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Take advantage of the
teacher development opportunities in your national parks!
There's no better way to bring math, science and history into
real life than to experience them in action. Many of these
workshops are designed to help teachers use park resources
in the classroom, or to prepare classes for a park visit.
Most workshops are accredited and can be taken for college
credit, and are structured to meet the needs of today's teacher
- teaching the standards while making the material engaging
In addition, please take a minuet to read about Teacher-to-Ranger-to-Teacher - a growing program that allows teachers to be park rangers for the summer, then bring what they learned back into the classroom.
Parks with Professional | <urn:uuid:36cea0dd-72c2-4586-898d-3f752c06c697> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nps.gov/learn/professionaldevelopment.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927415 | 156 | 2.5 | 2 |
Who doesn't want to increase productivity, cut waste, reduce spending, improve teamwork and inclusion and decrease risk? Here are eight suggestions regarding electronic communication, which don't cost a dime. Spread them throughout your organization for huge payoffs.
I've omitted the most obvious principle: do not transmit or relay inappropriate jokes, remarks, and/or pictures. The following are the frequent behaviors about which I've heard complaints over the past year.
- In business meetings, turn off cell phones and beeping devices and don't look at them. If you have to break this rule, let others know you have a personal or business emergency and that's why they're on. Electronic interruptions drive live attendees nuts and suggest that spam and random calls have greater priority to the responder than the "real" person right in front of them.
- Don't read information to others that they can read and re-read themselves—it's a waste of time and annoys the listeners. Email communications are far more effective in this case.
- Don't ascribe negative motives or intent to others in your emails—your speculation, random thoughts, and impulsive conclusions can become damaging evidence and can reach others long after you've changed your mind.
- Use "Reply All" as the exception rather than the rule to email responses. Does everyone really need to hear from you? And do you really mean to fill your email system with messages that others don't need to get and don't have time to read?
- Emails don't solve serious disputes. They tend to expand and distort them. If an issue where there is disagreement is important and an email must be sent, send it and review the response you receive in return. If it's still unresolved, call the person to discuss or walk down the hall for a face-to-face chat.
- We interpret communication by what's said and how it's said, particularly tone of voice and "body language." Increasingly, we work closely with employees in remote locations. This removes the contextual elements of communication that most use to understand complex messages. If you must discuss sensitive business issues from a distance, consider using Skype or FaceTime or a similar system. Both you and the other person will have a better sense of the meaning and tone of what's said by being able to "look the person in the eye" online.
- If you send out an email where you need some action, let the recipient know what's being requested and indicate when you need a response. Ask if your deadline is agreeable. If you don't hear back, it's possible that the recipient innocently overlooked your communication. Call the recipient or send a reminder to make sure the recipient has seen your message.
- Everything written about email applies to texts and social media communications as well.
Stephen Paskoff is a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission trial attorney and the president and CEO of Atlanta-based ELI, Inc., which provides ethics and compliance training that helps many of the world's leading organizations build and maintain inclusive, legal, productive and ethical workplaces. Paskoff can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:8b240540-ae33-41eb-9de5-82a742e3092b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.workforce.com/article/20130109/BLOGS01/130109987 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961368 | 638 | 1.875 | 2 |
From our experience, these numerous open source technologies and solutions “Out the Box” CMS website solutions such as Joomla, .Net Nuke, WordPress, etc, solutions normally look impressive at first but turn out to be more expensive, restricting in layout and design options and do not provide the functionality and adaptability that is generally required. Clients that have chosen to have their websites developed utilizing these solutions generally redevelop their sites due to the following similar issues:
- “Out the box” functionality does not meet exact client requirements or keep up with changing requirements.
- Due to platforms being open source, changes and upgrades are done by communities and generally are not completed ⁄ available when client requires them,
- Because the platform and code is free and open source, it allows different companies to create their own modules. This creates another issue as the code style, functionality and methodology are normally different from each developer and this leads to different front end functionality and inconsistency throughout the website,
- Managing and updating content are sometimes difficult and tedious and therefore sites become out of date and layouts of pages inconsistent,
- Sites utilizing open source technologies look very similar to each other and therefore do not provide a unique image ⁄ brand of a company,
- Often suppliers do not have the necessary technical understanding to customize or re-develop modules,
- Because new modules can be downloaded and used there is no accountability or support structure should there be major issues with an area on the site,
- 9 times out of 10 the open source components you find aren’t a good match to what you need and more time and cost is then spent trying to fix and change it,
- Most clients get a company to customize an open source solution and this cause numerous long term issues
- Once it is customized it is then a custom developed application and no longer “open source” in the true sense of the word
- Developers leave or move on and clients are left with items they can no longer support, change or maintain
- As the core of the application gets updated more older modules need to be re-updated as well
- Most clients have to settle for set functionality that are provided and forced to settle for what is currently available rather than specific needs.
From our experience the open source platforms do have their place in a market and if used correctly can provide a solid solution to meet a specific requirement or need. They are generally well suited when the platforms are used in their core state and with their own developed modules with no changes are made to the functionality and workings of the site. If, however, you wish to change or have your own custom elements then this can pose a few issues in the long term. | <urn:uuid:eb56bacf-3798-46db-b3b2-44dc09cd91ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.jhnet.co.za/2010/10/custom-development-vs-out-the-box-open-source-solutions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943823 | 553 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Born in 1985 with a 25-year lifespan, the Mersey Basin Campaign was charged with facilitating the clean up of the River Mersey and its tributaries in the Northwest of England.
The River Mersey travels nearly 70 miles from its start, at the confluence of the Rivers Tame and Goyt in Stockport, to where it meets the Irish Sea at New Brighton. On its journey west, through south Manchester and Warrington towards Liverpool’s famous Pier Head, it passes through 29 local authority areas. Almost five million people live within its catchment.
A successful clean up required the engagement and participation of myriad different organisations, authorities and communities. What was needed was an organisation that could bring everyone together. The Mersey Basin Campaign broke new ground in British administrative practice with its uniquely collaborative programme. It is internationally recognised as having pioneered effective partnership working – in 1999 it became the inaugural winner of the International Thiess Riverprize for best river system clean up.
The Campaign grew out of the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Heseltine’s visits to Liverpool in the aftermath of the Toxteth riots of 1981. In a deliberately provocative call to action, Heseltine wrote about the Mersey in 1983:
“Today the river is an affront to the standards a civilised society should demand of its environment. Untreated sewage, pollutants, noxious discharges all contribute to water conditions and environmental standards that are perhaps the single most deplorable feature of this critical part of England.”
His insight was to recognise the relationship between environmental improvement and economic regeneration. The Campaign would work to improve water quality in the Mersey Basin, thereby stimulating the regeneration of derelict land beside the river and its tributaries (and later the Ribble basin in Lancashire). To be really effective, it would also need to reach out to the people living near these rivers.
To take action on local stretches of river, the Mersey Basin Campaign set up a network of over 20 Action Partnerships, working closely with volunteers, schools, businesses, local authorities, regulators and politicians on a wide range of improvement projects.
This site is an archive of resources relating to the Campaign’s 25 years of work. The material reflects the diverse nature of Mersey Basin Campaign activities, and the wide range of partners we engaged with. It encompasses everything from research papers to homemade video clips, and from project case studies to photojournalism.
Whether you’re looking for specific information, browsing for interesting snippets, or searching for material to inform your own work, we hope you find something here to inspire you.
The Healthy Waterways Trust continues certain aspects of the Mersey Basin Campaign work. Visit them to find out more.
To help you get started exploring our archive, we've organised some of the most interesting and important documents into a series of themed collections. You can explore the full set of collections here | <urn:uuid:d22c857c-b0dc-4564-8551-771ec547a307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.merseybasin.org.uk/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940173 | 602 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Learn more about cat tongues: Why do cats have rough tongues?
Author: Chris Morgan
Author: Jean-Michel Volat
Author: Jodi Payne
Author: Mayte Vidri
Author: Olaf Gradin
See also: Why do cats have rough tongues?
ATT WEBMASTERS: We are flattered that quite a few websites have liked our article ideas and have decided to copy them onto their websites. However, we frown upon removing the credits to the owners of the photos! Be respectful and add the links. A link to us would be nice too.
People are waiting to help. | <urn:uuid:a2eb8b8b-5634-4d63-b58d-a1d65ab7601a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mysmelly.com/content/cats/10-cat-tongue-close-ups.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917655 | 127 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Arne Duncan: “I believe education is THE civil rights issue of our generation, the only sure pathway out of poverty, and the only way to achieve a more equal and just society.” (Facebook, Info page on May 20, 2010)
Michelle Alexander: “I believe that the mass incarceration of people of color in the United States is the most pressing racial justice issue of our time. And that it is a tragedy of as great proportions as Jim Crow was in its time.” (Bill Moyers Journal interview, April 2, 2010) [SEE THE CHART BELOW!]
Arne Duncan (b. 1964) earned a bachelors degree in sociology from Harvard then played professional basketball in Australia for four years. He returned to the U.S. where investment manager John Rogers employed Duncan to run Rogers' new non-profit education foundation (Ariel Education Initiative). Duncan eventually also sat on a number of non-profit boards and was also “on a team that later started a new public [charter] elementary school.” John Rogers and Duncan had attended the same private school in Chicago and were longtime basketball buddies. Duncan started working for Chicago Public Schools in 1999 – first as Deputy Chief of Staff for CEO Paul Vallas, then as its CEO. He became U.S. Secretary of Education in 2009. Duncan credits his childhood experience of spending afternoons in his mother's inner-city tutoring program “with shaping his understanding of the challenges of urban education.”
Michelle Alexander (b. 1968 approx.) is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Vanderbilt University. Following law school, she clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the United States Supreme Court, and for Chief Judge Abner Mikva on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She was a member of the Stanford Law School faculty, where she served as Director of the Civil Rights Clinic. She joined the Ohio State University faculty in 2005 and now holds a joint appointment with the Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Her recently released book is “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”
Which mind has processed the issues more, Arne's or Michelle's? For my money, I’m going with Michelle Alexander, whose message is absolutely chilling, and totally correct. Arne Duncan is an intellectual lightweight who has embraced repetition of the favored mantras of the ed deform crowd.
Consider the following facts:
1. Since 1957, the proportion of the African American population with a high school degree has increased by 300% (18.4% to 79.2%) and the proportion of the African American population with a 4-year college degree increased by almost 500% (2.9% to 17.2%). Data is from the April 2004 Kirwan Institute PowerPoint report “Social/Economic Indicators by Race: Disparity 1954 and Today.”
2. Even with the significant increase in educational attainment mentioned above, African American unemployment has consistently been about twice as high as white unemployment, at least since the 1950s. What gives with that!? [See the chart below]
3. What's worse is that the number of incarcerated African Americans has increased 800% since the 1950s! Despite only small fluctuations in the violent crime rate in the past 35 years, we’ve gone from 300,000 people in jails and prisons in 1972 -- to 2.3 million today, with an additional 5 million on probation and parole. A grossly disproportionate number of the incarcerated have been people of color. Families and communities have been devastated.
4. We are the worldwide incarceration champions. The U.S. is #1 in the number of prisoners per capita at 715 people per 100,000. To put this in perspective, Russia is #2 at 584, Canada is #73 at 116, and Japan is #126 at 54.
So that's what Michelle Alexander is talking about.
What is problematic for the United States of America is not our public schools and school teachers. THE problem is that our national character has some major flaws.
And now that the men are in jail and/or unemployed and families are in continual chaos, and now that neighborhood schools have been utterly neglected for years, are popularly called "failures," and are being 'innovatively disrupted' by the ed deformers, the state is going after the mothers and grandmothers:
Calif. bill could jail parents if kids miss school (Fresno Bee, May 13, 2010)*
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The state of California would hold parents responsible if their children are chronically truant under a bill the state Senate approved Thursday.The bill would let prosecutors charge parents with misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if their kids miss too much school. Judges could delay the punishment to parents as an incentive to get their children to class.It applies only to parents or guardians of children age 6 or older in kindergarten through eighth grade. Prosecutors would have to prove the parents failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the student to attend school...
This tough love idea will be sure to affect low-income African American women disproportionately, but given our compulsion to incarcerate people of color, it makes perfect sense.
These are other things to consider:
- People in this country chose to disinvest in urban public education long ago.
- They/we chose to tolerate high and chronic unemployment in urban minority communities.
- They/we chose to corner inner-city residents into needing to resort to an underground economy.
- They/we chose to adopt policies that would incarcerate huge numbers of African American men.
- They/we chose to turn the other way when the tradition of marriages and two-parent families in these communities started heading to extinction.
So any failures of the schools are BECAUSE of the consequences of these other things. Our domestic problems were never caused by the schools, and our schools never be able to fix them.
*If they can lock up the moms for this offense, shouldn't they also be locking up some of the crooks from Goldman Sachs?
ADDED ON JANUARY 27, 2010: PLEASE SEE THESE RELATED PERIMETER PRIMATE POSTS
- Where Sociology, Criminology, and Charter Schools Converge
- Last night’s stunning Bill Moyers Journal : Part One featured Bill Moyers’ interview with Bryan Stevenson and Michelle Alexander. Part Two was Moyers’ essay on the growing income inequality.
- A Real Crisis
When looking at the "Prison Admissions by Race" graph below, please note that the figures indicate in numbers, not percentages. And be aware that the African American population in 1930 was about one tenth (1/10) the size of the White population. In 1997 it was about one sixth (1/6). | <urn:uuid:733494ec-183d-4dd7-b1b3-30f2d47e2857> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2010/05/whos-right-arne-or-michelle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963826 | 1,441 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Binding is a quick and easy way to not only finish a raw edge, but add some contrasting color (or print, as the case may be!). It can be used to highlight a shaped edge, or subtly enclose it so it’s nearly invisible. I’ve highlighted some pretty examples of the former–binding that showcases rather than is a background element–both from vintage and modern sources. Why don’t you try binding on your next project?
Never made binding before? Here’s our popular tutorial on making bias binding.
Finish a dramatic collar with a binding, like this fetching 1950s example. Stripes work beautifully for binding (which is most often cut on the bias), but even a diminutive print would work equally well.
A high contrast color, like the black binding on this dress from the Alice McCall spring/summer 2012 collection, is a great way to highlight even typical shapes (like the round neckline) in a distinctive way. The black also give the sweet, springtime colors a modern edge.
Finally this charming 1940s house dress shows off some lovely details with binding. The neckline is bound, but the binding is repeated on the shoulders and pocket. The joining edges are highlighted with decorative stitches. Consider when using binding how it can be applied as an embellishment beyond the functionality of finishing a raw edge. | <urn:uuid:a3ba9097-a081-4da1-b807-682a58ed8cf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coletterie.com/inspiration/detail-inspiration-bound-edges | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912054 | 282 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Climate Change – Notes and Comments
Propaganda Tito style
My previous post was too polite about Berkeley Earth. I’d not figured out Richard Muller’s game. The mainstream media have have portrayed him as a repentant climate sceptic who has wonderful new evidence confirming man-made global warming. To see how the story is playing, look for Richard Muller Berkeley on Google News (139 reports and counting).
Normally I try to stick to the science, without being naïve about the politics. Posted earlier on this blog is the text of a talk I gave called “Global Warming is Just Propaganda”, which you’ll find here http://calderup.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/tradecraft-of-propaganda/
It compares the behaviour of the warmists with the tradecraft of propaganda during the Second World War. And the latest bout from Berkeley and the media reminds me, belatedly, of a manipulation of British propaganda in the Balkans in the early 1940s. For global warming read Stalinism and (at the risk of grossly overstating his importance) for Richard Muller read Tito.
Hoodwinking Churchill: Tito’s Great Confidence Trick, by the TV producer and military historian Peter Batty, was published earlier this year. Helped by a Communist mole filtering messages in the British team in Cairo, Tito fooled the West into thinking that he was the hero of the fight against the Italian and German forces in Yugoslavia. In fact he was subverting other guerrilla bands, doing deals with the Germans, and keeping his forces safe for a postwar Communist takeover of Yugoslavia. As Batty relates, Tito secured his 35-year dictatorship by butchering the non-Communist guerrillas who had been the real fighters in the occupied Balkans.
When Richard Muller, leader of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures (BEST) project, gave testimony to the US Congress back in March, he called for the creation of an ARPA-like agency for climate issues. ARPA, more correctly nowadays called DARPA, is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a mighty organization with a $3 billion budget. Climate ARPA (CARPA?) might offer a promising niche for a 67-year-old astrophysicist.
But if that’s the aim, catastrophic man-made global warming must stay high on the political agenda. How better to go about making sure about that than to call yourself a sceptic, just as Tito pretended to be on Winston Churchill’s side. When the time came to show himself in his true colours Tito was celebrated in the Communist world. Similarly Muller has become an instant hero for the warmists.
Scientifically grotesque was the blurring in the Berkeley press release, as well as in the media, of the meaning of Muller’s main graph, shown in my previous post. Invited to comment by New Scientist, I said:
“What do they mean by ‘global warming is real’? The graph of global land temperature changes associated with BEST’s announcement neatly confirms by their independent method that the warming stopped about 15 years ago. The Sun’s recent laziness has apparently cancelled any effect of ever-increasing man-made greenhouse gases.”
The interviewer commented:
“I take your point about the reduced warming trend over the last 15 years, but this study is focused on the long-term warming trend which covers a century. How do you account for this long-term warming trend?”
My reply (which wasn’t reported by New Scientist) was:
“Increased activity of the Sun, of course, from 1950 to the early 1990s as signalled most strikingly by the decline in ionizing cosmic rays at the Earth’s surface. See the red curve (ion chamber) in the attached figure.”
The message about Muller in the media, that “the science is settled (again)”, is completely at odds with the evidence.
Hoodwinking Churchill: Tito’s Great Confidence Trick, by Peter Batty, Shepheard Walwyn (London) 2011. | <urn:uuid:151e4ceb-3c20-45b9-9fee-8b6183f1bdf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://calderup.wordpress.com/tag/global-warming-stopped/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949737 | 866 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Over the past 50 years, the United States has led the world in science and technology innovation. Yet now there are troubling signs of a downward trend in American innovation. Last year, for example, was the first time that non-U.S. innovators filed more patents than Americans; the United States is also falling behind other countries in the percentage of gross domestic product spent on national research and development.
On June 8, the Brookings Institution hosted a forum on improving U.S. science and technology innovation and investment. The inaugural A. Alfred Taubman Forum convened leaders from government, higher education, and business to discuss policy actions that will improve the climate for science and technology in the United States.
Brookings Managing Director Bill Antholis welcomed participants to the forum, which included Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer; Vivek Kundra, Federal Chief Information Officer; Phil Weiser, Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council Director for Technology and Innovation; and Richard Howard, Deputy Chief Technologist of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, offered a congressional perspective at lunch.
After each panel, participants took audience questions. | <urn:uuid:12e72f16-d4c8-4fbe-bb34-72cef6301a42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/06/08-science-technology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928971 | 254 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Eva Duarte de Perón's most famous speech wasn't made on a balcony, despite what you might have learned on Broadway. It's true that the former first lady of Argentina did have her dramatic moments speaking high above the crowds, but it was a few minutes on the radio in 1951 that mark Evita's most memorable words.
Perón's remarkably full life has been dissected, retold and revised since her 1952 death from ovarian cancer. In each telling, some new side of Perón appears: She was a feminist, an earthly saint, a ruthless boss, a Nazi sympathizer, an embezzler, a canny politician, and possibly the first chemotherapy patient in Argentina. But before all that, she was an actor, and it was her mastery of performance that makes all these other roles so intriguing today.
"Even as a little girl I wanted to recite," Perón wrote in her autobiography, The Reason for My Life. "It was as though I wished to say something to others, something important which I felt in my deepest heart." She acted in plays and recited poetry at public events before moving to Buenos Aires at age 15 to work in radio and movies. On screen, she was considered too wooden to be a success. But the radio turned her into a star. She acted in several radio soap operas and a popular series portraying great women in history--her turn as the last Tsarina of Russia was a fan favorite.
Eva Perón was also a commanding speaker throughout her husband Juan Perón's presidency, and never more so than in August 1951, when she appeared with him at a giant union rally called Cabildo Abierto. Eva could always energize a crowd, but her speech that day came with an unexpected echo. The two million people gathered underneath the soaring scaffolding pleaded with her to announce her candidacy for the vice presidency. She tried to refuse, then begged for more time to consider the decision as the crowd shouted "Con Evita" ("With Evita!") and "Ahora, Evita, ahora!" ("Now, Evita, now!")
Nine days later, Eva gave her answer in the radio address known as the "Renunciamiento" (Renunciation). With a faltering, almost broken voice, she declines "irrevocably" the honor of the vice presidency, and hints that her time as the country's chief Peronista is near its end.
Maybe it's hard to imagine making a balcony speech before millions, or serving as the voice of a nation. But here are a few lessons from the quiet yet dramatic Renunciamiento that can work for any speaker:
- Stick to your strength. Perón's speeches were famous for their passionate declarations of devotion to Argentina's working class, the descamisados. To many in her audience, her emotional language made her sound more like a mother or a saintly sister than a politician. Her trademark style remains intact for this speech, where she begins by saying the Renunciamiento comes from "a dialogue between my heart and the people."
- Emphasize a point with repetition. How many different ways can Perón say no? Historians believe it was a combination of factors that led her to abandon her candidacy, from pressure by the military and her husband to her failing health. Regardless of the reasons, she made it clear that the decision not to run was "irrevocable" and "definitive," and that she was "unwavering" in a "final" choice made with "free will."
- Don't forget to pause. There's all kinds of reasons to pause in a speech, like giving yourself time to take a breath or building in a space for audience participation. Perón increased her pauses in the last third of the Renunciamiento in a way that lends drama to her final points: She will not give up the cause of the descamisados, and her greatest honor is to be known as their Evita.
Looking for famous speeches by women? Check out The Eloquent Woman Index of Famous Women's Speeches, with a wide variety of women speakers, types of speeches and topics to inspire your next speech. Each one comes with lessons for speakers, plus video or audio and a transcript, where available. | <urn:uuid:05aa3fc7-802c-4253-9a53-89142f4b2763> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com/2012_03_09_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978146 | 885 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Although the idea of Spring-cleaning seems great — after all, who wouldn't want a fresh start? — the implementation takes a lot of hard work. Luckily, when I did a search on Reddit, I found plenty of cleaning hacks that will help make the task easier and more effective:
- Clean your shower while you're showering. User insertcitationhere says you can kill two birds with one stone when you "clean your shower while you take a shower . . . likewise, dry out your showers with one of those squeegie things after every bath (you will never get soapscum or mildew, making monthly cleaning easy)."
- Target one room at a time. insertcitationhere recommends to "clean one room a week instead of your whole house once a month. For example, I clean once a week every Sunday night."
- Listen to music. Turkishgamer says, "listening to music while cleaning helps."
- Let hunger motivate you. "Wash just after you finish cooking, because you are really hungry for the food you just cooked, [so] you blast through those pots and pans like a madman," says theresaviking.
- Store the sheet set in a pillowcase. One redditor says, "After putting a sheet set through the laundry, store the sheets (and one pillowcase) inside the other pillowcase. You'll never search for the matching sheet/pillowcase again." | <urn:uuid:78f5acde-c31f-4e1a-a0c6-0e0c28ebcb54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.savvysugar.com/latest/home-life?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928888 | 296 | 1.65625 | 2 |
How bad is the environment for our health?
The Bulletin interview with Kerstin Leitner.
Kerstin Leitner earned her Ph.D with a thesis on socioeconomic development in Kenya at Berlin’s Free University in her native Germany in 1975. A year later, she embarked on what was to become a 27-year career with the UN Development Programme (UNDP). She held several posts in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Most recently, from 1998 to 2003, she was UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China, and before that, from 1997 to 1998, she was Senior Special Adviser to the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director in Asia and the Pacific.
Since Kerstin Leitner became Assistant Director-General of WHO’s Sustainable Development and Healthy Environment cluster of departments, in September 2003, her team have sharpened their focus to provide information and knowledge to numerous Member States on the public health impact of environmental factors. She talks about this and other aspects of her cluster’s work.
Q: What is the disease burden due to environmental factors?
A: Some experts say a third of the disease burden of children is due to environmental factors. It’s extremely difficult to prove that. We often lack the epidemiological basis. Often we only have ‘guestimates’. We know that allergies and asthma are caused by environmental factors, but it’s difficult to say to what extent and whether people become susceptible to allergies because of air pollution or chemical residues in food. There is clearly a link between certain types of cancer and environmental factors. One of the best known cases is asbestos and lung cancer. But lung cancer can also be caused by other factors, such as smoking. This is where our work is particularly demanding. You have to make judgements. You don’t want to be alarmist but also not too laid back. You need to strike a balance.
Q: Have you changed your team’s focus in any way?
A: We have become sharper in our focus as we look at environmental, social and economic determinants of health and globalization. We always put the emphasis on the public health dimension. It’s easy to get carried away by various aspects of chemical safety, but our task is to look at the impact of this on individual and public health and what public health authorities — in particular ministries of health — should be doing to protect people’s health. It sounds easy but often it is not. We work in a context where we do not have full scientific or epidemiological information, so there has to be a consultation process between us and the scientists, and then with our clients, the ministries of health, and with other stakeholders. We need to decide whether WHO should recommend precautionary measures, for example, when we are dealing with health threats that can cause irreversible damage.
Q: Does your work bring WHO into conflict with industry?
A: Over the last few years more and more big companies see that it is in their long-term interest to have a safety, health and environmental policy which they can apply to themselves as well as to their suppliers and distributors. Occasionally you hit on an issue where you cannot identify a real viable alternative for industry. That is when things can get rough. We have seen this in the past with the tobacco industry, now the sugar industry and, in our field of interest, it’s the asbestos mining industry.
Q: Why is a sector-wide approach to health needed and how does this work?
A: If a developing country is donor attractive, the last thing you want is to have national government funding for these sectors running in parallel to that of donors. A sector-wide approach allows the government to state where it would like to invest itself and where it would welcome donor support. In its current incarnation the sector-wide approach is fairly new, but there have been precursors. WHO has also developed a guidance note on how the UN system could and should participate in sector-wide approaches.
Q: What progress has your cluster made in terms of supporting Member States through the Country Focus Office?
A: As a pilot project, we started by assessing what it would take to re-profile the country offices of Kenya, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania to be responsive to the needs of each country’s health sector. Africa is the region that has most actively embraced this approach. These countries have formed at least one country cooperation strategy and are in the process of replicating the experience in Kenya to re-profile all their country offices. | <urn:uuid:5d3d9f53-de7c-4647-add5-361830f1402a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/83/5/interview0505/en/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968759 | 943 | 2.609375 | 3 |
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Retirement plans generally fall into two categories: defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.
A defined benefit plan promises you a specified monthly benefit at retirement. The benefit may be a fixed dollar amount or may depend on a plan formula that considers factors such as salary and years of service.
Defined benefit plans also are known as pension plans. Employers sponsor defined benefit plans and typically hire investment managers to make investment choices. The employer shoulders the investment risks.
A defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k) plan, does not promise you a specific payment upon retirement. In these plans, you or your employer (or both) contribute to your individual account under the plan, sometimes at a set rate, such as 5% of your annual salary.
In a defined contribution plan, the employee shoulders the investment risks, and the value of the account will fluctuate due to changes in the value of the investments. Upon retirement, you receive the balance in your account, which depends on contributions plus or minus investment gains or losses.
Please use the menu on the left to explore different employer-sponsored plans. | <urn:uuid:a1f14f0d-b5ea-4940-858f-7dcc83b4a107> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.investor.gov/employment-retirement/employment/employer-sponsored-plans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904833 | 275 | 1.929688 | 2 |
A Wish for Jewish-Catholic Dialogue in 2012
Founder of Pave the Way Foundation Speaks on Steps for the Future
| 1268 hits
By Anita Bourdin
ROME, JAN. 17, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's invitation to promote peace by working with the youth is right on target, according to the Jewish founder of a New York-based organization that aims to reconcile religions.
Gary Krupp, founder of the Pave the Way Foundation, spoke with ZENIT on the occasion of the annual day of Jewish-Catholic dialogue, celebrated in Italy today.
ZENIT: On the occasion of the annual day of dialogue with Judaism organized by the Catholic Church in Italy today, could you explain the aim of the Pave the Way Foundation, which you founded?
Krupp: The Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF) is a non-sectarian organization that seeks to remove obstacles between the world's religions. Jewish-Catholic dialogue has been an important part of understanding one another's faith traditions and that clears away prejudices and hatred. PTWF, however, concentrates our efforts on identifying concrete obstacles and seeks to remove them. First, through our historic gestures we establish a level of trust and then we can move to accomplish our core mission. Religion must be removed as a tool to justify private agendas. Removal of this abuse makes dialogue easier.
ZENIT: The message of Pope Benedict for the World Day of Peace 2012 is focussed on educating the youth in justice and peace: How can we put into practice this invitation for peace between religions?
Krupp: The message of Pope Benedict XVI is exactly right on. It is the youth who must learn the truth about the problems of today if we ever hope to solve them. The hidden problem in learning, however, is the international media and its abuse of its awesome power to control ideas and thinking. News reports today intentionally editorialize and push private agendas, which muddies the truth and in turn creates hostility, hatred and in some cases death. Along with the Pope's remarks, I would add a statement of caution to the youth of today. Take care to weigh what you learn from news reports and mass media. Question the report; go to original local sources in order to seek the true story. Then try to find solutions based on the facts, not unbalanced and biased reporting.
ZENIT: You have come several times to Rome and you have been received by John Paul II and Benedict XVI: Do you remember one of these meetings as especially important for you?
Krupp: Our fantastic meetings with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have been life changing. One was July 29, 2000, I received a telephone call from then Archbishop Renato Martino, that the Pope invested me as a Papal Knight of St. Gregory the Great. It was this action that changed the course of my life's work, prompting my wife Meredith and I to form Pave the Way Foundation (Merry came up with the name).
Specifically, two of the most important recollections in meeting with both Holy Fathers are, first: Jan. 18, 2005, when PTWF organized the Jewish audience to simply thank Pope John Paul II for all he had done in religious reconciliation with Jewish people. Watching three rabbis bless the Pope in Hebrew in the Clementine Hall and seeing tears in the eyes of the Pope will forever be etched in my memory.
The second most memorable meeting was when we presented the Bodmer Papyrus to Pope Benedict XVI with our wonderful friend and donor, Mr. Frank Hanna III, on Jan. 22, 2007. After our presentation ceremony, I gave the Pope a little framed photo of the rainbow that appeared in the sky when he blessed the memorial at Auschwitz. I took this photo when we accompanied the Pope with Jerzy Kluger to Poland, May 27, 2006. Pope Benedict was emotionally moved with this seemingly insignificant gift. The Pope asked me, "Was this Auschwitz?" I said, "Yes, Holy Father, I took this picture myself." He seemed almost as excited about this little photo of the rainbow and God's sign of approval in Poland, as he was in accepting the most important Christian manuscript in existence today.
ZENIT: How important is the Yad Vashem research on the Righteous Among the Nations for the dialogue between Jews and Catholics?
Krupp: Yad Vashem's research is precise and exacting and I believe extremely important in Jewish-Catholic relations. PTWF submission of the evidence in the case for Eugenio Pacelli as "Righteous Among the Nations" should be given immediate attention so that the black legend regarding Pope Pius XII is corrected by truth and facts. This is Jewish responsibility since we have amassed a huge amount of evidence that Eugenio Pacelli was indeed one of the great heroes to the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Ingratitude is one of the worst character flaws in Judaism; the acceptance of the truth of Pacelli's personal heroism, I believe, is essential to bring my Jewish brothers and sisters to redemption. Eugenio Pacelli's reputation must be restored to where it was before the KGB intentionally began the greatest character assassination of the 20th century. This KGB Operation called "Seat Twelve" successfully accomplished its mission to isolate the Jews from the Catholics at the very moment of religious reconciliation with "Nostra Aetate."
ZENIT: How can a media organization such as ZENIT participate in changing mentalities and promoting peace?
Krupp: ZENIT's work throughout the years has been exemplary in reporting the truth and always in a positive manner. I can only encourage that when reporting on issues as sensitive as the Holy Land that the news reports are fair and the story reflects both sides of the conflict. Often, too many reports of Palestinian suffering supersede any mention of Israeli suffering, with the constant rocket attacks against civilian populations. Since there are 1.1 million Israeli citizens who are Muslim Arabs, violence against Israelis is against all Israelis, Christians, and Muslims as well. It is these acts of violence that first prompted the necessity for sea blockades, security checkpoints and a security wall. If the violence ends, then these security measures, so often criticized, can be lifted. If one seeks peace, they must stand in everyone's shoes.
ZENIT: What is your wish for Jewish-Catholic dialogue in 2012?
Krupp: In 2012, my wish is that the intense work of posting 46,000 pages of documents and news articles and video recording of eyewitnesses of the actions of the Holy See during WWII, will be finally studied in a serious way, so that this 48-year-old obstacle between Jews and Catholics can be eradicated. Our wish is that God grants wisdom to the negotiators of the Fundamental Agreements between Israel and the Holy See. This diplomatic obstacle should be completely resolved soon after 17 years of negotiations. Pave the Way Foundation's goal recognizes that resolution of these two issues will "pave the way" to the wonderful positive relations between Jews and Catholics. | <urn:uuid:18b1365d-64cd-48ec-9d77-42899a16248e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/a-wish-for-jewish-catholic-dialogue-in-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957722 | 1,449 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Bedridden, Depressed Mom Won't Get Help From Family
Your situation sounds very worrisome and quite frustrating. Your mother is in danger because untreated or poorly treated depression does increase mortality and the negative consequences of other common medical problems.
When you refer to “the law,” I assume that you are talking about provisions for involuntary commitment, which vary from state to state. In some states, people who are not eating or able to care for themselves can be treated involuntarily. In other states more overt acts of danger to self or others are required. Although your mother’s psychiatrist may not be able to admit your mother to the hospital against her will, perhaps he or she can initiate and monitor outpatient treatment. Is your mother willing to take antidepressant medications?
Your worries about your father are well-founded. Try to make sure that his needs are being taken care of and help him to come to terms with what might need to be done should your mother’s condition worsen further.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Depression Center.
Need help for depression? Find a mental health professional in your area.
Last Updated: 04/07/2008 |
Last Reviewed: 04/07/2008
Dr. Michael Thase
is director of the Depression Treatment and Research Program at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh. | <urn:uuid:1af3f0fe-a0a7-4df3-9504-93feac99ef18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/specialists/bedridden-depressed-mom-wont-get-help-from-family.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965593 | 272 | 2 | 2 |
CHICAGO - The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld a decision to toss a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's system of funding public school districts largely through property taxes.
The high court issued its unanimous opinion today, agreeing with a lower court ruling. Hundreds of public school districts are funded mostly through property taxes. The state sets minimum per student funding levels with specified tax rates for each district.
The 2010 lawsuit argued some residents in poorer districts whose property is worth less must pay a higher tax rate to reach funding levels of those in wealthier school districts. It called that unconstitutional and unfair.
Today's opinion says local communities themselves determine the tax rate. And it says any disparities that result aren't a direct result of the state's funding statute. | <urn:uuid:fd5b9adf-02af-41f0-bb4a-fd11369fc824> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?feed=21&pt=Illinois+Supreme+Court+backs+state%27s+funding+system+for+public+schools&id=18851&is_corp=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95478 | 152 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Mr Kohout said the two sides had a "frank" dialogue" in Brussels
The European Union has said it made no headway with Cuba on its human rights record, following talks in Brussels.
The comments were made by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout, who represented the EU at the meeting.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez defended Havana's record, saying the common EU position on Cuba - with its focus on human rights - was "obsolete".
The EU lifted sanctions on Cuba in 2008 to encourage democratic reforms, but decided to review the move annually.
"Our views did converge on the issues of climate change and UN reform; they did not in the area of human rights," said Mr Kohout, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
Raul Castro has introduced a series of reforms since taking office in 2008
"We came back to the issue of political prisoners in Cuba and their health, and the answer we got was that in Cuba there are no political prisoners," the Czech minister added.
However, he described the talks as a "frank" dialogue.
In his turn, Mr Rodriguez said that Havana "is ready to normalise relations, to establish a new start in relationships between the European Union and Cuba".
The Cuban minister urged the 27-member bloc to do away with its common stance on Cuba, saying it was "an obstacle to the process of normalisation" between the two sides.
Mr Rodriguez also stressed that all prisoners in Cuba were afforded full legal rights and a fair trial.
"These are legal decisions, and not a of a political nature. The Cuban penal system fully complies with all standards and domain."
The EU is currently evaluating whether to maintain the full diplomatic ties it restored with the Caribbean island last year or resume the sanctions, which were imposed in 2003 in protest at Havana's imprisonment of more than 70 dissidents.
The sanctions were formally lifted in June 2008 but are subject to a yearly review.
The US has recently eased restrictions on Cuba, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money home more easily.
US President Barack Obama said last month Washington was seeking a "new beginning" with Havana.
However, the US maintains its decades-old economic embargo on Cuba. | <urn:uuid:7f104163-e4b0-4e3e-a250-f599f6d3d7c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8045058.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982416 | 460 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Question: Every year I grow kale in my North Carolina garden and it tastes chewy and like grass when I eat it. What's the key to growing good tasting kale?
Answer: Kale is a cool season vegetable that grows and tastes best when grown with temperatures below 70 degrees F. That could be a problem in North Carolina with your hot summers. The best solution is to plant it in late winter for an early summer harvest or in fall for a winter harvest. That way it's growing during cool weather. The texture will stay tender and the flavor mild.
You can try different varieties as well. 'Red Russian' has flat, thin leaves and is less chewy than a puckered leaf variety. 'Red Ursa' is more heat tolerant. I grow kale in my Vermont climate by sowing seed in spring and forgetting about them until fall. Other than keeping the cabbageworms off the plant, I just let it grow into small trees in the garden. By fall, after a few frost, the leaves get more tender and sweet tasting. I harvest into November, but I bet in your climate you can harvest right through the winter.
Question: I'm looking for an edible, evergreen foundation shrub for my Portland, Oregon home. The area I want to plant faces south.
Answer: You have a couple different options for a tasty edible in that location. One choice would be an evergreen huckleberry. This native Northwest shrub is hardy to USDA zone 6 and grows up to 4 feet tall and wide in full sun, so fits well under a window or near a door. It will grow taller in part shade and, in fact, is a good choice for a shadier spot as well. It likes well drained, moist, acidic soil. Like any blueberry relative, it produces delicious berries in summer. Since it's an evergreen the small leaves hold through the winter making for a beautiful four season landscape shrub.
Another option would be Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Another Northwest native, it produces yellow flowers in spring and blue-black berries by fall. It's hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9, and grows 3 to 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It should be placed where it won't interfere with windows, doors, and walkways. The flavor of the berries eaten fresh is tart and bitter, but if sweetened, it makes a fine juice or jam. If you don't like the berries the birds certainly will. Another plus is the holly-like leaves offer beautiful fall foliage color. | <urn:uuid:454ea6a1-047b-4790-b60b-4faa93cf8f78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/?page=201104-qa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94983 | 528 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Archives and Manuscript Collections
CHARLES FINNEY COX PAPERS (1772-1910)
20 linear feet (7 boxes)
Finney Cox (1846-1912) was one of the incorporators of the NYBG as named
in its 1891 charter granted by the New York State Legislature. Subscription
to the guarantee fund required by this charter was successfully accomplished
largely through his efforts. An active advocate for the establishment of
the NYBG, he was appointed one of the original members of the Board of
Managers, and served as Treasurer of the Board from 1899 through his death.
Born on Staten Island, he attended the College of the City of New York
and received an A.B. degree from Oberlin College. He would later receive
honorary degrees from both Oberlin and Lafayette Colleges. Having no scientific
background, he had a keen interest in all areas of the natural sciences.
He was an active member of many scientific associations and societies.
He served as President of the New York Microscopical Society in 1888, the
Council of the Scientific Alliance of New York from 1891-1906 and of the
New York Academy of Sciences in 1908 and 1909. Greatly interested in microscopy
and microbiology, he served as Chairman of the Charity Organization Society's
Committee on the Prevention of Tuberculosis. He donated his collection
of microscopes and books to the NYBG.
Cox was also greatly interested in the life and work of Charles Darwin.
He formed one of the most complete collections of Darwiniana. Cox's brother
Jacob Dolson Cox served as Secretary of War under the Grant Administration
and later as Governor of Ohio.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The collection consists of books, pamphlets, photographs, research notes,
correspondence, transcriptions, journal articles, clippings, sketches,
microfilm, prints, commemorative memorabilia and a statue.
Series 1: Darwin Published Articles
Series 2: Cox Collection Guides
Series 3: Darwin Centennial
Series 4: Cox Correspondence
Series 5: Articles about Darwin
Series 6: Cox Publications
Series 7: Research Notes
Series 8: Miscellaneous Cox Personal Papers
Series 9: Portraits
Series 10: Diatom Photomicrographs
Series 11: Books
Series 12: Extra Illustrated Editions
Series 13: Artworks
Series 14: Darwin Correspondence
Series 15: Miscellaneous Uncollected Darwin Writings
Series 1 Darwin published articles
2.5 linear inches
These clippings are from a variety of journals and they are all published
articles or letters by Darwin.
Series 2 Cox Collection guides
Two published guides to the Cox Collection of Darwiniana.
Series 3 Darwin Centennial
3 linear inches
Commemorative materials from the Oxford University 1909 Darwin Centennial
Celebration which was attended by Cox.
Series 4 Cox correspondence
1 linear inch
Small eclectic collection of personal correspondence from 1873 to 1909.
Series 5 Articles about Darwin
2 linear inches
This collection of clippings concerns commentary on Darwin and his works
taken from a variety of journals.
Series 6 Cox publications
1 linear inch
Reprints of articles written by Cox as well as the 37 page manuscript
of an essay entitled Moral Influence of Charles Darwin.
Series 7 Research notes
1 linear inch
This series is divided between notes on botanical subjects and notes
on the writings of Darwin.
Series 8 Misc. Personal papers
Included are a newspaper clipping about Cox's father (a Manhattan contractor),
desiderata lists, a Darwiniana sale catalog and travel souvineers.
Series 9 Portraits
4 linear inches
Two albums of 19th century notables found with a note "Numerous
plates have been removed for insertion in C. F. Cox's extra-illustrated
copy of Darwin's Life and Letters."
Series 10 Diatom photomicrographs
10 linear inches
These leather bound notebooks were donated to the NYBG in July of 1979
by the New York Microscopical Society. The 8 volumes of over 1700 images
are all labelled with scientific names, place of origin, date and dimensions.
One of them is the work of Jacob Dolson Cox.
Series 11 Books
16 lin. ft.
This series, numbering 111 titles, is part of the Cox Memorial Collection
which was purchased in 1912 by the Garden's Board of Managers from the
Cox estate. The collection was housed in a case in the library reading
room for a number of years and is now housed in the rare book room of the
LuEsther T. Mertz Library. The series is concerned with the published works
of Charles Darwin, his son Francis, and his grandfather Erasmus, as well
as related commentary written by others. There are foreign language editions
of many works as well multiple editions of the more important ones. One
of the volumes is autographed by Charles Darwin as a presentation copy.
One volume by Erasmus Darwin is extensively annotated in the margins. Most
have been rebound by Cox.
Series 12 Extra Illustrated Editions
1.65 lin. ft.
This series, consisting of three titles, is also part of the Cox Memorial
Collection purchased from the Cox estate in 1912. The first two titles,
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin and More Letters of Charles
Darwin, are both edited by Francis Darwin (son of Charles). Cox has
tipped in numerous illustrations to these volumes himself. Many of the
portrait photographs used are from the studios of Maull & Fox and have
identifications and numbers written on the back of each. Additionally,
the first title has 23 original letters inserted by Cox. For transcripts
of these letters, see Series 14. The third title, Journal of
Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited
During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, was owned by Robert
Taylor Pritchett and was studied by him for illustrating a new edition.
It is filled with notes, letters, annotations, and original pencil sketches.
This series is kept in the rare book room of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library
along with Series 11.
Series 13 Artwork
Two framed prints and one bronze statue
This series consists of two Darwin portrait prints, one of which is
autographed, and a bronze statue of Darwin seated.
Series 14 Darwin Correspondence
10 lin. in.
This series consists of original Darwin correspondence, including 23
letters which have been tipped into the Cox extra illustrated editions
(Series 12). There are several major correspondents, including William
Bernhard Tegetmeier (136 letters from Darwin to Tegetmeier concerning the
breeding of fowl and pigeons with corresponding microfilm and copies of
Tegetmeier's correspondence with Darwin xeroxed from the collections of
Cambridge University); Professor J. S. Newberry (21 letters from various
correspondents); and Albany Hancock (11 letters concerning Cirripedia).
Also included is one letter from Erasmus Darwin to Sir Joseph Banks. Excepting
those addresessed to Newberry, each original letter has a corresponding
abstract, xerox copy and transcript.
Series 15 Miscellaneous Uncollected Darwin
5 lin. in. Arranged numerically.
This unpaginated manuscript consists of 118 published articles and pamphlets
written by Charles Darwin. They are unbound and pasted onto acid free sheets
where size permits. Included is a numbered list of each item with pencilled
numbers corresponding to the item number described in the printed catalog
of The Charles Finney Cox Collection of Darwiniana written by J.
H. Barnhart and published in the Journal of the New York Botanical
Garden, Volume XIV, pp. 1-29, January 1913. Items 34, 57, 98 and
107 are not included in Barnhart's catalog. Two items (numbers 130 and
158) listed in the Barnhart catalog are not in the manuscript but are unmounted
in envelopes accompanying the manuscript.
RBR Darwiniana Collection
Processed September 2000 by Stephen Sinon under a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-23141-98 and a
grant from the Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation.
For more information and a complete description contact
Susan Fraser, NYBG
The LuEsther T. Mertz Library
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
Back to Top | <urn:uuid:d76891f2-fa87-48c7-9b02-42db27fa64bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/libr/finding_guide/cox.asp.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915439 | 1,811 | 1.5 | 2 |
A business intelligence competency center (BICC) is a great way to make better use and reuse of your various BI and data warehousing
That's the advice of Philip Russom, research director for the Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI). In his latest research report, Russom urges companies to embrace a concept he calls unified data management (UDM).
The crux of UDM, Russom explained in an interview, is to coordinate data management's various disciplines and associated assets -- business intelligence, data warehousing, database management systems, data integration and data quality -- in order to manage them more efficiently and to better align them with strategic business goals.
Much more than a technical exercise, UDM is aimed primarily at making companies understand that corporate data is a critical business asset and helping them treat data as such.
"Unified data management isn't purely an exercise in technology," Russom writes in the report. "Once it paves the way to managing data as an organizational asset, the ultimate goal of UDM becomes to achieve strategic, data-driven business objectives, such as fully informed operational excellence and business intelligence, plus related goals in governance, compliance, business transformation, and business integration."
Practically speaking, UDM means establishing a data management competency center that consolidates various, previously siloed IT teams into a coherent group that can share and reuse technology and create enterprise-wide best practices, Russom said.
In large organizations, for example, different divisions might have their own data integration teams that use different data integration tools. With UDM architecture in place, those teams would be combined and tasked with streamlining data integration techniques and tools throughout the organization.
In addition, Russom said, business stakeholders must also get involved in order to determine how best to align data management practices with the organization's strategic business goals.
"If you really want to be successful at this, you've got to satisfy the business requirements," he said. In other words, companies shouldn't take the UDM approach just for the sake of it but should instead identify key business drivers for doing so.
Facilitating better business intelligence capabilities to improve decision making around sales channels, for instance, could be a driver for creating a data management competency center. Another example is improving customer service by giving call center reps quicker access to accurate customer data.
By reusing data management assets, UDM can not only help companies achieve specific business goals but can also help them learn from their experiences to extend the successes to other parts of the business, Russom said. "UDM really forces business people to think hard [about how they leverage their data management assets]."
As part of his report, Russom polled 179 organizations about the current state of their data management practices. Only 9% reported having a high level of coordination among data management disciplines and teams. But 40% said they plan to achieve a high level of coordination via UDM or a similar concept within three years.
The most frequently cited reason for wanting to implement UDM was to improve BI and data warehousing capabilities, according to the report. Better data quality was also a significant factor.
Of course, any time a company tries to overhaul its data management practices, there are risks. There are bound to be turf battles among previously independent data management groups, Russom said. And making decisions on which vendor tools to consolidate around can be a time-consuming challenge.
Still, Russom encourages organizations to implement UDM for the benefit of the business as a whole.
"Unifying data management practices tends to also unify data," he wrote, "which is good for decision making and strategy development that's based on data." | <urn:uuid:450e1de7-04b1-40e0-b541-bec5315b7770> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchcio.techtarget.in/news/1508554/TDWI-Reach-business-goals-with-a-unified-data-management-strategy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951512 | 750 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Reviewing the IEEE Broadcast Symposium, Part II
This month I’ll wrap up my coverage of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Symposium. These are short summaries of much larger presentations. Let me know if you would like me to cover any of the topics in more detail.
ALTERNATIVES TO OET-65
Anyone responsible for an FCC licensed transmitter should be familiar with the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Bulletin 65. “OET-65” provides a set of tools for evaluating RF exposure from radiators ranging from AM towers to microwave dishes. At the symposium, Martin Doczkat from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology presented RF Exposure: Simulation & Compliance, in which he reviewed antenna RF field theory and compared computational methods, including OET-65, for predicting RF exposure.
Due to the height and location of broadcast antennas, most broadcast engineers use OET-65 formulas to calculate far-field RF power density. OET-65 offers formulas for the reactive near-field and radiating near-field, but other methods may yield more accurate results. For example Doczkat noted the FM Model “May be grossly inaccurate in the near-field” due to the null fill, phase offset, and feed power of the antenna and environmental effects such as reflections. The other methods he described, including Method of Moments (MoM) and Finite-Element Method, are familiar to antenna engineers. One of his slides shows a possible extension to OET-65 using MoM for localized exposure. It is usable for distances up to 40 cm for emitters between 300 MHz and 6 GHz.
Doczkat cautioned that multi-use sites may be more challenging to accurately model due to approximations of sources and the environment. He noted that correctly performed measurements take precedence over computation, adding “Licensees/permittees must consider all RF sources, and must coordinate to reduce power or cease operations as necessary to ensure compliance.”
NEXT GEN TV
While watching TV on the big screen remains popular, more people are watching video on their smartphones and tablets. The 19.39 Mbps available with from the current ATSC 8VSB standard currently isn’t likely to be enough for UHDTV. Work is underway in this country on ATSC 3.0 and internationally with the Future of Broadcast TV (FoBTV), of which NAB and ATSC are members, to develop the next generation broadcast (NGB) TV platform.
Mark Richer from ATSC outlined the FoBTV vision and provided his thoughts on requirements for the NGB system. These include an IP transport layer, interactivity and addressability and a focus on broadcasting to mobile devices, although ultra-high definition wasn’t ignored. Regarding transmission systems, Richer listed efficiency (number of bits/Hertz) and flexibility/scalability as key points. We can’t assume fixed bandwidth channels such as 6 MHz; they should be dynamically configurable from 0.25 to 25 MHz.
In his presentation “Progress in ATSC 3.0: The Next Generation Broadcast Television System,” Jim Kutzner, senior director of Advanced Technology at PBS, outlined the methodology ATSC and FoBTV are using to develop NGB-TV. The ATSC TG3 subcommittee is first looking to outline the use cases for ATSC 3.0 and develop scenarios around them. Kutzner pointed out that a highly granular, “bottom up” approach stimulates expansion thinking (ATSC 3.0 won’t be limited by backwards compatibility to the existing broadcast system), while providing a perspective that includes business and regulatory impacts. Use cases are used to create scenarios that define requirements. Scenarios include a harmonized world standard, new services to provide an immersive viewing experience, “smart” interaction and personalization. Some high level system target attributes include high spectral efficiency, improved reliability and robustness, flexible system configuration, and support for multiple terminal characteristics (mobile/fixed). Future work will consider deployment scenarios.
The demand for increased quality and quantity of services will not diminish, so the application, transport and physical layers of a future system need to be decoupled to allow for changes. The system must have the ability to evolve to future standards.
Kutzner cautioned that the ATSC 3.0 puzzle is more than technology; it also includes business and regulation. In my opinion, those could be more challenging than the technology side!
Luke Fay from Sony Electronics, Skip Pizzi from NAB, and Jerry Whitaker from ATSC also contributed to the presentation paper.
ATSC 3.0 and the FCC incentive auction of UHF TV spectrum were the two most common topics of discussion, at least among engineers involved with TV broadcasting in the United States. At this point, we don’t know exactly how the FCC will comply with the law that requires them to use “all reasonable efforts” to “protect the coverage area and population served” by TV stations that do not give up their spectrum, according to the FCC’s current Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Reply comments to the NPRM are not due until March 12 so it will likely be after the NAB Show before we find out what the FCC has decided on.
Robert Weller, FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Technical Analysis Branch Chief, provided a summary of the Incentive Auctions. He noted that not all terms in the “all reasonable efforts” clause are defined. The FCC has tentatively defined coverage area as “terrain-limited coverage,” effectively preserving the noise-limited protected contour but with areas affected by terrain assumed to be identical within the same band. Multiple options were presented for dealing with interference after repacking.
The desired outcome of the repacking is optimized placement of stations, minimized spectrum holes, minimized spectrum interference and maximized utilization of spectrum. He acknowledged that during the DTV transition, the process generated antenna patterns that couldn’t be built. To avoid this problem in the repacking, the FCC is considering maintaining antenna patterns and scaling them.
During Q&A, Bill Meintel, of the San Francisco based RF consulting firm, Meintel, Sgrignoli and Wallace, asked about the dipole factor, to which Weller responded that it was still being considered and he welcomed comments backed up with a technical analysis. As you may recall, the FCC dipole factor correction requires a higher signal level for coverage at UHF channels above 37 compared with those below Channel 37. If dipole factor is used in calculating protected coverage, a 1,000 kW station on Channel 50 moving to Channel 26 could have to reduce its power by 2 dB, to 631 kW to maintain the service contour.
In these columns I’ve provided just a sample of the papers at this year’s Symposium. The entire 2012 Symposium is available on-line at http://vabs2012.infoneedle.com/. Next year the IEEE Broadcast Technology Symposium will move to San Diego. The IEEE BTS web site at http://bts.ieee.org/ has preliminary details.
Comments and questions are welcome! Email me at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:658a733d-0689-4cbf-93c7-927fecb8ee55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tvtechnology.com/prntarticle.aspx?articleid=217033 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933531 | 1,507 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Unless correspondents ask us not to, this Website will post selected letters that it receives and invite open debate.
writes from London, May 18, 1998:
Gerlach and the Himmler Document of 18 December 1941
A MINOR but key point of observation concerning your recent mention on your internet web-site of my reference to 'partisan warfare' in connection with the Gerlach 'discovery' of the Himmler appointment book entry for 18 December 1941 of his meeting with Hitler, and the Führer's decision that Jews should be exterminated 'as partisans'. [*]
What I believe was being discussed was the continued shooting of the German Jews in the Ostland. In other words, they were being dealt with as the German and Nazi authorities on the eastern front had been dealing with partisans as of 22 June 1941, i.e. by shooting.
The instruction which Hitler gave to Himmler on the date in question was directly related to the mechanical specifics of the then current policy of destroying the Jews of Germany and Austria when transported to the east rather than being directly related to a wider pan-European scheme of things (although in the long run the two were of course connected).
Consequently, and contrary to Gerlach's assertion in his recent article published in Germany, not only did the Hitler-Himmler discussion of 18 December 1941 have nothing to do directly and immediately per se with the pan-European notion of Endlösung, but consequently it had nothing to do with the agenda and proceedings of the Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942.
Indeed, that conference had two agendas. The first was discussion of the Vernichtung durch Arbeit of the Jews, while the second, implicitly, was the destruction of the Jews through gassing. Neither of those processes of destruction was to be through 'shooting'.
Ergo, 18 December 1941, in my opinion, was pertinent to quite a specific matter: how the SS were to deal with the regular transports of Jews being sent to the Ostland from the Reich and the Ostmark by shooting them. The 'methods' of proceeding with the European Final Solution of the European Jewish Question were, therefore, to be entirely different.
Gerlach, then, in my opinion, has got a great deal seriously wrong - above all his unwarranted assertion that somehow, between 6 and 12 December 1941, Hitler arrived at a decision to kill the Jews of Europe, and then told a group of Gauleiters (!) of his 'decision'. That is a complete and quite absurd misreading of everything concerning 1941. With best wishes,
* see too New York Times, January 21, 1998: "Hitler's Genocide Order: 5 Days After Pearl Harbor?" | <urn:uuid:73c2ba6f-d3eb-4cde-b7ad-6148b2aff7a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fpp.co.uk/Letters/History/Fox150598.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969827 | 565 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Free Markets, Free People
New administration, same lame approach:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday pledged to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Mexico in its violent struggle against drug cartels, and acknowledged the U.S. shares blame because of its demand for drugs and supply of weapons.
She said the United States shares responsibility with Mexico for dealing with violence now spilling across the border and promised cooperation to improve security on both sides.
And it’s your fault:
“I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility,” Clinton told reporters, adding: “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians.”
Of course, if we had control of our borders and drugs weren’t “illegal”, we probably wouldn’t be seeing the slaughter on the border now, would we?
Look, I know, as does everyone who reads this blog, that the sudden realization that it is the prohibition that drives all of this violence and not the demand, isn’t going to suddenly dawn on the politicians. The lessons of 1920′s prohibition have apparently been lost on them. The lawlessness, the gun violence, the flouting of the law by a majority of the population – all were essentially eliminated with the repeal of the 18th Amendment.
I’m not going to make the argument that drugs are good for you, harmless or something I’d want my grandkids to do. But I understand, despite all of that, that our approach – prohibition – is an abject failure and the war on the border is simply a manifestation of that failure.
The key to winning this war is to take the profit motive for criminals out of the equation. For most observers that seems self-evident. No profit, no war. No war, no need for guns and killing.
Yet governments seem to resist that obvious point. Instead they wage “war” on the producers, suppliers and users. But the profits, propped up by the government prohibition, are so obscene that the replacement of producers and suppliers taken out of the “business” is almost instant. And the size of the user population is such that only low single digit percentages of them are ever caught and prosecuted. It is, relatively speaking, a low risk business with very high rewards for the producers.
In reality, a criminal business is motivated by the very same things as is a legal business. It responds to the same sorts of market incentives as a legal business. The market, however, isn’t created by natural demand and regulated by competition. Instead, the market is one created by government prohibition. No prohibition, no “illegal” demand. No illegal demand, no possibility of the obscene profits enjoyed and no real appeal to a criminal enterprise or syndicate.
So calling for more of the same in terms of addressing this problem seems insane. As long as the prohibition remains in place the profit motive for the criminal gangs remains in place as well. And as long as the profits are large enough to more than offset the losses incurred in the distribution process (and the fight with governments and police), they will continue in their “business” until such a profit motive disappears. And as long as the price of drugs remains reasonably low and readily available (and the enjoyment remains high), and the population wanting them remains large, demand will remain pretty constant.
As has been demonstrated for decades, governmental efforts to stem both supply and demand through prohibition has been a pitiful failure. Yet here we are, getting ready to double down on this horribly failed policy.
In reality, this is again a manifestation of the nanny state. It is a determination by government that something it has decided is detrimental to individuals should be denied them. Instead of approaching the issue as it did with alcohol, our government has eschewed the lessons learned and the success of that effort in favor of the approach it is now taking.
To most rational people such an approach seems absurdly irrational. Yet there is no serious debate within government circles about the failure of the present approach or discussion of alternatives. And that’s in the face of evidence that drugs are now being used to finance terror organizations.
Something has got to change. And it needs to change quickly, or what you see on the border now will only grow worse. We’ve talked about how governments can distort markets. What you see now is a classic example of the results of such a distortion.
UPDATE: New York is trying something different in terms of combatting drugs. Although still not signed into law, the Governor and legislature have agreed to legislation which would dismantle much of the ’70s era “mandatory sentencing” laws and put more of an emphasis on treatment:
The deal would repeal many of the mandatory minimum prison sentences now in place for lower-level drug felons, giving judges the authority to send first-time nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison.
The plan would also expand drug treatment programs and widen the reach of drug courts at a cost of at least $50 million.
New York’s drug sentencing laws, imposed during a heroin epidemic that was devastating urban areas nearly four decades ago, helped spur a nationwide trend toward mandatory sentences in drug crimes. But as many other states moved to roll back the mandatory minimum sentences in recent years, New York kept its laws on the books, leaving prosecutors with the sole discretion of whether offenders could be sent to treatment.
“We’re putting judges in the position to determine sentences based on the facts of a case, and not on mandatory minimum sentences,” said Jeffrion L. Aubry, an assemblyman from Queens who has led the effort for repeal.
“To me, that is the restoration of justice.”
To me, it’s a start. | <urn:uuid:bfff11d1-4d99-4ea9-bc16-31ca16fe13de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qando.net/?tag=18th-amendment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967204 | 1,241 | 1.53125 | 2 |
|Guests:||Mike Bara, Charles Goyette|
Former Boeing aerospace engineer Mike Bara discussed the physics behind metaphysics, and how we are approaching a pivotal point of change in world energies and intent. We are in the midst of an apocalypse, but it's not the end of the world; it's a time where things are being revealed that weren't known before, and this creates instability, he said. "The apocalypse is not something that happens to you, it's something that you actively play a role in participating in and choosing the outcome of," he added.
Bara critiqued The Secret and its idea of the Law of Attraction. The physics behind this is faulty, and choice is actually more powerful than attraction, he argued. If we focus on choosing not just for ourselves, but for others and our community, this will help create a better outcome for the tumultuous 2012 era that we're in, he said. Bara cited the importance of hyperdimensional physics, which suggests that everything in the universe is connected to a higher spatial dimension. The ancient Mayans intuitively understood the importance of the alignment with the center of the galaxy in 2012, he noted, adding that such alignments are a key factor in hyperdimensional physics.
Bara also touched on the Exploded Planet Hypothesis, Hopi prophecy, and fallacies in the theory of dark matter. There will be an eclipse over North America on December 21, 2010, exactly two years before the end of the Mayan calendar, and he suggested this would be a good date to stage a global prayer/meditation like the Harmonic Convergence. Bara will be one of the speakers on a 7-day cruise in March to the Mexican Riviera, Cruise Into 2012—Surfing the 9th Wave.
First hour guest, finance expert Charles Goyette spoke about the state of the economy. He was critical of the Federal Reserve's recent plan called 'Quantitative Easing II,' in which they will buy $900 billion in US treasury bonds. "Effectively, it's going to be a wealth transfer to Wall St. from the pockets of the American people" that will further devaluate the dollar, he lamented.
Mike Bara has set up a YouTube video channel which includes video blog postings, and his taped lectures such as "Mars, Planet X and the Physics of 2012."
Bumper music from Wednesday November 10, 2010
- Midnight Express (The Chase)
- Maria Maria
Allman Brothers Band
- If You Could Read My Mind
- Ghost Dance
- I Only Want to be With You
- Beautiful Girl
- The Magnificent Seven
- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
- 2112 Overture
- When You Come Back to Me
- Wonderful World
- Inca Dance | <urn:uuid:b0bbec76-2494-453a-bb02-f5d7ae5b6a1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2010/11/10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921107 | 575 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Skaraborg Wing, F 7, is responsible for the production of three Gripen divisions and for the training of all the Air Force’s Gripen pilots. The Wing technical office exercises overall management of the operation, maintenance, modification and technical support and development work for all aircraft types in service with the Swedish Armed Forces.
The Wing is also the home base for all of the Air Force’s eight TP 84 Hercules transport aircraft. The transport aircraft unit has employed its Hercules transport aircraft in missions covering every continent, often in connection with international disasters and other humanitarian aid missions. The first of these aircraft was delivered in 1965 which makes F 7 the longest established Hercules operator in Europe. | <urn:uuid:4ed6567c-dfd0-46a6-8784-c4dc3148ee93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forsvarsmakten.se/sv/Organisation/Training-units/Skaraborg-Wing-F-7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952572 | 140 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In 1877 , Wm. J. Parks, Co., published a history of Madison, Dane Co, and the surrounding villages and towns in Dane Co., Wisconsin. Contributors from the various locales provided information, pictures, and maps for the book. My great-great grandfather James P. McPherson wrote the portion about the history of Springdale (p. 806, Dane County Towns, Springdale). Because of its length, the Springdale history will be published on this blog in several parts. Part 2, as follows, tells of the early settlers in Springdale and how they established their governing bodies.
By James P. McPherson, Esq
Part 2 Springdale and Early Settlers
The town was settled in 1844 or 45, the first settler being Mr. John Harlow, who built the first house with inn the limits of the town. That house is still standing on the farm of Mr. Patrick Casey, on section one.
In 1845, Messrs, Michael Jacket, Wyatt Perkins, Perry Nunger, Tomas Bently and others, settled in the northeast part of the town and commensed the improvement of their lands. Mr. Perkins built a dam and saw mill on a small branch of Sugar River. These were regarded by some of Mr. Perkins' neighbors, as hindrances rather than improvements, and let to litigation, with resulted in the removal of the dam and mill, and also Mr. Perkins, who sought a new location for his mechanical industry.
In 1846, Messrs. Thomas B. Miles, Axium Malone, Hawley Childs, N. H. Dryden, Thore T. Spaanem, Morgan L. Curtis, John S. Berge, Henry Boland, Martin Nash, Michael Johnson and others, moved in and occupied land in other parts of town. In 1850 John Mitchell and James P. McPherson settled on section 24 and 25.
The town was organized in 1848, the first election for town officers being held on the second Tuesday of April in that year. Twenty votes were cast, and twenty-one offices were filled, and the following named persons were elected, viz.,: Chairman, Martin Nash; Supervisors, Wyatt Perkins and Thomas Bentley; Town Clerk, Robert N. Ashmore; Treasurer, Morgan L. Curtis: Collector, Axium Malone; Justices, Martin Nash and Morgan L. Curtis; Commissioners of Highways, Thomas Bentley, N. H. Dryden, and Robert N. Ashmore; School Commissioners, Hawley Childs, Thos. B. Miles and Wyatt Perkins'; Assessors, Perry Munger and Thos. B. Miles; Fence Viewers, Michael Jacket and Hawley Childs; constables, Axium Malone and John I. Berge; Sealer of Weights and Measures, Wm A. Dryden.
Of the twenty-one officers then elected, there are four of them yet residents of the town, viz., Messrs. N. H. Dryden, Thos. B. Miles, Michael Jacket and John I Berge.
It was determined that no town tax should be levied, and that the officers should receive no pay for their services for that year, but shortly after the election, a special town meeting was quietly convened by the incumbents interested, and a small town tax, sufficient to satisfy the office -holders of those early days, was levied and in due time collected.
From 1848 to 1852, the population of the town was largely increased by the immigration, and nearly all the land was then entered and occupied by settlers from the Eastern and Middle States, and from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and Norway, who have devoted their attention and labor to the cultivation of the soil. The natural facilities for manufactures of any description are but limited, and agriculture has therefore been the occupation of the people and will likely remains so.
PUBLISHED & COPYRIGHT BY WM. J. PARK & CO., 1877. BOOKSELLERS, STATIONERS AND BINDERS, 11 KING STREET. DAVID ATWOOD, STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER, MADISON, WIS. | <urn:uuid:23b807e7-4676-4d33-b8a3-4ccac9bf0b57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rootsnleaves.blogspot.com/2011/09/amanuensis-monday-history-of-springdale_26.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957714 | 867 | 2.09375 | 2 |
South Africa has changed politically and economically in the past 10 years. Now it's time for education to follow. New models of learning are changing the concept of education in the country. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has brought South African pupils in line with the 21st century. The Department of Education believes that developments in the ICT industry will create future job opportunities while providing top-notch education for today's pupils. The implementation of ICT in schools will focus on teaching young people who are growing up in the digital world. With ICT learning, also known as e-learning, technical skills will be developed. The Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, said information and communication technologies were central to changes taking place throughout the world.
"The digital era has revolutionised the way society handles information, and advances in ICT have dramatically changed the teaching and learning process," said Pandor. "This has opened up new learning opportunities and provided access to educational resources well beyond those traditionally available." It is the Department of Education's goal that by 2013, every South African manager, teacher and pupil will be ICT capable. They should be able to use ICT confidently and creatively to help develop skills and knowledge they need to achieve personal goals and be full participants in the community. ICT learning will enhance the quality of teraching and reduce time spent on administrative chores.
"The public and private sectors will have to join hands to ensure that our children receive high-quality teaching through these technologies," Pandor said. "Significant investment is needed to assist the department, as we hope that through this initiative we will be able to turn our schools into centres of quality learning and teaching for the 21st century." "We want to ensure that every school has access to a wide choice of diverse, high-quality communication services which will benefit all pupils and local communities."
"The services provided by the initiative will enhance life-long learning and provide unlimited opportunities for personal growth and development to all."
The minister said the introduction of ICT to schools would create new ways for pupils and teachers to engage in information selection, gathering, sorting and analysis. In addition ICT could enhance the management and administrative capacity of schools. Experts believe that in introducing ICT, there should be a balance in teaching and learning methods. E-learning should recognise that its value is linked to its suitability to individual learning and teaching styles and strategies. "Learning through the use of ICT is arguably one of the most powerful means of supporting pupils to achieve the nationally-stated curriculum goals. It should, however, be thoughtfully selected and integrated into educational planning and management," warned one expert. "There are challenges facing the Department of Education when it comes to ICT installations in schools."
"The use of ICT learning encourages active, exploratory, inquiry-based learning and also encourages collaborative work among pupils and teachers." "Creativity, analytical skills, critical thinking and informed decision-making are some of the advantages of ICT learning."
Published on the web by Pretoria News on September 28, 2004. | <urn:uuid:0200f8db-c558-4af2-a792-9a1cea10a131> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogoehlert.typepad.com/eclippings/2004/11/south_africa_te.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966976 | 629 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Recently, the New York State Legislature passed a law that authorizes Nassau County to install up to 50 red light cameras throughout the county. The cameras will be used to catch motorists who go through red lights as a way to make roads safer and bring in additional revenue to the county by levying fines at violators.
Among the locations slated to receive the red light cameras are the intersections of Elmont Road and Dutch Broadway in Elmont, Elmont Road and Linden Boulevard in Elmont, New Hyde Park Road and Tulip Avenue in Franklin Square and Franklin Avenue and Corona Avenue in Franklin Square. There are no red light cameras slated for West Hempstead.
In the Assembly Bill A07329, which is the legislation for the red light cameras, it cites as justification for the bill dangerous traffic conditions on Hempstead Turnpike. "The Nassau County Traffic Safety Board reports that three of New York's deadliest roads are Hempstead Turnpike, Old Country Road and Sunrise Highway," the legislation states.
However, there are no red light cameras slated for Hempstead Turnpike.
The legislation for the county to get the authorization to install the cameras was supported by Assemblyman Tom Alfano and Senator Craig Johnson. "It's an important piece of legislation because it does promote safety on the roads. It's clearly a technology that works," said Johnson.
- Joe Rizza | <urn:uuid:79669d89-4a06-4b5e-8eee-569f6ca15c95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antonnews.com/threevillagetimes/2009/04/24/news/lights.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943275 | 281 | 1.976563 | 2 |
The communications office of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin provides media with timely, accurate information about the Wildflower Center. Below are recent press releases related to Center events and to staff expertise on conservation practices, native plant gardening, nature education, and native plant resources and research findings. For more information or photos beyond those on the newsroom site, please contact:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2004
The book signing will take place in the Visitors Gallery. Admission is free to the Center for the event. Books are available for $15.95 per copy. This is Carle's only visit to Texas in 2004. In addition to books purchased at the Center, Carle will sign one book brought from home.
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? combines vibrantly colorful tissue paper and acrylic illustrations with rhythmic text to produce a beautiful book, told from the point of view of endangered species. Each page of the book features animals being asked, "What do you see?" As the page is turned, a new animal is revealed and the same question is asked.
The book is Carle's latest in a long line of children's books and the third in the What Do You See? series, a collaboration with author Bill Martin Jr.
About Eric Carle
The themes of Carle's stories are drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature. Furthermore, Carle aims at educating and entertaining his audience, while providing stimulation for children to grow both intellectually and creatively.
Some of Eric's other books include, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Lonely Firefly, and Hello, Red Fox. He has won several awards for his books including the Silver Medal from the City of Milano, Italy in 1989 and the Laura Ingalls Wilders Award from the American Library Association in 2003. Eric is married with two grown children. He and his wife live in Northampton, Massachusetts.
About Lucas Miller
Lucas Miller, the "singing zoologist," is a children's author and award-winning recording artist. From his home base in Austin, Lucas tours throughout Texas teaching about the importance of animals with a unique blend of upbeat songs, delightful puppetry, and outlandish humor.
Driving Directions to the Wildflower Center
The Wildflower Center is located at 4801 La Crosse Avenue - drive south on Loop 1 (MoPac), take the first left past Slaughter Lane; the Center is two blocks down on the right. $link(nd=directions,Click here) for more details. | <urn:uuid:e975eb98-51b3-404a-990f-e08a816d1a89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wildflower.org/press/index.php?link=press&id=9 | 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 | 0.939344 | 525 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Welcome to the China Room
The "Presidential Collection Room", now the China Room, was designated by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson in 1917 to display the growing collection of White House china. The room was redecorated in 1970, retaining the traditional red color scheme determined by the portrait of Mrs. Calvin Coolidge--painted by Howard Chandler Christy in 1924. President Coolidge, who was scheduled to sit for Christy, was too occupied that day with events concerning the Teapot Dome oil scandal. So the President postponed his appointment, and Mrs. Coolidge posed instead.
The red theme continues in the red velvet-lined cabinets, silk taffeta draperies and the early 20th-century Indo-Ispahan rug. The cut glass chandelier, made about 1800, is in the English Regency style. Flanking the portrait of Mrs. Coolidge are Chippendale sidechairs used by President George Washington in the earlier presidential residences in New York and Philadelphia. The painting above the mantel, "View on the Mississippi Fifty-Seven Miles Below St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis", was completed by Ferdinand Richardt in 1858--the year Minnesota achieved statehood.
Almost every past President is represented in the China Room either by state or family china or glassware. The collection is arranged chronologically, beginning to the right of the fireplace. Even the earliest Presidents received government funds to purchase state china. However, by a special clause in the appropriation bills, "decayed furnishings" could be sold and the proceeds used to buy replacements. Such "furnishings" included state china, and during the 19th century the cupboards were frequently swept clean and the contents carted off to auction. The money could then be used to order a new china service that better suited the President and his family.
An array of presidential china is on display in the China Room.
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore | <urn:uuid:7f452551-7641-4675-a1c3-fd4fffcfddc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/glimpse/tour/html/china.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958238 | 403 | 2.453125 | 2 |
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Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries
Mental health problems account for a substantial and possibly increasing share of illness among young people. This finding is significant not only because it directs increasing attention to the problems of young people who suffer from mental health problems but also because mental health problems are associated with various other behaviors, including alcohol and drug use and risky sexual behavior.
Substantial proportions of young people are sexually active at a young age in some parts of the world, most notably sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has made it inescapably clear that young people are sexually active. While most young women first have sex in a marital relationship, substantial proportions do not. Moreover, in areas with high HIV prevalence, marriage does not protect young women from risk. While marriage reduces the number of sexual partners, it increases the frequency of sex, decreases condom use, and virtually eliminates a girl’s ability to abstain from sex.
There has been an increase in the percentage of women having premarital sex before age 18 in many countries over the past 20 years. However, delays in the age of marriage in most countries have meant that, relative to 20 years ago, fewer young women report themselves to have been sexually active before age 18. Thus, while sex is being delayed, the context of first sexual experience is changing, with a greater likelihood relative to the past that first sex will be experienced prior to marriage.
There is increasing evidence that coercive sexual initiation is not uncommon among young people. The individuals responsible for this coercion are likely to be known to the young person and are sometimes people in authority, such as teachers. Studies suggest that those who experience coercive sex are subsequently more likely than others to engage in higher risk consensual sexual behavior.
Contraceptive use is increasing among sexually active young women, especially those who are unmarried. Rising contraceptive prevalence is most evident in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Eastern and Southern Africa. In Western and Middle Africa, the trends are variable. In other regions—the Middle East and Asia—data on contraceptive use are available only for married women in a limited number of countries. When data are available, they also indicate increases in contraception among married young people in most countries.
Condom use among sexually active young women is still relatively low but increasing rapidly in some places. Although the magnitude of the increases | <urn:uuid:f72d4378-2480-482f-8eef-e5d4957b05cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11174&page=243 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953315 | 523 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Stuyvesant High School
A selection of articles related to stuyvesant high school.
Original articles from our library related to the Stuyvesant High School. See Table of Contents for further available material (downloadable resources) on Stuyvesant High School.
- Resurrection of the Higher Self
- In July of 1989, a controversial article crossed the managing editor's desk of an equally controversial magazine. This article was never actually published in the quarterly publication, then known as The Magical Blend , even though it was well documented by...
Body Mysteries >> Psychoactive Substances
- OBE, Understandability & Memory Download Problems
- The mind boggles at the potential complexities of interdimensional subtle-body relationships and energetic conflicts created during OBE; most especially during wake-induced OBE. Consider the memory compatibility problems that could arise between different...
Astral Projection >> Out of Body Experiences
- What is High and Low Magick?
- High magick is ceremonial or ritual magick, used more by the practitioners of The Order of the Golden Dawn, Kabbalists, and followers of Aliester Crowley. High magick also follows a set of guidelines and certain formalities. Ceremonialists call upon demons...
Mystic Sciences >> Magick
- 2 - The High Priestess
- The card shows a highly balanced and transparent female figure. She fully trusts that the Universe will bring her all she needs, give her the right answers and show her the right direction. The years of puberty. Meaning: intuition, spiritual insight, self-trus...
Tarot Cards >> The Major Arcana
- High John The Conqueror: Correspondences
- Ipomoea Purga or I. jalapa POISON Folk Names: Gender: Masculine Planet: Mars Element: Fire Deity: Power: Money, Love, Success, Happiness...
Herbalism >> Herbs dictionary H
- Egyptian Temples, part II: The Priesthood
- The basis for the country, for society and for the individual was the maintaining of Maat. When the earth is a reflection of the sky, which is lorded by Re, then Pharaoh, "son of Re", Horus incarnated, becomes accordingly the lord of the earth. But...
Religions >> Egyptian
- King James Bible: John, Chapter 18
- Chapter 18 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 18:2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted...
New Testament >> John
Stuyvesant High School is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Stuyvesant High School books and related discussion.
Suggested Pdf Resources
- STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL A.I.S. TUTORING 3:40-4:40 PM
- Feb 17, 2011 STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL. A.I.
Suggested News Resources
- Water engineer dives headfirst into life
- By Bill Clark He was born in 1933 in New York City, graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1950 and from prestigious Peter Cooper Union College in 1955, which admits only 240 students each year, and they go to school “free like the air and the water.
- Exemplary community volunteers honored at ceremony
- Those honored ranged from a 75-year-old woman caring for her 100-year-old father to volunteers at the senior center to a band made up of students from Stuyvesant High School that raises money for charity.
- Cherry Lane Theatre Will Not Be Sold; Director Encouraged by Changes
- 11, 2001, on the world at large and on what Horovitz describes as "my little family," whose son was a student in class at the Stuyvesant High School directly across from the Twin Towers at the time of the attacks. Damien Gray directs.
- 9/11 turned him toward ministry
- In 2001 Freeman Field was a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York two blocks from the World Trade Center. On the morning of Sept.
- More grief for slain officer's family
- His academic performance at the highly touted Stuyvesant High School paved the way for a full scholarship to the City College of New York. He entered college around the same time his father suffered a fatal heart attack.
Suggested Web Resources
- Stuyvesant High School
- Aug 8, 2011 News and opinion with sports, art and entertainment coverage from the official student paper.
- Stuyvesant High School
- FIRST DAY FALL TERM 2011. Date: 9/8/2011. Location: Stuyvesant High School.
- Stuyvesant High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Stuyvesant High School commonly referred to as Stuy 3] is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science.
- SHSAA | Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association, Inc. - Home
- SHSAA - Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association, Inc.
- Stuyvesant High School - The New York Times
- News about Stuyvesant High School. Commentary and archival information about Stuyvesant High School from The New York Times.
Great care has been taken to prepare the information on this page. Elements of the content come from factual and lexical knowledge databases, realmagick.com library and third-party sources. We appreciate your suggestions and comments on further improvements of the site.
Stuyvesant High School Topics
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super bowl xxxii green bay packers | <urn:uuid:a727741c-8e70-4b4a-b780-1f0f62784016> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realmagick.com/stuyvesant-high-school/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920442 | 1,241 | 1.695313 | 2 |
When a child loves, loves, LOVES a subject, it can feel complicated to put it on the transcript or create a course description if it is not a standard subject like math or science. Instead of trying to get too technical with “fun” subjects, think about what they are doing with this thing they love. How much time do they spend? Just a little, or too much to count?
For example, a member was talking to me about photography. Bethany always has a camera on her hands. She is constantly snapping photos, looking at photos of others, and learning more and more about her passion of photography. In fact, as we discussed it, we were even able to begin a course description that included four major areas of work. Bethany does portrait photography, has started a photography blog, and has competed at the country fair and won multiple ribbons and awards. Here is how that might look on a course description.
Photo shoot 1
Photo editing 1
Photo editing 2
Photo shoot 3: Senior Portrait
Photo editing 3
Photography Blog (25% of grade)
Writing and editing
Photo Editing (25% of grade)
Portfolio and Competition (25% of grade)
Matting and framing
Each of these things are delight-directed learning opportunities. Not mom-driven, but child-led. It’s also real learning, real high school credit, and should really be included on the high school transcript.
Not all high school classes have to be like math, with a textbook, and two hours a day of blood, sweat, and tears. Include some classes that are fun for the student, so they enjoy learning! It’s good to balance hard classes with some easier ones. Not every class has to have analysis. Not every class needs to have a paper. Here is a blog post that may help:Homeschooling High School – Underwater Basket Weaving: Sometimes Easy is OK.
Check out Bethany’s photography blog here, it’s excellent! BethanyFaithPhotography.
Are you on Twitter? Follow me here! | <urn:uuid:6f3dbb39-334c-4e67-9bce-464fa427f328> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/photography-credit/11345/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958662 | 439 | 2.5 | 2 |
QAAFI scientist receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant
QAAFI receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant for ground-breaking research in global health and development
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Dr Neena Mitter and colleagues from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “BioClay – crop protection against biotic stresses from field to market”.
Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mould in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Dr Mitter’s project is one of more than 100 Grand Challenges Explorations Round 8 grants announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery and Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Grand Challenges Explorations encouraged individuals worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas where creative, unorthodox thinking was most urgently needed.
“We’re excited to provide additional funding for select grantees so that they can continue to advance their idea towards global impact,” he said.
To receive funding, Dr Mitterand other Grand Challenges Explorations Round 8 winners demonstrated in a two-page online application a bold idea in one of five critical global heath and development topic areas that included agriculture development, immunization and nutrition. Applications for the current open round, Grand Challenges Explorations Round 9, will be accepted through 15 May 2012.
Dr Mitter and her colleagues propose to design and develop ‘BioClay’ technology to deliver biological agents targeting plant pathogens.
“Current pest and disease management tends to rely on plant genetic resistance and /or transgenics coupled with insecticide and fungicide sprays,” Dr Mitter said.
“But the cost, safety and environmental issues associated with chemical sprays often act as major impediments to controlling disease pathogens in the field.
If successful, the ‘BioClay’ technology offers small-holding farmers safe, low cost, and environmentally sustainable solution for managing field and postharvest diseases.
About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a US$100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, more than 600 people in 45 countries have received Grand Challenges Explorations grants. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organisation. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of US$100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to US$1 million.
Tel: +61 7 3346 0553
Mob: 0417 425 510 | <urn:uuid:6f8eb163-0600-4957-84ff-64d268a136f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qaafi.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=177627&pid=148101 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907725 | 588 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Forty years ago in Wilmington, N.C., there was a serious struggle of Black Americans to end racial discrimination and violence over the manner in which public schools were desegregated. The NAACP, national and local, had won a series of important court battles in Wilmington and across America to desegregate public school systems. But, during the Nixon Administration in the early 1970's, African Americans in the south, as well as in other regions of the nation, were being challenged with the systematic racial disparities involved in the details of how federal court-ordered school desegregation was being enforced.
We are grateful that at the recent 2011 Black Press Week in Washington, D.C., the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) committed to lead a national initiative to get a "Pardon of Innocence" for the Wilmington, N.C. Ten. The NNPA is a vital association of our nation's leading newspapers that for 184 years have served the news and journalistic interests of the Black American community in the United States and throughout the Pan African world. While the specifics of case of the Wilmington Ten are unique, this case of political prisoners raised the broad issues and plight of the struggle for African American liberation and empowerment to a global level during the 1970's.
Black students, parents, and community leaders made a decision in Wilmington in February 1971 that they would stand up and fight to protect and secure the "quality" education of African American students by attempting to preserve the high academic integrity and institutional legacy of African American public schools such as Williston Senior High School. The United Church of Christ, as a progressive mainline Protestant denomination of 1.7 million members, and its Commission for Racial Justice led by The Reverend Dr. Charles E. Cobb, decided to stand with the student-led coalition in Wilmington to demand fairness and equal justice. As a young civil rights activist, I was dispatched by the Commission for Racial Justice to give organizational assistance to our brothers and sisters in Wilmington.
Because we dared to speak out and to engage in non-violent street protests to the long, unprecedented history of racial violence and injustice in that port city, the African American community became the targets of a violent, paramilitary, anti-Black terror campaign led by the Ku Klux Klan and the Rights of White People (ROWP) organization. Our movement's headquarters in Wilmington - Gregory Congregational United Church of Christ - and the surrounding African American community was placed in a state of siege by armed White vigilantes, who opposed racial justice and equality.
The Civil Rights Movement evolving from the 1950's and 1960's into the 1970's had to grapple with the fact that the Nixon Administration took steps to counter and suppress the momentum and progress of the movement in the wake of the assassination of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Thus, what we faced in Wilmington, N.C. in 1971 was not only the vile of local racial hatred and violence, but also we later found out that right-wing law enforcement officials in the Nixon Administration aided and abetted the concerted frame-up, unjust conviction, and imprisonment of the Wilmington Ten.
We are the Wilmington Ten: Wayne Moore, William Joe Wright, Connie Tindall, Marvin Patrick, James McKoy, Ann Shepard, Willie Earl Vereen, Jerry Jacobs, Reginald Epps, and Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Because of our involvement in the struggle in Wilmington in 1971, we were unjustly charged, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a combined maximum total of 282 years in prison in North Carolina in 1972. We all were completely innocent of the alleged charges of arson and conspiracy to assault. In 1978 , Amnesty International declared that we were "Political Prisoners." We stayed in prison during most of the 1970's while our case was on appeal. On December 4, 1980, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the unjust convictions of the Wilmington, Ten because of "prosecutorial misconduct" in the unconstitutional and unfair frame-up. Yet, to date there has not been an official "pardon of innocence" issued by the state of or by the federal government.
NNPA Chair, Danny J. Blakewell, Sr. affirmed, "We are going to tell the story of the Wilmington 10." The story of the Wilmington 10 is the story of Black Americans speaking out and standing up for equal justice and basic fairness. We live in a world where we have to tell our own stories and remind ourselves that our struggle for justice and empowerment is not yet complete.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is Senior Advisor to the Black Alliance for Educational Options and President of Education Online Services Corporation. | <urn:uuid:a51914f2-8704-41a9-bbff-b8b5cb5ebdd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2580:pardon-of-innocence-for-the-wilmington-ten&catid=92&Itemid=182 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955981 | 954 | 2.328125 | 2 |
For a large part of their history, Sephardic Jews lived in Moslem and middle-eastern lands while Ashkenazi Jews lived in Christian and eastern european lands. In learning about Sephardim it is therefore important to understand their standing in the Moslem world.
The early Moslems saw the earth as divided into 3 spheres. On one side was the Islamic World, darb el Islam, (the sphere of Islam) where the population was all Moslem or under Moslem rule. In time it was felt that all peoples on earth should accept Islam as the true faith and it was the duty of the Moslem to cause this to occur as rapidly as possible. Hence the rapid expansion of Islam in the giddy early centuries after the birth of Islam when the Moslem armies seemed invincible.
On the other side was the pagan world (darb el harb, the sphere of war). This world was to be forcibly conquered and the vanquished pagan populations were to be given only 2 choices: death or conversion to Islam.
The third Sphere lay between these two. Named darb el Salah, sphere of peace, this was made up of people who the Moslems felt had received a partial revelation of the true nature of God but needed to move on to the full revelation provided by Mohammad. This group consisted of the Jews and Christians, also known as the people of the book, ahl al kitab.
Having received partial truth, Jews and Christians were to be tolerated and allowed to exist under Islamic rule and indeed to be protected by the rulers. As Ahl al dhimmis (protected people) they were allowed full autonomy in their internal affairs and could engage in most occupations - both of which did not exist for Jews in Christian Europe. Their synagogues, churches and personal property were protected and they could travel freely through Moslem lands except for Arabia itself.
However, so that they would be encouraged to convert to Islam, they were to be made "uncomfortable" in a variety of ways, known as the Covenant of Omar ("till they pay the tribute readily, offered on the back of their hands, in a state of humiliation" sura 9:29)). These included special additional taxes (jiziya poll tax and haradj produce tax), the wearing of distinctive yellow clothes and prohibition of riding horses or wearing swords, etc. They were to always hold a position inferior to the Moslem, could never be in a position of commanding a Moslem and were to be generally scorned.
So what happened in Moslem Spain?
Enforcement of the covenant of Omar varied greatly depending on time, place or both. As a general rule the further the location from Arabia the less stringently were the restrictions enforced. Moslem Spain in the west and Turkey and the Ottoman empire in the east were the most lax in this respect. However even here this varied depending on the time period. When the fanatical and religious Almohad dynasty came into power in the 12th century in Spain, the restrictions were enforced to the fullest and it was not a happy time for Jews.
When the Moslems conquered Spain, they found themselves to be in the minority. The tolerance shown by the Moslem rulers towards both Christians and Jews was largely due to the fact that they needed their help to govern the country. The Jews, a fellow semitic people with a similar language to Arabic, and a long standing love for education rose rapidly to positions of importance in Moslem Spain. The Christians, largely illiterate - a character in Don Quichote when asked if he could read exclaims "Of course not, I am a good Christian sir!" - fared less well.
In Christian Europe Jews were often the only significant minority and as such the full wrath of the majority was focussed on them alone. On the other hand, in Spain Jews were only one of several minorities with other minorities more likely to draw the rulers anger. Whereas in Europe, the Church's depiction of Jews as "Christ killers" obviously played a major role in how Jews were mistreated, this was not a factor under the Moslems. On the contrary, Jews were seen as recipients, albeit incomplete, of the truth about God. In fact there is evidence that Mohammad was strongly influenced in his formative period by Jews, probably Karaites, and had great hopes that Jews would be very receptive to his teachings. His subsequent rejection by Jewish tribes whom he sought to convert was a prime cause of his anger towards them.
In the Moslem state of Granada, Jews were so prominent, both in population and government, that it was called Garnatat al Yahud (Granada of the Jews). In 11th, Samuel ben Joseph Halevi ibn Nagrela was named Grand Vizier to King Badis and commander in chief of the armies, both in blatant disregard of the Covenant of Omar. On his death in 1056 he was succeeded in that position by his son Joseph. However on Dec 30 1066 angry moslems caused Joseph to be murdered on his way to Shabbat services following which a moslem riot occurred and 1500 Granadian Jews were killed. Though Jews continued preeminent in financial and cultural circles this demonstrated the insecurity of that prominence.
Like French Jews using French, Italian Jews using Italian, Jews in Moslem Spain used Arabic as the spoken vernacular and often wrote it with Hebrew letters. Maimonides, Ibn Gabirol, ibn Ezra, etc. all wrote in Arabic. As Arabic grammar was developed, it prompted a revival of spoken Hebrew and the development of its grammar and there followed a flow of delightful Hebrew poetry.
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Sephardic Genealogy Resources | <urn:uuid:1327c9e5-f1b1-4955-a9af-2be3ca8afbec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishgen.org/Sephardic/Islam.HTM | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980461 | 1,166 | 3.640625 | 4 |
What is wrong in going to elephant shows or take elephant treks?
If you go to Thailand one of the main attractions are elephant shows and elephant camps. Tourists visit them to play with animals or watch elephants dancing, painting and doing other unnatural. They can also have an elephant ride or trek. There are plenty of elephant camps in the Northern Thailand. Some friends asked us if we had had an elephant ride. We did not plan to have one. I saw some pictures of elephants doing tricks and it made me feel uneasy about all this “elephant business”. I don’t like all this animal circus since my childhood.
After we came across an elephant camp during our trip to the Doi Inthanon I had even stronger doubts about elephant entertainments. The camp is located right next to the road we were taking to Chiang Mai and were surprised to see the animals. We stopped to have a look at them but we did not pay any money for that. The elephants were about to have their evening food. Of course, it was nice to see these big animals so close and play with a baby elephant. But the animals did not look really fine. There was something strange in their behavior. The people taking care of them seemed not to treat the elephants in a good way. One guy was jumping and hitting a small elephant on the head (see video below – a man in the background with a young elephant).
It looked as if they were playing but it made me think that most probably the elephants are not treated well. All of them were chained and they were moving from side to side like dancing. I remembered seeing somewhere that animals behave like this in cages when they are going “crazy” in captivity. This looked looked very similar. After a while we left and I did not think about it anymore.
Not long ago I came across an article about Baby elephant tortured into submission before illegal smuggling from Burma to Thailand. In the picture below taken from this article you can see that a baby elephant is being severely beaten by mahouts.
Yes, it is the same baby elephant that will soon become an “actor” in thrilling pictures for hundreds or thousands of tourists. They will be sincerely happy to play with a baby elephant, hug it, caress it and get great pictures to show to their family and friends back home. But these people don’t think that such behavior is very unnatural for animals. This and other tricks are not performed by wild animals. It means these elephants were trained to behave abnormally, trained into submission as they don’t dare to reject anything people want to do with them.
The article made me search more on the subject. I found more about tortures of animals used to break their free spirit and program them into full submission and obedience. The video below uncovers some of the terrible truth about “elephant business” in Thailand.
So what is wrong in attending elephant shows and taking elephant treks?
I believe any smart person understands that when people pay money for this kind of entertainment they pay money to the people who torture animals. And the more people are paying the more animals will suffer as the increased demand will cause more young elephants be captured and ruthlessly trained into obedient ”circus” animals.
I do hope you agree with me and smart enough to over come your desire to play with a small cute baby elephant in order to avoid supporting this bloody practices.
Please share it with your friends if you agree! | <urn:uuid:86b9ead8-28c5-41b0-9f31-aa26bbb7e28c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelphotoreport.com/2013/01/15/why-you-should-never-go-elephant-shows-camps-thailand/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979262 | 718 | 1.5 | 2 |
Editor's note: In the introduction to Chapter 10, from which this excerpt is taken, David Pogue writes, "If it weren’t for that darned Internet, personal computing would be a lot of fun. After all, it’s the Internet that lets all those socially stunted hackers enter our machines, unleashing their viruses, setting up remote hacking tools, feeding us spyware, and otherwise making our lives an endless troubleshooting session. It sure would be nice if they’d cultivate some other hobbies." With the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft's latest and most reliable corporate desktop operating system now provides better protection against viruses, worms, and malicious hackers. David Pogue, creator of the Missing Manuals series, offers an excerpt from his newest book, Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, 2E, which covers all the intricacies of SP2. The excerpt deals more specifically with the Security Center and the Windows Firewall. Knowledge is power; protect your system.
Once you've installed Service Pack 2, your Control Panel contains a new icon called Security Center. It's an easy-to-understand status report on three important security features: Firewall, Automatic Update, and Virus Protection. If any of these are turned off, dire messages appear on your screen at startup and as balloons in your notification area (Figure 10-2a).
Note: So why isn't there a Spyware panel in the Security Center? Excellent question. Unfortunately, only the engineers at Microsoft know the answer.
As you can see by Figure 10-2b, the Security Center is primarily just a status dashboard; the big ON or OFF "lights" are just indicators, not clickable buttons. But it does contain links to numerous help screens, online resources, and other parts of Windows that let you control its three central functions.
Note: If you're using Windows XP Pro in a corporation where a highly trained network administrator is in charge, you may find that you can't make any changes in the Security Center or Windows firewall. Protecting your PC, in this case, is somebody else's job.
Figure 10-2a. On an SP2 computer, balloons like this sprout instantly if Windows considers your PC insufficiently protected--or if Windows XP doesn't recognize the antivirus or firewall software you're using. When you click the balloon, the Security Center (bottom) appears.
Figure 10-2b. Click one of the headings (Firewall, Automatic Updates, Virus Protection) to expand that section of the dialog box. In this case, you have a firewall in place (the built-in Windows one), Automatic Updates is turned on, but you haven't installed antivirus software. (Or maybe you have antivirus software, but the Security Center doesn't recognize it. This could be true if it's some obscure brand, or, more likely, if your antivirus version was released before Service Pack 2.)
If your machine connects to the Internet, it really should have a firewall. If it's connected to the Internet full-time, as with a cable modem or DSL, it really really should have a firewall. Most of the people who have fallen victim to snooping attacks from the Internet are people without a firewall.
Here are three ways to get yourself a firewall:
A router is an inexpensive box that distributes the signal from a single cable modem (or DSL) to one, four, eight, twelve, or more computers on your network. As a delicious benefit, most routers these days contain a built-in firewall. The beauty of a hardware firewall like this is that first of all, it's always on, and second of all, it protects the entire computer simultaneously.
In the following paragraphs, you'll be reading about software firewalls. But a hardware firewall is even better. Some people, in fact, buy a router even if they don't intend to share the cable modem's signal with other PCs--they get it just for its firewall protection.
In general, in fact, you can pretty much tune out of the following firewall discussion if you're protected by a hardware firewall. That is, unless:
If you're confident that your hardware router is all you need, then you'll have to turn off the Windows firewall, which means whistling past a warning that says, "Turning off Windows firewall may make this computer more vulnerable to viruses and intruders." Thanks to your router, that's not actually true.
Windows XP has included firewall software from the very beginning (it used to be called Internet Connection Firewall). Unfortunately, in the original Windows XP, the firewall's factory setting was Off, and finding its deeply buried On switch required three weeks and the assistance of a sherpa. ("It's like we gave you a car with seat belts that were really well hidden," admits a Windows product manager. "You had to open a secret panel and press three buttons to make them appear.")
In SP2, you can't miss the presence of the firewall. It comes already turned on, and, if it somehow gets turned off, the Security Center offers a direct link to the Windows Firewall control panel. (Of course, you can also open it at any time by choosing Start--> Control Panel-->Windows Firewall.)
All about ports
Now, if you really wanted complete protection from the Internet, you could always just disconnect your PC from the modem. Of course, that might be a little too much protection; you'd be depriving yourself of the entire Internet.
Instead, you can open individual ports as necessary. Ports are authorized tunnels in the firewall that permit certain kinds of Internet traffic to pass through: one apiece for email, instant messages, streaming music, printer sharing, and so on. (Part of what made the original Windows XP so insecure was that Microsoft left a lot of these ports open, to the delight of evildoers online.)
On a computer with Service Pack 2 installed, far more of these ports are left open and exposed to the Internet than before. (Microsoft has equipped the firewall with ready-to-use tunnels for several exceptions: the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard; File and Printer Sharing; your local, in-house network; America Online; EarthLink; and your computer's FireWire connector, if it has one.)
The Windows firewall works like this: Each time a piece of software tries to get onto the Internet, the Windows firewall will pop up a dialog box that lets you know. As shown in Figure 10-3, Windows wants to know if it's OK for this piece of software to burrow through the firewall to go about its business. The golden rule: If you recognize the name of the software (for example, an online game), go ahead and grant permission by clicking Unblock. If you don't (for example, PsatNetQuery.exe), click one of the other two buttons.
Note: If you're an online gamer, you'll be seeing a lot of this dialog box. Internet attackers were especially fond of using the ports that interactive online games open.
On the other hand, if you're using a public PC (in a library, say), you might never be asked permission. That's because some administrator has turned on the "Don't allow exceptions" option shown in Figure 10-4a. That means, "No holes in the firewall, ever. This is a public terminal, and we can't permit God-knows-what activity to corrupt our system."
Figure 10-3. When a new program wants to get online, this box appears. Click Unblock to open a port through the firewall, which will close each time you finish using the program. Click Keep Blocking if you don't even know which program is doing the asking. And click Ask Me Later if you want to deny permission this time, but you want to be asked again the next time you run the program.
If you grant permission, then each time you use that software, Windows will briefly open up a special port for that kind of activity, and then seal the port closed again when you're finished.
The exceptions list
When that little Security Alert box opens up, there will be times when you make the wrong decision. You'll deny permission to something that looks fishy, and then find out that one of your programs no longer works. On the other hand, maybe you'll approve something that has a recognizable name, and then you'll later find out that it was actually a trick--an evil program deliberately named in order to get your approval. That, unfortunately, is life in the Windows fast lane.
Fortunately, you have a second chance. At any time, you can take a look at the list of authorized holes in your Windows firewall, using the Windows Firewall control panel (Start-->Control Panel-->Windows Firewall). When you click the Exceptions tab, you see something like Figure 10-4b: a list of every program that has been granted an open port in the firewall.
10-4a. Here, in the new Windows Firewall control
panel, you can turn the Windows firewall on
or off. You should turn it off (despite the stern
warning) if you’re using a non-Microsoft firewall
(like Zone Alarm).
Figure 10-4b. The Exceptions tab and the Advanced tab list all of the programs and ports that Windows Firewall is permitted to open—but only when these programs are actually requesting Internet access. These are holes in your firewall that you or Microsoft has deemed to be safe. Use the checkboxes to temporarily turn exceptions on or off; use the Delete button to get rid of them entirely.
Using this list, you can also add a program manually (rather than waiting for it to ask permission at the time of launching). To do so, click the Add Program button, and choose the program's name from the list that appears.
Similarly, you can open individual ports by number. Click Add Port; you'll be asked to type in a name for this exception (anything you want) and to type in the port number. In this situation, Microsoft assumes that you know the port number, either because somebody gave it to you, because the manual for some piece of software provides it, or because you're just a super-smart geek.
For all its convenience and its excellent price ($free), the Windows firewall has a signi ficant drawback: It's only one-way protection. It blocks attacks from the outside, but doesn't stop spyware (once your PC has been infected) from sending data out. That's why many PC fans opt for a sturdier firewall, like the equally free but far superior Zone Alarm. Zone Alarm protects your PC from both incoming and outgoing data.
Unfortunately, installing a non-Microsoft firewall creates a few complications of its own. If you're using a big-name firewall program like Zone Alarm, Windows is smart enough to take notice, turn off its own built-in firewall, and step out of the way. (Having two software firewalls is asking for trouble, as your programs may not be able to get online at all.)
But if you're using a lesser-known firewall program, or one that you got before SP2 came out, the Security Center might not recognize it. In that case, it's your responsibility to manually turn off the Windows firewall so it doesn't conflict--or to update your firewall software to a version that's Security Center-savvy.
David Pogue , Yale '85, is the weekly personal-technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. His funny tech videos appear weekly on CNBC. And with 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how- to authors. In 1999, he launched his own series of amusing, practical, and user-friendly computer books called Missing Manuals, which now includes 100 titles.
View catalog information for Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition
Return to the Windows DevCenter.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc. | <urn:uuid:b2bc3254-dc5d-43fb-9278-1f6bb995ab30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onlamp.com/lpt/a/5482 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932817 | 2,716 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Priscilla Perry, a social activist and University of Miami scholar who later worked as a lobbyist for the company that built Metromover, died of complications of Parkinson’s disease Thanksgiving day at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. She was 80.
During her six decades in South Florida, where her family moved when she was in high school, Perry worked as an Anti-Defamation League activist, became an administrator with the University of Miami’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies, created the university’s Institute for the Study of Aging and founded a magazine chronicling urban struggles.
Later, in a second career — or perhaps third or fourth — Perry became a Miami and Washington lobbyist.
“She was an outspoken and active woman who was a force,” said Larry Jinks, The Miami Herald’s managing editor and executive editor from 1966 to 1976. “She was close to a number of political figures in the community and she liked to see results.”
Born Priscilla Rosenfeld on July 2, 1932, in Brockton, Mass., Perry quickly became involved in politics when her family moved to South Florida. But she took a break from professional life to focus on her family after she married Judge Morton Perry in 1958 and the couple had two children.
Perry went to school at the University of Miami during that time and earned a master’s degree specializing in urban studies.
She returned to professional life reinvigorated, and by 1973 had become a university administrator and founded the League of Working Mothers to fight for women in the workplace.
“She was just light years ahead of her time,” said daughter Pam Perry. “She did and thought of things women never did.”
In 1973, Priscilla Perry told The Miami Herald that part of why she became vocal about social issues despite her small-town upbringing was she knew Miami “was a place open to different views. I seemed to know intuitively that I could think differently here.”
By 1975 she had founded the University of Miami Institute for the Study of Aging. She was also the founding editor of Miami Interaction magazine.
By the 1980s, Perry was married to the late University of Miami professor Eugene Mann and became a lobbyist. One of her clients was Westinghouse, the company that built downtown Miami’s people mover.
In addition to her daughter, Perry is survived by her son Aaron Perry and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapels at Mount Nebo in Kendall, 5900 SW 77th Ave..
Instead of flowers, donations should be made to the National Parkinson Foundation. | <urn:uuid:46933c70-fedb-4ce1-a844-9bea6a8b6175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/23/3110709/priscilla-perry-social-activist.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986231 | 557 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Written by Tracy Hayes
Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Great Branch Teacherage in Orangeburg, SC to celebrate the completion of its three year restoration project and reopening to the public.
In 2008, the Great Branch Community Center received a $50,000 grant from Lowe’s and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to support this effort. Since 2006, Lowe’s has generously contributed four million dollars to fund 53 preservation and restoration projects across the country, including 33 Rosenwald School buildings. At Great Branch, the Orangeburg Lowe’s store also provided volunteer assistance through its Heroes program as well as providing building supplies for much of the interior work.
The Great Branch Teacherage, which served as the home for the principal and teachers from the Great Branch Rosenwald School, is the second of those 33 projects to complete its restoration and reopen to serve the local community. (Read about the first, Virginia's Scrabble School, here.) Health screenings for seniors and educational tours and activities for school children will be offered there, and computers with internet access and a walking trail on the campus will be available in the future.
“It came to me in a dream,” alumnus Frank Young said of his vision to transform the blighted and abandoned building into a restored and vital part of the Great Branch Community Center. Together with his friend, fellow alum, and current president of the Great Branch Restoration Project, Jervey Kennerly, they formed a committee and found the leader they needed in Rosa Kennerly (no relation to Jervey), a recently retired school administrator. With Rosa on board to organize people and write grants, the project took off. They gave themselves three years--no small task--and finished just under their self-imposed deadline.
Sunday’s reopening event was standing room only. Nearly 150 people, including state legislators; county councilmen; school district administrators; a former teacher; alumni with their children and grandchildren; community members; National Trust staff; and the Orangeburg, SC Lowe’s manager, Sheldon Griggs attended the ceremony. Local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops were on hand to help out, a motorcycle club helped park cars, State Troopers stopped traffic to allow guests to proceed across the road to the community center for tours of the teacherage, and refreshments under tents that provided much-needed respite from the afternoon sun. Attendees young and old enjoyed the festivities on the warm, sunny afternoon in rural Orangeburg County. “It’s a great day for Great Branch!” declared Young.
In the early 1900’s, Rosenwald Schools were built by the community and served as more than just schools. They were meeting places and community centers. It is wonderful to see how this community came together again to save the teacherage and its history, and to restore it for community service once again. When I consider the condition of this building when I was first introduced to it in 2006, and its condition on Sunday when I stepped inside, the transformation is remarkable. It’s a true success story, and I look forward to 31 more stories of Rosenwald School preservation success!
Tracy Hayes is the Rosenwald Initiative program assistant in the Southern Regional office of National Trust for Historic Preservation. | <urn:uuid:50f46aa1-b4d8-4869-bdd4-6704d43dde3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.preservationnation.org/2009/10/06/two-down-31-to-go-another-rosenwald-school-preservation-success-story/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967062 | 673 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Japan Deflation Moderates, Unemployment Falls, Signaling Recovery Intact
Japan’s deflation moderated and the unemployment rate fell, indicating the nation’s recovery remains intact as policy makers consider stimulus measures to protect the economy from a strengthening yen.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food slid 1 percent in August from a year earlier after falling 1.1 percent in July, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. The jobless rate dropped to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent, while the number of people no longer in the labor force increased, it said.
Today’s reports show little sign that the yen’s climb to a 15-year high against the dollar has hurt the domestic economy so far, a contrast with data yesterday showing industrial production unexpectedly slid. The Bank of Japan meets next week to consider whether to expand a credit program and Prime Minister Naoto Kan is compiling stimulus to shore up growth.
“Employment lags behind the current state of the economy, so today’s improvement in the jobless rate reflects the firmness in the economy in the first half of this year,” said Mika Ikeda, an economist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo. Even so, “deflation still persists in Japan.”
Highlighting the Japanese government’s concern about an appreciating currency, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that Japan is ready to resume intervening after selling yen for the first time in six years last month. “We will continue to take decisive measures as needed” on the yen, Kan said today in a policy speech in parliament.
The yen traded at 83.46 per dollar at 2:31 p.m. in Tokyo from 83.54 before the consumer price report was published. It has risen about 5 percent in the past three months. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was 0.8 percent higher.
The stronger yen prompted Nintendo Co., the world’s biggest maker of video-game machines, to cut its annual net profit forecast by 55 percent to 90 billion yen earlier this week. Murata Manufacturing Co., an electronics components maker, will eliminate 3,000 temporary positions and increase production overseas as the yen’s strength forces it to reduce costs, President Tsuneo Murata said this week.
The 1 percent decline in August’s consumer price index, the 18th straight drop, matched the median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
A separate report from the Bank of Japan today showed that sentiment among Japanese consumers worsened in September for the first time in six quarters and more people said they expect prices to drop in a year from now.
The yen’s advance has lowered import costs and Japan’s biggest retailers have cut prices, increasing deflationary pressure, said economist Mari Iwashita. The Bank of Japan will likely respond to the rising yen by expanding its 30- trillion yen ($360 billion) lending facility on Oct. 5, 14 of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News said.
“Moves by retailers to take advantage of the yen’s gain are spreading, putting renewed downward pressure on consumer prices,” Iwashita, chief market economist at Nikko Cordial Securities in Tokyo, said before the report. “The pace of core prices declines have eased in recent months, but their drops may resume worsening.”
Retailers including supermarket operator Daiei Inc. and Ryohin Keikaku Co., which operates Mujirushi Ryohin stores, have announced plans to cut prices.
The yen’s strength has weighed on Japan’s export-reliant economy, which expanded at less than half the pace in the April-June period compared with the previous quarter. Reports this week showed overseas shipments grew at the slowest pace this year in August, industrial production unexpectedly declined for a third month and gains in retail sales were smaller than economists forecast.
A slowdown in economic growth may threaten the Bank of Japan’s forecast that core prices will stop falling in the year starting April 2011. The bank’s board predicted core prices will rise 0.1 percent in the next fiscal year after falling 0.4 percent this year. It will update forecasts at an Oct. 28 meeting.
“It’s unlikely the consumer price index is going to turn positive this fiscal year or next in an environment like this,” said Yoshimasa Maruyama, a senior economist at Itochu Corp. in Tokyo. “Households are looking for cheaper products, and companies have little pricing power, resulting in a pricing war.”
The U.S. economy is also threatened by falling prices. The Federal Reserve last month said for the first time that too-low inflation, in addition to sluggish growth, would warrant its taking action, as it moved closer to a second wave of unconventional monetary easing.
Depending on whether the yen continues appreciating and the economy keeps weakening, BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his board colleagues might have to consider more loosening of credit even after possibly increasing the 30- trillion yen credit program for lenders next week, economist Hiroaki Muto said.
“With global growth slowing, an end of deflation is being put off further and further, and that means pressure on the BOJ to do more will linger,” said Muto, a senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset and Management Co. in Tokyo.
In a sign that decelerating economic growth is discouraging people from looking for work, the number of people no longer in the labor force increased by 90,000 in August from July, the employment report showed.
“The pace of improvements in the job market won’t pick up for the next year,” said Itochu’s Maruyama. “With the yen’s strength, companies are likely to expand production overseas, so they’re not ready to hire meaningfully at home.”
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Anstey in Tokyo at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:3f744804-8c33-4ccc-a245-6cad03af3c9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2010-09-30/consumer-prices-decline-for-18th-month-as-yen-gains-economic-growth-slows.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944086 | 1,264 | 1.695313 | 2 |
One of the arguments lying around is that the 5bA is sufficient to anchor the identification in the Landis F3, based on the following reasoning. The mix-cal acetate has an internal standard, 11k-etio, 5bA, and andro, some of which appear in all fractions. Using the pattern matching method, we claim we can see in the Blank F3 which the IS and the 5bA are matching from the mix-cal acetate. We know the blank also has 5aA, so the peak that is in the blank that matches the peak in the Landis F3 must be 5aA, and similarly for the 5bP. Even though we don't have 5aA or 5bP in the calibration standard, we can extrapolate by transitivity through the blank.
This is shown below:
We should note that there are still some open issues about exactly which peak is claimed to be the IS in the Landis F3, because the area is quite cluttered. This is what led WMA to wonder if LNDD decided which one matched by looking at the CIR value of the peak, even though the measured value wasn't entirely within the spec for the CIR of the IS. This adds some lingering uncertainty, because the SOP calls for adjusting things so the IS comes out in the vicinity of 870 seconds, which requires you to know which peak is the IS. If you're off, then later peaks might also be off.
Having claimed to match the IS, and duplicated other conditions, then the aligning peaks in the blank and Landis F3 are taken to be the 5bA.
Now things get transitive. We don't have a standard for the 5aA or 5bP, but we believe they are in the blank. So if we know what they are in the blank, we can similarly match. Let's look at the 5aA first.
The identification is being made in the blank based on the belief that the 5aA follows the 5bA -- see Shackleton, who used the same column, for example. But what about that peak that is slightly after the one we're looking at?
We have a small peak in both samples just beyond the one claimed to be 5aA. Could it be the real 5aA? If so, how would we know? We don't have certainty from a calibration mix of any kind. What we do have is a general idea from Shackleton that the 5aA follows closely, and that it often appears the 5bA is tailing into the start of the 5aA. The argument would be that since we have that kind of tailing from the claimed 5bA into the claimed 5aA, that's what they must be.
Leaving open the question: where does TD2003IDCR talk about proximity and tail shape as identification criteria?
It is also very interesting that LNDD took the CIR of the peak following in the blank, but did not in the Landis. Why would they take one measurement, and not the other, for a peak in the same location in both samples? We see in the blank that peak is less negative than the claimed 5aA, and closer to the value of the claimed 5bA. We know it is trivial to take such a measurement, so why wasn't it made for the Landis?
The same argument arises in the 5bP:
So, there we are. Absent the actual analytes in the mix-cal, we have to extrapolate identities from the blank onto the athlete sample. This isn't a technique specified in TD2003IDCR. The truth of that claim is built on claims that the IS and 5bA were correctly identified in the blank, which leaves us with the previous discussion of the validity of retention times and general pattern matching.
Or, as DailBob notes, the 5bA anchor theory is trying to reach identification by logical argument, not science. | <urn:uuid:90ba6367-95d6-4f4d-a4e3-42a08dec1b24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://trustbut.blogspot.com/2007/12/5ba-anchor-argument.html?showComment=1197482340000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962942 | 828 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The English language is a funny thing.
For example, for a good part of the last century, the word "bully" enjoyed some currency as an expression of congratulation for achievement of the highest goals (as in the expression "bully for you").
In current parlance, of course, the word usually has a completely different meaning - being a description of a person who uses forceful or intimidating behaviour. We probably all have unpleasant memories of somebody of this disposition from the school playground.
But, if recent case law is anything to go by, it seems that this description is also enjoying some frequent use in our employment jurisdiction. In fact, you might say that "workplace bullying" is something of the flavour of the month in New Zealand personal grievances.
The prospect of bullying behaviour in the workplace is nothing new - nor is the law's response to it: intimidating or forceful behaviour is never, and has never been, acceptable in the New Zealand workplace. An employee who behaves in this way will, almost inevitably, be said to have committed misconduct in the course of their employment.
So while the problem is nothing new, the frequency of its prominence in recent cases probably suggests an increased willingness to address it.
But that prospect invites a number of potential problems for an employer. Helpfully, a recent case, Williams v The Warehouse Limited (Unreported, Employment Relations Authority, Auckland, 23 December 2005), gives some guidance as to the way an employer might approach those matters.
Ms Williams was employed by The Warehouse - and appears to have been the supervisor of a number of co-workers. It seems that several of her colleagues took issue with her management style.
One of Williams' colleagues resigned, confiding with a Human Resources Manager that her reason for doing so was Williams' ongoing bullying behaviour. She said that she was reluctant to make a formal complaint about Williams out of fear that such confrontation might make matters worse.
At about the same time a number of other employees approached a Quality Assurance Manager, effectively making a collective complaint about what they perceived to be Williams' bullying behaviour. Having received these two complaints, the employer was able to proceed to a formal investigation.
This aspect of the case illustrates one of the inherent difficulties with bullying claims. Put simply, employees who are bullied may have a natural reluctance to take on the alleged transgressor - out of a fear that doing so might make matters worse for them. Yet one of the fundamental parts of our employment law is a requirement that any complaint about something as serious as bullying must be made by an accuser who is willing to have his or her identity revealed to the alleged perpetrator. As this case illustrates, it is often only when a person has resigned from an organisation - or where employees feel that they can take safety in numbers with a collective complaint - that formal action is taken.
Put another way, the nature of bullying is such that quite often complaints just aren't made.
A second problem confronted the employer in Williams' case. At the time when each of the two complaints were made, Williams was away from the workplace. Consistent with its obligation to bring the complaints to her attention in a timely fashion, the employer planned to meet with her upon her return to work.
But what would that mean for the complainants? They had a real fear that she might react immediately should she remain in the workplace.
The logical answer, of course, would be to require Williams to go home immediately after receiving the complaints. But an employer may only suspend an employee in this way if the employment agreement allows. In Williams' case the employer had no such right of suspension.
But, weighing everything up, The Warehouse decided to suspend her anyway. This was later a subject of specific challenge by Williams. She said that the employer had been in breach of its employment contract - and that she should be entitled to some remedy as a result.
The Employment Relations Authority disagreed. It said that, considering all the circumstances of the case, suspension was justified in the circumstances.
Ultimately, The Warehouse upheld the complaints that were made about Williams. In short, it concluded that she had engaged in intimidating and bullying behaviour. It decided to dismiss her.
Williams challenged this decision by making a claim to the Employment Relations Authority - making a number of different arguments about the correctness of the employer's conclusion. Those challenged failed - and the Authority found that The Warehouse's decision to dismiss for bullying was reasonable.
An allegation of bullying does, by its nature, give rise to a number of difficult issues for an employer. This case helpfully gives some indication about what those problems might be - and how a reasonable employer might respond to them. | <urn:uuid:5becd657-200b-4955-a9f2-66808bc38d01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellgully.com/resources/resource.00589.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976213 | 947 | 2.203125 | 2 |
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SOURCE The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Twenty-one states employ more bus drivers, librarians, cafeteria workers, deputy superintendents, accountants, coaches, nurses, assistant principals, and other non-teaching personnel than they do classroom teachers, according to a new analysis of state education employees by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.
The report, a sequel to last fall's "The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America's Public Schools," examines states' hiring patterns between 1992 and 2009. It found that, in 2009, administrators and other non-teaching staff outnumbered teachers in Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Louisiana, Wyoming, Vermont, Utah, Georgia, Alaska, New Hampshire, Iowa, and the District of Columbia, which is treated as a state in the report.
"Taxpayers should be outraged public schools hired so many non-teaching personnel with such little academic improvement among students to show for it," said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. "This money could have been better invested in areas that have proved to benefit children."
Virginia far outpaced other states with the number of excessive personnel outside the classroom with 60,737 more non-teaching staff than teachers, followed by Ohio with 19,040 more non-teaching personnel than teachers.
The report also compared the growth rate among administrators and non-teaching staff with student enrollment changes from 1992 to 2009. It found that 48 states could be saving $24 billion annually if the hiring of non-teaching staff had not exceeded the growth of students between 1992 and 2009.
In Texas, taxpayers would have saved almost $6.4 billion annually if public schools' non-teaching personnel had not outpaced students. Virginia, Ohio, New York, California, and Pennsylvania each would have annual, recurring savings in the billions. Other states' savings are in the millions; however, Nevada and Arizona actually saved money, as both its administrative and non-teaching personnel did not outpace student growth. Data were not available for South Carolina.
"States could do much more constructive things with those kinds of dollars," Enlow said. "State leaders could be permitting salary increases for great teachers, offering children in failing schools the option of attending a private school, or directing savings toward other worthy purposes. Instead states have allowed these enormous bureaucracies to grow."
The report also shows the salary increases states could provide teachers annually if administrators and non-teaching personnel kept pace with the student population from 1992 to 2009. At the top was Virginia, which could provide teachers an annual salary increase of $29,007. Maine was second at $25,505.
The report was compiled with data from the National Center for Education Statistics and prepared by Ben Scafidi, an economist at Georgia College & State University and a senior fellow at the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.
To read the report, visit www.edchoice.org/StaffSurge2. That link also provides a map in which readers can download each state's findings.
©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:33497cbb-ce44-434e-bd2d-6e5383cfcf75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.katv.com/story/21424885/new-study-finds-21-states-have-more-non-teaching-staff-than-teachers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951924 | 728 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The fifth building used as a synagogue by the congregation was located on West 70th Street, beginning in 1897.
I have just put an article from the New York Daily Tribune (dated May 23, 1897) on my Museum website that discusses not only the dedication of the building, on West 70th Street, but also describes events there (Services) as well as such notables as Rev. Dr. Sabato Morais (Philadelphia), Rev. Nieto and Rev. Mendola De Sola (of Montreal). An interesting read.
The article can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/syn-nyc-shearith-israel-01.htm.
I hope to put on more interesting articles to researchers with Sephardic roots. A listing of the Museum's more than one hundred articles can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/archive-newspaper.htm.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
These lists are by no means complete, as there were no doubt many more of our ancestors who died in the Ghetto and were buried there. However, these lists might just help some of you who had family in the Ghetto during World War II with your Lódz family research. The lists give the names of the deceased, and often the father's name, the date of death and age at death.
The lists come to you courtesy of the Lódz Jewish community through the agency of Yad LeZehava (YZI) in Kedumim Israel and with the dedicated cooperation of the officers and men in the IDF 'Witnesses in Uniform' Program.
The lists can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/ghetto/lodz-ghetto-cemetery.htm.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
There are many sweatshops in the Sixteenth Ward Ghetto which, from time to time, have been inspected by the Health authorities of this borough.... Great numbers of garments, cheap and costly, such as are worn by men, women and children, are made in these shops, and these goods are sold in every borough of Greater New York. For this reason, my reader, if for no other, you have a personal interest in this Ghetto, as you will see even by even brief reflection. For the germs of deadly disease maybe conveyed long distances in clothing. The makers of these skirts, cloaks, shirts, trousers, overcoats and children's clothing are, for a great part, Polish and Russian Jews, who toil in such unsanitary shops....and [they] live in miserable little rooms of poorly constructed old wooden tenements. Hundreds of these toilers cannot speak English, are unfamiliar with our laws and customs, have come from lands in which oppression and dire poverty drove them into wretched habitations from which pure air, sunshine and the water necessarily to cleanliness were shut out....
You can read the full article at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/bklyn-16thwardghetto.htm.
You can chooose from more than one hundred other articles published around the turn of the twentieth century at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/archive-newspaper.htm.
Friday, January 22, 2010
You can find the links to these lists at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/cp-townlist.htm. If you find a surname of interest and would like the photo sent to you, please email the Museum at firstname.lastname@example.org and indicate the surname and the town associated with the listing. Here are the towns:
There are other society plots for each town located within other cemeteries within the New York metro area, but these burials are from Beth Moses Cemetery only in Pinelawn, New York. There are no plans to photograph the other plots for the towns noted.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
You can now see and hear a couple of hundred Jewish children sing "Hatikvah" in pre-World (1933) War II Mukacheve (Munkacs), Hungary. The link is www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/fs-mukacheve-01.htm. The clip is in an mp4 format and is best seen and heard using Internet Explorer.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
There are also many, many sound clips that are also available for "your listening pleasure." You may access the lists of all the audio and video content found within the Museum by visiting www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/multimedia.htm.
The Museum of Family History, always wishing to add more interesting features and content, would like to announce the creation of its new "MFOH Film Series," which will present short films or clips shown nowhere else on the Museum's website. What is different about this Series--as opposed to other content on its site--is that these films will only be available for a short period of time, i.e. usually from one day to one week, and then it will no longer be available at the Museum for viewing.
The dates of each film showing will be stated on the Museum's Film Series page.
From Sunday, January 24 to Saturday, February 6th, you can see two short films (those who visit the Museum blog may have an earlier viewing of these two films beginning today).
The first two filma available for viewing are (the duration of the clip is indicated within the parentheses):
"It's Your Story" - National Museum of American Jewish History (11:45).
The Museum, located in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (address: Independence Mall East, 55 North 5th Street), is scheduled to open sometime during the Fall of 2010. Here you may view a nice introductory short film produced by the Museum. The Museum's website can be found at http://www.nmajh.org/.
The Al Jolson Film Festival - "Hollywood's Famous Feet" (8:40).
With Al Jolson doing the narration, this short presents the story behind the famous footprints and signatures outside of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and many of the top names in Hollywood are on hand to view the proceedings, including John Wayne, Ralph Staub, Donna Reed, Gene Autry, Edgar Bergen, Sid Grauman, Ken Murray and John Stahl... -- per IMDb. Festival film clips come courtesy of the International Al Jolson Society (IAJS).
Website: http://www.jolson.org/. This clip is presented to you in an mp4 format, so hopefully you will be able to watch it. Please be patient and wait for it to load--it make take one minute or longer, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. More Jolson Festival clips will follow after February 6.
You can access both short films by using the links provided at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-films.htm. Future films will be included on this webpage in the near future.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
According to the AHO, The Association of Holocaust Organizations was established in 1985 to serve as an international network of organizations and individuals for the advancement of Holocaust education, remembrance and research.
The AHO website can be found at http://www.ahoinfo.org/.
"The Jewish Ghetto" will feature information about and photographs of many of the ghettos that once existed. There will also be first-hand testimony given by some of those who were forced to live in these ghettos during the Second World War, not only in written form, but also as short audio-visual clips.
The Museum depends on people like you for material to build its exhibitions. So, with that in mind, the Museum would like to send out a "call for material" to all of you for any material you possess that you think might fit in well with this exhibition. It is preferred that you not send any original material and that you send what you have as jpegs or Word documents by email.
Have you photographs of any of the ghettos? Written testimony from someone who lived in a ghetto (or perhaps you yourself lived in one)? Have you either audio or video testimony, where you recount your experiences in the ghetto? Are you the translator of a Yizkor book that contains testimony of those who lived in a ghetto?
If you have any questions, please contact me (Steve) at email@example.com .
Another exhibition in the works is an augmentation of an ongoing exhibition of the same name that currently contains photographs taken within the last ten or so years of the former concentration camps of Europe, which today mostly serve as memorials and museums. The new exhibition "Never Forget: Visions of the Nazi Camps" will be similar to the "Ghetto" exhibition in that it will tell about many of the concentration, labor and transit camps in both first- and third-person.
The Museum is looking for testimony for this exhibition as well as that of the "Ghetto" exhibition. The Museum also needs current-day photographs (ie. within the last two decades) of many of the former concentration, labor, and transit camps. The Museum has a limited collection, but is in need of more, i.e. photographs of former camps not included within its current collection. If you have any such photographs, please contact me at firstname.lastname@example.org first before you send them, in order to make sure that they are needed.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Here is a summary of what new material and exhibitions were added to the Museum of Family History over the past month or so. This summary does not include all that was added; for that you will need to read the previous Museum's blog entries. Here, though, is a summary, of what's new:
1. "The Jews of Asia." The Museum's first offering to you is an exhibition entitled "Synagogues and Memorials." Currently you can see photographs of synagoggues taken in the 1990s and 2000s in the following locations: Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; Bombay (Mumbai) and Cochin (Kochi) in India; Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma (Myanmar), Singapore, Tajikistan, Lebanon and
Istanbul, Turkey (i.e. the Asian side of the Bosphorus). www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/jasia/jasia.htm
The Museum is looking for material for an uncoming exhibition about the Jews of Asia, so if any of you possess or can obtain material that can be used in this exhibition, please contact me at email@example.com . Such material can include one's biography that includes an account of one's time spent in Asia at any time up until 1960. Photos, audio-video are always welcome.
2. All sections of the 1905/1907 book "The Immigrant Jew in America" is now available to you at the Museum. You can now read about the Russian Jew of Chicago, as well as the Russian Jews of New York and Philadelphia. The exhibition's table of contents can be found at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ija-contents.htm
3. Anti-Semitism in Europe - Letters from Leipzig: Within the six years preceding the start of World War II, a non-Jewish German woman named Ilse Gerngrofs wrote four letters to a Jewish friend in New Zealand (not knowing she was Jewish). The Museum presents these to you now so that they may serve as an example of the anti-Semitic sentiments that existed in Germany before and after Hitler came into power. These letters are very offensive, but
worth reading. The link is www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/as-letters-leipzig.htm
4. Synagogues of Europe: Greece: Athens, Corfu, Rhodes and Thesssalonika; Spain: Madrin and Toledo; Ukraine: Husiatyn and Zastavna. www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/mfh-syn-europe.htm
5. Newspaper Archives: There are now over one-hundred articles available for
your perusal. Please visit the archives at www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/archive-newspaper.htm to see what might be of interest to you. There are now over two dozen articles published between the 1880s and 1906 about the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Reading these
articles is a great way to get a feel for Jewish life there more than one hundred years ago. There are even two short film clips for you to see, made in 1903, showing scenes of the Lower East Side.
6. For those of you who don't already know, The Museum has placed online an important report and a table of pogroms that occurred between 1903 and 1906. First, you will be able to read over the introduction and commentary to all of this as published by the American Jewish Committee in their American Jewish Year Book, Volume 8 (1906-1907). Secondly, you will be able to peruse a table of more than two hundred and fifty towns and cities in Europe where
pogroms occurred. Within this table is a listing of the damage caused in these locations (when available), as well as some general remarks made about each pogrom. You will also find for each pogrom event listed, the date of occurrence, the name of the town or city, the gubernia, the overall population of the location and the Jewish population, though numbers are not given for every town or city. There is also a supplemental table of pogroms in other locations in November 1905 not included in this larger table. There are also articles about the pogroms in Gomel, Belarus and Bialystok, Poland. www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ajc-yb-v08-pogroms.htm | <urn:uuid:ec18f10f-d9e0-4c9c-ab20-188250a807ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://museumoffamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952623 | 2,929 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Dog walking pays $10 to $15 a day in my neighborhood. Have you ever found yourself wanting something like a cellphone or a laptop but you just didn't have enough money to get it?
It's true that jobs like babysitting, dog walking, and lawn mowing would earn you money, but not that much.
Have you ever thought of an internship? For me, an internship is basically a class in which you get to practice a certain topic.
Sometimes they pay you, sometimes they don’t. Regardless, internships give experience for a future career—and some give money too.When an internship gives you money, the pay tends to be similar to conventional jobs. For example, the top pay for one four-week (three hours a day) internship I found was a whopping $1,200!
More than just the money Internships give you something that many conventional jobs don't: experience. Internships differ from conventional jobs in a few ways.
In most regular jobs:
- Employers expect you to have some experience before they hire you.
- You are paid the going rates for what you do and get a raise as you become more experienced.
- Your employer expects you to stick around for at least a few years.
In an internship:
- Employers expect to be teaching you the ropes of various jobs in a real work environment. You learn a lot from the people you work with.
- If you get paid at all, it’s at a flat internship rate. Your pay might not be called “pay,” but “award” or some other term, like “stipend.” The amount you earn might not be the going rate for that position; you might not be paid at all.
- Your employer knows you’ll be moving on as soon as the school year ends or within some other predetermined time.
You can tutor a student on an instrument such as the piano.
Middle school too!
If you surf the Web or look in your local newspaper, you might find internships for kids in middle school. Here are some of the internships I found in different parts of the country:
- Urban Trailblazers. This is an outdoor program in the San Francisco area that lasts six weeks. It’s targeted specifically to middle-school youth. The program gives a $225 award to participants.
- Youth Express. This year-round program in St. Paul, Minn., targets middle- and high-school students. Only the high-school students get paid.
- Young Apprenticeship Programs. Strolling with the Heifers is a farming-related internship; $1,200 is the maximum pay. | <urn:uuid:59018d33-0ec1-4566-a07d-8ca20d6e190c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://googolplex.cuna.org/26815/ajsmall/article.php?doc_id=3787 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956538 | 566 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Weekly Daf #282
Rosh Hashana 2 - 8 Issue #282
23 - 29 Tammuz 5759 / 7 - 13 July 1999
This publication is also available in the following formats: Explanation of these symbols
Rosh Hashana of the Special Tree
Four varieties of Rosh Hashana are listed in the opening mishna of this mesechta. One, the Rosh Hashana related to the tree, is on the 15th of Shevat according to the opinion of Beit Hillel; it is familiar to us as "Tu (15th) B’Shevat — the New Year of the trees." There are several halachic implications of this date, such as determining the year’s beginning in regard to tithes. Fruits reaching a certain state of development before Tu B’Shevat are not tithed with fruits that reach that stage later. Similarly, this date determines the type of tithe that applies: Ma’aser sheni, the "second tithe" applies to fruits of the second year in the seven-year agricultural cycle; whereas, ma’aser ani, the tithe for the poor, applies to fruits of the third year. There is also the ramification of how to determine when the fruits of a tree have passed the three year stage during which they are forbidden as orlah. (Whether Tu B’Shevat determines the beginning of the shemita year for fruits is the subject of a lively debate of halachic authorities cited by Rabbi Shlomo Strashun (Rashash) in the back of the gemara.)
One of the great Chassidic leaders, Rabbi Zvi Elimelech of Dinov, in his classic work "Bnei Yissachar" makes an interesting observation: All the items mentioned in the mishna affected by the various Rosh Hashana dates — kings, documents, festivals, animals and vegetables — appear in the plural form. The only exception is the tree which is referred to in the singular.
This, he suggests, may be a hint that on Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the trees, we focus on one particular tree, the one which provides the etrog for the mitzvah of taking the four species on Succot. There is a tradition, he notes, to pray on that day to have the privilege of acquiring not only a kosher etrog, but a beautiful one as well. It is on that day that the sap rises in fruit trees, and the etrog each Jew will acquire depends on his individual merit. Prayer on this day, concludes the author, will "bear fruit," and it is to this prayer which the mishna alludes in switching to the singular form in regard to trees.
The Hidden King
Standing before the Persian king whom he served, Nechemia realized that the fate of Jerusalem’s beleaguered Jewish community, desperately trying to rebuild the city following the Babylonian Exile, depended on his gaining royal permission to take temporary leave from his post and assuming leadership of that effort. The presentation of his plea is thus described:
"The king said to me ‘What is your request?’ and I prayed to the Heavenly G-d. I said to the king: ‘If it please the king, and your servant finds favor with you, let me be sent to Judea, to the city where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.’" (Nechemia 2:45) The prayer for heavenly assistance appears, on the surface, to be a parenthetical pause between the king’s question and Nechemia’s response. Maharsha suggests, however, that Nechemia’s recording of what he said to the king is not a reference to his response to the Persian ruler but rather constitutes the text of his prayer to Heaven. The king to whom he addressed these words was the King of Kings whom he implored to grant him favor in the eyes of the earthly king.
The source for such an approach is found in the words of another great Jewish leader of that period between the first and second Beit Hamikdash. When Daniel interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, he thus described the heavenly gift of power which had been granted him: "You, King of Kings, Lord of the heavens, a mighty and powerful kingdom has been granted to you." (Daniel 2:36)
Wherever the word "king" is used in the Book of Daniel, say our Sages (mesechta Shavuot 35b), it refers to an earthly ruler except in this passage. Daniel was explaining to the vainglorious world conqueror that it was the Divine king of Kings, L-rd of the Heavens, Who had granted him his mighty and powerful kingdom and Who had sent him a message in his dream that this kingdom, the first of Jewry’s four exiles, would eventually give way to others until the Kingdom of Heaven was finally established on earth.
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Eli Ballon
HTML Design: Michael Treblow
© 1999 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.
This publication is available via E-Mail
Ohr Somayach Institutionsis an international network of Yeshivot and outreach centers, with branches in North America, Europe, South Africa and South America. The Central Campus in Jerusalem provides a full range of educational services for over 685 full-time students.
The Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) of Ohr Somayach offers summer and winter programs in Israel that attract hundreds of university students from around the world for 3 to 8 weeks of study and touring.
Copyright © 1999 Ohr Somayach International. Send us feedback.
Dedication opportunities are available for Weekly Daf. Please contact us for details. | <urn:uuid:bffa2302-23dc-4d8b-a381-7f2a00423b36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ohr.edu/yomi/yomi282.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950268 | 1,285 | 2.640625 | 3 |
FORT DRUM The tabulation of fuel to be removed from underneath Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield may have increased, but post officials project they are still on track to clean the spill site within the next few years.
We knew this would not be easy, and we knew it would not be quick, said James M. Miller, the posts environmental chief. Were in it for the long haul.
Mr. Miller said the total of removed fuel so far is 203,000 gallons of the estimated 400,000 gallons that leaked from a fueling point for years and was discovered in 2006. The projection is higher than the estimate of 350,000 given last year, and the difference was explained as a result of the variability of the models used to calculate the spill.
Well know the total when were done, said James W. Corriveau, the posts director of public works.
Mr. Miller said $25 million already has been spent on the extraction since work began in 2008. An additional $4.5 million is expected to be spent in fiscal year 2013, and Mr. Miller said the contract likely will be larger in fiscal year 2014, as the post looks to move toward steam-enhanced extraction.
The cleanup cost is being paid by the Defense Energy Support Center.
Cleanup crews are continuing their dual-phased extraction work, skimming fuel from the top of the spill and drawing contaminated water from under the fuel mass.
You want to recover as much of the product as possible; then you have to attack the small amount of fuel that goes down into the lower-lying aquifer, Mr. Miller said.
The water then has been treated with ozone at a newly installed groundwater treatment plant, which Mr. Miller said has improved its quality by several orders of magnitude.
Mr. Miller said crews will be able to expand their cleanup work as the temperature rises.
One positive aspect of the cleanup effort, Mr. Corriveau said, is that it hasnt affected the training done by the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade as it prepares to deploy. The only change that had to be made was moving the parking of some brigade helicopters to account for piping work.
Mr. Miller said crews are on track to have the spill area cleared and to have the nearby groundwater clean by July 2017. He said the post has stayed current with every consent decree issued to the Army for the cleanup by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. | <urn:uuid:4ea70c7f-89d4-464e-8d2c-d0d44cad0b70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://watertowndailytimes.com/article/20130315/NEWS03/703159883/1261 | 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 | 0.980349 | 495 | 1.90625 | 2 |
ENTRIES TAGGED "literacy"
Jesse Potash on how he's approaching the publishing model differently with Pubslush Press.
In this podcast, Jesse Potash, founder of Pubslush Press, talks about how his company differs from self-publishing platforms — and from Kickstarter — and how he’s using it to help eradicate global illiteracy.
Elizabeth Wood on Worldreader's work to improve literacy in the developing world.
For many kids, Worldreader provides the only opportunity they may have to access books. In this interview, Worldreaders' Elizabeth Wood explains how ereaders and access can make a difference.
Imagine a broadcast network in America that was dedicated to education, where the best educators had the opportunity to produce its programming, and where individuals as well as institutions could develop a new genre of wide-ranging educational programs? Educational programming could elevate the role of teaching in our culture and promote the value of lifelong learning. This blog post explores…
The following is for entertainment/information purposes only. Don't blame us when you get fired for reading Animal Farm on the job. Read at Work is a Web site that displays a Windows XP overlay on your computer (in itself not all that impressive … especially if you're on a Mac). But look closer and you'll see that the clickable… | <urn:uuid:9076d5fe-be38-4617-9e5f-41474b36fd92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://radar.oreilly.com/tag/literacy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945299 | 273 | 2.109375 | 2 |
I’d like to emphasize that each runner and coach should abandon the “copy the current champion” approach to training and instead challenge the runner’s own body with training based on scientific principles.
A good measure of how much work you’re doing as a runner is how much distance you’re covering. It costs just about the same amount of energy to run eight miles in 40 minutes as it does to run eight miles in 60 minutes.
You can read Human Kinetics e-books on desktop, laptop, and various mobile devices, as long as you have authorized the device or e-reader app to read e-books protected by Adobe's digital rights management (DRM).
Get in the best shape of your running career with the scientifically based training in Daniels’ Running Formula. In the book that Runner’s World magazine called “the best training book,” premier running coach Jack Daniels provides you with his proven VDOT formula to guide you through training at exactly the right intensity to become a faster, stronger runner.
Choose from the red, white, blue, and gold programs to get into shape, target a race program, or regain conditioning after a layoff or injury. Race competitively with programs for 800 meters, 1500 meters to 3000 meters, cross country races, 5K to 15K, and half-marathon up to the marathon. Each program incorporates the right mix of the five training intensities to help you build endurance, strength, and speed, and Daniels’ intensity point system makes it easy to track the time you spend at each level.
The formula can be customized to your current fitness level and the number of weeks you have available for training, and it provides the perfect solution for short training seasons. Get the results you’re seeking every time you lace up your shoes for a training run or race with the workouts and programs detailed in Daniels’ Running Formula.
Part I Training Essentials
Chapter 1. Training Focus
Chapter 2. Physiology of Training Intensities
Chapter 3. Fitness and Intensity Benchmarks
Chapter 4. The Season Plan
Part II Training Levels
Chapter 5. Level 1: Base Building
Chapter 6. Level 2: Marathon-Pace Training
Chapter 7. Level 3 Threshold Training
Chapter 8. Level 4: Interval Training
Chapter 9. Level 5: Repetition Training
Chapter 10. Supplemental Training
Part III Training for Fitness
Chapter 11. White Starting Plan
Chapter 12. Red Intermediate Plan
Chapter 13. Blue Advanced Plan
Chapter 14. Gold Elite Plan
Part IV Training for Racing
Chapter 15. Preparing for Competition
Chapter 16. 800 Meters
Chapter 17. 1,500 to 3,000 Meters
Chapter 18. Cross Country
Chapter 19. 5 to 15 Kilometers
Chapter 20. Half-Marathon to Marathon
Jack Daniels became the head track and cross country coach for both men and women at the State University of New York at Cortland in 1986. Under his guidance, Cortland runners have won eight NCAA Division III national championships, 30 individual national titles, and more than 130 All-America awards. Called the World's Best Coach by Runner's World magazine and designated Master Coach by USA Track & Field, Daniels has advised some of America's finest runners, including Jim Ryun, Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Ken Martin, Jerry Lawson, and Olympians Lisa Martin of Australia and Penny Werthner of Canada.
Daniels' first sport of interest was swimming, in which he competed at the University of Montana. He got involved in running while serving in the army in South Korea in 1956, when he began participating in triathlons involving swimming, pistol shooting, and running. His success in these events led him to compete in the modern pentathlon in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where he won a silver medal, and the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he won a bronze in team competition.
In the years between Olympics, Daniels studied exercise science at the Royal Gymnastics Central Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, under Per-Olof Åstrand, one of the world's best sport scientists. Daniels went on to earn a doctoral degree in exercise physiology at the University of Wisconsin.
In addition to serving as a consultant to the U.S. Olympic track team and Sports Canada, Daniels was named NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country Coach of the (20th) Century and three-time Coach of the Year. Daniels lives in Cortland, New York. | <urn:uuid:393a2f7c-e0dc-4a12-ad41-d7174fb6b7c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/Daniels'-Running-Formula-2nd-Edition---Onebookshelf-PDF-Version?ActionType=2_SetCurrency&CurrencyCode=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929504 | 933 | 1.9375 | 2 |
New Local Agencies Directory and Map, Plus a Mobile Optimized Site
In 2011, with the help of many partners, we launched the Autism NOW Center – the National Autism Resource and Information Center – to help people searching the web separate fact from fiction when it comes to autism.
Led by The Arc and funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, 2011 was a busy year for the Autism NOW Center. With five regional summits, dozens of webinars, and the creation of a top-notch informational website with input from partners in the disability field, we went into 2012 with exciting ideas to expand upon that important work. While www.autismnow.org is becoming a go-to resource for families, individuals with autism, and experts in the field, we’re still working hard on adding new features and content!
We just rolled out two exciting new features on the site recently – a mobile version, allowing users on mobile devices like smart phones and tablets to see an optimized version of the site, and a local agencies directory in the form of a map. This mobile version lets users get to content faster on the go, and creates better accessibility overall for the site. The local agencies directory provides an easy-to-use way to find agencies in your state that can help with services, support and resources for living with autism and other developmental disabilities.
To view the mobile version, simply visit the site (www.autismnow.org) on a smart phone or tablet – like an iPhone or iPad. To view the Local Agencies Directory, visit www.autismnow.org/map. And keep in mind, we plan on adding more agencies to the directory. If you have a suggestion or correction, simply use the form on the page to let us know.
The new features of the site are only the beginning in what will be a busy year for us. Other planned features include commenting on blog articles, a message board, an enhanced community calendar and new video content.
Did you know you can get involved with the Autism NOW Center right now? Learn how at www.autismnow.org/participate. | <urn:uuid:5d771754-2f79-442f-ada2-6cb8a7e574e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://autismnow.org/2012/02/22/new-local-agencies-directory-and-map-plus-a-mobile-optimized-site/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914491 | 438 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Dr. Greene’s Answer:
The distinction is not clear to many consumers, but the products work quite differently and have different results.
In alcohol-based hand sanitizers (like Purell), the active ingredient is ethyl alcohol. Alcohol is a natural antiseptic that has been used in the medical field for over 100 years because it kills germs in seconds, without water, and evaporates quickly, leaving no residue on the skin. It physically destroys the germs. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers kill harmful bacterial, such as streptococcus, salmonella, staphylococcus, E. coli and shigella. These products do not claim to kill viruses.
The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers has been shown to reduce illness and absence rates in places where germs are commonly spread, such as in schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of alcohol or alcohol based products in hospitals, home, work, and schools to stop the spread of germs. For more information about the CDC’s recommendations, please visit their Web site: www.cdc.gov.
The antibacterial products that are not alcohol-based usually require water to work. They also contain different synthetic chemical active ingredients, such as triclosan and quaternary ammonium, to kill germs.
Recent studies of antibacterial soaps have not demonstrated that they were any more effective than plain soap at preventing infection or reducing bacterial levels on the hands. Furthermore, some studies have shown increased risk of resistance to antibiotics with the use of antibacterial soaps (Aiello AE, et al., Consumer antibacterial soaps: effective or just risky?, Clin Infect Dis. 2007 Sep 1;45 Suppl 2:S137-47).
Last reviewed: May 13, 2008 | <urn:uuid:847d3fdd-98d0-4176-a940-cb2df542daad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drgreene.com/qa-articles/alcohol-based-hand-sanitizers-and-antibacterial-soaps/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935786 | 380 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Pictures of Fairfax History, Clearer Than Ever
This is a photo of The Bowman Store on Centreville Rd. Michael Rierson explains how he was able to date the photo by blowing up and enhancing the image. Once the image was larger and sharper, it was possible to date the automobiles and the Coca-Cola sign hanging over the door. (Tracy A. Woodward)
Using the latest in digital enhancement software, historic preservationist Michael Rierson is finding in old photographs a better picture of our history. The Fairfax Extra has the story. | <urn:uuid:80791ea9-577d-44b4-b2aa-b6d528462027> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fairfaxfocus/2007/10/pictures_of_fairfax_history_cl_1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911472 | 111 | 1.5 | 2 |
"Garuda continued, 'In days of yore, Vivaswat, having performed a sacrifice, gave this quarter away as a present (Dakshina) unto his preceptor, And it is for this that this region is known by the name of Dakshina (south). It is here that the Pitris of the three worlds have their habitation. And, O Brahmana, it is said that a class of celestials subsisting upon smoke alone also live there. Those celestials also that go by the name of Viswedevas always dwell in this region along with the Pitris. Worshipped in sacrifices in all the worlds, they are equal sharers with the Pitris. This quarter is called the second door of Yama. It is here that the periods allotted to men are calculated in Trutis and Lavas. 3 In this region always dwell the celestial Rishis, the Pitriloka Rishis, and the royal Rishis, in great happiness. Here are religion and truth. It is here that the acts (of persons) exhibit their fruits. This region, O best of the twice-born, is the goal of the acts of the dead. It is this region, O best of regenerate persons, whither all must repair. And as creatures are all
overwhelmed by darkness, they cannot, therefore, come hither in bliss. Here, O bull among regenerate persons, are many thousands of Malevolent Rakshasas in order to be seen by the sinful. Here, O Brahmana, in the bowers on the breast of Mandara and in the abodes of regenerate Rishis, the Gandharvas chant psalms, stealing away both the heart and the intellect. It was here that Raivata (a Daitya), hearing the Sama hymns sung in a sweet voice, retired to the woods, leaving his wife and friends and kingdom. In this region, O Brahmana, Manu and Yavakrita's son together set a limit which Surya can never overstep. It was here that the illustrious descendant of Pulastya, Ravana, the king of the Rakshasas, undergoing ascetic austerities, solicited (the boon of) immortality from the gods. It was here that (the Asura) Vritra, in consequence of his wicked conduct, incurred the enmity of Sakra. It is in this region that lives of diverse forms all come and are then dissociated into their five (constituent) elements. It is in this region, O Galava, that men of wicked deeds rot (in tortures). It is here that the river Vaitarani flows, filled with the bodies of persons condemned to hell. Arrived here, persons attain to the extremes of happiness and misery. Reaching this region, the sun droppeth sweet waters and thence proceeding again to the direction named after (Vasishtha), once more droppeth dew, It was here that I once obtained (for food), a prodigious elephant battling with an enormous tortoise. It was here that the great sage Chakradhanu took his birth from Surya. That divine sage afterwards came to be known by the name of Kapila, and it was by him that the (sixty thousand) sons of Sagara were afflicted. It was here that a class of Brahmanas named Sivas, fully mastering the Vedas, became crowned with (ascetic) success. Having studied all the Vedas they at last attained eternal salvation. In this region is the city called Bhogavati that is ruled by Vasuki, by the Naga Takshaka and also by Airavata. They that have to journey hither (after death) encounter here a thick gloom. And so thick is that gloom that it cannot be penetrated by either the Sun himself or by Agni. Worthy of worship as thou art, even thou shalt have to pass this road. Tell me now if thou wishest to sojourn towards this direction. Else, I listen to an account of the western direction.'" | <urn:uuid:fc2d094c-bf39-4e2d-9d8b-cc02dfc9aeac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/mahabharata/mahabharata_05109.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973615 | 855 | 1.992188 | 2 |
The Daily Mail’s recent article ‘Has feminism killed the art of home cooking?’ serves as an example of the mediated discourses which hold feminist values and therefore women, as responsible for the so-called child obesity epidemic (WHO, 2010). The argument centers on three discourses – morality, science and gender.
In contemporary societies the responsibility for health is increasingly that of the individual (Petersen 1997). That is, we are held morally responsible for the quality and quantity of food that passes our lips, the amount of exercise we take and so on. So weight gain is presumed to be a result of health-defeating practices. However unlike adults, children are clearly not able to self-regulate and manage their own health because children cannot be responsible for food production and consumption themselves. That responsibility, it is argued, resides with parents and specifically with mothers. Drawing on natural science discourses, advocates of this position argue that due to biology ‘women possess a greater nurturing instinct than men’. Therefore mothers are presumed to have primary responsibility for their children’s health. If children are overweight it is mothers and not fathers who are held accountable.
Maher, Fraser and Wright’s (2010) research on media representations of mothers has identified two ways in which they are held accountable. The first, like the Daily Mail, points to the increasing absence of the family meal. It suggests that if women didn’t follow feminist values and work so long or so hard, then they would have more time to spend at home creating nutritious meals. It is their absence from the home that is blamed as the reason children eat at junk food outlets far too often, survive on processed meals and eat too many snack foods. The second way mothers are held accountable is through pregnancy. Scientists argue that ‘diet, exercise and women’s attentiveness before and during pregnancy are linked to specific disabilities, to childhood health generally and, more recently, to childhood obesity’ (Maher, Fraser and Wright, 2010).
It is these mediated discourses that hold mothers specifically responsible for the battle of the bulge, but more generally they argue ‘it’s feminism we have to thank for the spread of fast-food chains and an epidemic of childhood obesity.’
Has feminism killed the art of home cooking?
Is it really women’s fault our kids are fat?
WHO – Obesity and overweight | <urn:uuid:905fdb05-1ef2-4683-98dc-1497f0759b7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://socialpsychologyeye.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/gendering-responsibility-for-child-obesity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962761 | 504 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Ever More and Ever Less
The Unstoppable Legacy of the War on Terror
By now, you’d think we’d be entering the end of the 9/11 era. One war over in the Greater Middle East, another hurtling disastrously to its end, and the threat of al-Qaeda so diminished that it should hardly move the needle on the national worry meter. You might think, in fact, that the moment had arrived to turn the American gaze back to first principles: the Constitution and its protections of rights and liberties.
Yet warning signs abound that 2012 will be another year in which, in the name of national security, those rights and liberties are only further Guantanamo-ized and abridged. Most notably, for example, despite the fact that genuinely dangerous enemies continue to exist abroad, there is now a new enemy in our sights: namely, American oppositional types and whistleblowers who are charged as little short of traitors for revealing the workings of our government to journalists and others.
Here and elsewhere, it looks like we can expect the Obama administration to continue to barrel down the path that has already taken us far from the country we used to be. And by next year, if a different president is in the Oval Office, expect him to lead us even further astray. With that in mind, here are five categories in the sphere of national security where 2012 is likely to prove even grimmer than 2011.
Those who imagine the era of overreach in the name of national security coming to an end any time soon would do well to remember that some spectacular national security trials are on the horizon -- and that we may be entering a new age of governmental vindictiveness. Among the most newsworthy of those trials: the military commissions at Guantanamo that will bring to the docket Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attack, and his co-conspirators, as well as Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged point person in the 2000 suicide attack on the U.S.S. Cole in the port of Aden. These will likely include capital charges and be prosecuted in a spirit of vengeance.
But that spirit won’t stop with al-Qaeda ringleaders and operatives. A series of cases not involving attacks on or the killing of Americans will also be argued in the name of national security and in a similar spirit of vengeance. To begin with, there is the upcoming court martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of downloading classified U.S. government documents and leaking them to the website WikiLeaks. And then, of course, there is the potential prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in federal court -- a federal grand jury is now considering his indictment -- for his alleged collaboration with Manning.
Both cases have been hailed with a righteous anger that might strike an outsider as akin to frothing at the mouth. Top officials have insisted that the WikiLeaks materials threatened American lives and left “blood” on the hands of both Assange and Manning (though no one has yet pointed to a single individual physically harmed by the release of those documents).
At the more bloodthirsty end of the American political spectrum, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Congressman Mike Rogers (R-MI), among others, have called for Manning’s execution. As Rogers explained, "I argue the death penalty clearly should be considered here… [Manning] clearly aided the enemy to what may result in the death of U.S. soldiers or those cooperating. If that is not a capital offense, I don't know what is."
A similar, if less lethal, desire for punishment lies behind the Obama administration’s determination to aggressively pursue and crack down on leaks to the media from inside the government, even when they don’t involve the actual theft of government documents. Obama, of course, entered the Oval Office proclaiming a “sunshine” policy when it came to the workings of the government, only to move beyond George W. Bush in attempts to clamp down on whistleblowers.
The pending trials of two former CIA officers exemplify this pattern. Jeffrey Sterling is charged with leaking classified documents to the New York Times’ James Risenabout plans to release flawed information to Iran in a potentially counterproductive effort to subvert its nuclear program; John Kiriakou just pled not guilty to releasing information to the media about Bush-era torture policies. All told, the administration has gone after six suspected leakers -- more than all previous administrations combined -- using the draconian Espionage Act.
In the matter of leakers, the message couldn’t be clearer or more vengeful. The government’s position has been this: expose us and we will turn on you with a fury you can’t imagine. As terrorists have been warned that new laws and legal systems can be built to deal with them, those accused of leaks to the press are being told that even the full extent of the law may not be the limit when it comes to punishment.
Witness the treatment of Bradley Manning in his first year of punitive captivity before he was charged with any crime: he was kept in a Marine brig in total isolation and forced to sleep naked. Or consider the attempt not just to prosecute but to destroy the life of former National Security Agency official Thomas Drake. He was accused of leaking classified information on what he considered to be a wildly wasteful NSA program. In the end, though charged under the Espionage Act, he pled guilty to the misdemeanor of essentially borrowing a government computer -- but not before his life had been turned upside down and his job lost.
2. Ever More Legal Limbo (Ever Less Confidence in the Constitution).
By now, it’s old hat to acknowledge that the indefinite detention of those once deemed “enemy combatants,” now termed “unprivileged enemy belligerents,” has become as American as apple pie. Like the Bush administration before it, the Obama administration insists on its commitment to holding nearly 50 Guantanamo detainees in indefinite detention without charge or trial.
In May 2009, in a speech at the National Archives, the president couldn’t have been clearer: indefinite detention, he stated, would remain an option in the national security toolbox under his administration. In this way, he guaranteed that an American version of offshore (in)justice and the essential character of Guantanamo, which he once claimed he would shut down, would continue intact.
In 2012, however, there is a worrisome new indefinite detainee category to worry about: U.S. citizens. Previously, Americans were exempt from incarceration at Guantanamo and so from its policy of detention without trial. In 2002, Yaser Hamdi, a Saudi-American citizen, when discovered at Guantanamo Bay, was hurried to a plane in the wee hours of the morning and whisked away, a sign of the rights still accorded American citizens. Similarly, the “American Taliban,” John Walker Lindh, apprehended on the Afghanistan battlefield, was brought into the federal court system.
Lately, however, Congress has shown less respect for the distinction between rights accorded to citizens and non-citizens. Last month, Congress passed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The debates over its passage reflected a concerted effort to make American citizens as well as foreigners subject to indefinite military detention.
Ultimately, citizens supposedly remain exempt from the new law, but even so, it was a close call and a signal about where we may be headed. As a recent Congressional Research Service report on the NDAA explained, it is “not intended to affect any existing authorities relating to the detention of U.S. citizens or lawful resident aliens, or any other persons captured or arrested in the United States.”
Still, there remain many fears and much confusion about what protections are retained by U.S. citizens under the Act. Nor did President Obama’s signing statement, asserting that he would “not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens,” assuage those fears and confusions. If American citizens were indeed protected from indefinite detention under the new legislation, why was such a signing statement necessary?
There is yet another place where the law seems to have plunged into legal limbo without in any way abridging U.S. actions: the high seas. Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced that it was detaining 15 pirates captured off the coast of Somalia -- and that they were being held without reference to any legal status whatsoever. According to New York Times reporter C.J. Chivers, “where interdiction ends, an enduring problem begins: what to do with the pirates that foreign ships detain?”
According to the State Department, the pirates will be tried. But where? In the words of Vice-Admiral Mark I. Fox, “We lack a practical and reliable legal finish.” In other words, the U.S. has not yet found a country under whose law it can try them. In the meantime, according to the latest reports, the U.S. Navy continues to confine them. Think of this, conceptually speaking, as a floating Guantanamo intended to hold for-profit enemies.
3. Ever More Secrecy (Ever Less Transparency)
“Necessary” secrecy has been the fallback explanation for much of the information that has been withheld from public scrutiny since 9/11. The military commissions at Guantanamo will proceed, for instance, in part on the claim that, if the accused, many of whom have already been held for a decade, were to be tried in federal court, too much would be revealed that could somehow compromise the country’s security.
To counter civil libertarian claims that secrecy is only an attempt to hide embarrassing or wrongful behavior, the current administration has promised “transparency” in the military commissions scheduled to begin later this year. Efforts at transparency, announced last fall, included a website where documents -- filled with redactions (blacked-out sections) -- could be accessed by the public, and a closed-circuit viewing, albeit with a 40-second delay, for the media and members of the victims’ families.
It has taken next to no time, though, for the government to contradict those vows of transparency, ensuring that, in the polite words of Spencer Ackerman of Wired’s Danger Room blog, Guantanamo will remain “not a place of openness.” Meanwhile, all mail between the detainees and their military defense counsels is being screened, a practice that understandably has those lawyers in an uproar.
In the category of non-transparency and the growth of secrecy as a first principle of government, there is the administration’s elaborate dance of nondisclosure over a memo produced by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). It was evidently written to justify the assassination by drone in Yemen last September of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, alleged to have been the “bin Laden of the Internet.”
Until recently, the administration has ducked questions about al-Awlaki’s killing and that of another American citizen, Samir Khan, the editor of the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire. In January, the government announced that Attorney General Eric Holder would soon make public the OLC memo that legalized the killing, but delayed the Attorney General’s explanation until early March. Meanwhile, theNew York Times and the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for its release. On March 5th, Holder finally gave a detailed explanation of the tortured reasoning behind the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, but still, no memo seems to be forthcoming.
During the past year, the imposition of secrecy on government activities of all sorts has only become more pronounced. To offer just one egregious example among many, consider the government’s behavior in the case of former CIA agent Jeffrey Sterling. At its request, a federal judge has now agreed to allow it to invoke the “silent witness rule.” In other words, she will let government documents be shown to the jury without being made public, on the grounds, according to prosecutors, of “national security.”
After a decade in which the customary practice in matters of “security” has been to sweep all too many government documents of significance into the shadows under that rubric of national security, this should hardly be surprising. Americans now know ever less about what the government they elected does. If it were not for the FOIA lawsuits of the ACLU and others, very little of what we do know about torture, warrantless surveillance, and other instances of government malfeasance would ever have seen the light of day. Consider the increasing number of whistleblower prosecutions as one more way to try to shut government activities off from the eyes of the citizenry.
4. Ever More Distrust (Ever Less Privacy)
For years, the prospect of warrantless wiretapping in the name of national security has had a chilling effect on Americans who have opposed government policies in the war on terror. In 2008, President Bush signed a new FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which authorized the government to snoop on citizens with minimal oversight from the already secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts. (They were set up in 1978 to oversee the granting of surveillance warrants against potential foreign intelligence agents.) The Obama administration has continually opted to uphold this power and the government’s freedom to warrantlessly tap electronic communications between people outside the United States and people inside the country in the name of national security.
Meanwhile, the latest revelations in the ever-more-distrust, ever-less-privacy sweepstakes are led by news that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has implemented surveillance programs that violate the civil liberties of that city’s Muslim-American citizens. The NYPD infiltrated mosques and universities, collecting information on individuals suspected of no crimes, in conjunction with a CIA officer (now withdrawn) using methods traditionally reserved for that agency.
This surely represents, however informally, an abrogation of the CIA’s mandate to conduct its surveillance only abroad, and it’s likely that no one involved will pay a penalty for it. In addition, in a striking combination of security overreach and police profiling, the NYPD has been investigating and surveilling Muslim-American citizens well outside the city limits -- from New Haven, Connecticut, to Newark, New Jersey.
To make matters worse, the government just approved the use of surveillance drones as part of a growing law enforcement arsenal for gathering information in the United States. On February 14th, President Obama signed a bill allowing for the use of such drones in a broad array of arenas, ranging from business activities to law enforcement.
The message is clear enough: this year (next year and the year after) will be the year of more snooping. For law enforcement, your life is apparently an open book.
5. Ever More Killing (Ever Less Peace)
Scarcely a day goes by without news of the use of Predator and Reaper drones to kill individuals in foreign countries, including in recent years Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and the Philippines. It’s as if the CIA and the military have been handed a new toy that they just can’t refrain from using, or teaching others to use. According to the Atlantic, “Conservative estimates suggest hundreds of noncombatant civilians have been killed in Pakistan alone.”
Meanwhile, the drumbeat for war with Iran continues to build. Faced with the prospect of an Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic, the Obama administration has refused to definitively back away from the prospect of becoming part of that war.
"Iran’s leaders should understand that I do not have a policy of containment,” the president said. “I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And as I have made clear time and again during the course of my presidency, I will not hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States and its interests."
In fact, the urge to stop a potentially disastrous confrontation, which could seriously affect the price of oil and the global economy, has sent high military and civilian officials winging from Washington to Israel with warnings against an attack on Iran. Still, war continues to be treated by diplomats and others almost as a fait accompli.
The news then is certainly grim, and moving in one clear direction -- the use of the law, or at least the Justice Department’s version of the law, to justify whatever acts the government feels are necessary against whomever they deem to be the enemy. Attorney General Holder summed the situation up tellingly in his defense of the al-Awlaki killing.
In significant detail, he explained that the killing of an American citizen (and terror suspect) was lawful, despite the fact that it brought into question the guarantee of due process under the Fifth Amendment, and despite the guarantees offered by the laws of war. “Due process,” he declared, “is not judicial process.” It was a startlingly honest admission of something new under the American sun: due process is now what the president and his closes advisors decide it is, a constitutional rethinking of the first order to justify the “targeted killing” of an American citizen.
To sum up, the legal gray zone Washington has, over the course of a decade, plunged us into -- and everything that goes with it, including punitive measures, attempts to bypass constitutional guarantees, the spread of secrecy and surveillance, a growing distrust of American citizens, and straightforward killing -- isn’t something we will soon put behind us. The move away from the rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution and the law is very clearly the way of the American future in our new age of enemies.
Karen Greenberg is the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, a TomDispatch regular, and the author of The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First One Hundred Days, as well as the editor ofThe Torture Debate in America. Adam Brody, Rebecca Kagan, and Sasha Segall contributed research to this article. To listen to Timothy MacBain’s latest Tomcast audio interview in which Greenberg discusses a new American state of “legal limbo,” click here, or download it to your iPod here.
This article first appeared on TomDispatch.com, a weblog of the Nation Institute, which offers a steady flow of alternate sources, news, and opinion from Tom Engelhardt, long time editor in publishing, co-founder of the American Empire Project, author of The End of Victory Culture, as of a novel, The Last Days of Publishing. His latest book is The American Way of War: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's (Haymarket Books). | <urn:uuid:b5eef8bb-c132-4489-b653-0e59bbfea954> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/ever-more-and-ever-less-by-karen-j-greenberg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953628 | 3,881 | 1.625 | 2 |
Economics covers the financial concerns of the country, businesses, and the home, with Scriptural principles are applied to all areas. The text demonstrates the laws of supply and demand, plus the circular flow of income and products. It depicts the use of money, banking, and government intervention and promotes free market ideals. It explains business competitions, unemployment, productivity, and inflation.
Teacher's Edition—(includes reduced student textbook pages) ideas and activities to guide teaching. | <urn:uuid:e60bf6fb-1b97-4aea-b40c-c86fa54723ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.exodusbooks.com/details.aspx?id=29417 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92137 | 95 | 3.234375 | 3 |
last week i started to learn groovy. i think i heard about groovy for the first time at the beginning or in the middle of last year and it´s getting more and more popular. at a certain point last week my curiosity had reached maximum, so i gave it a try.
groovy is a dynamic programming language that runs on the JVM and it´s quite easy to learn for java programmers. as it runs on the jvm you can use existing java libraries in groovy as well as you can use groovy scripts in your java applications which at the moment seems the main use case to me. mainly due to its dynamic features groovy offers more flexibility and an increased productivity opposed to java in some cases, which is probably the primary goal of groovy. in other cases you will probably miss some of java´s features (mainly static typing).
my first impression of groovy is that with some experience you can do simple things really fast, for example text/data processing. in this case groovy comes with really helpful features like improved support for regular expressions, closures, builders, native support of lists and maps, ranges and groovy strings.
maybe the next days i will get into details of some the coolest features of groovy, e.g. closures, and when i feel experienced enough i`ll try grails, a groovy web application framework. | <urn:uuid:6eb03965-65e2-470d-9b0d-98fd4b2601fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stronglytypedblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/beginning-groovy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952659 | 283 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Raising four children is difficult enough for most women. Doing so while obtaining an education is harder. And overcoming cultural expectations about the role of women is a whole other level of difficulty.
But LIU Pharmacy student Lilian Almaghrabi of Flatbush has taken on just that challenge -- and it has paid off. The Syrian-Jewish immigrant with children aged 16, 13, 10 and 8 was recently selected as a 2012 Women's Forum Education Fund Fellow, with a $10,000 scholarship award.
The Women's Forum is an organization that honors mature women who strive to complete an undergraduate education after a hiatus in their academic lives.
Almaghrabi, 36, is one of 12 women to be honored his year by the Women’s Forum, which cited her “superior qualifications, accomplishments and commitment to education after overcoming many of life’s adversities.”
Immigrating to the United States from Syria in her late teens, Almaghrabi married and started a family at an early age. “The expectation of every girl was to get married and have kids,” said Almaghrabi.
She explained that many women in her community remain at home once they have a family. But she had larger dreams. After the birth of her last child, she decided to break away from cultural norms and forge a career path that would allow her to serve her community.
“It’s good to be a mom, but I also wanted to prove that I can be something in life, that women can do something outside the home,” she said.
As a child, Almaghrabi was a good student who loved the sciences. With the support of her husband and her family, she enrolled in a GED program. She also volunteered at a pharmacy, helping clients translate doctor’s instructions from English to Arabic. After enrolling at a local college to study biology, she transferred to LIU Pharmacy, where she is a fourth-year student.
Part of her motivation in seeking out pharmacy as a career was the thought of her mother who had died of breast cancer.
“The stigma associated with seeking treatment for illnesses is still a major hindrance for women of my community,” said Almaghrabi, “I hope that pursuing a degree in pharmacy will allow me to impact the faulty thinking and cultural limits that prevent women from seeking treatment.” | <urn:uuid:3dd03ac2-a20a-4003-8bb8-5794f09a74e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brooklyneagle.com/node/4630 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982706 | 501 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Lincoln, NE/Christian Record News (CRN) Christian Record Services for the Blind (CRSB) has joined a grassroots global campaign to raise awareness and advocate for the end of all forms of child abuse.
“The Seven Campaign – Stop Child Abuse Now” was launched in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 6 at the Teachers Convention for Seventh-day Adventist educators in North America. CRSB shared with over 6, 000 educators a practical approach to supporting the cause through its “Kids Helping Blind Kids” initiative. This specifically aims at supporting children who are blind and assisting them in attending one of the annual National Camps for Blind Children in the United States and Canada.
“We stand together with others in addressing issues of bullying and neglect, as well as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children. We add our particular voice to point to the need for more kindness and tolerance, and increased understanding of visually impaired youth, ” said Larry Pitcher, CRSB president.
A brainchild of the Adventist Risk Management (ARM), The Seven Campaign will extend to more than 200 countries, according to Julio Munoz, manager for client experience at ARM. Introducing the initiative, Munoz stated, “I know we are preaching to the choir. But we need a choir that is large, loud, and strong to take the message to the world that we need to stop child abuse now.”
CRSB is a charter partner of The Seven Campaign, along with Adventist educators, The Center for Conflict Resolution at La Sierra University, Center for Youth Evangelism (CYE), John Hancock Center at La Sierra University, and the Children’s, Women’s, Family, and Youth Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
It is anticipated that campaign supporters will ignite a global grassroots movement by mobilizing their own communities to create awareness, share solutions, and advocate the end to this global problem. Schools and their educational environment are well positioned, according to organizers, to provide an intentional springboard for action to come.
Participants at the Nashville meeting received a set of materials for the CRSB “Kids Helping Blind Kids” initiative. Organizers of the initiative explain that unfortunately, many blind children become victims of bullying and mistreatment because they are different.
“I have encountered story after story of bullying and other forms of violence toward blind children, ” Pitcher said. “It is often simply a lack of understanding what a blind child is living with. This needs to change.”
“We aim at inspiring kids to join in creating a better world – a world where there is more kindness, more understanding, and more involvement in the lives of those who are not just like them, ” Pitcher added.
For more information and resources:
Article by Rajmund Dabrowski, Assistant to the President for Marketing. Orginially published August 8, 2012. | <urn:uuid:8480a833-2d3b-422d-8f65-0a2bbee7da7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianrecord.com/m_articles/article.php?fmt=GR&art=196 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940807 | 612 | 1.648438 | 2 |
homogeneous shopping goods
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...shopping good, which usually requires a more involved selection process than convenience goods. A consumer usually compares a variety of attributes, including suitability, quality, price, and style. Homogeneous shopping goods are those that are similar in quality but different enough in other attributes (such as price, brand image, or style) to justify a search process. These products might...
What made you want to look up "homogeneous shopping goods"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:ff146ddb-9d65-4c81-ab4e-4660c8104886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/270514/homogeneous-shopping-goods | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928389 | 137 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Spring’s just around the corner—is it time to break out the picnic supplies or time to start popping antihistamines, decongestants, and steroids? Are you gearing up to plant flower beds, or are you instead practicing how to pry the tops off pill bottles?
If you suffer from allergic rhinitis, more commonly called hay fever, you’re probably focused on the latter. But these medications—which are expensive and in many cases have side effects—aren’t the only path to allergy relief.
Help for itchy eyes, headaches, sneezing, clogged sinuses, and tightness in the lungs may be as close as the colorful fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator. Air filters can help you breathe more easily at home. Nutritional supplements such as antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and anti-inflammatory herbs can quell symptoms before they start. And, best of all, a holistic allergy program can soothe your problems at their source—an imbalanced immune system.
What causes allergies?
Millions of Americans (estimates range from 10 to 17 percent of the population) suffer from allergic rhinitis. For some, the problem only occurs during one or two seasons, but for those with “perennial” allergies, the symptoms can come and go all year long.
Allergy symptoms indicate that the immune system—a complex, highly regulated system—has gotten out of balance. The symptoms resemble a bad cold that doesn’t go away. All parts of the respiratory tract can be affected, including the nose, sinuses, ears, and throat. When the lungs are involved, persistent coughing or wheezing results, a condition called asthma.
Underlying these symptoms is an inflammatory disorder—a problem that results from excessive inflammation in the body. It’s as if the eyes, nose, and lungs are “on fire.” Even though the symptoms may be confined to the respiratory tract, the whole body is involved.
In simple terms, inflammation is the normal physiologic response to injury. When inflammation occurs in response to a trauma or infection, it’s usually beneficial. For example, when a virus lands inside your nose, the immune system releases chemical signals, summoning an army of white blood cells ready to battle the invader. More blood flows to the area, raising temperature and creating swelling. This inflammatory response keeps the infection from spreading throughout the body.
Sometimes, however, the immune system overreacts. Instead of cooling off after the virus is gone, it continues to act as if it were under attack. The inflammation becomes chronic and the immune system becomes an agent of destruction. The fire gets out of control and normal tissue gets damaged.
Allergic rhinitis is thought to be a “hypersensitivity” syndrome, a genetically determined condition in which the immune system overreacts to common substances floating around in the atmosphere such as foods, dust, molds, pollens, and animal dander. These substances may be harmless to a person without allergies, but the immune system of an afflicted person sees them as a threat and attacks them with a vengeance.
Why holistic treatment?
From a conventional medical viewpoint, treating allergies means avoiding the offending agents and suppressing the symptoms with drugs. While this may help a lot of people, it can also create a sense of frustration and helplessness. Changing seasons, dusty attics, and feather beds become a source of fear. Relationships can be negatively impacted: “Either the cat goes, or I go!” Drugs can help suppress symptoms but are often expensive and bring with them a host of side effects. The side effects of antihistamines include drowsiness, dry mouth, and interference with normal heart rhythm; the side effects of decongestants are insomnia, rapid heart rate, nervousness, and weight loss. It is not unusual to develop a tolerance to these medications so that the effect wears off. Allergy shots work through an entirely different mechanism. They can be very effective in some people but are expensive, necessitate numerous visits to the doctor, can take years to work, and require injections, which some people find unpleasant.
Given these concerns, wouldn’t it be preferable to examine the problem more holistically? We can’t change our genetic framework, but mounting evidence suggests that the right combination of dietary factors—including herbs and nutritional supplements—can strongly influence the way our genes are expressed. The more we understand what causes the symptoms, the better able we are to design a comprehensive, nontoxic approach to treatment.
A holistic approach focuses on what has gone wrong with an individual’s immune system or biochemistry, according to Leo Galland, M.D., in his book Power Healing (Random House, 1998). Galland identifies several areas worthy of attention, including genetics, triggers (allergens), and chemical messengers in the body. The interplay between these areas explains why people react in such vastly different ways to the same substance. (For more information, see “Where an allergy comes from,” to the left.)
Where an allergy comes from: the holistic view
A few basic changes in one’s environment and diet can help calm the excessive inflammatory response and restore balance to the immune system.
Purify your bedroom. For a person with allergic tendencies, a clean environment is crucial. This is especially true for the bedroom, which is where most people spend half of their lives. Run an air ionizer and air filter at all times. Keep pets out of the room. Use hypoallergenic coverings for mattresses and pillows. (Be aware that down pillows tend to collect dust and mites.)
Rinse—yes, rinse—your nose. Good nasal hygiene keeps allergens from aggravating sensitive nasal membranes. Flushing the nose out with salt water twice a day using a bulb syringe or Neti pot can have a remarkable effect in reducing congestion and drainage. A typical formula for the flush solution is four ounces of warm water, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda.
Consider what you eat. Although your symptoms may be confined to your nose, you may suffer from undiagnosed food allergies that feed the fire of inflammation. Gluten, dairy products, and yeast are common offenders. Many techniques exist for identifying these allergies, including elimination diets and blood testing. For details, contact a holistically oriented health-care provider.
However, even if you don’t have any food allergies, diet still plays an important role in your health. Sixty percent of the immune system resides along the lining of the intestines, so it’s doubly important to keep the gut healthy. Eliminating refined carbohydrates is the first step in maintaining good intestinal function. One way to do this is to increase dietary fiber from whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Many people are allergic to gluten in wheat and rye, so use these particular grains with caution. The outer bran layer of whole grains and seeds is rich in fibers, which encourage the growth of healthy bacteria such as acidophilus and bifidus. Brown rice and flax meal are particularly good in this regard.
Wipe out free radicals. Another way that diet helps with allergies is by providing a source of antioxidants. One of the most potent mediators of inflammation is a group of toxic substances called free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules produced as a normal byproduct of respiration. They are also made by immune cells that use them to kill off viruses and bacteria. In excessive amounts, free radicals fuel the flame of inflammation and damage healthy tissue. Antioxidants neutralize these free radicals and prevent them from doing further mischief.
One clue that foods and herbs contain antioxidants is their intense color. The rich blue, green, yellow, orange, and red pigments found in fruits and vegetables are all antioxidants. About 35 percent of these pigments are from the carotenoid family, including beta-carotene, lutein, and lycopene. The remaining 65 percent are flavonoids—quercitin, found in the rind of apples and red onions, and proanthocyanidins, the source of the blue in blueberries and the red in cranberries. As it turns out, flavonoids have a number of beneficial effects in preventing and treating allergies. In addition to their antioxidant properties, they act as anti-inflammatory agents that help balance and restore normal immune function.
Control inflammation. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are another group of beneficial chemicals found in foods. The immune system converts essential fatty acids into chemical messengers called prostaglandins, which are intimately involved in controlling the inflammatory response.
There are many different types of EFAs, and not all of them are beneficial. However, it appears that the “omega-3” EFAs found in flax oil and deep sea fish such as salmon, haddock, and cod tend to act as anti-inflammatory agents. Another beneficial EFA, called gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), is found in evening primrose, borage, and black currant seed oil. Many nutritionists and herbalists find that the combination of omega-3 EFAs along with GLA creates a more potent effect for decreasing inflammation.
While a diet containing all of these substances is crucial for bringing immune function back to normal, a person with full-blown allergies may need to take higher doses of antioxidants and essential fatty acids in a supplement form. A general recommendation for daily use in a person with allergies would include the following anti-allergy supplements.
Allergy: an autoimmune disease?
Bock, Kenneth Elliot, and Nellie Sabin. The Road to Immunity: How to Survive and Thrive in a Toxic World (Pocket Books, 1997).
Firshein, Richard. Reversing Asthma: Breathe Easier with this Revolutionary New Program (Warner, 1998).
Galland, Leo. Power Healing: Use the New Integrated Medicine to Cure Yourself (Random House, 1998).
McLain, Gary, with the Natural Medicine Collective. Asthma and Allergies (Dell Books, 1995).
Pizzorno, Joseph. Total Wellness: Improve Your Health by Understanding and Cooperating with Your Body’s Natural Healing System (Prima Publishing, 1996). | <urn:uuid:c82db49e-acc0-498d-801e-4fd9135a6d9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/treat-your-allergies-at-the-source.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93002 | 2,146 | 3.15625 | 3 |
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Eating habits linked to childhood salt intake
A child's salt intake can affect their eating habits in adulthood, it has been suggested. Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a Nutrition Consultant at Greatvine.com, noted young people who establish a preference for salty foods in early life could carry through these unhealthy practices as they get older.
The expert was speaking in response to new findings from the University of Bristol, which showed 70 per cent of eight-month old babies are consuming greater levels of salt than is recommended as the UK maximum.
Ms Stirling-Reed explained the substance in baby food is adding to the salt already found in pregnancy.
"Therefore I definitely think it is becoming quite a widespread problem and as a nutritionist I see problems every day with babies having too high a salt intake," she added.
The specialist pointed out toddlers are likely to develop a taste for the foodstuffs their mother or father chooses to feed them, observing the little ones may therefore continue with these preferences as they progress to parenthood.
Dr Gillian Greville-Harris a member of the British Psychological Society commented: "An infant's taste preferences are modified in the first year of life according to the level of the tastant in the foods given to them.
"If they are given high sugar drinks they prefer sweet drinks, if they are given higher levels of salt in their food then they prefer food with a saltier taste.
"Of course infants who experience high levels of salt in their weaning food are likely to come from families who use a lot of salt in food preparation, or who buy a lot of processed food. Therefore the salt taste preference is perpetuated.
"It is also a problem that quite high salt levels can be found in foods that many parents don't assume to be salty because they are so used to the taste and these foods, such as bread and cheese, would be those foods that parents would be advised to give to infants.
"All taste preferences can however be moderated. If the salt in the food that we eat is reduced then we gradually become used to the new salt level taste and any higher salt levels would taste unpleasant."
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- Raising awareness of adult autism | <urn:uuid:af00dd35-8b16-4486-8937-27ca0430a178> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bps.org.uk/news/eating-habits-linked-childhood-salt-intake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964876 | 489 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Accounting: Links & Resources
There are many resources that can help you on your pathway to success to a career in accounting.
CPA Exam Information
The official website for the Uniform CPA Examination, complete with general information, a tutorial and sample test, and an explanation of the format for the CPA Exam: http://www.cpa-exam.org
Frequently Asked Questions from the Missouri State Board of Accountancy: http://pr.mo.gov/accountancy-faq.asp
If you would like to take a review course to prepare for the CPA Exam, there are several private companies that offer such courses:
CPA Exam Tips
The Department of Accounting has held a longstanding tradition of preparing our students to succeed in the professional world. The Cook School has developing an accounting program that helps students meet their full potential. As such, we have seen multiple students receive recognition and honors regarding their CPA examination.
Chris Tkach, Master of Accounting 2010
Chris Tkach, a recent Cook School master’s program alumnus, was presented the prestigious 2010 Elijah Watt Sells Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The award recognizes the top 10 individuals with the highest cumulative scores on all four sections of the computerized Uniform CPA Examination.
Alexandra Kersting, B.S.B.A. Concentration in Accounting 2011
Alexandra Kersting, Cook School undergraduate student, was recognized by the Missouri Society of CPAs for her performance in passing all sections on the CPA on her first attempt.
Bret Kruse, Master of Accounting 2011
Bret Kruse, Cook School master’s program student, was recognized by the Missouri Society of CPAs for his performance in passing all sections on the CPA on his first attempt. | <urn:uuid:fe37fff5-ed22-44d5-9b31-6cf98da1fce3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business.slu.edu/departments/accounting/links-resources/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946605 | 374 | 1.898438 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — U.S. Interior Department secretary nominee Sally Jewell said Thursday that she wants to find an “appropriate resolution” for increasing revenue sharing for states like Louisiana that allow offshore oil-and-gas production near their coasts.
Jewell was quizzed for nearly three hours by members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which must next consider approving her nomination and sending her name to the Senate floor for final confirmation.
Jewell, a former oilfield engineer and banking executive, is currently the president and CEO of the Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc.
The Interior Department is responsible for the management of most federal lands and natural resources, ranging from federal parks and fisheries to coal-mining sites and the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who is a member of the committee, and committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., both quizzed Jewell about revenue-sharing issues.
She lacked specifics to many of her answers, but Jewell spoke frequently about finding the “balanced approach” between energy production and nature conservation.
“Revenue sharing (with states) is clearly a very important issue that deserves some attention from the Department of the Interior,” she told Wyden.
Jewell also discussed finding the right revenue-sharing balance with Landrieu.
“I know that we’re all in a situation with a tight federal Treasury, and it would take good collaboration,” Jewell said about finding the “appropriate resolution.”
Using a map, Landrieu showed the oil-and-gas pipelines from Louisiana and other coastal states to offshore drilling sites. She said offshore drilling revenues from the Gulf Coast states have produced more than $210 billion in federal revenues since 1950, compared with about $61 billion produced from on-shore drilling during the same time.
But the states with greater on-shore energy production keep almost half the revenues, Landrieu said, while the coastal states have received just a few million dollars.
“We have sat here since 1950 producing the oil and gas … and cannot get a penny from the federal government to save the land,” Landrieu said.
“This is one of the great injustices in the country today,” she added.
Last year, Landrieu filed the OPEN Act to expand offshore drilling access and remove the cap on state revenue sharing in the Gulf, but that bill did not progress.
Landrieu currently is working on a tighter version of the bill with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that is expected to focus only on increasing revenue sharing.
Likewise, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., filed a comprehensive bill last month to increase offshore oil production revenue sharing with Louisiana and other affected states, to expand offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and to expedite permitting for projects such as the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
Both Vitter’s new bill and Landrieu’s anticipated legislation would expand on revenue-sharing legislation first approved in 2006. Louisiana residents are waiting until 2017 for a potentially steady stream of revenue because the Landrieu-sponsored Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act that became law in 2006 does not fully kick in until 2017.
The law will allow Louisiana to share in the 37.5 percent royalty that the federal government receives from new drilling in 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.
Louisiana is expected to receive close to half of the funds, with the rest going to Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.
Because the offshore drilling revenue sharing is capped at $500 million a year for the four states, rough estimates show Louisiana starting with as much as $100 million in 2017, and then growing from there. But much of that depends on the amounts of future offshore oil-and-gas drilling off Louisiana’s coastline.
Overall though, Landrieu praised Jewell’s business background. “You bring a particularly interesting and exciting set of skills to this job,” Landrieu said.
Vitter previously expressed a “lot of concerns” about Jewell, before recently meeting privately with her. Vitter was a vocal critic of outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
On other issues, Jewell spoke relatively positively about natural gas production. Louisiana is currently the nation’s second-highest producer of natural gas, Landrieu noted.
“It is cleaner than some sources of fuel,” Jewell said. “Its development also depends on its economic viability.”
Jewell frequently touted her support of President Barack Obama’s “all-of-the-above energy strategy,” which includes offshore oil, natural gas, wind production, renewable energies and more. | <urn:uuid:50c2e21b-7832-4e22-9679-fc68b542d8ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theadvocate.com/news/5376526-123/interior-secretary-nominee-grilled-about | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958333 | 1,001 | 1.789063 | 2 |
(SPAYS weth.ur; th as in the)
Electrical storms generated when the solar wind emitted by the sun interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. Also: space-weather.
Space weather involves the sun, the solar wind and the outer areas of the earth...The electricity, or "weather," emitted from the sun and solar wind can have an impact on Earth and interfere with satellites and other space technology.
One of the most recent and most problematic examples of the effects of space weather occurred in May of 1998, when a satellite controlling many pager systems in the United States failed.
In addition to satellite interference, space weather can cause power outages, force aircraft to reroute, disrupt communications and put astronauts at risk of radiation exposure. By forecasting space weather, [the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling] estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in damages could be saved per year.
Liz Goldberg, "National Science Foundation gives Boston U. $20M grant," The Daily Free Press, September 18, 2002
Sweden's Viking satellite is helping scientists gain valuable insights into the physics responsible for Earth's dazzling auroras, Nobel laureate Hannes Alfven said Monday...
Patricia Reiff of Rice University said the experiments are producing practical information about how the solar wind in polar regions induces spikes in house current, blocks radio reception and creates current that unexpectedly warms oil in the Alaska pipeline, changing its flow.
Pictures of global aurora can help build models for prediction of space weather, just as pictures of cloud cover help predict ground weather, she said.
Robert Strand, "Sweden's satellite a success," United Press International, December 8, 1986
Earliest Citation (adjective):
America's "space weather bureau" hopes to improve its ability to predict how solar wind disturbs Earth's magnetic field forecasts important for military surveillance, space flight, oil exploration and even homing pigeon breeders.
Current forecasts of so-called magnetic storms are "all seat-of-the-pants," JoAnn Joselyn, a physicist at the federal Space Environment Services Center in Boulder, Colo., said Thursday while attending a scientific conference at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
But she said that with the help of a new computer, the center hopes next year to be able to mimic the National Weather Service's predictions of weather on Earth by issuing space weather forecasts in percentage terms. For example, the center would predict an 80 percent chance of a major magnetic storm in space the next day. A magnetic storm is caused when a strong gust of solar wind a thin, hot gas of electrically charged particles speeding away from the sun at nearly 1 million mph collides with the Earth's magnetic field.
Lee Siegel, "Agency Plans To Improve space weather Forecasts," The Associated Press, February 14, 1985 | <urn:uuid:c2f91e96-2bc9-4fab-bbe0-f5848048059e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordspy.com/words/spaceweather.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904667 | 578 | 3.296875 | 3 |
We’ve discussed before the importance of having an understanding on growing industry trends, cloud computing being no exception. While most of the cloud hype has died down, turning into business norm, there are still some who question cloud computing motives and whether it is the right business move for them.
In order to help you make the most informed decision we will be continuing to gather any and all cloud computing trends, articles, and information out there to share with you.
Today’s share are some of our favorite cloud computing explanation quotes:
“Cloud computing is empowering, as anyone in any part of world with Internet connection and a credit card can run and manage applications in the state of the art global data centers; companies leveraging cloud will be able to innovate cheaper and faster.”
Jamal Mazhar, Founder and CEO – Kaavo
“Every kid coming out of Harvard, every kid coming out of school now thinks he can be the next Mark Zuckerberg, and with these new technologies like cloud computing, he actually has a shot.”
Marc Andreessen, Board Member of Facebook
“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing”
Paul Maritz, CEO oF VMware
“With the cloud, individuals and small businesses can snap their fingers and instantly set up enterprise-class services.”
Roy Stephan, Director of IT architecture and engineering
“Cloud computing is really a no-brainer for any start-up because it allows you to test your business plan very quickly for little money. Every start-up, or even a division within a company that has an idea for something new, should be figuring out how to use cloud computing in its plan. “
Brad Jefferson, CEO – Animoto
For more cloud quotes check out techno-pulse. | <urn:uuid:bd04a870-1d37-40eb-9586-8a56de37dbfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/5-quotes-explaining-cloud-computing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932697 | 374 | 1.867188 | 2 |
National Education Standards….They’re Back! (Kevin Kosar)
Over the past six months, the need for national education standards has been talked up. The idea, in short, is that the U.S. should have brief written statements of the skills and knowledge children should attain at each grade level for each subject area. The federal government would either encourage or require states to base their schools’ curricula on these standards. Education colleges, in turn, would train would-be teachers in the standards.
Much of the talk has come from those in the federal education policy circles. In November 2005, the progressive think-tank, the Center for American Progress, released a report that declared, “The federal government should support the crafting, adoption, and promotion of voluntary, rigorous national curriculum standards in core subject areas….” Education Week, the newspaper of record for school news, recently carried an op-ed by Diane Ravitch arguing for national education standards. Ravitch, a former assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, also participated in an online chat on Education Week’s website, where she advocated a “national core curriculum.” [Disclosure: the author once was a research assistant to Prof. Ravitch.] Meanwhile, Denis Doyle, a long-time observer of schooling and education policy, wrote about national education standards in his online newsletter in January. And, in March, Education Sector, another think-tank, has hosted a debate on… yes, national education standards.
Outside this wonky loop, the New York Times editorial board has made inchoate rumblings about establishing some sort of national education standards policy. “It will be impossible to improve math and science education until we assess teachers’ preparedness based on the same high standards in all parts of the country,” it opined on January 24 th . Whether these teacher education standards should also be used in the classroom, though, the Times has not made clear.
Proponents tend to justify national education standards on two grounds. Some argue that for America to remain economically competitive with other nations, our students needed to be more learned. Other advocates see national standards as a tool for equity. Different children attend schools with challenging curricula, others, all too often in poor and non-white communities, do not. This is not fair; thus, national standards are needed to see that all students receive a rigorous education.
So… A man named George Bush occupies the White House and there is talk of establishing national standards. Pardon me for quoting New York Yankee legend, Yogi Berra, but, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Fifteen years ago, President George H.W. Bush announced his America 2000 plan, which advocated drawing up “world class standards” and achievement tests. Over the next two years, the Department of Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Science Foundation awarded grants to fund the development of national standards. Scholars and experts would draft standards and a national board of citizens, scholars, and others would then review the standards and provide feedback to the authors, who would revise the standards. In a nod to tradition, the Bush administration did not intend to impose these curricular guidelines on schools. Rather, the standards would be produced and states free to use them or not.
It was an interesting idea, but it died a violent death at the hands of politics. In October of 1994, the standards for U.S. history were about to be unveiled. Lynne Cheney, the former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities who had helped fund the creation of the history standards, savaged the standards for political correctness in the Wall Street Journal. A hullabaloo erupted and editorial pages and talk radio were flooded with outraged voices. In January of 1995, the Senate passed a resolution condemning the standards by a vote of 99 to 1. Not only were the history standards dead, all national education standards were condemned as unlawful and deleterious federal dabbling in local affairs.
This history is relevant to today’s consideration of national education standards because it would appear that the same impediments to enacting national standards that existed then exist now. First, there is the thirty-five year old federal law (20 U..SC. 1232(a)) that declares “No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system, or over the selection of library resources, textbooks, or other printed or published instructional materials by any educational institution or school system.”
Then there is the matter of politics. First, the tradition of local control over educational curricula goes back a long way, all the way back, in fact, to the 1600s, when European settlers first settled on this continent and erected schools. While the federal government has crept further and further into schooling over the past century — especially since 1965 — its role in the schools remains quite limited. Less than 10 percent of school funds come from the federal government. Schools remain, very much, local institutions.
Second, schools’ curricula have always been an intensely political matter. Politicians and parents alike have fought tooth and nail over using curricula to “Americanize” students, and to teach them “temperance” and “sex ed.” In the past year, there have been episodes reminiscent of the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of a century back, with local school boards mandating that science courses provide theistic explanations of the origins of life.
While national education standards may make good sense as policy, politically they would appear to be as doomed as they were 15 years ago. Although scholars and experts may be best qualified to draw up schools curricula, the rest of the public will not stand by idly as the content of their children’s education is devised. Inevitably, the question of what schools should teach brings up values questions, about which everyone has opinions.
Kevin R. Kosar, Ph.D., is the author of Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005) . This article originally appeared on History News Network. | <urn:uuid:811b5e75-9e81-46f9-839b-a6c9de5563b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edreform.com/edspresso-shots/national-education-standardstheyre-back-kevin-kosar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963141 | 1,323 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Good news for scallop lovers
10 September 2007
Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton today confirmed an increase in the number of scallops that can be taken from the Coromandel fishery this season. “It’s estimated that the fishery could yield 338 tonnes, meaning the stock is in very good health.”
The upshot is the daily recreational bag limit stays the same - at 20 scallops per person, while the allowance for the total recreational catch across the board increases.
There has been an increase for Maori customary and recreational fishing from 7.5 to 10 tonnes meat weight and the annual catch entitlement (ACE) for quota owners has been increased from 22 to 108 tonnes meat weight.
“I’m aware that recreational fishers have expressed some concern about the increase in the entitlement for commercial quota owners but, given the abundance of scallops in many areas of the fishery, I believe that is still a cautious harvest level,” Jim Anderton said.
Other sources of fishing-related mortality have been increased from 11 to 37 tonnes meat weight. This takes into account scallops damaged but not caught as part of the fishing process.
“There were variations in the availability of information across different parts of the fishery but I think the entitlement decisions for this season reflect the best possible outcomes for all parties and for the long-term sustainability of the fishery.”
The increase to the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Coromandel scallop fishery takes it from 48 tonnes to 165 tonnes meat weight for this season.
“These decisions have been made following close scrutiny of the best available scientific information and after discussions with Maori, recreational and commercial fishers,” Jim Anderton said.
The increases came into effect on 24 August and will remain in place until the end of the Coromandel scallop season on 31st March 2008. They will then revert back to the baseline allowances.
The baseline allowances are 7.5 tonnes each for recreational and customary fishers and 22 tonnes for quota owners, and 11 tonnes for fishing-related mortality.
The management of the fishery is designed to deal with large natural fluctuations that are typical of scallop stocks. Low TACs and allowances are set to ensure sustainability, then in-season surveys are used to find out how many scallops can be taken in a given season. This allows the TAC and allowances to be adjusted accordingly. | <urn:uuid:6305b47e-8b82-4fd3-ab13-09cfa4113fe3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fish.govt.nz/en-nz/Press/Press+Releases+2007/September+2007/coro+scallops.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic%26WBCMODEs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943977 | 518 | 1.640625 | 2 |
- What is DNS?
- What is a Domain Name?
- What is a Fully Qualified Domain Name?
- What is an IP?
- What is a TTL?
- Do you offer Vanity DNS?
- How long do DNS changes take to propagate using DNS Made Easy?
- Primary DNS – What name servers should I use?
- Secondary DNS – What name servers should I use?
- Secondary DNS – How do I change my master name server IP?
- What happens if I exceed my query quota?
- Do you support wildcard records?
- Do you support IPv6?
- Do you support DNSSEC?
- Do you support Geo DNS?
- Do you have an API?
- What is Dynamic DNS?
- Where can I find a supported list of DDNS clients?
- Where can I find the record ID for a specific record?
- Is there technical specification available for configuration of a DDNS client?
- How quickly do the Back-up Email servers send mail back to primary email server?
- Is there a way to view the email queued on the Back-up Email servers?
- What is the difference between Mail Server Forwarding and User Account Forwarding for email?
- Where can I view the quota of the my SMTP account?
- What happens if I exceed my SMTP quota?
- When does my service expire?
- Do all of my services expire at once?
- How do I cancel a product or my account?
- How do I cancel my account?
- What forms of payment do you accept?
- Do you have a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
- Do you offer refunds for services?
- Can my services renew automatically?
- Do you have to be a member to be part of the Affiliate Program?
- Is there a maximum amount of money I can earn?
- How do I get paid?
- How do I participate in the Affiliate Program?
- Do you allow email marketing?
The domain name system (DNS) is an internet technology service that allows a domain name to be translated into an Internet Protocol address (IP). A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember name that relates to an Internet address (IP).
DNS handles the mapping between host names, which we humans find convenient (www.dnsmadeeasy.com), and Internet addresses which computers understand for example 192.168.98.2.
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is used to locate an organization or other entity on the Internet. For example dnsmadeeasy.com is the domain for the DNS Made Easy organization. www.dnsmadeeasy.com is a computer in the DNS Made Easy organization.
For example there may be two groups within the DNS Made Easy organization; sales and support. So we could use the sub-domains sales.dnsmadeeasy.com and support.dnsmadeeasy.com. If there was a specific system in the support sub-domain, the FQDN for this computer would be computer1.support.dnsmadeeasy.com.
www.dnsmadeeasy.com is the FQDN for the web server for the entire DNS Made Easy organization. Whereas www.support.dnsmadeeasy.com could be the FQDN for the web server for only the support department inside of the DNS Made Easy organization.
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method (protocol) by which data is sent from one computer to another computer on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.
TTL (time to live) is the amount of time that your DNS record is cached in resolving name servers the Internet, measured in seconds. If your IP is dynamic (changes often) or if you plan to move your computer to another IP, it is recommended to set your TTL to a lower value to minimize this cache time. Once your IP is on a static IP or after you have transferred your system to the new IP, it is recommended to switch your TTL to a higher value.
The higher the TTL the faster the performance of DNS since most machines will have the value cached for a longer period of time reducing lookups. However, a TTL that it too high often causes lengthy periods of downtime if your system is ever needs to switch IPs.
If your computer’s IP is static then a recommended TTL ranges from 12 hours (43200 seconds) to 24 hours (86400 seconds). If your computer uses a dynamic IP then it is recommended that your TTL is between 5 and 120 seconds.
DNS Made Easy does support Vanity DNS for all membership levels. Vanity DNS is a method of re-branding DNS Made Easy name servers with your own custom host names, using your own domain name. There is a full tutorial available for Vanity DNS.
All DNS changes are immediate once your domain has been added to our name servers, this is due to our proprietary Peregrine Instant DNS Update technology.
When changing a record, it will take the length of the TTL (time to live) in seconds to expire before your new changes go into effect. You can set the TTL to any value before or after making changes to your records. Reasonable values for a static IP are anywhere from 12 hours (43200 seconds) to 24 hours (86400 seconds). Reasonable values for a Dynamic IP are between 5 and 120 seconds.
Domains which use Secondary DNS are scheduled to be added to the secondary DNS services no earlier than 2 hours after you enter the data into the system. This provides enough time to configure your primary DNS servers to allow AXFR/IXFR transfers to our secondary name servers. You should allow at least 48 hours for configuration changes to propagate before removing any previous name servers.
Each domain using DNS Made Easy as a Primary DNS solution is assigned a group of IP Anycast name servers. These name servers are assigned based on load and availability. The correct servers are provided when you first enter your domain into our system however, you can also view the name servers that are assigned to your domain at any time through the DNS – Managed DNS menu of the control panel. The severs listed here are the only name servers which can resolve DNS for the given domain. Assigning any additional DNS Made Easy name servers not listed will result in resolution problems for your domain.
You or another agency must provide the Primary DNS.
Tell your registrar the following additional secondary name servers from DNS Made Easy in addition to your primary name server(s):
- ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com – 126.96.36.199
- ns6.dnsmadeeasy.com – 188.8.131.52
- ns7.dnsmadeeasy.com – 184.108.40.206
If you limit your primary name server(s) to allow transfers to certain IP’s, the name servers to allow transfers from in your ACL are:
These three IPs should be allowed AXFR requests and should be listed in any NOTIFY statements that you have configured.
You can modify the master IP address for your secondary DNS domain by changing the assigned IP Set for the domain. We have a list of available tutorials for IP Sets here.
You can specify up to 5 master IP’s for your secondary zones, these are the only IP’s that AXFR transfer will be accepted from.
Query overages are billed at $6.00 per million queries that you exceed your allotted DNS quota. Corporate Memberships receive a discount on query overages, all overage charges are billed at $3.00 per million queries. All accounts are allowed a 10% buffer before overage charges are incurred. Overage charges that are incurred on the account are present in the payment cart on the Purchase/Upgrade/Renew menu of your account. Overage charges are NOT billed automatically, they must be paid manually no later than 30 days after they are issued.
DNS Made Easy supports wild card (*) A records as well as CNAME records.
DNS Made Easy has full IPv6 support. IPv6 addresses are available for our name servers and we also support the addition of AAAA records within our web interface.
DNS Made Easy does provide support for DNSSEC using our secondary DNS service. We do not provide support for DNSSEC using our primary DNS service at this time. As more resolving name servers implement support for this feature, DNS made Easy will implement DNSSEC compliance on our primary systems as well.
DNS Made Easy supports geographical based DNS with our Global Traffic Director service.
Do you have an API?
DNS Made Easy provides a REST based API for record and domain management.
A Dynamic DNS service allows a client connecting to the Internet with a dynamic IP address access to applications that usually require a static IP address. This feature allows users to host web servers, email servers, or ftp servers that would otherwise be impossible to accomplish with a constantly changing IP address.
Using a dynamic DNS service, you can arrange for systems to access your IP address you even though you are using a dynamic IP by keeping your IP up to date as soon as it changes.
A list of free DNS Made Easy supported dynamic DNS clients can be found at our Dynamic DNS page.
The “Record ID” is found on the record creation page for that record.
- Log In
- Click the DNS – Managed DNS menu
- Select a domain and click on the Records tab
- Click on a record and select the pencil icon to edit it
- If DDNS is not enabled, enable it. The Record ID is the Dynamic DNS ID on this page
Yes, there is information about client set up and update strings here.
Please consult the documentation of your servers operating system.
If your mail server supports the ETRN SMTP command then it will automatically request immediate delivery from the backup mail servers. This can also be done manually by using telnet.
If your mail server does not support the sending of the ETRN SMTP command then the backup email servers run on a set retry schedule every few minutes.
There is not an available interface for viewing the email in queue on DNS Made Easy’s Back-up Email servers, the email is simply sent to the your primary email server once it is back online. All email is held up to 14 days. If you have a question regarding the status of your service please submit a support ticket.
Mail Server Forwarding is used to forward all mail from one mail server to another mail server for a particular domain. The destination mail server (an MTA, mail transfer agent), must have the ability to accept mail for the domain. The email is not delivered to the mail forwarding server, it is just routed through the server. This service is extremely popular for people that want to accept mail on a port other than port 25, for example if their IP is blocking port 25.
Mail forwarding accounts used within IMAP / POP products operate differently as the destination for the email is not another mail server, but actually another email address. The email is delivered to the forwarding system and then it is resent to the destination (forward) email address. This solution is very easy to setup as no configuration of a mail server is required. DNS Made Easy does not offer email account forwarding services.
The DNS Made Easy web control panel keeps a daily count of your SMTP account, there are no historical logs kept. Quotas are reset at 7AM UTC. You can view the quota of your SMTP account for the current day by accessing the Mail – SMTP menu of your control panel.
If you exceed your SMTP quota for the day, our SMTP server will stop allowing your account to send outgoing email. You will encounter an error message of “550: Relay access denied”. You can purchase additional quota for your account at any time by logging into your account and selecting the Account – Purchase Services menu of the control panel. When you make a purchase, please open a support ticket to have the quota applied to your account.
You can view when your purchased services will expire on the the Account – Renew section of your DNS Made Easy control panel. By default, all DNS Made Easy services are a one year account term. DNS Made Easy clients can renew their services for up to two years at a time. All purchased services expire on the same date.
Yes, for your benefit and for ease of use, all of your purchased DNS Made Easy services and products expire at once. Any new purchases or upgrades on an existing DNS Made Easy account are prorated to share the same expiration date as the active services on the account.
To cancel all services or products simply delete the configured services and do not renew your account. Make sure you turn off your automatic renewal option. If you would like the account closed permanently, please email firstname.lastname@example.org.
To cancel an individual service or product, please select the “Account” – “Modify Subscription” section of your account. You can remove services from the account here.
To cancel your account simply delete the configured services, make sure you turn off your automatic renewal option. If you would like the account closed permanently, please email email@example.com.
For your convenience DNS Made Easy accepts payments from VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, and check.
Automatic renewals of services can only be done using VISA, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PayPal and check renewals must be done manually.
Due to the extra administrative costs for processing checks there is an extra $35.00 administrative fee for all invoices paid by check under $275.00.
DNS Made Easy does not only say that we have a record 8 year 100% uptime history and an overall 99.9999% uptime history, but we guarantee a 100% uptime to all clients. In fact, if you experience downtime due to our name servers not responding, we will credit your account 500% of the downtime. That is our 500% uptime guarantee.
- 500% credit means that for every hour of downtime you will receive 5 hours of credit. All credit for SLA is rewarded at a 1 day minimum.
- All credit from our SLA will be rewarded in the form of an extension to your current membership. There is no cash credit given. All SLA credit is subject to review and approval by DNS Made Easy.
- SLA applies to the primary DNS service only.
- Our 100% uptime guarantee does not apply if the DNS Made Easy systems are not accessible due to firewalls or configuration issues on client’s network. If your network / company / government is blocking access to our systems, then that is not at the fault of DNS Made Easy and we can not offer you a 100% uptime guarantee. Our guarantee states that we will make sure our network is accessible to the world.
- Our SLA is not valid for redirection or mail services, but for primary DNS only.
- All clients must be using all of our possible name servers in the grouping assigned by DNS Made Easy. If a domain is only using a portion of our name servers then no SLA will be rewarded.
- SLA is not rewarded on vanity DNS systems or customized enterprise DNS solutions.
- SLA will only be rewarded if all of the name servers assigned to your domain are not reachable for DNS resolution. If a portion of our name severs are resolving DNS, then no SLA will be rewarded. The SLA is not rewarded for mis-configurations or for cached values on other systems.
- Reward of SLA is subject to investigation by DNS Made Easy.
DNS Made Easy / Tiggee LLC has a strict no refund and cancellation policy.
Yes, there is an available “Auto Renew” feature that you can enable from the Account – Renew menu of your control panel. As long as a valid credit card number is on file for your account, an automatic renewal will take place roughly 15 days before account expiration.
Yes, all clients that participate in the Affiliate Program must be a paying member of DNS Made Easy.
No, you can earn an unlimited amount of money with our Affiliate Program. Since the affiliate program is residual and multi-tier we have found the potential credit earned to be exponential year after year for users that promote DNS Made Easy appropriately.
You can get paid by submitting a request for funds or you can use your affiliate money earned on future purchases. All affiliate money is paid by PayPal or check. There must be a $50 minimum earned to request a withdraw.
You can get get started earning credit back by accessing the Affiliate Program section of your DNS Made Easy account from the Main Menu. There are segments of HTML code that you can use as advertising on your website or you can choose to provide the Affiliate link generated for you to any new clients. As long as the new account is created using your Affiliate URL, you will receive credit for the referal if it qualifies.
Absolutely not. Email marketing to advertise DNS Made Easy is not permitted. This is even if your list of destination addresses is opt-in. All affiliate partners that do send mass emails advertising DNS Made Easy will automatically be removed from the system. | <urn:uuid:f50c1c54-8073-4264-866b-882c4af0bd56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/support/faqs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915663 | 3,624 | 2.1875 | 2 |
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This article originally appeared in The Guardian.
By Melanie Teff
the past few weeks, Kenyan government ministers have made persistent
calls for the country's Somali refugees to be "resettled" inside
Somalia. These calls echo the sentiments of President Mwai Kibaki, who
said at February's London conference on Somalia: "Kenya can no longer
continue carrying the burden."
But is the refugee presence in Kenya really a burden? Could it not be a force for development there? If Kenya's government approached the refugee issue as part of its development strategy, it could yield a win-win situation.
First, as Kenya's government knows, sending half a million refugees back to Somalia is politically and logistically impossible for the foreseeable future. Any forced returns will attract international condemnation – not something Kenya, rightly proud of its reputation as a generous refugee host, should risk.
Kibaki is right that the current situation is unsustainable, especially in the overcrowded and insecure Dadaab camps. But his government could change that situation in a way that would benefit both Kenya's international image and its economy. If the government changed its counterproductive encampment policy for refugees and included Dadaab in its development plans, Kenya could reap major economic and human benefits.
Of course, we don't often think of refugees as an economic asset. Usually, they are seen as vulnerable, lacking capacity, or a drain on the resources of host communities. A visit to Dadaab shows how misguided that can be. The camp has half a million residents and hundreds of thousands refugee stories. There are the new arrivals, many ill and in a desperate state after dangerous and exhausting journeys; there are those who have lived most of their lives in the camps and developed thriving businesses. If counted as a city, Dadaab would be Kenya's third largest – the economic possibilities are tremendous.
A 2010 study commissioned by the Kenyan, Danish and Norwegian governments showed that the Dadaab camps bring about $14m into the surrounding community each year. The study also found that the annual turnover of refugee-run, camp-based businesses in Dadaab is around $25m. In an area as impoverished as Kenya's north-east province, these are big numbers indeed.
The international aid agencies that have run Dadaab for two decades have kept its residents in "care and maintenance" operations throughout, with even long-term residents still receiving food aid. The reason? Not a desire to create dependency, but rather the Kenyan government's policy of encampment, which prevents refugees from leaving camps without a permit or taking formal employment. Many aid agencies have wanted to promote refugee staff to more senior positions, but have only been able to pay them "incentives", not salaries.
Ironically, the recent security crisis in Dadaab may provide an opportunity to shake up the aid operation and give refugees greater autonomy. Since Kenya invaded Somalia in October, there has been a spate of attacks in Dadaab, presumed to be executed by sympathisers of the Islamist militia, al-Shabaab. Aid workers have been kidnapped, refugees involved in camp security have been killed, and Kenyan police have been targeted in bombings.
As a result, aid workers have less access to the camps, leaving refugees without important services like advanced medical care and victim support. But the situation is also forcing agencies to finally hand over more supervisory and management responsibilities to refugees.
Donor governments should undertake to convince Kenya that this is a positive shift, encouraging it to integrate the camp into Kenya's economy. One way to do so is by publicly recognising Kenya's major role in providing refuge to so many Somalis over the decades. As the UN high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, noted last month: "The number of asylum claims received across all industrialised countries [in 2011] is still smaller than the population of Dadaab." Kenya's international partners cannot forget the enormous scale of this commitment, and they must acknowledge it.
Financial and technical assistance must remain generous. Lifesaving aid is still getting into Dadaab, and it must continue to be funded, but longer-term development is what's really needed. Continuing to run these camps as emergency operations after 20 years is not in anyone's interests. It is dehumanising for the refugees, and fails to capitalise on the economic opportunities for Kenya. Doing the hard work of enhancing refugees' education and skills will be expensive (especially if insecurity persists), but it will pay real dividends.
Development for Dadaab should also be included within a broader development plan for Kenya's north-east province, where the camps are located. So far, it has not been prioritised for development by the Kenyan government, so international donors (including the World Bank, European development institutions and USAid) should work with Kenya on increased long-term development funding for the region. This should be accompanied by changes in Kenya's laws on refugee employment, which would benefit the wider community.
Taken together, these would be important investments both for Kenya's economy and for the future of Somalia. Turning Dadaab into a place where Somali refugees can develop and use their education and skills would make them better, more productive residents of Kenya while they remain in the country. More important, it would better equip them to rebuild their own nation once they are ready to return home. | <urn:uuid:330ed1a7-e4c1-43c3-84a5-209cbb9bc9ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refintl.org/press-room/oped/kenya-can-turn-dadaab-refugee-camps-asset | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965422 | 1,112 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Helping you get through life
The UK's biggest ever demonstration was the anti Iraq-war march in London in 2003, attended by between 750,000 and 2 million people
If you feel strongly about an issue, you should stand up and be counted. Activism means taking action to bring about change. Check out the ways to do exactly that...
It's when you take action to bring about change, usually in relation to a controversial issue as international as the war in Iraq or as local as the building of a new supermarket in your area. This action could be taking part in an organised rally, boycotting certain products (e.g. non-Fairtrade bananas), or writing to newspapers and politicians.
In the UK you can pretty much say or do what you want, as long as it's within the law. So for example you can stand on a street corner protesting about the closure of a youth centre, but you can't grafitti your message on the wall behind you.
Find out about living with mental health issues and get practical tips.
It's a disability thing! Opinions, interviews, features, games and much much more.
This site gives you lots of information on general health and advice.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. | <urn:uuid:a7219176-9e25-42d5-b56e-622492d97aa8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/advice/factfile_az/activism_having_your_say | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952235 | 325 | 2.703125 | 3 |
The first reading in today’s liturgy is a beauty. It is a challenge to live out the Christ-life that is within us because we are persons baptized into Christ. This is an oft-repeated theme in the writings of Paul to the churches founded.
“What difference does it make that your baptism makes you one with Christ or that you are beloved of God?” is what Paul seems to ask over and over in his letters. He implies strongly that who we are leads us to live our lives in accord with that reality. Today’s reading is bold to challenge us to be “imitators” of God.
How on earth can we imitate God? Ephesians spells out an answer to that question. It means not doing some things (immorality, greed, impurity, useless talk); and it means to act on the fundamental fact that we are so blessed and favored by God. Paul captures that by calling us to be grateful: “but instead (of the negative things mentioned, to develop) thanksgiving.”
How counter-cultural that is. We live in a world that puts the “I” ahead of everyone else where selfishness is the rule. We see it on a grand scale in wars and violence and on a small scale in the need to succeed at any cost. Thanksgiving is the antidote to the many selfish entitlements according to our reading today. This is the very stance that we are invited to in the last words each mass: “Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.”
Can we accept that challenge to bring to our world the love God has for us in the person of Jesus: his life, death and resurrection? We do that by patiently living out in gratitude the light that we have received, “you are light in the Lord.” Each one of us needs to discern personally the content of that challenge as it touches into the course of our every-day lives. The reading today helps clarify that discernment as to what I need to eliminate in my life and what attitudes I need to develop as a person of “thanksgiving”.
Both of those (eliminating the negatives and adding the positives) are extremely difficult in a world that extols riches, honors and pride by counseling a “me-first” attitude as the only way to get ahead. We accomplish that difficult dual objective by firmly aligning ourselves with Christ’s life and attitudes: as Ephesians says, by being grateful “imitators” of God.
Indeed we ARE “light” in the Lord. Our challenge is to LIVE that way on a daily basis. It all starts with God’s overriding graciousness and ends in our thankful receiving and implementing it concretely in our world. God be with us all to keep on the target to that magnificent goal. | <urn:uuid:4c2a44e9-39af-4a06-9f2e-33f978ad25f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/102912.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968979 | 599 | 1.9375 | 2 |
leaves cut from construction paper (fall colors)
Circles (9" in diameter) cut from brown construction
tape or glue for each child
Draw a spiral on the brown circles and have
the children cut along the spiral line of the circle.
When they are finished ask them to lift the cut circle to see the results!!
Provide pre-cut leaves (or materials for them to cut them). Glue
or tape the leaves along the spiral. Hang the decorated spirals from
the ceiling of the room.
Corncob Painting for Fall
Wash corncobs and allow to dry for several
days. Make paint pads by placing folded paper towels in shallow containers
and pouring on yellow tempera paint. The children can roll their cobs on
the paint pads and then onto their paper.
Variation: Cut the corn cobs in half and the
children can use the end as a stamp to make corncob flowers!
Nature Walk Cornstarch Impressions
While on a nature walk with the children in
the fall, encourage them to pick up leaves, twigs, dried flowers or other
To make Cornstarch Impressions:
In a saucepan, mix together 1 cup cornstarch;
2 cups baking soda; and 1 1/4 cups water. Cook over medium heat until the
mixture thickens. Cool, then flatten mixture between sheets of waxed paper.
Let the children lay their found items on top of the cornstarch mixture
and press them down firmly. Then they can remove their objects and see
the detailed impressions they made!
Mr. Pumpkin Head
Place a small pumpkin on a table, with washable
markers, a damp sponge, and accessories - hats, eyeglasses, scarves, wigs,
etc. Let the children draw faces with the markers, and dress up Mr. Pumpkin
Head. They can erase their work and start again, by using the damp sponge!
Autumn Window Paint
Paint an autumn scene on your windows with
the following recipe. It is easily removed with a solution of water and
2 tablespoons powdered tempera paint
1 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon liquid dish soap
Measure powdered tempera paint into a container.
Mix in water thoroughly to achieve a smooth paste. Add liquid dish soap,
mixing completely, but gently to avoid making suds (if too many suds form
place paint in the freezer for a few minutes). This paint dries on the
window in about 5-10 minutes.
Take the kids for a nature walk and collect
things like: pine cones, fall leaves in many colors, nuts, acorns, etc.
You will also need: cardboard or large paper plate and glue.
Cut a wreath shape out of cardboard. Ask children
to decorate their wreath with their own findings. Add a ribbon, if they
Autumn Leaf Sun Catchers
Decorate your windows with these wonderful
Leaf Sun Catchers! You will need contact paper, tissue paper
in fall colors, permanent marker, leaf shape patterns.
Cut a 5 x5 inch square of contact paper, put
tape on the dull side and tape it to the table for each child. Peel of
the backing so that the sticky side is facing the child. Have the children
cut or tear small pieces of tissue paper and completely cover the piece
of contact paper. Cover the first 5 x5 piece with another piece so that
the tissue is now between the two pieces of contact paper. Trace a leaf
shape onto the contact paper and cut out the leaf shape. Use a couple of
pieces of clear tape to adhere the leaves to a window where the sun will
shine through them.
Variation: You can sprinkle the tissue with
water to make the colors bleed into each other. Let it dry before putting
on the second piece of contact paper.
Songs, Finger Plays, Nursery Rhymes
Do you have a fall song to share with us?
Send us an email!
How to Preserve Fall Leaves
To preserve real leaves for leaf rubbing....Brush
the leaves on each side with vegetable oil. Place the oiled leaves
between layers of newspaper. Place a heavy object on the newspaper
for about three days. You will have beautifully preserved leaves
for leaf rubbing! | <urn:uuid:f3804885-ab35-40c1-9f5d-3a1172b47f94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.angelfire.com/dc2/childsplaythemes/autumn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904693 | 909 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The new building of the secondary school Revius Lyceum in Wijk by Duurstede, the Netherlands, is kept free from Legionnaires bacteria fully automatically.
The owner, the CVO group, has installed the LegioFreeWater system. The new school with the advanced legionella prevention system was officially opened on April 20.
Heat ribbon in water distrubtion piping
The LegioFreeWater system was developed by Hans Korstanje (photo left) and consists of a teflon cladded heat ribbon inside all water distribution piping. At regular intervals the ribbon is heated, increasing the water temperature inside the piping to a level which kills legionella bacteria and destroys proteins that allow the bacteria to grow. The system includes an automated reporting system that can be operated through an internet connection.
No legionella infections
After frequent Legionella infections in the former Revius building, a few years ago, the LegioFreeWater system has been installed. After that, occurrence of legionella has never been observed again. The water distribution piping in the new buidling was installed with the legionella prevention system right from the beginning.
Hans Korstanje is pleased and proud that in the new building, designed by architect Thomas Rau, his system has been selected again. “Why expose our children and elderly, sporting in the evening, to the risk of Legionella, when you can exclude all risks and also save very much money with my system?” says a proud Hans Korstanje.
Combination of three components
The LegioFreeWater system uses three patents:
- a serial construction without branching that prevents stagnant water,
- a thermal ribbon inside the pipe for periodic disinfection and
- a drain system.
In the new Revius school building these patents are combined in a legionella-safe installation for the 34 showers in the sports department of the new school.
Fifty times more efficient
The operation is fully automated and uses a building management system from Johnson Controls. Compared to conventional systems LegioFreeWater is fifty times more efficient with water and energy. In addition, the labor needed to manage the system is practically nil.
The concierges can spend their time on other things while the CVO group complies in an excellent manner with their duty to prevent Legionella as mentioned in the Dutch Drinking Water Act.
First outbreak at convention of the American Legion
Legionnaires bacteria acquired its name in July 1976 when an outbreak of pneumonia occurred among people attending a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.
On January 18, 1977 the causative agent was identified as a previously unknown strain of bacteria, subsequently named Legionella. Some people can be infected with the Legionella bacteria and have only mild symptoms or no illness at all.
Large deadly outbreak in The Netherlands
In March 1999, an outbreak in the Netherlands occurred during the Westfriese Flora flower exhibition in Bovenkarspel. 318 people became ill and at least 32 people died. There is a possibility that more people died from it, but these people were buried before the Legionella infection was recognized. The source of the bacteria was a hot tub in the exhibition area.
Shortly after this outbreak the Dutch government extended the national Drinking Water Act with special legislation for legionella prevention.
Between 1995 and 2005 over 32,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease and more than 600 outbreaks were reported to the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI). In the future, there may be an increase in cases as the population becomes more elderly. There is a shortage of data on Legionella in developing countries and it is likely that Legionella-related illness is underdiagnosed worldwide.
This news release was originally published on the website of LegioSafeWater (in Dutch only).
Philip Korff de Gidts
+31 6 13487034 | <urn:uuid:3c867bc1-6dd4-4eed-a055-8622bbf40f01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dutchwatersector.com/news/news/2012/04/water-piping-in-new-school-building-of-revius-lyceum-is-kept-free-of-legionnaires-bacteria-by-thermal-ribbon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955272 | 800 | 2.328125 | 2 |
BREAST HEALTH TIP #15: Cruciferous Vegetables Eat cruciferous vegetables every day
Inside every plant is a natural anti-cancer pharmacy. The natural "chemotherapy" found in plants is safe, side-effect free, and expresses an intelligence of such brilliance that pharmaceutical companies are now studying them in an effort to learn how to create effective, but far less toxic, chemotherapy.
One family of vegetables called "cruciferous" vegetables (ie: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale) contains several substances that are especially potent against breast cancer. One of the remarkable plant chemicals is called "indole-3 carbinol." Indole-3 carbinol lowers the risk of breast cancer in several ways: 1) it stops breast cancer cells from growing by shutting off a key enzyme; 2) it coerces estrogen to break down into a “good” (protective, non-cancer promoting) type instead of a "bad" (cancer-promoting) type; 3) it persuades a "tumor suppression" gene to "turn-on" which contains the commands for several crafty internal tactics to stop tumor growth; 4) it makes the estrogen receptor in breast cells less responsive to estrogen. In other words, when estrogen attaches to its receptor, breast cells won't divide as rapidly. That’s important because the slower breast cells divide -- the lower your risk of breast cancer.
Here's 2 more important points: 1) Eat only organically grown produce to avoid pesticides and other harmful chemicals; 2) Indole-3 carbinol is destroyed by over-cooking so lightly cook cruciferous vegetables or eat them raw. | <urn:uuid:6fa7bd6a-6283-4277-b175-a50fb9104be9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthy.net/scr/column.aspx?ColumnId=35&Id=690 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909608 | 359 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
- Hi, I’m Mr. Right. Someone said you were looking for me? - Anonymous
- My wish isn’t to mean everything to everyone but something to someone. - Anonymous
- You can’t know how far you can go, unless yo try to go too far. - Anonymous
- Do or do not. There is no try. - Anonymous
- We know what we are, but know not what we may be. - Anonymous | <urn:uuid:13a7dac5-7890-4ad6-80ef-d7e690075014> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiquotes.com/quote/26411/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971886 | 110 | 1.546875 | 2 |
As of Nov. 1, Quay County will be saying goodbye to the juvenile section of their detention facility.
With annual bills totaling about $300,000 to run the Quay County Juvenile Detention Center, county and detention center officials agreed the underage inmates are costing the county way too much money.
And so county commissioners on Monday decided to send juvenile inmates to a facility in Curry County and, as a backup, to Canadian, Texas.
The changes begin on Nov. 1.
An August commission meeting included Bruce Swingle of the New Mexico County Insurance Authority who came armed with ideas on how to cut costs for the entire detention facility, which was running up a tab of nearly $700,000 per year. Getting rid of the juvenile facility was one of the ideas.
Monday’s guests included Richard Ferguson, district supervisor of juvenile probation, who gave a report and brief history of what is happening to the juvenile system.
“No one goes to detention anymore,” Ferguson said, adding new rules with stricter guidelines were recently set down to determine what juveniles should go into custody. He said a pilot program started in Albuquerque and New Mexico counties essentially had to call Albuquerque with the rundown on their juvenile offenders to see if it met the criteria for incarceration.
Those who follow the guidelines set by the program, Ferguson said, receive funds from the Anne E. Casey Foundation to assist with expenses.
“It would be suicide to do away with it,” Ferguson said of not following the guidelines and thus cutting off funding from the foundation.
Detention Center Assistant Administrator T.J. Rich said the juvenile population in the facility has dropped since the new rules went into effect, even with the Quay County facility housing juvenile inmates from surrounding communities. Rich said cost per each juvenile inmate runs $110 per day, whereas Curry County would charge Quay about $85 per day.
The stringent regulations regarding housing for the juveniles is also a factor, Rich said, as they are required to have less people in a cell, more square footage and other medical and personal liability regulations.
The area that currently houses the juveniles would be converted into areas for the adult population, most likely the women’s pod and holding cells for inmates needing special medical or personal attention, Rich said.
“This frees us up a lot,” Rich said, adding they will gain about 30 to 40 beds with the move.
Although the staff would be reduced by one worker per shift, no layoffs would be necessary, Rich said, as the detention center has been in a hiring freeze and has not replaced workers who left. He said 10 workers are slotted for employment with the center and four positions are currently open.
The remaining staff has the option of being transferred to the adult division, Rich said. In addition to the removal of the tedious liability regulations, Rich said the removal of the juvenile portion of the detention center should save the county $200,000 per year. | <urn:uuid:90c71dc9-c21e-4d44-9386-42557d4d367f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qcsunonline.com/cms/news/story-494298.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965514 | 606 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they’re going to catch you in next. ~Franklin P. Jones
If your value system is one of no rewards for good behavior, or a job well done … I hope you’ll reconsider.
As I reassured my daughter (mother of boys, 5 & 7) …. “They’re GOOD kids, they’re just doing bad things.”
Being rewarded for good work is a simple human condition that we all aspire to … whether you admit to it or not.
You have to be clear and consistent with kids and sometimes you’re just so frustrated that you’ve forgotten to take notice of all of the good behaviors, even the small ones.
Setting a goal, achieving it and being rewarded for it, in any form, is a learned behavior. Especially with kids. It’s your job, as the adult, to develop a consistent standard and not wander from it. Easier said than done.
As far as the Job Jar is concerned, involve the kids in selecting the rewards for their good work and behavior. YOU need to explain (not boss) clearly how and why rewards are given and why they are not. Let kids know how much confidence you have in them to achieve their goals, so that they can feel proud of themselves.
So much depends on who is holding their hand, while guiding the way. – Mara Lee | <urn:uuid:08a49672-0864-44eb-9b89-0a93e5587c5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-jobjar.com/tag/psychology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960203 | 298 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Mar. 1, 2010 A novel technology for delivering nicotine to the lungs may soon give smokers a new way to kick the habit.
When compared to the nicotine vapor delivery system used in the Nicotrol/Nicorette inhaler, the new technology proved more effective at delivering nicotine to the blood stream. As a result, it provides immediate relief of withdrawal symptoms, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. Users also reported the new nicotine delivery method was more tolerable than the current inhaler because it caused less throat irritation.
"We wanted to replicate the experience of smoking without incurring the dangers associated with cigarettes, and we wanted to do so more effectively than the nicotine replacement therapies currently on the market," said Jed Rose, Ph.D., director of the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research where the technology is being developed. He presented the data at the Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research (SRNT) in Baltimore, MD.
The Nicotrol inhaler is a smoking cessation therapy that delivers nicotine vapor to the mouth and upper airways, but little of it reaches the lungs.
Duke's new technology employs a unique method to deliver nicotine to the lungs. In their presentation, the researchers show the new lung delivery technology results in rapid absorption of nicotine that provides immediate relief of withdrawal symptoms and also re-creates some of the familiar sensations that are pleasurable to smokers.
Current methods that deliver medicine to the lungs -- metered dose sprays, dry powder inhalers or nebulizers that create a fine mist -- do not replicate the natural inhalation used by smokers when drawing on a cigarette. And, because medication residue often deposits in the mouth and throat, doses aren't always high enough to ensure the appropriate amount reaches the lungs.
Duke's new technology combines the vapor phase of pyruvic acid, which occurs naturally in the body, and nicotine. "When the two vapors combine, they form a salt called nicotine pyruvate," explains Rose. "This reaction transforms invisible gas vapors into a cloud of microscopic particles which is inhaled, just like a smoker inhales from a cigarette."
In a study of the new Duke technology, nine healthy smokers inhaled 10 puffs of nicotine pyruvate in increasing doses, 10 puffs from a Nicotrol/Nicorette inhaler cartridge, and 10 puffs of room air (placebo). Blood was drawn before and after each set of inhalations. When the results were analyzed, the Duke researchers noted rapid increases in plasma nicotine concentrations following the nicotine pyruvate inhalations and less complaints of harshness/irritation when compared to the Nicotrol/Nicorette control cartridge. The smokers also said their cravings for cigarettes were substantially alleviated following the nicotine pyruvate inhalations.
"Compared to the current nicotine vapor inhaler, we are able to give smokers more nicotine, although still less than a cigarette, with less irritation, resulting in reduced cravings," said Rose. "Thus we are able to achieve a therapeutic effect with greater tolerability."
More research is needed to examine the safety and effectiveness of prolonged use of the inhalation system, and to assess its role in helping people quit smoking. But, Rose says if all goes well, he anticipates the product could become commercially available within three to five years.
He also says the novel inhalation system may one day prove useful for delivery of other medications. Duke has filed patent applications on the new technology, which was invented by Rose and his colleagues, including his brother, Seth D. Rose, Ph.D., Duke colleague, Thangaraju Murugesan, Ph.D., and James E. Turner, an inventor of the Nicotrol/Nicorette inhaler.
Collaborators on the project included Turner, Murugesan, and Frederique M. Behm of Duke University Medical Center, Chris J. Wynne, of the Christchurch Clinical Studies Trust, Christchurch, New Zealand, and Murray Laugesen, of Health New Zealand Ltd., Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Computing in the Information Age, Textbook and Study Guide, 2nd Edition
February 1996, ©1996
This price is valid for United States. Change location to view local pricing and availability.
Computing in the Information Age 2E is written for people with little or no background in Computing. The objective of this book is to explain computing today in a clear and meaningful way and to focus on those concepts likely to have the greatest impact as we approach the next century and the next phase of the information revolution. The unique applicability of computers to business and to life is demonstrated, the advantage gained by knowing how and when to use computers, and the potential of computers to enrich our life. | <urn:uuid:3c3adaaa-40dd-49cd-930d-a8a6f1130417> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471155403.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917571 | 140 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The city’s municipal corporation has sought medical reports of filmmaker Yash Chopra who died of dengue on Sunday to ascertain whether Chopra had contracted dengue in the city or while holidaying in Kashmir. A senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Chopra was in Kashmir before he was admitted to Lilavati hospital in Bandra.
“We’re not sure whether the dengue-causing mosquito bit him here or in Kashmir,” said the official.
A civic health team, said the official, will scrutinise Chopra’s reports at the time of his admission and it could throw light on whether he had dengue during the initial period of hospitalisation. “This could indicate the possibility that he had dengue in the early days,” said the official.
Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar claimed that the number of mosquito-breeding spots in the city has decreased, and consequently the number of patients has also gone down. So far, the city has seen four dengue deaths and the number of patients being treated at civic hospitals is 702.
The civic body attributes dengue deaths to the changing climate pattern – monsoon withdrawal coupled with October heat. Civic health department officials claimed that dengue mosquitoes are day-biters and hence the people affected are, by far, those bitten at the workplace. Mhaiskar said this calls for control measures at the workplace. “Housekeeping staff at offices and factories in the city will be roped in when civic staff go to check for mosquito-breeding. If we find dengue-causing mosquito or its larvae, we will warn them of dire consequences if rules are not followed,” said Mhaiskar.
“Dengue mosquitoes find favourable breeding climate during this period. Dengue cases have risen all over the country, not Mumbai alone,” said civic executive health officer Dr Arun Bamne.
The civic bod y will start tracking dengue cases at the ward level, through its health officials, and seek information from general practitioners from Tuesday. The municipal corporation Act mandates that private practitioners and hospitals submit information to civic wards. | <urn:uuid:1a5f02ce-ec04-41f0-a885-7c73ea0e8e9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1755228/report-bmc-to-verify-if-yash-chopra-caught-dengue-in-kashmir | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955006 | 457 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Starting next fall, one or two puppies will live on campus in the University Forest Apartments with students who will train them for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, chemistry professor Carol Parish said.
Parish held two information sessions this week, and about 50 students expressed interest in becoming puppy raisers or trainers, she said. Puppy raisers take dogs from 8 weeks old to between 16 and 18 months old, Parish said.
“The University of Richmond can make a real impact for Guiding Eyes for the Blind,” she said.
It is the raisers’ job to make sure the dogs are well socialized, to teach them basic obedience and to place them in new situations, so that nothing will surprise them when they become a guide dog, she said. It takes time and patience to train a future guide dog, she said. The puppies must be on a regular schedule and walked one to two miles per day.
“The pup needs love and attention 24/7/52,” Parish said. “These are not pets. This is a service- dog-raising program and a good thing to give back to the community.”
After attending orientation sessions and filling out applications, students who wish to become puppy raisers or trainers must attend local puppy training classes and attend on-campus programming, Parish said. There will be three weeks of official training on campus this semester held in Gottwald Science Center for potential raisers and sitters and also classes in the summer, Parish said.
After about 14-16 months, the puppy “goes to college” and is further trained and placed with a person in need for no charge, she said.
Sophomore Chris Silvey has been raising dogs for the past two years and has become interested in the philanthropic and entertaining components of raising a dog, he said. Silvey observed training programs at other campuses, such as the University of Delaware and Ithaca College, and this summer had thought about bringing a similar program to Richmond, he said.
The program has created a network of puppy sitters to help students balance school and full-time dog training, he said. Silvey hopes to be one of the initial dog raisers, he said.
The selection process would take into account a student’s GPA and extracurricular activities, Parish said, because GEB doesn’t want the extra stress of raising a dog to overwhelm the puppy and its raiser. If a student does not want to make the strong commitment to become a raiser, he or she can sign up to be a puppy sitter and look after puppies for afternoons, evenings and long weekends, she said.
Parish and her husband, Martel Zeldin, also a professor at Richmond, are currently raising their second puppy, Nordic, for GEB. Each day, Zeldin brings Nordic to school with him, and Nordic spends the day in his office until it is time to take him outside, he said. At home, Zeldin plays with Nordic, takes him outside and trains him, he said.
The long-term goal of the program is to increase its efficiency in providing dogs to people in need, Parish said. “Students on campus are so bright and committed – what better way to involve students,” she said.
Contact reporter Jessica Racioppi at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:1e6eebe0-ffb7-4651-a5d9-cf099de12716> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecollegianur.com/2013/01/30/guiding-eyes-for-the-blind-comes-to-richmond/31642/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966506 | 710 | 2.171875 | 2 |
The United States is a less violent country than it was two decades ago. The homicide rate, which hit a peak in the early 1990s at about 10 per 100,000 people, has been cut in half to a level not seen since the early 1960s.
It's the largest murder investigation on New York's Long Island -- 10 people slain and strewn along a remote beach highway over 15 years.
Information about arrivals, departures, transportation and shopping at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Officials running the nation's largest mass transit system voted Wednesday to impose steep fare hikes and painful service cuts to close a $1.2 billion budget gap.
Transit officials facing a $1.2 billion budget gap voted Wednesday for sweeping fare hikes and drastic service cuts that will boost the cost of a New York City subway ride by 25% to $2.50.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, whose pro-gun stance has attracted criticism from fellow New York Democrats, has moved two rifles she kept under her bed for protection because of news reports about the weapons.
Wild winds with gusts topping 65 mph blew from the Great Lakes to the East Coast on Thursday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, disrupting travel and killing at least five people.
The Long Island Rail Road is offering new discount fares to New York's MacArthur Airport.
Subscribe to an RSS feed about Long Island Rail Road | <urn:uuid:057a765a-c25f-4e6c-9a57-7dbc40ebe32f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Long+Island+Rail+Road | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938102 | 289 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is set to air concerns over external party exploitation of a service in Microsoft's Windows software that is designed to allow network administrators to send notices to users.
The Windows Messenger Service, which is normally used for sending information such as messages that print jobs have been completed, is being targeted by third parties to send pop-up spam.
The problem can even arise when consumers are using other applications, such as word processing, while connected to the Internet, the FTC said in a statement.
The FTC said that a press conference this week will address consumer concerns about the service and provide details on how consumers can avoid the problem.
Last month, Microsoft executives announced that they had plans to disable the Messenger Service on Windows XP machines and activate the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) by default to protect computers from the attacks.
The changes are slated for release in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Company representatives have said, however, that they have not ruled out the possibility of shutting down the service earlier.
Enough users have been reporting the pop-up spam problem that Microsoft internet rival America Online (AOL) has even gone so far as to shut off the Windows Messenger Service feature of AOL subscribers without informing them ahead of time.
AOL said its call centers began receiving a large number of complaints about the problem last year, soon after spammers discovered that they could exploit the feature.
In a separate case, the FTC has filed suit against D Squared Solutions for allegedly using Windows' messenger feature, which is intended for administrative alerts, to barrage users with pop-up ads for its product.
The FTC charges D Squared and two of its officers with unfair use of Windows Messenger Service and with unfair attempts to coerce consumers into purchasing D Squared's software.
Those officers could not be reached for comment. | <urn:uuid:bed09c1e-f64b-402a-b916-42ec7dff16d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240053362/Federal-Trade-Commission-addresses-pop-up-spam | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952692 | 376 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Alternative Approaches to Length of Month Adjustment
William R. Bell
KEY WORDS: calendar effects, REGARIMA model, time series
We consider two approaches to adjustment for length of month variation in nonnegative flow time series observed monthly. One approach is to divide the observed series value in each month by the length of that month and then multiply all series values by the average length of month (30.4375). The other approach is to include length of month as an explanatory variable in a regression model with ARIMA time series errors (REGARIMA model), and then estimate and remove the length of month effect. For additive models we observe that the two approaches will be different, and that arguments can be made for either approach so that the choice between them may be a matter of personal preference. For multiplicative models (additive models for the logged series), we observe that the two approaches are approximately equivalent if and only if the estimated length of month coefficient is approximately .035. Since this is also the value that would be expected for the length of month coefficient in a model for the logged series, we argue that in multiplicative models one should adjust for the length of month by division and then rescaling, rather than by using an estimated term from a REGARIMA model.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Research Division
This symbol indicates a link to a non-government web site. Our linking to these sites does not constitute an endorsement of any products, services or the information found on them. Once you link to another site you are subject to the policies of the new site. | <urn:uuid:98420150-17b0-4c3c-8b46-54504d2780c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.census.gov/srd/www/abstract/rr92-17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926442 | 329 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Here’s a preview of the week ahead in Washington.
Recent troubles with the financial and housing markets have lead to proposed action by Congress to help distressed homeowners and to find a government solution to the Bear Stearns collapse. Massive new billion-dollar handouts to aid homeowners and utilizing sweeping new power for the Federal Reserve will do nothing to change the fact that our economy is in a slowdown. Why doesn’t Congress reduce regulation, reduce taxes and allow for more domestic drilling for oil to lower energy prices? These three items would provide true stimulus to the economy.
This Thursday at 10 a.m., Heritage will host a speech about the Constitution and U.S. presidential campaigns. Professor Andrew Busch will discuss how Republicans and Democrats appeal to Constitutional arguments more frequently during current presidential campaigns as compared to the campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s.
Heritage’s James Gattuso argues that federal regulations cost $1.1 trillion to the American taxpayer every year. In fiscal 2007, the Bush administration imposed $11 billion in the form of new regulations. Regulations cost money and the federal government should stop harmful regulating our economy into a recession. | <urn:uuid:f7986c58-3dff-4897-ba45-a2b0e76431bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.heritage.org/2008/04/01/this-week-in-washington-just-say-no-to-government-regulation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920508 | 237 | 1.851563 | 2 |
DNA & more - What we do
The Australian Museum's Genetic Unit is one of the few museum genetics facilities in Australia.
For the Australian Museum's researchers and external clients we answer questions regarding identification of species. Through DNA analysis we get a clue which species it is, or where it belongs to. And sometimes we even discover new species.
Further, the Gentics Unit curates the Frozen Tissue Collection - approx. 70,000 samples comprising a large variety of both exotic and native Australian animals.
There has been a large amount of research work done in the Genetics Unit since its inception – as the "Evolutionary Biology Unit" - in 1988, which has been contributed to by many highly skilled staff over the years.
We are involved in a wide range of scientific research both within the Australian Museum, with external institutions and other government agencies.
You might wonder, what this is good for - in fact analysing DNA became an important part of research. For biology as well as medical science, and even (believe it or not) aviation.
To find out more, explore our Molecular Research Projects & meet the team in white lab coats.
Mr Martin Pueschel , Scientific Illustrator | <urn:uuid:4e847114-e845-441a-af35-444dc04628a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/DNA-Sequenzer-Co-What-we-do | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944109 | 245 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Young Enlightened Submitters
God is so merciful, He told us about everything that we need to make it all the way to Heaven to be in everlasting happiness. One of these ways is to praise God and show appreciation to Him.
Praising God will make us stronger believers and better submitters. Everytime we praise God and remember Him we grow stronger as believers.
God gave us the chance to praise Him at least 17 times a day when we do our contact prayers, Salat.
We can however praise God many times a day for everything. Remember that all the creatures that God created around us are continuously praising God, even if we do not understand their languages or their praise.
[17:44] Glorifying Him (GOD) are the seven universes, the earth, and everyone in them. There is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not understand their glorification. He is Clement, Forgiver.
The sun glorifies God day and night
The moon glorifies God, day and night
All the stars glorify God, day and night
The sky glorifies God, day and night
The trees glorify God, day and night
The animals glorify God day and night
The mountains glorify God, day and night
But only some people glorify God, day and night, the believers, the submitters. God gave the submitters a chance to glorify and praise Him day and night and promised to reward them for remembering to do so.
The first sura in the Quran is called Al-Fateha in Arabic or "The Key" in English. It is the sura we recite in our prayers-salat, 17 times a day. This sura has the praise to God and the prayers we say to ask God for guidance. This is the sura we need to know and recite in Arabic. We should understand exactly every word in this sura. God does not want you to pray to Him with words that you do not know or understand. Learning this sura in Arabic is easy and fun to learn.
Sura 1, Al-Fateha - The Key
[1:1] In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
[1:2] Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe.
[1:3] Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
[1:4] Master of the Day of Judgment.
[1:5] You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help.
[1:6] Guide us in the right path;
[1:7] the path of those whom You blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers.
Gracious= merciful with compassion, love and care, Pleasing, kind and generous
wrath= strong anger
stray= to go in the wrong direction, away from the right path
To say it in Arabic:
"Bismillah i rrahman i erraheem."
"Al humdo lil-lahi rab-bil al ala-meen."
"Arrahman i rraheem."
"Maliki yaum i eddeen. "
"Iyyaka nabudu wa iyyaka nasta een. "
"Ihdinas sirata almustaqeem."
" Siratal lazhina anamta alaihim, ghairil maghdubi alaihim, wa la adhdhaal leen."
God, there is no other god beside Him
[28:70] He is the one GOD; there is no other god beside Him. To Him belongs all praise in this first life, and in the Hereafter. All judgment belongs with Him, and to Him you will be returned.
God calls on the submitters to praise Him in many suras in the Quran. In sura 34 :
[34:1] Praise be to GOD - to whom belongs everything in the
heavens and the earth; all praise is also due to Him in
the Hereafter. He is the Most Wise, the Cognizant.
[34:2] He knows everything that goes into the earth, and everything that comes out of it, and everything that comes down from the sky, and everything that climbs into it. He is the Most Merciful, the Forgiving.
cognizant = fully informed, fully aware, knows everything.
In Sura 10, God tells us about the believers and their reward in Heaven.
[10:9] As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, their
Lord guides them, by virtue of their belief. Rivers will
flow beneath them in the gardens of bliss.
[10:10] Their prayer therein is: "Be You glorified, our god," their greeting therein is, "Peace," and their ultimate prayer is: "Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe."
by virtue= because of
bliss= Paradise, Heaven, complete happiness
In Sura 17, God is teaching us about praising Him and magnifying Him.
[17:110] Say, "Call Him GOD, or call Him the Most Gracious;
whichever name you use, to Him belongs the best names."
You shall not utter your Contact Prayers (Salat) too
loudly, nor secretly; use a moderate tone.
[17:111] And proclaim: "Praise be to GOD, who has never begotten a son, nor does He have a partner in His kingship, nor does He need any ally out of weakness," and magnify Him constantly.
utter = to speak or make some sort of sound from your mouth.
proclaim = praise, declare, openly and in public
ally = helper, associate
In Sura 40, God is reminding us of some of His blessings.
[40:61] GOD is the One who designed the night so you can rest in
it, and the day lighted. GOD bestows many blessings upon
the people, but most people are not thankful.
[40:62] Such is GOD your Lord, the Creator of all things. There is no god except He. How could you deviate?
[40:63] Deviating are those who disregard GOD's revelations.
[40:64] GOD is the One who rendered the earth habitable for you, and the sky a formidable structure, and He designed you, and designed you well. He is the One who provides you with good provisions. Such is GOD your Lord; Most Exalted is GOD, Lord of the universe.
bestow = to give as a gift
deviate = to get off the right way
habitable = suitable (good enough) to be lived in
formidable = awesome , very strong , amazing and beautiful
Exalted = praised, glorified, magnified
In Sura 35, God reminds us again that he is the Only God.
[35:1] Praise be to GOD, Initiator of the heavens and the earth, and appointer of the angels to be messengers with wings - two, three, and four (wings). He increases the creation as He wills. GOD is Omnipotent.
[35:2] When GOD showers the people with mercy, no force can stop it. And if He withholds it, no force, other than He, can send it. He is the Almighty, Most Wise.
[35:3] O people, remember GOD's blessings upon you. Is there any creator other than GOD who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no other god beside Him. How could you deviate?
initiate = to introduce or start something new.
appoint = to set, to assign, name officially
Omnipotent = have all the authority and power
The best news from God, is what he told us in sura 14, verse 7;
[14:7] Your Lord has decreed: "The more you thank Me, the more I give you." But if you turn unappreciative, then My retribution is severe.
decree = to order
One of the most important and most repeated commandments in the Quran is :
[33:41] O you who believe, you shall remember God frequently; glorify Him day and night."
To do that we can learn from what the Quran teaches us. Quran gives us some good ways to remember God and glorify Him all the time. For Example:
- The Contact Prayers (Salat): Doing salat and getting ready to do salat remind us of God. In salat we praise God, glorify Him and thank Him for His blessings.
- Quran teaches us to remember God before eating: Verse 6:121 enjoins us to mention God's name before we eat: "You shall not eat from that upon which God's name has not been mentioned."
- If you plan to do anything remember to say God Willing (IN SHAA ALLAH). "You shall not say, 'I will do this or that tomorrow,' without saying, 'God willing'(IN SHAA ALLAH). If you forget to do this, then apologize and say, 'May my Lord guide me to do better next time.'"[18:24]
- God's Gift (MAA SHAA ALLAH): To get God's protection for our beloved objects, for example our family, our home, our clothes, cars, ...etc.-we enjoined in 18:39 to say "MAA SHAA ALLAH" (This is God's gift.)
- Glorify God day and night : When we eat anything, we must reflect on God's creation of the food we are eating-the flavor, the colors, the varieties.... etc.- and glorify Him as we enjoy that. When we see a beautiful flower, or animal, or sunsets, we must glorify God. We must seize every possible opportunity to remember and glorify God, so that God may remember us with His support and blessings.
- When you you wake up every morning, remember God. Mention His name, say the shahada or recite Al-Fateha, sura 1, for example. Make it a habit to mention God's name "In the name of God, Most gracious, Most Merciful" before starting any chore.
[33:35] ..........and the men who commemorate God frequently, and the commemorating women; God has prepared for them forgiveness and a great recompense.
[2:152] You shall remember Me, that I may remember you, and be thankful to Me; do not be unappreciative
[4:103] Once you complete your Contact Prayers (Salat), you shall remember God while standing, sitting, or lying down............
[63:10] Once the prayer (Friday prayer) is completed, you may spread through the land to seek God's bounties, and continue to remember God FREQUENTLY, that you may succeed.
commemorate = to call to remember, to remember to praise and glorify
recompense = to gove in return
bounties = the many generous gifts and blessings God created for us
- How many times do we read Sura one, The Key, Al-Fatiha, during Salat?
- Can you read Sura 1 in Arabic ?
- What does "Master of the Day of Judgment" mean ?
- What will God do to you if you remember Him ?
- What do you say before eating any food ?
- What do you say when you want to do a job next day ?
- What do you say when you see a beautiful butterfly ? | <urn:uuid:64fe7cb2-d4a0-4a21-9c7f-01445e8b0f8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://submission.org/d/Praising_God.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913803 | 2,460 | 2.28125 | 2 |
A Brief History of Drunk Driving
This isn't just a season for eating. One expert tells us how America's drinking and driving habits have changed—and why DUI laws should be tougher.
Quick quiz: Which American holiday results in more drunk driving arrests than any other? It’s not New Years. Nor is it St. Patrick’s Day. Here's a hint: it's often interrupted by a turkey-induced coma. That's right, more Americans are charged with DUI over Thanksgiving weekend than any other time of the year. So on the eve of America’s most gluttonous and besotted holiday, The Fix paid a visit to Columbia University professor Barron Lerner, author of One for the Road: Drunk Driving Since 1900.
America has come a long way since 1982, when there were 26,173 alcohol-related auto fatalities (in 2009, there were 12,744). But while many Americans think they're now stuck with draconian drunk driving laws, Lerner contends the laws aren't nearly tough enough. In fact, the United States' 0.08 blood alcohol content limit is among the highest in the western world (the legal limit in Sweden and Norway, by comparison, is 0.02). So what do we do? Start by taking a page from the Scandinavians, he says, and lower our BAC to 0.05. That alone would save hundreds of lives. But certain forces, including the alcohol lobby and our stubborn national psyche, will never let that happen.
What's the first high-profile example of a fatal case of drunk driving?
That would have to be the death of Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone With the Wind. She was killed crossing a street in Atlanta by a driver who was never breath tested, and while it wasn't proven that he was drunk, he was speeding and had admitted to having a drink. That was in 1949, and it was the first time that a death from drunk driving really landed on the front pages and was actually attributed to drinking. There was a moment of outrage, but then, you know, it died off relatively quickly. Of course, when Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded in 1980, its membership made sure its stories made it to the front pages of newspapers and stayed there.
MADD is what forced the general public to consider drunk driving was a dangerous activity.
For decades, drunk driving was viewed as accidental, or as some sort of rite of passage—it was just something that everyone did. No one really came out and said it was good, but there was a lot of looking in the other direction when it happened. Then in 1980, a mother from California lost her daughter in an accident caused by a drunk driver. In her grief, she founded MADD with the goal of making the laws stricter and stigmatizing the act of drunk driving. MADD's aggressive campaigning worked, and eventually the public started vilifying people who drove drunk. So for a while there was a lot of public outrage against drunk drivers. Now it's demonized much more than it used to be—though there are still a lot of winks and nods. People still think they have a right to drive drunk.
Three-quarters of the drunk drivers out there are men between the ages of 21 and 35. Of those, an extremely high percentage is binge drinkers who tend to have a higher blood alcohol content. And they're also responsible for most of the fatalities.
There are fewer alcohol-related fatalities now, but is that attributed directly to MADD's efforts?
It's very hard to quantify. In other countries, where there aren’t similar groups, the death rates have also gone down. By MADD putting the issue out there though, I think many people who used to drink and drive are less likely to do so. Certainly, they effected changes in laws. I think there were 700 new drunk driving laws nationwide between 1980 and 1985, and MADD was very influential in getting them passed. That's very concrete stuff.
MADD’s critics call it a group of neo-prohibitionists more focused on the presence of alcohol in the body than actual danger posed by it.
That perception formed I think because the laws have gotten progressively stricter, and they're very vocal. Now you could go out on a Saturday night and there are police checkpoints and there are ignition interlocks and license revocations and stories about people who have really screwed their lives up with what they think are very low blood alcohol levels. But the organization itself has been pretty careful to say it's not against drinking, rather it's against binge drinking and drunk driving. Strictly speaking, that doesn't preclude people from having a drink socially and driving later.
I don't doubt there are some instances where the laws unfairly punish people, but that's a reason to try to make the system work better, not get rid of it. You can tell these stories enough and throw your hands up and say, "Look at what MADD has done! They've made it so a guy can't have a drink with some nachos after work and drive home! It's an outrage!" But that's an overstatement. It goes back to a sense of individualism that's so strong in this country. MADD becomes a natural target as the group that's impinging those liberties.
Is there a common profile for the American drunk driver?
Three-quarters are men between the ages of 21 and 35. Of those, an extremely high percentage is binge drinkers who tend to have a higher blood alcohol content. And they're also responsible for most of the fatalities. The other quarter is women, older people, non-binge drinker. These are the people who don't really binge drink but make a mistake on a given night.
Do you think a lower legal blood alcohol level would help the drunk driving problem?
Well, yes, but there's no perfect number because of the variability of impairment. My feeling though is that .05 would be pretty reasonable. Most people are impaired at .05. Most countries have picked .05. [China, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands have .02.] Part of the problem is that when you say the blood alcohol level is .08, it's confusing. If most people are buzzed with two drinks, that's roughly .05. So just make the level there. Why we're cutting a break to people between .05 and .08, I just don't get. I don't see why even if a small number of people can hold their liquor at .08 we'd based public health laws on them.
There must be some explanation for that.
Sure. One reason is we're a society that errs on the side of lenience. Two others are the alcohol lobby and restaurant industry, which have on one hand been very vocal in their opposition to drunk driving, and on the other been very limited in the strategies they're willing to endorse. For instance, they’ll endorse license revocation or .08, but they won’t do .05, they won't do ignition interlocks for first-time DUI offenders. They're walking a very precarious line between ensuring sales of their product and discouraging drunk drivers.
The other reason is this American spirit of individualism and liberty. And look, I like my liberty as much as everyone else, but I'm willing to sacrifice a couple drinks at a party if everyone else is too because I don't want to get killed by someone who thinks they can drive when they most certainly cant. However, when you come out and say that, there’s a fierce backlash from those who think their right are being trampled. Fighting for privilege to drive impaired is not my idea of standing up for my civil liberties.
How much would reducing the legal blood alcohol level help?
It would save about 500 lives a year. That's based on what's happened in other countries. Of course that's an estimate and it's hard to prove. Some people will argue that's an exaggeration, since many drunk driving deaths occur for people who are over .08. But there are enough fatalities that occur between .08 and .05 to make changing the law worthwhile.
So that lops off 500 deaths a year. Are there any other steps that would reduce the number further?
We could bring the number of death to near zero. There are devices that measure the alcohol in your blood when you place your hands on the steering wheel. If the BAC is high enough, it prevents the car from starting. It functions in a similar way to the interlocks you have to breath into before your car will start. I can't see how anyone would object to the notion of making a convicted drunk driver use an ignition interlock. All this thing is doing is making sure you don't do it again. It’s not putting you in jail. If you're not willing to put an ignition interlock in your car, you're basically saying you're going to drink and drive again and you don't want to get caught.
Americans seem to take designated drivers seriously. Do the stats support that?
Actually, not really. Other countries people are much better about designated driving.
Why hasn’t it caught on as much in the U.S.?
I think it's cultural. I think that people who go to parties and drink feel it's their right to drive home. I think there's a cultural notion here that if you're the designated driver you can't have any fun. I suppose if you're not an alcoholic, there are ways to drink safely. If I go to a party and I'm going to be there three hours, I drink early. If you go to a party and you have three glasses of wine over three hours and you eat dinner, the average person's blood alcohol level when they leave is going to be .04. I still think if you're the designated driver you shouldn't drink. And if the options are drinking on an empty stomach or a full stomach, then you should do it on a full stomach. But really, if you're the designated driver you should just suck it up and not drink. | <urn:uuid:14083a71-ecf5-469c-9cf2-29d4b632bf12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefix.com/content/brief-history-drunk-driving-dui-laws-thanksgiving7007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981888 | 2,078 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Please correct me if I'm wrong, my understanding in Rhumba is that we dance the beat of 2, 3, 4. After which we are supposed to hold and compress at the end of the beat 4 continuing to 1 (i.e. hold still, just settle the weight). Are we allowed to dance on the section of the beat of 4 to 1 (i.e. by taking step, spin, or other move)? Which means can we take a step and reach at 1 instead of 4?
Very few Rumba figures have steps falling on beat one. The major exception is the Spiral, with its delayed forward walk, pointing the foot, without weight, on four, and stepping with turn ending in a spiral cross on one.
Actually, lots of rumba figures ARE danced on one, at least here in the UK, because sequence dancers seem completely incapable of dancing on the correct beat; and if you are the only couple in the room dancing "on two", you have to concentrate like hell, and get very funny looks. Such is life.
Rianto. I would suggest that you go to Learning Centre to the left on the opening page.Then find Latin Motion Have plenty of paper in your printer.You will find that the Hip only moves on beat one. You could say to yourself Stop, on beat four. And then pass the hip over on beat one. That is called a Latin Motion. ( I will add this. Some ask why a Tango is not classed as a Latin Dance. Answer it doesn`t have a Latin Motion ). Now back to the Rumba. There are some teachers who teach not to count beat one. They say 2 3 4 hip. Don`t forget to also look at Spins and Turns. And as I said have plenty of paper in your printer. There are many steps where the hip will not be used on a beat one, the Spiral for instance or a Spin. Good Luck
cdroge. Nothing stands still. With the slower music being played and danced to, there is more of the hips being used. I have been instructed that a step is only a step. It is the used of the hips between the step which is on the ( and ) which is in-between each solid beat.. I have been told that one of the leading teachers teaches to exaggerate the point, that we try to lift our hip up to under our armpit. Isn`t it a joy to get some Latin dicussion. You might be interested to know that the official tempo for a Rumba is now 27BPM. There is a move on to get it officialy lowered to 25 BPM recomended by the WDC. Although in a demonstration you will have no doubt noticed that it is being danced even slower than that.
Rhumba on beat1.... Well, it is different for International Latin Rhumba versus American Rhythm Rhumba. International Latin begins on the two beat and American begins on the one beat. So, I am assuming that the question involves the American version.
Then, to make it a little more confusing, there are two different methods of teaching American Rhumba. The Fred Astaire school of thought does a quick-quick-slow beat, starting with a side step (beat 1) and close on the quick-quick and a forward/backward step for the slow. The Arthur Murray school of thought does a slow-quick-quick, starting with forward/backward step on beat one (slow), followed by a side step and close for the quick-quick. | <urn:uuid:a4057161-11a3-41c8-a226-93fba1a49e4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Message_Board/view_messages.asp?Topic=33047 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957203 | 738 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor was named by U.S. President Barack Obama as his choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.
President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has yet another tie to Connecticut. She sided against a student in the infamous “douche bag” case, and that has upset some free-speech advocates.
Avery Doninger was disqualified from running for school government at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington after she posted something on her blog, referring to the superintendent and other officials as "douche bags" because they canceled a battle of the bands she had helped to organize.
The case went to court and in March 2008, Sotomayor was on a panel that heard Doninger’s mother’s appeal alleging her daughter’s free speech and other rights were violated. Her mother wanted to prevent the school from barring her daughter from running.
Sotomayor joined two other judges from the 2nd Circuit in ruling that the student’s off-campus blog remarks created a “foreseeable risk of substantial disruption” at the student’s high school and that the teenager was not entitled to a preliminary injunction reversing a disciplinary action against her, Education Week reports.
In their opinion, the judges said they were “sympathetic" to her disappointment at being disqualified from running for Senior Class Secretary and acknowledged her belief that in this case, “the punishment did not fit the crime.”
However, the judges decided they were not called upon to determine if school officials acted wisely.
“As the Supreme Court cautioned years ago, “[t]he system of public education that has evolved in this Nation relies necessarily upon the discretion and judgment of school administrators and school board members,” and we are not authorized to intervene absent “violations of specific constitutional guarantees.”
The ruling in this case has come under heavy criticism from some civil libertarians. Some say this case presents a solid rationale for rejecting Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter.
“The continual expansion of the authority of school officials over student speech teaches a foul lesson to these future citizens,” Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, told the New Britain Herald. “I would prefer some obnoxious speech [rather] than teaching students that they must please government officials if they want special benefits or opportunities.”
Almost two years after the Doninger case, the state legislature tackled a bill dealing with the overarching issue of free speech for students. Watch the video here. | <urn:uuid:aa0ed28a-2244-4726-8451-8a9c2e8e26c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/archive/Critics-unhappy-with-Sotomayors-role-in-CT-free-speech-case.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972116 | 558 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A Washington state ballot initiative that seeks to require GMO labeling is nearing its goal of 320,000 signatures, a goal organizers are confident that it will reach.
“We are in the last three weeks of our signature drive. We hired paid signature gathers and we have volunteers. We are locked and loaded,” Chris McManus, one of the sponsors of the initiative, told FoodNavigator-USA.
The initiative, I-522, titled "The People's Right To Know Genetically Engineered Food Act" would require labeling of food products (including dietary supplements) that contain GMO ingredients. It bears some resemblance to California’s Proposition 37, which went down to defeat in the November election.
“Our language is similar (to Prop 37) up to a certain point. What we are asking our Legislature to do is to treat us like the rest of the world. Currently there are 49 countries that require GMO labeling,” McManus said.
An initiative must gather slightly more than 241,000 valid signatures to be certified by the state, and state officials suggest turning in at least 320,000 signatures to account for the percentage of signatures that will be deemed invalid. The initiative drive stands at about 300,000 signatures, with a deadline of Dec. 31.
Initiatives in Washington state become new laws on the state’s books, not amendments to the state constitution as they do in some other states such as Colorado. Once an initiative is certified, state lawmakers can then decide to adopt it into law. If they decline, the measure goes on to the voters.
“We are actually at the point now where we are confident we will have enough signatures to get our legislators to seriously consider adopting this measure,” McManus said.
The initiative has garnered significant support from some groups in the natural products industry that opposed Prop 37, McManus said. For example, he said the initiative had gotten some financial support from the Northwest Chapter of the Natural Products Association.
McManus said this was due in part to avoiding language about GMOs and products with ‘natural’ on the label that gave pause with Prop 37. Also, the initiative was written in such a way to avoid putting additional burdens on smaller companies.
“There is no more responsibility that will fall on the small store owner than before with this,” McManus said. Suppliers, he said, just need to, “create a simple affidavit saying that their material is non GMO. If they supply that affidavit down the supply line, that affidavit will come all the way down to the store owner and that’s it.”
Bounty hunter clause?
Another aspect of Prop 37, the so-called “bounty hunter clause,” caused the Council for Responsible Nutrition to come out against that measure. This allows law firms representing private citizens to bring suit to enforce the proposition. California’s Proposition 65 has created an atmosphere in which class action lawsuits filed over that proposition’s language have become a lucrative business, and opponents of Prop 37 feared a repetition of that situation.
McManus said I-522 is written in such a way to avoid creating a situation in which many class action lawsuits could be filed in the state over GMO labeling, and said the enforcement of the provision resides with the state Department of Health acting through the attorney general.
Nevertheless, the initiative does contain the following paragraph in its enforcement section:
“An action to enjoin a violation of this chapter may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction by any person in the public interest if the action is commenced more than sixty days after the person has given notice of the alleged violation to the department, the attorney general, and to the alleged violator.”
Economic issue for Washington
McManus said the issue of GMOs is especially sensitive in Washington because of the state’s strong agricultural sector.
“It is also a matter of economics for us as a state. We export about $6 billion of food products per year. Our biggest exports beyond Boeing and Microsoft are wheat and apples. We have farmers that are concerned about GMO wheat.
“Next year we are slated to be the testing ground for the GMO apple,” McManus said.
“We are not going after any specific ingredients themselves; we are just to get GMOs labeled in our state,” he said. | <urn:uuid:5eeabf88-03b1-4314-98a0-58e517a52cfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Organizers-confident-Washington-state-non-GMO-initiative-will-hit-signature-goal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956162 | 912 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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Car-Free Challenge 2011
Total 2010 Participant Mileage:
We’re taking a year off from running our full-blown Car-Free Challenge in 2011 (you can explore this part of our website to see what 2010 was like).
In 2011, the Car-Free Challenge will take the form of two fun events:
- Car-Free Triple Threat on June 18, a public transportation-bicycle combination adventure. You can ride or volunteer.
- Car-Free Celebration TransForum on July 21, 2011 in San Francisco. We’ll hear from a panel of fascinating speakers who have gone to great lengths to go car-free, recognize some car-free heroes, and swap stories over wine and snacks. RSVP now!
See the 2010 Challenge Prize Winners Here and Read on for More on the 2010 Challenge
One Week, One Goal: A California and Nation with Real Transportation Choices (Besides Just Cars)
Whether you cut back your driving or you’re already car-free, be part of a critical mass of Californians (out-of-staters are welcome, too!) who want better walking, biking, and public transportation options by taking the Car-Free Challenge!
Between oil spills and climate change, now is the time to show our leaders that things like better sidewalks, more bike lanes, and frequent and affordable public transportation are part of the solution.
The Car-Free Challenge is a fun and powerful way for you to help create a California where getting around without a car isn’t such a challenge.
What's the Car-Free Challenge? It's a weeklong event from June 1-7 where a community of people from around California set and reach a personal low car mileage goal. It raises awareness of the need for better walking, biking, and public transportation options. lt also yields data, stories, and critical funds for TransForm, an award-winning nonprofit, to use in advocating for world-class public transportation and walkable communities at the regional, state, and federal levels.
How does the Challenge work? Once you register, you'll set up your Challenge page. That's where you'll set your car mileage goal and log your miles (in a car and on foot, bicycle, and public transportation). You can also post stories and photos from your adventures. And if you get friends and family to sponsor you (which is optional), you'll be eligible for even more prizes! Get more details on how it works.
Tell your story, challenge yourself, inspire others… and challenge our leaders to do more to increase options everywhere for walking, biking, and public transportation. | <urn:uuid:e54b5601-9ee2-4154-9d7d-ea171fdda7d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.transformca.org/car-free-challenge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908054 | 590 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The UR-202's twin turbines are coupled with the winding rotor. According to the position of the selector lever, the turbines act as shock absorbers. In normal activity they cushion sharp movements of the rotor. This reduces wear and increases the lifespan of the movement.
The turbines are controlled by a 3-position selector switch. This functions by adjusting the level of air compression the turbines generate by selectively regulating the amount of air flowing from inside the case.
The spinning turbines force air through holes into a tiny air chamber. The selector switch controls the amount of air escaping from the turbines. By restricting the airflow, it increases the air pressure and slows down the turbines and the winding rotor.
The turbine system is totally self-contained within the waterproof case. The air flows from under the turbines and is channeled up past them under a sapphire plate and down through holes leading to a tiny air chamber. | <urn:uuid:6dba4570-fbf6-4cd5-8429-7e1d689b62ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urwerk.com/watches_202_automaticturbines.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912052 | 183 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Do you call the treatment of North American Indians as a good example of tolerance.
Quote. Unlike post-war Germany, North Americans refuse to acknowledge this genocide. Almost one and a quarter million Kanien'ke:haka (Mohawk) were killed off leaving us only a few thousand survivors.
There was a systematic plan to destroy most of the native people by outright murder by bounty hunters and land grabbers, disease through distributing small pox infested blankets, relocation, theft of children who were placed in concentration camps called "residential schools" and assimilation.
PS Some times people should look closer to home before slagging of other countries.
Mods can delete this if they want. I think its relevant as posters seem happy to have a go at other countries. And talk about how civilized America is.
Well, we can go back that far if you like. I was thinking in the last 100 years, but, sure we can go back further. Lets look at Belgium and the Congo. Lets look at Turkey and the Armenians. Lets look at Great Britain and the Opium Wars in China. I can give more examples if you want?
As for Americans slagging off other countries, give me a break. How many out there are bitching about the U.S? Loads, especially in Europe.
Have the British apologized to the Native Americans for implementing biological warfare against them. Small Pox. Nope I do not think so.
I will stand by what I say regarding the U.S and tolerance. It is no perfect but does not compare with the atrocities carried out by the European nations. Now do not get me wrong, I am proud of my Anglo heritage, but I stand by what I say.
Ruger SR1911, Colt 1911, Glock 17, Glock 21, Beretta M9, Ruger GP100, Ruger LCR, SW M&P15, Lee Enfield 303, Savage .22, Ruger 10/22. Guns the great equalizer. | <urn:uuid:1498996b-ea03-4937-8bcd-0312abf47a26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5392060&postcount=55 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943755 | 414 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Why doesn't the hydrogen on Jupiter explode?
Jupiter and the other giant planets are made mostly of hydrogen. Hydrogen is very explosive. We have also seen lightning on some of the giant planets. Why doesn't the lightning make the hydrogen explode?
When hydrogen explodes, it does so by combining with oxygen in the following reaction:
2 H2 + O2 => 2 H2O + energy
If there is no oxygen, then the explosion cannot take place. While the gas giants are made mostly of hydrogen, they have very little oxygen in their atmospheres.
In fact, the Earth is the only planet with an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The reason is that on Earth, plants and bacteria that perform photosynthesis release oxygen. There is no known photosynthetic life on any other planet, so they have only trace amounts of oxygen in their atmospheres.
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Warning: Your browser is misbehaving! This page might look ugly. (Details) | <urn:uuid:6840fc5a-ceea-476e-9d68-fa49cad0834a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=577 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945619 | 364 | 3.078125 | 3 |
WARNING: Some of the pictures you are about to see are NSFW. And kind of gross. So you know.
Echidnas, aka Spiny Ant Eaters, are among the species that, until now, I usually forgot existed. When it comes to monotremes, the platypus is the most charismatic (or at least, definitely the oddest looking) of the bunch. And echidnas, well, they just look like...kind of a cross between a hedgehog and an anteater. Kind of cute, but not really memorable.
But now. NOW I will never forget the echidna again. And neither will you. Because this little guy has a FOUR-HEADED PENIS. This penis has so many heads, in fact, that the echidna can play it cool...he only has to use two at a time.
Johnston et al "One-Sided Ejaculation of Echidna Sperm Bundles" The American Naturalist, 2007.
It often amazes me that there are things that we just don't KNOW about some pretty large animals. I expect us not to know about the habits of a tiny frog, population 60, living in a cloud forest, or of animals that are extinct, but some of these animals are alive today, and very large, and we still DON'T KNOW some really basic things. For example, humpback whale mating wasn't actually observed until 2012!!! 2012!! Those things are bigger than a school bus and we never managed to see them going at it! Until the upcoming footage of the giant squid is revealed, we have NEVER SEEN live footage of a giant squid!
And until 2007, we never knew how echidnas ejaculated. I mean, it's kind of an important detail, especially since it's SO WEIRD!!! But now, NOW we know.
Anyway, the echidna. Echidnas are monotremes, mammals that lay eggs. Instead of separate anal and urinary (and reproductive) tracts, like we have, the echidna just has one all purpose hole, the cloaca, through which poop and urine go out, eggs come out, and sperm goes in. They also don't have teeth as adults. The cloaca and the egg laying (and lack of teeth) are traits that are more similar to birds or reptiles, but these guys are mammals. They have hair or fur, and nurse their young (though they don't have NIPPLES, milk is released through their skin, which is pretty wild). All monotremes are native to Australia (where all the weirdest things live) and New Guinea.
Due to that whole "lays eggs and has a cloaca" thing, research on echidna reproduction has usually focused on the females and that whole egg-laying bit. But it turns out the males have their own special features.
The echidna penis is an oddity. Like some birds and reptiles, the penis is used ONLY for the passage of semen, all urine and stuff goes through the cloaca. And, like some reptiles, the penis of the echidna is bifurcated. That is, there are two "heads". Each of those heads is ALSO bifurcated, resulting in a total of four little heads (called, charmingly, "rosettes"). Not only that, the opening for the semen on each of those isn't a hole. No, it's more like a showerhead.
We have known about the penis structure itself for a while, but not about how it functioned. Until a wildlife center got its hands on (heh) a male echidna who is, in general, VERY happy to see you.
(I am not sure if this is the same echidna, unfortunately)
This captive echidna would readily pop his penis out if you put your hand on his tummy the right way. And this allowed the authors of this study to observe the erection and the ejaculation of the echidna (probably several times. Lucky them).
It goes like this:
Above is the first emergence of the penis. You can see (if you look closely on the right), that all four heads are there.
But now you see them, NOW you don't!
As the penis fully extends, it actually RETRACTS one half of the penis. Two heads stay out, while two others shrink back in. And about 20 seconds after full extension, the little guy is done.
The full erection is actually almost 25% of the male's body length. I guess size counts.
And which sides retracts? Turns out they alternate. And why does one side retract in the first place? Because two is just the right shape for the female's oviduct opening.
But the amazing reproductive prowess of the male echidna doesn't end there. The sperm have their own special techniques. Echidna males face a LOT of competition for female attention (apparently males will line up to get at an estrous female, with the most dominant male in front. The line can get up to 11 echidnas long. No express lane). With that kind of competition, a single echidna's sperm have to work by their powers combined.
What you can see (from the top on the top panel and from the side on the bottom panel) are BUNDLES of sperm. The echidna sperm travel in packs, and together, travel faster than they would alone. Only a very few will get to the egg, of course, but when you're up against 10 other dudes, it's too dangerous to go it alone.
So there you have it. What has four heads, only uses two, and squirts semen that travels in packs? The echidna! And now I'll never forget the echidna again. And, I bet, neither will you.
Johnston SD, Smith B, Pyne M, Stenzel D, & Holt WV (2007). One-sided ejaculation of echidna sperm bundles. The American naturalist, 170 (6) PMID: 18171162 | <urn:uuid:90e17ce3-9057-4e94-bbaf-6ce6873b122d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2013/01/25/friday-weird-science-echidna-ejaculation-is-a-little-one-sided/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954688 | 1,280 | 2.234375 | 2 |
By Jen Bakken
Fitness balls are bouncing their way into Delano Elementary School.
Is their addition to classrooms beneficial to students and a wonderful new teaching tool, or just a passing fad?
Is the use of these colorful and bouncy balls in school interfering with the learning process?
If you ask teachers and students, many would say “no.”
Lisa Downer, a basic skills teacher at DES, first began using the fitness balls with her students last year.
“Because I work with students on their tougher subject areas, some students will retreat into a more passive learning state,” Downer said. “The exercise balls are moving with the students, so they tend to stay more alert and engaged.”
She said nervous habits are reduced, such as tapping pencils or squirming around.
And, since she works in a small area, mobility is a factor, and movement is beneficial to learning. She feels strongly that the fitness balls are helping students to remain active learners.
Their use quickly spread to Paul Ludwig’s fourth grade classroom. In the beginning, Ludwig purchased five balls and parents responded with positive feedback.
Soon, every child in his classroom had one. Some were donated and others were purchased by parents.
Ludwig has noticed that it is very easy to tell when the students are a little restless and need to get up and move around.
“Sometimes, students take “ball breaks” to move around and do a few different activities on the ball,” Ludwig said.
The fitness balls are popping up in other classrooms, as well. Fourth grade teacher Jan Christophersen said 18 of her students are using them.
After the initial first two days of bouncing, she said, the students have settled in.
“One of the rules for having the ball,” Christophersen said, “is that both feet need to be on the floor in front of you.”
Her students have told her the balls are comfortable to sit on, but admits there are concerns that adults have had about increased lower back problems, and that teachers need to be aware in case the children complain of back aches.
This is a concern for Dr. Gary McGowan, a local chiropractor.
“I can’t say I’m all for it,” McGowan said. “Fitness balls for exercise are great, but for use all day as a chair, I’m not convinced. Teachers should be alert because children may have a tendency to slouch, which will cause posture problems.”
According to WittFitt, a consulting company that promotes the integration of the stability ball into the classroom, sitting on the balls can actually improve posture.
A study performed by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester showed students with attention problems could focus better while using the exercise balls for chairs.
Zion Lutheran, an elementary school in Mayer, found the exercise balls so successful that the school has replaced all classroom chairs with them.
Delano Elementary School Principal Darren Schuler said this addition to his school seems to be an effective release of energy for students, but isn’t sure whether it is a trend or if it will continue.
Neva Stoebner’s fourth grade class has 11 out of 25 students using the fitness balls.
If you ask her students, they say the balls help them to sit up straighter, and are comfortable.
The children do admit there are disadvantages, including; no backrest, the bouncing can make their handwriting messy, and it’s hard to know what size to buy.
If you visit the Target web site, it lists 65-75 cm-sized fitness balls for under $12.
Many teachers at Delano Elementary School say they are well worth the price.
“Some people are kinesthetic learners,” said Neva Stoebner. “So, having a ball to balance on allows them to use small movements.”
Students aren’t the only ones using the fitness balls. Nancy Wetter, an administrative assistant at DES, has been using one since November.
Students using the fitness balls in fourth grade will be moving to the middle school next year. It is currently undecided if these students will be allowed to bring their fitness balls with them into fifth grade classrooms.
Physical education teacher and Developmental Adapted Physical Education instructor Jamie Longstreet said, “For fidgety students, especially those diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), using inflated exercise balls as seating can be an effective way for students to improve their posture and cut down on their restless movement.
“They can release pent-up energy by moving slightly on the ball.” | <urn:uuid:fc70ad24-9107-488e-bb5c-74a189cbeec5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2008/stories/ball.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970075 | 984 | 2.53125 | 3 |
By: Tatiana De Rosnay
To be completely honest, I read this book a few months ago and never got around to writing a proper review. Perhaps that says something about my feelings on the book, or maybe it just shows my laziness. Regardless, this review will probably be more general than most since the story isn’t as fresh in my mind and my emotions about the book are not as crisp as when I first finish a book.
Anyway, this book is set in Paris and is told from a modern-day narration by Julia, an American woman living and writing in Paris. Her latest assignment is on the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations of Jewish families. When they were initially arrested, they were held in a giant stadium and treated terribly and then eventually transported to Auschwitz. Julia ends up following the story of one particular young girl – Sarah.
Sarah’s story is heartbreaking and horrifying. The reader quickly learns what Sarah’s “key” is really all about and is sickened. Then we learn how it relates back to present day and Julia.
To be honest, I felt that the 1942 narrative was much more realistic and emotional than the present day. I actually began to feel like many things in the present day story were being wrapped up and tied together too neatly. I could almost expect what was going to happen next. And then when it did, I was disappointed.
All in all, I thought there were some really moving and important parts of this book. However, the present day narrative left me a bit disappointed overall. I think the idea behind the book is unique and much of the storytelling is genuine, but the present-day story ended up influencing my overall regard for the book. I still think it’s a worthwhile read – I just suggest you be prepared to be a little disappointed when the historical narrative is over and you’re left only with Julia’s current life. | <urn:uuid:f1f0bca3-1757-430d-ba09-f31b7e8d1d83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eatreadrun.com/faqs/book-reviews-2/book-review-sarahs-key/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981433 | 398 | 1.648438 | 2 |