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Thu January 24, 2013
Maxing Out The Mini Season For Maine Shrimp
Originally published on Thu January 24, 2013 7:29 pm
To Mainers, cold-water shrimp pulled from the Gulf of Maine in midwinter by a shrinking fleet of fisherman are many things: fresh, sweet, delicious, affordable, precious.
"The absolute best thing about them is that they are almost exclusively ours," boasts Portland-based architect and Maine shrimp lover Ric Quesada. He revels in the fact that Maine shrimp don't travel well out of state. "You don't run errands with these in your car. They want to go right home and be eaten," he says.
Upwards of 90 percent of the U.S. harvest of Pandalus borealis comes from the coast of Maine, with the remainder pulled in from waters off New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The small crustaceans with bulbous black eyes are colloquially dubbed "salad shrimp" because of their 2- to 4-inch physiques and the frequency with which they top Caesar salads in Maine. Mainers contend their shrimp have a sweeter, more delicate flavor than those reared in the Gulf of Mexico or shipped in from Asia, most likely because of the colder water, they say.
The season for Maine shrimp is always fairly short, driven by the life cycle of these migratory hermaphrodites. Maggie Hunter, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, says Maine shrimp sexually mature as males at about 2 1/2 years of age in the muddy bottoms of the deep, cold canyons of the Gulf of Maine. Roughly a year later, they transform into females and mating soon starts. When they are about four or five years old, they migrate to slightly warmer waters closer to shore and there they spawn.
It's at that point in their lives, when the ladies approach the shore between December and February, that they are caught for Mainers' consumption.
But this year Mainers are going to be consuming much less shrimp than they have in the past. The season is starting late to allow more shrimp to spawn before they are caught. And in December, regulators set the allowable catch for the species at just 72 percent of the 2012 level.
The overall allowable catch is divided between fishermen that drag nets behind their boats (a process called trawling) and fishermen that use traps. The season for trawlers began on Jan. 23, and they're only allowed to shrimp on Mondays and Wednesday mornings. Fisherman using traps — which typically bring in more uniformly sized shrimp because holes in the trap let the little ones escape — can't begin their shrimping until Feb. 5.
How long the season will last is anyone's guess as weather and the shrimpers' ability to locate the shrimp both play a role. Estimates range up to to six weeks, but many think it will be a lot shorter.
If early sales are any indication, the shrimp haul won't last long in the shops. Harbor Fish in Portland received 180 pounds of shrimp on Jan. 23 at 11:30 a.m., and sold out in less than three hours.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the fishery, contends the limits are necessary because the little gals have been overfished for the past three years, all surveys of the Maine shrimp population are trending downward and there are alarmingly few shrimp mature enough to make the migration to the shore.
The hope is that cutting back on the allowable catch will allow the fishery to return to sustainable levels. But recent samples don't bode well for a quick turnaround, Hunter says.
Sammy Viola is a commercial fisherman who has shrimped out of Maine's Portland Harbor on and off since 1994. He says catch limits are unnecessary. "Maine shrimp are so sensitive to both water temperature and salinity that they are either going to be there or not be there," he says. "If they are not there from one year to the next, we can't catch them, can we?"
Viola says he'll cast his shrimp nets this season, lured by a wholesale price for whole shrimp that's about 50 cents higher per pound than last year. But he also fears that if he doesn't go shrimping this year, regulators will decide to ban him next year. Regulators have made no calls yet about the 2014 season, but the previous year's haul does sometimes factor into the determination of an individual fisherman's quotas for other species, like cod.
Quotas aside, Mainers offer plenty of advice on how they plan to prepare as much of the rare Maine shrimp as they can get their hands on.
Viola will eat some raw on his boat. "They crunch like popcorn," he says.
Quesada first brines them in a salt solution and then marinates them very quickly in olive oil, garlic, herbs and cayenne pepper. He arranges them whole on a very hot, cast iron plancha, turns them once and then calls his family over.
"They should be eaten at the stove. Bringing them to the table is almost wasted effort," he says.
Shrimp cookers all admit to freezing some of the meats for future use and some of the shells for stock. But they say that frozen Maine shrimp isn't quite the same as fresh.
When Quesada pulls a half-pound bag from the freezer, he only employs them as a garnish, for paella or on seafood pasta, for example.
"It's just a little hocus-pocus I do to conjure up the image of the real Maine shrimp season," he says.
Christine Burns Rudalevige is a food writer and recipe developer who recently relocated to Maine and is currently enjoying her first shrimp season there. | <urn:uuid:ddf33328-afbe-47cb-a804-ea022275f649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wncw.org/post/maxing-out-mini-season-maine-shrimp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970167 | 1,197 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Looking for the American national team jersey; please click here for the USA kit.
The USA's main football league competition is called Major League Soccer. Formed in 1993, the first season started in 1996, season's run from April to November when there are the playoffs and the championship match is played. MLS team's play in two conferences with the four top teams from each qualifying for the playofffs.
There have been many predessors to the MLS, notably the NASL (North American Soccer League) which featured greats of the game from 1968 to 1984 including Franz Beckenbauer and Pelé. Visit the official website at mlssoccer.com and Wikipedia for more about the MLS. | <urn:uuid:472ccf67-352f-4681-8e76-119425bdb320> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.football-shirts.co.uk/mls.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95908 | 141 | 1.546875 | 2 |
EDEN Hiziki Hizikia fusiforme is a dark brown, bushy plant that grows in the pristine coastal arctic currents off the eastern shore of Japan. Hiziki needs plenty of sunshine, clean water and years to mature. Hiziki has long thick branches that stand straight in the water, like hair floating upwards. At the top of the stems or branches are smaller branches, much thinner than the main stem. On these smaller branches near the surface grow small, thick, pointed blades that resemble pine needles. When you purchase EDEN Hiziki, this is the only part of the plant you get, the most highly prized tiny, tight curls called 'mei hiziki'. Lesser brands pack a mix of stems, branches and sometimes none of the tender blades that the Japanese cherish.
EDEN Hiziki Sea Vegetable grows wild in rocky, environmentally protected coastal waters. Here it receives a great deal of sunlight and grows at a depth of one to two meters (three to seven feet deep). The height of the plant ranges from one and one half to over three feet tall. EDEN Hiziki is carefully selected and hand harvested at low tide during spring. It is washed, sun dried, steamed for at least four hours to soften the plant and reduce its astringent flavor, and left overnight to cool and dry. The hiziki is then soaked in the juices of cooked arame (another sea vegetable) to enhance its black color. It is then naturally sun dried again and packed.
There is some confusion as to the proper spelling of the sea vegetable. You may find it spelled 'hiziki' in some recipes and 'hijiki' in others. That is because the Japanese name is spelled 'hijiki', and the botanical Latin name is 'Hizikia fusiforme', hence the name 'hiziki'.
Hiziki has been a traditional part of the Japanese diet for centuries. It is believed to enhance hair quality, strengthening it, and adding luster. Many Japanese credit eating of hiziki for their lustrous black hair. It has become popular in America among the health conscious.
EDEN Hiziki is rich in dietary fiber and a good source of potassium, calcium, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and magnesium.
EDEN Hiziki is better tasting and more nourishing than commercial hiziki because it's steamed instead of boiled, contains no artificial softening agents or chemicals and contains only the most delicious and nutritious parts of the plant. When cooked it turns a deep, lustrous black and expands to four or five times its size. Hiziki has a stronger taste than many sea vegetables, but is deliciously sweet and extremely nourishing.
EDEN Hiziki is especially delicious when cooked with naturally sweet vegetables such as onions, carrots, and sweet corn. It combines well with tofu and tempeh. EDEN Hiziki can be cooked with grains, in soups, kneaded into bread dough or used in whole grain or bread stuffing. It's delicious in salads topped with vinaigrette, tofu or sesame tahini dressings. It can be used in baked stuffed potatoes, tofu or noodle stir fries and vegetable sautés. Add a small amount to homemade grain or tofu burgers and deep fried croquettes. It can be finely minced and cooked with sesame seeds, ginger and shoyu for a vegetarian substitute for caviar. To use EDEN Hiziki wash under cold water then soak for 15 minutes or longer. Discard the soaking water (or water your plants with it). To use in grain dishes, stuffing, salads, burgers, or croquettes, boil the hiziki for 15 to 20 minutes prior to combining with the other ingredients. For hiziki and vegetable side dishes, cook the hiziki for 25 to 35 minutes with vegetables and season with EDEN Shoyu Soy Sauce near the end of cooking. | <urn:uuid:2780729f-af8e-4af4-8a1d-3d2a2c9dc182> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edenfoods.com/store/product_details.php?cPath=92&products_id=108860&eID=gtnnmofpfll41crn445i6mfu17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920082 | 823 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The mission of the Psychology Department at Hastings College is to promote intellectual and personal growth, and to promote living effectively in the global community.
Specifically, the departments’ academic curriculum and co-curricular activities will help students...
- acquire a broad base of knowledge regarding human behavior and mental processes,
- acquire the intellectual tools, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills necessary to contribute to psychological science and the well-being of society in general, and
- develop characteristics that encourage creativity, curiosity, change, and responsible citizenship.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the goals, methods of knowing, areas of study, and assumptions that characterize the field
- Demonstrate an awareness of the various psychological schools of thought and be able to compare/contrast them
- Demonstrate an understanding of the career options available to graduates and ways of obtaining these positions
- Demonstrate critical thinking in evaluating and designing research
- Demonstrate effective use of technology in navigating the body of psychological knowledge and in designing research
- Demonstrate effectiveness in communicating orally and in writing with the scientific community and the general public about psychological principles, theories, and findings
- Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with others to achieve group goals
- Demonstrate the development of self-awareness in interpersonal and intrapersonal domains
- Demonstrate concern for and action towards social justice | <urn:uuid:112a1233-79a5-44d1-83fe-934efb4abe27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hastings.edu/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm/SRC=DB/SRCN=/GnavID=422 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90247 | 276 | 2.59375 | 3 |
1881 - Born on the 15th of November in Chicago, Illinois.
1899 - He graduated from the Armour Scientific Academy and attended the University of Michigan for one year.
1903 - He first worked for the Chicago Journal.
1904 - He moved to to the New York Evening Mail and began the famed column which would later be known
as "The Conning Tower".
1913 - He moved his column to the New York Tribune.
1920 - He was in the U.S. Army working on the Stars and Stripes.
1921 - He went to the New York World, writing there until that paper closed.
1931 - He returned to his old paper, renamed the "New York Herald Tribune".
1937 - He went to the New York Post.
1938 - He was a panelist on the radio quiz show Information, Please! having written a trivia book with
1941 - He ended his column in September.
1960 - He died on the 23rd of March in New York City.
Page last updated: 1:22pm, 20
- "The true republic: men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less."
- "I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way."
- "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."
- "The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time."
- "When a man you like switches from what he said a year ago, or 4 years ago, he is a broad-minded person who has courage enough to change his mind with changing conditions. When a man you don't like does it, he is a liar who has broken his promises." | <urn:uuid:98dee477-9be8-42a6-a9bb-66bd01245bb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.s9.com/Biography/Adams-Franklin-Pierce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983725 | 395 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Around the Nation
Wed January 2, 2013
Who Are The Wealthiest Americans? Depends On Who You Ask
Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 7:51 pm
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
President Obama praised the cliff-dodging deal last night, saying it delivers on a central promise of his campaign.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thanks to the votes of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
SIEGEL: That 2 percent figure has long been the president's shorthand for Americans making more than $250,000 a year. As we've reported, the congressional compromise uses a higher threshold. Only income above $400,000 for individuals or $450,000 for couples will be subject to higher tax rates. Less than 1 percent of Americans fall into that higher income category. But the fine print of the deal will also mean higher taxes for a slightly larger group of wealthy Americans, keeping that $250,000 figure in play. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now to explain that. And Scott, is the president therefore right when he says that he's raising taxes on the top 2 percent?
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Robert, yes, he is. Even though higher tax rates only kick in for income over 400 or 450 thousand dollars, this deal will raise tax bills for individuals making as little as a quarter million dollars. That's because it reinstates some old limits on tax breaks for people in that high income category, so more of their income will be subject to tax.
SIEGEL: And what tax breaks are we talking about here?
HORSLEY: Well, they're the same tax breaks that you and I receive, namely the personal exemption and itemized deductions for things like mortgage interest or gifts to charity. But historically those breaks have been limited for the very wealthy, the idea being they didn't need a tax break as much as the other 98 percent of us, and the extra revenue that the government would bring in would help to balance the budget. These limits go by the colorful names of PEP and Pease. PEP is an acronym. It stands for Personal Exemption Phaseout. So as your income goes up, that tax break gradually phases out. Pease is - that's P-E-A-S-E - it's named for former Ohio Congressman Don Pease. It whittles away at the value of itemized deductions. So the more money you make, the less of a tax break you get for your home mortgage interest or gifts to charity.
SIEGEL: This sounds a little bit like what Mitt Romney proposed during the presidential campaign - capping deductions, he said.
HORSLEY: Well, it works in a similar way, but unlike that cap that Governor Romney proposed, which could've had the effect that maybe you used up your entire allotment of itemized deductions just with your home mortgage interest and maybe your local and state taxes, and then you would get no tax break for charitable giving, for example; what this does is you still get a tax deduction for every dollar, but the value of that deduction slides down as your income goes up. And at the very high end, your deduction could be worth just maybe 20 cents on the dollar.
SIEGEL: So if you have, say, a total of $30,000 in itemized deductions, if you make less than a quarter of a million dollars a year, you may get the full benefit of those. If you make a lot more than that, you could get 90 or 70 percent of them and ultimately as little as 20 percent.
HORSLEY: That's right. It gets whittled away, but there's still an incentive for, for example, charitable giving. It's just a smaller incentive than there would be at a lower income level.
SIEGEL: Now, you said this deal reinstates these limits. They're not actually new.
HORSLEY: No, these were first put in place back in the '90s and then gradually phased out over the last decade as part of the Bush-era tax cuts. They were always due to come back into force with the new year, and under this deal they will come back into force. But they'll actually take effect at a higher income level than would've happened automatically and a higher level than the president first proposed. So here, as elsewhere in the tax deal, the president is actually settling for a smaller tax increase on the wealthy than he could've gotten automatically. But the White House can plausibly say Mr. Obama is insisting on a bigger tax contribution from the wealthiest 2 percent.
SIEGEL: Scott, thank you.
HORSLEY: My pleasure.
SIEGEL: NPR White House correspondent Scott Horsley. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:02414566-3b3f-4d8c-af9b-e79aa06b27ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nhpr.org/post/who-are-wealthiest-americans-depends-who-you-ask | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967401 | 1,014 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Kinect for Xbox 360 adding a little fitness to video games?
Microsoft unveiled its newest version of its Xbox 360 gaming system Monday and users will actually have to get off the couch to play.
The new system, called Kinect, is controller-free, meaning players will have to use their bodies to play the games.
"It makes the user the controller," Mike Delman, the company's vice president of global marketing for Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, said in a statement.
The gaming system shows the reach of technology. But in more simplistic terms it gets people moving.
Many say video games are one of the things contributing to obesity. Kids - and grown men too if you really look at the demographics of gamers - spend hours in front of the television performing little physical activity other than the tap, tap, tap of their fingers against the controller. And sometimes they may get up to go to the bathroom.
With the new system, players will be able to score soccer goals with their heads and "use their entire bodies to steer racing carts around turns and over jumps," according to the Microsoft statement.
I know, I know. It's not the same as riding a bike or rollerskating for hours on end like many of us did as kids. And I'm not even sure Microsoft was thinking of physical fitness when creating this game. But it sure is a start to curbing the couch potato mentality adopted by so many of our kids. Look at the kids playing the game in the picture above.
What do you think? Are we talking video game fitness here?
Photo courtesy of Reuters | <urn:uuid:f1ae99da-38ef-4108-8897-f27a3feefbaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/health/2010/06/kinect_for_xbox_360_adding_a_l.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966393 | 327 | 1.84375 | 2 |
All across the USA people are talking about giving Christmas Gifts that are "Made in America" and– we're beginning to see some pretty impressive results in the form of job creation.
Well, here's another way do something great with your holiday shopping. How about donating to local food pantries and shelters in honor of the people on your Christmas list? Instead of scrambling around trying to figure out what on earth to get all those people who already have everything, why not honor them by helping someone who's hungry or cold?
Give the gift of hope to those who have lost hope. How many parents who were in a position just like you and me very recently– have no job today?
In our area we have many local organizations in need of donations, including the Reformer Christmas Stocking, Feed the Thousands and The Vermont Food Bank, in addition to local churches that each have a program to give hope and help. This year the need is more critical than ever.
What's interesting is that when given a choice, all of the people I polled said they would rather have this kind of donation given in their name than receive another pair of gloves for Christmas. I bet your friends would say the same. What do you think? | <urn:uuid:f3ca801f-7481-4e90-a703-28c67745e5cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vermontfurnitureblog.com/tag/hungry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975335 | 249 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The latest African Economic Outlook paints a promising picture for the continent, but crucially, it also warns that the scourge of youth unemployment will impact severely on the capacity of African states. By KHADIJA PATEL.
The latest African Economic Outlook (AEO) has been released, and it’s optimistic. A joint project of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the OECD Development Centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the AEO predicts that Africa will continue to be one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, having escaped the worst of the global financial crisis. In fact, the continent has seen year-on-year economic growth while economies in Europe and the US stagnate under pressure from the recession. In line with this trend, Africa is expected to grow 4.5% this year and 4.8% next.
The news is, however, not all rosy. The report warns that the sheer scale of jobless growth, coupled with the world’s youngest population, gravely imperils further progress. According to the AEO, Africans aged between 15 and 24 currently comprise 60% of the continent’s unemployed. More worryingly, 22 million of those 40 million unemployed young people have already abandoned their search for a job. And the situation is set to worsen – the number of young people in Africa is expected to double to around 400 million by 2045, from 200 million currently.
Although the new discourse of ‘Africa rising’ is a welcome change from painting Africa as an abject failure, one danger of this discourse is airbrushing the significant challenges the continent still does face – despite the pretty picture painted by economic growth forecasts. As AfDB chief economist Mthuli Ncube says, “The issue of youth unemployment is the elephant in the room in Africa.”
The 293-page study, themed “Promoting Youth Unemployment”, urges governments rigorously to pursue incentive-based programmes to help facilitate job creation. The South African experience, however, proves that this is easier said than done. Despite the government’s pious protestations and grand schemes, there still exists a huge failing in the number and kind of opportunities available to young South Africans.
Last month, Ambar Narayan, World Bank lead economist on poverty reduction, noted that this asymmetry in opportunity demonstrates the failure of South Africa to level the playing field. Speaking at the release of the “South African Economic Update: Inequality of Opportunity” report, he emphasised that it was young people who were most affected by “this inequality of opportunity, particularly in the labour market, [which] is the highest for the youngest age group."
Sandeep Mahajan, World Bank task team leader for the latest report, says: "Our results show that a South African child not only has to work harder to overcome the disadvantages at birth due to circumstances, but having done so, finds [that] these re-emerge when seeking employment later in life."
Ncube notes that not only in South Africa, but across the continent, these issues of inclusion and exclusion from the economy and public life are crucial to understanding why youth unemployment is such a great challenge for African states. “The youth bear the burden of shrinking opportunities,” he says. “And if young people see no space for themselves in the economy, circumstances for social strife are then rife.”
The scrutiny then falls on explaining how exactly we got to this situation.
Ncube believes the high incidence of youth unemployment is traced back to inefficient education systems that fail to educate young people well enough to meet the needs of society and the economy. Key to addressing the problem, Ncube believes, is the education sector. “Education must be reformed,” he says.
Independent policy analyst Ebrahim Khalil-Hassen agrees that the failure of education systems is the most conventional explanation in countries with high incidences of youth unemployment. He adds, however, that another explanation is to view the problem in the context of rising levels of youth unemployment worldwide – understanding the problem as a global one, then, instead of a particularly African one.
Hassen points to research by Rulof Burger and Dieter von Fintel, which is based in a South African context and suggests that the issue of youth unemployment may actually be misunderstood as a fundamentally generational issue. “(The study) argues that time alone will not solve the problems facing the currently unemployed young people. In other words, without a longer term strategy, the reality of being unemployed at 21 in any year will continue throughout this person’s life. The key to this argument is that the South African economy has shifted to become more skilled, and at the same time a large number of young, unskilled and African people looking for a job has increased,” Hassen says.
Ncube stresses that in Tunisia, where he is based, the effects of youth unemployment on politics are already being seen. “In Tunisia, the revolution was based on two things: jobs and justice,” he says. “On the one hand, there is a great number of young people whose skills don’t match the opportunities available to them, and on the other hand, the system was perceived to be unjust. It was seen as a closed economic space, and it created the sense of exclusion from real opportunities for the majority of Tunisians.”
Hassen agrees that the high incidence of youth unemployment may well lead to greater social and political upheaval. “There is the ticking bomb factor with these statistics. It points to the possibility of higher levels of social unrest,” he says.
Ncube believes that there is a momentum among African states to address youth unemployment more forcefully. “African countries are raising awareness of the problem,” he explains.
South Africa’s statistics offer a rather grim outlook on what life is really like beyond the daily political spectacle. The rate of unemployment, at 25.2% (or 33%, if discouraged workers are included), is among the world's highest. Social grants make up 70% of the income of the poorest 20% of South Africans, and if these grants were excluded, 40% of South Africans would have seen their income decline in the first decade after Apartheid.
According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, young people today are three times more likely be unemployed compared to mature adults, while one in five young working people live on R8 a day. Statistics released by the latest Labour Force Survey don’t offer a more promising picture for South African youth, either – youth unemployment has increased by 9.9% since the last quarter, and is now standing at a staggering 42%. This, of couse, is without the number of young people who have already given up their pursuit of employment.
“The numbers are really depressing,” Hassen notes. “There are more people unemployed today than there were in 2008.” Economic equality, equality of opportunity, and issues of inclusion in the economy are all fundamental to a sense of democracy, Hassen believes. “A society that has more than 50% of young people unemployed is not a functioning society,” he says.
Hassen explains that in South Africa, the momentum towards a job-seeker’s grant, which emerged from the ANC Policy Conference in June, may be one solution to South Africa addressing its challenge of youth unemployment.
“If it works properly, like it’s done in Latin America, where the grant is linked directly employment opportunities, it could make a difference, providing a basic level of income to those who need it most,” he says. “I personally think it’s the right approach.”
But, he adds, the youth wage subsidy should not be disregarded as an option. “Given the level of the crisis, a range of options should be tried,” he says.
Meanwhile, others believe the first step remains in education and skills development. “Africa has a skills shortage, and at the same time has this high rate of youth unemployment,” Ncube says.
“There is an opportunity in skilling these people.” DM
- Entrenched inequality threatens SA's future in Mail and Guardian
- Youth unemployment as a poverty trap on ZAPreneur
Photo: Unemployed graduates shout slogans as they protest against unemployment and the cost of living in Morocco in Rabat, July 5, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer. | <urn:uuid:8923aeb0-3515-4581-99fb-e23d2736ae5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-08-01-generation-u-africas-era-of-unemployment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953777 | 1,778 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The equality of all humans should be one of the most fundamental principles embedded in the moral frameworks and legal systems of civilised societies. It rightly forms the basis of Article 1 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Unfortunately, such a fundamental principle has not been properly established in many countries. Equality is denied when discrimination occurs. Discrimination is relatively commonplace, and particularly firmly entrenched in many religious organisations. Widespread discrimination can lead to intolerance and conflict, because, unsurprisingly, those who are discriminated against object to being treated as second-class citizens.
Australia's recently drafted Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 is commendable in its objectives but does little to reduce discrimination. It claims aspiringly 'to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment and racial vilification, consistently [sic] with Australia's obligations under the human rights instruments and the ILO instruments'. However, this proposed legislation offers special measures, including exemptions to religious organisations so they can continue to discriminate on such attributes as religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy etc. It would seem that most governments lack the courage to stop religious organisations from discriminating. Some religions discriminate against people if they are not of the requisite religion (and subjective religions are related to race/culture), or preferred sex, sexual orientation, and marital status. Australia's proposed legislation does not remove this inequity.
A distinction should firstly be made between invidious discrimination, which should be eliminated, and appropriate differentiation, of individuals or groups. Invidious discrimination occurs when a person or organisation treats others unfavourably because of their particular attributes, whether that be a person's sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race etc. In contrast, appropriate differentiation would allow, for example, without claims of discrimination, segregated sporting events to occur for men and women, and an age limit to be applied to learning drivers, because a reasonable and objective explanation can be developed in these cases.
Within this framework, it is apparent there is no reasonable and objective explanation why a mathematics teacher at any school could not be an unmarried, pregnant, multi-coloured lesbian of no religion (or of another religion). The ability to teach mathematics is independent of the aforementioned attributes. To be denied a job because of a person's particular attributes is a denial of equality that ought not be tolerated in a civilised society.
The discriminatory and bigoted values of some of the mainstream churches are no more ethically 'right' than the racist values that were relatively commonplace in the middle of the twentieth century. How can racial discrimination be ethically wrong but sexual discrimination be permitted? How can there be a moral basis for an Islamic black man who discriminates against women complaining that he is being discriminated against? How can a religious male politician who denies lesbians the right to marriage or to be a leader in his church claim that he treats people equally? There is no justification for any of these situations because there is no moral distinction between these types of invidious discrimination. Intolerance of, and discrimination against, people with particular attributes is bigotry.
Many religions try to justify their religious discrimination as a right, the freedom to practise one's religion. But such a right impacts adversely on others. So what happens when there is a conflict between religious freedoms and the rights of an individual, such as an individual's right to be treated equally and not to be subjected to invidious discrimination?
Many religions preach some variant of the ethical golden rule, or doing unto others as they do unto you. Members of one religion would not like members of other religions to exercise their religious freedom if that involved the imposition of the other religion on them, or allowing the other religion to kill them (if that were a 'view' of the other religion). Even if it were something more trivial, such as having another religion's eating rituals being imposed on them, this would be a cause of stern objection.
That people do not want their individual rights to be violated by another religion (or any other person, organisation or government for that matter) is the key. It is then straightforward to conclude that a freedom of religion should only extend so far as to where it does not impinge on the rights of other individuals. People can believe in and practice what they wish, no matter how profound, or silly and deluded, that might be, but not if it denies other people's equality or human rights, causes discrimination, or otherwise adversely affects other individuals. A regime of religious discrimination juxtaposed on a principle of doing unto others as they do unto you is hypocrisy.
To avoid claims of having hypocritical bigoted views, one would think that religious organisations would reject their current discriminatory views and advocate legislative change that condemned and prohibited all invidious discrimination. Unfortunately, enlightened change is not the way of the bigot.
To explore further the nature of religious discrimination, consider the following scenario. What if a new religion were to be established tomorrow, and an inspired person drafts a religious text that reflects the views of the newly conceived and perfect God. The newly drafted religious text includes the following verses attributable to the new God.
· A black person should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a black person to teach or to have authority over a non-black person; the black person must be silent. | <urn:uuid:6d65414b-708f-4e4e-87fd-3cd1dc30083d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=14664 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948507 | 1,059 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Spotlight on: Dr. Roxanne Burns
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Dr. Roxanne Burns, joined the Kent State Columbiana County campuses more than 22 years ago.
IMAGE: Dr. Roxanne Burns
Assistant Dean Dr. Sue Rossi believes that Burns is an exemplary professor who impacts the lives of her students. “For many reasons, Dr. Burns is a driving force on our campus. Her teaching, research, activism and community involvement are an inspiration to all. But foremost, I think, is her dedication to her students,” Rossi said.
“For years, she has made educating students of the East Liverpool area her top priority, and it shows in everything she does. Everyone will tell you she is a tough instructor, but many of our graduates will also tell you that they owe much of their success to working with, and taking classes, from Dr. Burns.”
Each day Burns’ schedule consists of lectures, research, advising and grant work. Even with her packed schedule, she still finds the time to advise the Environmental Club, sit on the board for the NAACP, represent the East Liverpool Campus as the lead biologist and serve as vice president for the Lions Club.
Dr. Burns is passionate about teaching and research. She inspires her students to get involved on campus and in the community. Each spring semester she is instrumental in the success of the campus’s Earth Day event, a day-long conference that focuses on environmental justice issues. Burns encourages her students to get involved by presenting papers and posters that share their view points on various environmental issues.
In addition to teaching, Burns is a researcher and her grant work has funded an in depth study of manganese levels in East Liverpool children. Burns is working alongside Dr. Erin Haynes from the University of Cincinnati. According to Burns, the results will likely become a five-year study. | <urn:uuid:0552e6c3-977c-4e61-b0b2-96271ed1bea5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://assistive.usablenet.com/tt/www.salem.kent.edu/about/spotlight/faculty.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966118 | 386 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Cybercrime's Scope: Interpreting 'Access' and 'Authorization' in Computer Misuse Statutes
Orin S. Kerr
George Washington University - Law School
NYU Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 1596-1668, November 2003
In the last twenty-five years, the federal government and all fifty states have enacted new criminal laws that prohibit unauthorized access to computers. These new laws attempt to draw a line between criminality and free conduct in cyberspace. No one knows what it means to access a computer, however, nor when access becomes unauthorized. The few courts that have construed these terms have offered divergent interpretations, and no scholars have yet addressed the problem. Recent decisions interpreting the federal statute in civil cases suggest that any breach of contract with a computer owner renders use of that computer an unauthorized access. If applied to criminal cases, this approach would broadly criminalize contract law on the Internet, potentially making millions of Americans criminals for the way they write e-mail and surf the Web.
This Article presents a comprehensive inquiry into the meaning of unauthorized access statutes. It begins by explaining why legislatures enacted unauthorized access statutes, and why early beliefs that such statutes solved the problem of computer misuse have proved remarkably naïve. Next, the Article explains how the courts have construed these statutes in an overly broad way that threatens to criminalize a surprising range of innocuous conduct involving computers. In the final section, the Article offers a normative proposal for interpreting access and authorization. This section argues that courts should reject a contract theory of authorization, and should narrow the scope of unauthorized access statutes to circumvention of code-based restrictions on computer privileges. The section justifies this proposal on several grounds. First, the proposal will best mediate the line between securing privacy and protecting the liberty of Internet users. Second, the proposal mirrors criminal law's traditional treatment of crimes that contain a consent element. Third, the proposed approach is consistent with the basic theories of punishment. Fourth, the proposed interpretation avoids possible constitutional difficulties that may arise under the broader constructions that courts recently have favored.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 74
Keywords: cybercrime, computer crime, unauthorized access, code
JEL Classification: K14, K42Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: February 18, 2004
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo5 in 0.469 seconds | <urn:uuid:3201ef63-1f2b-41f2-91b9-ccffb9d0d417> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=399740 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912359 | 497 | 1.984375 | 2 |
This week on Informania, Deb the Librarian interviews Diane Kozak, Director of the Career Services Center at UAA. Diane talked about the different types of resumes (chronological, factual, or a combination of both). Diane shared good advice about resumes, cover letters, interviews and job search etiquette. Following are a few tips:
When developing a resume, volunteer, internships, and fast food work experiences count! If you have worked at a fast food restaurant, you likely have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment and may have significant experience with customer service. It is all in how you word your experience. The Career Services Center can help with this! You have to have a resume created for them to review, but are glad to help you rephrase statements to help your experience to shine.
Word your experience (honestly) to match the job description. Diane has created four versions of her resume to speak to different industries or types of positions.
Start developing your resume early in your college career. Why wait until your senior year? If you begin your resume as a freshman, you will be able to see what added experiences you need or want to develop by the time you graduate and are ready to go to work in your desired industry.
Your cover letter should not include work experience not covered in your resume. Remember, your resume is the experience story you are sharing with your potential future employers. The cover letter will highlight relevant experience, but not replace the resume. Diane said some employers may not even look at a cover letter. The length of cover letters range from a half of a page to two pages. Include the job you are applying for in the introduction, highlight a few reasons you are the best candidate, and thank the committee for this opportunity.
When you interview, meet the employer with the confidence that says, “I really want this job and I am the best candidate for it!” You need to be the best salesperson you can be for yourself. I, personally, like to picture that positive outcome before the interview, or event, even to the point of feeling what it would be like to have that success. Stay positive, and attentive during the interview. The Career Services Center can help you practice interviews, record and critique interviews, and help you think through answers to interview questions like, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a conflict at work. How did you resolve it?”
After the interview, send a thank you letter! It is good to send a thank you email message, but great etiquette to send a thank you card in the mail as a follow-up to an interview and thank you email message. Yes, I mean a Thank You card sent through snail mail! A bland, simple Thank You card is sufficient. You don’t want to show too much personality (with a frilly or decorated card), until you get the position.
Any talk before, during or after the interview meetings all count as part of the interview. Are you going out to lunch with other employees from the business? Be on your best behavior here as well! Job candidate conversations and behaviors that occur during formal and informal (lunch or dinner) scenarios will leave an impression with job search committee members who are tasked with reviewing the candidates. Many times, it is more important for an employer to hire a teachable person with the personality and attitude that fits well with other employees than it is to hire the person with the most experience.
If you didn’t get the position this time, it is okay to ask why. Not all employers can tell why a candidate didn’t get the position, but it is okay to ask! Perhaps sending an email that asks, “How can I improve my ability to get a job like this in the future?” Career Services Center employees have developed good relationships with Alaskan employers, and will, on occasion, get feedback about the credentials of students who have applied for jobs. Checking in for guidance on how to improve your skills and strategies as a job candidate is worthwhile!
How do you find out about jobs in your field?
Career Services Center has a database of local, national, and international jobs. Other resources Diane mentioned include the Department of Labor, craigslist, and industry associations and trade publications. It is expensive to post job announcements in certain publications, so craigslist is as viable an option as others to attract employees. | <urn:uuid:13dd6a47-9129-456c-a7e2-720c4dafde18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.consortiumlibrary.org/blogs/news/page/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957177 | 907 | 1.890625 | 2 |
President Obama has done this before - connected the struggle of African Americans to realize equality with the cause of the Palestinians. The metaphor is weak, even if you accept the legitimacy of Palestinian claims such as the right of return and borders.
But at bottom, it is an obscenity. Part of that cause that President Obama so blithely and ignorantly joins with civil rights is the undeniable fact that the Palestinians want to eliminate the Jewish state. Hence, he is linking the noble struggle for freedom for American blacks with genocide.
On his stops in the Holy Land Thursday, President Barack Obama turned again and again to a subject not obviously connected to the current troubles in the mideast: the struggles of African Americans in the United States.
One of the parallels the president drew-comparing the plight of Palestinians to that of blacks in the U.S.-has drawn criticism in the past when he raised it in this region.
During a press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama said young people he'd met on the trip made him think of his own children.
"Whenever I meet these young people, whether they're Palestinian or Israeli, I'm reminded of my own daughters, and I know what hopes and aspirations I have for them," Obama said at the Palestinian headquarters compound in Ramallah. "And those of us in the United States understand that change takes time but it is also possible, because there was a time when my daughters could not expect to have the same opportunities in their own country as somebody else's daughters."
Obama's comments-which invoked life under Jim Crow in the U.S. or perhaps even under slavery-seemed to give support to Palestinian narratives that describe Arabs and Palestinians as second-class citizens in Israel. That line of criticism deeply angers many Israelis. Some critics of Israel go so far as to use the word apartheid, a word that angers Israelis further.
But at stops in Jerusalem later on Thursday, Obama invoked the history of African-Americans in the U.S. in ways far more pleasing to Israelis and Jews generally.
During his main speech to the Israeli people, Obama noted how the bible story of the expulsion of the Jews from Egypt and the drive to reach the promised land animated African Americans in the U.S. for ages. He also drew a personal connection to his own life.
Does he believe that by linking both sides in the war between Arabs and Jews with the struggle for equality that this somehow mitigates his implied legitimizing of Palestinian terror and genocide? It is a false equivalency game the president is playing and he should be criticized heavily for trying it.
The president is tone deaf if he really believes there is symmetry between civil rights and the Palestinian cause. How he can ignore the obvious while promoting the peace process is beyond understanding. | <urn:uuid:40878600-b1e6-459e-853b-016d2364e7b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/03/obama_links_the_struggles_of_blacks_in_america_with_palestinian_cause.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964017 | 571 | 2.640625 | 3 |
This set of links include a website for homemade tools, another source of kits, and a report on an electronic technology to replace CMOS.
Home-made tools. This is a new site from the founder of Hotrodders.com, established to organize all of the homemade tools posted on forums and websites around the net. The site currently has nearly 3,000 different homemade tools, with new tools added regularly. Be sure to check out the electrical section, which has many tools that you can use around the ham shack. It includes a $3 battery charger, a low-cost 12 V benchtop power supply, and a manual pick-and-place station to use when building with surface-mount components.
Kits by K5BCQ, K5JHF, and the Austin QRP Club. Kees, K5BCQ; John, K5JHF; and other members of the Austin QRP Club are making available some useful kits at reasonable prices to encourage kit building and homebrewing. The kits are all based around readily available, low-cost microcontrollers, flash memory, and LCD displays. I’m thinking about buying the The Si570 Controller and Frequency Generator Kit #2. At $54 or less, I think it’s a steal.
NRI to lead new five-year effort to develop post-CMOS electronics. This article from the NIST Tech Beat describes a project to develop a next-generation electronics technology to replace the venerable CMOS technology. According to the article, new technology is needed because pretty soon IC manufacturers won’t be able to make transistors any smaller. | <urn:uuid:a31ad144-7ff4-4208-b4ad-9e3647b7161f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kb6nu.com/category/buildinghomebrew/tools-buildinghomebrew/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92139 | 336 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Uganda Gorilla Tracking Safari in style!
Climax your Kenyan, Tanzanian or South African Safari by visiting half of the World’s remaining Mountain Gorillas by flying in a chartered light Aircraft and also visit the Orphaned Chimpanzees in Ngamba Island on a Motorised Boat.
Day 01: ENTEBBE /NGAMBA ISLAND
On arrival in the morning at the Entebbe airport, you will be met and driven to your hotel that is a short distance away from here for a quick briefing and for you to freshen up. Later in the morning you are transferred to the landing site for your half-day boat trip to Ngamba Island.
Ngamba Island is a project of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), established in 1997 by the Born Free Foundation UK, International Fund for Animal Welfare (USA), The Jane Goodall Institute (Germany and Uganda).
The Uganda Wildlife Education Trust (UWECT) and other concerned organization have helped raise funds for the sanctuary. This100 -acre beautiful forested Island provides a safe haven for 35 -orphaned chimpanzees.
Experience a rare and incredible opportunity to visit the Chimpanzees in a near-wild setting while helping to conserve their precious habitat and contribute to the conservation of their species.
The trip to the Island by speed -boat takes approximately 45 minutes or 1½hours by motorized traditional boat. Overnight Lake Victoria Hotel.
Day 02: FLY ENTEBBE TO BWINDI
This morning you take a private Charter flight to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The 390-square–mile forest is biologically diverse, and was established to protect the gorilla population and the multitude of other plant and animal species that live here.
Your visit here helps support the conservation effort and assists further rationalization of the forest protection. The flight in a Cessna 172 takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes and by Cessna 210 takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
You are then driven from the airstrip to your camp that will be your home for the three days. Overnight Engagi Lodge. All meals included
Day 03: GORILLA TRACKING
The next two days will be for Uganda gorilla tracking experience. You will rise early each day and after breakfast, be driven to a point in the park where your hike will begin.
Well-trained guides lead you to a point where the gorillas were encountered the day before. The duration of the hike is determined by the gorillas whose continuous search for food requires a nomadic lifestyle.
The trek can take from 1-9 hours at altitudes in excess of 7,500ft and over rough and steep terrain. Although the hike is physically demanding, the beauty of the forest and its inhabitants make your experience extremely interesting.
Upon encountering the gorillas, your fatigue is quickly forgotten. The gorillas are not tame, but they have been scientifically habituated to accept the presence of quiet and non-threatening observers.
Each strictly regulated 60- minutes visit passes all too quickly, and you must depart, leaving the gorillas to their fragile existence.
You will take a packed lunch and water for your meal and picnic in the forest. Porters are available at the park headquarters to help you carry. Return to your accommodation at the edge of the park. All meals included
Day 04: SECOND GORILLA TREK
After breakfast, you head for the forest for the second Uganda gorilla trek Safari. All meals included
Day 05: Fly ENTEBBE / DEPARTURE
This morning you will take a short drive from your camp to the nearby Kayonza airstrip for your private flight back to Entebbe. At a distance you will be able to see the hills and plains of Rwanda and the Rift Valley dropping away towards Lake Edward and the Congo.
Below are the rolling farmlands around the Kabale area, commonly known as the “Switzerland of East Africa”. As you approach Entebbe, watch out for aerial view of Lake Victoria.
Drive a short distance to Lake Victoria Hotel where day rooms have been booked for you to re-pack. You will have a choice of either relaxing by the pool, or taking a walk to nearby botanical gardens. Depart later in the evening. Breakfast and lunch End of services.
*Safari options: All our itineraries can be customized to your wish. You can add extra days, change a hotel or add other tourist sites. Please contact us for free, non-obligation safari advise. | <urn:uuid:35904598-6f58-421f-9c1a-aba17ba5ec4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kyogatours.com/wildlife-safaris/ugandan-safaris/gorilla-flying-safari-html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919197 | 947 | 1.570313 | 2 |
'African Booker' Defies Image Of Tragic Continent
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, the wedding may have been perfect, but sometimes what comes next is so not. Just in time for wedding season, we'll hear about a new collection of essays about that all-important but often oh-so-challenging first year of marriage. That's coming up.
But first, we want to tell you about the latest winner of the Caine Prize. The Caine Prize for African Writing, often nicknamed the African Booker, is awarded annually to African writers for a short story published in English.
This year the judges said they were looking for stories that enlarge their concept of the continent beyond the, quote, "familiar images that dominate the media, war-torn Africa, starving Africa, corrupt Africa; in short, the tragic continent," unquote.
Earlier this week, the prize of around $16,000 and a month's writing residency at Georgetown University went to Nigerian writer Rotimi Babatunde, for his short story, "Bombay's Republic." It's about a Nigerian soldier who fought for the British in Burma during World War II.
Rotimi Babatunde joined us from the BBC studios in London shortly after his win. With him was one of the judges this year, Nima Elbagir. She is also an international correspondent for CNN.
Welcome to you both. Thank you both so much for speaking with us.
NIMA ELBAGIR: Well, thank you for having us.
ROTIMI BABATUNDE: Thanks so much.
MARTIN: Rotimi, congratulations.
BABATUNDE: Thanks so much. It's been an amazing journey and it's still sinking in gradually.
MARTIN: I have to ask. What were you doing when you found out that you had won and what went through your mind?
BABATUNDE: It was initially unbelievable. I just went, wow. It has also been a very humbling experience because the short list is very diverse, very strong, so winning the award itself has been extraordinary for me.
MARTIN: Nima, as Rotimi indicated, there were five stories short-listed for the prize. Could you talk a little bit more about what you were looking for this year?
ELBAGIR: What I was looking for was really something that managed to communicate an African-ness without falling into the cliches that so often are used to represent Africa and African-ness. Rotimi's story was just so beautifully ambitious, it felt more like a novel and taking the way that these veterans that came back from Burma, the impact that they had on the independence movement, just such beautiful lines in it, the sense that, you know, if these men - that the color sergeant was fighting and dying with - if these white men could bleed, then what about his colonial masters back home?
It was just incredibly beautifully written. And then we also had an amazing - if you believe this - Afrikaner investigator written in a noir style, which completely blew me away. We also had a very, very brave story about - one of the big issues in the continent is that real homophobia that's becoming associated with traditional African cultures. We had that from a Malawian writer. We just had some incredible stories this year.
MARTIN: Rotimi, we've already mentioned that it's based on an historical fact that there were thousands, were there not, of African soldiers who fought in World War II, and you focus on a veteran who was in the Burma campaign, so this is based on historical truth.
Can you just tell us a little bit about what gave you the vision for Bombay?
BABATUNDE: I grew up hearing stories about the veterans, even though it was decades before I was born (unintelligible) the war, but (unintelligible) the stories they brought back, their experiences, still lingers. I was looking for an opportunity for years to write about what they went through, so it was the concept of Bombay developed in my head(ph), I say, wow, now this time I'll go for it, and it was also very (unintelligible) researching that period of our history, which hasn't really been explored deeply enough.
And I think, also, in the official Western narrative of the war, the contributions of subjects for the colonies, from Africa, from Asia, in the - who fought as part of the forgotten army has not been properly acknowledged, so it's great to contribute a little bit.
MARTIN: The character is so vivid, but also just the broader idea that I think many people who are not from Africa or don't know anything about that period will recognize in events that have happened in other cultures as well, which is what happens when you leave home and you are exposed to things that you have not seen before.
One sentence jumps out at me just from the very first page. But the war came and the bombs started falling, shattering things out of their imprisonment in boxes and jumbling them without logic into a protean mishmash. Without warning, everything became possible.
The other thing that I think it mentions is also the cost to the soldier himself after what he saw, and it's interesting that you put both of those ideas together. Can you talk a little bit about that?
BABATUNDE: When Bombay, as the main character in the story - when he left Nigeria to fight with the British Army, he encountered narratives about himself, which he never believed were possible, I mean that Africans (unintelligible) that when you kill them, they can resurrect, and he found it so absurd that he -that got him thinking about how his being has been distorted by the orders. So he began to find new - he found ways after the war to re-imagine himself into a new reality for his own self-determination.
MARTIN: If you're just joining us, this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We're speaking with Nigerian writer Rotimi Babatunde, who has just won the 2012 Caine Prize for African Writing. Also with us, CNN's Nima Elbagir, who was one of the judges this year.
Nima, tell us a little bit more about why this story claimed the prize. What is it that took it over the top?
ELBAGIR: For me, it was the ambition. It felt like an entire novel in a short story. It was the transition between the different stages in his life, and there was an incredible amount of humor. Rotimi was just talking about the narratives that the protagonist started seeing about himself, and that's actually one of my favorite parts in the story, where one of the officers, clearly in a very contemptuous way, is saying to him, well, they think you can resurrect. And he's saying it almost like, you know, you primitive jungle beasts, that kind of Africa, the dark, the voodoo aspect of it. And he kind of listened and said, what, like Lazarus? Like Jesus Christ, your savior? And kind of went, huh, and took away from it something completely different than the insult that it clearly was meant to be. I loved that about it.
I also loved the analogy in the end when he goes insane, setting up Bombay's republic. It's almost like Rotimi had taken us through all the kind of - the stages that we've seen in so many countries, colonialism, independence, and then the heroes of independence becoming dictators and growing mad and giving more and more accolades to themselves.
It felt like a microcosm of so much of Africa's history, while at the same time touching on this issue that so few people remember. I mean, I know about it because my grandfather was involved in the anti-colonialist movement back home in Sudan, but so many people of our generation don't know the impact, much like the Tuskegee airmen, I think, the impact that that had in the battle for civil rights in the States. The impact these returning veterans had on the fight for independence in Africa was so huge and yet so little is known about it.
MARTIN: Rotimi, I agree with Nima completely, but you also, in my view, take the bold step of embracing Bombay's decline. You describe very vividly the cost to him of what he has seen and what he has been through. Was that a bold choice for you? Did you hesitate at all to kind of take the turn away from heroism into something else?
BABATUNDE: It was just the only logical development of the story. Bombay was so completely transformed and the sense of personal freedom that was so intense that it had to be ambiguous at the end. I thought it was better to leave it for the reader to judge the outcome of Bombay's transformation.
MARTIN: Well, Rotimi, congratulations once again on this significant honor. I want to mention that in addition to the cash prize, you are also offered a month's residency at Georgetown University, which happens to be in Washington, D.C., where we happen to be. I know this is very new news. You've just found out that you've won. Do you have any idea of what you'll do with that time? Are you going to accept? And what will you do with that month?
BABATUNDE: Surely, I'll accept and I think, one, I want to complete the novel that I'm working on, and secondly, interacting with the students will be a great adventure for me, and I hope(ph) for them when I come. So those students are what I'm looking forward to during the residency.
MARTIN: Rotimi Babatunde is this year's winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. CNN's Nima Elbagir also joined us from the BBC studios in London.
Thank you both so much for speaking with us.
ELBAGIR: Thank you.
BABATUNDE: Thank you so much.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio. | <urn:uuid:7e7fad2c-9562-4989-b2e8-52e0332d2c1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/2012/07/05/156300342/african-booker-defies-image-of-tragic-continent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981794 | 2,177 | 1.65625 | 2 |
UN Security Council Condemns Sexual Violence in War
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the United Nations Security Council yesterday in adopting a resolution condemning sexual violence in war zones. The US-drafted resolution, passed unanimously by the Council, calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a team of experts to address the issue, reports Voice of America News.
Secretary Clinton, who currently holds the rotating Council presidency, emphasized the need for more support of women trapped in conflict. "The role and rights of women in today's world is a critical, core concern of foreign policy. It is national security. Of course it has a moral, and human, and social, and economic dimension. But the more we know about conflicts, the more we realize that women -- who do not start conflicts -- are often the victims. But women have tremendous potential for being peacemakers and peacekeepers," Clinton said, according to Radio Free Europe.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women reports that about half a million women were raped during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, 60,000 were raped during the 1990s Balkan wars and hundreds of thousands have been victimized in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a State Department press release.
Speaking before the Council's session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that perpetrators of sexual assault are rarely held responsible for their crimes. "Despite some progress in responding to sexual violence in armed conflict the deliberate targeting of civilians continues unabated including on a widespread systemic basis. Sexual violence in armed conflict or indeed at any time should have no place and find no haven in the world," he said, reports Radio Free Europe.
Media Resources: Voice of America News 9/30/09; Radio Free Europe 10/1/09; State Department 9/30/09 | <urn:uuid:ea21c9bf-962e-4bcc-bad3-f8e177e128a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?id=11968 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945231 | 368 | 2.46875 | 2 |
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The quality or condition of being improper.
- n. An improper act.
- n. An improper or unacceptable usage in speech or writing.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The quality of being improper; unfitness or unsuitableness to character, time, place, or circumstances; unseemliness: as, impropriety of language or behavior.
- n. That which is improper; an erroneous or unsuitable expression, act, etc.
- n. Synonyms Indelicacy, unseemliness. Mistake, blunder, slip.—Barbarism, Solecism, Impropriety. In treatises on rhetorical style these words have distinct meanings. “Purity … implies three things. Accordingly in three different ways it may be injured. First, the words used may not be English. This fault hath received from grammarians the denomination of barbarism. Secondly, the construction of the sentence may not be in the English idiom. This hath gotten the name of solecism. Thirdly, the words and phrases may not be employed to express the precise meaning which custom hath affixed to them. This is termed impropriety.” (G. Campbell, Philos. of Rhetoric, ii. 3, Pref.) “In the forms of words, a violation of purity is a barbarism; in the constructions, a violation of purity is a solecism; in the meanings of words and Phrases, a violation of purity is an impropriety.” (A. Phelps, Eng. Style, i.) Examples of barbarisms in English are heft, pled, proven, systemize; of solecism, “Who did you see?” of improprieties, “There let him lay” (Byron, Childe Harold, iv. 180), and the use of enormity for enormousness, or of exceptionable for exceptional.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality of being improper; unfitness or unsuitableness to character, time place, or circumstances.
- n. That which is improper; an unsuitable or improper act, or an inaccurate use of language.
- n. an improper demeanor
- n. an act of undue intimacy
- n. the condition of being improper
- n. an indecent or improper act
“Madame Jansoulet alone, newly landed in France with a stock of Oriental ideas impeding circulation in her mind, as her nargileh, her ostrich eggs and all the rest of her Tunisian trash impeded it in her apartments, protested against what she called impropriety, cowardice, and declared that she would never step foot inside "that creature's" doors.”
“Preventing the appearance of impropriety is important to help preserve whatever legitimacy you believe the Supreme Court still has.”
“Quite how he has managed to rise to power without acquiring the right antennae to spot this obvious impropriety is a matter for surmise but in the modern climate in which politicians find themselves, a general slackening of standards comes as no surprise.”
“The appearance of impropriety is every bit as bad as the impropriety itself.”
“Then I suppose there must have been what you call impropriety of conduct.”
“If there’s impropriety from a justice’s spouse arguing for particular policy results through political means, that same impropriety would carry over to legalmeans.”
“And you know, he is running around the world creating, you know, the appearance, at minimum, of impropriety, which is a standard of ...”
“And assuming that he is not guilty -- but he is guilty of the things that we just heard about, that is, the impropriety of the relationship -- then I still think it might have been smarter to make this the local answer.”
“A kind of sick feeling renders her speechless; she had never thought of that -- of -- of the idea of impropriety being suggested as part of this most unlucky escapade.”
“This impropriety, which is beyond a literary joke, was reprobated some months since by the _Quarterly Review_, but here the offending parties are properly visited with a burst of honest indignation which may not pass unheeded.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘impropriety’.
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
But only the ones that I don't already know.
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
But only the ones that I don't already know.
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
A list of words to remember to incorporate into my vocabulary.
An extensive vocabulary aids expressions and communication.
Vocabulary size has been directly linked to reading com...
Looking for tweets for impropriety. | <urn:uuid:c06e434c-55d5-445b-ac33-dc826018b261> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/impropriety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927213 | 1,121 | 3.09375 | 3 |
In reading the annotated Origin... I have come to the following note by Costa on p. 168:
Again, modern biologists would disagree with Darwin's idea that especially well-developed traits vary to a greater degree than expected simply because they have been varying and undergoing selection in the past (as evidence by their considerable development)...
I am not sure I understand what the problem with Darwin's view is. From reading his work I understood that he, Darwin, is simply saying that traits that have been more recently acted on by natural selection would vary more than those that have been acted in the past and over a longer period of time (given that conditions remain relatively the same - I assume).
What is the modern view of biologists on this?
P.S. The excerpt to which this side note refers, follows:
In these remarks we have referred to special parts or organs being still variable, because they have recently varied and thus come to differ; but we have also seen in the second Chapter that the same principle applies to the whole individual; for in a district where many species of any genus are found - that is, where there has been much former variation and differentiation, or where the manufactory of new specific forms has been actively at work - there, on an average, we now find most varieties or incipient species. | <urn:uuid:a147f31f-3d47-4b1e-a380-d85b6cd7c80d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/3784/biology-view-on-trait-variability/3825 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983284 | 268 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Is Voting Rights Act still needed?
Should the Supreme Court strike down part of the Voting Rights Act? When the Voting Rights Act was passed in the 1960s, it was seen as a great achievement — Congress taking action to ensure that African-Americans, particularly in the South, could exercise their right to vote.
But states and other jurisdictions that have to get approval to make even minor changes to voting procedures are challenging a portion of the law in the Supreme Court. Defenders say it has helped protect voting rights; critics like Justice Antonin Scalia liken it to a “racial entitlement.”
Should the law stay or go? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate the issue.
Mathis: Voter suppression existsThanks to Justice Scalia for giving the game away during oral arguments on the Voting Rights Act. By labeling the law — the only tool that has ever guaranteed African-Americans widespread access to the polls — as a “racial entitlement,” Scalia confirmed what we already suspected: There are still many powerful people who believe that simple “civil rights” become “special rights” when granted to blacks and other minorities. In opposing the law, Scalia showed exactly why it was needed.
Racism isn’t dead. Stupid white resentment of black people exercising their rights isn’t dead. (Though, granted, both these problems aren’t as pervasive as they once were.) And as we’ve seen in recent years, attempts to keep polls closed to African-Americans — and other Democratic-leaning constituencies — certainly aren’t dead.
The 15th Amendment explicitly gives Congress the power to make laws to ensure that racial minorities are not denied the right to vote. Congress has decided repeatedly — most recently in 2006 — that the Voting Rights Act is needed to fulfill its responsibilities under the amendment. Any Supreme Court that strikes down the act, whether in part or in whole, elbows Congress aside from its constitutionally mandated role. That’s “judicial activism,” which conservatives don’t like unless they do.
Congress does not exercise its 15th Amendment powers willy-nilly. The Voting Rights Act contains a process by which jurisdictions can remove themselves from Congress’s oversight — so long as they can demonstrate they haven’t discriminated against minority voters for 10 years. Those “bailouts” have been increasing in recent years, showing that the process works.
In other words: If states or counties don’t want federal supervision anymore, it’s easy enough for them to opt out. All they have to do is stop discriminating. The Supreme Court’s wisdom, in this case, isn’t needed. Congress should be trusted to exercise the power given to it by the Constitution.Boychuk: It isn’t 1965 anymore
The 15th Amendment says Congress has the right to enforce its voting provisions “by appropriate legislation.” The question today is not whether the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is constitutional. Of course it is. Rather, the argument is whether an emergency provision of the law that made sense decades ago — Section 5 — remains “appropriate” today. It does not.
For the federal government to intervene in state and local elections, there had better be a mighty good reason. In 1965 the reason was clear: the nine states of the Old Confederacy and parts of seven others had raised unconstitutional legal obstacles against black Americans registering and voting.
We’re not talking about long lines or asking people to produce an ID card — a federal court last year, in fact, ruled that the Obama Justice Department overstepped its authority under Section 5 when it tried to stop South Carolina from implementing a voter-ID law. No, we’re talking poll taxes, literacy tests and outright intimidation.
Under Section 5, a state or local government could fall under federal scrutiny if black-voter registration or turnout fell below 50 percent in the 1964, 1968, or 1972 presidential elections. Congress extended the provision for 25 years in 2006 with that same standard in place, as if nothing had changed in three decades.
Strange, isn’t it, how progressives put so much faith in social advancement, yet refuse to see the progress right under their noses. Yet as Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out, black-voter registration and turnout is higher today in red Mississippi than it is in blue Massachusetts.
Congress erred when it extended Section 5. Just as it was wrong for states to abuse their authority to deprive people of the right to vote, it is wrong — and unconstitutional — for the federal government to misuse a temporary emergency power to dictate states’ voting laws forever. You don’t need to be a “judicial activist” to realize it isn’t 1965 anymore.Boychuk is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. Mathis is a writer in Philadelphia. Contact: www.facebook.com/benandjoel | <urn:uuid:97b2d23b-a7b0-4076-8265-f5a189c0bc81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20130304/SP05/130309922/-1/SP03070112-Zumba-qcd/is-voting-rights-act-still-needed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945137 | 1,029 | 2.59375 | 3 |
|Regional Workshop The Economic, Fiscal and Welfare Implications of Chronic Diseases in the Americas |
Washington, D.C., 23 - 24 November, 2009
The objective of the Workshop was to present and discuss analytical frameworks and empirical studies on the economic, fiscal and welfare implications of aging and chronic diseases in countries of the Americas. The emphasis was on the following conditions: cancers, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, and chronic respiratory diseases. These conditions account for a large proportion of the overall burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in countries of the region. [Workshop presentations]
The Workshop discussions will help our institutions to identify research gaps on the types of analytical and empirical studies needed to build support for a broader public policy approach. Focus will be geared towards identifying the type of research and dissemination of information activities needed to gather support of senior policy makers from the Ministries of Economic Development, Planning, Finance or Central Banks, on public policies needed to prevent or reduce the social and economic costs to families and the society brought by the avoidable burden of chronic diseases.
Researchers from international organizations and from countries of the Region will present and discuss papers analyzing different dimensions of the economic, fiscal and welfare implications of chronic diseases: i) the direct and indirect costs at the household, national health care systems and macroeconomic levels; ii) the catastrophic nature of health expenditures associated with chronic diseases; iii) the fiscal implications of the cost increases to be faced by public health care systems; and iv) the gender implications of chronic diseases related to un-remunerated long-term care services provided by households. A special emphasis will be given to the fiscal and macroeconomic implications of an increased burden of chronic diseases and their impact on the rate of economic growth.
Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization | <urn:uuid:7ef93a8c-be99-45d8-93ad-9175d33dc7df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2048&Itemid=2072&lang=en | 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 | 0.904193 | 370 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The universal jamming gripper is a piece of tech that has been demoed some time ago, which allows for picking up somewhat more intricately designed objects with much care and precision. It basically boils down to a sort of balloon, filled with small particles (think grains of sand or the like) which is pushed gently against the object you wish to pick up, so that it moulds to the outer shape of that object. After that, the air gets sucked out of the balloon, thus making the shape it is in permanent. At this point, the object is sort of “embedded” into the griper and can be moved around without causing it any harm. You can watch a video of the prototype to get a better sense of what I’m trying to describe.
So that’s cool and all, but at that stage the gripper prototype was still not being used to it’s full potential. But of course, the good folks at Cornell University and the University of Chicago did not stop there and very recently I’ve come across a much more enticing demonstration of the gripper’s new capabilities: by using positive pressure, as well as vacuum-induced negative pressure, it is now able to shoot some hoops and throw some darts. Now that’s progress!
I’ve blogged about another cool application of technology over at OneOverZero: robotic legs. This is a stripped-down version of the full exoskeleton that’s being developed for the military, but for this to have become an actual product for “regular people” is, I think, very important. Technology can improve our lives in myriad ways, but we have to fight our basic urge to resist it and this, because of the “look & feel” of the legs, is probably going to be a very important step towards full acceptance of bionic technologies in our everyday lives.
All hail the cyborg! | <urn:uuid:0b0cb309-7d0b-433a-9bbb-78fc1e7ef1ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nunonunes.org/2012/02/29/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961755 | 402 | 2.125 | 2 |
Sarah van Gelder’s Blog
YES! executive editor Sarah van Gelder writes about prospects for peace, health care breakthroughs, happiness, the next economy, and other topics.
Can Cochabamba pick up where Copenhagen failed?
Race-baiting at recent tea party rallies is the most recent sign that we have a long way to go to move beyond racism in the United States. But there are exciting signs that a move to a post-racial society is possible and may even be underway.
There's a growing movement to cancel Haiti's foreign debt as a way to return to the Haitian people the authority to rebuild their lives and their country.
The best options for helping the Haitian people recover from the devastating January 12 earthquake.
With climate disruption, war, and a faltering economy, the '00s were tough. Still, seeds were sewn for a more green and egalitarian 2010s. And peoples movements offer the power to make real change happen.
Corporations get still more powerful. A middle-class living slips away from millions. Climate change becomes deadly. War, and more war. Looking back on the '00s (uh ohs) and the nine trends that changed our world.
Leading climate justice groups are signaling that the extraordinary global climate movement that came together in Copenhangen is just the beginning.
A new bipartisan climate bill offers a much smarter way to cut emissions—auction off pollution permits and distribute the proceeds to everyone.
"We the People" will have to act up if we want a global agreement that averts climate chaos.
Among the many ripple effects of the successful shutdown of the WTO in Seattle in 1999 is one that few know about. The organizing that went into the direct action, marches, media center, and forums inspired the organizers of the World Social Forums, which have become some of the world's most important centers of people power. | <urn:uuid:78c6db9f-a282-4635-8c61-92e14d9f9e70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/sarah-van-gelder?ica=17_blog&b_start:int=30&icl=email_jul08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951841 | 390 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Arkansas Family History Research
From Ancestry.com Wiki
This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott, Ph.D., FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
History of Arkansas
Geographically located north of Louisiana and flanked on the east by the Mississippi River’s west bank, the development of the state of Arkansas spanned three centuries. Long before frontiersmen from the newly formed United States crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and attempted settlement along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Spanish and French explorers came upon the native peoples living in what is now Arkansas. In 1541 Hernando de Soto’s Spanish expedition crossed the Mississippi River to Arkansas, spending several months in the area.
During the seventeenth century, French explorers made their way through today’s Arkansas. A small French expedition of two canoes from Canada voyaged down the Mississippi River to Arkansas in 1673, led by Jacques Marquette, a Catholic priest, and Louis Joliet, a fur trader. LaSalle’s expedition followed nearly ten years later, claiming the land for France. In 1686, Henri de Tonti founded Arkansas Post, the first settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley. It served as a trading post, a way station for Mississippi River travel, and the home of a Jesuit mission for a few years. The French later established several settlements south of the Arkansas Post in 1699, including Natchez and Orleans.
Prior to France’s decisive defeat by Britain in the Seven Years War (or French and Indian War), in 1762 France ceded to Spain both New Orleans and land west of the Mississippi River, which eventually became the Louisiana Purchase. The Spanish began governing the area in 1766, but their authority was not firmly established for several years. Arkansas Post remained the center of administration for the District of Arkansas, a huge, undefined region, including all of present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma. The area was supervised by a lieutenant governor at St. Louis. Settlers from the British colonies, preoccupied with severing their ties from the Crown, had not yet broken through the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east. Once independence was won, however, the land formerly held by Native Americans became “fair game” for grants to those who had served their new country well in battle. Because of this, settlers—the majority from Kentucky and Tennessee—began to increase in number, making their homes along the rivers of eastern and southern Arkansas. By 1792, early settlements had cropped up at Big Prairie, near the mouth of the St. Francis River, and present-day Helena, though inhabitants were few.
Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Arkansas settlements officially came under United States jurisdiction as part of Louisiana Territory. In June 1812, Arkansas became part of Missouri Territory as a result of Louisiana’s admittance to the union.
The northern quarter of Arkansas was established as part of the New Madrid District in Louisiana Territory. Directly to the south and running to the Arkansas River, an area shaped like a mirror image of Virginia formed the District of Arkansas. Both districts became counties when Missouri Territory was created. The remaining half of Arkansas, located on the southern side of the Arkansas River, was claimed by Native Americans.
The Osage and Quapaw had resided in the area from a much earlier time, while the Cherokee and Choctaw received land grants from the federal government for land in Arkansas, having been forced out of their homelands in the east. Delaware, Shawnee, Caddo, and other native tribes made Arkansas their home. The Quapaw claimed the land south of the Arkansas River for approximately 100 miles and indefinitely to the west. The Osage had claimed a large region north of the Arkansas River, and in 1808 ceded land that became part of the District of Arkansas, then still part of Louisiana Territory. Treaties with the Osage chiefs were made again in 1816, 1818, and 1825, resulting in the loss of their Arkansas land and their removal to today’s Oklahoma.
Two million acres, situated between the Arkansas and St. Francis rivers, were offered as bounty land for military service in the War of 1812. Each veteran was given a warrant for 160 acres, allocated by a lottery process.
An 1818 conference between the Osage and Cherokee met with Major William Lovely, Cherokee agent in Missouri Territory, resulting in the Osage ceding lands they had held in the northeastern section of present-day Oklahoma and a northwestern portion of today’s Arkansas, at the time still part of Missouri Territory.
Arkansas Territory was organized from Missouri Territory in 1819 with a little over 14,000 inhabitants, exclusive of native peoples. All of present-day Oklahoma except the panhandle was included. Arkansas Post was designated as the capital. Lands formerly belonging to the Cherokee nation were organized as Crawford County. Little Rock became the capital in 1821. As the territory continued to develop between 1819 and 1836, more cession agreements between native tribes in Arkansas and the United States government opened the land to further settlement and eventual statehood.
Arkansas became the twenty-fifth state in 1836. Following the Panic of 1837, many people moved into Arkansas from both southern and eastern states. Men from Arkansas served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, some receiving bounty lands prior to 1855. The Gold Rush in California attracted people from Arkansas; most began the trek from Fort Smith.
During the Civil War, Arkansas men served in both the Union and Confederate armies, although the greater majority served for the Confederate cause. In May 1861, after Arkansas seceded from the United States, the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America divided Arkansas into eastern and western districts, with governmental seats at Little Rock and Van Buren, respectively. Federal forces occupied Van Buren in late 1862 and took control of Little Rock on 10 September 1863, forcing the state government to relocate to Washington in Hempstead County during the occupation. By late 1863, Confederates were forced into southwestern Arkansas, leaving most of Arkansas under Union control with subsequent raiding and plundering by Union troops.
One of the many campaigns and skirmishes fought on Arkansas soil was at Pea Ridge in Benton County in 1862. Among later ones were those at Fort Smith, Little Rock, Prairie Grove, and Pine Bluff.
During the strife, some families moved and others sent their sons to Texas to avoid the difficulties. Some families from northwestern Arkansas migrated north into Missouri and Illinois to escape the conflict. Others moved west to Kansas and as far north as Minnesota. After the close of the war, Arkansas tried to attract European immigrants. Some settled on the rich land located between the Arkansas and White rivers. The development of railroads in the last quarter of the nineteenth century encouraged more foreign-born immigration. Immigration continued into the twentieth century, but the population remained predominantly rural, with an economy reliant on cotton, until after World War II. African Americans, many with ancestors who have been part of Arkansas history from the territorial period, make up about one-fifth of the population. | <urn:uuid:090e5056-472a-42b5-bf35-7cc06bbbe948> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ancestry.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=History_of_Arkansas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97358 | 1,465 | 3.890625 | 4 |
Birthday: Thursday, April 26, 2012
This egg has several bony spikes protruding from it, and its shell is extremely hard.
One of the more fierce looking companions at The Keep, ankylocrocs are large predators from the bayous and river deltas. They never wander far from the coast of the Jungles of Raza. Most of their days are spent in the water, remaining perfectly still for hours on end. Their armored backs can look much like small islands, especially when covered with grasses and mud. This camoflage tricks numerous bayou birds that try to use them as convenient landing spots. If prey comes near, ankylocrocs will snap at it with powerful jaws. If they catch their meal, the ankylocroc will pull it under the murky water and devour it. On land, ankylocrocs are not very fast, moving in a manner that could be described as waddling. Still, anyone traveling to the jungle knows not to attract the attention of an ankylocroc. These creatures are tenacious; if a chosen victim escapes, ankylocrocs have been known to follow their prey for days until they can bring it down. Attempting to climb a tree or find terrain hard for the ankylocroc to move on is futile. Ankylocrocs have an unique power that isn’t quite understood by Magi yet. It is impossible for one of these creatures to lose its footing on even on the most slippery of surfaces, and they cannot be pushed over. The only exception to this skill is when ankylocrocs fight among themselves. Battles between two of these creatures are settled by them trying to throw each other down. Magi suspect this to be a kind of natural earth magic, and magi interested in such things usually have one of these companions. A common theory is that ankylocrocs developed this skill because it aids them in traversing the swampy grounds of their home. | <urn:uuid:13c88b86-390c-41c2-8d77-e121a25e07d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://magistream.com/creature/5132410 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958919 | 411 | 1.804688 | 2 |
MANAGEMENT OF NUTRIENTS FROM BEEF FEEDLOTS TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT
Location: Environmental Management Research
Title: Development of a graphical web-based heat stress forecast for feedlot cattle
Submitted to: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 9, 2008
Publication Date: July 7, 2008
Citation: Eigenberg, R.A., Brown Brandl, T.M., Nienaber, J.A. 2008. Development of a graphical web-based heat stress forecast for feedlot cattle. Amer. Soc. of Agric. and Biol. Eng. Paper No. 083887. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
Interpretive Summary: Weather conditions in the summer can lead to heat stress in cattle raised in outdoor pens. Cattle producers were able to receive livestock weather alerts from various media sources until that service was discontinued in the early 1990’s. To fill this need, a website was developed that provides producers access to forecast maps that show predicted heat stress for cattle, up to seven days in advance. The forecast maps combine predicted temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind speed to depict anticipated heat intensity as a color-coded map. Additionally, the website provides information about detecting heat stress, risk factors for cattle, and steps to take before or during a heat event. This new website helps cattle producers anticipate heat stress events so they can take action to reduce their impact.
Until the mid 1990’s, livestock producers had access to National Weather Service (NWS) livestock weather warnings through local news outlets. The heat stress warnings were forecasts based on predicted temperature and humidity values (temperature humidity index – THI). After this service was discontinued producers were left to interpret weather data on their own. To fill this need, livestock weather warnings (based on THI) were made available through several university web sites. However, THI is limited because it does not account for the effects of sun intensity or wind speed.
Recent research conducted at USMARC (US Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, NE) resulted in a physiological-based model to predict level of feedlot cattle heat stress based on four weather parameters: 1) temperature, 2) humidity, 3) sun intensity, and 4) wind speed. This new index uses weather forecast information, available from the National Weather Service, to predict the intensity of summer heat events for the Central Plains region (South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Western Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Northern Texas) of the United States, up to a week in advance. The prediction equation in combination with the NWS weather data is displayed as a color-coded livestock stress map with four stress categories (Normal, Alert, Danger, and Emergency) depicted across the Central Plains region. The graphical display has been available on the USMARC website since June, 2007. The result of this work provides guidance in management decisions for cattle feeding operators. This paper describes the development and content of that web page. | <urn:uuid:0ce0ba1b-1798-4722-80f8-86ec4329b4ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=226067 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912506 | 641 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Obama pledges major funding increase for HIV/AIDS treatment
Monday, December 05, 2011 at 6:41 am
President Obama announced last week that $50 million in additional funds will be going toward treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
Obama said during “The Beginning of the End of AIDS,” an online conference organized by ONE International, “a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa”:
Today, I’m announcing some new commitments. We’re committing an additional $15 million for the Ryan White program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country. Let’s keep their doors open so they can keep saving lives. And we’re committing an additional $35 million for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. Now, the federal government can’t do this alone. So I’m also calling on state governments, pharmaceutical companies, and private foundations, to do their part to help Americans get access to all the life-saving treatments.
ADAP provides life saving medications for the treatment of HIV and AIDS for people who cannot afford to pay because they are unemployed, uninsured or underinsured. States have implemented a variety of cost containment measures that include waiting lists since 2010, when ADAPs began facing an ongoing funding crisis.
“With bipartisan support, we reauthorized the Ryan White CARE Act,” Obama said today. “And, as I signed that bill, I was so proud to also announce that my Administration was ending the ban that prohibited people with HIV from entering America. Because of that step, next year, for the first time in two decades, we will host the International AIDS conference. So we’ve done a lot over the past three years.”
The president added: “We know that treatment is also prevention. And today we’re setting a new target of helping six million people get on treatment by the end of 2013. That’s two million more people than our original goal.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vital Signs November report issued this week indicates that in the U.S. alone “about 1.2 million people are living with HIV” and “about 240,000 don’t know they are infected.”
Vital Signs adds that “each year, about 50,000 people get infected with HIV in the US. Getting an HIV test is the first step to finding out if you have HIV and getting medical care.”
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, approved in 2010, highlights among other measures the need for increasing access to treatment and focusing on HIV prevention programs.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., spoke at the ONE conference panel, saying HIV/AIDS “is a good example of how government can work with other institutions in society and around the world to be a positive difference maker.”
Rubio added Democrats and Republicans agree that “the U.S. was a great country in the 2oth century” and “some of the debate that’s happening now is whether the United States will remain a great country in the 21st century.”
The senator acknowledged that “we need to recognize that there are still thousands of people in the United States on waiting lists to receive medication, certainly in my home state of Florida that is the case.”
Rubio concluded that the “economy will be even tougher if people around the world are dying, can’t enter the workforce and can’t be our business partners in economic trade and development.”
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., founding co-chair of the first ever congressional HIV/AIDS caucus, highlighted today the need to increase HIV testing at the domestic level, adding, “We need a domestic PEPFAR; that’s what we are working on.”
PEPFAR, the United States President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, was created to “help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world.”
Photo: President Barack Obama (Flickr/The White House) | <urn:uuid:1ed432c3-038e-4ff3-ac13-22d01951e435> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coloradoindependent.com/107111/obama-pledges-major-funding-increase-for-hivaids-treatment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952708 | 874 | 1.578125 | 2 |
How to make a Sensory Bottle
Cathy James, author of the wonderful NurtureStore (a blog packed full of play ideas, kids’ crafts and fun activities) and a member of our Parent Panel, shows us how easy it is to make a variety of simple sensory bottles, perfect for encouraging babies to develop their senses.
Babies and toddlers are such sensory creatures, learning about the world through what they see, hear and touch. It’s beneficial to their development, and fun for them too, to offer lots interesting toys for them to explore. These toys don’t have to be expensive and in fact it’s easy to make some sensory toys yourself. How about making a sensory bottle for your child? You can use some materials you have at home and make a variety of them to give your baby lots of different play experiences
How to make a sensory bottle
Your bottle needs two types fillings: a base material and then some added extras. Pick ingredients that will give your child something interesting to look for or listen to.
For the base material you could use water, perhaps with some added food colouring, rice, small pieces of pasta, oil, lentils or oats. These materials keep some of the added ingredients hidden, so your baby can roll the bottle round to hunt for more.
To make a lavalamp style sensory bottle use a mixture of half oil and half water. Add some food colouring to the water for extra effect.
To make a sound sensory bottle use ingredients that rattle and roll around. You could take a few small bottles and fill one with rice, one with pasta and one with salt and let your baby play with them and discover how they each sound different.
To make an I-spy sensory bottle you can add in an assortment of small objects so when your baby rolls the bottle around there are hidden treasures to discover. This type of sensory bottle works well when filled with rice or lentils and you can add in pom poms, beads, glitter, small toys, pebbles and shells.
You’ll need to make sure your bottle is securely fastened so there’s no chance of your baby undoing the lid and getting hold of the small items inside. You could put a layer of super glue on the inside of the bottle cap before you fasten it. This can hold it in place and as the glue is inside your baby won’t be in contact with it if they put the bottle in their mouth.
The bottles are really easy to transport, so you can pop one in your bag or the bottom of your buggy for some sensory play on the go. Of course you’ll always supervise your baby as they play, and the bottles give you lots of interesting things to look for and chat about together.
Did you ever make a sensory bottle for your baby? What did you put inside yours? | <urn:uuid:ca97a27f-1265-4b77-b1ba-63b5899e7e58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bornfreemumanddad.co.uk/2012/03/29/how-to-make-a-sensory-bottle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94927 | 599 | 2.390625 | 2 |
14/10/2010 | by Alex Dick-Read
A state of emergency has been declared in Hawaii’s Big Island as residents prepare for Hurricane Flossie which is due to bring high winds and heavy rain.
All 56 public schools, as well as private schools, have been closed and the authorities have told islanders to stock up on food and water supplies.
Forecasters expect the storm to be just 100 miles (160km) from the islands and the eye of the hurricane could pass relatively close to Big Island later on Tuesday.
On Monday, an earthquake hit Big Island although there was little damage and no reported injuries.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has signed an emergency proclamation activating the National Guard.
It is thought that the Category Three storm will bring gusts of 110mph (177km per hour) and cause up to 15 inches of rain to fall. There are also fears of flash flooding.
The Big Island has a population of 150,000 people who live mainly away from the south which is expected to be hardest hit by the hurricane. Other islands are expected to get less wind and rain.
The last time Hawaii was visited by a hurricane was in 1992 when the island of Kauai was struck. Six people died and $2.5bn (£1.25bn) worth of damage was caused. | <urn:uuid:fd00ff08-7378-4ff7-b831-9c155bdab04e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://surferspath.mpora.com/news/travel-warnings/hurricane-to-hit-hawaiian-island.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982415 | 272 | 2.5 | 2 |
Four Rivers Heritage Area
Anne Arundel County
More than three centuries of history, cultural development, and economic enterprise can be traced through the many and diverse sites within Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County. Four Rivers describes both the environment fashioned by the Severn, South, Rhode, and West Rivers, and the cultural landscape that has been created over time. Exemplifying Maryland’s rich historic, cultural and natural legacy, Four Rivers encompasses a wealth of resources of local, state, national, and international significance. These range from the well preserved baroque city plan and historic buildings of Annapolis, Maryland’s capital city and home of the United States Naval Academy and the Maryland State House, to the “lost town” of London Town and the pastoral landscapes, historic sites and tiny watermen’s villages of South County.
Since its certification as one of the first Maryland state heritage areas (there are currently 11 certified and 2 recognized Maryland state heritage areas), ALTSCHA has brought into the community more than $1.9 million in fully-matched grants and one low interest business loan for heritage-related capital and non-capital projects, leveraging total project costs of nearly $6.5 million. City and county grant support to ALTSCHA has been matched at the state level, further leveraging local investment in ALTSCHA's programs and operation. ALTSCHA is the only entity through which nonprofit and for-profit heritage related organizations in this region are eligible for matching grants and loans through the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority program.
As a partnership among the State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Town of Highland Beach, and historic sites, heritage organizations, and businesses, Four Rivers Heritage Area pursues the following goals:
- Stimulate economic development through heritage tourism.
- Preserve, protect, strengthen and promote the natural, historic and cultural resources of the heritage area.
- Develop and nurture educational and recreational experiences for visitors and residents.
- Become a model for heritage area organizational effectiveness and leverage.
- Actively support and connect the area’s heritage and cultural institutions and organizations, businesses, and government agencies to forge an interdependent, thriving and sustainable community.
Nestled along 400 miles of waterfront, Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County stretches from Sandy Point State Park at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge through southern Anne Arundel County to Rose Haven at the Calvert County line. Framed by the Chesapeake Bay to the east, the heritage area’s western boundary is Route 2/Solomon Islands Road.
The Annapolis, London Town & South County Heritage Area (ALTSCHA, Inc.) was certified by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority in 2001; approved & authorized by Anne Arundel County in October 2000; added to the County General Development Plan in June 2001; added to the Annapolis Comprehensive Plan by City Council in July 2001; and incorporated as 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2003. Upon certification in 2001, ALTSCHA's management entity, the Coordinating Council, consisted of nineteen representatives of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, and area heritage and tourism organizations and businesses. In 2005, ALTSCHA revised its bylaws and created a new nonprofit Board of Directors in order to better pursue its mission. ALTSCHA’s Coordinating Council remains in a crucial advisory role and meets quarterly. ALTSCHA staff consists of a full time Executive Director and a part time Heritage Programs Coordinator. The activities of the Board, Council and staff actively promote regional cooperation, heritage tourism development, and resource preservation in accordance with the state, county and city approved Management Plan.
Preparation of a management plan approved by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority is a requirement for becoming a Maryland “Certified” Heritage Area. The approved Management Plan includes information on the boundaries of the Certified Heritage Area and “Target Investment Zones,” and presents the heritage area’s vision and goals and the strategies, projects, programs, actions, and partnerships that are being implemented to accomplish them.
Click here to view the management plan.
Dr. Carol Benson, Executive Director
Annapolis, London Town, and South County Heritage Area, Inc.
Arundel Center, P.O. Box 2700
44 Calvert Street, MS 1106
Annapolis, MD 21401-1930
This page updated: May 26, 2009
- Anacostia Trails Heritage Area
- Baltimore City Heritage Area
- Canal Place Heritage Area
- Four Rivers Heritage Area
- Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area
- Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area
- Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Area
- Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway
- Montgomery County Heritage Area
- Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage Area
- Southern Maryland Heritage Area
- Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area
- Maryland Office of Tourism Development
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- National Heritage Areas Program (NPS)
- National Alliance of Heritage Areas | <urn:uuid:006d6d2f-26f2-4fbb-a0f4-0d29c8df0fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mht.maryland.gov/heritageareas_fourrivers.html | 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 | 0.902309 | 1,058 | 2.25 | 2 |
India is an attractive coffee origin on several counts. India coffees all are grown in shade, often two tiers of shade, and are frequently intercropped with spices, particularly cardamom, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. Indias often pick up intriguing aromatics from these crops, probably from having been stored and handled around them.
The large farms or estates on which India coffees are grown are organized along traditional lines with considerable sensitivity to environmental issues. Medium growing altitudes (2,000 to 4,500 feet) mean India specialty coffees are balanced, sweet, and moderate in acidity, virtues that American specialty consumers often favor. And a virtue that coffee writers in particular appreciate is the articulate and informed leadership of two individuals who interface between India coffees and the American market: Joseph John of Josuma Coffee, the leading North American importer of India coffees, and Sunalini Menon, India's leading cupper and a vigorous spokeswoman for the India specialty coffee farmers.
On the other hand, India coffees suffer certain limitations. Moderate growing altitudes mean moderate acidity in the cup and a sometimes listless, inert profile. Disease-resistant hybrid varieties whose heritage includes a touch of flavor-suspect species robusta and liberica also may contribute to the sweet but monotoned India profile. The scourge of India coffees, the rust disease, doomed Old Chik, the original strain of arabica coffee brought to India around 1600 by legendary coffee pilgrim Baba Budan, and little of the celebrated early 20th century hybrid var. Kent has survived.
India Coffee's Virtues Tested
Nevertheless, we can expect certain virtues from a fine India wet-processed coffee: smooth, sweet, low key but resonant, often with suggestions of spice and other exotic innuendoes.
This month's cupping puts that expectation to the test with thirteen estate-grown India coffees. All are from the most respected growing districts of southern India and grown at altitudes averaging around 4,000 feet. All are wet-processed, meaning the fruit was removed immediately after picking. Most have been wet-processed by traditional methods, meaning the sticky fruit flesh was loosened by natural fermentation before the beans were washed by hand. (Two samples were prepared by mechanical demucilaging, meaning the fruit flesh was scrubbed off the beans by machine, an approach that some of us suspect produces a less complex cup than traditional ferment-and-wash methods.) Most come from trees of the recently developed hybrid S795 (the "S" stands for "Selection"), a cross between the admired hybrid variety Kent and a second hybrid that has a little of the taste-suspect Liberica species in its makeup. Two samples, however, were produced from trees of the original Kent variety.
When They Were Good They Were Sultry
When these coffees were good they were good as expected: sweet, round, resonant, and nuanced with sultry little whispers of spice and aromatic woods.
When they were not good, they were not good for more surprising reasons. I would have expected some of these Indias to attract lower ratings simply because they taste a bit flat or inert. But the problem was more complex: Several of the samples hinted at processing defects, taste taints that come from either too much unripe fruit (grassiness, astringency), fermented sugars, or mustiness (invasion of micro-organisms during drying or storage).
In one case, the Betta Crown Blue Pearl, the taints were overwhelming, turning the coffee virtually undrinkable. In the other cases, the defects were subtle and hardly noticeable except in the aroma and as the cup cooled. Nevertheless, these shadow defects, combined with a generally rather low-key cup, apparently doomed most of these Indias to rather low ratings.
Too low, in my opinion. I felt that several of these coffees were deserving of considerably higher ratings than they received here. Their ratings also may have suffered from the tendency of American cuppers to hold to a single kind of coffee ideal -- the boldly acidy, high-toned profiles of high-grown Central America and Kenya coffees. Virtues like resonant sweetness and luxurious fruit may attract American coffee consumers, but apparently fail to impress professionals.
Teetering on Taint
Nevertheless, these Indias were a touch disappointing even when held against the India ideal I sketched earlier. The intriguing spice notes were largely missing, to be replaced by more ambiguous tones teetering on taint.
It may be that these weaknesses were exacerbated by the age of the samples. All were from coffees picked and processed nine or ten months ago. In those months some of the subtler aromatics may have faded, to be replaced by baggy mustiness.
In one case, the panel was cupping coffee from the same trees and the same farm (the highest-rated Balanoor Estates and the considerably lower-rated India Mysore Plantation A var. Kent). In the case of the latter coffee, some panelists complained of a slight taint that lowered their assessment of the sample. I have to assume that these two lots of the same coffee were handled differently, processed at separate times perhaps, or stored differently.
Value and Promise
Nevertheless, I, for one, felt value and promise in these coffees. The Badra Estate sample was splendid when hot, shimmering with East-Africa-style fruit and flowers; the smooth, sweet Bababudangiri would make a fine contribution to an espresso blend in the subtle Italian mode; both the Honnamatti Estate and Balanoor Plantations are worthy of presentation as distinctive India single origins. If American cuppers could stretch their expectations a bit toward the full, sweet end of the sensory spectrum and Indian farmers tighten up their processing a bit, we might find more soft, spicy Indias on the American specialty menu. | <urn:uuid:3010337a-1e84-4ded-93af-509534f9319e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coffeereview.com/article.cfm?ID=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966406 | 1,223 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Institute will use documentary filmmaking to illuminate environmental issues
Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., is creating the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, which will combine art, media and environmental sciences as part of its research and studies.Redford appeared at the Los Angeles Press Club in Hollywood on Monday to announce the launch of the new conservancy, which is being funded via a gift from Susan and Nicholas Pritzker. The conservancy will be based at a former infirmary on 11.88 acres on the Pitzer campus, with the building repurposed and renovated with sustainable construction methods. The first academic programming will take place in fall 2014. Redford serves as a special adviser to Pitzer president Laura Skandera Trombley, who said that documentary filmmaking will be emphasized as a way for students to communicate about environmental issues. The institute will work to shape policies on water and energy use, health, air and food quality and transportation alternatives. The actor and activist recalled growing up just east of Santa Monica in a landscape of communities surrounded by green spaces, only to see the area transform into the sprawling, never-ending city that he compared to a “giant machine made up of buildings and concrete and pavement.” “It no longer felt like home,” he said. He said that with the conservancy, he was “really excited about the idea that, before it is too late for Los Angeles, there is something that can be set aside or set up that would not only honor what was, and what could still be, but also could honor the younger people coming in to the world.” He called the most recent election “pretty scary,” but even though “we got through it the way we did,” “that doesn’t mean it is the end. That doesn’t mean we quit and go home. It is really kind of a beginning,” he said, pointing to the influence of women and younger voters. | <urn:uuid:435fd606-0973-4fce-927c-f8f6ed62d4cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://variety.com/2012/film/news/robert-redford-lends-name-to-pitzer-college-conservancy-1118062409/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972015 | 414 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Proponents of network neutrality suffered a setback yesterday as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted down Rep. Ed Markey's (D-MA) proposed amendment to the new telecoms legislation being written by Congress. Markey's amendment would have made it illegal for ISPs to create a multi-tiered Internet, but the amendment was rejected 34 to 22, largely along party lines.
Net neutrality discussions tend to get passionate, because supporters of the non-discrimination principle believe that it is central to the success and utility of the Internet. This is what led to groups like the ACLU (PDF), AARP, religious broadcasters, the Gun Owners of America, and others to support the Markey amendment. Internet companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Amazon are fighting the same battle, largely because a tiered Internet could cost them massive amounts of money if they want to ensure fast connections to their users. Not surprisingly, network owners think that a tiered Internet is a great idea.
Markey was disappointed after the vote and made a brief statement about the potential effects that the new legislation could have.
The telecom bill, which prohibits the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from making new net neutrality rules, will "put at grave risk the Internet as an engine of innovation, job creation and economic growth," Markey said. "This will stifle openness, endanger our global competitiveness, and warp the Web into a tiered Internet of bandwidth haves and have-nots."
As Markey mentioned, the new bill currently prevents the FCC from setting rules for network neutrality, but the bill does contain some provisions designed to protect consumers. Chief among these is a requirement that ISPs not block access to legal websites or services (such as VoIP), and the FCC is allowed to take action if this happens.
The full bill cleared the committee yesterday and now goes on to the full House for a vote. Attention has now switched to the Senate, where a Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation could come up with a bill of its own that might be more friendly to net neutrality. The Internet companies are at a disadvantage in Washington, though, since they are relative newcomers to the lobbying game, while lobbyists for the cable and telecoms industries are well-funded and experienced.
Whatever happens, the Internet is not about to end, as some of the more hysterical scenarios would have it. The death of network neutrality could pose a legitimate danger to innovative start-ups, however, as these companies may not have the resources of the more established players and will not be able to pay all the major network operators in order to guarantee quick delivery of their content. | <urn:uuid:3c54fb5d-9807-4b49-b1ff-6fb1187066e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/04/6689-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964298 | 538 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Unlike mosquitoes and ticks there are no confirmed cases of bedbugs spreading disease from one human to another.
Bed bugs are usually associated with dirty conditions, however recently they have become a problem in the UK where increased travel to warmer areas has allowed them to be carried back into centrally heated houses and hotels.
The bugs have a distinct and unpleasant odour that is probably a defence mechanism. The refuges where bed bugs hide away will acquire this unpleasant odour rapidly.
White oval eggs are laid in crevices and cracks, several are usually found together. The eggs hatch to produce nymphs. There are five instars before the adult stage and generally a blood feed is required during each instar. The nymphs and adults are shield shaped and red-brown to brown in colour, 4-6mm in length in the adult. Females are long lived and if the temperature is favourable and they can obtain blood meals every three to four days, they can lay 3-4 eggs a day for up to six months.
Populations can build up rapidly, starved bugs can survive for long periods and the average length of life for an adult is about one year. At temperatures from 13-15 degrees, development and activity will continue throughout the year. Below 13 degrees, development is arrested and the bugs go into an arrested state until the temperature increases.
Signs of bedbugs:
Adult bedbugs are roughly apple pip size and may vary in colour. When fed they may appear red/ purple whilst hungry ones may appear opaque. Adults can be found in sockets, cracks and crevices, on curtains and along skirting boards or carpet edges.
Bedbugs are nocturnal creatures and will feed when humans are asleep at night. The bites will be red, slightly swollen, itchy and may appear in clusters.
Bedbugs deposit their faeces after every meal. This will appear as dark brown stains on bedding especially round the edges of mattresses and bed frames where they are mainly found. This will be more pronounced with heavier infestations.
Spots of blood may be found in bedding and is caused by bed bugs feeding or from crushing the insect.
To prevent an infestation:
Store any suitcases and bags off the ground and away from your bed when staying at a hotel in the UK or abroad.
When buying second hand furniture thoroughly inspect it for insects within the seams, crevices and cracks.
Vacuuming mattresses and material areas will help reduce the number of insects and eggs. The bed frame and any bedroom furniture must be moved away from the walls and the whole room vacuumed. Ensure the vacuum contents are put in your outside bin.
Bedbugs are very difficult to eradicate, especially where high levels of infestation exist. Treatments often have to be tried and varied to ensure success.
Both Fendona and Tenopa have low toxicity to humans and domestic animals.
With severe infestations it is not always possible to guarantee that there will not be further bites from bed bugs. Adults and nymphs may emerge after treatment and succeed in biting the occupants before succumbing to the insecticide. In sensitive areas such as hospital wards and hotel rooms, it may be worth considering leaving the treated room unoccupied for 2-3 nights to ensure that any emerging bugs are killed and do not bite the occupants.
New control methods are being tested all the time, including sealed bags around mattresses, new insectides and even treatment with temperature manipulation.
We do not recommend that you try and treat an infestation yourself; instead you should seek a professional pest control service.
The biscuit beetle is found worldwide and is common throughout the UK. It is found in shops and domestic larders infesting a wide variety of food stuffs such as flour, bread, breakfast cereals and other cereal products, beverage concentrates, spices, biscuits, packet soups and drinks.
The larvae will live for two to five months where they will continue to grow and moult. Once they have reached a full grown length of 5mm, they construct a cocoon around them. This stage typically lasts between three and five weeks. On emerging, the adult beetles disperse and live without feeding for up to eight weeks. Mating takes place soon after the adult has emerged and the female will then lay her eggs before she dies.
If you intend to carry out your own treatment, read the label of the insecticide container before you buy it to ensure it is suitable for ‘crawling insects’ ideally one that specifies biscuit beetles. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully when applying insecticide so that you do not cause harm to yourself, contaminate food, or damage your furnishings.
There are several types of carpet beetle in the UK. The most common types are the varied carpet beetle and the furniture carpet beetle. In both types, the adults are normally between 4-5mm in size, and have a series of dense tufts of bristles and hair located on each side of the rear end of the body. These bristles give rise to their common name of ‘woolly bears’.
The female carpet beetle usually lays 40 eggs which take just over two weeks to hatch. The larvae will live and feed for a period of 7-10 months. Following this, the larvae then turns to pupa and an adult beetle will emerge approximately one month later. Adults, however, will normally only live for a period of 2-6 weeks. Adults can fly and may be found in windowsills and they are attracted to daylight.
Carpet beetles thrive in conditions where they remain undisturbed, for example, beneath carpets, skirting boards and in wardrobes. However, they do not present significant health hazards. In some cases, larval hairs can cause skin irritations to those exposed to large numbers.
The wandering habits of these insects mean they frequently infest wide areas, making them difficult to control. To begin with, the source of the infestation must be traced. This could be found in old nests, animal remains, wool based lagging, soundproofing, wool based furnishings, or debris that has accumulated between floorboards. All sources of infestation should be removed and burnt where possible.
Insecticide treatment is vital where infestations are large. This will ensure that all larvae are killed. Check DIY stores for ‘crawling insect’ aerosols and powders. We cannot recommend brands or suppliers. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and safety precautions. It is recommended that you test small areas of carpets and valuable furnishings to ensure that the chemical does not damage or stain them.
Cockroaches are insects that range in size from 10-23mm in length. They have long whip-like antennae and two pairs of wings. The two most commonly found species are the Oriental Cockroach and the German Cockroach.
Cockroaches are an ancient insect species that have always lived amongst humans. They are considered a public health hazard as they are omnivorous and feed on virtually anything.
Their feeding behaviour can result in cockroaches feeding in drains and waste storage areas. Diseases can then be picked up and transferred onto food products and surfaces.
Infestations are often the result of broken drains or building defects. Cockroaches can even be transferred between locations, for example by eggs or adults being within products purchased from infected shops.
They carry bacteria which can then be responsible for gastroenteritis, dysentery and typhoid. They can also cause allergic reactions for some people, including asthmatics.
Cockroaches hide during the daytime and are nocturnal. In the event of a severe infestation, they may be seen at anytime but usually spend the day hiding in cracks and around drains and service ducting. They can be found in premises where food is stored or handled.
If you suspect you have an infestation, watch for insects scuttling away to hide when you enter at night. Also you can use a torch to check behind units, refrigerators and cookers to look for cockroaches. Also look for faecal matter and redundant egg cases.
They are approximately 1.7cm long with a tapering abdomen.
Each female will produce 4 to 8 egg capsules in her lifetime and each capsule will contain 30 to 40 eggs.
Infestations will be found in areas of high humidity and near food e.g. in kitchens behind fridges, skirting boards, around cookers and in cupboards.
Untidy and unclean living conditions will attract cockroaches.
A sweet smell may occur in large infestations.
Oriental cockroaches are a very dark brown or shiny black and are approximately 2.5 cm long.
Each female will produce an average of 8 egg capsules and each will contain 16 eggs.
Oriental cockroaches prefer spaces where they can crawl around like basements, cellars, drains and other moist areas.
They can tolerate lower temperatures than German cockroaches so they can be found in drains, bins and waste areas.
The following suggestions may also help:
Professional Pest Control Officers usually place monitor traps (sticky boards) to assess infestation. Once an infested area is identified, it will be treated with an insectidal spray, where necessary around the boundary of the rooms, at the junction between floors and walls, behind equipment and in vents and ducting. The treated area is left undisturbed for as long as possible and a re-treatment is usually applied to kill any new nymphs as they emerge from their eggs.
Monitor traps may continue to be used to further assess treatment.
The dust mite lives for around 3-4 months and produces twenty droppings a day, approximately 2000 during it’s lifespan which it can eat up to three times over.
The female lays her eggs amongst the fibres of mattresses, blankets and carpets. The larvae hatches after a few days and feeds before moulting into the nymphal stage again. The number of these processes vary between the species but throughout the period the mite feeds on dead human skin scales and hair.
Females lay between 60 and 100 eggs, dependent on their living conditions.
Very high standards of cleanliness have proved to have suppressed mites but not eliminate them.
Other species have been found in cereal-based meals, dried and tanned animal hides, mattresses and other domestic furniture.
A large number of people have been found to be allergic to house dust, the main cause being house dust mites, their bodies or their faecal excretions.
Infestations can spread quickly especially as a female can lay up to 50 eggs a day. Most eggs will fall off the pet and hatch wherever they are in the house, usually where the pet sleeps, Only a small number of the flea population in a house will be on the animal at any given time.
Flea eggs can remain dormant for long periods of time but will be stimulated by vibration and heat. When this happens an adult flea will emerge and seek food. This is why people can experience flea bites when they move into a property that has been vacant for a while.
The adult flea is 2-7mm long and brownish in colour. Their bodies are compressed from side to side enabling them to move quickly and they have relatively large hind limbs from jumping. The three most common species are:
The eggs hatch in about one week into white threadlike larvae. The larvae thrive in dark, humid places such as carpets and animal bedding.
After two or three weeks, when they are fully grown, the larvae spin into a cocoon and pupate. The adults usually emerge within seven weeks but can remain as pupae throughout the winter, only emerging when triggered by the movement of a suitable host. The complete life cycle will normally last four weeks but may take longer at low temperatures.
Pets scratching more than usual and on close examination you find fleas or small black flecks which is the faeces of the fleas.
Sightings of fleas - you may see them on yourself, in your home or on your pets.
Vacuum living areas including furniture on a regular basis and areas where pets sleep, ensuring you tip any vacuum contents into your outside bin.
To prevent an infestation, ensure pets are treated regularly for fleas. On Spot is a treatment provided by vets. Once applied to animals skin it will provide protection from fleas and other pests for up to two months. A vet should be consulted for the correct treatment of your animal.
Wash bedding and animal bedding in a hot wash regularly.
If you do find an infestation, you may be able to get rid of it yourself using special insecticide either from your local DIY shop or vet. The insecticide is usually an aerosol.
Keep floor space clear, to allow for thorough and effective treatment.
Vacuum all affected areas thoroughly (including cracks, crevices and the edge of carpets) and dispose of the contents into your outside bin, This will help stimulate any eggs/ fleas and help the treatment work better.
When using insecticide always refer to the product instructions prior to use and follow at all times. Ensure that all animals allowed into your home are treated.
Spray floors, carpets and underneath furniture. You should never spray anything that comes into direct contact with human skin, e.g. bedding and seating. Spray from the corner first and cover all the carpet evenly.
After spraying, do not vacuum for ten days, or more, if possible. This will allow the insecticide to continue working on any hatching eggs or remaining fleas.
If you require professional help, Pest Control contractors will treat your premises with an insecticidal spray which would then be left undisturbed for eight to ten days.
Usually, if you find you have a problem with flour beetles, the solution is straightforward: find the food that has the problem and discard it, then thoroughly clean the area and protect other foods
Rust-red flour beetle - Adult elongate 2.3- 4.4mm in length; colour, reddish-brown; antennae with distinct, 3-segmented club at tip; no ridge present above each eye.
Dark flour beetle - Adult elongate, 4.5 -5.75mm long; colour, black or very brown.
Small-eyed flour beetle - Adult elongate, 2.4 – 3mm long; eyes small and round; antennae with no well marked club
Long-headed flour beetle - Adult elongate, 2.75 – 3mm long; colour pale yellow; antennae with compact 5-segmented club
Broad-horned flour beetle - Adult elongate, 3.5 – 4.9mm long, male with conspicuously enlarged, toothless mandibles, broader at the base than near the apex
Slender-horned flour beetle - Adult elongate, 3-4mm long; male with conspicuously enlarged toothless mandibles, slender and curved
Other products which may be effected are oil seed, oil cake, nuts, dried fruit, spices, chocolate and even bones and other animal products. The beetles are not cold hardy so they will only live in heated premises during the winter.
They are active insects that will seek cover if disturbed, and, because they are so small, can exploit the smallest crevice. They are particularly a problems in machinery and where cereal and other food residues accumulate.
When present in large numbers, flour beetles will:
Maybugs gather on the tops of buildings and in undisturbed ground and enter through open windows, doors or down chimneys.
Individual insects can be killed with insect sprays, but if large numbers are present, it may be necessary to use chemical or biological sprays i.e. insecticides to kill the larvae or to remove them by hand. Foraging birds and other diseases may decrease the population, but not as significantly. For chemical and biological sprays, ask at your local garden centre or a pesticide stockist.
To stop maybugs entering your home, cover all windows, doors and chimneys will a fine mesh or material.
They can be purchased at most pet stores and bait shops, and are available at garden centres, pet shops or on the internet. Mealworms typically eat various types of vegetation or dead insects.
In the household, they are attracted to cereals, flour and grain. To destroy an infestation, you must hoover out the area, bake the infested grains in the oven to destroy all stages of the larvae and then dispose of it in the rubbish bin. You may also want to spray an insecticide around the perimeter of your property to stop any further infestations and renew on a regular basis.
To prevent or get rid of the psocids; remove the affected food immediately and dispose of it in an outside dustbin, check everything else in the cupboard removing anything that may contain them particularly flour and other dried goods. Food in cans and bottles will still be all right but do check them for any insects that may be hiding (including under labels). Clean out all dust and crumbs from the cupboard effectively, making sure the cupboard is completely dry. Any objects you suspect may contain psocids or their eggs, which you do not want to throw away, can be placed in a sealed bag in a freezer for 24hrs, this will kill any psocids or their eggs.
Clean the cupboard thoroughly with water and suitable indoor insecticide and most, important, find the cause of the humidity and to cure it.
Signs that silverfish have fed on your belongings include notches, holes and scrapings with irregular shapes usually, seen as marks on wallpaper or yellow stains on your shirts, pants and any types of fabric.
The insects can be bought into your home in boxes, food and books.
To get rid of silverfish, you may need to use insecticides to treat silverfish bought from most hardware stores and to reduce the moisture levels in your home.
Woodworm are seasonal pests and from May to October each year, they can be seen exiting from flooring and roof timbers and can often be found near windows, windowsills or around loft hatches, as they are attracted to light.
Woodworm can cause serious damage to both internal & external timber as well as your home furnishings. If left untreated, they can seriously weaken timber leading to the eventual failure of the structure of a building.
If you spot any of the following signs you may have an active woodworm infestation:
If you think you may have a woodworm infestation, contact an authorised pest contractor for professional advice. If it is confined to a small area, it is possible to treat the problem with a chemical spray, found in DIY shops and garden centres, directly into the holes or to paint over untreated wood. | <urn:uuid:4ba47132-cd14-42c4-a8e3-eb03e0cce03d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/Services/PestsDogsRodents/Pests/Pages/BugsFoundInside.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951175 | 3,921 | 3.25 | 3 |
The Nelson Lab
Current Studies for Children/Adolescents
|Response to Changes in Facial Emotional Expression||Effects of Steroids on Memory & Brain Development|
Autism Research: We have ongoing participation opportunities for typically developing children in our autism research program. Click here to learn how you can help.
My daughter and I enjoyed our visit very much. She loved her gifts and talked about the experience the whole way home! And, today she is wearing her t-shirt to school to show the kids and her teachers. We were pleased to do the study and help in any way we can.
Christine, Mother of a Participant in the Other-Age Study | <urn:uuid:e068d910-608b-41c6-a5ab-7a02d2719786> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.childrenshospital.org/cfapps/research/data_admin/Site3098/mainpageS3098P11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93925 | 137 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Making Programmatic Accreditation or State Licensure a Requirement for Educational Study Programs
(DETROIT) – This afternoon, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) introduced the Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act. Currently, schools are eligible for three major federal financial aid programs totaling more than $160 billion even if they lack state licensing or programmatic accreditation for specific programs they offer(Title IV under the Department of Education, GI Bill under the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Tuition Assistance under the Department of Defense). The Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act will address this problemby making programmatic accreditation or state licensure a requirement for programs of study when such licensure or accreditation is needed for students to do the job they were prepared for by these programs. Specifically, the bill requires that programs offered by degree-granting institutions will be eligible for federal education dollars only if their graduates fully qualify to take any examination, be certified or licensed, or meet any other academically-related preconditions that are required for entry into the job market for which the degree is supposed to prepare them. For pre-accredited programs, the bill requires institutions to inform students about the lack of full accreditation, and about the effects on their financial aid, if such accreditation is delayed or denied. Rep. Conyers issued this statement following the introduction of the bill:
“Since the first G.I. Bill in 1944, federal educational financial aid programs, including student loans and Pell grants, have given generations of Americans the opportunity to pursue an education beyond high school, and obtain the skills and training needed to succeed in the economy,” said Conyers.
“Such aid has empowered millions of Americans who otherwise would not have been able to afford a postsecondary education and has helped build our nation’s middle class. However, with the rise of for-profit and non-accredited programs, serious concerns are being raised about the educational value that students are getting for their hard-earned benefits and financial aid. As a result, legislative action is urgently needed to ensure that such programs are not funding high-cost, low-quality programs that do not lead to successful outcomes and career opportunities for students and safeguard America’s federal investment in higher education.”
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement criticizing Speaker Boehner’s refusal to accept a balanced approach to avert the end-of-year automatic spending cuts and tax increases, as well as the Speaker’s decision to include Social Security benefit cuts in these discussions:
“Despite clear evidence that the American people support balancing the deficit by requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, Speaker Boehner announced a plan today that would allow millionaires to keep their tax cuts,” said Conyers.
“This so-called ‘Plan B’ is not a balanced approach to deficit reduction and it should be rejected.
“I resent that Speaker Boehner has chosen to put cuts to Social Security benefits for current and future retirees on the table as a way to resolve the budget crisis.
“The change in the way Social Security calculates yearly cost-of-living-adjustments, called ‘Chained CPI,’ would place an increased burden on elderly Americans - nearly 70 percent of whom rely on Social Security for more than half of their income and whose benefits average less than $15,000 per year. Under this proposed policy, benefits would be cut by 0.3 percent annually and would increase over time. As a result, the older and poorer a beneficiary becomes, the larger the benefit cut.
“The fact that Republicans would seriously consider cutting the current and future Social Security benefits of all Americans to benefit the wealthy few is unconscionable and unacceptable. We cannot ask our seniors and the most vulnerable to bear the burden of deficit reduction.
“If Congress were to pursue this unwise course of action, we would not only be embracing a deeply unpopular policy, but also ignoring the will of the American people. A recent poll by Hart Associates in the days before the November election found that an overwhelming 84 percent of Americans said they did not want their Social Security benefits cut. 104 House Democrats have also already stated their opposition to including Social Security in any deficit reduction package.
“Any debt deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits is unacceptable.”
(DETROIT) –Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement today in response to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut:
“Today, our hearts go out to the victims of the horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. We offer our condolences to their families,” said Conyers.
“The level of gun violence in this country is unacceptable. There have been too many tragedies: the shootings in Columbine and Virginia Tech, the shooting of citizens including Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson, the Sikh Temple shootings in Wisconsin, the movie theater shooting in Aurora, and now Newtown. And there is tragic gun violence on our streets every day. Every year, on average, almost 100,000 people in America are shot and killed with a firearm.
“In response to this wave of violence, which reaches far beyond this one tragic incident, we must commit ourselves to taking action to review and strengthen our national gun laws as we approach the beginning of a new year and a new Congress.“
The bills that Congressman Conyers has co-sponsored this Congress to protect the country from gun violence include measures to ban high capacity ammunition magazines, require background checks for all gun sales, and prohibit the transfer of multiple firearms to anyone who is prohibited by law from possessing guns or who intends to use the guns unlawfully.
(WASHINGTON) – Yesterday afternoon, the Republican Majority in the Michigan House of Representatives approved two pieces of legislation drastically limiting collective bargaining rights in the state. House Bill 4003, which was approved 58-51, instituted “right-to-work” for public sector unions. A companion bill, Senate Bill 116, applied the same “right-to-work” limitations to private sector unions. This legislation was approved 58-52. These bills also included an appropriation, which has the effect of immunizing these bills from being repealed via referendum at a later date. Late yesterday evening, Governor Rick Snyder signed both of these bills into law. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement in response:
“This past February, I witnessed Governor Snyder testify on Capitol Hill that so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation was not the best course for Michigan, and that the proposal was far too divisive. In less than a year, Governor Snyder has pulled a complete about-face,” said Conyers.
“I am appalled by the actions of Governor Snyder and the Republicans in the State Legislature, forcing through inflammatory legislation during the lame duck session. It is clear that they have ignored the lessons of Michigan’s history. Our state’s economy was built on a foundation of mutual respect between labor and business, not misguided Tea Party ideology that Governor Snyder has recently signed on to.
“The ‘right-to-work’ bills signed into law are an attack on the civil and human rights of the people of this great state and serve as an inspiration to we who believe in creating an economy that works for all. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us, as far back as 1961, the ‘right-to-work’ law, ‘is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.’”
(DETROIT) – Yesterday, Republican leadership in the Michigan State Legislature, alongside Governor Snyder, unexpectedly announced their support of right-to-work legislation. Later in the evening, the Republican controlled Michigan House of Representatives voted to approve the legislation 58-52 and the Republican controlled Michigan Senate passed a similar bill 22-16. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement in response:
“After promising to govern Michigan as a unifier, and even stating that so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation was not on his political agenda, Governor Snyder has gone back on his promises and turned his back on Michigan workers,” said Conyers.
“Michigan’s proud history was built by the working men and women of this state, and the labor movement has and continues to play a monumental role in building our middle class. Expanding the middle class to include an increasing number of families in Michigan will require a robust labor movement, not an embattled one.
“I strongly urge Governor Snyder to reject this divisive ‘right-to-work’ measure that was crammed through the State Legislature during the lame duck session. Working families in Michigan are counting on allies in their public officials, not adversaries.” | <urn:uuid:5a893c93-c8a1-4a05-89d2-b19a4accef6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://conyersinthehouse.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964274 | 1,867 | 1.804688 | 2 |
My entire life I have been sad and lonely. As the years have passed, I kept hoping that things would get better but they never did. I have too many problems and I don’t know how to deal with all of them.
My sister has autism and being the “normal” daughter, I feel my parent have greater expectations of me since they know that my sister will never be able to have the things every parent wants for their child.
I feel I’m not good enough. In spite of studying very hard, I didn’t get a good gpa in university. After graduation, because of the recession I was not able to find a job so my dad got me a job where he works. It’s been 2 years and I hate working there but I don’t think I can get another job. I gave a few interviews but it never worked out.
Because of my sister’s disability, my parent decided to isolate themselves from everyone. I grew up having no interactions with people other than teachers and classmates. As a result, I’m nervous around people and have never developed good friendships. I have no friends and no one to talk to other than my mom. I feel like my youth is passing me by and there’s nothing I can do to change my life. I want to fall in love and get married like everyone else but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
I feel utterly and completely helpless. Everyday I wake up, go to work, come home and relax for while and then go to bed. I feel tired of living and sometimes wish my life would just end. I will never act on this feeling because I know the impact it would have on my family. I don’t want to give up, I want a better life for myself but I don’t know how take the first step.
How can I turn my life around? What can I do to change things?
A. All of the issues with which you are struggling can be remedied with therapy. Your parents isolated themselves and this prohibited you from developing a healthy interaction style. The thought of interacting with others invokes nervousness and thus you avoid it.
As a child you had little say over what your parents did and did not do. They chose to isolate and unfortunately this negatively affected you but as an adult you can correct it. Dealing with nervousness, learning new patterns of interaction and so forth, are skills that can be learned. Therapy could greatly assist with the development of these skills.
As you stated, you feel completely helpless. You have tried all that you know to correct these issues but you have come to the point where you no longer know what to do. Mental health professionals specialize in teaching people the skills that you are interested in learning. It makes perfect sense that you would consider therapy at this point your life. It is the way to “turn your life around.” Please take care.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 25 Sep 2012
Randle, K. (2012). Sad and Lonely — Can I Change?. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 22, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2012/09/25/sad-and-lonely-can-i-change/ | <urn:uuid:87315592-3c80-407f-9638-c1ec31e2f3cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2012/09/25/sad-and-lonely-can-i-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976114 | 698 | 1.648438 | 2 |
I was recently involved in an online discussion about issues in various healthcare fields, leading one contributer to state that people who are prescribed pain medications have to cope with everyone treating them "like drug addicts." It got me thinking, what exactly is "being treated like a drug addict?"
Here are the implications of this comment, as I see them:
- If a drug is prescribed, the person taking the drug is not an "addict"
- People who take drugs that are not prescribed, and become addicted to them, are "addicts"
- People whose drugs are prescribed deserve better treatment than people who take drugs that are not prescribed to them
- People who are in the "drug addict" category are somehow at fault for what they are doing
- People who take prescribed drugs are not responsible for their drug use
- People who are in the "drug addict" category are treated badly by "everyone."
Bearing in mind I was thinking of these implications, I pointed out that drug addicts get "treated like drug addicts" too! I'm sure with the best of intentions, the contributor commented: "... I'm sure they all get treated like criminals, even
when they've done nothing wrong. It's sad that people see any drug use as
abuse, and any addiction as weakness or criminal activity."
I get the sense that somehow my point was missed. Many people take drugs. Many people are addicted to drugs, whether prescribed or not. Many people are addicted to other things. Many people, whether addicted or not, commit crimes.
None of these groupings, in and of themselves, provide any justification for better or worse treatment by the health care system or by anyone else. And our treatment of people with addictions should not be based on any perceived notions of right or wrong, excusable and inexcusable.
It's about time that "being treated like a drug addict" meant being treated with caring, compassion, and the exceptional patience that is needed to support someone with an addiction in finding their own path to healthy living -- whatever that means.
I'd love to read your comments! | <urn:uuid:e3e09e7b-99ca-47dc-9175-7ce64ca2be0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://addictions.about.com/b/2013/03/26/being-treated-like-a-drug-addict.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977053 | 432 | 2.25 | 2 |
High Performance Liquid Chromatography
HPLC, or High Performance Liquid Chromatography is used to separate out the components of a mixture in a way that they can be analysed and quantified. It is very useful when the sample consists of a mixture of different proteins or different sizes of molecule such as DNA. It is used extensively in both biochemistry, for analytical purposes, and chemistry, for the extraction of dyes or different chemical compounds.
HPLC has developed rapidly since its original inception in the 1920s. The first commercially available equipment was introduced in 1969. The technological advancements of the past fifty years mean that HPLC is the preferred method for separating a huge range of samples quickly and efficiently.
There are many reasons that a mixture would need to be separated by HPLC methods. It might be too complex for analysis via other methods. If there are a large number of compounds present, then separation of each compound by other methods might prove too costly or time-consuming. In other circumstances, the components could be too similar so that other methods would simply not have the sensitivity to separate out the different parts. Or, the analyte might be present in very small quantities and so HPLC would be the method of choice.
In the pharmaceutical industry, all aspects of drug discovery and development use HPLC as a major analytical tool. The effective use of robust HPLC methods is of paramount importance during all stages of compound identification, separation, analysis and production. It is vital in the separation of a host of unknown compounds from a myriad of new discoveries.
Separations are performed in steel or glass tubes which are called columns. These are tightly packed with very small particles of between 1-5microns. Highly specialised separations can also employ titanium columns packed with even smaller particles in the region of 0.2-0.5micron diameter. All the separation of compounds occurs here.
A pump is used to provide a constant flow of the mobile phase containing the mixture under examination. Pumps can pull the mobile phase at constant or variable speeds. They can also be used to mix different solvents or to control solvent delivery at different speeds and pressures. The mixture is injected into the stream of the mobile phase before it enters the column. Different solutes within the mixture travel at different speeds within the column and emerge at different rates where they are picked up by sensitive detectors.
HPLC is an elegant and sophisticated way to separate unknown compounds out into their elementary components and is used with great efficacy in the modern pharmaceutical world.
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- Absorbent and Spill Containment
- Cell Culture Media
- Centrifuges - Laboratory
- Climate Chamber
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- DNA collection kits
- FBS-Foetal Bovine Serum
- Filtration Devices
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- Thermal Cyclers | <urn:uuid:f7f6eb30-15ab-468f-9423-91387f19961e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.offers4labs.com/lab-supplies/hplc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927159 | 819 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Many new gardeners assume that mulch is a magic bullet to conquer weeds and grass in landscape beds. I’ve watched landscape crews dump a thick layer of mulch on healthy, vigorous weeds, and shake my head, knowing that they have just set up a client for bitter, delayed disappointment. Mulch MIGHT smother a few small, puny weeds and grasses, but not Bermudagrass, the turfweed of choice for many homeowners in the South. And mulch won’t smother most weeds, especially if they’re already up and growing for the season.
So why bother to mulch? Is it mulch ado about nothing?
Far from it. When mulching is done properly, it does many good things for your garden beds:
- It covers the weeds and showcases your plants. Your garden’s admirers won’t have to wonder if they are oohing and ahhing over a real plant or a weed. (That assumes you continue to weed after the mulch is applied, of course.)
- It helps your soil maintain moisture and coolness. Which is a good thing when summer heat hits, AND a good reason to not put it down until the soil warms up and dries out a bit in the spring. Case in point: Clematis plants are botanically bipolar: they love sunny conditions for their leaves and blooms, but need cool shade for their roots. Some light/heat reflecting light-colored stone and/or a layer of mulch can help create the perfect condition for your clematis to do its very best.
- If you first pull and/or spray the weeds, then apply mulch, it will help retard the growth and spread of weeds. It reduces your weed-pulling time, but it won’t make your landscape maintenance-free.
So what kind of mulch is best? We use both hardwood and pine needles in our beds. They both have their pros and cons:
- Both break down over time and add to the soil’s organic content.
- Ergo, both will need to be reapplied frequently – typically once or twice a year around here.
- Both can become a fire hazard. Pine needle mulch is strongly discouraged in the dry western states, but in the southeast we get enough moisture and humidity to negate that problem. Conversely, hardwood mulch can become a fire hazard when heat and humidity create conditions that lead to spontaneous combustion.
- Any mulch can float away in heavy rain, so be sure your downspouts have a clear path to direct excess rainfall outside your landscape beds.
- Pine needles are slippery so don’t use them on paths.
- Hardwood mulch can invite termites, so care should be taken if using them around foundations.
- Pine straw is lighter and easier for a one-person mulch “crew” to put down.
- Hardwood tends to look a little neater and more compact.
Whichever one you choose should be based on your personal tastes and situation. Contrary to popular myth, pine needles will not create highly acidic soil conditions. They can gradually affect a soil’s pH levels, but it takes a lot of years and a lot of pine needles to make a notable change in your soil’s pH. You can use pine needles around acid-loving plants like Hydrangeas and blueberries, but don’t assume they are a substitute for regular applications of fertilizer and magnesium to keep your pH in the optimal range.
And finally, know that some plants don’t fare well with mulch, such as irises. Mulch tends to keep the soil too moist, leading to rotten tubers and providing an inviting place for root pests to breed. Ditto for grafted roses – you can pile up mulch in the winter to protect the graft union, but pull it away during the growing season. Peonies will tolerate some mulch, but a heavy mulching can lead to reduced blooms the following year while the plants adjust their root systems to the appropriate depth. In the veggie garden, mulch around tomatoes can prevent soil-borne diseases from splashing on the plant leaves, but their fiery cousins, the peppers, tend to do better with bare soil or a thin piece of slate to soak up more thermal energy and keep the roots on the warm and dry side. | <urn:uuid:da7b8c1c-bf4b-47ce-8bfe-9c3cee9f859d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gardencoach.com/author/admin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926102 | 915 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Do you think learning is fun? Kaskaskia College will show you that it can
ollege at K
askaskia program is designed for
children from pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade and offers a variety of creative,
learning-based programs which are taught by fun and enthusiastic certified instructors.
The KICK program's broad range of classes allows a child to enjoy a summer of learning.
With programs in math, science, art, reading, photography, computer, and sports, the
kids can pick their destination. The KICK program is offered through the Main Campus
as well as the Education Centers and various locations throughout the District. The
program begins in June and runs through August. If you have any questions regarding the
program, feel free to call Cydney.
View Upcoming KICK Classes
2013 Summer Coming Soon!!
Registration for all KICK Classes requires completion of
Parental Consent Form
(Adobe© Acrobat© Reader | <urn:uuid:4bbf1f6e-669e-43e4-8091-2b6043238c11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kaskaskia.edu/LifeLongLearning/kick.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930793 | 203 | 1.632813 | 2 |
[Chapter 4, The Philosophy of Ownership]
If the idea of owning property privately began as I have conjectured, then the self-identification of the individual as a unique center of consciousness not only assisted in orienting him to his surroundings, but awakened in him the recognition that he owned himself.
Each person grows to maturity, taking particular note of his own configuration, skin texture, features, appendages, and blemishes. Never will he know anything quite as well as he knows his own body. As he identifies himself with his physical structure, he will turn his attention within to note his own mental processes, and to wonder at this strange function of cognition and this utterly fascinating ability to think and remember and even to think about thinking and remembering. He develops cravings for food and drink and for other satisfactions, he experiences pain and joy, and centers himself in the property of his person.
If he does not formally think through the process wherein he recognizes that he owns himself, he nonetheless adopts all the attributes of ownership over himself. Doubtless, many early thinkers recognized the fact of man's ownership of his person, although no one phrased it better than John Locke:
Though the earth and all inferior creatures be common to all men, yet every man has a "property" in his own "person." This nobody has any right to but himself.
The process whereby the child first becomes conscious of himself, and finally awakens in maturity to the recognition of his full self as incontrovertibly unique and separate from the rest of creation, is the process of maturing. There is no fixed time schedule for this maturation. Some develop rapidly and sense their complete control over their energies and facilities before they reach their teens. Others develop slowly, passing into the twenties and even the thirties until the process is as complete as it ever will be for them.
The parental task in raising children is essentially telescoped into the attainment by the child of self-realization and self-control. The more rapidly this can be accomplished, the more thoroughly the task can be done, the quicker the person can emerge as an adult, irrespective of his chronological age.
From man's recognition that he owns himself, and from the idea of private ownership which begins at this point, if not chronologically at least rationally, it is but a step to the creation of one kind of improper ownership the condition in which it is presumed that one person owns another.
If a man owns himself, why can't he own another? It would seem, superficially, that he could. Certainly, mothers and, later, fathers looked upon their offspring as chattels. Children were viewed as property and not as persons.
For centuries, women were treated as chattels belonging to their fathers, husbands, brothers, or uncles; they were never actually released into full adulthood as self-owning persons. The woman who, through circumstance, might find herself alone in the world and essentially unowned, was deemed either an evil person or the epitome of misery. Someone must assume responsibility and take her into a condition of ownership, through marriage or some other relationship.
The custom of one man owning another opened the door to long ages of slavery. On the field of battle, when the vanquished surrendered to the victor, it was presumed that he lost all rights to his life and hence all rights to any property. If the victor spared him, he was a slave, whose life was instantly forfeit at any time that suited the victor's pleasure. The concept of slavery might also have arisen through the generative process wherein it was presumed that women were natural slaves to men, or that children were the properties of either or both parents.
If one contemplates the situation, it will be seen that the slave relationship is wholly improper for it presumes to transfer the control of one living man into the hands of a second living man. The condition is contrary to nature and can only be maintained if both play their specific assigned roles. The slave must act as though he did not control himself, as though, indeed, the slave-master did control him. The slave-master must act as though he really could and did control the slave. But the slave always controls himself, even though he may do so in harmony with his owner's wishes. It is simply impossible for the owner to exert control.
By no process of the mind can the owner of the slave cause the slave to flex a single muscle. The only process open to the slave owner is to impose force or the threat of force. If obedience is obtained, it is because the slave elects to do as he is told. But he must be the actor in respect to his own energy. His owner cannot generate or control the slave's energy. A condition of slavery must be classified as one instance of incorrect ownership. In this condition, a man seeks to control another man as though he were a property and not a man.
A marriage relationship in which it is presumed that one spouse owns the other is equally fictitious. The same fallacy would appear if a parent or both of them presumed to own their children. The child is an owner of himself, from birth. The fact that he may not know this, and the fact that he does not have full control of his physical or mental facilities, in no way remove his ownership of himself.
An adult who is injured in some way, who may be ill or decrepit in old age, is still recognized as an owner of himself and his other properties. He may have to be waited upon hand and foot, yet his ownership of himself is not questioned, so long as he lives. The same realization should apply to all persons, infants included. I would set down as the fundamental instances of incorrect ownership the ancient practice of possessive marriage, possessive child-parent relationships, and control of the slave obtained in battle or in any other way.
This idea of owning another person is so prevalent that it is not unusual for employers to think of themselves as the actual owners of their employees and to act accordingly. Labor union leaders often act as though they owned their dues-paying members.
The difficulty here relates to contracts as property. For a contract to exist as property, each contracting party has a property interest in specific performance on the part of the opposing contracting party. But a property interest in specific performance is not a property interest in the person. The employer contracts with an employee for specific performance. The employee also contracts with the employer in similar style. Each has a property interest in the performance of the other, but neither owns the person of the other.
The labor union leader may obtain a member but he does not own the member, nor does the member own the organization or the labor leader. Each has contracted for certain specifics; the one for the payment of dues, the other for certain collective assurances.
Government officials frequently view the taxpayers as a kind of productive herd to be milked and controlled, just as the ancient slave-master presumed to control the person of his slave. The relationship between government and taxpayers is probably closest to the ancient idea of slavery. The relationship is hardly contractual, however one stretches the imagination.
For a contract to exist in fact, both parties to the exchange must voluntarily agree to the terms of the contract. When governments are imposed and the taxpayers placed under control, the consent of the latter on an individual basis has never been sought, so far as is known. Rather, governments are imposed in much the same way that the victor imposes his ownership over the man defeated on the field of battle. The victor has the power; the vanquished is helpless and must submit.
Here a mystique has been created which supposes that a few men may, by right, impose governmental controls on all with consent of a majority or even a plurality. Usually, those imposing such controls do so after a war in which the vanquished, utterly without the means to resist, are tossed into political serfdom, bound to obey the new state, rather than being claimed by individual warriors as the personal property of the winner after a passage of arms. This practice is so common that few detect in it any form of slavery; most presume that their political control by a party of strong men can be equated with freedom.
Whatever is to be said of this practice of installing political vassalage on whole populations, any effort on the part of one person to own another, and all practices wherein this type of ownership is assumed, lead into much of the sadness and unhappiness that mar so many human relationships.
However, the fact that an improper ownership condition may occur does not justify abandonment of the ownership concept, as many contend. Rather, it behooves us to understand the nature of ownership, to recognize that it is so fundamental to man that it cannot be swept aside, and then to institute self-disciplinary procedures wherein incorrect ownership conditions are not attempted.
Ownership can be said to begin with an effort of will. This can occur when man views himself as the exclusive owner of himself and realizes that decisions to be made affecting his person must invariably be his own. Whether he begins with the recognition of himself as his first property, every property he will ever own will require an act of will. He wishes to possess something — a piece of land, a house, clothing, a tool — as an exclusive owner. A property he acquires, either through original claim or through subordinate claim, becomes an actual extension of himself by this same act of will. Thus, a trespass against a property that is owned, either by theft or some type of vandalism, is actually a trespass against the owner of the property in the same way that a trespass against the person of the owner would be.
All through his life, each person establishes thousands of property relationships and many other thousands of relationships which involve property owners but do not involve the acquisition of property. To converse with others, associate with them, shake hands with them, or even to experience such intimacies as a sexual relationship, does not constitute a property relationship, but rather a relationship with a property owner.
The idea insensibly arises through the marriage contract that a sexual partner is somehow a property of his opposite number. This is not the case. Each person owns himself and all of his functions, including those of sex, digestion, cognition, and so on. Among the greatest satisfactions available to human beings are those which recognize other persons as equals in the property ownership of self. Although a man may wish an exclusive association with a particular friend, and while it may be possible to contract for such an exclusive relationship, the fact remains that each party to any association always remains the owner of himself. | <urn:uuid:142dd458-9353-4488-a613-2665c1a8f1ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mises.org/daily/4157 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981302 | 2,184 | 3.25 | 3 |
Role of social software tools in education: A literature review.
Education and Training, 51(5/6),
Full text available as:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of literature on the role of Web 2.0 or social software tools in education.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a critical and comprehensive review of a range of literature sources (until January 2009) addressing the various issues related to the educator's perspective of pedagogical effectiveness of social software tools.
Findings – The paper provides insights about the: educational goals of using social software tools; benefits to the students, educators and institutions; challenges that may influence a social software initiative; and issues that need to be considered in a social software initiative.
Research limitations/implications – It is hoped that the analysis, as captured in this paper, will highlight the different pedagogical roles of social software: communication, nurturing creativity and innovation, and collaborative learning. The paper will be of interest to researchers in the areas of social software and technology-enabled learning environments, in general. Further, this paper demonstrates how the analysis of academic literature sources has been combined with commentaries and opinions on the web to develop this literature review.
Practical implications – The review has been written from an educator's perspective: the questions and challenges that an educator encounters when considering the use of social software tools for learning and teaching. The analysis of the literature review in this paper is presented as answers to questions, which educators may have about social software initiatives. The findings in this paper may influence learning and teaching strategies in higher and further education – specifically institutions that are considering the use of social software.
Originality/value – The paper presents theoretical underpinnings related to pedagogical role of social software tools. In this paper, the practical issues and challenges for educators and policy makers who are considering the adoption of social software tools in learning and teaching are analysed. The paper consolidates a variety of literature sources from academic publications, recent reports on social software (2007-2009), and commentaries and views on social software within the social media itself (blogs, wikis, YouTube).
Actions (login may be required) | <urn:uuid:180dc410-18a8-455e-9be2-3501eaa020a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oro.open.ac.uk/18910/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919506 | 452 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Are You Sleep-Deprived?
“I do fine on five hours a night,” insists Maureen S., a high school English teacher who stays up until the wee hours grading papers and planning the next day’s lessons. “Yeah, I do work long hours, but I make up for it on the weekends,” says Josh G., who works a full-time and a part-time job to make ends meet. To make matters worse, both Maureen and Josh have trouble winding down and finally going to sleep after their marathon workdays. While neither would describe themselves as “sleep-deprived,” Maureen has blurred vision that her eye doctor can’t explain, and Josh has the feeling that his formerly sharp mind isn’t as quick as it used to be.
We all know what it feels like to be dog-tired—so tired you could fall asleep almost anywhere. But did you know that the following are also symptoms that you’re not getting enough sleep?
• A feeling of irritability and being “on edge,” as if you’re about to blow your top at the next small thing that gets on your nerves, is a sign that you may not be getting the sleep you need. Being irritated by those around you will also cause social problems. Maybe your performance report at work says that you need to learn to get along better with coworkers, when the truth is that you simply need to get more good-quality sleep.
• If something truly stressful happens—a big sale falls through or your credit card is stolen—you might feel as if you “just can’t take it” and spend more time on a rant about the situation than you do trying to find a solution
• You are having problems with concentration and memory. You have to repeat tasks because you are afraid you’ve done them incorrectly, or you can’t remember doing them at all. Along with this symptom goes difficulty learning new things.
• You are frequently ill. It seems that you have little resistance to colds and flu. Your sleep-deprived body just hasn’t had time to build the reserves that could protect you. This may even be your body’s way of making you slow down and rest.
• When friends suggest a game of racquetball or even a walk around the block, you find excuses because as far as you’re concerned they might as well have suggested climbing Mount Everest. You just don’t have the energy.
• You feel a frequent need to prop yourself up with food and drinks that contain caffeine and sugar, especially in mid-afternoon.
If you identify with even a few of these symptoms of sleep deprivation, you may want to consider taking a serious look at your sleep habits. For most people, simple changes in their sleep routines and environments can greatly improve the quantity and quality of restful, restorative sleep. And reversing the ill effects of sleep deprivation can literally give you a new lease on life and improve everything from your work performance to your relationships with others. Make good sleep a priority and see the difference for yourself.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. | <urn:uuid:fa6a3880-1868-4386-8435-4920e67e6b23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plushbeds.com/plushblog/14/are-you-sleep-deprived/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969644 | 690 | 1.84375 | 2 |
“We’re living through a waking nightmare,” says Tratras, who also demonstrated during protests in March soon after he was laid off. He worked for Olympic Airways for 30 years. Now, he is having to face the fact of a pledged compensation going unfulfilled even while hiding from his family exactly how dire their financial straits are.
“I have two children in college who need €2,000 ($2,400) a month," he says. "What can I ask them to do? Leave university?”
Privatization continues at a rapid pace. The government hopes to raise another €3 billion ($3.7 billion) through another round of state sales that will privatize public utilities and lease airports, seaports, railways, and highways to private firms for fixed periods of up to 40 years. The government is currently looking for bidders and has given few details on the number of companies that will be sold or the number of state workers that will be laid off.
As Greece sells assets and looks to create a more business-friendly environment, foreign investors are expressing interest. Perhaps the most successful example of privatization came last October, when Chinese shipping company COSCO started running one of the docks in Athens’s Pireaus port, the largest in southeastern Europe, on a 35-year, €3.4 billion ($4.1 billion) concession. The dock was formerly operated by the state port authority.
Sections of the Greek media hailed COSCO a redeemer for the Greek economy. “The Yuan Will Save Us,” ran one business newspaper’s headline. | <urn:uuid:214ca730-8da4-4545-8756-011ac2846be2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0629/Greece-debt-Government-sees-hope-in-privatization-despite-protests/(page)/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972392 | 341 | 1.617188 | 2 |
On the surface, Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) seem to have little in common. Tourette’s is characterized by repetitive involuntary facial or vocal tics, whereas OCD sufferers have all-consuming thoughts and overwhelming urges to perform certain actions. But 50 to 70 percent of people with Tourette’s also have OCD, and recent studies suggest that the same genetic roots may underlie both conditions [see “ Obsessions Revisited ,” by Melinda Wenner Moyer; Scientific American Mind , May/June 2011]. Now a new study published in Neurology may help scientists further understand how the disorders overlap and differ by revealing several key differences in the brain activity of Tourette’s patients with and without OCD.Andrew Feigin and his colleagues at North Shore LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y., scanned the brains of 12 unmedicated Tourette’s patients--some of whom also had OCD--and 12 healthy subjects using positron-emission tomography, which reveals patterns of brain activity. Compared with healthy controls, those who had Tourette’s exhibited more activity in the premotor cortex and cerebellum, regions that handle motor control, and less activity in the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex, areas involved in decision making and learning. These findings support the idea that the symptoms of the disorder may arise from the brain’s inability to suppress abnormal actions using decision-making skills. | <urn:uuid:94eca37e-805b-4348-b7b8-1b366d974afd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sciencestage.com/r/tics-and-compulsions-brain-imaging-teases-apart-tourettes-and-obsessive-compulsive-disorder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935824 | 308 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Rutgers student Tyler Clementi committed suicide after being bullied for being gay. His parents tell the Associated Press that Clementi had some worries, before going to college.
When ultra-responsible New Jersey teenager Tyler Clementi unburdened himself to his parents before heading off to college, there was a lot on his mind. In a 45-minute conversation, the 18-year-old told his mother he was gay, that he was having doubts about whether there is a God and that he felt friendless.
His mother thought it made her son feel better to tell her what was on his mind, though his secrets and sorrow were hard for her to hear.
"He left very comfortable and very relieved," she said. "I was very surprised, very much like someone had kicked me in the stomach."
Four weeks later, she knew he wasn't OK. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge days after his Rutgers University roommate allegedly used a webcam to spy on his intimate encounter with another man.
Joe and Jane Clementi have read some statements to reporters and issued more through their lawyer. But it's only now, 14 months after their son's death, that they have decided to grant interviews in an effort to promote the foundation they're launching in their son's honor. The goal of the foundation is to increase acceptance of gay young people, prevent suicide and stop online bullying.
The Clementis' family tragedy received a lot of media attention, and they now say they can see some good coming from it.
"The positive would be that the publicity did generate interest in some of these big issues that need to be addressed," said Jane Clementi a 53-year-old public health nurse.
Clementi's death spurred a national conversation about the treatment young gays and lesbians often endure. Leaders from President Barack Obama to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres weighed in. The punk rock band Rise Against recorded a song, "Make it Stop (September's Children)" about the suicides of bullied young gays. In New Jersey, lawmakers say they adopted a school anti-bullying law in part because of Clementi's death.
The saga still is playing out in criminal court where the roommate, Dharun Ravi, faces 15 counts of criminal charges, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, a hate crime punishable by up to 10 years in state prison. Last week, Ravi, a citizen of India who is in the U.S. legally, rejected a plea bargain that would have ensured him no prison time and would have given him protection against deportation if he is convicted. A trial is scheduled to start Feb. 21.
Ravi has no homicide charges connected to Clementi's death. His defense lawyers have indicated that they will try to show jurors that factors other than the webcam issue and Ravi's Twitter postings about it, led Clementi to suicide. Prosecutors say the issue is Ravi's alleged crimes, not what happened to Clementi.
Until now, Clementi's life story has been told largely through what could be gleaned from court documents and his scattered online postings, including on some gay-oriented message boards.
Clementi was incredibly driven and meticulous, so responsible that his mother would ask him to do the family's grocery shopping.
While in high school, Clementi always wanted to arrive early, his mother said.
"He jumped out of bed," Jane Clementi said. "He wanted to be there every morning by 7:15," even though classes didn't begin for another half-hour.
Throughout his childhood, Clementi relied on his own extensive research, mostly from the Internet, to teach himself new hobbies. He went through phases where his ever-changing interests included unicycling, cacti, the stock market and photography.
If he couldn't find an answer to one of his questions about a hobby by searching the Web, he was likely to post a question in a chat forum. It was the same approach he took later when he was concerned about Ravi's webcam. It's not clear he talked to anyone he knew other than his dorm's resident assistant, but he did seek advice from strangers on a message board.
At 17, when he decided to get serious about bicycling, his parents were amused to watch as he used money from gifts and his savings to buy a bike and an abundance of gear, from a helmet and biking shorts to a bag to hold all his tools and spare parts.
No one in his family had much experience or interest in biking, or any of his other hobbies. He'd regularly ride 20 miles or so and sometimes as far as 50, always solo.
Clementi's main passion was violin, even though he came from a family where no one else was a musician. While he usually shied from attention, he loved to perform at concerts and loved hearing applause, his father said.
In local youth orchestras, he always was driven to become concertmaster, or first-chair violinist, his parents said. But when after getting the positions he often was disappointed with the performance of his peers, his mother said.
Music also was the center of his social life. But his parents noticed, belatedly, that while he was outgoing and sociable at rehearsals, he didn't often see orchestra or school friends anywhere else. He never had friends over, or went to the homes of others. If he was bullied, they said, he never brought it up.
And as good as he was as a violinist, he decided music would not be his career. He didn't want to have to teach, his father said. And, even as a teenager, he was realistic about the downside of the career. "He didn't like the unsteady paycheck," Jane Clementi said. "He was a very consistent person and wanted things stable."
She said she was in the family's living room a few days before her youngest son was to head off to college. Tyler Clementi, who had been watching TV in the partially finished basement, emerged. She said he was shaking. She thought he was having fears about college.
To her surprise, he told her he was gay. And he shared his doubts about faith, his sorrow about not having closer friends. Each topic would have been a big one on its own and a surprise to a mother who thought she knew what was going on.
The news altered her expectations for his future. She said she had talked with Clementi during their regular walks together about her frustration that his brother James, whom she believed to be gay, didn't come out to the family. He has since come out. Even in that context, she said, Tyler Clementi never let on that he was gay. "I was a little upset about the trust thing," she said "Why didn't you tell me before?"
The conversation ended with hugs and "I love you's." When she heard him a bit later, laughing at a "Seinfeld" rerun, she thought he was OK.
She thought she was the one who was struggling: "Was I sad? Yeah, I was. You can't help your feelings." She said that she told him they could talk further later; since college was about to start, she said, they had to focus on getting him ready and delivering him to campus.
Joe Clementi, 55 and the public works director in Hawthorne, N.J., said that the next afternoon, he took Clementi for a car ride. "I told him, 'You've got to be careful. Not everyone is accepting as some people are.'"
Two days after that conversation, they were moving Clementi into Davidson Residence Hall C in Piscataway, part of the sprawling Rutgers campus, an hour's drive from his New Jersey home in the suburbs of New York City.
In coming weeks, Clementi would talk with his parents every four or five days, with text messages exchanged in between.
There was no sign of problems, his parents said.
But Clementi's text messages to a few friends in court documents told a different story. In one series of messages, he said he had come out to his family: "mom has basically completely rejected me."
"I don't even see that as that," Jane Clementi said, "though maybe children see things differently." | <urn:uuid:a60b4e23-ad04-4c5f-864b-9a68e541f583> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Rutgers-Suicide-Victim-Tyler-Clementi-Had-Worries-Parents-135446498.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994748 | 1,712 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The coincidental overlap of three recent events--the thwarted Christmas Day airliner attack, the return of six Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo, and two airstrikes targeting Al Qaeda in Yemen--has put a spotlight on Guantánamo transfers even more than usual. As a result, President Obama stopped sending detainees to Yemen. Coming just weeks prior to his self-imposed deadline for closing the detention facility, this move seems to create only problems for U.S. officials. In actuality, recent developments give the United States new opportunities to solve the Guantánamo problem in a way that has lasting, long-term benefits.
First and foremost, the Obama administration now has breathing room on Guantánamo closure efforts. The Jan. 22 deadline President Obama set his first day in office was a public diplomacy windfall with U.S. allies, and represented a key piece of his strategy for improving America's relations with the Muslim world.
It also served to jump start efforts within the U.S. government that are often hamstrung by bureaucracy and internal politics; one year to shutter the detention facility was a tall order from the start, but it helped U.S. policymakers needing the weight of the Oval Office to move things along.
However, it created an unrealistic timeline that, at points, prioritized momentum over long-term strategy. U.S. officials struggling with the Guantánamo problem now have a much-needed respite - time to reassess both the timeline and approach being taken.
This has the added benefit of solving a looming public diplomacy crisis. Unfortunately, creating such an unattainable goal set up the president for international embarrassment when he fails to achieve the most well-known objective of his first year in office. Recent events dampen this backlash - both for the president and, more importantly, the United States overall. No one will question why Guantánamo remains open.
Developments with the Yemeni detainees also refocus attention on transfer efforts that helped reduce the population at Guantánamo to under 200, a far cry from the 750 held there over the past eight years.
Having spent two years coordinating detainee transfers for the Defense Department, I know this was no small task. Each of the 552 transfers to date was a serious headache for U.S. policymakers - whether due to the security concerns for releasing a dangerous individual, the stress it placed on U.S. diplomatic relations, or the chronic worry that Al Qaeda would use the entire effort as a propaganda tool. Having thus far transferred the "lower-threat" detainees, only "higher-threat" detainees remain, making the problem much more difficult. Add to this the latest reports that one out of five former detainees returns to terrorist activity. At some point, the United States will be left with a detainee population too risky to release. Recent events raise questions, for the American public and the international community, as to whether we'll reach that point sooner than expected.
The past few weeks have forced Congress to re-evaluate its position on other options for Guantánamo detainees, namely whether they should be brought to the United States. If we're approaching a day when transferring detainees is too dangerous, at least until the security situation in their home country improves or Al Qaeda is defeated, continued detention in U.S. custody may be best medium-term option - for the American public and the world. But it is difficult to balance this reality with the notion that Guantánamo damages U.S. national security interests and is a "recruiting tool" for Al Qaeda. Less than 200 detainees remain at Guantánamo and, in so far as Congress wants to help solve this problem, sending them to Illinois may be the only option. Now's the chance to avoid politicizing the issue and come to terms with a practical solution.
The United States is stuck with the Yemeni detainees for now and has no chance of closing the detention facility any time soon. Recent events remind the public, Congress, and the international community, just how difficult the Guantánamo-problem is. But they should also help us find a tenable, long-term solution for the detainees remaining there.
Marisa L. Porges is an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
This article appears in full on CFR.org by permission of its original publisher. It was originally available here. | <urn:uuid:1a33f386-ddd3-468e-9d00-1a5f7688dd9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cfr.org/yemen/good-thing-guantnamo/p21255 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949 | 896 | 2.015625 | 2 |
True bluefin: The breeding scheme promising a future for tuna
Known as the tiger of the sea, the bluefin tuna or Thunnus thynnus, can grow to more than half a tonne, glide at speeds of up to 70km/hour, and migrate over thousands of kilometres. But for many people, the bluefin’s majesty and grace in the water count for far less than the delicious taste of its rich, creamy red flesh: in January 2012, a 269kg bluefin tuna fetched a record 56.49 million yen (€564,000) at a Tsukiji market auction in Tokyo. Demand for the lucrative fish is driving it to extinction: despite global initiatives to limit the hunting, bluefin tuna populations have fallen an estimated 80% since 1970.
Until now, scientists have been unable to rear bluefins in captivity. However, a European initiative has announced a breakthrough that could set the tuna on the path to recovery. A project called SELFDOTT (Self-sustained Aquaculture and Domestication of Bluefin Tuna) has succeeded in breeding Atlantic bluefin in floating cages without the use of hormones.
After four years of research involving 13 institutes across Europe, researchers gleaned a viable mass of eggs from bluefin tuna in captivity. Raised in captivity by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) – which is coordinating SEFLDOTT – the larval rearing grew to over 1kg in just over three months. Aided by a €3 million research grant from the European Commission, the project expects many of juvenile bluefins to reach adulthood within four years and reproduce, therefore completing the biological life cycle of this species in captivity.
The project could have huge implications for bluefin. Although the runaway market for sushi has driven the global tuna glut, Europeans have also developed a huge appetite for the fish, and European trawlers have been amongst the most active tuna hunters. Recent moratoriums could help rebuild stocks, but bluefin breeding would speed the recovery.
SELFDOTT project coordinator Fernando de la Gándara, a senior IEO researcher who has been involved in efforts to domesticate bluefins for over a decade, says the team had to cater for the special requirements of the fish, including its huge size, and its practice of roaming freely over the open ocean. “The word "obstacle” does not exist in the bluefin tuna’s vocabulary,” de la Gándara says. “We have had to cope with a high mortality rate because of collisions against the walls and net of the tanks and cages.”
But the persistence paid off, and two years ago the project celebrated its first spontaneous, massive spawning. “It was a big and happy surprise,” de la Gándara says. “We have learnt that bluefin tuna rearing is possible in the same way that you can breed other species like sea bass, turbot or salmon.”
It will still take time to develop the farmed tuna: the fish needs a decade or more to mature. But de la Gándara says that if it succeeds, it could represent a vital step in the global efforts to rebuild bluefin tuna stocks. “The bluefin tuna is an emblematic species that has been feeding Mediterranean populations for thousands of years. This project could help continue the tradition,” he says. As for the research, de la Gándara admits that he still has a lot more to learn from the bluefin. “I can see that the more I study this species, the more I love it,” he says.
Project acronym: SELFDOTT
Participants: Spain (Coordinator), Italy, Malta, Norway, France, Greece, Germany, Israel
FP7 Project N° 212797
Total costs: € 4 406 028
EU contribution: € 2 979 966
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Futuris, the European research programme - on Euronews. The video on this
page was prepared in collaboration with Euronews for the Futuris programme. | <urn:uuid:457f0afa-b53e-47c6-a418-c1970ce58085> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/star/index_en.cfm?p=326&item=All&artid=&caller=SuccessStories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930299 | 1,007 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.The Formative Years
Martin, Jr., admired his father and all the Atlanta ministers who spoke so eloquently for civil rights. They demonstrated the power of words,
which fascinated the young King. This fascination with language helped him score high on the college entrance exam in his junior year of high school. On the strength of his scores, Martin
skipped senior year and entered Morehouse College at the age of 15.
Morehouse helped Martin see his future more clearly. The young student loved listening to the sermons of Morehouse's president, Dr.
Benjamin E. Mays, who was also an ordained minister. Dr. Mays could stir people's minds as well as their emotions. He confirmed Martin's notion that the pulpit could be used
to improve African American lives. In February 1948, Martin Luther King, Jr., became a Baptist minister, and in June of that same year, he graduated from Morehouse with a bachelor's
degree in sociology.
King went on to
study religion at Crozer
Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. While there,
he was deeply moved by a lecture about the Indian leader Mohandas
K. Gandhi, who used passive protests rather than armed
rebellion to force the British out of India. Gandhi suffered
a violent end when he was shot to death in 1948. King read
all he could on Gandhi and his philosophy of nonviolence.
from Crozer in 1951, the young reverend continued his studies
in religion at Boston University. While in Boston, Martin
Scott, who was studying voice at the New England Conservatory
of Music. In 1953, Coretta and Martin married in Coretta's
hometown of Marion, Alabama. The Kings decided to settle in
Alabama, and in September 1954 Martin Luther King, Jr., became
pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery.
In June 1955, King received his doctorate in theology from | <urn:uuid:628b284a-bc22-48f5-8ba4-c2f4edee467d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/mlk/bio2.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969304 | 416 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Some years ago when I encountered theologian George Lindbeck of Yale Divinity School, he asked me about the Gifford Lectures which had been written by my doctoral supervisor, Donald MacKinnon. At the time, Lindbeck was planning a course on MacKinnon. Within a year or so theologian David Tracy of Chicago gave a paper in which MacKinnon was one of the featured theologians.
Support the Christian Century
The Century's work relies primarily on subscriptions and donations. Thank you for supporting nonprofit journalism. | <urn:uuid:27f198e0-d445-4b12-aaea-156649adccfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christiancentury.org/category/keywords/wisdom-style-theology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946624 | 106 | 1.65625 | 2 |
|© Ratao Diniz/Agência Imagens do Povo|
|L to R: Secretary of Social Welfare and Human Rights Benedita da Silva, Mayor Eduardo Paes, UNICEF’s Marie-Pierre Poirier, Governor Sérgio Cabral, UNICEF’s Nils Kastberg and Ministry of Social Development’s Arlete Sampaio at the launch in Rio de Janeiro.|
SÃO PAULO, Brazil, 20 August 2009 – Some 400 people were present for the launch of the UNICEF-supported ‘Platform of Urban Centres’ initiative last month – aimed at ensuring the rights of children and adolescents on the outskirts of Brazilian cities.
The initiative is aimed at reducing disparities affecting children and their families. By the end of 2011, UNICEF will grant a certificate to local governments that reach at least 12 out of 20 goals for improving poverty-stricken communities.
“We propose a new way of making public policies for urban centres, based on co-responsibility, dialogue and joint complementary action,” said UNICEF Brazil Representative Marie-Pierre Poirier, who was accompanied at the launch by former Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Nils Kastberg.
“The city must be a good place for all, for every child and adolescent.”
A colourful net
In São Paulo, the launch took place in a festive, community atmosphere. A colourful fabric net marked the start of a cultural fair, which demonstrated the talents and potentials that exist in poverty-stricken communities.
Four young people were in charge of leading the ceremony, thus reflecting the strong emphasis on children in the initiative.
“As a public authority, we want to ratify our commitment by supporting this initiative that, added to other public policies, aims at ensuring education, good health and social inclusion for young people,” said Mayor of São Paulo Gilberto Kassab.
A source of richness
Art, food, and dance performances such as Capoeira, Samba and hip-hop from the 126 communities taking part in the initiative were featured. Coupled with a photography exhibition, this celebration of various local cultures showed that differences should be a source of richness rather than conflict.
The closing of the event harkened back to the opening ceremony as 50 adolescents and guests held up pieces of fabric to form a large net representing the force that binds together different talents and knowledge in order to realize the rights of children.
“One thing brought me here today: the opportunity. It is as if someone is looking after me and saying: ‘No matter if you are black, young and you live in the outskirts, the important thing is that you are here to bring about your time and your turn’,” said one of the hosts, 17 year-old Fabrício Lima da Paz in a testimony displayed in video.
Rio de Janeiro
A second celebration also took place in Rio de Janeiro, where 600 guests gathered at the Palacio Guanabara. Actress and poet Elisa Lucinda led the ceremony, which was also attended by actress and producer Regina Casé. Ms. Casé’s work is focused on life in peripheral communities around the world.
|© UNICEF Brazil/2009/Serra|
|Children and guests at the launch ceremony hold up pieces of fabric to form a large net representing the realization of the rights of children.|
Some 300 members of the 63 Local Working Groups of the Platform performed a powerful demonstration of how the initiative is aiding their mobilization potential.
The initiative is “the link between public power and communities to discuss issues involving childhood and adolescence in the city,” said community leader Lúcia Cabral. “That’s what this event represents.”
Also in attendance was UNICEF’s Ambassador in Brazil actor Lázaro Ramos as well as State Governor Sérgio Cabral; Mayor Eduardo Paes; Executive Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger Arlete Sampaio; and the State Secretary of Social Welfare and Human Rights Benedita da Silva.
“We want the voices of children and adolescents to be heard and spread. We are part of the solution for the problems of the city,” said Felipe, along with another young participant named Vivianne. “The Platform must be the bridge that will make visible what happens in the communities, contributing to put an end to negative stereotypes. We want to show off the good things youths are doing in the communities.” | <urn:uuid:2710940f-d0f5-4075-ae92-0d10fa40005a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/brazil_50939.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948694 | 962 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Yesterday at the teacher’s meeting we were entertained by a motivational speaker. I say “entertained” instead of “motivated” because by his own admission no one can really motivate you except you. Other people inspire, encourage. They tell us how they arrived at where they are and why they are successful. They excite us for the moment. They may even bring us a bit of clarity about something that is a stumbling block to what we truly want to do. But we are the architects of our own lives and only we can apply what we hear and learn from others. We are only truly motivated when we care enough to act, and that comes from within.
Our speaker gave us the prime example of the gap between motivation and action. We all know that eating less and exercising more leads to health and weight loss, yet few of us are motivated to really live that way each day. We are a nation plagued by obesity. So we can applaud that woman who struts her newly slimmed-down body on Oprah and at the same time NOT take action to improve our own body. We’re inspired, but not motivated.
I’ve listened to dozens of motivational speakers over the years. Every major company uses them. School districts use them. Political groups use them. Community service groups use them. Even churches use them. They are usually great speakers, crowd pleasers, and entertainers full of energy and wit and even wisdom. They make us laugh and hope and think and sometimes even cry. But they cannot make us do.
If motivational speakers were really successful I’d be thin, wealthy, confident, and joyful. I’d be stronger physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. I’d probably have my own television show if I had applied all the "motivation" I’ve listened to over the years. But I’m not and I don’t, because of that little thing the Bible calls free will. I have it, and I have to admit, I don’t always use it wisely.
I had some good laughs yesterday. I enjoyed our speaker’s stories. I understood, and even agreed with, some of the points he made. But I wasn’t motivated to take any particular action. I’m not out to change the world today. I woke up with the same outlook this morning that I had yesterday: I’ll just do the best I can, where I am, with what I have. That’s about as motivated as I can get. | <urn:uuid:142d5514-bc44-4627-bbe6-5f1b9a88926f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mem55.typepad.com/the_view_from_here/2008/08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976872 | 534 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Larry Dignan sets himself up for some nasty email from the Mac zealot crowd, who would prefer spending December dreaming about Macworld next month:
I’ve compiled all the security flaws in Mac OS X and Windows XP and Vista and placed them side by side. This is significant because it shows a trend that can give us a good estimate for how many flaws we can expect to find in the coming months. The more monthly flaws there are in the historical trend, the more likely it is that someone will find a hole to exploit in the future.
I used vulnerability statistics from an impartial third party vendor Secunia and I broke them down by Windows XP flaws, Vista flaws, and Mac OS X flaws. Since Secunia doesn’t offer individual numbers for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.4, I merged the XP and Vista vulnerabilities so that we can compare Vista + XP flaws to Mac OS X. In case you’re wondering how 19 plus 12 could equal 23, this is because there are many overlapping flaws that is shared between XP and Vista so those don’t get counted twice just as I don’t count something that affects Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 twice.
This shows that Apple had more than 5 times the number of flaws per month than Windows XP and Vista in 2007, and most of these flaws are serious. Clearly this goes against conventional wisdom because the numbers show just the opposite and it isn’t even close. | <urn:uuid:0a8be99e-5e29-41ad-8fd5-39b350f49488> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://winsupersite.com/print/blog/supersite-blog-39/news2/surprise-mac-versus-windows-vulnerability-stats-for-2007-137737 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945341 | 303 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Provence & Côte d’Azur: Concerns that it could be becoming more Italian than French
Is Menton losing its French feel?
The quaint coastal town of Menton, nestled between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains on the French Italian border, is widely acclaimed for its zesty lemons and cultural charm. But recently concerns have arisen that the town is beginning to lose its French feel due to a prominent Italian influence in shops and eating establishments.
Thanks to a subtropical microclimate and 316 days of sunshine throughout the year, the town oozes with Mediterranean charm. Being the last stop before the Italian border, the picturesque location is a gem for tourists and locals with a blend of French and Italian cultures. However, the Mayor of Menton, Jean-Claude Guibal, has revealed his concerns that it could be becoming more Italian than French.
Guibal told local newspaper Nice Matin that “although Menton has the reputation of being the most Italian place in the country, we are still in France and therefore here in France we call a restaurant, a restaurant not the Italian version ristorante. It’s the same case with the word hotel, it is hôtel in French, not albergo.”
The Mayor said that using other foreign languages is obviously welcomed, but there must also be the French translation equally visible and easy to understand.
He acknowledged that the Italian feel was part of Menton's charm as it has experienced a flourish of Italian influence in recent years, with Italian names and translations installed on road signs alongside the French version.
The law currently states that it is necessary for traders to show business cards, menus, sign posts and the establishment’s name in French in addition to Italian, and they must indicate a good knowledge of spelling and grammar. But the Mayor said that this isn’t the case for a number of restaurants, hotels and cafes, who have begun to use only the Italian version. | <urn:uuid:38938e58-89ec-43e5-90dd-9ad4f4caa49b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rivieratimes.com/index.php/provence-cote-dazur-article/items/is-menton-losing-its-french-feel.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96421 | 408 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Three Postulates of Moonbat Conspiracy Theories
Posted by Troythulu
Awhile back, I had come up with a set of heuristics, or general rules of thumb to judge the relative plausibility of conspiracy theories, first only one, then two, and just recently completing them as a full set of three, in the spirit of Clarke’s three laws, as well as Isaac Asimov’s laws of Robotics and his semi-humorously intended laws of Humanics.
But these are postulates, not laws, though they have shown themselves remarkably consistent and useful predictive guides indeed.
The postulates are general observations on the characteristics of conspiracy theories ranging from the seemingly sound to the completely kooktastic ones, and of what things to look out for and sound the shenanigans alarm when dealing with the claims of those chaps wearing tinfoil hats.
- The likelihood of any given conspiracy theory being true is inversely proportional to the amount of bat-shit insane rationalization that goes into it.
The next involves what’s known as “cascade logic,” fallacious reasoning in which the conspiracy must be ever-widened with increasingly enormous numbers of people “in” on it to support its attendant theory.
Never mind that it’s extremely illogical to claim that a conspiracy can involve thousands or millions of people, all of them comically evil and as obedient to their masters as Daleks, with not one of them ever blowing its cover even once for personal gain or ethical qualms, or any of the other reasons people often have for blowing big secrets wide open.
If the United States government can’t even keep the secret of the atomic bomb, or more recently, the scandals of even the secretive political administration of president Bush II, though conspiracies do happen, and secrets are often successfully kept, as well they sometimes should be, it’s the successful conspiracies that no one, and I mean no one uninvolved, ever hears about until said conspiracies become unsuccessful and thus no longer pose a threat.
- The plausibility of any given conspiracy theory is inversely proportional to the number of people allegedly involved in it.
This last one is a variant of Godwin’s Law, dealing with the invective that flies when unsupported claims of conspiracy are challenged by those of us less inclined to be taken in by or promote them.
- The probability of being accused of implication as a craven shill, stooge, or dupe in a conspiracy is directly proportional to the degree of implausibility a critic attributes to the alleged conspiracy’s attendant body of theory and to the level of self-righteous hostility of the theorist.
I find these useful for separating the absurd theories from the more likely ones, and best used together in looking for fallacious and baroque chains of argument, including cascade reasoning, special pleading and ad hominem arguments of motive and knowing or naive involvement in the conspiracy by proponents.
I hope you find these amusing if nothing else…but never forget that the most important thing is the evidence for a claim — these postulates are only intended to raise the proverbial red flags, to note when something sounds fishy, but are a good indicator of nonsense if evidence is not forthcoming from the claimant.
- Believing the impossible and conspiracy theories (physorg.com)
- Believing the impossible and conspiracy theories (esciencenews.com)
- Is obsession with conspiracy theories a sign of schizophrenia? (gunnyg.wordpress.com) | <urn:uuid:f0c9d590-ed77-42a0-96d8-5cd5d339fa43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kestalusrealm.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/three-postulates-of-moonbat-conspiracy-theories/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938256 | 733 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Hitler Didn’t Outlaw Unions – As a National Socialist, He Went Double-Down On Them
Time and time again, the collectivist left in America chooses hyperbole when championing their economy-killing objectives. Most recently, as in the case of the socialist union (yes, they were created by socialists and Marxists) protests in Wisconsin, you see many signs being wielded by the neo-Marxist rubes stating, “Hitler banned unions”. The purpose of this urban legend-styled disinformation, of course, is a weak attempt to paint Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as a Nazi, even though the Nazi’s were national socialists who subscribed to most of the tenets of modern American leftists.
What are the roots of this “Hitler banned unions” urban legend? We have to understand what was going on in Germany at the time. Any economist will tell you, prior to Hitler’s rise to power, that the Weimar Republic struggled under severe hyperinflation. The Weimar’s hyperinflation is required study for every college student wishing to become an economist. What is hyperinflation? Webster’s defines inflation as, “a continuing rise in the general price level usually attributed to an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services”, and defines hyperinflation as, “inflation growing at a very high rate in a very short time”.
When Hitler came to power, he moved to correct this hyperinflation while keeping his national socialist views front and center. In 1933, the Nazis disbanded the Weimar unions and replaced them with the new and improved union, the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF), which was comprised of 2 primary entities, the National Socialist Factory Organization and the National Socialist Trade and Industry Organization. The labor contracts that were Weimar contracts were now DAF-honored contracts. The Nazi’s funded the DAF’s coffers with the Weimar unions’ stockpile of wealth (the existing unions were part of that inflation problem). One of the new unions’ most popular programs was the Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude, KdF)) program, which developed the KdF-wagen, that later became the Volkswagen, or People’s Car.
The primary goal of Germany’s national socialists was to “create a classless” society. Hitler’s unions were central in this cause. In fact, Hitler gave the unions their long-awaited demand, one that the Weimar unions were never able to pull off, a National Labor Day, May 1, 1933.
“Bless now our fight for our freedom; the fight we wage for our German people and Fatherland.” – Adolf Hitler’s speech, May Day 1933
The Nazi unions even had this nifty little logo.
And here’s Hitler’s own words from his book, Mein Kampf:
I think that I have already answered the first question adequately. In the present state of affairs I am convinced that we cannot possibly dispense with the trades unions. On the contrary, they are among the most important institutions in the economic life of the nation. Not only are they important in the sphere of social policy but also, and even more so, in the national political sphere. For when the great masses of a nation see their vital needs satisfied through a just trade unionist movement the stamina of the whole nation in its struggle for existence will be enormously reinforced thereby.
Before everything else, the trades unions are necessary as building stones for the future economic parliament, which will be made up of chambers representing the various professions and occupations.
Yet another leftist urban myth busted! | <urn:uuid:87c50e7a-87b1-49a1-b081-a60ab37617f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegraph.com/2011/02/hitler-didnt-outlaw-unions-as-a-national-socialist-he-went-double-down-on-them/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961001 | 779 | 2.796875 | 3 |
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Students across West Virginia are being prepared for a new standardized test that will replace the state's Westest.
Students will begin taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment test during the 2014-2015 school year. The test, adopted by West Virginia and 45 other states, is based on the national Common Core standards.
"Westest is just a West Virginia-based test. Smarter Balanced is being developed by a consortium of 26 states. This should assure parents that West Virginia is implementing an equal curriculum," said Robert Hull, associate superintendent for the state Department of Education's Division of Teaching and Learning. "Now, we will be able to measure how our students compare to other states much easier."
Kindergarten and first-grade classes already are using the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for math and reading/language arts. The standards are being implemented in second-grade classes, and all grades will use them by the fall of 2014.
Standards for other subjects are still being developed. In the interim, the Westest will be used for science and social studies, Hull told the Charleston Gazette (http://bit.ly/15rLF21 ).
"The content is much more rigorous in that students don't just need to know all of the basic skills, but instead need to be able to apply those skills. It's not just, 'Do you know it or not?'" Hull said. "We used to say our curriculum was an inch deep and a mile wide, but it's no longer about that. It's about knowing fewer, more strategic things at a much deeper level. Students actually have to take the information and do something with it - not just regurgitate it back."
The new test also is more individualized than the Westest because it is taken on a computer.
"Right now, everyone has a pencil and paper and they're asked the same question. The new test is adaptive, which means students will be taken to different levels when they answer questions. If they get the answer right, they will receive a more advanced question," Hull said.
Administering the test will require a computer capable of producing it in every classroom in every school. Hull said that is a hurdle but he is confident that the state will be ready.
Students are not the only ones being prepared for the new test. Teachers will receive training through the Regional Education Service Agencies.
"Every single classroom has to be touched because it's changing the entire curriculum," he said. "You can't just flip a switch."
Earlier this month, Crystal Godbey, Kanawha County Schools assistant superintendent for instruction, told the county Board of Education that the lessons are understandable and align with college and career expectations. But she said a lack of prerequisite skills created issues with student pacing and achievement gaps. | <urn:uuid:a15ef02b-5899-46ba-b45d-6350cc29b9c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymail.com/News/201302190037 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96588 | 581 | 3.015625 | 3 |
These days, we’re bombarded with mixed messages about how to parent “the right way.” It’s easy to buy into advice from the media, relatives, and other parents and start to worry that we’re doing something wrong. Part of the reason this is happening is because adults, just like kids, are over-stimulated. We’re more wired and connected, which means we’re receiving more outside input than ever before. We have easy access to advice (good and bad) on the web, to information about how other parents are doing things, and to each other through social networking sites. This means we’re also more actively comparing ourselves to others—and getting more judgment and criticism from others as a result. We’re on an†informational and emotional†overload, which is causing many, many parents to feel overwhelmed and confused.
Your children are not puppets and you are not a puppeteer. There is just no logical way that you can control every move your child makes or everything your child says, especially outside of your home.
Related: Exhausted from parenting an angry, defiant child?
On our Parental Support Line, my advice to callers was to trust your instincts as a parent—you know your child best, and in the end you’re the one making the decisions about your child’s future. In the Total Transformation Program, James Lehman says you have to run your family like a business. You’re the chief executive officer of your “family business” and as CEO you have to learn how to set emotions aside and to parent as objectively as possible. Forget how guilty you feel, forget that echo of your sister’s advice in the back of your head—you need to do what is best for your business. You can ask for advice, but in the end, you know your family best.†
One of the most important ways to clear through all the clutter of advice, guilt and comparisons to others is to understand what you are and aren’t responsible for when it comes to raising your child.
What you are not responsible for:
- Making sure your kids are always happy. Don’t get me wrong—it’s good for your kids to be happy overall. But that means there will be plenty of times, especially when you’re parenting responsibly, that your kids will be furious with you when you set limits or give them a consequence. That’s part of your job description as the executive officer—not to make decisions based on what your kids will like, tolerate, or be okay with, but to make the decisions that are best for them and your family business, then follow through.
- Getting the approval of others. Rationally, you do not need other adults in your life to tell you that you are doing the right thing. Parenting is not a popularity contest in your family or in your community. Sure, it feels great when other adults, such as your child’s teachers, tell you your child is doing something well, but it’s not necessary in order for you to run your family business well.
- Controlling your children. Your children are not puppets and you are not a puppeteer. There is just no logical way that you can control every move your child makes or everything your child says, especially outside of your home. Children have their own free will and will act on their own accord—and often in self-interest. It’s important to remind yourself that if your child is not doing her homework, for example, despite your best efforts to motivate her and hold her accountable, that’s her problem and the poor grade she earns is hers alone. The consequence she will get from you is that you will make sure she sets aside time every evening to study, you will be in touch with her teachers more, and you will monitor her homework more thoroughly until she brings her grade up. We can’t control our kids, but we can influence them by the limits we set and the consequences we give. As James Lehman says, “You can lead a horse to water, and you can’t make them drink—but you can make them thirsty.”
Related: How to use consequences and problem solving to change your child’s behavior.
- Doing for your children what they are capable of doing for themselves. Many, many times our children will ask us to do something for them that we know they are capable of doing on their own. Your grade schooler might not make his bed perfectly the first time, but practice (and doing it imperfectly several times)†is what he needs in order to get to the point where he can do it on his own. I’m not saying to stop preparing breakfast for your child once she’s old enough to pour her own cereal, or to never do anything to help your kids out in a pinch. What I am saying is to let your kids struggle sometimes and try your best to balance the responsibility. Typing a child’s paper for him because you type faster and it’s getting close to bedtime is not striking a balance.
- You do not have to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Mike Brady, or June Cleaver. These are all fictional characters that seem to do it all and do it perfectly, right? You’re not one of them, nor should you strive to be. Rather than focusing on addressing every behavior issue or adhering to a perfect schedule each day, try to hit the important targets and realize that you might have to let some smaller things go each day. We call this picking your battles.
What you are responsible for:
- Making tough decisions that are not popular ones. If your child doesn’t get mad at you at least once in a while, you’re not doing your job. Along with this, remember that you are not required to give lengthy explanations of your decisions. “It’s not safe” can be plenty of explanation when your teen asks why he can’t jump off the roof and onto the trampoline. “It’s your responsibility” is enough justification for telling your child it’s homework time. You don’t need to get into all the possible “what-ifs” and “if-thens.”
Related: Do you feel like you’re not getting through to your child?
- Teaching your child to function independently. One of the effective parenting roles we talk about frequently on EP is the Trainer/Coach role. It is your job to teach your child age-appropriate skills in order to allow them to become more and more independent. There comes a time when your child needs to learn how to emotionally soothe himself, tie his shoes, write his name, and cope when someone teases him. Over time the skills he needs get more and more advanced—typing a paper, saying no to drugs, driving a car, and filling out a job application, for example.
- Holding them accountable. At the very least, this means setting some limits with your children when they are behaving inappropriately. For example, when your child is putting off their homework you might turn off the TV and say, “Watching TV isn’t getting your homework done. Once your homework is done you can turn the TV back on.” This could also be as simple as firmly saying, “We don’t talk that way in this house” to your child and walking away. Or, of course, it can also mean providing some effective consequences for something like having missing homework assignments, such as weekend activities being placed on hold until the work is completed.
Related: How to give consequences that really work.
- Going along for the ride. On the rollercoaster, that is. We all know but often struggle to accept that life is full of ups and downs—and sometimes it gets turned upside down. There will be times when your child is doing well and times when he or she is really struggling. That is not a reflection on you, it just is. Don’t blame yourself when this happens. Focus on finding positive ways to cope, look for something new to try to help your child effectively, or get some local support.
- Do your best. That’s really all you can do sometimes. It’s a perpetual balancing act—striving to find that balance between doing too much and doing too little, or giving consequences that are not too harsh but not too soft, either. Parenting can feel like a circus sometimes and there can be several balancing acts going on at one time. That’s when you have to go back to picking your battles and realizing you are not, nor will you ever be, June Cleaver or Superman.
Above all else, remember that your child is unique and you know him better than anyone else on the planet. You will always get input, no matter how obvious or subtle, from the world around you as to how you should parent your child. You, however, are the expert on your child and get to make your own decisions about how to parent her in a way that teaches her to be independent and accountable while also being loving and respectful of your child and her needs. When you find yourself personalizing, remember the tips here to help you be more objective and remember what your role as a parent really is. | <urn:uuid:1b0f26ab-feb6-4cc3-894b-2252085b765e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.empoweringparents.com/parenting-responsibilities.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967923 | 1,973 | 1.75 | 2 |
Pericardial fluid gram stain
Pericardial fluid gram stain is a method of staining a sample of fluid taken from the sac surrounding the heart to diagnose a bacterial infection. The gram stain method is one of the most commonly used techniques for the rapid diagnosis of bacterial infections.
Gram stain of pericardial fluid
How the Test is Performed
A sample of fluid will be taken from the sac surrounding the heart. Before this is done, some people may have a cardiac monitor to check for heart disturbances. Patches called electrodes are put on the chest, similar to during an ECG. You might have a chest x-ray or ultrasound before the test.
The skin of the chest is cleaned with antibacterial soap. A trained physician, often a cardiologist, inserts a small needle into the chest between the ribs and into the thin sac that surrounds the heart (the pericardium). A small amount of fluid is taken out.
You may have an ECG and chest x-ray after the procedure. Sometimes the pericardial fluid is taken during open heart surgery.
A drop of the pericardial fluid is placed in a very thin layer on a microscope slide. This is called a smear. A series of special stains are applied to the sample. This is called a gram stain. A laboratory specialist looks at the stained slide under the microscope, checking for bacteria.
The color, size, and shape of the cells help make it possible to identify the bacteria.
How to Prepare for the Test
You will be asked not to eat or drink anything for several hours before the test. A chest x-ray or ultrasound may be done before the test to identify the area of fluid collection.
How the Test Will Feel
You will feel pressure and some pain as the needle is inserted into the chest and when the fluid is removed. Your doctor should be able to give you pain medicine so that the procedure does not hurt very much.
Why the Test is Performed
Your doctor may order this test if you have signs of a heart infection or a pericardial effusion with an unknown cause.
A normal result means no bacteria are seen in the stained fluid sample.
What Abnormal Results Mean
If bacteria are present, you may have an infection of the pericardium or heart. Blood tests and bacterial culture can help identify the specific organism causing the infection.
Complications are rare but may include:
- Heart or lung puncture
Daniel Levy, MD, Infectious Disease, Maryland Family Care, Lutherville, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. | <urn:uuid:ecb43158-0c14-4cc0-bba0-9f938983e5b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lmhospital.org/health-library/HIE%20Multimedia/1/003719.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921279 | 659 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Make a Balloon Stick to the Wall Like "Magic"
Ever seen a balloon "magically" stick to the wall? Almost every adult tried the classic balloon-on-wall trick as a kid, but it never ceases to amaze little kids who see it for the first time. The classic experiment uses a balloon and a head full of static, but this updated version uses a piece of wool fabric instead so you're not left with a head full of tangled hair at the end. Try it with your kids and watch their eyes light up in wonder.
What You Need:
- 2 balloons
- Synthetic or wool fabric that can create a static charge (a wool sock is ideal)
- Scraps of material
- Dry day when there isn't too much humidity in the air | <urn:uuid:8d502379-d28b-4c97-b2cc-705ccb856f96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/activity/article/balloon-science-charge-balloon-stick/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92385 | 162 | 2.375 | 2 |
Kids with autism more isolated
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Adolescents with autism are far less likely than their peers with other disabilities to hang out with friends after school or attend group activities.
A Washington University researcher recently found that half of teenage students with autism spectrum disorders were significantly more likely than teens with learning disabilities, mental retardation and speech and language impairments to not be invited out to social activities.
Analyzing data-including surveys of parents and school officials-on 11,000 special education students, Paul Shattuck, an autism expert and assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis, found that kids with autism are more isolated than their peers and tend to interact in one-on-one situations.
"Not surprisingly, conversational impairment and low social
communication skills were associated with a lower likelihood of
social participation," Shattuck says in the study.
It suggests group activities and programs, such as clubs and sports, as one area of intervention.
But perhaps less obvious is the potential of social networking
in promoting such relationships.
Shattuck recommends that future research study ways to take advantage of electronic media to help those with autism spectrum disorders improve their interactions and connections with others in social situations. | <urn:uuid:2999c84e-e15a-46cd-9a59-187b9b7eb05a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chicagoparent.com/magazines/special-parent/summer-2012/kids-with-autism-more-isolated | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969206 | 251 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Anyone who's ever
had to change a multitude of static pages on a site knows what a pain
it is to find and change the same snippets of code on one page after
another - even using an Html editor's find-and-replace function can be
cumbersome since you have to upload all of the pages to the server
again with the new code.
Sometimes a page or two will get missed or the find-and-replace
function replaces some things you didn't intend to change, so
it requires some quality-checking time to run through all the pages
and make sure the changes are there.
An easier way to manage pages in your site is by replacing chunks
of repeating code, such as your navigation links, with server
side include (SSI) files.
Instead of repeating the same code over and over, you create a separate
file with just that chunk of repeated code in it, then place a line of
code on each page that tells the server to insert the
contents of a separate file into that spot on the page.
When someone visits your page, the server scans the code,
pulls in the files needed to assemble that page and returns the page
as a single, complete page to the browser.
Your "includes" code is replaced by the contents
of the file the code called.
Since this all happens on the server's side of the
transaction, your visitors don't need to have any special browsers or
plug-ins in order to make this work; SSI returns a "normal"
html page to the browser.
SSI files can simplify the maintenance of your site.
Information that may change from time to time or that replicates
across many pages can be replaced with SSI files.
Then, when you alter that include file, every page on your
website changes where the included file is being read.
You will find include files often being used to replace the entire header
and footer for each page.
When set up as includes, the background
color, graphics, navigation, or copyright
information can be changed across the entire site by
altering the include file for that information.
Without includes, you would be forced to go through all
your pages to make the necessary changes.
You can use as many includes files on a page as you need
- you can also call different includes files for different
A good example is sub navigation links that only appear on
certain pages, you only call that include file where it's required.
Any block of code in your site that repeats across pages is a
good candidate for SSI.
The format for the code you will use to include a file
within an Html page will depend on the operating system
of your server. For most sites, this will mean either Windows
If you are using Windows, you'll be
changing your file extensions to .asp.
For Linux/Unix systems, you will use .php
You should check with your web host or server administrator if you
are not sure what platform your site is hosted on.
Here are the two standard file include methods for both Windows
and Linux systems (Note: you must use the
proper file extensions [.asp or .php] in order for these
functions to work.)
Remember, the included file will process just as regular
Html; all you are doing is splitting your pages into manageable
parts for easy editing and maintenance:
- Create a file called header.asp that only contains the
code that you want to include.
- Include the file with the above code in the place
where the code should appear on each page.
- Name all files with a .asp extension.
- Create a file called header.php that only contains the
code that you want to include.
- Include the file with the above code in the place where
the code should appear on each page.
- Name all files with a .php extension.
In both cases, relative paths can be determined as in HTML,
<? include("../header.php"); ?>
or you can use an absolute (full) path, which is
ideal for sites that have multiple levels of folders in their
<? include("http:www.site.com/header.php"); ?>
Changing the extensions of your pages can be a temporary
headache, especially for established sites but in the long run,
the ease of maintaining and changing the site is worth the effort.
Before changing page extensions, be sure to have a custom 404
error page in place. (Most hosting packages today offer custom 404
page tools in their control panels - contact your host if you don't
see an option in your hosting control panel.)
SSI gives you the flexibility of a framed site without all
the usability issues that come along with frames.
It allows you to separate the page content from the structure
and graphics, giving you the freedom to easily change any
consistent element of the site without a major hassle.
It's worth changing existing sites and should definitely be
considered when planning a new site.
Copyright © 2004 by Scottie Claiborne | <urn:uuid:e4da0be3-05d2-4fe2-8eee-adfec19fbe78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motivationvault.com/webmaster/articles/001-Scottie-Claibourne.html | 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 | 0.906005 | 1,082 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Posts Tagged ‘10W-40’
I admit — I’m very guilty of going way too long without changing my motor oil, and not changing it can definitely have repercussions on your engine as I found out the hard way.
The rule of thumb for most of us is to change our oil every 3,000 miles, and motor oil ad campaigns reinforce that belief. But it turns out that unless your call is over 5 years old, you’re probably changing your oil more often than is necessary.
Back in the 1970′s when most cars used 10W-40 oil, it was necessary to change the motor oil every 3,000 miles because 10W-40 tended to wear out within about 3,000 miles. These days, however, thanks to improvements in high-quality lubricants and better engines assemblies, the 3,000 mile rule doesn’t necessarily apply. Automakers now recommend that you change the oil at 5,000, 7,000, 10,000 or even 15,000 miles depending on the model under ideal driving conditions.
Unless you’re driving a car that’s more than ten years old, or under super extreme conditions, there’s no reason to change your oil at 3,000 miles. It’s estimated that if everyone changed their motor oil according to manufacturer’s specs, motor oil demand in California alone would be reduced by 10 million gallons per year and could cut the amount of money California drivers spend on oil changes in half. Under normal conditions, changing your oil following the automaker’s recommend intervals will not affect your car’s engine, performance or warranty.
If you’re an extremely low-mileage driver, you probably only have to change your oil once a year. If you’re not sure of the manufacturer’s oil change recommendations for your vehicle, you can find them for most models going back to 2000 at www.checkyournumber.org . | <urn:uuid:d134b5ac-b0c4-427f-a98f-7ca03d1d1abd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://midwestglasstint.com/tag/10w-40/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942606 | 411 | 1.734375 | 2 |
From the start of his work in the field of modern art, Andrei Nakov was interested in Dada and directed his research towards the production of the German artists in Hanover and Berlin: Kurt Schwitters, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Hoech, Johannes Baader and Dada in Berlin in particular. At the end of the sixties, some of the artists who had taken an active part in the Dadaist adventure were still alive and it was thanks to them that the relationships established with the friends and families of Stephan and Franciska Themerson, Hans Richter, Schwitters, Baader, Picabia and others were the first direct sources in his work.
Frequent visits to the home of Hannah Hoech and long stays in Berlin for his work at the Nationalgalerie led to his discovery in that city in 1976 of the remainder of the archives of Johannes Baader (1875-1955). Saved from the brink of destruction, this ensemble, whose conservation required many years of work by the restorers at the Bibliothèque Nationale, included personal and artistic documents, unpublished texts, correspondence, etc. The collection was subsequently enriched with documents belonging to the artist's family as well as those from Baader's last stay in Bavaria.
They will be the subject of a future monograph.
He organised two important exhibitions on Dada (London, 1984, and Japan-Spain in 1988 and 1989). In 1977 he also participated in the organisation of the Dada section of the "Tendenzen der Zwanzige Jahre" (Tendencies of the Twenties) presented in Berlin at the Nationalgalerie and the Akademie der Künste.
In 2005 he took part in the Dada exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou (see Bibliography, 2005).
Resurrecting Dada in Studio International, Summer 1974, p. 57.
(Da)Da = Njet, Dada Russland in catalogue Tendenzen der Zwanziger Jahre, Berlin 1977, p. 3-96 et 3‑99.
Dada me cause un malaise intolérable... in catalogue Dada-Constructivism, The Janus Face of the Twenties, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, 1984, p. 7-32.
Several articles on Russian art, Futurism, Constructivism and Dada in the Dictionnaire de l'Art Moderne et Contemporain, éditions Hazan, Paris.
Dada est une disposition spitiruelle in Raoul Hausmann, exhibition catalogue Musée d'Art. | <urn:uuid:cedd4e2a-5b1b-4090-b1e7-c1a11c729f70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.andrei-nakov.org/en/dada-baader.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906073 | 553 | 1.632813 | 2 |
International certification grows in 2012
November 2012 - UNITAR has just been awarded two quality certificates for its courses "Introduction to Peace Operations" and “Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis”. The certificates were delivered by the Open ECBCheck Initiative, the international quality label for e-Learning on capacity building, through its Awarding Body, during a ceremony organized at the 2012 Online Educa Berlin.
UNITAR integrates the ECBCheck Steering Community since its inception. The Institute participated in the three awarding ceremonies organized so far, having previously received quality certificates for its course on Governance in Urban Sanitation (2010) and Innovative Collaboration for Development (2011). The courses “Introduction to Peace Operations” and “Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis” now add to UNITAR’s portfolio of internationally certified courses, in recognition for the fulfillment ofall criteria set by ECBCheck international quality label.
In 2012, nine programmes delivered by five institutions received quality certificates. These institutions have submitted self-assessments and have had their courses validated by a pool of certified peer reviewers who integrate the ECBCheck professional community. UNITAR also integrates the pool of peer reviewers. Having developed substantial expertise with the peer review process over the past three years, the Institute currently counts with three in-house professional reviewers who contribute to the ECBCheck Initiative. In the ECBCheck quality certification process organized in 2012, UNITAR participated in the peer-review phase, assessing 4 courses.
For further information about the ECBCheck Initiative visit: http://ecbcheck.efquel.org
Photo ©Copyright GIZ 2012 / www.giz.de / Santiago Amaya
30 May 2012
02 May 2012
14 Oct 2011 | <urn:uuid:3f460e12-14e1-4d99-917d-dec59e0092d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unitar.org/es/node/2410?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930326 | 366 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Sharon Krahe has straightforward advice for parents of high school students going through the process of visiting colleges and applying for financial aid: leave no stone unturned and don’t make assumptions.
Krahe, director of Gannon University’s Financial Aid Office, encourages parents and students to apply for financial aid, even if they don’t believe they will be eligible. “Many parents assume they won’t qualify based on their income, and so they don’t take the time to apply,” Krahe said. "Everyone should fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which determines both federal and state eligibility.”
Parents also have to be mindful of application deadlines for the FAFSA, because they can vary by state and by the type of institution the student plans on attending. Gannon University strongly recommends that parents submit the FAFSA by March 15, so as to ensure adequate time for processing.
Financial aid is available from several primary sources: federal sources; state sources; private sources such as foundations, corporations, and financial institutions; and from the college or university the student plans to attend. Gannon University, for example, offers many types of scholarships, grants, and awards.
In addition, financial aid generally takes one of two forms: gift aid and self help, Krahe noted.
Gift aid includes scholarships, grants, and awards which do not have to be repaid and which are typically based on merit or need. Merit awards may be based on the student’s academic record, athletic skills, leadership qualities, program of study, etc. Need-based awards are determined by a formula such as cost minus EFC (Expected Family Contribution), minus other aid.
Students who apply for financial aid at Gannon are automatically considered for Gannon’s need-based grants.
Self help includes loans that the student/borrower must repay, and work study, which requires a work commitment of the student.
In her meetings with parents and students, Krahe addresses several of the common myths with financial aid and the application process:
- In the case of parents who are divorced, many mistakenly believe that the parent who claims the student on their income tax return must complete the FAFSA. However, the FAFSA should be completed by the parent with whom the student resides.
- Many parents also mistakenly believe that if neither claims the student as a dependent on their taxes, the student will be considered independent. Rather, dependency is determined by the FAFSA form, Krahe explained.
- Many parents, families, and students assume they can’t afford college. “In most cases, a college education is much more affordable than people think,” Krahe said. “I try to emphasize that college is usually within their means. Again, it’s worthwhile to go through the process of applying, and not let an assumption deter them.” Krahe also advises parents and students to look beyond an institution’s stated tuition cost, because various forms of aid can lower the cost considerably.
- Parents shouldn’t be intimidated by the application process. Many assume the process is difficult, time consuming, and complicated. “Over time, the process has gotten much easier,” she said, “and that’s why we encourage everyone to make an effort to apply.”
Gannon University will host two more informational financial aid workshops during the current academic year: 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, and 10 a.m. Saturday, April 6. They will be held in room 1200 of Gannon’s Palumbo Center, 824 Peach St., and are free and open to the public.
In addition, Krahe and Gannon University’s other financial aid officers periodically offer informational workshops at area high schools.
Questions? Gannon’s Financial Aid Office has the answers. Contact the office at 814-871-7337 or 1-800-426-6668. | <urn:uuid:4f81680c-af00-4c48-91d4-67819a2e7f3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gannon.edu/NewsDetail.aspx?id=8589939145 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958137 | 845 | 2.5 | 2 |
Programs for Parents
HSF helps guide parents through the educational process. We provide information about preparation for college, college selection and application, application for scholarships and financial aid, and student support organizations.
To help facilitate communications, many programs are provided in both English and Spanish.
- Scholarships: HSF provides scholarships for students enrolled in college, those transferring to four-year institutions from community colleges and graduate students as well as High School Students in their Senior year.
- Getting Ready for College: Thorough list of the important steps to prepare high school students for college.
- Roadmap: Co-produced by HSF and the Princeton Review helps bilingual students and families understand the path to a successful college career.
- Steps for Success Saturdays (S4S): Register for an S4S bilingual workshop for high school students and their parents to learn how to be successful in college.
- Town Hall Meetings and Seminars near you: HSF organizes educational outreach programming throughout the country.
- HSF and Boys & Girls Club of America: have formed a strategic alliance to ensure Hispanic youth are on track to secure a college education.
- Parental Engagement Program: enhances communication between parents and teachers through a series of bilingual workshops on financial aid, scholarships and the U.S. educational system.
- Publications: The HSF Money Manual focuses on managing your money for a college education and Destination University is a guide to applying to college and for financial aid. (PDF format) Co-produced by HSF and the Princeton Review, the College Admissions Roadmap helps families understand what needs to be done in high school to prepare for college admissions.
- Additional Resources: Provides additional information that will help you achieve your educational goals.
- Outreach Programs: information on the different programs we offer.
Click here for a schedule of events | <urn:uuid:cbb66279-306b-411d-be91-524055220e6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jrenderos@hsf.net/innerContent.aspx?id=76 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943851 | 378 | 2.34375 | 2 |
The Student Conduct Code
The Student Conduct Code was approved by University of Washington faculty, reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office, and made effective by the Board of Regents. Written into Washington Administrative Code (WAC 478-120-010), standards of academic and behavioral conduct apply to University of Washington students enrolled at Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma. Standards established by the Code safeguard university functions, and protect the rights and freedoms of all members of the university community
The University of Washington Bothell Conduct Process was recommended by UW Bothell faculty, reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office, and approved by the Chancellor. It fosters student learning and development by promoting high standards of integrity and accountability. Students participating in the process will engage in five learning goals:
- Intellectual Growh
- Clarified Values
- Meaningful Interpersonal relationships
- Realistic Self-Appraisal
- Healthy Behavior
Faculty Establish Expectations for Classroom Conduct
As representatives of the University, faculty have the responsibility and the authority to Establish Expectations for Student Conduct that foster a climate of academic honesty and professional behavior in the classroom. Faculty may also prohibit behaviors distracting to other students or disruptive to their teaching.
Report Student Misconduct
Faculty who observe behavioral misconduct, or suspect academic misconduct, are asked to Report Student Misconduct to the Office of Student Services. Once a Student Conduct Incident Report is filed, this office coordinates the conduct process including Student Conduct Hearings for the UW Bothell campus. | <urn:uuid:9b1573a3-73ed-4c48-a72d-e574fa10177f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bothell.washington.edu/studentservices/studentconduct/faculty-resources | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943934 | 307 | 1.570313 | 2 |
As a space enthusiast who grew up in the 1960s – and was sure as a boy that he would be travelling to the moon and back by 2010 – I have mixed feelings about the demise of Nasa’s return-to-the-moon programme, announced in President Obama’s federal budget announcement.
While I am sad that the US will not, after all, be sending astronauts back to the moon this decade, I recognise that the Constellation lunar return programme, a legacy of the Bush administration, was unsustainable in the present financial climate.
Constellation involves two Ares rockets, one of which has already been launched on an unmanned test flight, and an Orion crew vessel on which the space agency Nasa has already spent – wasted, as it turns out – an estimated $9bn. But, as the White House buget statement puts it, ” the program was over budget, behind schedule and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies.”
Instead, Nasa’s manned space activities will focus on new rockets developed by private companies to fly astronauts to the International Space Station in low orbit just 340km above the Earth. The ISS, a collaborative project also involving the Russian, European, Japanese and Canadian space agencies, would keep going at least until 2020.
This will require Nasa and its partner agencies to give the public a clearer idea of ISS’s purpose and mission. Is it there mainly as a symbol of permanent human presence in space, pointing to future manned missions to more exciting destinations such as Mars? Or is it a practical base for carrying out research in zero gravity above the Earth’s atmosphere? No one seems really to know at the moment.
President Obama wants Nasa to work with commercial companies to develop much less expensive space vehicles to convey people to and from the ISS. This will require the agency to adopt more of a hands-off attitude to space transport design and to involve innovative private companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences. Until now the agency has specified all details of its rockets, which have been built by big contractors such as Northrop Grumman and United Technologies.
President George W. Bush saw a return to the moon as a step towards sending astronauts to Mars a decade or two later. His successor has not removed a Martian voyage from Nasa’s long-term agenda but he says the US cannot afford to take the intermediate step.
Mr Obama’s decision appears to leave the lunar landing field clear for China and India. Both countries are planning manned moon missions for later this decade.
However, the administration will face fierce opposition in Congress, both from politicians who feel that US national pride and security require a more active manned space programme and from those whose states or districts stand to lose a lot of aerospace business from the new policy.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, Nasa’s main launch base, said: “I, for one, intend to stand up and fight for Nasa, and for the thousands of people who stand to lose their jobs.” | <urn:uuid:3d545d1f-ac26-464d-9963-1a9bdd7fe575> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ft.com/scienceblog/2010/02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957265 | 620 | 3.078125 | 3 |
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Study: Africa's Elephants in 'Devastating Decline'
The forest elephants of central Africa are suffering a "widespread and catastrophic decline," according to a study published Monday in the online journal PLOS ONE.
The study's authors write that the elephant population plummeted by 62% between 2002–2011, during which time they lost 30% of their range.
Industrial agriculture takeover of land, such as the palm oil industry, is threatening the forest elephants' habitat. But it is the poaching as part of the illegal ivory trade that is fueling their decline, the report states.
Conservation group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) charged on Monday that web giant Google is fostering the illicit trade of the poached ivory through advertisements from its Japanese Shopping site, saying that it has about 10,000 ads promoting ivory products, as well as ads promoting whale products.
“Google has laudable policies that prohibit the promotion of endangered wildlife products including whale, dolphin and elephant ivory, but sadly these are not being enforced and that’s devastating for whales and elephants,” EIA President Allan Thornton said in a statement.
“While elephants are being mass slaughtered across Africa to produce ivory trinkets, it is shocking to discover that Google, with the massive resources it has at its disposal, is failing to enforce its own policies designed to help protect endangered elephants and whales,” stated Thornton. | <urn:uuid:b4e860bc-e3cc-4e2c-bf4d-008d654c05a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/05-10?quicktabs_1=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94864 | 305 | 3.09375 | 3 |
BRASHER FALLS The St. Lawrence Central School District plans to drill for a new middle and high school well earlier than anticipated after the district began experiencing problems with its water following an earthquake earlier this month in Quebec.
Superintendent Steven M. Putman said the district had planned to drill a new well as part of its upcoming capital project, but the well will be installed sooner because the middle and high school began finding discolored water with a funny smell after the early-morning quake Nov. 6.
Weve been working with the Health Department ever since, Mr. Putman said.
The district completed a standardized test, which Mr. Putman said came back negative for coliform bacteria. The state Department of Health then started doing a broader of array of tests, he said.
I sent a letter home to parents last Friday explaining what we were doing, Mr. Putman said Tuesday. After school got out yesterday, we got word on part of the array of tests we had done. They showed a level of glycol higher than the regulatory standard in the well water.
He said the problem was only with the middle and high school well, which is inside the building, and did not affect the elementary school, which has its own well.
On the recommendation of the Department of Health, Mr. Putman said, students at the middle and high school have been advised not to use the water to wash their hands or take a shower. The district is providing bottled water and put signs on drinking fountains to let students know not to use them.
The cafeteria also is using bottled water for cooking and other activities that require water, Mr. Putman said.
He said the district is waiting for more test results and has sought permission from the state Education Department to move up the well-replacement project.
School is closed until Monday for the Thanksgiving break, but district officials already are making provisions for when students and staff return.
Sometime in the next few days, we will be drilling a new well, Mr. Putman said Tuesday. Until we get a new well, well be providing bottled water for the students. We may still be on bottled water for a while next week.
How long it will take to drill a new well depends on how deep the drillers have to go to reach water, Mr. Putman said. | <urn:uuid:55957b2c-f915-4d20-80a3-0ce1350fb4de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ogd.com/article/20121121/NEWS05/711219866/1038 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974621 | 482 | 2.015625 | 2 |
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American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES): The American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) is an organization comprised of special educators, general educators, related service providers, administrators, teacher trainers, researchers, and parents who are committed to the enhancement of services to students and individuals living in rural America.
Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS): The CLAS Institute identifies, evaluates, and promotes effective and appropriate early intervention practices and preschool practices that are sensitive and respectful to children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. www.clas.uiuc.edu
Multicultural Early Childhood Team Training (MECTT): George Mason University (GMU) and the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC) develop training curriculum to prepare parent and professional teams to work with diverse families of young children with disabilities.
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC): NECTAC is a national technical assistance consortium working to support states, jurisdictions, and others to improve services and results for young children with disabilities and their families.
Zero to Three: ZERO TO THREE is the nation's leading resource on the first three years of life. They are a national non-profit charitable organization whose aim is to strengthen and support families, practitioners and communities to promote the healthy development of babies and toddlers.
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Office of Special Education Programs
Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA): The IDEA Practices Web site is developed and maintained by Education Development Center, Inc.(EDC). EDC is a nonprofit educational research and development organization located in Newton, MA, with more than 250 projects around the globe. Throughout its 40 year history, EDC has been involved in numerous projects and programs focusing on children and youth with disabilities. EDC is working closely with CEC to create a resource-rich and highly interactive Web site that will provide service providers and local administrators with information and support for IDEA-related concerns, issues, and strategies that work.
United States Census Data:
The United States Census Bureau is the preeminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States.
Maryland Data Center: The State Data Center program is a cooperative program established in 1978 between each of the states and the Census Bureau. The purpose of the program is to make census information available locally through a network of State agencies, universities, libraries, and regional and local governments.
Maryland Committee for Children: The Maryland Committee for Children also manages the Maryland Child Care Resource Network, a public/private partnership which works to improve the state's child care delivery system.
Maryland General Assembly: The Maryland General Assembly meets in Annapolis each year for 90 days to act on more than 2300 bills including the State's annual budget. The 415th Session begins January 10, 2001 and adjourns April 9, 2001. The General Assembly has 47 Senators and 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. Legislative Information on the Web site is updated each night during the session. For a fee, continuously updated information is available through the Legislative Subscription Service. | <urn:uuid:fec2e9ce-b14f-4aae-8b65-da37a483de1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/earlyinterv/infant_toddlers/links.htm?WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished%25%253%25%3E | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909374 | 671 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Geographical Index > United States > Michigan > Iosco County > Report # 14854|
Submitted by witness on Tuesday, June 06, 2006.
Possible ongoing activity outside Whittemore
(Show Printer-friendly Version)
COUNTY: Iosco County
LOCATION DETAILS: Southwest Iosco County
NEAREST TOWN: Whittemore
NEAREST ROAD: M65
OBSERVED: I'm not entirely sure if what lives in our woods is a bigfoot. All I can say is that as long as I can remember there has been something there. If you take walks at night along the woods line you can hear something walking beside you in the woods but it never comes out. There is sometimes an awful screaching noise as well. One night me and my boyfriend were outside and we heard something walking in the woods (our house was about 20 feet from the woods line) and we stopped to listen. It sounded like something scared whatever it was because it sounded as if something large holding a 2x4 horizontally went crashing through the woods. It was so loud and moving fast. A few weeks later we were outside and we heard some cracking in the woods and then it sounded like whatever it was stepped on one of those old glass coke bottles and broke it. Now a woodland animal wouldnt be able to do that. It's been reported around our area that there are "monkey people" living out in the woods. Many people have come back with tales of seeing strange ape-like creatures while hunting. My mother and sister went outside one night and saw 2 big red eyes sitting under the apple tree they have near the woods. It took off running and my mom said it looked ape-like. She even says that she was driving home one day and looked off in toward the ditch and saw what she claims was a large silver looking ape-creature. She said she was too scared to stop so she kept going. I'm not sure what it is but I know that since I was a little girl we'd hear things out there. My dad is a sceptic and even he admits there's something there. People come over late at night to just walk the woods line to see if they can hear anything. We've thought about putting up a motion camera but somehow the idea of actually knowing that it might be something really strange is worse than not knowing at all.
ALSO NOTICED: A strange smell usually is there when you hear things
OTHER WITNESSES: There are about 10 witnesses to one of the incidents
OTHER STORIES: Yes. A few years back a friend of mine says that he was hanging out with some people down the rd from where we live (they were in an old silo that had medium sized holes in the walls). He said that while they were sitting around a fire they saw about 10 sets of red eyes peering at them through the holes in the walls (various holes of course).
TIME AND CONDITIONS: It's usually only on clear nights and I've never heard it in the winter. It seems to only happen in the late spring to late fall
ENVIRONMENT: There is nothing there except trees. I dont think there's a creek for about 2 miles
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Fred Greca Jr.:
I spoke with the witness at length by telephone. The witness no longer lives at her parent's residence, where all the incidents took place, but is still curious, as is the rest of her family, to get some answers as to what might be causing the strange occurrences there. I have the following to add to the witness' report.
As some of the incidents were fairly recent, I arranged to make a visit on September 30, 2006, to the witness' parentís residence. I talked at length with the witness' mother and sister and they described the following additional incidents: One morning before sunrise the witnessí mother went outside and got into her vehicle to go to work. When she turned on the headlights she saw a pair of red eyes and a dark shadow with two legs inside the woods. She immediately went back into the house. On another occasion the sister and some friends took a walk down the driveway, adjacent to the woods, late in the evening. One of the friends threw a stone into the woods, and soon afterward a stone was thrown back at them. On still another occasion a friend of the family arrived for a visit later in the evening and parked her car near the wood line. While everyone was inside they heard a slight commotion out by her car, and upon investigating, found some unusually large footprints, with a large gait, in the light dusting of snow on the ground. These are just a few of the incidents that have been occurring at this residence for a number of years.
I did walk through the woods where the noises had been reported to have come from and also around the approximately 20 acres this particular wood lot covers. This wooded area is surrounded by farm fields, which are then surrounded by more wooded parcels. The nearest neighbor is approximately half a mile away in the closest direction. An aerial view of the area shows a large wooded area of approximately 3 square miles within a mile distance from the residence. The general area is approximately 50% woods and 50% farm fields. There are water sources in the area. Herds of deer have been seen in the fields near the residence.
While exploring the woods where the activities occurred, I did discover an unusual stick formation that, in my opinion, did not occur naturally. I also found a 2 inch diameter maple sapling that had been bent over and broken, probably within the last year.
I also came across a 3 foot high sumac bush that had all been plucked of its branches, except for one. Upon that un-plucked branch remained the bright red leaves. I made a mental note on how much it looked like a marker flag. That bush was in close proximity to a 15 foot high jack pine tree. In between the sumac bush and the jack pine, was a matted down area in the ground cover, which was within the circumference of the pine tree. Standing in that position, I could see through the branches of the jack pine over to the driveway, about 30 feet away. As the branches of the jack pine were sparse, I concluded that it would not make a good hiding place from passing cars during the daylight hours, but could be quite concealing in the darkness. I later learned, after the field investigation, while talking with the witnessí mother by telephone, that she had seen a dark figure in the light shine of her vehicle's headlights, behind the jack pine, while heading down the driveway back to the house one evening.
I still remain in contact with the witness, who informs me of other strange activities at her parentís residence. The activity there still continues.
About BFRO Investigator Fred Greca Jr.:
Fred Greca Jr. is an Engineer. He has participated in the following BFRO expeditions: Ohio 2006, New York 2006, Ohio (revisited) 2007, Michigan U.P. 2007, Ontario 2007, Michigan U.P. 2008, Ohio 2009, Michigan L.P. 2011 and Michigan U.P. 2012. | <urn:uuid:0bb27f57-5a45-486d-bf08-51d1a4965224> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=14854 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984424 | 1,505 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Documentary film & discussion about imprisoned American journalist and social activist, and Goddard alumnus, Mumia Abu-Jamal (BA ’96). Free and open to the public. Presented by Goddard College’s undergraduate program.
Before he was convicted of murdering a policeman in 1981 and sentenced to death, Mumia Abu-Jamal was a gifted journalist and brilliant writer. Now, after more than 30 years in prison on death row and despite attempts to silence him, Mumia is not only still alive but continuing to report, educate, provoke and inspire.
Stephen Vittoria's new feature documentary, Mumia:Long Distance Revolutionary, is an inspiring portrait of a man whom many consider America's most famous political prisoner - a man whose existence tests our beliefs about freedom of expression. Through prison interviews, archival footage, and dramatic readings, and aided by a potent chorus of voices including Cornel West, Alice Walker, Dick Gregory, Angela Davis, Amy Goodman and others, this riveting film explores Mumia's life before, during and after Death Row - revealing, in the words of Angela Davis, "the most eloquent and most powerful opponent of the death penalty in the world...the 21st Century Frederick Douglass."
For directions to the college or for more info, call 802.454.8311. | <urn:uuid:21f9b420-a3f4-40e8-af23-bcf89e43a22e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goddard.edu/news-events/events/%E2%80%9Cmumia-long-distance-revolutionary%E2%80%9D-film-viewing-discussion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920588 | 270 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Instagram is famed for its photo filters, but it appeared to add a new, unwanted one this week: a filter that made the service evil.
Changes to its terms and conditions appeared to give the service the right to use your photos in ads - ads that wouldn't necessarily be labelled as such - or sub-licence them for cash without asking permission or giving you a cut.
The internet, you'll be amazed to discover, was furious.
Gary Marshall explained why so many people were angry. "Whether by accident or design, the new T&Cs say that when you upload things, they can be used to misrepresent you and mislead others," he writes.
"That goes way beyond using advertising to pay the bandwidth bills. It's seeing users as suckers." If Instagram didn't change the terms, Marshall suggested, "you should change your photo sharing service."
Instagram promised to change the terms, in what you might interpret as frantic backtracking or clarification of a terrible misunderstanding.
National Geographic appears to believe it was the former, and has suspended its use of the service. Yahoo must be jumping for joy: the Instagram debacle happened just as it unveiled a brand new Flickr app for its photo sharing service.
iOS 6 is now bearable. Thanks Google!
Instagram users weren't the only ones jumping ship. Apple users were dumping iOS maps for Google's new maps app: as Chris Smith reports, one firm of analysts reports a massive 29% leap in iOS 6 impressions in the five days following the Google Maps app launch. It seems that the app "may have prompted a large number of users to finally make the leap to Apple's iOS 6" - and to leap straight into the arms of Google.
Highs and lows from the tech giants
The Maps debacle was one of many highs for Google in 2012, but there were lows too: hands up who bought a Nexus Q, or even remembered that it exists? As we discovered, Google's hit home runs with smartphones and tablets, but it's also encountered logistical problems, tax troubles and regulatory scrutiny.
Apple's had a bumpy year too. Despite making some wonderful bits of kit and earning truly astonishing sums of money, Apple's operating amid a flurry of lawsuits, share price swings, software problems and some pretty blatant copycats.
It's also suffered from uncharacteristic delays, such as the delayed launch of the new, ultra-thin iMac - check out our new iMac review here.
Windows 8 tablets delayed
Apple's not the only one dealing with frustrating delays. Dell and HP's flagship Windows 8 tablets have been delayed too, with their November and December shipping dates being pushed back to January. The culprit, it seems, is quality control testing: Intel's latest Clover Trail processors aren't meeting Microsoft's quality standards.
Swearing is OK. But not in an aggressive way!
It's enough to make you go online and call people names, but be careful: new UK government guidelines make it clear just how many expletives you can hurl before the internet cops will come a-knocking. The guidelines add some much-needed perspective, differentiating between stupid and/or inebriated posts and online abuse.
Generally speaking it's okay to call someone a ******** **** ******* ****, especially if that someone is @piersmorgan, but it's not okay to intimidate, terrify or harass them.
And that's it for Week In Tech this year, although we'll be posting plenty of other stuff over Christmastime to keep you and yours entertained. Plus our fabby (and five issues free!) iPad magazine, Tech., will continue to publish during the Christmas season.
We'd like to wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year, and we hope that Santa delivers all the gadget goodies you asked for. | <urn:uuid:6fe58285-eaaf-4f3d-908e-94e6ecb94c81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/instagram-learns-the-hard-way-but-how-many-users-did-it-lose-1120494 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960162 | 789 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Conventional wisdom dictates that if you can afford to have food delivered, you should be able to afford the tip. Not always.
On Tuesday, a Reddit user named Jfastman uploaded a photo of a receipt for a pizza delivery that included 85 pizzas totaling $1,453. "My friend delivered 85 pizzas today and got a $10 tip," he wrote. The story kicked off a fiery debate prompting dozens to write comments such as "The delivery guy deserved more" and "Ten dollars is cheap!" Others insisted that no one could realistically expect to receive a 20 percent tip on such a large order.
More on Yahoo! A Cheat Sheet on Tipping Do's and Don'ts
Tipping has been a hot topic lately and there's no shortage of water cooler news anecdotes to fan the flames. In October 2011, a waitress named Victoria Liss didn't receive a tip for the service she provided for a $28.98 meal, however she did receive a note that read, “P.S. You could stand to loose (sic) a few pounds.” In January, Reddit user Nickshambo posted a photo of a note a patron left his friend instead of a tip. Printed on paper, the note read: "As a direct result of Proposition 30 and President Obama's insistence that I pay "MY FAIR SHARE IN TAXES" I find that I must cut back on discretionary spending and gratuities. I wish it didn't have to be this way for both of us." And later that month, Reddit user Gateflan, a former waiter at Applebee's posted that a St. Louis-based pastor named Alois Bell reacted to his restaurant's "included tip" policy of 18 percent by writing a zero on the receipt's tip line and writing, "I give God 10 percent. Why do you get 18?" Other variations of "tips" have included racial slurs and curse words.
More on Yahoo! Shine: Common Tipping Mistakes
"Although tipping is an accepted custom in the United States, there is a lot of confusion over when, how much to give, and to whom," Michael Lynn, Ph.D., "tipping expert" and professor at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, told Yahoo! Shine. "Although no one exactly knows how tipping originated, one theory dates back to the late 1400s in Germany when a silversmith wrote a note to a patron that read, 'My apprentice helped with this and would also appreciate a tip.'"
According to Lynn, the trend took off and tipping became big business in the United States with people tipping more frequently and in larger amounts than in any other country. And there's a psychological component at play. "In addition to compensating someone for providing quality work, tipping can often be about social approval," he says. "We live in a society where status is achieved and not ascribed. Money is a measure of how much we've achieved and often people determine a tip based on how much they want to prove their worth." There's social pressure too. Who hasn't been at a group dinner and sneaked a peek at how much their dinner companion is giving?
But in a modern-day society where people can pretty much get any of their needs delivered (cat food, diapers, toiletries) thanks to the rise of technology, the rules of tipping can be confusing. Do you tip the bellhop for bringing up your bags? What about on a spa certificate you're given as a gift? And do you always have to tip 20 percent—even when service is poor? A waitress could be forgetful and slow but odds are she only makes minimum wage (a paltry $2.13 in many states); does she deserve a sympathy tip?
"The rule of thumb is that you should always tip when someone is bringing you a product or service where manual labor is involved," says Lynn. "For example, movers, food and drink delivery people, restaurant servers, house cleaners, salon workers, and hotel maids. These are also situations where you can measure the immediate value of the work, unlike say, a car mechanic or doctor where their services are more abstract and assessed over time."
Tipping on gifts you received such as flowers and gift certificates fall into gray areas, but in an ideal situation the giver would have prepaid the tip before sending the gift.
There's a tricky tipping scale too. Standard tipping rates are 15-20 percent in many parts of the country but that bracket is rapidly expanding. "People are tipping more these days and the mean tip is closer to 20 percent," says Lynn. "We call it 'tip creep.' One person can boost the norm and then there's upward pressure to conform. Many now tip 25-30 percent."
And what of the pizza delivery guy—why was he given such a poor tip? "Without knowing the specifics, it's possible that the person ordering the pizza just didn't know any better," says Lynn. "Standard tipping on a pizza pie is a few bucks. So he may have figured that delivering 85 pies required one trip—the same trip to deliver just one. But instead of giving him a few dollars, he upped it to $10. The reality? He should have tipped between $85-$100." | <urn:uuid:03fceb19-c954-4b4a-bd72-6014203d783e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/what-kind-of-person-tips-10-dollars-for-85-pizzas--173851199.html?.tsrc=lgwn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975865 | 1,085 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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Nanotechnology leads to self-powered battery
- 21 June, 2011 12:31
Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have taken a step toward developing self-powered portable electronics by enabling piezoelectric thin films to turn mechanical pressure into electricity.
Speaking to Computerworld Australia, lead co-author, Dr Madhu Bhaskaran, said the research combined piezoelectrics, which are materials capable of converting pressure into electrical energy, and microchip manufacturing or thin film technology.
“The ultimate aim was to gain power by harnessing off the physiological functions in the body, for instance blood pressure actually powering a biomedical device,” she said.
“The most common example of where this has been implemented is a lighter, where you press off the element it’s essentially triggering and creating the spark and it has been implemented from around thirty years back.”
According to Bhaskaran, piezoelectrics could be integrated into running shoes to charge mobile phones and enable laptops to be powered through typing to essentially create an everlasting battery.
"The concept of energy harvesting using piezoelectric nanomaterials has been demonstrated but the realisation of these structures can be complex and they are poorly suited to mass fabrication.”
The project, running since 2006, is still in the fundamental research phase and around two to three years from becoming a product that could be commercialised.
"Our study focused on thin film coatings because we believe they hold the only practical possibility of integrating piezoelectrics into existing electronic technology."
Researchers have been studying piezoelectrics for some time, Bhaskaran said, mainly focusing on things like nano-wires but the films are more integratable into existing technology because it already uses the films in many forms.
"With the drive for alternative energy solutions, we need to find more efficient ways to power microchips, which are the building blocks of everyday technology like the smarter phone or faster computer," Bhaskaran said.
Bhaskaran co-authored the study with RMIT’s Dr Sharath Sriram within the university’s Microplatforms Research Group, and collaborated with Australian National University's (ANU) Dr Simon Ruffell on the project. The study will be published in the 21 June issue Advanced Functional Materials.
"The next key challenge will be amplifying the electrical energy generated by the piezoelectric materials to enable them to be integrated into low-cost, compact structures."
Bhaskeran said the process required the electrical energy, currently around 250 microwatts, to be amplified 10 times to 2.5 milliwatts in order to be used commercially as a battery.
“It won’t be a difficult process but it’ll be quite time consuming, it’s quite easy actually creating it but testing it will be the tricky thing.”
Should the technology eventually be commercialised it would be very affordable, she said, as the films are the same as those currently being used on electronic devices.
Follow Chloe Herrick on Twitter: @chloe_CW
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
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Getting Real About Security Management and Big Data – A Roadmap for Big Data in Security Analytics
It’s an exciting yet daunting time to be a security professional. Security threats are becoming more aggressive and voracious. This whitepaper examines the escalating complexity for the security management environment; how to get more meaning from data already collected and the combination of infrastructure, analytic tools and threat intelligence need to drive business value from Big Data. Download now.
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- The Art of Manliness - http://www.artofmanliness.com -
A Manly Option for Higher Education: Senior Military Colleges
Posted By Brett On February 1, 2009 @ 8:25 pm In Money & Career | 70 Comments
Are you a young man who is trying to decide where to go to college?
Are you drawn to the discipline, leadership, physical, and mental training provided by the military, but aren’t sure if a military career is for you?
Do you desire a college experience that will provide you with a challenging rite of passage into manhood instead of endless nights of drinking and video games?
Have you thought about joining the ROTC at college, but feel like the program isn’t immersive enough?
If you answered yes to any of these questions (or have a son who would) it’s time to look into the opportunities provided by Senior Military Colleges (SMC). Most men have probably heard the names of “Citadel” or “Virginia Military Institute” before, but likely have little idea of what kind of program these schools offer students. In short, in addition to rigorous academics, Senior Military Colleges provide the discipline and leadership training found in the military without asking for a commitment to join the military.
College was once seen as a rite of passage for men, an experience that helped a boy transition into manhood. These days, college is likely to be more of an impediment to that process than a facilitator. Many of the young men I went to high school with were quite upstanding gentleman in high school, only to devolve as men once they went through college. Partying, hooking up, and wasting time is now considered a sacrosanct part of the college experience. While there’s nothing wrong with having a lot of fun when you’re young, men often graduate college without the skills in self-discipline, time management, self-reliance, and personal responsibility needed to navigate their future and become a success. They thus spend their post-graduate years quite lost, stuck between boyhood and manhood and confused about how to proceed with their life. The education found at a SMC provides a strong remedy to this dilemma. It is designed not only to educate a man’s mind, but to prepare him with the skills, values, and experiences needed to be a successful, highly motivated leader.
Senior Military Colleges in the United States have long histories and were not designed solely for those students intent on joining the military. The founders of these schools understood that all men, regardless of their career path, could benefit from a military lifestyle coupled with academic excellence. Thus, unlike service academies and ROTC programs at civilian colleges which require commission in the military, students at SMC’s, members of what is called the Corps of Cadets, may choose to be commissioned when they graduate, or they may walk away to a life in the civilian world. While it varies from school to school, around 1/3 to ½ of graduates take a commission in the military while the rest go on to civilian careers or to graduate school. And, unlike traditional ROTC students at civilian colleges, if you do decide to seek a commission in the military, you are guaranteed an active duty position if you desire it.
At each SMC, a student enrolls in both the ROTC and the Corps of Cadets. The Corps of Cadets experience goes far beyond that of the typical ROTC program. Requiring much more than wearing a uniform once a week and attending military classes, it’s an immersive experience, similar to that found at the nation’s service academies.
The SMC experience is not for everyone. The cadet experience begins a week before the semester starts, when they must report to campus for a mini-boot camp. Heads are shaved and uniforms are donned. The cadets must learn how to march in formation, handle a weapon, take care of their uniforms, and keep their rooms clean. Beyond this initial “Hell Week,” things don’t get any easier for the freshmen. They are lead by “cadre” consisting of upperclassmen who shadow the newbies, yelling in their faces, making sure they are following the rules, quizzing them on the cadet’s code and the school’s traditions, and making them do push-ups whenever the mood strikes. Most colleges have several phases during the freshman year that are both mentally and physically grueling which new cadets must pass through to earn greater privileges and respect. At the end of freshman year, the scrubs are welcomed fully into the Corps’ ranks if they pass certain physical tests and rites of passage.
A cadets’ life is disciplined, structured, and challenging for all four years. There is a set wake-up and lights out time, mandatory study hall, and daily physical fitness training and drilling. Cadets are required to wear their uniform at all times on campus. They live together with other cadets in rooms that are subject to cleanliness inspection. Cadets are often required to eat together at certain times and must march to and from the mess hall. There is free time available each day and on some weekends, although other weekends are designated for military training.
In return for giving up the freedom of a traditional college, SMC students are shaped and molded into men of honor, discipline, and integrity. Without the distractions found at other schools, cadets can concentrate on their studies and on building themselves into the kind of men they wish to be. Senior Military Colleges are as intent on molding a man’s character as they are on boosting his intellect. Participation in the Corps of Cadets provides unmatchable leadership training. There are few other experiences in which a young man can receive hands on training in honorably leading his subordinates. Cadets become a close-knit band of brothers that quickly learn the value of teamwork, communication, initiative, and tradition. Individual cadets gain self-confidence and a sense of self-reliance. They come to embody values like integrity, honor, personal responsibility, and perseverance. They graduate from college far better men than when they entered. Plus, you get to wear a dang spiffy uniform.
There are six Senior Military Colleges in the United States. While they share many similarities, each program has its own flavor and traditions. What follows is a brief description of each of these schools.
Note: While the tuition at most SMC’s appears expensive, keep in mind that many scholarships and grants are available to cadets, especially to those who wish to accept a commission in the military.
Image from mumansky
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: 25,000/700
ROTC Branches: Air Force, Army, Navy
Tuition: $6,332 (in-state), $18,789 (out-of-state)
Similar only to the program found at Texas A&M, the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech is situated at a large public university amongst 25,000 civilian students. Not only do students have the opportunity to befriend thousands of civilian students, they also get to rub shoulders with members of all the services; cadets from the Army, Navy, and Air Force live together in dorms. Cadets live a military lifestyle, but are also free to join any and all of the clubs, fraternities, sports teams that civilian students enjoy. Plus, cadets get free admission to all home football games. Students are not obligated to join the ROTC at all and can instead choose the “Civilian Track” and participate only in the Corps.
Location: Dahlonega, GA
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: 5,000/650
ROTC Branches: Army
Tuition: $12,600 freshmen year, and $10,600 for each of your sophomore, junior, and senior years. (out-of-state cadets pay in-state tuition)
Nestled in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, the Military College of Georgia is a small liberal arts college attended by both civilian students and those who join the Corps of Cadets. The cadets are trained in the military lifestyle and live together in the Corps’ coed barracks, but are also free to join the normal college organizations like clubs, intramural sports, and fraternities. Cadets attend classes with traditional students, and class sizes are kept small. NGCSU is the most affordable of any of the Senior Military Colleges and issues many grants to students to defray the costs. Cadets graduate from the program with a leadership minor, in addition to the major of their choice.
Location: Northfield, VT
Branches: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: 2,000/1,200
Norwich University is the oldest (and now only) private military college in the country and the birthplace of the ROTC. Cadets are required to enroll in ROTC all four years they attend the university. The Norwich cadets live in separate dormitories but share classes and extracurricular activities with the traditional students on campus. Freshmen arrive on campus as “rooks” and must pass through several phases of training to earn the title of “cadet.” Cadets have the opportunity to join special units within the Corps. The Independent Artillery Battery fires Civil War era cannons at sports games and special events. The Calvary troop which teaches cadets horsemanship. The Mountain and Cold Weather Company takes advantage of the rugged Vermont landscape to teach cadets skills such as skiing, snowshoeing, wilderness survival, basic and advanced first aid, climbing and mountaineering, and the basics of cold weather fighting and survival.
Location: College Station, TX
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: 45,380/2,000
ROTC Branches: Army, Air Force, Navy Marines
Tuition: $7,844 (in-state), $22,274 (out-of-state), (includes fees)
Texas A&M boasts of having more uniformed students that produces more military officers than any other school in US outside of the service academies themselves. All cadets are required to take two years of ROTC classes their first two years; those who seek a commission continue with ROTC, those who do not remain in Corps and continue their leadership training as Drill and Ceremonies cadets. Aggie cadets have their own residence and dining facilities but rub shoulders with traditional students in classes and student organizations.
For the first 100 years of its history A&M was a military college, and many of the school’s most vaunted traditions such as the University’s Bonfire, yell practice, Aggie Muster and Silver Taps, were created by, and now carried on by cadets. About 1/3 choose to be commissioned and the rest are Drill and Ceremonies Cadets. The Corps includes special units such as the Calvary Unit, and units that train cadets who wish to become Navy Seals and Army Rangers. The most famous special unit is Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, the world’s largest precision military marching band, which is known for its spectacular halftime shows. And all Corps cadets, whether band members or not, get to march onto Kyle field before home football games.
Image from pboyd04
One of the most cherished traditions is the Senior privilege of donning the “Senior Boots,” distinctive leather riding boots which can run a cadet around $1000. Seniors are allowed to yell, “I need a fish!” to summon a freshman to help them remove the boots.
Image from vacationer101
Location: Charleston, SC
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: 2,000/1,900
ROTC Branches: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force
Tuition: $16,420 (in-state), $28,920.00 (out-of-state) (including fees and room and board)
Unlike other SMC’s where the Corps of Cadets make up a small part of the student body, at the Citadel, the Corps is the student body. Traditional student take evening classes, but cadets do not share classes with them and only cadets live on campus. Cadets must undergo four semesters of ROTC training.
The Citadel, which calls itself the “West Point of the South,” prides itself on its elite reputation, strict discipline, and rich history. Having only admitted women in 1996 because of a court order, the Citadel is still a male-dominated campus; only 6% of cadets are female. The college also places a great emphasis on honor; it was only in 2007 that locks were placed on barrack doors.
While “hazing” is technically against the rules at the Citadel (and the other military colleges), the upperclassmen cadets are still famous for the harsh rites of initiation they put the knobs (freshmen, named for their shaved heads) through.
Image by V-rider
The reward for enduring this trial by fire comes during the senior year when the cadet receives a mammoth 10 karat gold Citadel ring. Earning the right to wear this “Band of Gold” is an honor of incredibly weighty significance.
Image by Art Afficionado
Location: Lexington, VA
Total Undergraduate Student Population/Corps of Cadets: n/a/1300
ROTC Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines
Tuition: $5,262 (in-state), $22,160 (out-of-state)
Virginia Military Institute is a place with a storied history and reigns as the oldest state-supported military college in the country. The cadets experience this history firsthand, as many of them live in the “The Old Barracks,” a National Historic Landmark built in 1848. VMI prides itself on continuity and tradition and was the last military college to admit women, which it did upon court order in 1997. Similar to the Citadel, female students today make up only around 6% of the cadets.
VMI maintains a reputation for rigorous academics and a lifestyle that is Spartan-like even by military college standards. The freshman initiation experience, known as the Ratline, is particularly grueling. “Rats” eat their meals at attention, pound out countless push-ups, and are called on morning and night runs. After a challenging test of their fitness and teamwork abilities, rats are welcomed into the VMI community as fourth classmen at a ceremony called Breakout which occurs during the second semester.
VMI cadets take the virtue of honor seriously and uphold the last “single sanction” honor code among the military academies. If any student is found guilty of a single insistence of lying, stealing, or cheating, they are expelled from the school in a “drumming out” ceremony.
Article printed from The Art of Manliness: http://www.artofmanliness.com
URL to article: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/02/01/military-academies/
URLs in this post:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: http://www.vtcc.vt.edu/
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mumansky/2448413388/
North Georgia College and State University (The Military College of Georgia): http://www.ngcsu.edu/military/index.htm
Norwich University: http://www.norwich.edu/cadets/index.html
Texas A&M: http://www.aggiecorps.org/
pboyd04: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pboyd04/191288356/
The Citadel: http://www.citadel.edu/main/
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21256021@N08/2420265766/
V-rider: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11435930@N06/1483602253/
Virginia Military Institute: http://www.vmi.edu/
Art Afficionado: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23257829@N06/2291698396/
Copyright 2010 The Art of Manliness. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:baa2b407-0261-45d6-b5ad-b08d183849a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/02/01/military-academies/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957001 | 3,503 | 1.570313 | 2 |
riversimple - an open source car
A new two seater, hydrogen fuel cell powered city car was launched in central London today.
riversimple is the brain child -and love child too perhaps - of Hugo Spowers, who has spent 10 years pursuing his inspiringly holistic vision for the future of personal transport. The riversimple team, whose first prototype we saw at the launch, has been supported for the past 3 years with funding and in other ways by the Piech family - the ‘other half’ of the Porche family dynasty. Sebastian Piech spoke at the launch, as did Hugo Spowers.
As Hugo says in the video I posted earlier today, “riversimple isn’t just about the technology”. Another ‘pillar’ of the company (and there are several) is non-Ownership - the cars will only ever be leased, not sold; “this is a business model that rewards longevity and low running costs, rather than obsolescence and high running costs”.
The riversimple website tells us that their purpose is nothing less than to ‘work systematically towards the elimination of the environmental impact of personal mobility’.
Such a lofty aim might seem quixotic, and riversimple themselves ask the question ‘Are we doing too much?’ in their launch materials. Indeed it could seem impractically radical to launch a car company that aspires to have others build its product using designs published online under open source licences. On the other hand, who would try to launch a conventional car company now, or for that matter at any point in the last 10 or 20 years?
Surely now, as the motor industry crumbles under the combined pressure of oversupply and what seems like a systemic failure to provide any genuine innovation (I don’t count ‘dual engine’ hybrids!) is the right time for fresh thinking and new ways of doing things. riversimple can provide both of these in abundance. What they are trying to do is profoundly disruptive: it is nothing less than a comprehensive reinvention of the existing structures of the motor industry - technical, financial and cultural.
What about the car itself? Is it a hairy-shirt, brown bread eco-warrior’s public statement?
Definitely not. In fact, there are details everywhere you look that will appeal to enthusiasts as well as the current Prius demographic. And not just the details; the stance is sporty - the wheels (each with its own motor) are placed right out in the corners of the car; the exposed carbon-fibre monocoque will draw in motor-racing fans (though it is there for reasons of lightness and strength, not aesthetics), and especially the doors, which open like a beetle’s wing cases.
In the West such considerations will play a part in purchase decisions, but riversimple’s car is conceived as a true world car - a competitor to the Tata Nano that has sustainability built into its DNA…
From my point of view, the riversimple car, and everything that it manifests (the radical thinking, idealism, creativity, technology) is exciting and desirable in a way that the supposed ‘halo’ cars of the existing manufacturers completely fail to be. The Aston Martin One-77 for example; £1m worth of old ideas, in a packaging concept that was relevant(ish) in 1960…
riversimple is looking for funding to take it to the next stage of its development. Surely the UK government should be putting money towards this kind of venture (and retraining auto industry workers), rather than propping up existing manufacturers and dealers with £2,000 subsidies granted on the condition you scrap a perfectly usable 10 year-old car!
- Good article on Wired
- ‘Talking ‘bout my hydrogeneration’ - AndyH of greenthing analyses why riversimple is a BHAG
- My photos of the launch on flickr | <urn:uuid:39b53b0b-4599-4cda-9121-b22bc20fbbb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://willcorke.tumblr.com/post/124608320/riversimple-an-open-source-car | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956412 | 840 | 1.734375 | 2 |
SAN FRANCISCO, California – Some 2,000 students at Washington State University have reported symptoms of swine flu, university officials said, in one of the largest reported outbreaks of the virus on a US college campus.
Washington state's Whitman County, where the school is located said that tests at a state laboratory late last week "confirmed that the influenza outbreak at Washington State University (WSU)... is indeed caused by the novel 2009 H1N1 Influenza A."
The west-coast school last week instituted a blog to help provide information to students about the sudden and dramatic spread of the A(H1N1) virus on campus just days into the new school term.
"We estimate that we have been in contact with about 2,000 students with influenza-like illness in the first 10 days of our fall semester," the latest online posting said.
"At this time of year, we would typically only see a handful of patients with influenza-like illness. Health care providers in the local community have also seen WSU students with influenza-like illness, but we have no way of knowing how many.
"We also have no way of estimating how many students are self-caring at home without contacting us," school officials said.
University officials said they had been asked by the county health department "to track numbers in this way to give us a better idea of how many students at WSU actually have influenza-like illness."
The university of about 19,000 students added that it is following guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in advising students how to avoid catching and spreading the virus.
CDC's director Thomas Frieden told CNN television Sunday that health officials are reporting an "unusual" number of flu cases so far this school year.
"What we do know is that with schools back in session, particularly in the southeast of the US, but also in many parts of the country, we're seeing a fair amount of influenza. And that's very unusual for this time of the year," he said.
"This is really something we haven't seen before. It's very unusual to see flu continue to occur over the summer. It's very unusual to see it start to increase this rapidly in August and September."
Frieden said efforts to contain the virus may be hampered by layoffs and furloughs of public health workers during the current economic crisis, as well as the inherent unpredictability of any infectious malady.
Swine flu is "the one that we're most concerned about," Frieden said.
"Because if it does become more deadly, it could cause a very severe scenario. It could cause lots of problems for health for people going to school and learning, going to work and earning."
WSU, meanwhile, said it has begun handing out flu self-care kits to students.
"Two hundred of these kits have already been distributed with 1,000 more in process," university officials said, adding that none of the cases of swine flu so far has required hospitalization.
"The overwhelming majority of our patients have had mild symptoms and are usually better in three to five days," the university said.
None of the WSU cases have been fatal. There have been 593 swine flu-related deaths in the United States, however, second only to Brazil which has recorded 657 deaths. | <urn:uuid:a7d23874-131f-44bf-bf58-025d3e9ce657> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsmax.com/US/swine-flu/2009/09/07/id/334835 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979184 | 693 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The search for new drug candidates for cancer treatment is laborious and time-consuming. Only a fraction of the promising chemical compounds identified completes the transition to the market. Herbert Waldmann and his team at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund are therefore working on the development of methods that enable the faster discovery and synthesis of bioactive substances. The researchers have already broken one world record: in the longest known reaction cascade to date, they synthesised centrocountin molecules that inhibit cell growth.
In order to find a new substance that may one day find its way into a new cancer drug, scientists must first detect suitable drug candidates among all of the possible molecules. Once they have discovered a promising molecule, they must synthesise it and test its effectiveness before its further development into a drug can begin all in all a laborious and, above all, time-consuming undertaking.
In the early 1990s, researchers pinned their hopes on the assembling of as many molecules as possible with the help of synthesis robots, and then trawling through these vast substance libraries for suitable compounds with the help of automated procedures. However, the initial enthusiasm for this approach soon turned into disillusionment: very few of the newly discovered molecules displayed any effect on living cells, and almost none of them completed the process of development into a finished product.
As a result, Herbert Waldmann and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund are looking for more efficient methods. The researchers main concern here is to both limit the search and simplify the associated synthesis process. There are simply far too many different compounds to search randomly on the off chance that youll stumble onto something, says Herbert Waldmann. The chemical structural space that includes all possible drug-like structures contains an estimated 1062 different molecules a number, which, written out in full, fills two thirds of a line on a closely spaced typed page. Therefore, pre-selection is the most important thing.
To this end, the scientists search the chemical structural space using an ingenious computer program called Scaffold Hunter, which was developed at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund. Scaffold Hunter generates maps of a selected chemical structural space based on structural criteria and enables the researchers to navigate the sea of possible molecules and approach islands of biological activity on the computer screen. It actually works as simply as a video game, says Herbert Waldmann. When navigating, the Scaffold Hunter searches for structural motifs that resemble already known structures with a particular biological characteristic. Because chemically related compounds are also very likely to have similar properties, the researchers can track down promising structures in this way. They can then use these as a basis and experiment with different chemical appendages to synthesise new compounds.
But how do the researchers actually know what they should look for? We take direction from models found in nature, Herbert Waldmann says, explaining the principle of biology-oriented synthesis (BIOS), based on which the Dortmund scientists carry out their work. Natural substances were selected over the course of evolution to fulfil important tasks, mostly by binding to a certain protein receptor. Many of these substances, which arise in animals, plants or microorganisms not only affect their actual target, but also influence human cells. The plant substances morphine and digitalis, which are used for pain relief and in the treatment of heart disease, are a well-known example of this. In total, over one third of all drugs are based on natural substances; in the area of cancer therapy, the proportion is even higher.
Such natural substances and other substances closely related to them are usually complex in structure - the second biggest challenge for the chemists. In order to synthesize the substances, the scientists usually must carry out numerous individual steps in sequence, and repeatedly isolate and purify the intermediate products before they finally obtain the desired end product. Synthesis robots usually fail when faced with the complexity of this task: because they can only master comparatively simple conversions, they can only produce small molecules whose structures are not very complex. Thus, the synthesis of natural substances requires manual work.
However, as Herbert Waldmann and his colleagues have shown, elegant methods are also available for this task. Using a so-called reaction cascade, the team succeeded in synthesising active substances from the centrocountin group complex molecules with four ring systems in the middle which intervene in cell division and may, therefore, point the way to new anti-tumour drugs. And as is so often the case in science, the discovery arose by chance, as the researchers were actually aiming to synthesise an entirely different molecule. But the reaction did not unfold as planned and we unexpectedly set a world record, says Herbert Waldmann. The reaction cascade included a total of twelve steps a length that has not yet been exceeded in cascade synthesis.
To set the reaction in motion, the researchers simply provided tryptamine and formylchromone and added two catalysts. All of the conversions then proceeded completely automatically, like a domino effect in which all of the tiles fall in succession, once the first one is toppled. The entire synthesis took place in a single vessel and included nine different individual reactions, in which two catalysis mechanisms were involved. The synthesis of such complex molecules using traditional methods takes days, if not weeks, says Kamal Kumar, who made a significant contribution to the development of the synthesis method. With the reaction cascade, the production process was successfully completed within a maximum of 30 minutes.
Once the researchers had isolated the new compounds, they wanted to establish, via tests on cell cultures, whether the molecules would have an effect on living cells. They made an important discovery here: following treatment with the centrocountins, during the division phase, instead of two daughter cells, three or more were produced from one cell. However, they were not viable. The effect is due to the fact that the centrocountins influence the formation of the spindle apparatus, explains Herbert Waldmann. This spindle-shaped structure usually forms on opposite sides of the dividing cell and ensures that chromosomes are halved and pulled back into the two daughter cells.
As the scientists demonstrated, following the addition of centrocountins, the cells form not two but several attachment points for the spindle apparatus, known as the centrosomes. Because the cell no longer appears to be capable of counting its centrosomes, the researchers gave the substances the name centrocountins. Due to the presence of numerous centrosomes, chromosomes are unevenly divided between the daughter cells. The division cycle then comes to a halt and programmed cell death is triggered in the newly produced cells they commit suicide so to speak.
Could this effect possibly also be used to cause tumour cells to commit suicide? This is the hope of the scientists in Dortmund. The effect of the centrocountins arises from the fact that they bind to two proteins called NPM and Crm1. Both play an important role in the formation of the spindle apparatus and are, therefore, potential target molecules for cancer treatment. A drug that binds to both NPM and Crm1 has not existed up to now, says Slava Ziegler, another scientist in Herbert Waldmanns team.
The researchers do not yet know the precise mechanism by which the newly-discovered substances influence the function of the two proteins. For this reason, they are now focusing on clarifying the biochemical processes involved. When they have obtained this information, they then aim to synthesise a compound based on the centrocountins which could become a possible active agent candidate and with a lot of luck, eventually find its way into a new cancer drug.
Explore further: Protein study suggests drug side effects are inevitable | <urn:uuid:e676131f-965c-4058-a9f3-6a1adedfc688> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2012-02-biology-oriented-synthesis-bios-cancer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951415 | 1,565 | 3.078125 | 3 |
June 28, 2012: Progress Energy Resources reveals that it has agreed to a friendly takeover by Malyasia’s Petronas in a deal valued at $5.5 billion
July 23, 2012: Nexen announces that it has agreed to be bought by CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Company) in a deal valued at $15.1 billion. The proposed takeover was immediately viewed as a test of both Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s policy on China and Canada’s foreign investment rules.
July 30, 2012: Some U.S. lawmakers call on the Obama administration to block the deal in the U.S., where Nexen own assets in the Gulf of Mexico. “I believe this merger could lead to a massive transfer of wealth from the American people to the Chinese government,” writes Edward Markey, a senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Political opposition in the U.S. similarly stymied CNOOC’s attempt to buy Unocal, a U.S. energy company, in 2005.
Aug. 21, 2012: CNOOC slashes its dividend payments by 40 per cent to save cash to pay for the Nexen deal.
Sept. 6, 2012: Prime Minister Stephen Harper promises more clarity on Canada’s foreign takeover rules, which have been criticized for being opaque and susceptible to politics.
Sept. 13, 2012: Alberta Premier Allison Redford indicates her support for foreign investment during a trip to China, where she met with CNOOC officials. “We have always believed foreign investment assisted us with growing our economy so we are encouraging that,” she says.
Sept. 20, 2012: Nexen shareholders vote in favour of the CNOOC takeover.
Oct. 11, 2012: Ottawa extends its deadline to review the Nexen takeover by 30 days.
Oct. 19, 2012: Industry Minister Christian Paradis rejects Petronas’s proposed takeover of Progress, saying in a statement issued just before midnight, the deal failed a “net benefit” test. Progress responds the next day by promising to find a solution to the government’s concerns. “The long-term health of the natural gas industry in Canada and the development of a new LNG export business are dependent on international investments such as Petronas’, ” CEO Michael Culbert says in a statement.
Nov. 2, 2012: Ottawa extends the deadline for its Nexen decision by 30 days. The new deadline is Dec. 10.
Nov. 20, 2012: Petronas says it has extended the date for its takeover of Progress until Dec. 30, and has taken additional steps to win Ottawa’s approval.
Dec. 7, 2012: While announcing new guidelines for foreign investment in Canada, the government says both the Nexen-CNOOC deal and the Petronas-Progress Energy Resources Corp. deal will be permitted. | <urn:uuid:95abf42b-720a-4fa1-890a-6c61d8aadb00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/12/07/nexen-and-progress-energy-takeovers-timeline/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947133 | 617 | 1.5 | 2 |
Nits and kids: a new head lice epidemic
The school year is now well and truly speeding along, which means that head lice in schools is once again becoming the hot topic of conversation amongst mums in the playground.
Nits and head lice infestation are a continual issue for parents of school and preschool kids - and to make it worse it seems they are getting the upper hand. A recent Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health study of Canberra children has found that nits and head lice are growing resistant to the topical products we use to remove them. But rest assured, there is light ahead according to recent clinical trials.
Growing head lice epidemic
The Canberra study showed a whopping 89.2% of parents of ACT primary schoolers had seen between one and five nit and lice infestations in 12 months, resulting in 22.9% of children in that state suffering from head lice at any one time. In fact 10.8% of parents had school aged children with 6 or more cases of nits within the space of a single year!
With approximately one in five school aged children suffering from nits at any one time, this growing head lice epidemic is thought to be due to chemical treatments that are losing effect. It seems nits are becoming resistant against tried-and-true head lice treatments and removal products .
But there is still some relief for kids - the University of Queensland's School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience has investigated available lice treatments and discovered that older versions of nit removal products far less effective than new kids' head lice products .
Lice product testing
In a blind test, three different types of head lice product showed a staggering difference in effectiveness:
- a natural based lavender oil and tea tree oil nit treatment, which eradicated 97.6% of head lice and nits in school children
- a 'suffocation' style of lice removal product, which eradicated 97.5% of head lice and nits in school children
- a mousse treatment (containing pyrethrin and piperonyl butoxide), which eradicated 25% of head lice and nits in school children
Australian National Nit Survey
Head lice and nits are now such persistant problem, an Australian National Nit Survey has been undertaken, in an attempt to understand the problem from the ground up.
Early results show that 50% of parents have had children with head lice infestations on three of more occasions every school year. Yet 78% of parents feel that they have a solid understanding of what causes nits and head lice, and will search online for information of nits, before turning to their chemist to treat their child, or finally ask around family and friends for the best solution to lice infestation.
A further 80% continually checked their kids for any sign of nits, and a whopping 20% of parents wait until their child comes home from school itching and scratching before looking for head lice .
Belinda Clare from Key Pharmaceuticals feels parents may have problems treating head lice as they don't know enough about what's on offer. "There are so many brands of head lice treatments currently on the market and our aim is to help people build their knowledge about head lice, resistance, and the treatment process to get the best results for their families in the long term", she says.
She also advices NOT to wait for your kids to come home from school scratching from a nit infestation . "Sometimes nits and head lice can cause itching of the scalp, but it is not always the case. You can become infested and not feel itchy so it is important to check regularly, regardless of whether there is scratching or not."
It's also important not to assume a one-off head lice treatment will instantly fix your child's infestation. Diligence with applying the product according to the label is key. “Once the head lice infestation has been treated, it is important to repeat the procedure according to the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure all the head lice have been eradicated,” Clare advises.
Find top rating head lice treatments:
- Search for lice removal products
- Best head lice treatments
- The magic pill for head lice
- Other head lice treatments
Find more nit and head lice advice:
- All about head lice and nits
- Top ways to get rid of head lice
- What are head lice
- Head lice facts
- What are nits?
This story was written by Lauren Rowland for Kidspot , Australia's best resource for family health. Sources include The National Nit Survey Results, the Aust/NZ Journal of Public Health and Key Pharmaceuticals.
Last revised: Wednesday, 11 May 2011
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.
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- What's the fuss about parabens? | <urn:uuid:a722a195-830c-48f1-a097-f39e78af692c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidspot.com.au/familyhealth/%20http:/www.kidspot.com.au/Infections-and-Diseases-Parasitic-Nits-and-kids-a-new-head-lice-epidemic+5654+201+article.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962234 | 1,139 | 2.640625 | 3 |
“Bernard, how happy would I have been, how deliriously happy, could I but have stood beside you at the altar and sworn fidelity to you. Ours would have been an ideal home. But it was not to be. I had to choose between you and my race. Your noble heart, in its sober moments will sanction my choice, I would not have died if I could have lived without proving false to my race. Had I lived, my love and your agony, which I cannot bear, would have made me prove false to every vow.
“Dear Bernard, I have a favor to ask of you. Secure the book of which I spoke to you. Study the question of the intermingling of the races. If miscegenation is in reality destroying us, dedicate your soul to the work of separating the white and colored races. Do not let them intermingle. Erect moral barriers to separate them. If you fail in this, make the separation physical; lead our people forth from this accursed land. Do this and I shall not have died in vain. Visit my grave now and then to drop thereon a flower and a flag, but no tears. If in the shadowy beyond, whose mists I feel gathering about me, there is a place where kindred spirits meet, you and I shall surely meet again. Though I could not in life, I will in death sign myself,
“Your loving wife,
Let us not enter this saddened home when the seals of those letters were broken. Let us not break the solemn silence of those who bowed their heads and bore the grief, too poignant for words. Dropping a tear of regret on the little darling who failed to remember that we have one atonement for all mankind and that further sacrifice was therefore needless, we pass out and leave the loving ones alone with their dead. | <urn:uuid:5d0b1b65-e84b-4d5a-94c5-7cb93ab52e3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/15454/67.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977097 | 382 | 1.75 | 2 |
จาก Agritech Wiki
A lot of folks who are troubled by back discomfort, are unsure how to uncover relief from it. The information below gives you ways to treat and alleviate your back pain. You do not have to commit a ton of money or rely on medications that have addictive tendencies, or effect your mind or physique negatively when you apply these guidelines.
A foot stool at your desk can help your back to loosen up if you discover oneself sitting for lengthy periods of time this goes a long way towards relieving back discomfort. When pain strikes, put your feet on the stool. The finest case scenario is that the stool assists to you get rid of back discomfort ahead of it ever becomes a actual difficulty.
Drinking coffee has been reported to assist with easing chronic back discomfort. Medical scientific studies have verified that the coffee's caffeine blocks adenosine, a chemical in your physique. Adenosine contributes to back stiffness and the caffeine in coffee blocks it, so stretching immediately after your cup of coffee can help ease your pain.
Breastfeeding is very best accomplished when sitting in a chair, not on a couch. If you do not sit appropriately when breastfeeding, back pain could outcome. Location a cushion behind your back if you want to.
Standing up for lengthy periods of time can trigger back pain. Standing up for a lengthy time with no relief will strain the muscles in the back. It is much better for your back if you switch between sitting and standing.
Consume lots of vitamin D if you have back discomfort. This wholesome nutrient promotes bone development, and that may possibly give you some back pain relief. Lots of foods like dairy, cereal and fish contain Vitamin D.
If you have issues with your back, deal with them. Some folks do not pay interest to their bodies. They could try to walk off their pain, or ignore it. When you move a lot, you can in fact make your pain worse. Try not to do as well considerably till the pain decreases.
Drink a half gallon of water a day. Consuming a wholesome diet has a variety of positive aspects, like decreased risk of back discomfort. Not only does a greater water intake aid you maintain a healthy physique weight that minimizes pressure on back muscles, but dehydration can cause true difficulties with muscle cramping and other troubles, so it is crucial to drink enough fluids each and every day.
If you have to carry weight, make certain it is distributed as evenly as feasible. If you carry issues frequently, for example a handbag or your books for school, try employing a backpack style so you have the weight spread more than a broad surface.
When the muscles in your physique are nonetheless warm, this is the most ideal time to stretch them in order to lessen back pain. When you have completed operating out, make certain you stretch for the duration of cool-down.
You are not alone in your struggles with back pain. Now that you have read this write-up, you can heal your back discomfort and stay away from taking prescription medicine and going to check out your doctor. partner sites | <urn:uuid:1288e59b-c97a-4c83-9457-b32099cf0b49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agri.kmitl.ac.th/wiki/index.php?title=ChaffeeCrochet375 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937822 | 633 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Since the affidavit is based on age, not grade, many districts are concerned about fulfilling their obligations when a parent chooses to declare only the age of the student, as the legal requirement, and not a grade. These obligations include collecting standardized testing results, collecting evidence of immunizations and health and medical services, and determining whether an appropriate education has taken place.
In a home education program, the parent sets the grade of a child. In other words, if the child is struggling, they could be in a lower grade; if the child is accelerating, they could be in a higher grade. It is not unusual for a child to span more than one grade, depending on the subject – this is the beauty and flexibility of a home education program. The mandatory courses are not grade-specific, they are level-specific. These courses are defined for the elementary grades (K-6) and the secondary grades (7-12).
Comparing the age of the child listed on the affidavit with the law and regulations, in conjunction with a yearly review of the portfolio contents, may help the school district reasonably infer the grade of the child from year-to-year and provide guidance in fulfilling the district's obligations.
Home Education Divisions
24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 (c)-(d) (Home education recognized levels)
- The elementary level is grades kindergarten through six (K-6).
- The secondary level is grades seven through twelve (7-12).
22 Pa Code § 4.21 (Elementary education: primary and intermediate levels)
- The primary program (grades K-3) shall ordinarily be completed by children who are approximately 8 years of age.
- The intermediate level program (grades 4-6) shall ordinarily be completed by children who are approximately 11 years of age.
22 Pa Code § 4.22 (Middle level education)
- The middle level planned instruction aligned with academic standards serves children who are approximately 11—14 years of age.
22 Pa Code § 4.23 (High school education)
- High school (grades 9-12) is above age 14.
Last updated August 19, 2011 | <urn:uuid:dd32233a-1109-48a6-8b1f-734070811afb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/school_district_oversight/20313/age_versus_grade/974366 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941223 | 444 | 2.796875 | 3 |
An Advent Prayer
It is said that while there is life there is hope. This has even a deeper meaning in reverse, while there is hope there is life. Hope comes first, life follows on. Hope gives power to life because hope is strength. The amount of energy in the world is equal to the amount of hope in it. Hope is a light shining in the dark. It never gives up. As long as there is hope no situation in our lives is impossible. Advent invites us to wait in joyful hope for the coming of our saviour Jesus Christ. Lord, when all is said and done you are our only hope. Amen. | <urn:uuid:fd8f3302-dabf-4ae8-911e-50f95205ff48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.2u.ie/detailthought.php?id=1139 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972603 | 130 | 1.820313 | 2 |
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1883 Harry Wright Personal Score Book (Sept. 6 to Oct. 1)
Starting Bid - $500.00, Sold For - $5,220.00
Green soft-cover gilt-edged forty-page volume entitled "Harry Wright's Pocket Baseball Score Book" was actually used personally by Harry Wright, then manager of the 1883 Providence Grays of the National League, to score the team's games while sitting in the dugout. Included in this volume are sixteen scored games, each completely filled out in Harry Wright's hand in pencil. This volume covers all Providence Grays games played from September 6, 1883 to October 1, 1883. Harry Wright has neatly initialed eleven games "H.W." in the space provided for the identification of the scorer on each game score sheet. Some of the many stars on the Providence and opposing teams (Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Buffalo) listed in Wright's hand are Old Hoss Radbourn, Mike "King" Kelly, Cap Anson, Jack Glasscock, Tommy Bond, Ned Hanlon, Pud Galvin, Davy Force, Dan Brouthers, and Jim O'Rourke. Among the many highlight games recorded in this book, is one played on September 8, 1883, considered by many to be the pivotal game of the season for Providence, in which Boston beat Hoss Radbourn, 4-3, in extra innings. The Boston Beaneaters would go on to win the National League pennant, and the Grays wound up in third place behind the Chicago White Stockings. The games are very neatly and elaborately scored by Wright. He has meticulously recorded the details of every hit, put out, error, strike out, and run scored by the Providence Grays and their opponents, as well as wild pitches, passed balls, earned runs, etc., even game times. It is almost hard to believe all of this information could even be recorded and that Harry Wright could still follow the game while doing so. Anyone who has ever tried to score a game knows what a Herculean effort is required to record a small fraction of the information that Harry Wright did every single game. Wright apparently published these blank scoring books for use by others (as noted on the cover, it is "Published by Harry Wright, Boston, 39 Eliot Street"), but we have never actually seen any examples other than those which were used personally by Wright. Harry Wright religiously used these books to score all the games he managed, at least from 1879 to 1892, the years for which his scoring books are known. A colorful front cover of a period baseball scorecard has been neatly attached to the back cover of the book, almost certainly by Wright. This is an extremely important early baseball score book, dating from the season of 1883, personally kept by and once belonging to legendary baseball pioneer Harry Wright. Excellent condition. LOAs from Mike Gutierrez/GAI and James Spence & Steve Grad/PSA DNA. Reserve $500. Estimate $1,000/$1,500. SOLD FOR $5,220.00
(Click the smaller thumbnails to the left and right (if any) to cycle through each photo in the gallery of images for this lot.) | <urn:uuid:862f0be0-8533-4af2-9c67-9522817e4b19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/auction/2005/650.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964745 | 708 | 1.546875 | 2 |
December 17, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week as the recovery of the nation's battered labor market proceeds in fits and starts.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous week. That was a worse performance than the decline to 465,000 that economists had expected.
The four-week average for claims, which smooths out fluctuations, did fall, dipping to 467,500, the 15th straight decline, viewed as an encouraging sign that the labor market is gradually improving. The four-week average is now at its lowest point since late September 2008, the period when the financial crisis was hitting with full force.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:b12a2829-74ca-4274-b92c-2a0b5bd545b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrdw.com/money/jobs/79526327.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968971 | 175 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Legal claim by J. Rogers for the recovery of $75 owed by the Republic of Texas for the purchase of a horse by J. Sowell, Quarter Master, and Lieutenant D. Montague of the 2nd Regiment of Fannin County. Witnessed by Mabel Gilbert.
Letter to Capt. Hamilton, directing him to sell his horse for fifty dollars to Mr. Smith, and charge the amount to the Nacogdoches Committee of Vigilance and Safety. Signed by K. H. Douglass, Henry Raguet and H. Edwards. | <urn:uuid:bb26cc99-e1b3-4f0b-b70b-1436066f2e16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.sfasu.edu/cdm/search/collection/Millards/searchterm/Horse/mode/all/order/descri | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969955 | 114 | 1.867188 | 2 |
|Catherine the Great: Love,
Sex, and Power
Book review by Edna Boardman, Bismarck, North
Rounding, Virginia.Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.
Eight years before her death, Catherine the Great
wrote her own epitaph. She had already told her frequent
correspondent Friedrich Melchior von Grimm she did
not like the label “great,” which a few
had already slapped on her. She said of herself, writing
in the third person, “Arrived on the throne
of Russia, she desired its good and sought to procure
for her subjects happiness, liberty and propriety.
She forgave easily and hated no one; indulgent, easy
to live with, naturally cheerful, with a republican
soul and a good heart, she had friends: she found
work easy, she liked good society and the arts.”
Virginia Rounding, commenting on this statement, said
it is accurate to the way she viewed herself with
the possible exception of the “republican soul,”
especially late in her reign.
This 500-plus page biography is the tenth full-length
biography of Catherine the Great I have read, so you
might guess I am probably obsessive about her. What
did I get out of it that wasn’t a repeat of
the others? Rounding, I found, was an especially careful
scholar, always probing and questioning to come up
with details the others had skipped over. Sometimes,
she seems to have felt, other authors repeated generally-accepted
interpretations, and she was not content to do this.
Rounding lists persons present, as at teenaged Catherine’s
reception at Riga on her way to Russia, and several
times describes important ceremonies in detail. All
biographies, for example, say she clearly recited
from memory the Creed in Russian when she was taken
into the Orthodox Church. I shook my head in wonder
at their patience when Rounding notes it was preceded
by her reading the confession of faith, which was
50 quarto pages in length. Of course, everyone was
standing during all of this. Details like this, no
doubt, only a Catherine the Great aficionado could
The picture that emerges of Catherine’s relationship
with Peter, her fiancé then husband, is a little
different from his image in the other books, whose
authors seemed to take entries from Catherine’s
diaries and run with them. Rounding sees Peter bonded
with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, as the others
do, but he and Catherine were together and communicated
a great deal as Empress Elizabeth dragged them interminably
from palace to palace. Catherine interacted with her
son Paul far more often than the other authors envision,
even during his childhood. Later, grandsons Alexander
and Constantine are around her a lot but are not cut
off from their parents as much as most authors envision.
Later, when Catherine becomes Empress, we see her
sitting solicitously with her daughters in law during
the labors that brought forth her large brood of grandchildren.
(Paul’s first wife died, as did two infant grandchildren.
Michael, Catherine’s ninth living grandchild,
was born after Catherine’s death.) This was
an act she surely wished some caring person had done
I enjoyed the depictions of Catherine’s lovers.
Rounding puts them into the context of her life as
they came and went. Catherine insisted she could not
live without love. Her relationship with Grigory Potemkin
does not come through as vividly as it does in the
book /Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner/
by Simon Sebag Montefiore, but she sees him more clearly
than do the other biographers.
What a pressure cooker Catherine lived in! Her ambitious
mother was focused on her sickly brother, leaving
Catherine to be educated by Babet Cardel, a French
woman who introduced her to the liberal ideas of the
Enlightenment. Once in Russia, she found herself watched
and evaluated constantly. She attracted the attention
of the power players of her world--diplomats from
foreign countries, capable officials in the Russian
government who saw in her intelligence and talent
far above Peter’s, and the practical military
talents of the Orlov brothers of the palace guards
units. When she was bored, she read, first novels,
then history and theory and philosophy, getting her
books through diplomatic channels, which is what passed
for the interlibrary loan of the day.
Once Empress, Catherine attacked Russia’s problems
with energy unusual in the country’s leaders.
No matter what else was going on in her personal life
or her realm, Catherine worked every day. She continued
to read and she wrote to a multitude of correspondents.
Her output included thoughtful position papers, laws,
plays, undercover essays, and diaries. (I enjoyed
/The Memoirs of Catherine the Great, a New Translation/
by Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom.) We know so much
about her thinking because of all this writing. Rounding
is very aware of Catherine’s territorial ambitions
and military conquests and her art collecting and
building projects. She had herself and Paul vaccinated
against smallpox when it was a chancy, dangerous undertaking.
All the while, Catherine knew there were groups set
to gain her favor in whatever way possible, steer
the country’s direction in a different way,
gang up on her and overthrow her, and even kill her
if they could manage it. Few ever loved her unconditionally.
So, should you read this book? Not if you’re
looking for material about the Germans from Russia.
This is what the book says: “She gave her favourite
[Grigory Orlov] his first administrative role, as
president of the new Chancery of Guardianship for
Foreigners whose responsibility was to oversee the
immigration of people, mainly German, to settle the
Empire’s southern territories.” In the
description of Catherine’s voyage to Crimea
and Ukraine, Rounding does not have a vision of the
area’s agricultural capabilities, something
Catherine surely had because other sources say she
took along German farmers. It’s best not to
read it if you’ve never read something about
Catherine before because of the length and detail.
The best first book, I think, is /Great Catherine:
The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia/
by Carolly Erickson. Henri Troyat’s/ Catherine
the Great/ may be at your public library, but I felt
Troyat didn’t like Catherine very much. I read
this book slowly and found it lots of fun, full of
careful scholarship; Rounding had a desire to see
Catherine II and her times as clearly as possible. | <urn:uuid:29df5365-51f3-4e6f-a0e3-0711f36ad006> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/research/scholarly/book_reviews/catherine_great.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958249 | 1,525 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Why Didn't Adam Die Immediately?
In the Garden of Eden, the Lord delivered a single, solemn prohibition to man. God commanded Adam saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17, emp. added). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil that stood in the midst of the Garden was off limits to Adam and Eve. God prophesied that disobedience on their part would bring death “in the day” it was eaten. However, the Genesis text does not reveal an instantaneous physical death on the part of the first sinners. Adam lived a total of 930 years (Genesis 5:5), and the text indicates that most of those occurred after the transgression in the Garden of Eden (see Thompson, 2002, pp. 44-46). Is such consistent with Genesis 2:16-17? Was God mistaken in saying, “in the day that you eat of it [the fruit—EL] you shall surely die”? Why is it that Adam did not drop dead the very day he ate the forbidden fruit?
For Genesis 2:17 to represent a legitimate contradiction, one first would have to assume that the phrase “in the day…you shall surely die” must refer to an immediate death occurring on the very day a certain transgression has taken place. The available evidence shows, however, that the Hebrew idiom bªyôm (“in the day”) means the certainty of death, and not the immediacy of it. For example, King Solomon once warned a subversive Shimei: “For it shall be, on the day (bªyôm) you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head” (1 Kings 2:37, emp. added). As the next few verses indicate, Shimei could not have been executed on the exact day he crossed the Brook Kidron. Solomon did not call for him until after Shimei had saddled his donkey, went to king Achish at Gath, sought and retrieved his slaves, and returned home (approximately a 50-60 mile round trip). It is logical to conclude that this would have taken more than just one day (especially considering a donkey’s average journey was only about 20 miles a day—Cansdale, 1996, p. 38). It was only after Shimei’s return from Gath that King Solomon reminded him of his promise saying, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die?’ ” (1 Kings 2:42, emp. added). Solomon understood that even though he executed Shimei sometime after the day he crossed Brook Kidron, it still was proper to refer to it as occurring “on the day.” As Hebrew scholar Victor Hamilton noted, this phrase (in Genesis 2:17, 1 Kings 2:37,42, and Exodus 10:28ff.) “is underscoring the certainty of death, not its chronology” (1990, p. 172). Thus, it is logical to conclude that when God said, “in the day…you shall surely die,” He did not mean Adam would die on the exact day of his transgression, but that his death would be certain if he ate of the forbidden fruit.
A second problem with the skeptic’s assertion that Genesis 2:17 contradicts 5:5 is that it assumes the “death” mentioned in 2:17 is a physical death. The Bible, however, describes three different kinds of “deaths”: (1) a physical death which ends our life on earth (Genesis 35:18); (2) a spiritual death which is separation from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:1); and (3) an eternal death in hell (Revelation 21:8). The fact is, one cannot know for sure which death is indicated by the phrase, “for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” Realizing that Adam sinned against the Almighty in the Garden and became “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1; cf. 1 Timothy 5:6), it is possible that the death spoken of in Genesis 2:17 is a spiritual death. If this is the case, the reason Adam did not physically drop dead on the very day of his transgression was because God’s prophecy was referring to a spiritual death, not a physical one.
When Adam chose to follow his own desires instead of God’s will, he cut himself off from God. Without a doubt, man perished spiritually on that day. But, equally certain is the fact that God’s punishment for that sin was a physical death—a death that would occur centuries later. Exactly which death God meant in his prophecy is uncertain. (Perhaps He was referring to both.) Whichever is the case, we can be sure that no contradiction exists.
Cansdale, G.S. (1996), “Animals of the Bible,” New Bible Dictionary, ed. J.D. Douglas (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), third edition.
Hamilton, Victor, (1990), The Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Thompson, Bert (2002), “Questions and Answers—A Matter of Time,” Reason & Revelation, 22:41-48, June. | <urn:uuid:2bd3cd91-0b1f-4073-99c3-284d6a614efa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apologeticspress.com/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=797&topic=82 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962583 | 1,213 | 2.921875 | 3 |
My favorite passage in the book was when finally her parents agreed to go to the march.
“Pip opened the front door and I heard a loud chorus of “Surprise!”
I jumped three feet in the air I was so surprised.
Mother, Dad, Monsieur Vichy, Beatrice, Auntie Pie, Stewart, and Sophia all stood before me on the porch, and they laughed and clapped when they saw how surprised I was.
“What’s going on?” I asked, looking around at all their smiling faces and noticing they each held a homemade placard.
Mother said, “We’re going to Washington, Esther. We’re all going.”
“We’re going to support the Negros and their march for freedom,” Sophia said, holding up a placard that said, END SEGREGATION NOW, and Stewart, holding a placard that read FREEDOM IN ’63, said, “And we’re going to support you.” He stepped forward and gave me a hug, and then everyone gathered around me, placards knocking against one another, and they hugged and patted me.
My father said, “Esther, thank you for all of your help this summer. Your mother and I couldn’t have made it through without you.” ……..
Mother said, “This march is important to you, and we realized last night, with Monsieur Vichy’s help, that this wasn’t just a passing whim; you were serious about this. Your father even said you’ve been reading books about civil rights.” Mother shook her head. “I didn’t know.”
Then Beatrice said, “I liked what you said, Esther, about being the change.” She smiled. “I like that. This march should be important to all of us.”
I like this passage because it shows determination and hard work helps you reach your goals. It should give hope and encouragement to anyone who has a goal to reach. The fact that her parents finally found the good in Esther is wonderful. Everyone has wonderful attributes and can offer so much to this world. It only takes determination, faith and people to notice. | <urn:uuid:71156814-794e-47a8-9e64-150ce3ae116c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boonvilledailynews.com/article/20130202/BLOGS/302029995/0/newsnow | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970662 | 494 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The number of working Americans ages 65 and older is at the highest point in nearly half a century, the Los Angeles Times reports. While older adults still make up a relatively small share of the U.S. workforce, nearly one in five adults over 65 are working or looking for work, and employment in this group has jumped 27 percent since 2007, recently surpassing 7 million.
During the same time period, labor participation rates fell for both younger adults and those in their 30s to 50s.
That last bit has some economists worried. The more older adults who delay retirement, the fewer the jobs available for young adults trying to enter the labor market or for those entering their so-called peak earning years. Yet adults over 65 who remain in the workforce are not only improving their own retirement prospects, they’re helping the country’s finances by paying Social Security and other taxes at a time when they could be drawing public benefits. It seems we’ve reached something of an impasse (unless more jobs are created, stat!).
Mike Vaupel, a 60-year-old meat inspector in Fort Lauderdale, told the Times that he’s been considering early retirement, in part because he worries for young people like his son, 34, who couldn’t find work for two years. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘How are they ever going to get ahead, because they can’t get a job, or jobs out there are bad?’” he said. But Vaupel also worries about his own finances, especially since his property value has declined so much over the past few years.
“The best insurance during a recession is a full-time job,” he said. “Guys my age or older are sticking around.”
For their part, employers are happy to hang on to older workers. A recent study found nearly 75 percent of employers expect a significant portion of their employees to work past traditional retirement age, and only 4 percent believed this was a bad development.
Tuesday Quick Hits:
• Which comes first, depression or dementia? The two diseases have previously been linked, but there’s confusion whether depression is an early sign of dementia or a risk factor for developing it. Now, a study suggests it depends on the type of dementia in question. Late-life depression may be an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Depression in middle-age or chronic depression may up the risk of developing vascular dementia.
• Dionne Warwick celebrates 50 years in music. To mark her five decades in the music industry, the chart-topping singer is releasing an album featuring new versions of some of her most famous songs.
• Potential new Alzheimer’s drug. A compound developed to treat neuropathic pain could lead to a new Alzheimer’s disease treatment. In animals, the compound reduced brain inflammation and restored memory. “Development of this compound as a potential drug for Alzheimer’s would take many more years, but this is a promising finding worthy of further investigation,” said lead researcher Mohamed Naguib.
Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:89e3f095-cd02-47b0-b18e-779ee4412d63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.aarp.org/2012/09/04/adults-65-in-u-s-workforce-hits-half-century-high/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961561 | 658 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Could you enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey if you knew that the bird was treated inhumanely? Executives at Butterball are hoping so, as a new video has surfaced of turkey abuse in five of their facilities.
Just a year after undercover footage by animal rights organization Mercy for Animals (MFA) documented abuse at a Butterball turkey facility, a new video has been released showing almost identical inhumane practices. Again recorded by undercover investigators from MFA, the footage, filmed October of this year, shows workers kicking birds and violently throwing them into metal transportation cages. Turkeys with broken legs are left untended on the factory floors.
Last year, after a tip-off from MFA, state authorities raided Butterball facilities in North Carolina, arresting employees and charging them with criminal cruelty to animals. However, despite that victory, the industry is still rife with abuse.
"Every time our investigators go under cover at these facilities, they document abuses that shock and horrify most people, which makes us believe that these types of abuses do run rampant on factory farms across the country," Matt Rice, director of investigations at Mercy for Animals, tells TakePart. MFA has conducted more than 20 undercover investigations at factory farms across the country in the last four years.
"Unfortunately, there are very few laws protecting animals," Rice says. He explains that no federal laws protect animals during their lives on factory farms, and most states specifically exclude farm animals from almost all legal protection. As a result, "factory farmers are able to get away with treating millions of cows, pigs, and chickens in ways that would warrant felony-level cruelty charges in most states if even one dog or cat were the victim instead."
Last year, Grist.org writer Erik Marcus speculated that Butterball would foist the blame for the documented abuses on low-level employees, and he was right: In a public statement, Butterball called the health and well-being of their birds "a number one priority" and announced the termination of the employees who abused birds on video, without claiming responsibility.
But that kind of dodge tactic won't work with MFA, who thinks that Butterball should be held criminally accountable for ongoing abuse of the animals on company-owned factory farms. "We’re calling on law enforcement to press charges against Butterball and the workers involved in this abuse," Rice says.
In the meantime, consumers can help by making conscientious choices.
"We believe that people have a right to know where their food comes from so that they can make informed choices, so the first step is awareness and making people aware of how these animals are treated on factory farms," says Rice. "The next thing—the most powerful thing people can do to make sure they’re not supporting the needless suffering of animals on factory farms—is to choose healthy alternatives to factory farm meat, either reducing their meat consumption or going vegetarian."
Need some help? Opt out of the industrial food system with TakePart's Thanksgiving guide to kind food choices.
Related Stories on TakePart:
• Cruelty Brought to You by Butterball
• 7 Shocking Facts About Your Thanksgiving Turkey
• Food, Inc. Chicken Farms Goes Rogue — Says Goodbye to Factory Farms
• My Story: Is It Possible to Avoid Factory Farmed Meat?
A sucker for sustainable agriculture and a good farmers market, Megan likes writing about food almost as much as eating it. If you don't want to know what's in your fruit/milk/meat, don't invite her to lunch. @babybokchoy | TakePart.com | <urn:uuid:95216f4a-e4d2-4478-af78-6f8fcece8006> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/11/16/butterball-busted-again?cmpid=foodinc-fb | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96407 | 734 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Buddy and Pedro, a “gay” penguin couple at the Toronto Zoo that are being separated so they can mate with female penguins, will be reunited in the spring, zoo officials said.
The African penguins have shared the nest they built since coming to the zoo about a year ago. But since the penguins are an endangered species, with fewer than 250,000 remaining, zoo officials said they had to separate the couple so they could perform reproductive duties.
Buddy, 20, and Pedro, 10, came from a zoo in Toledo, Ohio, where they were part of an all-male flock. Their affection has drawn headlines and jokes about “Brokeback Iceberg”
The pair has what’s known as a “social bond,” but it’s not necessarily sexual, Tom Mason, the zoo’s curator of birds and invertebrates, said. The mating behaviors that Buddy and Pedro exhibit include making a “braying” sound, similar to a donkey, as a mating call. They stand alone together, defend their territory and groom each other.
The zoo has received hundreds of calls about the pair. Mason said he even got a call from someone claiming to represent a group called the Canadian Society for Gay Animals. Such a group could not be located.
The story of the same-sex pair has gone viral online, leading to cheeky YouTube videos. Late-night TV comics have jumped into the icy waters of penguin passion. Jimmy Kimmel riffed on the story during a recent monologue, calling it “Brokeback Iceberg” and claiming the lovebirds were spotted at a Lady Gaga concert.
It is not unusual for some animal species to show signs of homosexuality. Giraffes, monkeys and dolphins have all been known to bond with animals of the same sex. | <urn:uuid:4c1a77d9-8e0f-49e7-a4ae-8f4846113b67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/separated-male-penguin-couple-to-reunite.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963243 | 383 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The Religion of Unity
The general idea of this book consists in the fact that all people, regardless of their sex, ethnicity, original belonging to a particular religious form, and other distinctions, must fulfill the main task that God expects from us: they must develop themselves as love, must seek to Merge with Him-Love, helping one another in this. We live here, on the Earth, not by ourselves and not for ourselves. We live — for God. Our Creator needs our positive evolution.
This, among other things, is the true Christianity, because true Christianity is the religion of love, religion of the spiritual heart. Such is the Teachings of the Creator and of His Messenger Jesus Christ.
This is also the basis of the religious Teachings that God gave for all people — the Religion of Unity. | <urn:uuid:e7a3c84b-b52a-471f-94f6-f09ebf1ec672> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.religiousbook.net/Books/Online_books/Sh/Heart_36.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953537 | 165 | 2.40625 | 2 |