-planning model was commissioned to illustrate the existing and proposed developments within the university’s Health Sciences campus. A major part of the model making process involved the co-ordination of many different drawings for the numerous buildings on site. As well as this, a lengthy site visit was required during which we took over 300 photographs and surveyed the general levels across the overall area of the model. The significant buildings were modelled in high detail with the context buildings shown as accurate massing blocks.
Posted by luke
Private House Model – Scale 1:100
One of the main requirements of this model is to illustrate how the building design addresses this steeply sloping site, not just externally but also internally. The building actually separates out into three layers to expose the proposed internal room layout. There are two houses on the site, a main house and a guest house and both have lift-off layers to show the internal views. To facilitate transportation, the model is also made in two sections with the join being between the two houses. The first part of this model was made before Christmas – if you click on November 2009 (on the left side of this page) you’ll be able to see the earlier photographs.
Private House Model – Scale 1:100
We had an extremely busy month through November but unfortunately we can’t show most of these projects as they are currently confidential (the client is a huge international financial institution). We have, however had permission to show this model of a proposed private house in Cannes. The purpose of the model is to illustrate how the design addresses this steeply sloping site, not just externally but also internally, and to this end the building actually separates out into three layers to expose the proposed internal room layout. We haven’t been able to take any proper photographs of this model as yet because it is still a work in progress. There is a second part of the site still to make which should be completed early next year and that is when we plan to feature it properly in these pages.
Bridge Model – Scale 1:12
The object of this model was to illustrate the advantages of the client’s product, a quick to install, combined kerbstone/drainage system specially designed for bridge constructions. The model had to be made to this large scale (it’s 2.5m long) so that the functionality of the design could be instantly understood by the viewer. Click on the Enlarge Image feature and judge for yourself whether it does the job. The display was actually commissioned for use at a trade exhibition in Saudi Arabia. This meant we had to design it so it could be flat-packed into a purpose-built flight case and still be easily assembled by the client on site. We also steered the client towards some very nice, off-the-shelf 1:12 scale cars which he bought himself and placed on the model to bring it to life. | <urn:uuid:b988903b-f6d9-46db-825c-4bcb46fb70ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.modelmakers-uk.co.uk/recent-projects/default.aspx?tag=/architectural-model&page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97501 | 723 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Emphasizing the value of a liberal arts education, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman addresses the crowd of 10,000 students and guests assembled on the front lawn of Nassau Hall for the University's 265th Commencement. The University awarded degrees to 1,230 undergraduates in the Class of 2012, five from other classes and 832 graduate students.
Photo by Denise Applewhite
Valedictorian Nathaniel Fleming reminds his classmates that the fundamental lessons they learned at Princeton will serve them well regardless of their ultimate career path.
Photo by Denise Applewhite
Shin-Yi Lin, a molecular biology Ph.D. graduate, celebrates with her 8-month-old daughter, Una.
Photo by David Kelly Crow
Senior Elizabeth Butterworth, a classics major from Auburn, Mass., delivers the Latin Salutatory, the University's oldest student honor.
Photo by Denise Applewhite
Tilghman to graduates: Cultivate possibilities of a liberal arts education
Posted June 5, 2012; 07:00 p.m.
Making a stand for a liberal arts education in today's difficult economic climate, Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman urged graduates to bring to the fore the talents they have developed as they embark on the future.
"In a world that is changing as rapidly as ours, developing the capacity to learn new things is as critical as how well you think or how much you know," Tilghman said June 5 in her annual Commencement address. "Your education is the best vaccine I know against early obsolescence."
Speaking to a crowd of approximately 10,000 students and guests assembled on the front lawn of Nassau Hall, Tilghman championed a liberal education in the face of "economic hard times" that "always elicit calls for more goal-oriented education."
Degree candidates from Princeton's Graduate School applaud during the Commencement ceremony. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Arguing against efforts to shrink the breadth of higher education, Tilghman maintained that the "kind of thinking" that emphasizes education merely as a means to specific jobs is misguided.
"It is ironic that these calls for more outcome-oriented education in the U.S. come at precisely the moment when other nations are racing precisely in the opposite direction," Tilghman said. "They have taken note of the immense creativity of the American economy over the past 50 years, and have concluded that education in the liberal arts promotes in citizens innovation, independent thinking and the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries."
As other nations have begun to believe that an education that "specializes too early and too narrowly produces well-trained technocrats but very few innovators," Tilghman said she "rejects the notion that a liberal arts degree has suddenly become obsolete."
Graduating seniors Dustin Davidson, left, and Paolo Iaccarino get a hug on Cannon Green after the ceremony. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Tilghman offered the example of James Madison, a member of the Class of 1771 and the fourth president of the United States, who pursued far-ranging intellectual interests while at Princeton, which she said helped build a foundation for his public career. Tilghman explained that Madison was "a leader in the crusade to found a free and independent nation" and was the author of "a number of the most important documents that guide our nation to this day," including the framework for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
"Without taking anything away from Madison's towering intellect, I would argue that the years he spent at Princeton, engaged in the study of subjects such as mathematics and political philosophy, powerfully prepared him for his life's work," Tilghman said.
She said that Madison's accomplishments at Princeton remain relevant to today's Princetonians. "Just as the nascent United States depended upon well-educated individuals who brought historical perspective, political theory and a sympathy for the complexity of human nature to the task of designing a new nation, both this country and the dozens of others represented on this lawn today need thoughtful, open-minded and well-informed citizens to chart their course and influence their future. No, we are not about to administer the last rites for a liberal education."
Noting that a liberal education is not the "only valuable form of education," Tilghman said that "to be successful in the 21st century, just as in the 18th century, a society requires citizens who are steeped in history, literature, languages, culture, and scientific and technological ideas from ancient times to the present."
She also emphasized that a "liberal education is a privilege that brings with it a responsibility to use your education wisely, as much for the benefit of others in your community and nation and the world as for your own private good."
Concluding the address with her traditional send-off, Tilghman said: "So, as you walk, skip or run through the FitzRandolph Gates today, as citizens of this and many other nations, I hope you will carry forward the spirit of Princeton and the liberal education you have received. The future is now in your hands. And I expect you to do as you have done at Princeton — to aim high and be bold!"
The front campus, facing Nassau Hall, overflows with students in gowns and mortarboards, as they are awarded Princeton degrees and become graduates. (Photo by David Kelly Crow)
Pomp and circumstance
Tilghman shared the podium with two Princeton seniors: valedictorian Nathaniel Fleming, a psychology major from Eugene, Ore.; and salutatorian Elizabeth Butterworth, a classics major from Auburn, Mass.
Fleming told his classmates that the knowledge they have acquired while at Princeton will prepare them for the future. "Don't just think of yourself as a chemical engineer, as a sociologist, as a consultant; we have lots of those already. We do not have any more of you. Bring your own individual knowledge and experiences to your work," he said. "Think of your Princeton transcript as your fingerprint: Nobody else has the same one, and your complete list of classes — including that random one that you took senior year because it looked like fun — helps define your unique intellectual identity. Use this to your advantage."
Tilghman joins faculty members who were recognized with President's Awards for Distinguished Teaching: (from left) Daniel Rodgers, Carol Greenhouse, Jeffrey Schwartz and Maria Garlock. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Butterworth delivered the salutatory address in Latin, one of her key areas of study. The Princeton tradition dates to the first Commencement in 1748, when the entire ceremony was conducted in Latin. The Latin Salutatory, Princeton's oldest student honor, began as a serious, formal address, but today it often contains humorous tributes, recollections and a farewell to Princeton campus life.
Butterworth honored Princeton as the "best alma mater in the world," noting that "here in your embrace we cultivated virtue, knowledge and friendship." She said: "Be well, my friends. Today we come to a sad parting, but not to the end of our friendships. Daily I will see your images on Facebook! And we will come together again and again at Reunions, so that we may rejoice in Bacchus bringing sweet memories."
Honorary degree recipients pictured with Tilghman and University Orator Stephen Oxman (second from left) were: (from left) Peter Carril, Eduardo Padrón, Karen Uhlenbeck, Joseph Taylor Jr., Joan Wallach Scott and Aretha Franklin. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
The University awarded degrees to 1,230 undergraduates in the Class of 2012, five from other classes and 832 graduate students at its 265th Commencement. It also conferred honorary doctoral degrees upon six people for their contributions to athletics, music, education, the humanities and science: Peter Carril, basketball Hall-of-Famer and former Princeton coach; Aretha Franklin, the singer known as "the Queen of Soul"; Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College; Joan Wallach Scott, the Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study; Joseph Taylor Jr., the James McDonnell Distinguished Professor of Physics Emeritus at Princeton; and Karen Uhlenbeck, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair in Mathematics at the University of Texas-Austin.
As it does each year, Princeton honored excellence in teaching at the Commencement ceremony. Four Princeton faculty members received President's Awards for Distinguished Teaching and four outstanding secondary school teachers from across New Jersey also were recognized for their work.
Christopher Campisano (left), director of Princeton's Program in Teacher Preparation, and Tilghman gather with the outstanding New Jersey secondary school teachers who were honored at Commencement: (from left) Enzo Paterno, Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, Edison; Victorina Wasmuth, Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Jersey City; Dana Maloney, Tenafly High School, Tenafly; and Daniel Kaplan, Matawan Regional High School, Aberdeen. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Other honors for students were presented over the last few days of the academic year. Six graduate students were honored for excellence in teaching during the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni's Tribute to Teaching Reception June 2. Advanced degree candidates participated in the Hooding ceremony in McCarter Theatre on June 4, where the keynote speaker was columnist and author George Will.
In his address, Will, a 1968 Princeton graduate alumnus and a member of the University's Board of Trustees, urged the degree recipients to communicate the value of the academy to broader society, and also to "communicate the sheer fun of the intellectual life."
Seniors share a laugh before the start of the Commencement ceremony. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Also on June 4, seniors were recognized at Class Day ceremonies, where the keynote speaker was actor and comedian Steve Carell. He lightheartedly lamented the waning of personal interaction in the Digital Age, before closing with some "helpful hints." He said: "Every once in a while, put something positive into the world. We've become so cynical these days — and by 'we,' I mean us. So do something kind. Make someone laugh. And don't take yourself too seriously."
At the Baccalaureate service the day before, author and journalist Michael Lewis, a 1982 Princeton graduate, spoke about how good fortune plays an important role in success. "Life's outcomes, while not entirely random, have a huge amount of luck baked into them," he said. "Above all recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with luck comes obligation."
Graduate Eric Kim, center, is joined on the steps of Clio Hall with his father, Youngjun Kim, and his mother, Karen Kim, after the ceremony. (Photo by Denise Applewhite)
Commencement is the last of the many festivities enjoyed by graduating students. It is an occasion filled with an array of emotions — especially jubilation — as Princetonians connect with each other while looking to the future. (Photo by David Kelly Crow) | <urn:uuid:d97a7524-0e16-4024-97d5-593588a3acf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S33/89/17G94/index.xml?section=featured | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96471 | 2,333 | 1.710938 | 2 |
CNN: New York state Senate passes anti-bullying bill
From Julie Cannold, CNN
June 23, 2010 8:52 p.m. EDT
New York (CNN) -- The New York state senate passed passed an anti-bullying bill Tuesday night to protect all students from discrimination, including that based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The state assembly had already passed the bill -- as it had eight times previously in the last 11 years -- and Gov. David Paterson is expected to sign it into law. Bill sponsor Sen. Thomas Duane said it will be "the first time protections for our transgendered community will be enshrined in New York law."
"The language included protections based not just on sexual orientation but also gender identity and expression," said Duane, "and unfortunately there was resistance to being inclusive of people of transgender experience and generally the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community."
But a spokesman for Sen. Dale Volker, one of three Republicans to vote against the bill in the otherwise bipartisan 58-3 vote, denied that his "no" vote had anything to do with gender identity or sexual orientation.
"No one wants children to be bullied," said C.D. Miller, Volker's spokesman. "It's an inequitable bill. It only protected children from bullying in public schools and did not afford students who attend other schools like Catholic, Lutheran or Jewish schools the same protection."
Courts have generally ruled that government cannot make laws pertaining to the internal workings of private schools, particularly religious schools.
The "Dignity for All Students Act" calls on school officials to address bullying and bias-related harassment of all kinds that interfere with student safety and learning.
With the bill, New York joins only a handful of other states with an "enumerated" anti-bullying bill, meaning that it specifically lists the types of bullying and discrimination it covers. New York's bill bans harassment of students by employees and other students while on school property, prohibits discrimination based on race, color, weight, nationality, ethnic group, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender and requires the reporting of bias related incidents to the state Education Department.
Right wing organizations like the American Family Association have lobbying against the bill and others like it, arguing its enumeration of the types of bullying prohibited make bullying a "thought crime."
In addition, the bill requires schools to develop guidelines to be used in school training programs to discourage discrimination and to incorporate harassment awareness and sensitivity training into the education curriculum.
"No child should be terrified to go to school simply because of who they are. There is no place for bullying and discrimination in New York's classrooms," said Duane.
To read the full article, click here.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 00:00 | <urn:uuid:cea69952-d7f9-4315-8ff6-3c41d8e2169e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nysenate.gov/news/cnn-new-york-state-senate-passes-anti-bullying-bill | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954803 | 580 | 2.171875 | 2 |
“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. If a writer can make people live there may be no great characters in his book, but it is possible that his book will remain as a whole; as an entity; as a novel. If the people the writer is making talk of old masters; of music; of modern painting; of letters; or of science then they should talk of those subjects in the novel. If they do not talk of these subjects and the writer makes them talk of them he is a faker, and if he talks about them himself to show how much he knows then he is showing off. No matter how good a phrase or a simile he may have if he puts it in where it is not absolutely necessary and irreplaceable he is spoiling his work for egotism. Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over. For a writer to put his own intellectual musings, which he might sell for a low price as essays, into the mouths of artificially constructed characters which are more remunerative when issued as people in a novel is good economics, perhaps, but does not make literature. People in a novel, not skillfully constructed characters, must be projected from the writer’s assimilated experience, from his knowledge, from his head, from his heart and from all there is of him. If he ever has luck as well as seriousness and gets them out entire they will have more than one dimension and they will last a long time. A good writer should know as near everything as possible. Naturally he will not. A great enough writer seems to be born with knowledge. But he really is not; he has only been born with the ability to learn in a quicker ratio to the passage of time than other men and without conscious application, and with an intelligence to accept or reject what is already presented as knowledge. There are some things which cannot be learned quickly and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things and because it takes a man’s life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave. Every novel which is truly written contributes to the total of knowledge which is there at the disposal of the next writer who comes, but the next writer must pay, always, a certain nominal percentage in experience to be able to understand and assimilate what is available as his birthright and what he must, in turn, take his departure from. If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. A writer who appreciates the seriousness of writing so little that he is anxious to make people see he is formally educated, cultured or well-bred is merely a popinjay. And this too remember; a serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.”
To be truthful, some writers stop you dead in your tracks by making you see your own work in the most unflattering light. Each of us will meet a different harbinger of personal failure, some innocent genius chosen by us for reasons having to do with what we see as our own inadequacies.
The only remedy to this I have found is to read a writer whose work is entirely different from another, though not necessarily more like your own—a difference that will remind you of how many rooms there are in the house of art.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
One day I will find the right words and they will be simple.
Good humor may be said to be one of the very best articles of dress one can wear in society.
Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficity disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.
Yesterday at work (remember I work now at a bookstore), a young teen, about sixteen, asked me for the bookLord of the Flies by William Goldin. As I was searching for it in our system he proceeded to tell me that he had read it once and did not like it. I told him I had read the book when I was about his age and said I actually enjoyed it.
Before he let me finish explaining why, he responded by telling me that he knew it was a good book because it had a deeper meaning. For the next few seconds he attempted to detail to me that deeper meaning. Unfortunately I had a customer come up and interrupt our conversation so I was not able to let him know one important point I wanted to make.
Regardless of whether the book had what he thought was a “deeper meaning”, and despite the fact that I enjoyed it but he did not, these factors do not necessarily make the story good. On one level—the literary or technique of writing level, the story is, in fact, a good story. But I understood what he meant, he did not prefer that story because his tastes where of a different ilk. I wanted to explain to him that that was actually okay, not to get discouraged as a reader. Keep trying to find works that you enjoy, there are millions of books out there and certainly of those he could find plenty of stories he’ll end up enjoying—some with “deeper meanings.”
The thing that struck me about him was that he had a pretty good grasp of what Golding had written in Lord of the Flies, and in my experience this is rare for sixteen year old boys. Most sixteen year old boys don’t give a rat’s ass about Golding, his stories, or whether they understand them or not. I was afraid he mistook my comment that I enjoyed Lord of the Flies as a message that because I enjoyed it, he must enjoy it too. That was certainly not my intent. I hope he continues to read.
A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason. | <urn:uuid:9d393ad5-0625-4f35-a583-1eb025487887> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wordpainting.tumblr.com/tagged/PROSE | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988957 | 1,457 | 2.15625 | 2 |
As a sole trader, there’s no one to rev me up when I’m down. What can I do?
This week’s Secret Soloist is answered by Franz Madlener, consultant and former CEO and founder of Villa & Hut.
What a great question! I could start by saying that you could write a book on trying to give the definitive answer – but then it occurred to me – hundreds of thousands of books have already been written on that exact question.
Enough to fill a library or a bookshop: Maybe then, that’s the place to start.
A library or a good bookshop – it’s amazing the motivation we can find in reading about the journey of other entrepreneurs and businesses.
The one thing that has always resonated with me, as a constant theme in all the different business books that I have read, is that the journey of a business is about beginning and failing, beginning and failing, and beginning and failing again.
Every time we begin, we are preparing to learn from what fails. Every time we fail, we begin again and, as we do this, we grow stronger and more motivated to keep going.
Maybe not with the exact same goal that we set out with, but one we are proud to have evolved to its eventual success.
No one knows exactly how a tree will grow when we plant the seeds. The same goes with our business.
Anything substantial and worthwhile is difficult – well before it is easy.
Here are my five key tips to staying motivated:
- Get a mentor – Someone who believes in you as a person, and brings business acumen to your venture.
- Read motivational and inspirational business books. It’s much easier to understand your own journey when you understand another’s journey.
- Have a definite plan, with a beginning, middle and end goal in mind. It would be impossible for me to stay motivated running a marathon if I didn’t have the finish line in mind. Keep that goal visible in a written format. Look at it as often as you can. Visualise it. Then do it.
- Give yourself at least 30 minutes a day to think positive and focused thoughts about what you need to do next. You are not flotsam. You are the lead ship.
- Look at knockbacks as one step closer to your eventual success. Edison needed 10,000 failures to finally invent the light globe. When questioned, he famously quipped: “I wasn’t failing; I just found another way that it wouldn’t work. Eventually I had to find a way that it would work.” | <urn:uuid:0c2b856d-affd-4e2b-8732-7e2cb267ed7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startupsmart.com.au/sole-trader/ive-started-working-for-myself-and-i-find-motivation-a-struggle-at-times.-theres-no-one-to-rev-me-up-when-im-down.-what-can-i-do.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967895 | 550 | 1.523438 | 2 |
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, September 2, 1912: Had to go to school, even if it is labor day. We had this day off last year.
Cold isn’t much better. Have to blow my whistle almost all the time, which constant usage make it rather sore and pink.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
It’s interesting that in 1911 the students didn’t have to go to school on Labor Day—but that in 1912 they did. Was Labor Day an important holiday in 1912?
A quick scan of newspaper headlines from September 2, 1912 shows that in 1912 the nation was engaged in a debate over the role of labor and unions (as well as whether woman should be paid the same as men).
Representative Newspaper Headlines
Labor Day, September 2, 1912
Cathedral Packed for Labor Service: Mgr. Lavelle Points Out Socialism’s Weakness to Vast Throng of Union Men (New York Times)
Labor Day Parade: Large Squad of Police Detailed to Assist in Keeping Order-Line of March (Los Angeles Times)
Labor Will Parade Today, While City Lends Cheers: Predicted That 50,000 Persons Will Attend Celebration at Armory (Minneapolis Morning Tribune)
Minnesota State Fair to Open This Morning: Exposition Gates to be Thrown Wide to Northwest Visitors: Labor Program Planned (Minneapolis Morning Tribune)
Urges Pay Raise to Save Women: Bishop Samuel Fallows Advocates Putting Them on an Equal Basis with Men: Bar to Immorality (Chicago Daily Tribune) | <urn:uuid:ac513da0-ab89-4cc9-9e2c-8e86edea0fc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ahundredyearsago.com/2012/09/02/newspaper-headlines-labor-day-1912/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920643 | 343 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO, tells the Reuters Global Tech Summit that he'll talk to politicians who back local car dealers trying to keep Tesla from selling directly to consumers. Video
EU and Singapore agree free trade deal
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Singapore agreed terms of a free trade deal on Sunday, a move that should further open the Asian country's markets for financial services and make it easier for European automakers to export there.
"We have finalized the negotiations, and I'm very pleased with the result," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told Reuters by telephone from Singapore.
After the completion of negotiations by the European Commission, the EU executive, member states and the European Parliament need to sign off for the agreement to come into force.
Though EU countries have in the past sometimes rejected such deals for political reasons, this is unlikely to happen with Singapore, as EU leaders in October called for a swift conclusion of negotiations.
"I don't expect that many problems," De Gucht said, adding he hoped for finalization by the end of 2013.
The bloc hopes the agreement will give it better access to Singapore, one of Asia's richest countries per head of population, where currently the United States enjoys preferential access.
Singapore has a population of only 5 million, but it is also a gateway to the 600 million people in the fast-growing economies of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The EU is the city state's second biggest trade partner after neighboring Malaysia, with bilateral trade in goods amounting to 46 billion euros ($60 billion) in 2011. The EU had a trade surplus of 8 billion euros, with cars making up a large chunk of its exports.
Singapore's import tariffs are low. The deal will remove non-tariff barriers such as the double testing of cars, as Singapore would start to recognize EU standards, EU officials say.
Other key benefits would be the further opening of Singapore's banking and financial services sector, as well as better access to its public procurement markets.
The push for free trade agreements comes as the EU struggles with a sovereign debt crisis and tries to supplement stagnant domestic consumer demand with free trade pacts with major economies.
A deal with South Korea came into effect last year and one with Canada is near completion. EU trade ministers agreed in November to start negotiations with Japan, while preliminary talks are underway for an agreement with the United States.
EU trade officials want the Singapore deal to set a precedent for trade deals with other countries in ASEAN. The EU is currently negotiating free trade pacts with Malaysia and Vietnam, and hopes one day to forge a region-to-region trade agreement.
"What I think is more important" than just trade with Singapore, said De Gucht, is "setting a number of standards in services that we will try to enlarge to the whole region".
(Reporting by Sebastian Moffett; Editing by Mark Potter)
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Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Driverless Cars
Fellow Ryan Calo spoke with John Markoff of the New York Times on why possible new legislation legalizing self-driving cars in Nevada would serve as a great template for the process of testing these vehicles.
Google, a pioneer of self-driving cars, is quietly lobbying for legislation that would make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public roads.
And yes, the proposed legislation would include an exemption from the ban on distracted driving to allow occupants to send text messages while sitting behind the wheel.
The two bills, which have received little attention outside Nevada’s Capitol, are being introduced less than a year after the giant search engine company acknowledged that it was developing cars that could be safely driven without human intervention.
“In some respects this is a great template and a great model,” said Ryan Calo, a legal scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “It recognizes a need to create a process to test these vehicles and set aside an area of Nevada where testing can take place.” | <urn:uuid:3899a6c9-e266-434b-bc5e-7aabe0be92bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.stanford.edu/news/google-lobbies-nevada-to-allow-driverless-cars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96141 | 226 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The longest day
"We are fast approaching the longest day of the year and for Scots the benefits of living far north are manifest in the long, light nights. It sometimes seems as though the sun barely sets, the low rays splashing the evening sky with colour as beautiful as an impressionist painting.
"Whilst many people will be marking midsummer with a celebration of the summer solstice, Heritage & Culture has gone for her polar opposite and gets up close to the moon. It is thought by many archaeologists that a number of Scotland's great stone circles were constructed primarily to measure not the journey of the sun, but the moon. Read all about druids and moon worship during one extraordinary night in the Callanish standing stones on the Isle of Lewis."
Thanks, Extra! Extra!
Tagged: astronomy, pagan, calendar+customs | <urn:uuid:01d9b7e1-1b36-445b-aabd-86f278a478bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wilsonsalmanac.blogspot.com/2006/06/longest-day.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957802 | 172 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Tips for Preparing a Consultation Strategy
It is a good idea for local governments to prepare an overall consultation strategy, outlining their commitment to supporting and resourcing good consultation practices.
- Remember there are many good local government consultation strategies around, with many examples included on this site. Use them to prepare one in conjunction with your own community.
- Highlight the issues around consultation in your community before you begin preparing a strategy.
- Conduct extensive consultation inside your organisation. All the different elements of the organisation (including the political and administrative parts) need to be engaged. Make sure you identify all the issues over which consultation can occur. Also, remember that staff also have a contribution to make to its development.
- In-principle support from the council and senior management is critical. It is important that the decision-makers genuinely believe or are willing to accept that consultation enhances decision-making and is a legitimate aspiration of communities.
- A consultation strategy might be structured as follows:
A consultation strategy should include a commitment to using consultation in all significant council activities and ensuring that consultation is appropriately resourced.
The draft consultation strategy should itself be the subject of consultation
It should be a dynamic document, always be open to review and improvement.
- Introduction - outlines why the council is developing a strategy and the role consultation plays in the council's corporate plan
- Why council consults - the costs and benefits of consultation
- Principles of good consultation - council's statement of the principles which underpin good consultation
- When council will consult - situations in which the council will consult its community.
- How council will consult - methods the council will use, depending on the issue in question. Information on this website can be used as a starting to point and tailored according to the needs of your particular council and community | <urn:uuid:fd71c647-a0f5-4caf-a7c1-898bcbe38fe4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vlga.org.au/Resources/Consultation_and_Engagement/Preparing_a_Consultation_Strategy.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914456 | 368 | 2.03125 | 2 |
The Transition to Teaching (TTT) Program at Ball State University is designed for highly motivated and qualified individuals who seek an Indiana teaching license after having completed an academic degree and experience in another field. The elementary program is designed to give intensive field experiences to the teacher candidates while they are completing distance and on-campus courses and seminars. Ball State is committed to providing a quality program that prepares candidates to meet all the requirements of licensure and the Indiana standards for teaching. The TTT Program allows competent professionals in fields other than teaching an option for obtaining a license to teach in the state of Indiana. For information on this program, please contact Shawn Sriver. Frequently Asked Questions Transition to Teaching Scholarship
Transition to Teaching Program in Elementary Education The elementary TTT Program consists of 3 semesters, which include 24 hours of coursework and field experiences. Each cohort group begins in the summer with courses on campus at Ball State. During the fall and spring, students complete guided and intensive field experiences and on-line coursework.
Copyright © 2013 Ball State University 2000 W. University Ave. Muncie, IN 47306
800-382-8540 and 765-289-1241 | <urn:uuid:71128bba-c196-4cce-80a3-26fc2fd803bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/Teachers/AcademicProg/TransitionTeaching.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932906 | 240 | 1.65625 | 2 |
A Geek's Eye View: Understanding New Jersey's Breath Test Machine
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 • 7:08pm
Last month our office attended a 16 hour training course presented over 2 days by the manufacturer of the Alcotest 7110 MK III-C , Drager Safety Diagnostics. The machine detects breath alcohol for establishing intoxication in DWI cases throughout New Jersey. The course was presented by Hansueli Ryser, Drager Safety Vice President. Mr. Ryser testified before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the seminal case, State v. Chun, where the scientific reliability and accuracy of the Alcotest machine was reviewed. The Supreme Court established certain guidelines and safeguards that must be met before the results of the machine could be admissible as evidence of intoxication. The course provided a similar level of training to that of which Alcotest Coordinators receive. The course provided our office with hands on training with the Alcotest Machine, allowing us to act as operators and perform alcohol breath tests on fellow classmates. This course is only open to 20 people and was taught 4 times before. Our office was honored to be one of 120 individuals to receive this type of hands on training with the Alcotest Machine employing the current version of software employed in all New Jersey machines, Version 3.11. The training was very technical wherein the mechanics of the machine were explained and discussed in meticulous detail.
At the course, our office learned about the history of breath test technology and the history of the types of breath testing technology the machine employs. The Alcotest Machine uses Electro Chemical (EC) technology and Infrared (IR) technology when obtaining breath alcohol results. Simply put, the breath sample is introduced into a chamber, where energy (light) is introduced on one side and an energy (light) detector measures and compares the amount of energy on the opposite end of the chamber. The alcohol molecules absorb some of the light introduced into the chamber, thereby changing the amount of light energy transferred across the chamber. The scientific community explains this absorption with the Beer-Lambert Law, which explains that energy transmitted through a defined path length (the sample chamber), containing an absorbing substance (ethanol molecules), the transmitted energy (the light) will proportionally decrease with the increase in concentration of the absorbing substance (ethanol).
The Electro Chemical sensor system also measures the same breath sample from inside the chamber. Once ethanol reaches the sensor, a chemical reaction is triggered. The resulting current is used to determine the amount of alcohol in the breath sample.
The machine compares the results from both the EC and IR paths to ensure they are within tolerance range of each other. Moreover, the breath machine requires that certain conditions be met before it can produce a result. These conditions were discussed and decided in the seminal case, State v. Chun.
Our office is familiar with the procedures and protocols in these types of cases which defenses can be raised and challenged in open Court. Experts that we routinely use in defense of our DWI cases were also in attendance at the seminar. Due to our hands on exposure and familiarity with the Alcotest machine, we provide an in-depth review of the State’s documents to investigate whether all procedures, protocols and conditions were met, and search for any available defenses.
The Guest Column is our readers' opportunity to write about a given issue or topic in an in-depth and educational manner.
The opinions expressed herein are the writer's alone, and do not reflect the opinions of TheAlternativePress.com or anyone who works for TheAlternativePress.com. TheAlternativePress.com is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the writer. | <urn:uuid:7a68e48e-9714-4062-9360-c358a4721e94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thealternativepress.com/columns/guest-column/articles/a-geeks-eye-view-understanding-new-jerseys-br | 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 | 0.929023 | 749 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Borderline Anxiety (2)
Paul Kincaid’s recent column in Bookslut is, unfortunately, a pretty good example of Brockmanism. After discussing use of a medical procedure as a plot device in Graham Swift’s novel Tomorrow, Kincaid, previously the administrator of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, goes on to imply that literary fiction may be doing a better job of portraying real science and real scientists than science fiction. While science was once ‘one of the things that cut science fiction off from the rest of literature,’ he says, now it’s ‘ordinary and about something.’ Further, now that ‘the transcendence, the wonder that were handy terms when talking about big concept sf have been taken seriously and science fiction has become almost an ecstatic experience . . . perhaps it’s a good thing that the mainstream has discovered the scientist -- because science fiction seems to have lost him.’
The insect overlords have taken up SF’s most treasured theme! Surrender at once! Round up the usual suspects and set them to work in the underground sugar caves of our new masters!
Well, it’s certainly true that literary fiction is paying more attention to science these days. And the idea that, as science becomes normalised and incorporated into the tropes of literary fiction, so SF has retreated into a kind of mystic ecstasy, is an interesting one. Unfortunately, it’s completely false. And Kincaid’s attempts to justify it don’t hold water for a second.
In discussing literary novels that feature scientists, Kincaid ranges over the past sixty-fifty years (it should be noted that he mistakenly attributes authorship of his earliest example, The Small Back Room (1942), to Nevil Shute; in fact, it was written by Nigel Balchin, and Balchin’s scientist hero was no boffin or administrator, remote from ordinary human experience, but a genuinely tortured soul). Yet after claiming that ‘we seem to be seeing fewer and fewer scientists in science fiction’, and telling us that SF is disappearing up its own transcendental fundament, Kincaid gives only one supposed example of this trend, M. Rickert’s Map of Dreams (2006). I confess that I haven’t yet read it. But I have Googled it. It’s a fantasy novella. It’s clearly labelled as a fantasy novella, and is published in a small press collection of fantasy stories. Its time-travel may well be achieved through what Kincaid describes as ‘a mixture of amateurism and mysticism’, but it can’t typify his claim that SF is retreating from realism for the simple reason that it isn’t SF.
And even if Rickert’s novella was SF, it doesn’t take much thought to come up with a hefty list of SF novels from the past decade, much less the past sixty-five years, that have dealt with science and scientists in a serious, realistic, and sympathetic manner. Here are a few, more or less off the top of my head: Stephen Baxter’s Moonseed; Greg Bear’s Vitals; Gregory Benford’s Cosm, Eater, and The Martian Race; Greg Egan’s Teranesia and Schild’s Ladder; Kim Stanley Robinson’s Antarctica, and his climate change trilogy; Bruce Sterling’s Distraction. As I have no shame, I’ll also mention my own The Secret Of Life and White Devils. I’m sure that you can think of many more, but I hope this little list is enough to convince you that SF has neither ‘lost’ the scientist, nor its interest in rigorous, serious, and thrillingly speculative explorations of the outer reaches of science and technology. Of course, some SF does have a problem with keeping abreast of science’s rapidly advancing cutting edge, but I think I’ll reserve that topic for another time. | <urn:uuid:1521c4a2-77ff-4940-8669-5fcf44868a91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unlikelyworlds.blogspot.com.au/2007/09/borderline-anxiety-2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953546 | 857 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Category Archives: Uncategorized
TweetHey Zach: My name is Walter and I work with the Naval Research Lab in Monterey, CA. We’re receiving a new Cray system in the near future and held a vote for the two login node names and the … Continue reading
TweetLibraries have a problem. An awesome problem. In the abstract, the purpose of a library is to collect and make information available. The information may be entertaining or practical or neither or both, but in general the role of the … Continue reading
TweetScrew portraits! Also, wide images don’t work well with this blog format, so the below is a link to click.
Tweet4.4: Indeterminate Forms and L’Hospital’s Rule L’Hospital’s rule was actually devised by Johann Bernoulli. However, because of an agreed they had at the time, the theorem was rule was named for L’Hospital. Happily Bernoulli has a twofold revenge, in that … Continue reading
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An air source heat pump extract heat from the air outside your building – even at temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees celsius. It then uses it to warm up water for radiators or under floor heating systems or to warm the air indoors. The pump used to extract the heat needs to be powered by electricity, so to make it a genuinely renewable technology you should generate as much of your own electricity as possible using a renewable energy source, such as solar PV.
There are 2 main types of air source heat pump systems:
- air-to-water system: this uses the heat to warm up water – though not as hot as a standard boiler system would, so it’s better suited to under floor heating than conventional radiators.
- air-to-air system: this produces warm air, which is circulated around your building by fans. Typically one unit would be used for one room. These units can often also be used in summer for cooling.
Is my building suitable? You will need a space outside your building where a unit can be fitted to a wall or place on the ground. A sunny wall is ideal. Air source heat pumps produce less heat than regular boilers so it is essential that your building is highly insulated and draft proof for the system to work effectively. Air source heat pumps work most efficiently on new build or highly refurbished buildings, as these are built to current insulation standards.
How much do air source heat pumps cost? As a guide, a system for a domestic property may cost between £7,000 and £15,000. | <urn:uuid:9aff3bc3-6354-4e8e-b4f0-93460494d94c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.energyshare.com/guides/technology/2930/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957823 | 320 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Scott Haneda <lists@stripped> wrote on 15/09/2005 10:31:48:
> I have moved my data from mysql 3 to 4, across various updates, over the
> past few years. I use phpmyadmin generally, and it defaults to making
> I can not seem to find a really clear answer as to why I want to use one
> over the other. Generally, I use myisam and change it only when I need
> do a rollback or something like that.
> Since I seem to be able to toggle from myisam to innodb without any
> affects, why would one chose one over the other?
> Is there a way to prevent the use of myisam if it is old and slowly
> deprecated? I am a host and do not control the table structure of
Innodb does not yet support FullText.
While I believe that there are circumstances in which InnodDB is faster, I
think that many applications will find MyIsam faster.\\
I don't thing InnoDB supports Load Data From Master, making adding a
replication slave harder. | <urn:uuid:9c9edb18-7a36-4ee7-b584-177af552d1a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.mysql.com/mysql/189117 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930191 | 244 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Image: Sarah Viana
Sarah Viana examining a Mandarin Shark. This specimen is a paratype of Cirrhigaleus australis (I.42891-001).
- Mark McGrouther
- © Australian Museum
Sarah is a post-graduate student at the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. During her two-week stay in February and March, 2013, she examined many specimens of squalid sharks (dogfishes) for her taxonomic and systematic research. Her work was supported by an Australian Museum Geddes Visiting Collection Fellowship (2012-2013). | <urn:uuid:dc69c536-195d-4e31-bbea-e9e19e70d28f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/image/Sarah-Viana | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920794 | 122 | 1.554688 | 2 |
THE POPE AS MEDIA CRITIC
By Cliff Kincaid
The heavily covered death of Pope John Paul II raises questions about what the Pope thought about the role of the media in society. He was, in fact, a powerful media critic who declared that journalists had a “special responsibility to witness to the truth.” Many journalists are saying nice things about the Pope now but what will they do about the pressing moral problems that the Pope said the media had an obligation to confront? And since the Vatican had stated its view that Terri Schiavo had a right to life, perhaps we ought to consider what the Pope might have thought of media coverage of her death.
Interestingly, the Holy See in February issued the text of John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the media, in which he commented on the emergence and influence of new media technologies. Without proper formation, he said, “these media run the risk of manipulating and heavily conditioning, rather than serving people.” He could have been talking about the liberal media.
In recognition of World Communications Day in 1996, the Pope issued a statement strongly criticizing the major media for devaluing the concept of motherhood. Sadly, he said, “we often see not the exaltation but the exploitation of women in the media. How often are they treated not as persons with an inviolable dignity but as objects whose purpose is to satisfy others’ appetite for pleasure or for power? How often is the role of woman as wife and mother undervalued or even ridiculed?” Without saying so directly, the Pope was commenting on the negative influence of radical feminism in the media.
The Pope also warned against a media culture of “transitory news” that becomes “a forgetfulness which corrodes hope” and a “meaningless accumulation of facts.” Entertainment, he cautioned, was becoming “a soulless flight from truth and responsibility.”
Saying we were facing a time of both threat and promise, the Pope urged the creation of media that become a “friendly companion to all people, presenting them with ‘news’ wedded to remembrance, information wedded to wisdom and entertainment wedded to joy.” He wanted to see media used as “a force of love which creates not a force which destroys…”
In 1997, on the occasion of World Communications Day, he warned of evil forces manipulating the media. “The fact is that it is increasingly difficult to protect one’s eyes and ears from images and sounds which arrive through the media unexpectedly and uninvited,” he said. “It is particularly hard for parents to guard their children from unwholesome messages, and to ensure that their education in human relations and their learning about the world comes about in a way that is appropriate to their age and sensibility, and to their developing sense of right and wrong. Public opinion has been shocked at how easily the advanced communication technologies can be exploited by those whose intentions are evil.”
He was alarmed that “the proportion of media programs which deal with religious and spiritual aspirations, programs which are morally uplifting and help people to live better lives, is apparently decreasing. It is not easy to remain optimistic about the positive influence of the mass media when they appear either to ignore the vital role of religion in people’s lives, or when the treatment that religious belief receives seems consistently negative and unsympathetic. Some elements of the media—especially in the entertainment sectors—often seem to wish to portray religious believers in the worst possible light.”
We saw that trend in some of the coverage of Terri Schiavo’s supporters. Indeed, Mike Allen of the Washington Post, Linda Douglass of ABC News, Wyatt Andrews of CBS News and other journalists ran stories accusing congressional Republicans of using the Schiavo case to energize their conservative and religious pro-life supporters for partisan political reasons. The problem is that these reporters cited a so-called Republican memo that turned out to be a cut and paste job from the Internet. In other words, it was of questionable authenticity and was probably a fake. There is no evidence that the memo was distributed by or to Republicans, but a New York Times report that it had been “passed out” by Democrats suggests that it was planted with the media as part of a Democratic Party dirty-tricks campaign to make the Republicans look bad.
Something like this easily happens because liberal journalists want to believe the worst about conservatives and Republicans.
The Pope’s reflections on the media are directly relevant in another important aspect of the Schiavo case. On a radio program hosted by Mark Biznow of WMET in Washington, D.C., I repeated something I had said on Neil Cavuto’s Fox News Channel show the day before that the liberal bleeding hearts in the media did not bleed for Terri Schiavo. I found it strange that, in this case, many journalists did not “give voice for the voiceless,” as the ethics code of the Society of Professional Journalists urges the media to do. Biznow seemed caught off-guard. “People might tend to think that journalists, adhering to the highest standards of the profession, would be scrupulously neutral” and “dispassionate,” he said.
Biznow’s response was understandable. But my point was that the liberal bias that exists in the media did not extend to Schiavo. Liberals are supposed to come to the aid of the downtrodden and oppressed. Yet New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd compared Republicans helping Terri Schiavo to the film, “Weekend at Bernie’s,” in which a corpse is dressed up and hauled around as a living and breathing human being. Dowd was apparently trying to be funny but I found the comments cruel and heartless. Perhaps Dowd’s anti-Republican feelings provoked her outburst. But it is still strange that Dowd, a feminist, would not show more sympathy for an innocent disabled woman whose estranged husband was maneuvering to have her killed.
Why wasn’t there more sympathy and compassion for Terri Schiavo? And why did the media create a spectacle in which the American people were, in effect, treated to her public execution? As a journalist, media critic and human being, I found the whole thing repulsive.
I remember years ago when TV talk show host Phil Donahue talked about wanting to show the execution of a convicted killer on television. Donahue, who is opposed to capital punishment, believed that such a display would cause people to react with horror. Terri Schiavo, of course, wasn’t actually on television as she slowly died but we were treated to enough graphic descriptions of starvation and dehydration to understand what was happening to her. Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos, on the other hand, called the process peaceful and beautiful. This was even-handed journalism for you. One side was for death. The other side was against. I wonder what the Pope would have thought of this kind of media “balance.” This coverage sets the stage for more such spectacles and more deaths. We may get used to it, or “conditioned,” as the Pope warned.
also wonder why the media were camped outside the hospice when they
should have been camped outside the home or office of Michael Schiavo,
preparing to pepper him with questions about why he was going to starve
his wife to death. In one sense, the real story wasn’t her but him
because he held the power of life and death over Terri in his hands.
The liberal media didn’t assume the role in this case that they usually
claim for themselves. Now we know for sure that their posturing for
the “voiceless” is a complete fraud.
© 2005 Cliff Kincaid - All Rights
E-Mails are used strictly for NWVs alerts, not for sale
Cliff Kincaid, a veteran journalist and media critic, Cliff concentrated in journalism and communications at the University of Toledo, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Cliff has written or co-authored nine books on media and cultural affairs and foreign policy issues.
Cliff has appeared on Hannity & Colmes, The O’Reilly
Factor, Crossfire and has been published in the Washington Post, Washington
Times, Chronicles, Human Events and Insight.
Based on Allen’s reporting, the Seattle Times ran a story asserting that the memo had been distributed to Republican senators “by party leaders.” This took the alleged scandal one step further. | <urn:uuid:fc4631ad-e2dd-4146-8f5c-112ce8b95fcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff41.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973396 | 1,821 | 2.078125 | 2 |
A Japanese surgeon showed the precision of the DaVinci surgical system by folding a classic origami crane using the machine's robotic arms. What's more, at the end of the video it's revealed that the crane is no bigger than a penny. Now that's precision folding! Next time I go under the knife, I'm handing my surgeon a piece of origami paper. If he can't make it happen, I'm flying to Japan and looking for the doctor from the video to treat me.
Click Continue to see the video of the robot pincers calming pinching and folding. | <urn:uuid:4640e193-8f33-4bcd-8bea-518f62f0179f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dvice.com/archives/2008/06/surgeon-folds-o.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943124 | 121 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Property owners are to be notified in case they want to improve the buildings; and the city will also consider requests from property owners who may have buildings they want to have torn down.
Some 30-35 commercial buildings and residences are being inspected as a preliminary part of the project.
Unsafe buildings can prevent dangers and can also affect the value of nearby property.
The grants come through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and are administered in the state by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. ADECA has awarded approximately $700 million in CDBG money to fund nearly 2,000 projects across the state since 1982.
These grants enable cities to undertake projects without taking funds from vital services like public safety and other budgetary priorities. We’re glad to see Childersburg moving forward to improve the city. | <urn:uuid:005484d7-51d1-4dc3-8233-41df7b59cc12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyhome.com/view/full_story/19464629/article-Tip-of-the-Hat---Childersburg-Cleanup?instance=home_news_right | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969436 | 166 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Changes proposed to Fair Student Funding
City principals would get more control over special education dollars and financial rewards for improving students' academic performance under proposed changes outlined last night at a budget work session.
The meeting was called for the school board but attended by only four adult members, plus the student member, just about everyone in the CEO's cabinet, a few community activists and a few reporters. Dr. Alonso outlined some things we already know -- under current funding projections, the system faces a $55 million budget shortfall, and as many cuts as possible will come from North Avenue. -- and some things some of us didn't know.
The system has had committees of principals and others studying the first year of "Fair Student Funding," or decentralized school budgeting. The committee members were concerned that, with schools getting extra money for kids performing poorly, there was no incentive to move students to proficiency. The revised model, to be officially proposed to the school board Jan. 13 and up for a vote two weeks later, would redistribute the money schools get on top of a base allocation for each student. Schools would be rewarded for moving a student from the "basic" (or failing) category on the MSA to proficient, and from proficient to advanced, and for keeping students in the advanced category on tests. High schools would also see extra cash for increasing the number of students passing the HSAs. Schools would only be credited for overall improvement: In other words, if 30 students progressed and 10 slipped back from proficient to basic, it would get credit for 20.
As for special ed, the recommendation is to give schools flexibility over the money they get: 1) to run the IEP process (the legal process for determining and documenting a student's special needs and services), 2) to incorporate students with disabilities into classes with their non-disabled peers, 3) to provide special ed services during the summer, and 4) to support students and teachers beyond what's mandated in IEPs.
If there's money -- and that's a big if -- Alonso wants to continue expanding pre-kindergarten by moving toward offering it to all 4-year-olds in the city as well as workforce preparation programs. He's also interested in having the system provide its own transportation to middle school students, since there have been so many incidents on MTA buses. | <urn:uuid:31694d65-b505-441b-ba14-009b0bad8a0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/education/blog/2008/12/changes_proposed_to_fair_stude.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975461 | 474 | 1.625 | 2 |
Our galaxy in gamma rays
Europe's Integral space telescope investigates gamma-ray sources in the Milky Way.
November 18, 2003
November 18, 2003
With a suite of four instruments, Integral will provide new insights into the most violent and exotic cosmic objects, such as black holes, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae, and mysterious gamma-ray bursts (the most energetic phenomena in the universe).
Photo by ESA / D. Ducros
If our eyes were built to see light in gamma wavelengths, our universe would look drastically different. Vast stretches of foreboding darkness would be punctuated not by the twinkle of glowing stars, but rather by the blaze of violent eruptions more potent than any since creation itself.
Such is the universe that the European Space Agency's Integral space telescope is now exploring. Launched in October 2002, Integral (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) is taking the most sensitive gamma-ray survey of the Milky Way Galaxy to date, which may supply answers to many questions about the most extreme events in our galactic backyard.
Many celestial objects and physical events marked by extraordinarily high energy produce light at gamma-ray wavelengths. So when astronomers find gamma rays in the galaxy, they start looking for a source. This is where Integral comes in. Equipped to survey the sky in multiple wavelengths simultaneously, Integral is the first observatory that utilizes gamma rays, X rays, and visible light at once. The telescope also carries a gamma-ray spectrometer that looks for imprints of particular elements in light. Probing gamma-ray signatures is the most direct test of current theories of element formation. These theories are crucial to understanding how the solar system — and life — formed.
In its searches thus far, Integral has found the radioactive isotope aluminum-26 scattered throughout the galaxy. Astronomers believe aluminum-26 is produced in intensely energetic supernova explosions that accompany the deaths of massive stars. Integral seeks to confirm this hypothesis by searching for the signature of radioactive iron, which is produced only in supernovae. If Integral's map of iron "hot spots" matches locations where the aluminum is found, scientists will be able to label supernovae as the culprit.
This kind of dual survey was never possible before, but with Integral's unprecedented resolution — forty times better than earlier satellites — astronomers hope to solve this and other mysteries. For example, when aluminum-26 decays into magnesium, the energy released is large enough to create antimatter (looking-glass particles like positrons and antiprotons). Integral's study of the turbulent heart of the Milky Way, where scientists suspect a black hole three million times the mass of our Sun resides, reveals a huge cloud of antimatter that seems too spread out to be from a single source.
This false-color picture was taken by the spectrometer on board Integral (SPI) between December 2002 and March 2003. The yellow dots correspond to bright known gamma-rays sources, while blue areas indicate regions of low emission.
Photo by ESA / SPI Team
In addition, data collected by Integral reveals that the abundance of antimatter exceeds the amount of radioactive aluminum, so the antimatter must be coming from something else. Possible sources include black holes, supernovae, jets from neutron stars, stellar flares, or other extreme phenomena. By analyzing gamma rays associated with the antimatter, and also by surveying relevant locations in multiple wavelengths, Integral should soon be able to pinpoint what is producing the antimatter, letting scientists know exactly what lurks in our galactic core.
Astronomers know that gamma rays mark the celestial grounds prowled by the universe's exotic beasts. As Integral continues its gamma-ray studies, it may be able to hunt down these enigmatic objects once and for all.
"We have collected excellent data in the first few months," states Integral Project Scientist Chris Winkler, "but we can and will do much more in the next year. Integral's accuracy and sensitivity have already exceeded our expectations and, in the months to come, we could get the answers to some of astronomy's most intriguing questions." | <urn:uuid:2135faae-d489-4127-b82e-dd7a4fd6d6f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2003/11/Our%20galaxy%20in%20gamma%20rays.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913728 | 854 | 3.59375 | 4 |
High heels: the new economic indicator?
High heels may be a contrarian indicator: The higher they go, the worse the US economy fares. So where are high heels headed now? Down.
What do shoes say about the economy? Perhaps a lot.Skip to next paragraph
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In the 1920s, low-heeled flapper shoes gave way to high-heel pumps and platforms during the Great Depression.
In the 1970s oil crisis, platforms came back en vogue as the low-heeled sandals of the late 1960s were cast aside.
In the 1990s, the low, thick heels of the “grunge” period were replaced by “Sex and the City”-inspired stilettos just as the dot-com bubble burst.
“Usually, in an economic downturn, heels go up and stay up — as consumers turn to a more flamboyant fashions as a means of fantasy and escape,” says Trevor Davis, a consumer product expert with International Business Machines' Global Business Services unit, in a press release.
IBM conducted a study of social media posts and is predicting that women’s heel heights, which are currently in nosebleed territory, are poised to come back down to Earth.
Perhaps the shift signals a change in the economic outlook, or maybe it’s a sign of resignation.
“This time, something different is happening — perhaps a mood of long-term austerity is evolving among consumers sparking a desire to reduce ostentation in everyday settings,” Davis says.
IBM came to its conclusion by using special software to sort through social media posts about footwear trends. Several separate sorts were made, first broadly, and then narrowing down to bloggers who are passionate about footwear and have large followings. The result is one you won’t find in the shoe store. Right now, stores are still carrying sky-high heels, but the shift to flatter shoes is on the way.
In fact, discussions about increasing heel height peaked toward the end of 2009, and then declined after that. Between 2008 and 2009, the most influential bloggers wrote consistently about heels that ranged in height from five to eight inches, but by 2011 they were writing about the return of the kitten heel and the perfect flat from designers Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin.
This is not to say that the sky-high heels are gone. Instead, Davis says, these soaring heels are discussed as glamwear and not for the office or a shopping trip.
According to IBM, this study also underscores that manufacturers and retailers cannot think that they are the ones in control of where the trends head. Bloggers have become influential tastemakers in their own right. | <urn:uuid:66d4540a-d896-43cc-8867-ace14a619ca5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1120/High-heels-the-new-economic-indicator | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962494 | 573 | 2.234375 | 2 |
May 22 2013 Latest news:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
LORD of the Rings fans have created a piece of Middle-earth in Suffolk.
What has been a labour of love for staff at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and Country Park is now complete - a real life Hobbit hole fit for Bilbo Baggins which is the first on public display in the UK.
Staff, who are fans of JRR Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit books, spent 20 days over three months building their own Hobbit hole at West Stow based on the character Farmer Cotton’s home in the Lord of the Rings.
Visitors can have their photo taken outside the hole when it goes on display from February 16 to 24 at this year’s popular fan event Ring Quest, where fans take an unexpected journey to find the rings of power and translate the dwarf runes.
Alan Baxter, heritage manager for St Edmundsbury Borough Council, which runs West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and Country Park, is a fan of the books and a member of the Tolkien Society.
He said: “The tenth anniversary saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by Peter Jackson being released in cinemas and a new wave of enthusiasm for Tolkien. Many of the staff are Lord of the Rings fans and as fans we wanted to create something special to celebrate this so the Hobbit hole was built.
“I was lucky enough to visit the set soon after filming and took hundreds of photos and videos. The West Stow Hobbit hole is based on those images.
“The most famous is Bag End, the luxury home, with a round green door, of Bilbo Baggins and Frodo. Other Hobbits lived in more modest homes and one of these has been built with a round red door like many in Hobbiton.
“Like the film set, sadly fans cannot pop inside the Hobbit hole for a look around but as ‘big people’, as the Hobbits call us, we would only end up with a headache from banging our heads on the low ceiling as Gandalf himself did on the ceiling at Bag End in Lord of the Rings.”
Staff say West Stow is the perfect place to build a Hobbit hole as the names in the Tolkien books themselves have Anglo-Saxon origins, according to the author who was a Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University.
Robert S Blackham, author of several books on Tolkien, said the Hobbit hole at West Stow was certainly the only one on public display in the UK and with Tolkien’s fascination with Anglo-Saxon heritage the perfect home to show people a real life glimpse of Middle-earth.
On February 21 there will also be an event to show fans the photos of the New Zealand film locations at Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds from 6pm to 8pm. | <urn:uuid:ae3ee81c-5d67-427b-a5e2-4cc2f44acc5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/weird-wacky/gallery_hobbit_hole_at_west_stow_anglo_saxon_village_and_country_park_is_first_on_public_display_in_uk_1_1928882 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945383 | 597 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Chronic Pain (cont.)
In this Article
How is pain diagnosed?
Comment on this Read 4 Comments
There is no way to tell how much pain a person has. No test can measure the intensity of pain, no imaging device can show pain, and no instrument can locate pain precisely. Sometimes, as in the case of headaches, physicians find that the best aid to diagnosis is the patient's own description of the type, duration, and location of pain. Defining pain as sharp or dull, constant or intermittent, burning or aching may give the best clues to the cause of pain. These descriptions are part of what is called the pain history, taken by the physician during the preliminary examination of a patient with pain.
Physicians, however, do have a number of technologies they use to find the cause of pain. Primarily these include:
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Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:f2975fca-2c73-439e-9560-343aa710cfe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/chronic_pain/page3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92855 | 293 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Which US States Have the Most Millionaires?
While many in the US are feeling the pinch of the recession, others are enjoying unprecedented boom times.
So says Phoenix Marketing International, which just released its annual roundup of the states with the most millionaires and found that for the second year in a row, the overall number of millionaire households in the US actually went up.
In 2011, there were 5.94 million households with $1 million or more in investable or liquid assets, an increase of 6.8 percent over last year. Overall, 5.08 percent of US households claim millionaire status, somewhat short of the all-time high of 5.25 percent in 2007.
David Thompson, managing director of Phoenix Marketing, said “all of the top 10 states increased their millionaire ratios during the past year, which underscores that the richest states keep getting richer,” and that “small states with large concentrations of highly educated professionals and business owners are key ingredients to growing wealth.”
Here’s this year’s list of the 10 states with the most millionaires per capita:
- Maryland: 157,779 out of 2,186,613 households
- Hawaii: 33,461 out of 464,352 households
- New Jersey: 231,456 out of 3,220,564 households
- Connecticut: 98,392 out of 1,379,723 households
- Massachusetts: 162,619 out of 2,538,474 households
- Alaska: 16,239 out of 254,103 households
- Virginia: 195,006 out of 3,113,444 households
- New Hampshire: 31,159 out of 514,053 households
- California: 750,686 out of 12,487,377 households
- District of Columbia: 15,603 out of 265,558 households | <urn:uuid:60aed81d-27ce-4c75-9006-ea032f380a25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://710keel.com/us-states-most-millionaires/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933466 | 377 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Jolie, mother of Maddox, 4, from Cambodia, and Zahara, 10 months, from Ethiopia, was on Capitol Hill to celebrate the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act, which President Bush signed last week. She also called for the U.S. to fully fund the new law.
"My daughter Zahara was orphaned because of AIDS. She is one of one million children in Ethiopia that are orphaned by AIDS, so I don't have to tell you how precious I think these children are." Jolie said.
Jolie says watching her daughter's progress is what convinced her of the importance of the legislation, which establishes a framework for a response to the crisis of orphans and other vulnerable children. "She was just 9 lbs. and she was almost 7 months old. She was really not doing so well. In the matter of a month, with basic food every kid gets … she weighed twice as much, she was healthy, and it didn't take much at all."
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N, says she'll monitor the progress of aid for the new law, which still needs to be backed up by $340 million in funding, according to Rep. Barbara Lee D-Calif.
"By fully funding this legislation, we would be saying to the world that we believe that the life of a child in the poorest country is just as important, just as valuable, as the lives of the children in the United States," said Jolie. | <urn:uuid:3032ea44-654d-424e-b93d-04cce968079e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1132438,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98853 | 315 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Harriet Beecher Stowe
June 14, 1811- July 1, 1896
Wrote the international bestseller Uncle Tom’s Cabinby Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003
It was Roxanne Beecher’s constant prayer that God would call each of her children into His service. Her seventh-born, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was an amazing answer to prayer.
Harriet was born to Reverend Lyman Beecher and Roxanne Foote Beecher on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. As a Congregational minister, Reverend Beecher raised his 11 children with a strong belief in God and the importance of standing up for their beliefs. Three of Harriet’s siblings are also quite well known for their own accomplishments. Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) became a minister in Brooklyn, New York and was active in the abolitionist movement. Catharine Beecher (1800-1878) founded many schools for modern young women, and, like Harriet, was a prolific author. Isabella Beecher (1822-1907) made a big impact on the woman’s suffrage movement. When Harriet was 12, she was sent to be educated at Hartford Female Seminary, founded by her sister, Catherine. There, the girls were encouraged to participate in student government and pen numerous compositions. Under her sister’s encouragement and instruction, Harriet developed her great love for writing. At age 15, Harriet accepted Christ into her life during one of her father’s sermons.
After graduating, Harriet taught at Hartford until the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Lyman Beecher accepted the position as President of Lane Theological Seminary. Harriet taught at the Female Western Institute, also established by Catherine. In 1836, she married a widower by the name of Calvin Stowe who was, like her father, on staff at Lane. Together, they had seven children. To supplement the family income, Harriet began to write short stories and became a member of the Semi-Colon Club, a literary society in which members wrote articles which were read and critiqued by other members. Calvin always encouraged his wife in her ambitions and over the course of her career; she published almost 30 books and countless shorter pieces. Her works range from poems to travel books, biographical sketches, and children's books; her subjects included homemaking, the raising of children, and religion.
Although, as we have just seen, not her only accomplishment, Harriet’s “claim to fame” is most certainly her first novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book tells the story of two African American slaves, and their escape from slavery, and was first written in serial form for an abolitionist newspaper, The National. Harriet’s belief that all mankind was created equal in God’s sight was the leading inspiration but there were other inspirations as well. Uncle Tom's Cabin is said to have been inspired by the Stowe’s servant Zillah, who they discovered to be a runaway slave and assisted to the next underground station. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, which made it a crime for citizens of free states to aid runaway slaves, angered Harriet and this novel is considered one of her attempts to open the eyes of her fellow Americans to the terror of life as a slave. She succeeded in her efforts and many minds were opened, thanks to her excellent portrayal of the sufferings of Uncle Tom and Eliza. The death of her eighteen-month-old son, Charley, gave her emotion to draw from to pen the pain of separation Eliza and Uncle Tom feel. "... I HAVE BEEN the mother of seven children, the most beautiful and most loved of whom lies buried near my Cincinnati residence. It was at his dying bed and at his grave that I learned what a poor slave mother may feel when her child is torn away from her. In those depths of sorrow which seemed to me immeasurable, it was my only prayer to God that such anguish might not be suffered in vain. There were circumstances about his death of such peculiar bitterness, of what seemed almost cruel suffering that I felt I could never be consoled for it unless this crushing of my own heart might enable me to work out some great good to others. I allude to this here because I have often felt that much that is in that book had its root in the awful scenes and bitter sorrow of that summer. It has left now, I trust, no trace on my mind except a deep compassion for the sorrowful, especially for mothers who are separated from their children." ( Harriet Beecher Stowe to Eliza Cabot Follen, December 16, 1852) By forcing the reader to place themselves in the character’s situation, they realize the humanity of the African slaves.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an enormous success. In the first week alone, over 10,000 copies were sold. Putnam's Magazine called Uncle Tom's Cabin, "the first real success in bookmaking." That year, it became a best seller in the United States, England, Europe, Asia, and is now translated into over 60 languages. Although abolitionists embraced the book because of its compassionate view of slavery, those who claimed slavery was sanctioned in the Bible disliked it and accused Harriet of embellishing. To prove the accuracy of her novel, she followed it up with A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin in1853.
After 51 years of writing, Harriet retired. The Stowes moved to Andover, Massachusetts where Harriet and Calvin built their dream house. Unfortunately, not long after they moved in, they were forced to sell due to financial reasons. In 1873, they moved to the brick, Victorian cottage-style house on Forest Street, which is now open for public tours. Here, Harriet lived quietly until she died on July 1, 1896, at the age of 85.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin influenced numerous prominent citizens including Caroline Norton and writers Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman. Even Abraham Lincoln is rumored to have said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War!" Many Americans, like Frederick Douglass, were inspired to fight for the rights of those like Uncle Tom and Eliza. We see that her love for the Lord and compassion for all of his people was spread, through her book, to the world. No less than 70 biblical quotations or allusions are written in her most famous novel. Beyond a doubt, Roxanne Beecher’s prayer was answered in Harriet showing the impact that a Bible believing family had on turning the world upside down with the truth of the gospel.
"Harriet Beecher Stowe: 1811-1896." A Celebration of Women Writers. 13 Sep. 2005 <http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stowe/StoweHB.html>.
The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. 13 Sep. 2005 <http://www.harrietbeecherstowe.org/life>.
"Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-1896.." American Civil War.com. 13 Sep. 2005 <http://americancivilwar.com/women/hbs.html>.
Riedy, Maureen E. . "Harriet Beecher Stowe." Mothers in Uncle
Tom's America. 13 Sep. 2005 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA97/riedy/hbs.html>.
"Harriet Beecher Stowe Biography." Women in History. 13 Sep. 2005 <http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/stow-har.htm>. | <urn:uuid:b87b7092-2f84-4635-8cf6-89157012d9a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4stowe-harriet-beecher.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974817 | 1,618 | 3.75 | 4 |
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — It took Dan Frazier a long time to figure out how to make a living.
He cared for a quadriplegic. He sold health food from the back of his bicycle. He drove a van for disabled people. Then, after years of drifting from job to job, Frazier turned to the Internet. Marrying his politics and entrepreneurial instincts, he began selling left-leaning bumper stickers.
He designed one in 2003 that listed the names of troops -- about 500 then -- who had been killed in the Iraq war. The phrase "Bush Lied" was superimposed over the names. As the casualty count grew, the bumper sticker became a T-shirt, and Frazier added the words "They Died."
The venture started out as a way to pay the rent, but it landed Frazier in the middle of a fight over what is free speech versus what is exploitation of the dead.
Frazier says that he has an inherent right to use the names and that he's not ascribing any political belief to anyone. "The shirt doesn't say these people opposed the war. Just that they died," he said.
Some parents say their children would not want their names used this way. When they asked Frazier to remove the names from the shirts and he refused, the families turned to their elected officials.
Five states -- Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida -- have since passed laws requiring permission from members of the military or their next of kin before their names can be used commercially. A version of the law has been introduced in each chamber of Congress.
After Arizona's Legislature unanimously passed its statute in May, Frazier said, he had to find a new printer because his first one feared breaking the law. Frazier has received so many irate calls he is afraid to answer his phone, and he believes someone has been watching his apartment.
"A lot of those soldiers died thinking they were fighting for American values like freedom of speech, and now their loved ones want to take that right away," said Frazier, 42.
The parents say it's a matter of respect.
Margy Bons argued furiously with her son Michael Marzano about the war. He was so gung-ho to go to Iraq that he hunted for and joined a Reserve unit that was scheduled to quickly deploy. Marzano, a sergeant in the Marines, was killed in 2005 -- by a suicide bomber in northern Iraq -- just weeks after writing to his mother in Phoenix that he remained convinced he was "doing the right thing."
"Do you believe anyone who wrote that would want his name on this T-shirt?" Bons asked. "Do I believe in this war? No. But my son did. And that's whose name I have to protect."
Robert Vandertulip of Irving, Texas, had also demanded that Frazier remove the name of his son, Army Spc. Josiah Vandertulip, who was killed by a sniper in Baghdad in 2004. "From the time that they're born, your main concern is trying to make sure they're protected," he said. "It does not end when they have died."
The son of a newspaper executive, Frazier moved constantly as a child. He wanted to be a movie director and studied film production at UCLA, but he ended up working for a videotape editing company, then a business that sold Super 8 film equipment.
In 1992, realizing that his Hollywood dreams were out of reach, he left Los Angeles for Arizona. For several years he lived in a tent in the woods outside Flagstaff while working odd jobs.
He attended a conservative church and freelanced articles such as one on the odds of a woman meeting a good Christian man. But he began to question his religious beliefs as he spent more time in this mountain city.
Eventually he married a writer and liberal activist here. The couple got rid of the tent, rented an apartment and founded a progressive weekly newspaper. They refused to take ads from any non-locally owned business and depended on donations from readers. It folded after two years.
"We pioneered our way right into the ground," Frazier joked.
With the newspaper gone, Frazier experimented with another moneymaking venture: He had found plastic wheels to replace the ones on his office chair, so it could glide easily on carpeting. He began to distribute the wheels over the Internet.
That was 2002, and there was growing anger with the Bush administration and the buildup to the Iraq war. Frazier saw opportunity in selling bumper stickers. So a year later, he began producing the one with names of the war dead. "I got on the bandwagon just as it started going," he said.
By May 2005, the number of U.S. troops dead reached 1,600. He started printing the T-shirts. Sales were slow. Frazier cut the price from $18 to $10.
Parents who were Googling their children's names saw what Frazier was selling. He turned down their requests to stop making the shirts and thought that was the end of it. Last year he heard from a reporter writing an article about a new law in Oklahoma -- the first in the nation -- that had been prompted by his shirts. | <urn:uuid:d4b253ce-cdde-4688-aa4d-4736a44277e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/24/nation/na-tshirt24 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988888 | 1,069 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A retrospective of Bettina Rheims (Paris, 1952), France’s most celebrated contemporary photographer. A selection of over 130 works has been compiled from various series, from her debut Female Trouble (1981-1991) to her most recent Shanghai (2003). Even though such celebrities as Claudia Schiffer, Kylie Minogue, Angelina Jolie and Madonna have posed before her camera, the photos have nothing to do with fame or celebrity. It is all about glamour.
Bettina Rheims started her career in the late 1970s by making a series of photographs of striptease dancers she met by chance in the street. The series was published in the Egoïste magazine in 1980 and made Rheims a celebrity. From the beginning of the 1980s, Rheims has moved with ease in the worlds of photographic art, fashion and advertisement; she also took the official portrait of the French president Jacques Chirac in 1995. Her most controversial and acclaimed works include I.N.R.I. (1997–98), made in collaboration with Serge Bramly. It portrays Christ in modern settings and its contemporary interpretations caused a scandal particularly in the Catholic Church.
But Rheims is best known as a dedicated portraitist of women, gifted at making her subjects blossom. No matter whether she is shooting Madonna or a saleswoman she met in the street, the photographs always convey an intensive and close relationship between the model and the photographer.
Published by Schirmer/Mosel Verlag (Munich), a catalogue bearing the same name as the retrospective (available both in English and German) accompanies the exhibition.
Kunsthal Web Site | <urn:uuid:a6694b53-049f-40e1-9908-142fd27adcd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.culturekiosque.com/travel/item7884.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957895 | 345 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Archive for the ‘Science!’ Category.
I think that I will have to take a trip to this museum…
The world’s first Creationist museum – dedicated to the idea that the creation of the world, as told in Genesis, is factually correct – will soon open. Stephen Bates is given a sneak preview and asks: was there really a tyrannosaurus in the Bible?…
…Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible – and here lies the Creationists’ first problem. Since there are undoubtedly dinosaur bones and since, according to the Creationists, the world is only 6,000 years old – a calculation devised by the 17th-century Bishop Ussher, counting back through the Bible to the Creation, a formula more or less accepted by the museum – dinosaurs must be shoehorned in somewhere, along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and the other ancient civilisations. As for the Grand Canyon – no problem: that was, of course, created in a few months by Noah’s Flood.
…But what, I ask wonderingly, about those fossilised remains of early man-like creatures? Marsh knows all about that: “There are no such things. Humans are basically as you see them today. Those skeletons they’ve found, what’s the word? … they could have been deformed, diseased or something. I’ve seen people like that running round the streets of New York.”…
…A little licence is allowed, however, where the Bible falls down on the details. The depiction of a wall-sized section of Noah’s Ark is based, not on the traditional picture of a flat-decked boat, but one designed by navy engineers with a keel and bows, which might, at least, have floated. “You can surmise,” says Marsh. When you get inside, there’s nifty computer software telling you how they fitted all the animals in, too….
You know, this really speaks for it’s self. But I still want to know – How did they fit 2 of each of the between 2 and 100 million species in a boat?
The Pacific Ocean has given birth to a new volcanic island near Tonga, according to ocean-going eyewitnesses.
Crew on board a yacht called the “Maiken” believed they were the first to see a volcanic island forming a day out
from Neiafu, Tonga, while sailing towards Fiji in August, the Matangi Tonga news website reported Wednesday.
It’s refreshing to be reminded about the cyclic nature of life and death and how it applies to so much more then just humans and other animals. This sort of event reminds me that I am insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Just think – there are events happening out there that dwarf anything we humans could conceive of doing at this time. Case in point. Humbling.
So – it seems that there is some scientific evidence starting to mount that Mediatation can improve your physical health.
The vagus nerve controls the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a protein that signals the body to mount an inflammatory response. Decreasing vagus nerve activity ups TNF synthesis, whereas increasing vagus nerve activity limits TNF production and therefore inflammation.
Though inflammation can be useful in fighting infection, excessive inflammation can cause disease, such as Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis.
Tracey’s research opened the door to treating inflammatory diseases with drugs or devices that control vagus nerve activity, an approach that has proven successful in animals.
But at the conference, Tracey raised the possibility that vagus nerve activity, and therefore inflammation, could also be controlled mentally.
Meditation has been shown to slow heart rate via signals that travel down the vagus nerve. Those same signals, Tracey speculates, may also dampen immune response, making it possible for people to ease the symptoms of inflammatory diseases through exercises such as meditation and yoga.
We know that Mediation seems to have profound effects on the mind, spirit and body. Mediation can lead to a trance state – which is what hypnotists use to effect changes on their subjects.
We have also seen the incredible ‘mind over body’ that intense concentration can give – granting folks the ability to overcome great amounts of pain or discomfort. How do we explain these feats?
I think that this is the first step towards the West recognizing that the Eastern Mystical traditions might be based on some physical evidence. | <urn:uuid:9e53c11d-7830-4212-95a9-9305020970af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greg.nokes.name/category/science/page/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955858 | 957 | 2.078125 | 2 |
“There are a staggering number of edible vegetable combinations of light, air, water, and earth that are growing on this planet. The same base ingredients that produce a carrot can also make a grain of rice or a hot ginger root. The widely different vibrations and life-energies in food are real, and become you if they have not been processed out by the time it reaches your plate. Good food enables and even guides you to live your life much better on many levels—beyond improving simply physical health” (2009, 208–209).
For years I have been of the same opinion: that processed food is dead, that the life has been processed out of it, and that it therefore has nothing to offer or teach your bodymind.
It’s mind-expanding to see reality through an information-processing lens. But what is information? Information is pattern, and information processing is pattern recognition. Processed food is utterly deconstructed; it has no pattern left. It is sterilized of its history and carries no memory or life secret. Case in point: an apple is actually an embryo. It’s a vegetative womb pregnant with life. Apple puree, however, is a totally different story. As I see it, even a glass of carrot juice is processed food—even if freshly pressed. Carrot juice is no longer a carrot. Its fibrous structure has been lost in the rpms of a high-powered juicer. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not against juicing—not at all. I love carrot juice, and if you see a tan tone to my skin, it’s probably attributable to carrots, not sun.
The point I’m making here is philosophical, not nutritional. Whether nutritionally sound or not, processed food is devoid of patterns of information and history. Even if it feeds the body, it doesn’t feed the mind. While nutritionally sound processed food is, of course, a better choice than many packaged foods, when I eat it I feel that I miss out on the resistance that unprocessed food puts up. When I take in this nutritional mush, the boa constrictor of my peristalsis has nothing to wrestle with. I yearn for the internal massage of the food as it works its way through me—something that’s lost in the flash flood of nutrient flow from processed foods.
The living tube of my body watches all of the food that passes through it, which is perhaps akin to a reality TV show about life outside the body. If the food I eat has had all of its story processed out, it’s just pabulum—mush that teaches my body nothing about the dog-eats-dog jungle of life outside its walls. A slice of white bread teaches my body that the outside world is a washed-out sky with an occasional cloud drifting unmemorably past. The roughage of sprouted-grain bread, on the other hand, more accurately conveys the grind of daily life in the outside world. Maybe this is nothing but arbitrary poetics. Maybe nutritional value is, from the body’s point of view, the only informational value—but maybe not. In any case, there’s no need to tie these loose ends into a tidy knot of facts. All I’m suggesting is that every now and then you welcome an encounter with an actual life-form.
If you’re going to have a carrot, have a carrot stick, not carrot juice. If you are going to eat a bird, have an actual chicken leg, not an industrially regurgitated chicken finger. (Just so you know, chickens don’t actually have fingers.) And if you’re determined to have a glass of orange juice, then at least do the squeezing yourself. Meet what you destroy face-to-face and learn from the encounter. You wouldn’t take love in pill form, would you? Of course not. You’d want all the convoluted drama of it: the chase, the challenge, the intimacy of bonding. You’d want the process of love. It’s the same with food: our bodies want to partake in the digestive process of eating life. Love the unmistakable three-dimensional intimacy of eating an orange, rather than settling for a pale imitation in juice form.
Adapted from Reinventing the Meal: How Mindfulness Can Help You Slow Down, Savor the Moment and Reconnect With the Ritual of Eating (Somov, September 2012)
Visit Mindful Eating Tracker to see what other mindful eaters are working on.
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Train your Xeriscape
If you water your Xeriscape too frequently, you are encouraging shallow roots. By spreading out your watering you can help your plants to establish deeper roots that will help them survive drought periods. Water infrequently (weekly) and deeply when necessary.
Using proper soil preparation and maintenance practices will help to build healthy soil and vigorous, deep-rooted plants. These plants are more resistant to disease, tolerate some insect and drought damage, and will out-compete many weeds.
Water At Night
Make sure you only water when the sun is down to reduce evaporation losses. Many irrigation experts feel the best time to water is between midnight at 6 a.m. because evaporation in kept to a minimum.
Repair All Leaks
Check your automatic irrigation system for leaks. To detect a leak in your irrigation system, you must shut down all water use inside your home and be fairly certain that there is no leakage occurring indoors. Once you have done this, you can use your water meter to see if any water continues to flow into your system. To do this, follow the instructions detailed in the water meter page.
During a drought your Xeriscape plants should fare better than traditional landscape plants. However, Xeriscape plants are usually “low water” use plants not “no water” use plants, and they will need some water to survive – especially new plants.
In a drought where limited watering is permitted you will probably be able keep all of your Xeriscape plants alive, even if they don’t thrive to their fullest potential. Here is where grouping plants with similar water needs together become invaluable. By understanding the water needs of your plants, you will be able to ration your water across the Xeriscape, giving more water to the areas that need it. Remember that many turf varieties can survive a period of dormancy, but other plants may not fare as well if they are allowed to dry out completely.
Severe Drought Response
In a severe drought where outdoor watering is severely restricted or even eliminated, you must prioritize your landscape and select the plants that will receive water and those that won’t. Divide your landscape into three categories: 1) High value/must save; 2) Moderate value/try to save; and 3) Low value/save if possible.
High value plants usually include valuable trees and shrubs that have taken years to establish that will die without water. Moderate value plants might include certain perennials, newer shrubs that can be replaced, and drought tolerant Xeriscape type plants that will require little water anyway. Low value plants usually includes turf grass (which can often bounce back successfully from a complete dry out) and annuals.
The old saying is still true, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. If there is a drought forecast for your area – plant more drought resistant plants.
Tap into Graywater Irrigation Water Sources
In a severe drought it’s time for drastic measures. It’s time to get creative. The more water you can capture from your faucets, showers, bathtub, and clothes washer the more plants you can probably help survive the drought. You don’t need to have an elaborate graywater collection and treatment system (although you might consider this option). Place basins in your kitchen and bathroom sinks to capture water that can then be put on plants outside. If you take a bath, don’t drain the water! Use buckets to haul the bath water outside for your thirsty plants. You can also keep a bucket in the shower with you to capture water. Capturing and reusing the clothes washer water may be more difficult, but it is certainly possible to do. If you do this, be sure to use laundry detergent that won’t harm your plants.
Place rain barrels at the bottom of your roof downspouts. If any rain does fall you’ll be able to use the water more effectively on the plants that really need it.
Ration Water Across Your Landscape
Use your ration of hose water to water your high value plants and trees first. If nothing else, you want to make it through the drought with those plants alive. If there is sufficient water, move on to the moderate value plants, etc. If you do not have further water from the hose, use your graywater on the moderate value plants and then finally the low value plants.
Keep your moderate and low value plants on a starvation diet. Contact local hortaculturalists and plant experts to determine the minimum amount of water required to keep your plants alive. Some plants can survive (not flourish, but survive) on a small amount of water delivered once per week. | <urn:uuid:2672d5a5-9f0b-482d-ad87-24f1920ea5c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.h2ouse.org/tour/details/element_action_contents.cfm?elementID=2C3884D3-E4F9-4CD0-B3C471AC0F932AD5&actionID=BD9DA9D3-0CFA-4F05-B3CBFEC63E2EEE57 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92952 | 979 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Photograph of a panoramic view of Black Butte overlooking Summit Lake(?), Siskiyou County, California, ca.1900-1950. Silhouettes of the mountain and the surrounding trees are reflected in the lake. Water vegetation sparsely covers the lake. A large boulder(?) juts above the surface of the water in the middle of the lake. Trees, bushes and grass surround the lake. A wooden fence encloses a short circumference of the lake on the other side. Utility lines and poles run along the fence.; "Summit Lake is located on the northwest side of Black Butte between I-5 and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The local story has it that when the railroad was put in, it damaged the spring which fed the lake and now it stands empty unless there is enough winter rain to fill it. A 1995 article in the Mount Shasta Herald states that 'About 1925, Southern Pacific rerouted its railroad through the area in constructing the Black Butte Junction Cutoff. All the blasting was said to have disrupted the spring feeding the lake, which now relies on winter storms to fill its depths.' A 1991 Siskiyou County Scene article reports, 'Some say the Southern Pacific Railroad, in 1926, ruined the only spring feeding Summit Lake when the company re-routed, and some say Interstate 5 was responsible..." -- unknown author. | <urn:uuid:8cd61e29-a851-45a6-955e-93d9f435d3e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15799coll65/id/4593/rec/5 | 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 | 0.940563 | 278 | 2.75 | 3 |
Alice in Wonderland: Novel Summary: Chapter 12
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In her excitement, Alice stands up and knocks over the whole jury box (because she has grown so big). All of the animals tumble out onto their heads. She sets the trial back up and proceeds. All of a sudden Alice seems much more like a girl with her toys, than a character in Wonderland. It is here that the fantasy is starting to break down.
The King asks what Alice knows of this business and Alice replies: Nothing. After some confusion regarding this, the King called out: All Persons more than a mile high to leave the court! Alice stays anyway, and the jury is asked to consider its verdict.
However, the White Rabbit finds more evidence in the form of a letter. The letter was written in verse, and in effect it proved that all of the tarts were right there before the king and that they had not been taken at all. At this point the Queen demands that they sentence the Knave first, then read the verdict, which Alice (who was quite larger by then) thoroughly denounced. This started a fight between Alice and the Queen. Then the whole pack of cards rose up and flew at Alice, who then awoke with her head in her sisters lap, the both of them sitting at the edge of the river, as they had been in the beginning of the book. Then Alice told her sister of the dream she had had.
And this might well be the end of the book. But instead, Carroll pulls the camera back, so to speak, and we see Alice's sister alone on the river's edge thinking of Alice's dream of Wonderland. And Alice's sister imagines how Alice will one day be a woman, and that she will have children and be able to tell those children her tales of Wonderland.
And so, Alice has come full circle. She started out a child, but she has come out of Wonderland now prepared to be an adult. She has learned that to be an adult is to honor rules, but not blindly. That there must be rules for a game to mean something, but the rules must be interpreted with a sense of justice and mercy, or they are as meaningless as no rules at all. More importantly, Alice has learned that to be old, or big, is not necessarily to be an Adult. Sometimes, like the Queen, aging leads to a second childhood filled with either the madness of the Hatter or the Sad Nostalgia of the Mock Turtle. Balance seems to be Lewis Carroll's answer to finding a happy life. | <urn:uuid:f07f07cb-a223-42cc-8aaf-f39ce8dfdc7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.novelguide.com/aliceinwonderland/summaries/chap12.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970317 | 522 | 3.15625 | 3 |
I have started to do some research on meditation for children and have found amazing information which explain the main benefits and also the easiest way to get started.
Do try it and let me know about your experiences…..I would love to know your opinion about this topic….don’t forget to comment
One of the big benefits of mediation fo children: it increases their attention span.
A new study published in the International Journal of Yoga found that when children are trained to practice meditation, their attention spans are significantly increased.
The researchers tested two yoga-based relaxation practices involving specific meditation and rest techniques with 208 school children (132 boys and 76 girls) between the ages of 13 and 16 years of age. Their attention spans were tested before and after practicing the two techniques: meditation and rest.
Both meditation and rest improved the childrens’ attentiveness significantly but meditation had the greatest impact on the attention scores, regardless of gender or age of the children.
More on the benefits to children and to their classrooms:
Teachers who build meditation into lesson plans report their classroom environments being more peaceful and attribute this to their students’ ability to express compassion to each other.
Therapists have said that meditation reduces test anxiety, builds positive peer relationships and enhances anger management skills. Scientists have found that meditation decreases blood pressure and helps other physical functions.
Parents say meditation raises their children’s self-esteem, helps them relax in the doctor’s office, wind down at bedtime and stay healthier, notes Wood. Children say meditation helps them “prepare for tests and sports events, as well as improves their relationships with their friends, parents, brothers and sisters.” Other children tell Wood they enjoy meditating because it makes them “feel good when they are sad” and because it’s fun.
Deepak Chopra talks about what is a good age for children to start meditating:
There’s no hard and fast rule on this. What’s most important is to make them aware of the value of meditation through your example and then look for their receptiveness. Some children may be ready for meditation as early as eight or ten years of age. Other kids even growing up in homes where both parents meditate, may not feel drawn to meditating themselves until they are in their late teens. It’s important that they don’t feel pressured to meditate because the parents want them to. When they are motivated to start from their own curiosity and desire that is the best indication they are ready, and that is the best indicator for them to continue on in their practice as well.
PsychCentral has some recommendations on getting children into the meditation habit:
The earlier you start the child, the better. Some suggestions for getting children excited about meditating:
Allow them to create a calm corner in their room. Make sure the colors are soothing as opposed to stimulating – light blues and greens are the most calming. Buy them a cool eye masks/pillow so they get some help closing their eyes. Take them to find a special rock or stick that they think is neat and can place on their ‘altar.’ Create a tie die or Disney or sports pillow case they can sit on during their practice.
Find out if the child’s heroes meditate. Ask them to find out for you. Show them all the ‘cool people’ they admire that meditate.
Make sure to do it at a time when they are their calmest. Maybe when they wake up? Or perhaps after they are done with school and need a rest? Definitely avoid times where they are their most energetic and excited.
Some tips on how to start children out on the meditation path:
Meditation is a relatively big word for most children. This word is sometimes a foreign concept to adults and therefore can be intimidating to the facilitator/Parent. However, it is a big word for something very simple! Moreover, I teach that there is no right or wrong answer for what meditation means and encourage my students to come up with their own meaning. Meditation can be simply closing your eyes and listening to the wind. Meditation can be feeling your hear beat. Meditation can be sitting quietly while you journey to wondrous places.
Before beginning a journey meditation, ask the child to close her eyes and think about what her bedroom looks like. When she opens her eyes ask her, If your eyes were closed when you saw the picture of your bedroom, then how did you see the picture? Performing this short exercise and participating in a discussion about it should alleviate any fears associated with not being able to meditate because it really is that easy.
Next, explain to the child how people usually position their body during meditation. Then let her know any position is perfect as long as she is comfortable. She can meditate sitting up in a chair, lying down, or sitting cross-legged on the floor. Let her know it is best if her eyes are closed, and it might be easier if she puts her hands over her eyes to help keep them closed. Remind the child that she can meditate anywhere. In fact she can meditate for a few minutes in her school classroom without anyone knowing what she is doing. She can even meditate with her eyes open if she prefers.
Parental participation and bribery can also help:
Can you still teach your toddler to meditate in good conscience? Yes, says Anne Kenan, who teaches a meditation class for 3- to 6-year-olds at New York City’s Shambhala Center—but it probably won’t take unless you do it with them. “You don’t have to be a seasoned professional. You can start anytime,” she says. And there’s no need to be too disciplined or structured about meditation when it comes to children. Her own son Rhese, 3, will only sit “for a minute or two,” but, she says, that’s enough. “It’s more getting [your children] familiar with the practice of it. And practicing being still and being quiet,” she says. “They’re not meditating in the sense that they’re following their breath or using a technique. They’re just sitting there. Which is great—that’s how you start.”
Indeed, any parent can tell you that getting a small child to sit still is an accomplishment in itself. Kenan even knows a meditation teacher who bribed her children with sweets to meditate for half an hour. “She’d say, ‘If you sit here for 30 minutes, I’ll buy you a piece of candy,’” Kenan laughs. “It got them to stay there and sit, and now all five children are really amazing meditators.”
I am not 100% keen on the bribery part but once again…..you know your child and only you know what works so don’t give up as the end results is worth a few cookies or even candy if that is the only way it works in your household
Good Luck and don’t forget to let me know how it worked for you | <urn:uuid:241e7fbd-1ee5-4768-a023-6a4c856702e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mylifechangebiz.com/2011/09/15/how-regular-meditation-can-benefit-our-children/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966679 | 1,497 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Ferreira, G. M. d. S.
Theory, practice and the in-between: Some thoughts concerning music, technology and education.
International Journal of Learning, 11
‘Music technology’ has been progressively gaining strength as an umbrella term for a number of professional and academic practices carried out within a context in which new media for the production, storage and distribution of music, as well as the relative decrease in the cost of electronic musical equipment – possibly amongst a plethora of other aspects – have enabled an unprecedented dissemination of both music as a product and music-making as an activity. Examining the potential of ‘music technology’ construed as a subject area in its own right, this paper examines two areas of crucial import to ‘music technology’ education: (a) the tension between academic concerns with curriculum content in respect to academic legitimacy and credibility, on the one hand, and practical considerations of placement within the job market, on the other hand; (b) the tension between conceptions of ‘music’ embodied in specific curricula and those anticipated by the student construed (often self-construed) as ‘client’. Adopting a post-structuralist stance, the paper argues that these areas of concern are characterised by dilemmas associated with the polarisation between theory and practice that characterises predominant discourses on music. It is proposed that this polarisation has traditionally infused musical scholarship (by opposing scholarly to performance practices, for example) and music making (by opposing ‘professional’ to ‘amateur’ practices, for example). In deconstructing this dichotomy, this paper suggests a conception of ‘music technology’ neither as opposed to a ‘hard’ ‘technology of music’ nor as a collection of techniques and tools taught alongside more traditional subjects within music programmes, but as an ‘in between’ site that promotes the emergence of new discourses, new technologies, and, hopefully, new musics.
Actions (login may be required) | <urn:uuid:f7f0ef58-7f8d-4a9a-a389-e409f967ff7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oro.open.ac.uk/13046/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953193 | 422 | 1.96875 | 2 |
In the past couple of years, a group of conservative pundits, analysts and bloggers have identified Shariah, or Islamic religious law, as a growing threat to the United States. These pundits and analysts argue that the steady adoption of Shariah’s tenets is a strategy extremists are using to transform the United States into an Islamic state.
A number of state and national politicians have adopted this interpretation and 13 states are now considering the adoption of legislation forbidding Shariah. A bill in the Tennessee State Senate, for example, would make adherence to Shariah punishable by 15 years in jail. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has called for “a federal law that says Shariah law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States.”
Unfortunately, overnight people have become “experts” on Shariah and have begun writing policy papers, books, lobbying, legislating and attacking Shariah at all levels. There are even several groups that have begun “No Shariah” campaigns.
The main purpose behind their agenda is to generate Islamophobia and the perception that Islam and Muslims shouldn’t be part of the American Society. But what is quite amazing is that the vast majority who argue against Shariah know very little or nothing of what it is, its definition, its scope or even the processes of implementation.
ICNA has taken up the challenge of dispelling the myths about Shariah Law and communicating the truth to the American public and has launched a campaign under the theme: Defending Religious Freedom — Understanding Shariah
During this campaign ICNA will present the facts about Shariah and will have an open dialogue and discussion with American brothers and sisters. And, hopes for a lively and highly civil engagement based on facts, not on myths, bigotry and discrimination.
As President John F. Kennedy once said:
“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people”. | <urn:uuid:9341f92c-ead4-4137-aeef-c5ca7307d9fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icna.org/defending-religious-freedom-understanding-shariah/?sort=newest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956844 | 437 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Taxi cabs tend to be linked to various colors or symbols, one I have noticed repeated over and over is the checkered pattern of alternating white and black. Is there an origin of this and how it became linked to taxi cabs or services? While it seems to be used in some countries, not all, and in some companies, not all, there has to be some kind of association between the two for it be a sort of global symbol (as much as many things are) for taxi services.
I wasn't able to find a definitive proof yet, but most likely it was because of the largest taxicab company (associated with both livery service AND manufacturing of taxicabs) that was called "Checker Taxi".
The cars themselves had distinctive checker-marks on the sides, matching the company logo:
I have read unsubstantiated rumors as to the origin of the company's logo to be: | <urn:uuid:eaa3399e-7dbe-42c4-b524-52ca83df4ea7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://history.stackexchange.com/questions/4490/when-did-the-taxi-become-associated-with-the-checkered-pattern | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984982 | 190 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Wendie Pett says, “Go Ahead, Skip the Gym Workout Today—and Tomorrow!”
Last week’s edition posed the questions, “Having trouble finding time to exercise?” “Don’t like to break a sweat?”
Then Wendie Pett’s “7x11” Visibly Fit exercise program could be just right for you.
Here’s a recap of last week’s article:
The Daily Moves plan was developed by nationally recognized fitness expert Wendie Pett (check out her website at www.wendipett.com), who says the routine is based on core foundational exercises that she discovered after a major injury to her shoulder. As a result of the injury, Wendie resorted to body weight resistance exercises for strength and healing, and she hasn’t turned back to any other form of training since. According to Wendie, you can expect to see results in as little as three weeks with this program.
The 7x11 Daily Moves means performing seven core exercises twice a day: once any time before 11 a.m. and a second time anytime before 11 p.m. The exercises are meant to be done in short durations with very slow and controlled movements. Wendie says these exercises can be done anywhere and in any type of clothing, which means they work well for busy moms with children in the house, for women who work in an office, and for those who travel for their jobs. In any case, the best news is that you don’t need to visit a gym or fitness center to complete a series of 7x11 Daily Moves.
What do the Daily Moves look like? Here is a short description:
1. Full Range Pectoral Contraction: works the chest, upper back, shoulders and arms.
2. Deltoid (Shoulder) Roll: works the chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps and forearms.
3. Wrist Twist Triceps Contraction: works triceps (the back of the arms).
4. High Reach: works shoulders, arms, upper back (lats), and abdominal muscles.
5. One Arm Chin: works shoulders, arms, upper back (lats), and abdominal muscles.
6. Abdominal Contraction and Pull In: works the abs and low back.
7. Half Knee Bend: works legs (quads and hamstrings) and glutes.
All these movements are demonstrated by Wendie on her 7x11 Daily Moves DVD and take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Since each move can be completed in about two or three minutes, all you need to do is take a few minutes from your busy schedule several times throughout the day whenever you can, wherever you are, to get through the exercises twice daily. Before you know it, you’ll get all the Daily Moves completed without having to devote a large chunk of time to exercising.
“This is a realistic way for women who can’t seem to find the time to exercise to stay in shape,” says Wendie. What is ideal about 7x11 Daily Moves is that it helps extend your health and youthfulness without fad diets, and you can make it happen any time, any place because these are routines built around easy techniques. You can even do these exercises in your business clothes. According to Wendie, “no matter what shape you are in, these daily exercises can get you on track to being in the best shape of your life.”
Resources from Wendie Pett
You can learn the exact methods you need to shed unwanted fat by letting Wendie Pett show you how to achieve a healthier, leaner, and more sculpted body through her book, Every Woman’s Guide to Personal Power, and a DVD, 7x11 Daily Moves. The book and DVD contain an explanation as self-resistant exercises as well as demonstrations of Wendie’s Daily Moves program, which requires less time than it takes to drive to the gym and change into exercise clothes. These exercises do not require a gym or expensive equipment, and they can be done anytime in the comfort and privacy of home. | <urn:uuid:7d556446-033f-42c0-b6b3-bed8a3260cc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gardenoflife.com/A-Way-of-Life/HEALTHY-LIFESTYLE/ContentPubID/172/settmid/3463.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949218 | 872 | 1.507813 | 2 |
OVERCOMING EXAM MEMORY LOSS
1. Fake violent convulsions, induce green slime vomiting, shudder erratically claiming "the Martians are coming to get me" and hope that the exam is cancelled or at least postponed because of the emotional upset caused by your sudden illness.
2. Adopt a couple of strategies to assist the memory recovery process.
I would suggest that option 1 is only appropriate if you are a very good actor, you have gullible invigilators and your fellow students can fake emotional upset. I wouldn't however recommend this approach more than once, even if you are an X-Files fan. So we are left with looking at some more realistic strategies, most of which do not involve green slime vomit.
Most people who suffer mental blocks under exam conditions do so because it is a symptom of stress. Good preparation and deep subject knowledge can alleviate some of the stress but when faced with mental blanking, the first thing you should do is to breathe deeply and relax. Imagine that you do know the answer and see what comes to mind.
A common reaction will be to stare down at the question or answer paper desperately trying to come up with an answer. This is a mistake as brain research has discovered the position of our eyes actually affects which part of the brain we are accessing. The Science of Neuro Linguistic Programming (or NLP for short) has shown that by looking up we access information from our memories. So if you are faced with a mental block, instead of staring at your desk, look up as you search for that crucial information.
A second strategy to apply is to begin a Mind Map of everything that you know about the subject that relates to the question that is giving you trouble. The power of association and the triggering of key words will help you access the information that you need.
If you can find a question that you can answer, begin that but only after you have read the whole question paper. As you begin the easy answers, you will find that facts or figures relating to the questions you have skipped will pop into your mind. As they do so add them to a Mind Map and finish the question that you are on. Then return to the difficult question later, using your Mind Map as a basis for your answer.
Another thing you could try as you attempt to stimulate the recall process is to try and think of things that are connected to the information in some way. For example, can you think of a particular experiment or example that was used to illustrate the point? Did something unusual happen when you covered that topic? Can you "see" the notes in your minds eye?
As you attempt to withdraw the information from your mind, you might be saying to yourself (possibly out of exasperation) "I don't know this ? I don't know this". If you find you're saying this to yourself, think of a huge pink elephant, playing a Banjo, singing the latest Boyzone single backwards. Now this has nothing to do with recall but it stopped you from programming yourself into not knowing the answer. Now say to yourself "If I did know the answer, what would I write?" and see what happens.
Hopefully good notes, plentiful revision, practice papers and a good attitude will prevent you from having a mental block - but if you do, try some of these strategies to get you back on track.
HOME ..Brain ..Brain Foods ..Medical Dictionary | <urn:uuid:2db05e28-f82c-46e1-8b4d-f7bf0323e9c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mybrainupgrade.com/012.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963521 | 698 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Axelrod calls on young people to engage in public service, shape America’s future
April 27, 2012
Lisle, Illinois ~ David Axelrod admits that there was a time when he became disgruntled with the Democratic Party and switched sides to work for the New York mayoral campaign of the late liberal Republican John Lindsay.
"For those of you who can't remember what a liberal Republican looks like, I think they have an exhibit at the Field Museum right now," he said.
Axelrod, a Democratic strategist and political advisor who found his calling very early in life – he was only 10 when Lindsay ran for mayor in 1965 – spoke to an overflow crowd of more than 600 people gathered in the Krasa Center at Benedictine University on April 23 as part of the "Presidential Election Series 2012" sponsored by the Center for Civic Leadership (CCL).
Axelrod was invited to speak at Benedictine by Jim Ryan, a Republican who defeated an Axelrod client during his run for the Illinois Attorney General's office in 1994.
"As good as he is, even he occasionally slips up," Ryan joked while introducing Axelrod.
Axelrod prefaced his remarks by expressing his admiration and praising Ryan for working to engage young people in public service.
"Jim is someone who has demonstrated courage and character on a scale very few people in public life have," Axelrod said. "He's always impressed me as a person who is committed to public service. He has proven that commitment by trying to encourage young people to get involved in public service, something I hope to do.
"I believe deeply in public service," he added. "I don't think there's a higher calling, and we so desperately need our young people to be committed to public service because they need to help shape the future in which they're going to live. Jim is doing important work here, and I just wanted to come to be a part of that."
Axelrod talked about his Chicago connection, about his undergraduate years at the University of Chicago and his flirtation with a career in journalism as a City Hall reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
"I started writing for newspapers to sate my passion for politics," he said. "When I graduated, I went to work for the Chicago Tribune, and like every cub reporter I started out on the night beat covering murder and mayhem, which it turns out was great preparation for covering Chicago politics."
Axelrod shared a number of anecdotes about his career as a campaign advisor, his fascination with John F. Kennedy as a youngster, meeting a young Barack Obama in 1992 when he was heading up a local voter registration drive, and his experiences on the road with the president during the 2008 campaign.
He also talked about his time as White House chief of staff, particularly the early weeks and months of 2009 when they were dealing with a collapsing auto industry, the escalating conflict in Afghanistan and the ongoing war in Iraq.
"I wondered aloud to the president what the job would be like in good times," Axelrod said. "He patted me on the shoulder and said, 'Don't kid yourself. If there were good times, we never would have gotten the job.'"
Axelrod said he is confident that Obama will win re-election, but also expressed hope that the two battling political parties can set aside their differences and work together in a positive and meaningful way after the campaign rhetoric subsides.
"I'm not as partisan as you think," he told the crowd. "Nobody who's served 20 feet from the Oval Office could come away from that experience with anything but a deep respect for anyone who has ever served there regardless of their party affiliation."
He also expressed his belief in a system of government in which many citizens have lost faith.
"I know better than anybody about the dysfunctionality and frustration associated with our politics," he said. "I've seen that firsthand. But I've been passionate about politics and government throughout my life and this great messy, noble, profane process of self-governance."
Established in 2005 under the direction of Ryan, a 1969 Benedictine graduate and Distinguished Fellow at his alma mater, CCL seeks to shape a new generation of public leaders and responsible citizens. Each year, the CCL invites prominent public figures to speak about the importance of active citizenship and public service.
In recent years, CCL has hosted then-state Sen. Obama, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R.-Ill.), Washington Post columnists Bob Woodward and David Broder, CNN's Peter Bergen, Children's Defense Fund Director Marian Wright Edelman, University of Chicago legal scholar Cass Sunstein, human rights advocate Paul Rusesabagina and former Illinois Gov. James Edgar.
Benedictine plans to invite a representative of the Republican Party to speak at the University in the fall.
###Benedictine University is an independent Roman Catholic institution located in Lisle, Illinois just 25 miles west of Chicago. Founded in 1887, Benedictine provides 56 undergraduate majors, 16 graduate and four doctorate programs. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ranked Benedictine University as the seventh fastest-growing campus among private nonprofit master’s universities, and Forbes magazine named Benedictine among the top 20 percent of America’s colleges for 2011. Benedictine University’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain’s Chicago Business as the fourth largest in the Chicago area in 2011. | <urn:uuid:2a946189-30d9-4855-942d-d1c6e553c0dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ben.edu/news/2012/axelrod-calls-on-young-people-to-engage-in-public.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978673 | 1,128 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A more hopeful continent
The lion kings?
Africa is now one of the world’s fastest-growing regions
MUCH has been written about the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the shift in economic power eastward as Asia outruns the rest of the world. But the surprising success story of the past decade lies elsewhere. An analysis by The Economist finds that over the ten years to 2010, no fewer than six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa (see table).
The only BRIC country to make the top ten was China, in second place behind Angola. The other five African sprinters were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda, all with annual growth rates of around 8% or more. During the two decades to 2000 only one African economy (Uganda) made the top ten, against nine from Asia. On IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years (our ranking excludes countries with a population of less than 10m as well as Iraq and Afghanistan, which could both rebound strongly in the years ahead).
Over the past decade sub-Saharan Africa's real GDP growth rate jumped to an annual average of 5.7%, up from only 2.4% over the previous two decades. That beat Latin America's 3.3%, but not emerging Asia's 7.9%. Asia's stunning performance largely reflects the vast weight of China and India; most economies saw much slower growth, such as 4% in South Korea and Taiwan. The simple unweighted average of countries' growth rates was virtually identical in Africa and Asia.
Over the next five years Africa's is likely to take the lead (see chart). In other words, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart. Looking even farther ahead, Standard Chartered forecasts that Africa's economy will grow at an average annual rate of 7% over the next 20 years, slightly faster than China's.
So it should, of course. Poorer economies have more potential for catch-up growth. The scandal was that Africa's real GDP per head fell for so many years. In 1980 Africans had an average income per head almost four times bigger than the Chinese. Today the Chinese are more than three times richer. Africa's rapidly rising population still dampens its growth in real income per head but that, too, has risen by an annual rate of 3% since 2000—almost twice as fast as the global average.
For Western firms Africa's economy still looks tiny, accounting for only 2% of world output. Emerging Asia's is ten times larger. But Africa's share is rising, not only because of brisker growth but because GDP has been seriously understated in many economies. In November the size of Ghana's economy was revised up by a massive 75% after government statisticians improved their data and added in industries such as telecoms. Other countries are likely to revise their GDP levels and growth rates upward over the coming years.
Africa's changing fortunes have largely been driven by China's surging demand for raw materials and higher commodity prices, but other factors have also counted. Africa has benefited from big inflows of foreign direct investment, especially from China, as well as foreign aid and debt relief. Urbanisation and rising incomes have fuelled faster growth in domestic demand.
Economic management has improved, too. Government revenues have been bolstered in recent years by high commodity prices and rapid growth. But instead of going on a spending spree as in the past some governments, such as Tanzania's and Mozambique's, have put money aside, cushioning their economies in the recession.
Some ambled through the decade rather than sprinted. Africa's biggest economy by far, South Africa, is one of its laggards: it posted average annual growth of only 3.5% over the past decade. Indeed, it may be overtaken in size by Nigeria within ten to 15 years if Nigeria's bold banking reforms are extended to the power and the oil industries. But the big challenge for all mineral exporters will be providing jobs for a population expected to grow by 50% between 2010 and 2030.
Commodity-driven growth does not generate many jobs; and commodity prices could fall. So governments need to diversify their economies. There are some glimmers. Countries such as Uganda and Kenya that do not depend on mineral exports are also growing faster than before, partly because they have increased manufacturing exports. Standard Chartered thinks that Africa could become a significant manufacturing centre.
Formidable obstacles to Africa's continued progress loom, among them political instability, the weak rule of law, chronic corruption, infrastructure bottlenecks, and poor health and education. Without reforms, Africa will not be able to sustain faster growth. But its lion economies are earning a place alongside Asia's tigers. | <urn:uuid:ae5efb86-a963-4a1d-8dab-89fd80a6a283> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/node/17853324 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961471 | 993 | 2.296875 | 2 |
But, riding the bus means riding with responsibilities.
"It's being prepared, looking at the school year in general and keeping in mind what time of the year it is, dressing appropriately for the weather. Even though they may be riding a bus, they still have to get to the bus stops," said Director of District Operations and Safety at Utica City School District, Joseph Muller.
And while it's important for students to be on their best behavior, the responsibilities go both ways.
"Some buses have bus monitors or attendants, but every bus of course has the driver who is responsible for the world's most precious cargo, the children, and these drivers go through very severe hard training," said Ken Chawgo, Director of Safety and Training at Birnie Bus.
Part if that training includes incorporating new bullying legislation.
"They're going to be receiving the Dignity for All Students Act training and making sure they're aware what to look for with the students, and what behaviors we can look at with various individuals and see if we can stop it early on," said Muller.
And training for drivers and staff doesn't just come around once a year.
"Our drivers and monitors are training throughout the year, so they are well informed on how to work with students and to set that positive environment so when they get on the bus, they don't feel like they're in some third world country. They're put at east when they begin their transportation experience," said Muller. | <urn:uuid:3a6e36de-ba77-46f8-9365-9847c2762454> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnyhomepage.com/fulltext-news/?nxd_id=160942 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984161 | 302 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Biodiversity and Children
What could be more rewarding than spending some time with your children observing life in your garden (or even your balcony or park)? Whether it is planting some seeds and watching them grow into veggies, or watching butterflies visit a flower and roll out their long “straw” to drink nectar, if you just take the time, your garden will give your children a moment of internal quietness while they witness amazing buzzing activity. Before you start, try to make enough free time in order to enjoy nature’s activities with the family. With a bit of patience and flexibility, you can involve even small kids in the preparation phase and pick and choose your favourite activities: 1. Give your children their own little plot of land or their own plant container. Ownership is important here! No mum/dad or big sibling needs to interfere in the young child’s personal approach when it…
Nature’s Helping Hand
Summertime is here! Before you head off to your summer destination, you can plan ahead with some help from nature. Don’t let minor stings and aches spoil your travel fun! Put together a natural first aid kit so you are prepared for the unexpected. When traveling, it’s always easier to have things close by and avoid the emergency scramble to find things and/or communicate your needs in a foreign language. All it takes is a few trips to an organic store and a pharmacy to take care of the essentials. So what are some emergency essentials to keep on hand? The Belgian Red Cross has a First Aid kit available for around 20 euros and contains all the basics including bandages, an emergency thermal wrap, etc. In addition, here are some natural remedies (in alphabetical order) to get you started. Arnica – a tube in gel or cream form of…
Mobility with Kids
I live less than 300 metres from a large grocery shopping complex. Due to my lack of a driver's license, this proximity to the shops was of primary concern when we chose our house (right behind price!). Yet shortly after moving in, I realised that my dream of popping up at the shops to do the weekly re-stocking of groceries had turned into a nightmare for one reason - the kids. In my dream, I had never bothered to work out the seemingly impossible logistics of transporting three small children (at the time, all under 5), four large bags of shopping and my own, increasingly lagging morale, for 300 metres. What had initially seemed a hop, skip and jump from the house was suddenly more daunting than a marathon. Finally, after yet another epic excursion with me trying in vain to strap babies to my body, toddler in pushchair, bags of…
Forêt de Soignes Tree Planting Event - March 2012
We are happy to report that our tree planting in the Forêt de Soignes / Zoniënwoud on 18 March was a complete success. More than 500 of you joined us and planted nearly 2,500 trees! Our heartfelt thanks to all you who came along or contributed. You can browse though some pictures of the event in our online album.
Champagne corks flying.... late nights out... 5 course dinners... gifts... swinging parties... tempting sweets... socializing with family and friends... piles of wrapping paper... cocktails... traveling across town (or the world)... shopping... decadent chocolates... Welcome to the Holiday Season! With all the festivities and so many things to prepare and do, the holidays can easily throw us off kilter, and lead to feeling rundown, even stressed by it all! With a little planning and positive intention, you can get through the season and come out of it feeling and looking great, and even help others and the environment along the way. To help create balance in and around your life, read on!
- Jane Goodall Institute. This institute is close to our heart! Jane Goodall not only continues to protect and observe chimpanzees, but also does some breathtaking development cooperation and inspires young people all over the world to do something useful with her Roots and Shoots program. You can either donate money, become a member, adopt a chimpanzee or order one of the many beautiful things of her online shop. You can find her books in English, beautiful mugs and letter paper, memo blocs, peace bracelets, brass pins, a tree planting certificate and even delicious organically shade-grown coffee beans from the Gombe Reserve. Sunbeams has a selection of her products which can be bought at our events. If you send us an email well in advance you can even make your personal order to be picked up at one of our events.
Like last year, the MYP students are currently involved in a project called 'Lease a Tree'. For just 35€, 48 fortunate families can enjoy me, and my pine tree friends', company for three weeks.
Have you got things in your house that you don't need any more but which are still in good condition? Have you bought something on impulse only to realize later that you don't really want it? Do you want to get rid of clutter but can't get yourself to throw away stuff mercilessly?
Well, why not make your unwanted items the life of your Christmas party by holding an 'all-old items' gift exchange? This gift exchange can be best done by a game called White Elephant or Yankee Swap. This game is very simple yet guaranteed to be fun. This could be an additional gift exchange or even replace the gift-giving altogether.
“Oh toilet brush oh toilet brush, how lovely are thy bristles...” just doesn’t have quite the same holiday ring to it as the classic carol, does it? I know I was surprised when, in the course of researching this article, I came across the humble origins of the artificial Christmas tree: in the 1930s the Addis Brush Company discovered that their toilet brush factory could produce a reasonable facsimile of a Christmas tree. The artificial tree is now firmly entrenched in the ethos of Christmas consumerism.
Open gifts with care and attention to the wrapping paper, ribbons, tags and boxes.
The challenge is to see how much can be saved and put away for reuse during your next holiday season.
Did you know that paper can be ironed on a low setting if you find there are two many creases in it from a previous wrapping.
On the inside of sheets of paper write the dates when used and see how many years one sheet of paper can be used. This can provide great entertainment in years to come as you remember gifts wrapped in the paper years past or simply how many years you’ve seen it come back in circulation.
Save tags and reuse again another year….saves time on writing out new tags and money buying new tags.
Ribbon can be added to new ribbons another year, can be reused as is, or added to children’s crafts.
Boxes often fold flat and take up little space. If they can not be folded, take on the puzzle challenge to find out how many you can nest together. Wrapping the parts of a box rather than the whole box itself saves the paper and has a prepared box for next year’s use.
Can you reuse any parts of pre-packaged gift items?
This article was originally published in the October 2011 edition of the Sunbeams Newsletter.
This article consists of two parts: first is a list of original ideas for eco-friendly presents, followed by the art of giving and receiving. There are also some ideas for sustainable wrapping.
Some original ideas for eco-friendly presents
Just try to imagine all the waste and pollution resulting from the Christmas season - it will make you sad. But, with a little bit of imagination, you can find many original ideas for an eco-friendly Christmas! Here is a list to give you some inspiration: | <urn:uuid:7d06ab5d-f3e9-4a21-82eb-147faa07133d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunbeams.eu/index.php/home/itemlist/tag/christmas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948816 | 1,629 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Decriminalizing Mental Illness:
Making the Case for Justice Reinvestment during Difficult Economic Times
Is your state experiencing a budget crisis? Unless you are very lucky, your state government is looking for ways to cut, and mental health services are probably at the top of the list. At the same time, most states are grappling with the ballooning costs of jails and prisons. During the criminal justice symposium, “Making the Case for Justice Reinvestment during Difficult Economic Times,” two national experts grappled with how to advocate for mental health services—especially for individuals at greatest risk of involvement with the criminal justice system—when state budgets are strained to the limit.
Pete Earley, longtime NAMI member and author of Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, discussed the story of his son’s mental illness and involvement with the criminal justice system. Mr. Earley’s story reinforces what NAMI members know best: telling your family’s story is the most convincing way to humanize the tragedy of criminalization. At the same time, he discussed his investigation of the Miami-Dade County jail, where there are so many detainees living with mental illness that they have their own floor of the jail.
Earley’s investigation revealed that detainees living with mental illness were packed several to a cell, often stripped bare of any clothes and left to sleep on the floor or a metal bunk without sheets. Most of the men he interviewed were experiencing psychosis and clearly getting no treatment. Many languished for months before facing trial.
This human tragedy is also a financial disaster for most states. People living with serious mental illness crowd jails and prisons where they stay longer than others who are being held on similar charges and require costly care and additional staff, which correctional facilities cannot afford. Worse, once released, people living with mental illness are unlikely to get the treatment and support they need and are likely to wind up right back in jail. Often, the charges they face are for crimes like disturbing the peace or minor property crimes.
States pay for a cycle of incarceration that ultimately benefits no one: the person living with mental illness does not get the help he needs, public safety does not improve and law enforcement and correctional officers find themselves frustrated because they don’t have the capacity to provide the care that people need.
Dr. Fred Osher addressed how states can break this cycle, save money and provide treatment for people at the greatest risk of involvement with the criminal justice system. Dr. Osher is a longtime NAMI member, and works as the director of the health components of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center’s initiatives. He and the Justice Center work with several states on justice reinvestment—the strategy of taking money currently being used on jails and prisons and reinvesting it in front-end services to prevent incarceration.
The justice reinvestment process involves careful evaluation of existing corrections spending to find places where funds are being used inefficiently. The funds identified are then used to intervene earlier in the criminal justice system. In Kansas, the Justice Center helped to analyze spending and found that 65 percent of prison admissions were due to parole or probation revocations, costing taxpayers $53 million annually. In addition, a high percentage of the revocations were due to violations of conditions, such as alcohol and drug use, and an even higher percentage of probation and parole violators had a demonstrated need for mental health or substance abuse treatment.
Working with Kansas lawmakers, the Justice Center helped to devise a series of reforms that included incentives for increasing treatment, vocational and educational training for prisoners. Early data suggests that probation and parole revocations are down dramatically, and the state is expected to save more than $80 million in corrections spending, and save having to build almost 1,300 new prison beds.
This example is just one of several justice reinvestment projects being spearheaded by the Justice Center. Justice reinvestment is saving money and improving lives across the country.
NAMI advocates can learn more about Justice Reinvestment on the Council of State Governments’ website. Advocates will also want to check out NAMI’s fact sheet The High Cost of Cutting Mental Health: Criminal Justice or view Dr. Osher’s presentation from the symposium. To learn more about Pete Earley and his work, go to www.peteearley.com. | <urn:uuid:b7181c60-be53-45a9-be0e-247cef819e73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nami.org/TextTemplate.cfm?Section=CIT&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=105436 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957992 | 902 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Will US End Major Combat Operations in Afghanistan in 2014?
With President Biden saying that US will leave Afghanistan in 2014, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today stated that major US combat operations will end in Afghanistan
In an interview with Reena Ninan of ABC News
in Lima, Secretary Clinton says that in 2014, according to the decisions that were made by NATO which includes the United States, they would end major combat operations in 2014, the end of the year.
"What has been discussed is how to train and support and provide specific forms of assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces." -Ms. Clinton
She adds that that there is an enduring commitment that a number of countries have already made to the Afghans, including the United States, but also the UK, France, and others have said they don't want Afghanistan to end up the way it did after the Soviet Union left and those countries that had been funding the fight against the Soviet Union retreated.
"So no one wants that to happen." -Ms. Clinton
No one wants Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists again, Ms. Clinton noted.
"But what that will look like, who will be involved-- all of that is still to be considered." -Ms. Clinton
In July this year, with its commitment to strengthen Afghanistan's institutions, the United States of America announced that Afghanistan is officially designated as its major non-NATO ally.
In her remarks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the security situation of Afghanistan is more stable.
The Afghan National Security Forces are improving their capacity to protect the Afghan people.
The Afghans are in the process of taking the lead in more than 75 percent of the population's living areas in order to provide security.
The Government of Afghanistan has signed partnership agreements with many countries, and the United States is among those.
Both nations have worked together to set forth a long-term political, diplomatic, and security partnership, and it entered into force just a few days ago.
The US government sees this alliance as a powerful symbol of its commitment to Afghanistan's future.
Ms. Clinton is looking forward to convening, along with Foreign Minister Rassoul, the new U.S.-Afghanistan bilateral commission to intensify our cooperation.
US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement is not aimed at any other country, she noted.
The United States wants to continue to invest in doing what the Afghans believe they need.
The United States will continue to protect Afghanistan from any efforts by insurgents and outsiders to destabilize Afghanistan.
The US government has supported President Karzai in his effort to have an Afghan-owned, Afghan-led reconciliation process.
The US government pledges to continue its support and to work with the Afghans to get more international support, Ms. Clinton stressed.
In December 2011, the United States withdrew 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
July 2011 marked the beginning of a responsible transition that will see Afghan forces gradually taking the lead in securing their own country.
By 2014, the process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security.
The Afghan security forces move into the lead, the United States continues to reduce its military footprint. Its mission will change from combat to support. The remaining 23,000 "surge" troops in December 2009 will leave Afghanistan by the end of summer 2012.
The U.S. government has made significant progress towards their goals.
Reports say the U.S. government is redoubling its efforts to pursue a peaceful end to the conflict in the region.
The U.S. government has taken tangible steps to advance Afghan reconciliation and reintegration initiatives, including support to the Afghan High Peace Council and provincial police and reintegration councils.
Mina Fabulous follows the news, especially what is going on in the US State Department. Mina turns State Department waffle into plain english. Read more stories by Mina Fabulous. Contact Mina through NewsBlaze.
Related World News News | <urn:uuid:54a9137d-3817-4ffd-9063-e685681bc223> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsblaze.com/story/20121018074217mina.nb/topstory.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964814 | 834 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Death penalty stuck in limbo in Tenn.Deborah Denno in CorrectionsOne, April 25, 2011
By Brian Haas
Chattanooga Times Free Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee has 86 killers on death row and no way to execute them after the state's supply of a key lethal injection drug was seized by the federal government.
Now, Tennessee has to make a death penalty decision.
If it doesn't change its lethal injection drug or the Legislature doesn't pass a law allowing the state to use alternative means of executions — electrocution, hanging, gas chamber or some other method — death row inmates will remain imprisoned indefinitely and families of murder victims will be left waiting for final punishment to be meted out.
"It's extremely frustrating. We are carrying on our lives, but it's just such a heavy burden," said Misti Ellis, whose father, Jerry Hopper, was killed in a shooting rampage in 2005 in Jackson.
"I hope that it's a procedural bump in the road. I hope they can find some way to resolve it or find a new method. I certainly would not want to see for myself or any other family that feels the same way to have that changed because of a supply problem."
Hopper's killer, David Jordan, 47, is second in line to be executed this year. He is scheduled to die Sept. 27.
In less than five months, the state is set to start executing death row inmates again. But, like other states, Tennessee had to turn over its stock of sodium thiopental to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration because of allegations it may have been obtained illegally from an unregulated overseas supplier.
Neither Gov. Bill Haslam's office nor the Tennessee Department of Correction would say what the state will do about the quandary.
Haslam's office referred all questions to the Department of Correction.
That department's spokeswoman, Dorinda Carter, said the commissioner is "still reviewing our options" and is "not ready to discuss them at this point."
Potential options include switching to another drug, which could lead to renewed legal challenges; switching to other methods such as the electric chair, which would require lawmakers to rewrite death penalty laws; or scrapping the death penalty altogether.
Bills proposing to abolish the state's death penalty in this year's legislature have been withdrawn.
Yet the drug shortage is providing one of the most significant challenges to the death penalty in decades, said Deborah Denno, professor at Fordham Law School in New York and a death penalty scholar and critic.
"Within the history of the death penalty, this is a very big deal. We've never had a situation like this, ever," she said. "We've never run out of gas for gas chambers or rope for hanging or electrical equipment for electric chairs."
Sodium thiopental has long been used as the first in a three-drug cocktail administered to death row inmates. Tennessee's procedures call for 5 grams of the drug, used to sedate the inmate. That is followed by 200 mg of pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate. Finally, 200 ml of potassium chloride is administered to stop the inmate's heart.
Denno said lethal injection was first widely adopted in 1982 as an alternative to the electric chair, which was increasingly being challenged as unconstitutionally cruel or unusual punishment.
Tennessee made the switch in 1998 for that very reason, said former Democratic Tennessee Rep. Wayne Ritchie, of Knoxville, who helped work on the legislation.
"There was concern by the sponsor that anything other than lethal injection might be found unconstitutional and this bill was an effort to bolster the constitutionality of Tennessee's death penalty law," Ritchie said.
Today, state law says all death row inmates convicted after 1999 must be executed using lethal injection. Prisoners convicted before that year can choose between lethal injection or the electric chair.
Some states have botched lethal injections, with some taking hours to kill the inmate, Denno said.
Attorneys for several Tennessee death row inmates in recent months have had success in challenging the state's method of determining whether inmates are truly unconscious during lethal injections. Those challenges continue to bounce from court to court on appeals, delaying all executions.
But with few exceptions, lethal injection has withstood continual challenges to its constitutionality. It continued largely unimpeded until late last year, when sole U.S. supplier Hospira stopped supplying sodium thiopental, citing anti-death penalty pressure from Italy, where it is produced.
Some states turned to overseas suppliers for stocks of the drug. A federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., accuses multiple states — Tennessee included — of possibly violating drug import laws by purchasing thiopental from a British company called Dream Pharma, run out of the back of a London driving school.
Carter said the Tennessee Department of Correction obtained its supply domestically, but the department has refused requests to reveal its source, and documents detailing the purchase have been redacted.
Pro and con
Death penalty opponents are greeting the temporary shutdown of most states' executions as welcome, but by no means a victory.
"It's a bump in the road. I wish we could do away with the death penalty period," said the Rev. James "Tex" Thomas. "What good is it knowing that you're going to die anyways? If it were me, if you're going to get me, get me right now."
Thomas ministered to the last person to be executed in Tennessee, triple-murderer Cecil Johnson, who died by lethal injection Dec. 2, 2009.
The Rev. Stacy Rector, with Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said the current supply problems are irrelevant to their larger concerns.
"It is a huge problem, but it doesn't get at the real core issue, which is, can we as a society maintain the death penalty system given all of its problems?" she said. "I think it's just one more symptom of a huge problem that we don't need to have. We could be spending our energy and our resources focusing more on helping murder victims' families to heal."
But proponents say that executions are an important part of ensuring that justice is done in Tennessee.
"What I want is to do whatever it takes to discourage people from killing people," said State Rep. Barrett Rich, R-Somerville, who has filed several bills this year to add to the list of factors that make murderers eligible for the death penalty, like gang warfare and random killings.
If Tennessee is to continue executing death row inmates, it has few options. Ohio and Oklahoma have already used an anesthetic called pentobarbital that is commonly used in animal euthanasia. Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi have also committed to the switch.
Tennessee's Department of Correction has said that it would consider pentobarbital.
"To change the protocol in Tennessee, we wouldn't require legislation or a change in statute," Carter has said. "It would be a departmental review and then we could put it into play right away."
Rich said he would be satisfied with even scrapping lethal injection for other methods altogether, though there is no legislation pending that would allow that.
"If they want to paint us into the corner and stop us from having lethal injection, then I certainly have no problem with hanging or putting someone to death with a firing squad," he said.
But he said he has not heard any talk in the legislature about rewriting the state's death penalty laws. He said any such change would have to be carefully handled to stand up to legal challenges.
"I think this is an issue we have to approach with caution so we do the right thing," he said. | <urn:uuid:8f05c648-2b9b-44c7-8d5f-320b2be4a7f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.fordham.edu/faculty/22380.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968776 | 1,592 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Securing DNS and BIND
Our secure DNS service, trapped in its padded cell and very particular about what it says to whom, is shaping up nicely. But what about the actual zone databases?
The good news here is that since our options are considerably more limited than with named.conf, there's less to do. The bad news is that there's at least one type of Resource Record that's both obsolete and even dangerous, and must be avoided by the security-conscious.
Here's a sample zone file for the hypothetical domain “boneheads.com” (see Figure 4.)
The first thing to consider is the Start-of-Authority (SOA) record. In the above example, the serial number follows the convention yyyymmdd##, which is both convenient and helps security, as it reduces the chances of accidentally loading an old (obsolete) zone file—the serial number serves as both an index and a time stamp.
The refresh interval is set to three hours, a reasonable compromise between bandwidth conservation and paranoia. That is, the shorter the refresh interval, the less damage a DNS-spoofing (cache-poisoning) attack can do, since any “bad records” propagated by such an attack will be corrected each time the zone is refreshed.
The expiry interval is set to two weeks. This is the length of time the zone file will still be considered valid, should the zone's master stop responding to refresh queries. There are two ways a paranoiac might view this parameter. On one hand, a long value ensures that should the master server be bombarded with denial-of-service attacks over an extended period of time, its slaves will continue using cached zone data and the domain will continue to be reachable (except, presumably, for its main DNS server!). But on the other hand, even in the case of such an attack, zone data may change, and sometimes old data causes more mischief than no data at all.
Similarly, the Time to Live interval should be short enough to facilitate reasonably speedy recovery from an attack or corruption, but long enough to prevent bandwidth cluttering. (The TTL determines how long the individual zone's Resource Records may remain in the caches of other name servers retrieving them via queries.)
Our other concerns in this zone file have to do with minimizing the unnecessary disclosure of information. First, we want to minimize aliases (“A records”) and canonical names (“CNAMEs”) in general, so that only those hosts who need to be are present. (Actually, we want split DNS, but when that isn't feasible or applicable, we should still try to keep the zone file sparse.)
Second, we want to minimize the amount of (recursive) glue-fetching that goes on. This occurs when a requested name-server (NS) record contains a name whose IP address (via an A record) is not present on the server answering the NS query. In other words, if server X knows that Y is authoritative for domain WUZZA.com but X doesn't actually know Y's IP address, life can get weird: this scenario paves the way for DNS-spoofing attacks. Therefore, if you really want to eliminate all recursion (and I hope you do by now), make sure none of your Resource Records require recursive glue-fetching, and then set the “fetch-glue” option to “no”.
Finally, we need to use RP and TXT records judiciously if at all, but must never, ever put any meaningful data into an HINFO record. RP, or Responsible Person, is used to provide the e-mail address of someone who administers the domain. This is best set to as uninteresting an address as possible, e.g., “email@example.com” or “firstname.lastname@example.org”. Similarly, TXT records contain text messages that have traditionally provided additional contact information (phone numbers, etc.) but should be kept only specific enough to be useful, or better still, omitted altogether.
HINFO is a souvenir of simpler times: HINFO records are used to state the operating system, its version, and even hardware configuration of the hosts to which they refer! Back in the days when a large percentage of Internet nodes were in academic institutions and other open environments (and when computers were exotic and new), it seemed reasonable to advertise this information to one's users. Nowadays, HINFO has no valid use on public servers, other than obfuscation (i.e., intentionally providing false information to would-be attackers). In short, don't use HINFO records!
Returning to Figure 3, then, we see that the last few records are unnecessary at best and a cracker's gold mine at worst. And although we decided the SOA record looks good, the NS record immediately following points to a host on another domain altogether—remember, we don't like glue-fetching, and if that's the case here, we may want to add an A record for ns.otherdomain.com.
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Free Webinar: Hadoop
How to Build an Optimal Hadoop Cluster to Store and Maintain Unlimited Amounts of Data Using Microservers
Realizing the promise of Apache® Hadoop® requires the effective deployment of compute, memory, storage and networking to achieve optimal results. With its flexibility and multitude of options, it is easy to over or under provision the server infrastructure, resulting in poor performance and high TCO. Join us for an in depth, technical discussion with industry experts from leading Hadoop and server companies who will provide insights into the key considerations for designing and deploying an optimal Hadoop cluster.
Some of key questions to be discussed are:
- What is the “typical” Hadoop cluster and what should be installed on the different machine types?
- Why should you consider the typical workload patterns when making your hardware decisions?
- Are all microservers created equal for Hadoop deployments?
- How do I plan for expansion if I require more compute, memory, storage or networking? | <urn:uuid:26bca2af-497e-48df-aa07-edf86fb72d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4198?page=0,3&HttpOnly,_mt_redirect=true | 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 | 0.904404 | 1,657 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Ty Cobb's last hurrah — in Toronto, no less 0
The ad for first visit of Connie Mack and his famous Philadelphia A’s – Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins and all regulars to Maple Leaf Stadium in 1928.
On Sept. 14, 1928, the greatest hitter in the history of baseball waggled his bat, his hands slightly apart, and slashed a single to right field off Lefty Thompson.
Tyrus Raymond (Ty) Cobb, the face of the Detroit Tigers for 22 years, wore the uniform of the Philadelphia A’s that afternoon, a team he had joined a year earlier.
Cobb smacked another single before grounding out and was replaced in right field by Fitz French. A 2-for-3 day, not bad for the man who was approaching his 42nd birthday.
Neither of Cobb’s two hits that afternoon would count toward his amazing total of 4,191 base hits or his astronomical .367 lifetime batting average. It would be his last game in a major league uniform for when the A’s reached Cleveland he retired with 13 games remaining in the season.
Cobb ended his a career with 12 batting titles and three times hitting over .400, and his final hit came during an exhibition game in Toronto.
The Georgia Peach, reviled by teammates and opponents, was often described as the meanest, toughest player, and also the greatest, to ever wear a major league uniform.
Cobb’s appearance in the uniform of the visiting Athletics came against the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League at the spiffy new ball park at the foot of Bathurst Street and Lakeshore Boulevard — Maple Leaf Stadium.
The park, built in 1926, was described by baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, as “the finest in all of minor leagues.” It could seat over 23,500. Admission that day was $1.00 (no advance price) to witness the first visit of Connie Mack’s “rampaging Athletics”, who were chasing the New York Yankees for the pennant.
The Globe’s writer described Mack, baseball’s sphinx, “as the tall, taciturn tutor of the White Elephants.”
A crowd of less than 2,500 was on hand, viewing a game that took an hour and 20 minutes to play, unaware that they were attending an historic event, as well as watching many of the greatest players in big-league history on one diamond — Tris Speaker, Lefty Grove, Eddie Collins, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx.
All were future Hall of Fame inductees. Cobb, Collins and Speaker, along with the A’s owner and manager, Cornelius Alexander (Connie) Mack, were in the first class of inductees in 1937 at Cooperstown, N.Y.
Ball players of this era were glorified with fanciful nicknames. (The Grey Eagle) also known as (The Spoke) was Tris Speaker. He had 3,514 hits and was considered the greatest centre fielder in history (before Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle).
Eddie Collins was (Cocky), everybody’s all-star second baseman who amassed 3,309 hits in his career. Jimmie Foxx, (Double XX) or (The Beast), hit 33 or more homers for 12 consecutive seasons and more than 100 RBIs for 13 years. He stole a base that afternoon in the A’s 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs.
(Ol Mose) was 300-game winner Lefty Grove, considered the game’s greatest lefthander, an equal to Sandy Koufax.
(Black Mike) was catcher Mickey Cochrane, one of the best at his position. Mickey Mantle was named after him. (Bucketfoot Al) was Aloysius Simmons. He gained his sobriquet from his unusual batting stance that produced two batting titles and 2,927 hits.
In the 1920s and ’30s, owners regularly scheduled exhibition games on off days during the season, much to the chagrin of his weary troops (no player’s union in those days). And Connie Mack was no different. He made a career of selling off his great stars and making a lot of money before rebuilding another championship team. Mack needed the money and insisted on his club playing meaningless games despite the fact that his team was in a tight pennant race and trailed the Yankees by one game. He had arranged exhibition games in Albany, N.Y., and Toronto on the club’s final road trip of the season.
A future major leaguer in the Toronto lineup on Sept. 14, 1928, was first baseman Dale (Moose) Alexander, who went 2-for-4 against the A’s. Four years later, in 1932, he accomplished an unusual batting feat when he became the only man in history to win a batting title (.367) while playing for two teams — he started the season with Detroit and was later dealt to the Red Sox.
Alexander had a major league batting average of .331 during five big league seasons but was atrocious at first base, making 71 errors. Philadelphia finished second by two games to New York. The Maple Leafs also finished second to the Rochester Red Wings. | <urn:uuid:fbf86796-a11c-43fc-a340-e5cedd2512ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lfpress.com/2012/09/13/ty-cobbs-last-hurrah--in-to-no-less | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981935 | 1,111 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Late Breaking News
Archive for May 2011
IHS Works to Resolve Management Problem, Still Underfunded Compared to Other Federal Health Programs, Director Says
WASHINGTON—The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released an investigative report last year that found that an increasingly high number of Equal Employment Opportunity complaints (EEO) had been filed in the Aberdeen Area, which is made up of IHS and tribally-managed units that serve about 100,000 Indians in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.
WASHINGTON—A study published in the April issue of Health Affairs found that medical errors cost the United States more than $17 billion a year. And, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, medical errors and near miss events, i.e. any process or error that could have resulted in harm if it had not been caught, are responsible for injury to as many as one out of every 25 hospital patients.
WASHINGTON—Cancer organizations were pleased that funding was not reduced for the peer-reviewed prostate, breast and ovarian cancer programs in DoD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) in the FY 2011 Defense budget.
VA's Expedited Process to Diagnosis, Treat Lung Cancer Can Make Bad Experience More Tolerable for Patients
PITTSBURGH—In 2000, if you were a patient at the Pittsburgh VAMC and were found to have a lung nodule, it took an average of six weeks to be evaluated for lung cancer. With the possibility of being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease hanging over your head, those six weeks could seem like an eternity.
WASHINGTON—In 2005, VA initiated a Colon Cancer Care Collaborative (C4) to help improve the timeliness of follow-up after positive fecal blood occult tests (FOBT). The initiative was in reaction to studies released at the time showing considerable delays between screening and follow-up, some as long as six months to a year.
WASHINGTON—If there is one fact that Marianne Elliott, chair of the U.S. Military Cancer Institute (USMCI) Institutional Review Board (IRB), wants investigators to know, it is that the USMCI’s new cancer research review board is “open for business.”
WASHINGTON—With a number of conflicting studies over the last five years looking at the effect of delays between positive colon cancer screenings and the subsequent colonoscopy that could confirm a diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), VA researchers have struggled to determine exactly how a holdup of care effects outcomes.
WASHINGTON—Screening for colorectal cancer traditionally has been done on a per-visit basis at the VA. A patient comes in and, based on the physician’s recommendation, undergoes a test for the disease.
New Study: Prostate Cancer Diagnosed Five Years Earlier In Vietnam-Era Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
PORTLAND, OR—Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange are almost 50% more likely to develop prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, making exposure to the defoliate a higher risk factor than age and on par with family history for veterans, according to recent research.
WASHINGTON—Despite significant efforts by DoD and VA to revamp the disability evaluation process, the new system remains “complex and adversarial,” the top Army doctor told a congressional subcommittee.
Most Popular Stories
- Many Healthcare Providers Lose VA Retention Bonuses
- Federal Medicine Organizational Meetings — Tarred with the Same Brush?
- Despite Formulary, High-Cost Diabetes Drug Use Varies Widely Across VA Facilities
- Report Says Administration Faces Hard Choices For Veterans Programs
- Physician Overcomes TBI to Return to Active-Duty Medicine
Join Our E-Mail List | <urn:uuid:02b6ce23-ebc3-424d-bf41-d28fd12d8abe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usmedicine.com/archive/2011/05?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946463 | 788 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Davidson County’s unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in August, up from 8.5 percent in July but still lower than the statewide average of 9.7 percent, according to figures released Thursday.
Across the state, the rate decreased in 57 counties, increased in 28 counties and stayed the same in 10 counties, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 7.7 percent, up from 7.5 percent in July. Hamilton County was 8.6 percent, up from 8.4 percent the previous month. Shelby County was
10.4 percent, down from the July unemployment rate of 10.5 percent.
Lincoln County registered the state's lowest county unemployment rate at 6.4 percent, up from the July rate of 6.2 percent, followed by Williamson County at 6.8 percent, up from 6.7 percent.
Scott County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 19.7 percent, down from 19.8 percent in the previous month, followed by Obion County at 17.2, up from 11.4 percent in July. | <urn:uuid:74b23282-44a7-4efb-b619-e6b67f9fe7e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/davidson-county-unemployment-rate-rises-july-august | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961716 | 241 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Green Your Community
There are lots of ways a green business can create impact in its communities – directly related to its core business or springing from the passions of staff. A business can initiate its own program, partner with other communities groups and businesses, or bring added support to a well-established effort.
Green Business Certification provides steps for businesses that want to engage employees in such efforts (see categories such as Conserving Resources, Recycling, and Minimizing Waste or Supporting Your Community). The stories included here highlight possibilities and, hopefully, inspire creativity. | <urn:uuid:63209c0c-e4e2-46fd-8cd4-dfd0c270b0ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greenbusinessnetwork.org/green-your-business/community.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95185 | 113 | 1.515625 | 2 |
NYACK, N.Y. (SFF PR) — Today, the Republican Party released its 2012 platform, which included a provision entitled “America’s Future in Space: Continuing This Quest.” The non-partisan Space Frontier Foundation issued the following statement in response:
NASA seems to be one Big Government program many Republicans love. The GOP platform criticizes the federal government as “bloated, antiquated and unresponsive to taxpayers” but has nothing but hackneyed praise for NASA, and doesn’t even mention the increasing role of the private sector. The authors of this platform must imagine they still live in the Cold War of the 1960s, when only governments launched payloads and people into space.
The platform committee declares it “isn’t enough to merely downsize government, having a smaller version of the same failed systems,” that we need to “do things in a dramatically different way”-yet says nothing about the need to reform NASA or to streamline regulation of the emerging NewSpace sector. Republicans call themselves the Great Opportunity Party. Yet their Platform presumes “space” is a (government) program, instead of a frontier to be opened to the American people–the greatest “opportunity” since the West was settled.
In the last eight years, the private space industry has taken off – literally. Companies like SpaceX and Sierra Nevada are vying to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station. Others are testing vehicles for suborbital space tourism, or planning orbiting space facilities and asteroid mining. Many inside NASA recognize that the agency should be encouraging these NewSpace companies by buying their services, rather than competing with them, so NASA can focus on true exploration–like Lewis and Clark. NASA needs the kind of overhaul Gov. Romney has brought to other dysfunctional organizations if it is to pass his test for all government programs: is it worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? Only when NASA ceases to be a white-collar jobs program and starts nurturing entrepreneurs in new industries will the answer be yes.
The Space Frontier Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) citizen’s advocacy group founded in 1988 and dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible. | <urn:uuid:10e62969-e2a3-4ac2-9747-b7ae9237e215> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/08/29/space-frontier-foundation-republicans-the-party-of-big-government-space/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94229 | 474 | 1.523438 | 2 |
An Experiment in Cheap Living
Earlier this week, I shared some of the highlights from three years of GRS articles about saving money on food. Brett from The Art of Manliness, who knows that I collect old self-help books, sent me an excerpt from Dio Lewis’s 1872 volume, Our Digestion, or, My Jolly Friend’s Secret. Here Lewis describes his “experiment in cheap living”, during which he spends just 54-1/4 cents for a week of food. This makes for some amusing reading. Enjoy!
It is now Saturday afternoon, and I will tell you in confidence, my dear reader, a little of my personal, private experience during the past week.
On Sunday morning last, I thought I would try for a week the experiment of living cheaply.
Sunday breakfast, hulled Southern corn, with a little milk. My breakfast cost three cents. I took exactly the same thing for dinner. Food for the day, six cents. I never take any supper.
Monday breakfast, two cents’ worth of oatmeal, in the form of porridge, with one cent’s worth of milk. For dinner, two cents’ worth of whole wheat, boiled, with one cent’s worth of milk. Food for Monday, six cents.
Tuesday breakfast, two cents’ worth of beans, with half a cent’s worth of vinegar. For dinner, one quart of rich bean porridge, worth one cent, with four slices of coarse bread, worth two cents. Food for Tuesday, five and a half cents.
Wednesday breakfast, hominy made of Southern corn (perhaps the best of all food for laboring men in hot weather), two cents’ worth, with one cent’s worth of syrup. For a dinner a splendid beef stew, the meat of which cost two cents. A little extravagant, you see. But then, you know, “a short life and a merry one.”
Perhaps you don’t believe that the meat was purchased for two cents? But it was, though. The fact is, that from an ox weighing eight hundred pounds nett you can purchase certain parts weighing about one hundred pounds, for three cents per pound. Two-thirds of a pound made more stew than I could eat. There was really enough for two of us. But then, you know how careless and reckless we Americans are in regard to our table expenses, always getting twice as much as we need.
I must not forget to say that these coarse, cheap portions of the animal are the best for a stew. The very genius of waste seems to have taken possession of me on that fatal day. I poured into my stew all at once, slap-dab, a quarter of a cent’s worth of Leicestershire sauce, and as if to show that it never rains but it pours, I closed that gluttonous scene by devouring a cent’s worth of hominy pudding. Food for Wednesday, eight and a quarter cents.
The gross excess of Wednesday led to a very moderate Thursday breakfast, which consisted of oatmeal porridge and milk, costing about two and a half cents. For dinner, cracked wheat and baked beans, two cents’ worth of each, milk, one cent’s worth. Food for Thursday cost seven and a half cents.
Friday breakfast, Southern hulled corn and milk, costing three cents. For dinner, another of those gormandic surfeits which so disgraced the history of Wednesday. Expenses for the day, eight and a quarter cents.
This morning when I went to the table I said to myself, “What’s the use of this economy?” and I made up my mind that for this day, at least, I would sink all moral restraints, and give up the reins to appetite. I have no apology or defence for what followed.
Saturday breakfast, I began with one cent’s worth of oatmeal porridge, with a teaspoonful of sugar worth a quarter of a cent. Then followed a cent’s worth of cracked wheat, with half a cent’s worth of milk. Then the breakfast closed with two cents’ worth of milk and one cent’s worth of rye and Indian bread. For dinner I ate half a small lobster, which cost three cents, with one cent’s worth of coarse bread and one cent’s worth of hominy salad, and closed with two cents’ worth of cracked wheat and milk. Cost of the day’s food, twelve and three-quarter cents.
In all of these statements only the cost of material is given.
Cost for the week, fifty-four and a quarter cents.
Of course I don’t pretend that everybody can live in this luxurious way. It isn’t everybody that can afford it. I could have lived just as well, so far as health and strength are concerned, on half the money. Besides, on three days I ate too much altogether, and suffered from thirst and dullness. But then I may plead that I work very hard, and really need a good deal more food than idlers. Not only have I written forty odd pages of this book during the week, but I have done a large amount of hard muscular labor.
By the way, I weighed myself at the beginning of the week, and found it was just two hundred and twelve pounds. Since dinner today I weighed again and found that I balanced two hundred and twelve and a half pounds, although it has been a week of warm weather, and I have had unusual demands for exertion of various kinds.
But let me feed a family of ten instead of one person, and I will give them the highest health and strength upon a diet which will cost here in Boston not more than two dollars for the ten persons for a week. Let me transfer my experiment to the Far West, where wheat, corn, oats and beef are so cheap, and the cost of feeding my family of ten would be so ridiculous that I dare not mention it lest you laugh at me.
And so far from my family group being one of ghosts or skeletons, I will engage that they shall be plumper and stronger, healthier and happier, with clearer skins, brighter eyes, sweeter breaths, whiter teeth, and, in addition, that they shall live longer than your Delmonico diners, each of whom spends enough at a single dinner to feed my family of ten for a week. And last, but not least, they shall enjoy their meals vastly more than your Delmonico diners.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
SEARCH FOR RECENT ARTICLES | <urn:uuid:dca1500c-1558-415c-af2e-41360998c747> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/05/23/an-experiment-in-cheap-living-from-1872/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96442 | 1,448 | 1.96875 | 2 |
The Seeds of Conflict: Anglo-American and Chinese History
The Seeds of Conflict: Anglo-American and Chinese History
September 17, 2012
"It is this Anglo-American axis (a 'special relationship') that has dominated the Western world for the past 150 years. It is a secretive and closely guarded group of families and individuals with enormous wealth derived from the implementation of mercantilist central banking. In recent years, America has provided the military power and to a large extent the corporate vehicles that have projected the 'one world' vision of the Anglo-American elite throughout the West, and even to Africa and Asia." – The Daily Bell, Glossary
Today in the 21st century as China again takes its rightful place as one of, if not the leading nation in the world we see many neoconservative "experts" warning of a clash of interests and civilizations between China and the West. Recent history shows us how the neocons took over traditional GOP foreign policy and they have never discovered a war or conflict they didn't like. The Middle East, Asia and now Africa are experiencing wars and conflicts designed to advance their foreign policy at the point of a gun using American troops as cannon fodder for their global economic and political agenda.
In the Defense Planning Guidance document prepared by Paul Wolfowitz, this statement of neoconservative thought states the following for American foreign policy: "Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power."
The neocons view the Chinese military budget, equal to maybe 10 percent of the American budget, as a direct threat to the interests of the United States. Second, they are now positioning US foreign policy and direct military action against a major Chinese ally, Iran, the number one supplier of oil to China.
The Western View of China is Wrong
If you ask most people in the West about China, they know it has the world's largest population, owns more US dollar denominated Treasury debt than any other nation and invented fireworks, paper and maybe the printing press. It was historically a poor country, partially colonized by Great Britain and other western nations who brought Christianity, modern development and the best of civilization to a backward nation filled with starving people. China suffered badly during the Japanese invasion prior to World War Two and was an ally until Mao and the communists took over. Today it is a growing world power beginning to flex its military and economic muscles and this is a threat to western dominance.
The Chinese View and Real Situation is Somewhat Different
Actually, for most of world history, China was the wealthiest and most sophisticated nation or people on the planet. Read The Travels of Marco Polo back in 1295 to get an idea of the advances of the Chinese civilization. It produced more iron than all of Europe combined until the 20th century, and the people dressed in silk and lived in comfort hundreds of years ahead of Europe. From moveable type 400 years ahead of Gutenberg, suspension bridges, paper and printing, gunpowder, chess, the plow and many other innovations, China led the world.
Of course, China had its ups and downs and government mismanagement, all factors we are familiar with in the West today, and during a weak period Western interests gained a foothold in China. The British led the way and their mercantilism and trade with China, initially for tea, when combined with sugar from their Caribbean holdings basically addicted the entire British Empire to the modern-day stimulant of tea drinking.
The British Empire was Built upon Mercantilism and Addiction
"Mercantilism is the use of the state to fulfill one's personal objectives and self-interest. The use of the state, conflating private with public, allows the individual or small group to obtain clout that would otherwise not be feasible.... Mercantilism, the realizing of private goals for individuals or small groups through public means, has a long and ancient history, doubtless as long as humankind itself." – The Daily Bell, Glossary
While some modern-day conspiracy theorists describe the US government as a narco-republic because of the participation of American foreign and domestic intelligence services as well as criminal and law enforcement elements in the drug trade, this is far from the truth. In actuality, American criminals and law enforcement working together with the prison lobby have helped to make America the prison capital of the world, dwarfing the per capita prison populations of all Third World countries combined, including China and Russia.
The dirty truth is the US, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, has almost 25 percent of the global prison population and much of this is a direct result of drug offenses targeting mostly the poor and minority populations.
British Empire Funded by Opium
Still, the real narco-republic in world history isn't the United States, Mexico, Colombia or other transit points to the artificially created drug epidemic in the United States. This dubious honor actually goes to the British Empire, as their Bengal-to-China opium business during the time of Queen Victoria grew into the world's largest commodity trade during the 19th century. Opium accounted for almost 20 percent of the Empire's total revenue, yet opium was just the tip of the addictive trade.
In the United States and the British Empire addictive substances were the major business of British mercantilism. For example, the original British colonies like Jamestown and Virginia were economically unfeasible before the smoking of tobacco caught on in Europe and smoking and snuff created a cash crop from America.
Later, sugar from British Caribbean colonies was added to the British consumption of tea from China and the entire Empire became addicted to tea. But there was a problem. Unlike in the Americas where cotton and tobacco were traded for British manufactured goods, China simply said no to foreign imports.
Their leader, the Son of Heaven, wrote King George III in 1793: "We posses all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures." Great Britain had addicted their entire population to the stimulation of tea and sugar but China surprisingly demanded silver as payment for the tea. This created a permanent drain of gold and silver from the British Empire to China and a gigantic balance of payments deficit resulted that threatened the future solvency of the British Empire. This situation is very similar to China's holdings of US Treasury debt today.
Since the Chinese wouldn't import British manufactured goods, London needed something to export to China to reduce the deficit. First, the British Empire's solution was to invest huge sums of money into opium farming and production and in the colony of India they created over a million registered opium farmers. Then, taking tobacco from other colonies they mixed opium with the tobacco and in due time addicted the majority of the Chinese population to opium, through intermediaries. Now Great Britain had their export to China with which to cover tea imports.
China subsequently lost more silver in the 30 years up through 1850 than Britain had paid for tea in the previous 125 years. The Chinese economy was destroyed but then the Son of Heaven finally moved to halt the opium trade by making it illegal and enforcing the prohibition. This again threatened the survival of the British Empire. Queen Victoria dispatched a British navy to force China to push their illegal drugs sales. This caused the two opium wars, one lasting from 1839 to 1842 and the other from 1856 to 1860. During these wars Britain occupied and took the port of Hong Kong to improve opium distribution to the Chinese.
"Almost every person...not connected with government is employed in the opium trade." – Sir John Francis Davis, governor of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1848
Thus, the Chinese addiction to opium and the opium wars were British government policy and it is doubtful many in the West understand what happened, while it is likely all Chinese are aware of this part of their history with the West.
Opium Trade was Big Business for Americans
Also, it wasn't just England involved; many Americans in New England also made their fortunes in the opium trade after the slave trade was outlawed. For example, Franklin Roosevelt's grandfather, Delano, made most of the family fortune in the Chinese opium trade.
He was not alone. Many of the wealthy New England families built their fortunes on slave and opium trading. In fact, most of the American Ivy League universities were funded to a great degree when dirty money from the slave and opium trade was washed and then use to build new reputations for these families.
For example, John Cleve Green donated much of his opium profits to Princeton University, Abiel Abbott Low used his opium fortune to finance the construction of Colombia University, John Murray Forbes financed the Bell Telephone Company, Joseph Coolidge's son organized the United Fruit Company and his grandson was the founding executive officer of the Anglo-American Council on Foreign Relations. This is just the tip of the iceberg in showing how many among the power elite made their fortunes with the China opium trade.
The Roosevelt Family, Opium and China Legacy
Franklin Roosevelt was born into the elite lifestyle of a family of wealth and privilege in Hyde Park, New York, with major financial interests in railroads. Most of the real family wealth, however, had been made earlier by Roosevelt's grandfather, Delano, in his involvement with the opium trade in China.
An interesting aside is the China trade and resources of another kind, oil, would in turn dominate the later President Roosevelt's determination to create a war with Japan. The original Japanese aggression against China that helped lead up to World War Two was actually initially created by secret negotiations by another Roosevelt, President Teddy Roosevelt. He privately and unconstitutionally urged the Japanese to "civilize" both China and Korea by invading and creating a Japanese-style Monroe Doctrine for Asia. Eventually this culminated in the formation of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," which became the organization used by Japan to run its puppet governments in the occupied nations.
The Tea, Silver and Opium Connection
Americans generally do not understand their own history, much less past international economic and foreign military actions. As is always the case, politicians hire and control publishing houses and the news media in order to sanitize history, extoll their virtues and demonize the losing opposition. The British Empire as well as all major nations do the same.
As the United States is headed toward increased conflict and economic competition, it is important that we understand the history of China and their history of having been ravaged by the Anglo-American establishment during tough times similar to what we are facing as a nation today. The US is an over-indebted, declining world power, losing its manufacturing base and world reserve currency status against the rising power of China.
America should resist efforts by the neocon think tanks and lobbyists to pull us into a direct confrontation with China due to our misguided Middle East foreign policy. The costs of such an outcome would be heavy and burdensome to our nation and people. Remember, what goes around comes around, and in the case of China I would expect them to give what they earlier received from the West. | <urn:uuid:0e9f0ad8-ef00-41f2-8619-8ad4dacad21e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1209/S00112/the-seeds-of-conflict-anglo-american-and-chinese-history.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964203 | 2,322 | 2.125 | 2 |
Rhubarb is tart in the extreme, to the point of astringency. Chew on a chunk of raw rhubarb stalk and you might come away gasping. But cook rhubarb with sugar and that sourness balances the sweetness in a compelling way. At the same time, the plant's tough, fibrous texture melts into silkiness.
In fact, so fragile does rhubarb become that you should be very careful when cooking it to keep from tearing the stalks to shreds. Shake the pan, don't stir it.
Rhubarb can be scarce. This is partly because there's just not a lot of demand for it. After all, when you're knee-deep in spring citrus and strawberries, it might be hard for some folks to get excited about rhubarb. But we have a recipe that just might change some minds!
3/4 pound rhubarb (5 or 6 thin stalks), trimmed —
note: If your rhubarb stalks are more than an inch wide, slice them in half lengthwise
3/4 cup sugar
10 ounces fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces. In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, bring the rhubarb, two-thirds cup water and the sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rhubarb is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Slice the strawberries and purée them in a blender or food processor with the cooked rhubarb mixture and lemon juice until smooth.
Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Servings: Makes 1 1/2 quarts
Total time: 20 minutes, plus freezing time
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