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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2010, Issue No. 75
September 22, 2010
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
DARPA SEEKS TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT DECLASSIFICATION
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued a new solicitation to industry and academia in an attempt "to discover new technologies to support declassification." Researchers are invited to submit ideas for innovative approaches to declassification that will support the National Declassification Center in achieving its goals.
Can technology actually make a difference in declassification? It seems clear that it can, at least within certain limits.
One thing that technology cannot do is to render a decision about exactly what should be classified or declassified. That is a policy question which is dependent on a complex, rapidly changing factual environment (e.g. what related information is already available in the public domain) as well as a largely subjective threat assessment (e.g. what damage might conceivably result from disclosure and what benefits might ensue). Such a decision does not easily lend itself to a technological formula.
Besides that, the executive order that governs the national security classification system is permissive, not mandatory; it allows the classification of eligible information, but does not require it. So any algorithm that dictates the continued classification of a certain category of information is likely to be wrong at least sometimes.
However, the declassification process is composed of several discrete steps, many or all of which could be facilitated by new technologies. These steps include the collection and assembly of records for review, the circulation of records to reviewers as needed, the actual review and redaction process, and the distribution of the declassified records, among others -- each of which might be streamlined and expedited by new technological measures.
So, for example, if it were possible to routinely incorporate the digitization of records into the declassification process, and to make the digitized records available online so that readers would not have to come to the National Archives or to the Presidential Libraries just to view them, that action alone would multiply the utility of the declassification process many times over.
But perhaps the strongest contribution that technology could make involves the future declassification of records that are being classified today. Classified records that are being created now could be tagged in such a way as to expedite their ultimate declassification. In fact, the goal should be to eliminate the need for declassification processing altogether, or as far as possible. Instead, most classified records should literally be self-declassifying. Their classification controls should expire and be automatically canceled. In principle, this ought to be readily achievable.
The Public Interest Declassification Board will hold a public session on the potential role of new technology in declassification on Thursday, September 23 at the National Archives. The agenda is here:
The new DARPA solicitation was reported in "Darpa Wants You To Build An Anti-Secrecy App" by Spencer Ackerman in Wired Danger Room, September 14:
A LOOK BACK AT "CLASSIFICATION MANAGEMENT"
The theory and practice of national security classification policy in the late cold war years are exemplified and explored in back issues of Classification Management, the journal of the National Classification Management Society (NCMS), which is the professional society of classification officers and other security professionals. Several back issues of the journal are now available online.
"Security Classification is the black sheep of the Information Science family," wrote C.C. Carnes in the first issue of Classification Management in 1965 (p.15). "Everyone else is trying to expedite the flow of information. People working in the field of Security Classification are trying to impede, control, and limit the flow of information. However, we should not be blamed for this apparent perversity. It serves a purpose."
That purpose is discussed in depth and detail and with notable candor.
"LIMDIS controls came into existence largely to replace bogus security markings such as SNTK, MK, and CNTK," explained Raymond P. Schmidt of the Navy (NCMS Viewpoints 1992, at p. 34).
While much of the security policy content of the journals is now obsolete, they retain historical, sociological and perhaps even anthropological interest.
The first couple of issues of the journal comprised "virtually the entire body of published information on the professional aspects of classification management" at that time, wrote NCMS President (and ACDA official) Richard L. Durham in 1966 (Vol. 2, p. 4).
A wide array of security policy issues were addressed over the years in Classification Management, including the dissemination of scientific and technological information, the conduct of classified research and development on university campuses, patent secrecy, and the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
In the 1972 edition, a panel of reporters and government officials discussed the impact and meaning of the Pentagon Papers for classification management and freedom of the press (Vol. 8, pp. 64-75).
In 1990, Steven Garfinkel, the former director of the Information Security Oversight Office, memorably discussed "not the highlights, not the triumphs, but some of the low points" of his career as ISOO director up to that point. "This is my tenth anniversary speech. Ushers, please bar the doors." (Vol. 26, pp.6-9).
The National Classification Management Society kindly granted permission to post several issues of Classification Management and NCMS Viewpoints on the Federation of American Scientists website here:
The National Classification Management Society website is here:
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News blog is at:
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Secrecy News is archived at:SUPPORT the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation here: | <urn:uuid:1eec801f-5eea-4c0f-90a5-19d1e6041d78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2010/09/092210.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919224 | 1,233 | 2.21875 | 2 |
From Lynn on February 1st, 2010 in Green Remodeling
These circular-designed Tolou homes in China are a brilliant example of sustainable building. Faced with internal war and conflict since the 17th century, the Hakka people of the Fujian province built these massive structures for protection from invaders. They’ve since become quite remarkable micro-communities.
The fortified “city” holds their weapons and livestock, as well as community resources, such as places of worship. The citizens were granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2008 for their uniqueness. “Among the 35 Chinese properties on the World Heritage List, there are 25 cultural, 6 natural and 4 mixed sites,” states UNESCO’s website, recognizing the importance of this site.
As you can see from the photos, the multistory apartments surround a shared courtyard. Built from natural resources, some Tolou can hold up to 800 individuals. Construction began in the 12th century and continued to the 1900s.
Story & Photo Credit: CleanTechnica | <urn:uuid:ee22dd90-6ac7-4e11-b155-e9119931b56d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calfinder.com/blog/green-remodeling/incredible-self-sustaining-home-communities/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959371 | 214 | 2.5625 | 3 |
My 6-year-old daughter is bright, happy, and, like many children, loves media. She has always loved books and movies, and she is beginning to explore video games. She likes fantastic stories, but rarely pretends to be in them. She enjoys quoting from her favorite movies, but doesn’t dress the part. In short, she is not prone to “wearing the skin” of fictional characters.
Tonight, she was playing the video game “Tangled,” based on the Disney film. It is a clumsy game, and is nearly non-functional without someone playing as Flynn Rider, Rapunzel’s “Player 2.” As my wife hacked another set of hedges from their path, my daughter said, “Thanks, Flynn!” I began to listen more closely. “I have to swing up there – you can’t do it, only me.” “Ouch!” She was identifying with her avatar.
As my daughter swished her remote and hopped slightly when pressing the “jump” button, she wasn’t simply watching the events play out; she was living them. It is safe to assume that games with far superior graphics, mechanics, and user interface have a similar effect. For many games, it is certain, and intended, that players feel a visceral and emotional connection to avatars that they themselves direct in conducting horrific violence. The idea of boys and girls living these experiences gives me great pause.
Violence has always been a part of video games. Mario squishes his enemies into oblivion, and the Galaga hero blasts hundreds of baddies into space dust in a sitting. I also read Vietnam fiction in middle school and have seen Obi Wan Kenobi slice off that nosey alien’s arm more times that you could count. All of this is beside the point. The games in question are different. We could spend pages discussing character motivations, first-person perspective, slow-motion kill cams, realistic gore and death animations, or the vanquishing of actual human foes, both in character design and in multiplayer modes.
But many video games have more in commons with The Odyssey than Kill Bill. Fans of the Mass Effect series became enraged by the narrative conclusion of the epic trilogy. Hyper-violent games like Spec Ops: The Line and Bioshock draw from Heart of Darkness and Atlas Shrugged, respectively, to subvert their violent mechanics in the name of powerful, enlightening experiences for the player. Even The Walking Dead, a video game based on shooting zombies is being lauded by critics for the touching, realistic relationship between the main character and the young girl he is trying to keep safe. These games leverage violence in service of deeper, more noble goals. That said, many games invert the formula, which is to say, they are exactly like Kill Bill.
The censorship of video game violence generally should be off the table. In quieting gratuitous fare like Mortal Kombat or the Call of Duty series, we would be deprived of SpecOps: The Line and Bioshock, which are as valid in terms of art and expression as Bonnie and Clyde or The Naked and the Dead. Not to mention that gross censorship would be unconstitutional. We cannot lose sight of the first amendment in defense of the second.
What should be on the table is children’s and young adults’ access to these experiences. President Obama has called for externsive research into the influence of violent video games. This newly funded research will be years in the making, and likely inconclusive.
As a response to the Sandy Hook massacre, or the Aurora theatre shooting, or Columbine, video game research is a fool’s errand. The President calls for common sense measures related to gun accessories and background checks. He, and others, recite the old trope that saving “even one life” would validate the effort. And yet, when it comes to video games, we place an order for more research. Let’s apply the same common sense and the same “even one life” standard of success to video games. I don’t need research to know that my children shouldn’t see Saving Private Ryan, or The Deer Hunter, or Kill Bill until they are mature enough to understand not only the reality of what is depicted on the screen, but also the themes that the filmmakers are trying to convey.
We do not need research to tell us that children should not be directing violent, hypermasculine avatars equipped with real-life weapons in the brutal, graphic, and gratuitous killing of very realistic human targets. Even worse, most players essentially ignore the single-player story mode in games like Call of Duty, spending almost all of their time in multiplayer modes, which are largely devoid of moral purpose. At least the story mode calls for violence against shadowy terrorists! Multiplayer communities are infamous for the bigoted, graphic, and aggressive language players use to taunt their online “enemies.”
I don’t believe that video games should be blamed for gun violence. Just last night I laid low a whole garrison of enemy bad guys, and I went about my work today with nary a homicidal impulse. But video games need not be the cause of Sandy Hook-style evil to be scrutinized. Too many developing young people are “wearing the skin” of violent video game characters, and are probably the worse for it. That should be enough. | <urn:uuid:c4d63d89-4a8d-4b07-9da2-956e7ca1f962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ricksblog.biz/viewpoint-pressing-reset-on-the-video-game-violence-debate/ | 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 | 0.961335 | 1,137 | 2.078125 | 2 |
- Omni Montessori School is home to 214 students from age three to grade nine.
- The Main Campus, located on seven acres in the Blakeney area of south Charlotte, is home to three Primary classrooms, two Lower Elementary classrooms, two Upper Elementary classrooms, and a multi-purpose Activity Center.
- The Omni Land Lab, located on a 13-acre farm in nearby Waxhaw, North Carolina, is home to Omni’s Middle School program, grades seven through nine.
- Omni teachers are highly-trained professionals. At minimum, all head teachers have earned a bachelor's degree and are AMI-certified at their grade level. Many faculty members have also earned masters and other post-graduate degrees. Omni teachers have taught an average of 19 years.
- Recognized by the prestigious Association Montessori Internationale (AMI)
- Member, North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS)
- Member, South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA)
- Omni is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
- An elected Board of Trustees provides oversight for the school. The Board maintains fiscal oversight, ensures that the organization's mission is fulfilled, and appoints administrative leadership.
- Omni was founded in 1985 by a group of parents interested in providing authentic Montessori education for their children. They purchased seven acres of land in then-rural south Charlotte. A basic metal building housed one Primary classroom, one Elementary classroom, and a small office where parent volunteers handled administrative responsibilities. In that first year, 43 children enrolled at the school.
- As Omni’s reputation grew and the waiting list expanded, the school added additional classrooms and buildings. A Lower Elementary building was added in 1990, and an Upper Elementary building in 1998.
- In 2008, Omni opened its multi-purpose Activity Center on the Main Campus providing additional space for athletic, theatrical, musical and social events, a beautiful library, and additional administrative offices.
- In 2008, Omni launched its Middle School program serving students in grade seven through nine. A 13-acre farm in nearby Waxhaw was purchased and transformed into the Omni Land Lab.
- Omni families and staff hail from all over the globe. Countries of origin include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Vietnam. | <urn:uuid:b39b70ed-2c3c-49de-8810-59640957b12c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://omni-montessori.org/about-omni/school-profile/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95259 | 507 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Fitzgibbon, Andrew b. May 13, 1845 d. March 7, 1883 Second Opium War Victoria Cross Recipient. Born in Goojerat, India, he served as a Hospital Apprentice attached to the 67th Regiment, British Army. On August 21, 1860 at the capture of the Northern Taku Fort, China, Hospital Apprentice Fitzgibbon accompanied a wing of the regiment forces when it took up a position within 500 yards of the fort. He then proceeded, under heavy fire, to attend a dhoolie-bearer, whose wound he was to bind up and while the regiment was advancing under the enemy's...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith) Old Delhi Military Cemetery, Old Delhi, Delhi Capital Territory, India Plot: (Grave is not marked.)
Salkeld, Lieut. Philip b. October 13, 1830 d. October 10, 1857 Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross Recipient. Son of a rector, he was born in the village of Fontmell Magna, Dorset and joined the Bengal Engineers, Indian Army, in June 1850. After some language studies he was employed on road and canal projects. In 1856 he joined the Department of Public Works as an executive engineer. He was serving as a lieutenant with the Bengal Engineers when he performed the deeds for which he was awarded the VC. From the citation: "Lieutenants [Read More] (Bio by: Milou) Old Delhi Military Cemetery, Old Delhi, Delhi Capital Territory, India Plot: Grave is not marked. | <urn:uuid:4108636e-3e1a-4d16-b216-9a65b5bbbb72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=2147361 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973198 | 326 | 2.03125 | 2 |
To find Barack Obama's woes in advance of his first State of the Union address, look no further than consumer confidence: A year to the week after hitting its record low in the past generation, it's barely any better.
The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index stands at -48 on its scale of +100 to -100, essentially flat the past three weeks after a steep start-of-year dive. It's within sight of its all-time low, -54 this week last year. That compares to a long-term average of -13 in 24 years of weekly polls.
Views of the national economy are the chain around confidence's ankle; more than nine in 10 Americans continue to say the economy's in bad shape. The other two components of the index aren't quite so dire, but hardly good: More than three-quarters rate the buying climate negatively and more than half say the same of their own finances.
Confidence is closely aligned with unemployment, now in double digits for three months, a first since 1982-1983. Housing prices don't help; the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index reports home values down by 5.3 percent since last year in 20 of the nation's largest cities.
INDEX – Forty-seven percent of Americans rate their personal finances positively, down from 51 percent three weeks ago; it's 10 points below its long-term average and has been below a majority for 76 of the last 79 weeks, a record.
Twenty-three percent call it a good time to spend money, down 7 points since the peak of the holiday shopping season and 14 points worse than average. And only 8 percent rate the national economy positively, 30 points below average and in single digits for nine weeks straight.
TREND – The index has taken a turn for the worse after a brief run-up. It reached -41 Jan. 3, a 16-month high, only to fall back sharply to -47 a week later – a very unusual 6-point one-week slide. This week's rating of -48 matches its average since 2009.
The CCI has been below -40 for a record 92 consecutive weeks. And this week the long-term average inched down a point, to -13, a number that rarely moves given over 1,250 weeks of data.
GROUPS – The index as usual is higher among better-off Americans, but has been negative across the board for 48 weeks straight, the longest such run in available data since 1990.
It's -12 among those with the highest incomes (their lowest since late November) but -75 among those with the lowest, -34 among people who've attended college vs. -61 among those who never finished high school, -44 among homeowners but -58 among renters and -48 among whites while -60 among blacks.
Notable this week is the lack of difference between men and women, -47 each; it's just the 13th time since 1990 the index hasn't been numerically higher among men.
Likewise, the usual partisan gap has disappeared. This week the index is -50 for Republicans vs. -48 for Democrats (and -46 for independents). The insignificant 2-point gap in the Democrats' favor is very unusual; this is only the 12th time it's occurred. The index usually is distinctly higher among Republicans – by an average 18 points last year, 41 points in 2008 and 32 points long-term.
Here's a closer look at the three components of the ABC News CCI:
NATIONAL ECONOMY – Eight percent of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good; it was 9 percent last week. The highest was 80 percent Jan. 16, 2000. The worst was 4 percent Feb. 8, 2009. | <urn:uuid:b2f3f00d-5032-4009-820f-61e3e14d7132> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/abc-news-poll-consumer-confidence/story?id=9667909 | 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 | 0.95745 | 768 | 1.773438 | 2 |
ananyo writes with a story about more concrete plans for a reduced or nuclear-free energy future for Japan. From the article: "It's official: nuclear power will have a much smaller role in Japan's energy future than was once thought. Since the meltdowns and gas explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in March 2011, all of Japan's remaining reactors have been shut down for inspections and maintenance. The government offered a glimpse of their future, and that of the country's nuclear power in general, when it published an outline of four ways to satisfy Japan's future energy demands. One scenario recommends using a market mechanism to determine the nuclear contribution. Under the other three, nuclear power would supply at most one-quarter of Japan's energy by 2030 — and in one case, none at all. The scenarios come from a 25-person advisory committee to the industry ministry. The sharp reductions in the nuclear power part of the country's energy mix mean that Japan will struggle to reach the 31% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that it had planned by 2030 (PDF)."
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An anonymous reader writes "U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith estimates in a new paper (PDF) that 30,000 secret surveillance orders are approved each year in U.S. courts. 'Though such orders have judicial oversight, few emerge from any sort of adversarial proceeding and many are never unsealed at all.' Smith writes, 'To put this figure in context, magistrate judges in one year generated a volume of secret electronic surveillance cases more than thirty times the annual number of FISA cases; in fact, this volume of ECPA cases is greater than the combined yearly total of all antitrust, employment discrimination, environmental, copyright, patent, trademark, and securities cases filed in federal court.' He also adds a warning: 'Lack of transparency in judicial proceedings has long been recognized as a threat to the rule of law and roundly condemned in ringing phrases by many Supreme Court opinions.'"
snydeq writes "The NYTimes reports on the San Francisco's shifting socio-economic landscape thanks to a massive influx of tech workers and tax and regulation breaks to big-name startups. 'In a city often regarded as unfriendly to business, Mayor Edwin M. Lee, elected last year with the tech industry's strong backing, has aggressively courted start-ups. But this boom has also raised fears about the tech industry's growing political clout and its spillover economic effects. Apartment rents have soared to record highs as affordable housing advocates warn that a new wave of gentrification will price middle-class residents out of the city. At risk, many say, are the very qualities that have drawn generations of outsiders here, like the city's diversity and creativity. Families, black residents, artists and others will increasingly be forced across the bridge to Oakland, they warn.'"
theodp writes "In mid-May, the Department of Homeland Security quietly expanded a program that allows foreign science, technology, engineering and math grads to work in the U.S. for 29 months without a work visa. 'Attracting the best and brightest international talent to our colleges and universities and enabling them to contribute to their professional growth is an important part of our nation's economic, scientific and technological competitiveness,' explained DHS Chief Janet Napolitano. But last week, Senator Chuck Grassley called on the GAO to 'fully investigate' the student visa program, citing reports of abuse and other concerns in his letter. Now, Computerworld reports that the DHS STEM Visa Extension Program continues to be dominated by Stratford University and the University of Bridgeport (as it was in 2010), prompting some tongues to wag. It is 'obvious to any reasonable person that the schools producing most of the OPT students are not prestigious research universities,' quipped policy analyst Daniel Costa, 'which means that many of the OPT students across the country are not in fact the "best and brightest."' While conceding that top students can come from lesser-known schools, 'those will be the exception to the rule,' argued Costa, who suggested the government should include performance metrics in the OPT program, such as grades and university rankings."
theodp writes "In a move that evokes memories of Steve Ballmer's initial pooh-poohing of the iPhone threat, DirecTV Chairman Michael White downplayed the Apple TV hype, expressing doubts that 'Apple's interface will be so much better than DirecTVs' that people will be willing to pay for an extra box. So, will White's statement — 'It's hard to see (it) obsoleting our technology' — come back to haunt him?"
schliz writes "Australian tech publication iTnews is defining 'patent trolls' as those who claim rights to an invention without commercializing it, and notes that government research organization CSIRO could come under that definition. The CSIRO in April reached a $220 million settlement over three U.S. telcos' usage of WLAN that it invented in the early 1990s. Critics have argued that the CSIRO had failed to contribute to the world's first wifi 802.11 standard, failed to commercialize the wifi chip through its spin-off, Radiata, and chose to wage its campaign in the Eastern District courts of Texas, a location favored by more notorious patent trolls."
Nerval's Lobster writes "Google has sent invitations for a June 6 event in which it will apparently unveil 'The Next Dimension of Google Maps.' Meanwhile, rumor suggests Apple is preparing its own mapping service for iOS devices. The escalating battle over maps demonstrates the importance of cloud apps to tech companies' larger strategies." I only wish my phone would hold by default the X-million data points that my outmoded (but cheap and functional) dedicated GPS device does, without quite so much cloud-centric bottlenecking, and leave all expensive data use for optional overlays and current conditions.
An anonymous reader writes "As Microsoft released the preview of the next version of its Internet Explorer browser, news that in Windows 8 the browser will be sending a 'Do Not Track' signal to Web sites by default must have shaken online advertising giants. 'Consumers can change this default setting if they choose,' Microsoft noted, but added that this decision reflects their commitment to providing Windows customers an experience that is 'private by default' in an era when so much user data is collected online.' This step will make Internet Explorer 10 the first web browser with DNT on by default. And while the websites are not required to comply with the users' do-not-track request, the DNT initiative — started by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission — is making good progress."
Asmodae writes "Judge Alsup in the Oracle vs Google case has finally issued his ruling on the issue of whether or not APIs can be copyrighted. That ruling is resounding no. In some fairly clear language the judge says: 'So long as the specific code used to implement a method is different, anyone is free under the Copyright Act to write his or her own code to carry out exactly the same function or specification of any methods used in the Java API.'"
An anonymous reader writes "Tech industry experts are saying that desktop support jobs will be declining sharply thanks to cloud computing. Why is this happening? A large majority of companies and government agencies will rely on the cloud for more than half of their IT services by 2020, according to Gartner's 2011 CIO Agenda Survey."
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a bid to expand the reach of its cloud services, Microsoft has introduced Office 365 for Government, which features the same cloud-based productivity tools as Office 365 but stores data in a segregated community cloud. Google and Microsoft have been locked in vicious battle over the past few years to score cloud contracts for government agencies. Microsoft hopes its support of standards such as ISO 27001, SAS70 Type II, HIPAA, FERPA, and FISMA will help to give it an edge in winning those contracts."
benfrog writes "Dot-word bidders are in a last-minute dash for domain names as ICANN has revealed its timetable for the controversial new TLDs. The organization will close its TLD Application System (TAS) at a minute before midnight tonight (23.59 GMT, 19.59 ET, 16.59 Pacific). The TAS was originally supposed to close on April 12, but the deadline was extended twice because of a security bug. The winners for domains will be selected (initially) by a 'widely derided mechanism' of 'digital archery' in which every bidder will be assigned a date and time and then be asked to login to a secure website and hit a submit button as close to that time as possible."
sirlark writes with an update on the protracted legal proceedings regarding Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden: "Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has lost his Supreme Court fight against extradition to Sweden to face accusations of sex offenses. The judgement was reached by a majority of five to two, the court's president, Lord Phillips, told the hearing. Mr Assange's legal team was given 14 days to consider the ruling before a final decision is made, leaving the possibility the case could be reheard." This may, however, not be the end. From the article: "Lord Phillips said five of the justices agreed the warrant had been lawful because the Swedish prosecutor behind the warrant could be considered a proper 'judicial authority' even it they were not specifically mentioned in legislation or international agreements. This point of law had not been simple to resolve, said Lord Phillips, and two of the justices, Lady Hale and Lord Mance, had disagreed with the decision. But Ms Rose immediately indicated she could challenge the judgement saying that it relied on a 1969 convention relating to how treaties should be implemented. She said this convention had not been raised during the hearing. " This led to the court staying the order until June 13th to give Assange's lawyers time to argue this avenue.
An anonymous reader writes "A judge in New Zealand has ordered the U.S. government to hand over evidence seized in the Megaupload raid so Kim Dotcom and his co-defendants can use it to prepare a defense for an extradition hearing. The judge wrote, 'Actions by and on behalf of the requesting State have deprived Mr. Dotcom and his associates of access to records and information. ... United States is attempting to utilize concepts from the civil copyright context as a basis for the application of criminal copyright liability [which] necessitates a consideration of principles such as the dual use of technology and what they be described as significant non-infringing uses.' Once the defense attorneys have gathered and presented their evidence, the judge must decide whether the U.S. can make a reasonable case against Dotcom."
An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from ZDNet: "Europeans are a step closer to seeing new net neutrality rules put in place, after the release of an EU regulators' report on how often ISPs and operators throttle their services. On Tuesday, digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes said the release of the report from by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) means she will make recommendations to the EU on preserving net neutrality, which aims to make sure ISPs do not unfairly restrict customers from accessing the service or application or their choice. 'BEREC has today provided the data I was waiting for (PDF). For most Europeans, their internet access works well most of the time. But these findings show the need for more regulatory certainty and that there are enough problems to warrant strong and targeted action to safeguard consumers,' Kroes said in a statement. 'Given that BEREC's findings highlight a problem of effective consumer choice, I will prepare recommendations to generate more real choices and end the net neutrality waiting game in Europe,' she added." | <urn:uuid:0515093e-bccf-4579-b022-a6602682073c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tech.slashdot.org/index2.pl?section=&color=green&index=1&view=stories&duration=-1&startdate=20120606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952859 | 2,440 | 1.890625 | 2 |
The new AR, or Augmented Reality technology doesn't look terribly different from the Virtual Reality tech that fizzed out in the '90s, but developer Canon is touting it to be useful in the realm of product design.
Their bulky, spatially-aware AR headset--more like a fascia, really, that requires both hands--can overlay complicated 3D models on the user's field of vision. The obvious application is for interior and environments design walkthroughs, but the demo Canon runs in this video has the wearer observing a primitive automotive suspension as it navigates a series of bumps. Their PR guy discusses how it will enable mechanical, electrical and software designers and engineers to share information in a way that will smoothen the design process, but exactly how this would happen is not made overt.
AR's design-process benefits will probably take a little more dot-connecting to come together, but we'll keep our eyes peeled for developments.
via dig info tv | <urn:uuid:4f0f9964-53cf-46d3-88e4-9a7acef9dd6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/canon_pushes_augmented_reality_tech_to_smoothen_the_product_design_process_14058.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93757 | 199 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who was nearly killed by the Taliban for being an outspoken advocate for girls' education is talking and shows no sign of brain damage, according to Pakistani officials who have been briefed by her doctors.
Malala Yousufzai is showing remarkable improvement, despite her being shot point blank by a Taliban gunman in northern Pakistan's Swat Valley two weeks ago.
"She is making dramatic progress, and we are very pleased at how she's doing," Pakistan's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, told ABC News.
Yousufzai's parents flew to Birmingham today and visited their daughter at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which treats British casualties of war and specializes in trauma medicine and the kind of treatment Yousufzai needs.
Hospital officials declined to comment on Yousufzai's condition, but doctors have said she is making steady progress and is likely to make a good recovery.
Before Yousufzai's parents left Pakistan, her father, Ziauddin, vowed that he would return to his country with his daughter -- despite Taliban promises to keep targeting the girl who has become a global icon of courage.
"We will be back in Pakistan as soon as Malala recovers, because Swat is my home, and I cannot think of leaving there," he said in a statement released by Pakistani state television.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he called his daughter's recovery "miraculous."
"I have seen doomsday and survived, you might say," said Ziauddin, who ran the girls' school that Malala attended despite Taliban threats. "Malala has been honored by the nation, by the world, by people of all classes of all creeds of all colors. I am grateful for that. But I am a father. I respect all those feelings, but the only priority now is the life of my daughter and her total rehabilitation. I don't need any awards. ... I need my daughter."
Despite Yousufzai's progress, she has a long way to go. Doctors have said she will be in the hospital for months and need skull reconstruction. One of the bullets that hit her grazed her skull, chipping the bone but not penetrating her brain. That likely saved her life and prevented the kind of brain damage that her family feared.
Yousufzai first spoke out for girls' education in 2009, when she was 11 years old. The Taliban had taken over most of the Swat Valley, blowing up schools and preventing girls from getting an education. Thousands of girls' schools were destroyed and girls who attempted to study feared getting kidnapped or attacked with acid.
Most politicians refused to criticize the Taliban, but Malala Yousufzai had the courage to speak out. She launched an anonymous blog and began to give interviews in English about the importance of continuing her schooling.
Today, her health is apparently good enough that she can think about continuing her studies.
Standing next to Ziauddin Yousufzai in Islamabad, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik noted that Malala had asked her father to bring textbooks with him.
"The mission she has taken forward and the education awareness that has spread across Pakistan is all Malala's doing," he said, according to Pakistani television. "So I think that our entire nation should be proud of her love for the soil of her country." | <urn:uuid:e9592347-9673-411e-8c14-30d6cb516086> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/International/malala-yousufzai-speaking-shows-sign-brain-damage/story?id=17566211 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984705 | 696 | 1.6875 | 2 |
How long did you sit in one day? How long do you walk or stand in a day? Almost most people sit too much in daily life. Do not let it go on like that, because most of the sitting can be life threatening.
Sitting all day does reduce the time the body to be able to do some physical exercise which will have positive benefits for health. A new study shows that, sitting all day can actively damage health.
Too much sitting can slow down your metabolism, increasing the risk of heart disease, causes back pain, and may even shorten life.
“Too much sitting may endanger the health equivalent of smoking,” said Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., a microbiologist at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Health was quoted as saying.
Too much sitting can cause several adverse health conditions, among others:
1. Cause obesity
When a person sits, the metabolism will slow down. This was caused by an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which is in the blood vessels of the muscles.
Lipoprotein lipase capture and burn fat in the blood. Sitting all day can decrease the activity of lipoprotein lipase as much as 90-95 percent.
When a person stands, the postural muscles that support weight loss, especially in the leg muscles will release enzymes which work to burn fat. But when you’re sitting still, and do not move every 30-90 seconds, then the fat will remain in the artery. Then the fat can be stored in adipose tissue or fat tissue of the body.
Daily physical exercise can not neutralize the effects of sitting all day. Hamilton said that, even biochemical reactions to be slow on a person who sits all day.
“The biggest difference between the lean and fat rather than how much they eat or exercise, but how many of them sit down,” says James Levine, MD, an obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic.
2. Adversely affects the spine
Abdomen, pelvis and leg muscles are often used to carry the weight of the body. ”But when sitting, causing most of the weight placed directly on the spine and pelvis instead,” explains Andrew Hecht, MD.
It also led to compel a natural S curve of the spine to form C, which is not strong enough to accept the pressure.
3. Can shorten the life
A study has been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2010, involving almost 70,000 healthy women and observing their daily habits for 14 years. After adjusting for risk factors including body mass index and smoking factors.
The researchers found that women who spend 6 hours a day to sit in a mortality risk 37 percent higher compared with women who spent less than 3 hours a day to sit down.
The death rate from cardiovascular disease is also 2.7 times higher in women who sit six hours or more a day, regardless of how much they exercise.
Powered by Facebook Comments | <urn:uuid:6c7dc5b6-60b0-445f-aa2a-25ac1e29e74f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthylifecarenews.com/lets-stand-up-most-sit-can-bad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956459 | 611 | 2.921875 | 3 |
By W. M. Sheffield.
For less than three years streams of humanity have been pouring into the interior of Alaska. The soil of that country, with that of the adjacent northern portions of British Columbia and the Northwest Territory, is now considered as among the most precious of the earth, and its sections are in eager demand on the exchanges of New York, London and Paris, bought and sold with greater facility than has ever been the case with the mines of South Africa and Australia. Up to the time that gold was discovered in the now famous Klondike valley, little was known of Alaska, even by the government authorities at Washington. Official information was obtained through the revenue cutter service, and with inadequate means at its disposal, its reports were known to be inaccurate, and the government maps to show an incorrect coast-line.
When it came to the interior, it may be said that the topography was largely a matter of the map-maker's imagination, but there was no one to challenge it. Several men penetrated the territory in the early years of our occupation, but their reports told little that could be used as a basis of accurate statement. In later years a few adventurous individuals ascended the Yukon from St. Michaels, others crossed Chilkoot pass and descended the river by the chain of lakes. Most of these pioneers sought the solitude of the north as a result of failure and disappointment, or were driven from civilization because they were no longer useful members of society. What white men they found in Alaska were descendants of the hardy Hudson Bay trappers and hunters, who had formed a chain of settlements throughout the country at the time of Russian occupation or immediately after the purchase by the United States. But these men cared little for and contributed nothing to a knowledge of our great possession in the north. We did not learn to know Alaska until it became worthwhile, until its secret was wrested from the soil, and it became the great magnet for the world's unstable population.
There are large sections of Alaska, on the mainland, in the interior and on its many islands, suitable for agricultural pursuits - an economic fact upon whose appreciation the proper development of the country depends. Alaska must not be simply stripped of its mineral treasure; this must help to enrich the settler, and afford him opportunities of molding the country in ways that will soonest bring it the joys of civilization.
The soil of the country is rich and its valleys are luxuriant every summer with waving acres of wild hay. Experiments have demonstrated that the hardier cereals and all manner of vegetables can be raised with profit. A government agricultural station has been established at Sitka for experiment, and its reports have been most encouraging. The long days of summer sunshine - when the sun is below the horizon only an hour out of the twenty-four - cause vegetation and cereals to develop with great rapidity. It is not a question of days or weeks with their growth, but simply a matter of sunshine and light. The hundreds of islands of the Aleutian peninsula will someday be dotted with farms and stock-ranges, while the interior is capable of supporting an affluent population. There will come a time when Alaska will be one of the wealthiest possessions of the American domain.
On July 19, 1897, a steamer arrived from the north with about a hundred and fifty Klondikers on board, their great buckskin sacks almost bursting with gold dust and nuggets. All had money, and several of them had each over a hundred thousand dollars worth of the precious yellow stuff. Within twenty-four hours the news had spread all over the world and the rush to the new Eldorado set in immediately. Miners came from England, France, Germany and Spain, while South Africa and Australia gave up their prospectors by the thousand. The mining regions of the United States were threatened with depopulation. Chilkoot pass and Dyea, the route selected by the Indians for years in their journeys from the coast to the interior, were finally abandoned by the majority of the immigrants; White pass, with Skagway as the port of entry, became the favorite route. This was seen to be the logical path for the iron horse to make his entry into the Yukon valley, getting over the range at the lowest altitude. English and American capitalists soon had their engineers on the spot, and the work of building the White Pass and Yukon railway followed close upon the preliminary surveys.
The route starts from Skagway, traverses White pass, descends into the Yukon valley by way of the chain of lakes and ends at Fort Selkirk, on the Yukon, over three hundred miles from Skagway. The twenty miles between tide-water and the top of the pass presented a problem of great difficulty. In this there is a rise of two thousand eight hundred and fifty feet, nearly all of which must be overcome in one part. The distinguishing feature in accomplishing this is the employment of many sharp curves, built with great skill on shelves in the face of the rock. By this means a maximum grade of 3.9 per cent., or two hundred and six feet to the mile, has been obtained. Few railroads not depending on the cog can boast of such a steep gradient.
Begun in the spring of 1898, the work steadily advanced under a force of one thousand five hundred workmen, and in days twenty-two hours in length. On the 20th of last February the first train arrived at the top of the pass, and the terminus at Fort Selkirk will probably be reached before the close of this year. The road is a single-track narrow-gage, and its equipment is light, but its mission is a merciful one, and puts an end to the terrible discomfort and danger of the overland route to the new Eldorado. So far the cost has been excessive, something like sixty thousand dollars a mile, but the very difficult conditions met with in the beginning will disappear in the descent to Fort Selkirk, and the construction consequently will be much cheaper.
There have been many who have predicted an extension of our railway systems along the western shores of this continent to confront a similar extension of the Trans-Siberian on the opposite shores of Bering Strait. All things considered, it is quite safe to say that
through trains from San Francisco to St. Petersburg are not of the near future. The White Pass and Yukon is not to be thought of as the first link of a scheme at present impracticable. For some time to come it will be a modest affair, and would fail for lack of sustenance were it not for excessive passenger and freight rates. One may ride on its cars for twenty cents a mile or ship freight at charges equivalent to one hundred dollars per ton between Chicago and New York. The development of the country through which the road will pass will soon reduce these high rates. At all events, they are so reasonable in comparison with those of the Indian packers, who have been asking from fifteen to forty cents per pound to get merchandise over the pass, that no one is likely to complain at the company's getting back in this manner some of its outlay.
The northward traveler landing at Skagway is now met at the wharf by hotel vans, and the ubiquitous hotel runner makes the occasion hideous just as he does in other cities. The town has a population of about eight thousand, resident and transient, and boasts upward of twenty hotels. It has a telephone system, electric lights, water-works, a fire department, a company of National Guardsmen, schools and churches. But the most important of all is the railroad, and next comes a telegraph line soon to run far into the interior as a result of Canadian enterprise.
When the future fortune-seeker arrives at Fort Selkirk after a comfortable railway journey, as he will do after a few months, there will be many directions in which he may strike out, for the thousands of prospectors entering Alaska have brought news of rich gold-fields in other localities.
For a time all roads led to Dawson, but the word Klondike has since been in danger several times of being superseded as a synonym of the miners' paradise. Last August the Atlin district, eighty-three miles north of Skagway, was discovered and developed by Americans. Upward of fifteen thousand claims were staked during the fall, and then the miners were driven to tide-water by the snow and cold weather. While these men were preparing to return to their holdings and work them, the British Columbia Parliament, in session at Victoria, passed an alien exclusion act, depriving Americans from holding or acquiring, by purchase or otherwise, any claims in the province. Very few of the Atlin miners succeeded in getting their claims recorded, and under the operation of the alien act all such claims reverted to the crown. Thus the work of the vast majority of the American miners in the district has been lost. There is a strong impression that the passage of the act is a part of a scheme to consolidate the interests of the whole region under the management of a syndicate - a Cecil Rhodes mining trust transferred from South Africa to northern British Columbia. The exclusion act was passed early in January, and proved a great surprise, not only to the Americans, but to the mass of the residents of British Columbia.
When the news of the exclusion act reached the Atlin miners, many became disheartened or threatened fight, but others more wise abandoned their Canadian projects and crossed over into American possessions. The Porcupine mining district on the Dalton trail drew many, and several rich strikes are reported, but this, unfortunately, is still too near the indefinite border for the men to feel sure of the protection of the American mining laws.
The boundary question is one that should be settled at the earliest possible moment. The British Columbia mounted police have not been free from suspicion of maintaining a somewhat elastic border line that has been more than once stretched to include districts of great mineral wealth. Such a charge has, indeed, been definitely made by the miners driven from the Atlin to the Porcupine claims. The fact is that the dividing line is by no means accurately known, and must be settled by a joint commission of England and the United States. It is to be hoped that Governor Brady's present visit to Washington will result in some definite steps being soon taken in this matter, which becomes of great importance as the surprising wealth and resources of the land are fully realized.
Originally published in Cosmopolitan Magazine. May 1899. | <urn:uuid:86d1d610-33fe-4efd-99f9-ac73f692e734> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalhistoryproject.com/2012/03/white-pass-yukon-railway-to-klondike.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973948 | 2,155 | 3.375 | 3 |
The Antiquarium was established by the Nettuno Council in April 1975 in order to collect archeological, historical, artistic and bibliographical material relating to the territory.
The exhibition presented is of an undoubtedly rare nature: it showcases a brief preview of some of the most important finds. At present, the important documents are being studied and restored.
Fossils from the Pliocene and Quaternary Periods are exhibited in the section dedicated to Malacology (mollusks, shells).
In the section dedicated to Prehistory there are finds regarding:
The Lower Palaeolithic – without doubt one of the most important and significant sections scientifically, in which there are the most ancient artefacts ever found in the Agro Pontino (Pontine marshes) that have allowed to fix the date of the earliest presence of man in the area (400,000 years ago). Many areas have yielded important historical pieces: Quarto delle Cinfonare, Le Ferriere, Valloncello, Campoverde, all in the area around Nettuno.
The Middle Palaeolithic – the artefacts attributed to this period are certainly the most numerous; there are finds that are of particular importance for the specific use of small flint bowls for the production of stone artefacts. The makers of this kind of products were mainly Neanderthals; their appearance is well known thanks to the famous skull found at the Circeo promontory.
The Upper Palaeolithic – the finds come from three large early settlements located in Colle Parito, Torre del Giglio and Torre del Padiglione. These objects date back nearly 20,000 years.
Neolithic – in the exhibition includes not only stone axes and arrow heads but also the first millstones to grind cereal.
The section dedicated to History contains fragments and objects that have allowed us to reconstruct the public, commercial, artisan, artistic and religious activities. | <urn:uuid:61988e11-7268-4bab-87a7-5a30c0bcda88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.romaepiu.it/content/antiquarium | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943272 | 397 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The Finis Forearm Fulcrum paddle improves stroke efficiency by holding the wrist, elbow, and shoulder at the optimal position while focusing on technique development. The Fulcrum Forearm paddle is designed to complement tradidional paddles by improving the stroke technique across swimmers of all levels.
Paddle has two closed sections, one of the sections fits around the forearm, with the swimmer placing their hand in the other closed section
The process of placing their hand through the two sections creates an ideal elbow/wrist angle during the phase of stroke initiation
The act of creating this angle corrects the stroke technique of the user by teaching 'muscle memory'
The Jr. Fulcrum Forearm is designed for swimmers 12 years of age and younger. | <urn:uuid:a6f07052-1a5d-4c4e-aa59-e673e2c992c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.swimandtri.com/scripts/Finis_Forearm_Fulcrum_Jr_Product1512.aspx | 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 | 0.946881 | 156 | 1.59375 | 2 |
But it is true that there is no particular inner pec muscle separate from the pectoralis major. In fact, working the inside (in order to get a noticeable crease) would only make one less balanced
There isn't an inner pec muscle, but there is
an inner chest:
It is important to hit different areas of the chest, as you do not want a lopsided or under-developed chest. For any upper chest development, you should do incline movements, such as incline press or incline Flyes. For lower development, it is said to do decline movements, but flat bench works my lower chest just fine. For outer development, wide grip bench presses and dumbbell flyes. Just the opposite for inner chest development, you should do close grip bench presses.
I thought that I might be able to kill two birds with one stone, and not have to do a separate exercise for the inner chest. But if not, I'll still do them, since I do full-body workouts and want to keep them under 1 - 1.5 hours | <urn:uuid:b6ced795-463b-4757-abd5-12694629c728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exrx.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2132 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951987 | 223 | 2.265625 | 2 |
MYITKYINA, Myanmar — Myanmar's government launched a new round of peace talks with ethnic Kachin rebels on Tuesday, seeking to end an armed conflict that has recently been overshadowed by strife between Buddhists and Muslims in other parts of the country.
The top government negotiator said the talks, if successful, could lead to a comprehensive cease-fire agreement with all ethnic rebel groups in a month or two.
The talks with the Kachin Independence Organization, scheduled to last three days, are the first to be held in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina.
Fighting erupted in Kachin in June 2011, ending a cease-fire that had been in place since 1994 and displacing more than 100,000 people.
Since independence in 1948, Myanmar has faced rebellions from a number of minority groups seeking autonomy. While sporadic fighting continues with several, the Kachin are the only major group that has not reached a cease-fire agreement with the elected government of President Thein Sein, who came to power in 2011 after almost five decades of military rule.
"If we can have an agreement with the KIO, the president has the desire to hold a formal cease-fire signing agreement with all ethnic groups" by June or July, said President's Office Minister Aung Min, a veteran negotiator with ethnic rebel groups who is leading the government side at the talks.
The current fighting began when Kachin guerrillas refused to abandon a strategic base near a hydropower plant that the government is developing in a joint venture with a Chinese company. To help maintain peace with the minority groups, the government allows them to maintain their own militias, although in recent years the groups have been pressured to put them under government control.
The two sides had 14 earlier meetings in Ruili in China and Chiang Mai in Thailand, but failed to agree on a cease-fire. The government has made a cease-fire its priority, but the Kachin rebels want any agreement to include a political framework that could lead to long-term peace.
The Kachin team at the peace talks is being led by the deputy chief of its military wing, Gen. Gum Maw. Observers include U.N. special advisor on Myanmar Vijay Nambiar and several Chinese officials. Kachin borders China and the fighting risks destabilizing the area. | <urn:uuid:def25eb8-747b-4253-bb2c-fa05cbc7bd4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c9124eb27ca147d5a51a37dbbed88d0f/AS--Myanmar-Ethnic-Rebels | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968893 | 485 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Undergraduates in Bigelow Laboratory’s summer REU Program spend ten weeks at the Laboratory conducting independent research with guidance from a scientist mentor. Directed by Senior Research Scientist Dr. David Fields, and funded by the National Science Foundation, the REU Program is designed to give students pursuing degrees in science, mathematics and engineering a laboratory-based research experience with an emphasis on hands-on, state-of-the-art methods and technologies.
REU students are immersed in the Bigelow community and attend seminars, field trips, Laboratory outreach programs, social events, and more. Each student in the program is paired with a Bigelow scientist based on mutual research interests, during the ten weeks, students work with their mentors to identify a research question, develop a proposal, conduct their research, and prepare an abstract and poster. At the end of the program, students present their poster and give a talk at a student symposium.
Research areas vary year to year, but include the marine microbial food web, ocean biogeochemistry, optical oceanography, remote sensing, sensory biology, climate change and fisheries oceanography.
The 2012 REU will be held June 4 – August 10; accepted students will receive a stipend, housing, food allowance, and funds for travel to and from Bigelow Laboratory. The application deadline is March 1, 2012, full program information and the online application are available at www.bigelow.org/education/reu | <urn:uuid:9c47d34e-ccf5-4833-b806-5df54d544eb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dartmouth.edu/~careerblog/2011/12/2012-research-experience-for-undergraduates-gulf-of-maine-and-the-world-ocean/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937443 | 300 | 1.914063 | 2 |
What is Energy Breakthrough?
For many years, several of our students have been working early everyday upon constructing a vehicle for the 2007 Energy Break-through competition. For those of you who are unaware of what this program is, Energy Break-through is a competition in which students design, build and race a vehicle entirely from scratch. Ballarat High School competes in the human powered division, which involves building a vehicle that is propelled purely through the efforts of human peddling.
But these are more than mere bicycles; they are the product of months of work. The students pour sweat and labour into their creations during every spare lunch-break and after-school session.
The vehicles are put to the test at a race every year. The vehicles compete over a continuous period of 24 hours, involving nearly 900 km of distance. Over 30,000 people converge on Maryborough every year, competing for the honour and glory of victory. Teams from all over our vast continent compete, and there are even rumours of international entries.
What is the Rat Pack?
Every year, Ballarat High School enters a dedicated team in the Energy Break-through competition. This devoted and enthusiastic crowd goes by the name of the “Rat Pack”. Members of the team come from every year level of Ballarat High School, and train for months in preparation for the event. To find out how you can get involved, click the “How can I get involved” button.
Design Innovation Award (2006) for a revolutionary peddling design innovation.
Sponsors who have supported us in the past
JG King Homes
Burkes Office Supplies
The City of Ballarat
Without these sponsors, we could not participate in Energy Breakthrough.
Australian and related HPV Events
Australian International Pedal Prix
Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix
Maroondah MEGT Grand Prix
Maryborough Technology Challenge (Queensland)
Casey Cycling Festival (Berwick)
Energy Breakthrough - South Africa
Energy Breakthrough Sponsors
In 1999, Mr. Glenn Orr arranged for the first ever BHS team to compete at the Maryborough event. He oversaw the team that constructed and raced BHS’ first Energy-Breakthrough bike. The vehicle was simple in construction and design- complete with a green-speed frame with a lightweight faring on the front. Ballarat High School has been competing ever since, and in 2006, we ran two bikes- one with out fibreglass body and the other with a new, revolutionary pedal system. The new revolutionary innovation in pedalling technology won the team a Design Innovation Award.
Parts from all over the world have been specially imported for the vehicle’s construction and senior testing at RMIT have ensured its aerodynamic capability. One of the great difficulties involved with the competition is the challenge of constantly improving the design, technology, mechanics and aerodynamics of the vehicles. Ballarat High School was fortunate enough to be awarded a first prize for design innovation last year for what can only be described as a revolutionary improvement in peddling technology engineered by last year’s team.
How Can I Get Involved?
If you are a student and you wish to be part of this exciting intiative, please contact Mr Raneberg in the Technology Building.
The Team is always looking for specialist support from the Community and Industry. Without such support, it would be impossible to run the team as well as we do. If you feel you could contribute to this fantastic school program, please contact Mr. Kym Raneberg on 5338 9000 or email 114,97,110,101,98,101,114,103,46,107,121,109,46,100,64,101,100,117,109,97,105,108,46,118,105,99,46,103,111,118,46,97,117 | <urn:uuid:c5859757-99ce-4dd5-ad83-0b37099cdc89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ballaraths.vic.edu.au/teaching-and-learning/enegy-breakthrough | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939535 | 803 | 2.65625 | 3 |
DURING THE CONTROVERSY over Linda Chavezs appointment as secretary of labor, President Bush squandered an excellent opportunity to show some compassionate conservatism toward the tens of thousands of undocumented workers who have risked their lives to live and work in the United States.
In the 1960s, I grew up on a farm on the Rio Grande outside of Laredo, Texas, where we hired and housed Mexican illegal aliens. They were among the hardest-working people Ive ever encountered. They were also religious, and they had strong family values. We worked, ate, and played together, and I counted them among my friends. Among my fondest memories is helping them hide from the Border Patrol.
Hiring illegal workers from Mexico was common on the border. Many middle-class families had a maid, who often became an integral part of the family, playing an important role in the upbringing of the children.
Both employer and employee profited. The workers received more money than they could have in Mexico. The employers benefited from the hard work and loyalty that Mexican workers traditionally displayed.
The only exploitation came from immigration laws. Whenever a maid became displeased with one job and moved to another, she faced the risk that the disgruntled housewife whose employment she had left would report the maids new address to immigration officials.
One day, I asked the local sheriff whether my cousin and I could hold a Christmas show for the illegal aliens who were incarcerated in the local detention center. He agreed.
On the appointed day, we appeared at the center, where about 150 undocumented workers were seated before a makeshift stage and a microphone.
My cousin began strumming his guitar and singing some classic Mexican songs, such as Cielito Lindo. (Both of us were fluent in Spanish.) After a while, he announced that he needed a break and handed the microphone to me. I said to the men:
Despite the fact that you are here in jail, do not ever think that you are criminals, because you are not. For you have done nothing morally wrong. All that you have done is what God expects of you to sustain and improve your life and the lives of your families through labor. Why shouldnt a person be free to cross a border to do that? The true criminals are the federal judges, the federal marshals, and the immigration officials who put you here and the guards who keep you here.
It was not difficult to see that we had brought some unexpected cheer into the lives of men who were spending Christmas in jail for the crime of simply crossing a border in search of work.
President Bush may have been justifiably upset over Chavezs lack of forthrightness, but he could have overlooked that and used the opportunity to take a stand against the punishing of Americans who hire or harbor illegal aliens. He could have called for the repeal of these immoral laws and announced pardons for everyone who had violated them.
He could have taken a stand in favor of the free market, liberty of association and contract, the Statue of Liberty, the Sermon on the Mount, and Gods second-greatest commandment.
Instead, President Bush stood quietly aside in the midst of the political storm. So much for compassionate conservatism. | <urn:uuid:dd239d97-3da5-4fdb-aacb-2d548c7d756b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/compassionate-conservatism-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984643 | 658 | 2.109375 | 2 |
By Chris Summers
One of Britain's greatest boxers is the subject of the first pugilistic opera. The Whitechapel Whirlwind is based on the life of Jack 'Kid' Berg, in an era marked by great Jewish fighters.
The icons of boxing which are most powerful in the public mind today are probably Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, or Muhammad Ali. For the British, the images of Frank Bruno and, still, Henry Cooper are hard to avoid.
But there was a time, before World War II, when many of the world's best and most famous boxers were Jewish.
There was Abe Attell, known as The Little Hebrew, from San Francisco, who was the world featherweight champion, Rueven "Ruby" Goldstein from New York, Battling Levinsky, Maxie Rosenbloom and the peerless Benny Leonard.
In Britain there was Jack 'Kid' Berg, Ted 'Kid' Lewis, Harry Mizler - all from London, Joe Samuels from Liverpool and many others.
The reason was simple. In those days the Jewish community in the east end of London was largely impoverished and one of the best ways out was boxing.
JACK 'KID' BERG
Born Judah Bergman 28 June 1909 in Whitechapel
Made his professional debut aged just 15
Knocked out American Mushy Callahan to win world title in 1930
Fought 192 bouts (possibly more), between 1924 and 1945
Moved back to Britain and died in 1991, aged 82
"If you didn't fight, you didn't eat," said Morton Lewis, whose father Kid Lewis was world welterweight champion.
Lewis was followed by others such as Berg and Mizler.
Mizler's nephew, Tony, said: "They were the Beckhams of their time. They had the trappings of wealth and they were real working-class heroes."
Of all the Jewish boxers none was finer than Berg, who reigned as light-welterweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1931.
Berg - real name Judah Bergman - was born in London's East End but became a huge star in the United States and combined a heady mix of good looks, controlled brutality and showbiz charisma.
Now his cousin Howard Fredrics has penned an opera called The Whitechapel Whirlwind.
Mr Fredrics, a senior lecturer in creative music technology at Kingston University, has used old tapes of Berg talking in his distinctive transatlantic accent to work out how the fighter's singing voice would have sounded.
He has donated several of these specially restored audio interviews to the British Library.
The opera starts at the turn of the century when the Bergman family arrives in London's teeming East End from eastern Europe.
Andrew O'Connor (right) plays Kid Berg and Sani Muliaumaseali'i plays Kid Chocolate
It covers his tough upbringing in Whitechapel, where he was born in 1909, and
his glorious career in the ring, when he defeated all the big names of the time, including Tony Canzoneri, Kid Chocolate, Mushy Callahan and Mizler.
Another scene depicts the infamous Battle of Cable Street in 1936 when hundreds of East End residents came out on to the streets of Stepney to prevent a march by Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts.
Ironically Mosley employed Lewis - real name Gershon Mendeloff - for a time in the early 1930s as his bodyguard. One apocryphal story suggests Lewis eventually wised up to Mosley's anti-Semitism and beat him up in his office.
Mr Fredrics was naturally drawn to Berg's story: "When I learned about my cousin's life it just seemed such an incredible story and it seemed to naturally lend itself to opera.
"It's funny and heartbreaking and dramatic and it deals with issues of celebrity, and how to hold on to it."
Ted 'Kid' Lewis, aka The Aldgate Sphinx, painted by Charles Miller
He has taken some artistic licence with it - for example, a scene in which Kid Chocolate is shot dead in a Havana nightclub. But overall he has stuck to the facts of Berg's extraordinary life.
Berg had an affair with Mae West and was friends with another East End legend, gangster Jack Spot, who was also Jewish and born in the same Whitechapel street.
In the ring Berg was awesome and his "whirlwind" nickname referred to his non-stop punching style. In one famous anecdote, his opponent was replaced by an identical twin and he beat them both.
His sister, Marie Stephany, remembers him as a modest and gentle man who looked after her.
She says: "It was only later that I grew up and realised what an icon he was, not just to the Jewish community, but to the whole of Britain."
Mr Fredrics hopes it will be picked up by the English National Opera, after its preview performance on Tuesday. Before the curtain rises, the Jewish East End Celebration Society is conducting seminars on Jewish boxers.
But amid the nostalgia for the sepia-tinted stars, one question keeps popping up: "Where are the great Jewish boxers of today?"
Morton Lewis says: "Nowadays most young Jews can earn more money with their brains. In the old days [they wanted] any kind of work to earn some money and boxing was the easiest way to make it."
A special preview of excerpts of The Whitechapel Whirlwind takes place at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre on Tuesday 29 March. | <urn:uuid:42564a8a-c10b-4a00-976e-545c67358792> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4354243.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974558 | 1,156 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Highlights and Policy Recommendations | Table of Contents | Policy Brief | How to Order
Published: Nov. 2005
Over the last twenty five years, China has made huge progress in meeting its agricultural policy objectives: agricultural production has risen sharply, rural industries have absorbed a large part of farm labour, poverty has fallen dramatically, and the level and quality of food consumption has improved significantly. In line with the improving economic situation, government priorities have shifted from increasing production, especially of food grains, to rural income support and, most recently, to environmental concerns.
This review examines China’s agricultural policy context and trends while measuring the extent of support provided to its agriculture on the basis of consistent and internationally comparable analysis. It provides an objective assessment of the opportunities, constraints and trade-offs that confront China’s policy makers.
Highlights and Policy Recommendations
During the reform period, which started in 1978, China made huge progress in meeting its objectives: agricultural production rose sharply, rural industries absorbed a large part of farm labour, poverty fell dramatically, and the level and quality of food consumption improved significantly. The commune system was replaced by one where individual families lease land from the collectives, ensuring that almost all rural households have access to land and are, at minimum, food self-sufficient.
Currently, China has about 200 million farm households with an average land allocation of just 0.65 ha. Limited arable land and a large rural labour force mean that, in general, China tends to have a comparative advantage in the production of labour intensive crops, such as fruits and vegetables, and a disadvantage in the production of land intensive crops, such as grains and oilseeds.
One of the most striking features of China’s development in the reform period has been a large and growing income disparity between the rural and urban populations. This is largely due to limited factor mobility, especially of labour and capital. Surplus farm labour and low labour productivity have resulted in low agricultural incomes and hidden unemployment in rural areas. The rural-urban gap in living standards is further accentuated by differences in access to education, health care and other social services.
The level of support to agriculture from policies fluctuated at low levels through the 1990s, rising to 8% in 2003, still well below the OECD average of 30%. Support levels are highest for import-competing commodities such as sugar and milk, but also for exportable maize. Grain markets remain distorted, mostly due to state trading which drives a wedge between domestic and world prices. The Total Support Estimate (TSE) is relatively high at 3.7% of GDP, reflecting though large expenditure on general services, in particular investments in agricultural infrastructure to improve productivity.
In line with the improving economic situation and sectoral performance, government priorities have shifted from increasing production, especially of food grains, to rural income support and recently to environmental concerns. In the medium term, the main challenges for China’s policy makers include closing the large income gap between rural and urban populations; integrating small-scale farmers, who are dominant, into markets; stimulating internal reallocation of resources to create more efficient farm structures; reducing the negative impacts of increasing agricultural production on the environment; improving the competitiveness of agricultural and food products on domestic and international markets; and improving the governance of institutions in designing and implementing agricultural policies.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - The Policy Context
As China becomes a key player in global agro-food markets it is essential to understand the framework that has shaped developments in Chinese agriculture since the introduction of reforms in 1978. This chapter focuses on the processes undertaken since 1990 and identifies the constraints, opportunities and challenges to China’s agricultural development. Section 1.1 provides a brief overview of basic information. Section 1.2 assesses those aspects of China’s macroeconomic performance that have had a crucial impact on developments in the agro-food sector, and then examines the importance of the agro-food sector and its contribution to the development of the economy as a whole. Section 1.3 contains a review of structural issues in the agro-food sector, including agricultural production structures, land tenure systems and policies, as well as reforms and responses in agricultural upstream and downstream sectors. Finally, Section 1.4 provides an assessment of agriculture’s performance in terms of output, trade, employment, productivity and incomes followed by a review of food consumption and the agroenvironmental situation.
Chapter 2 - Policy Trends
China has implemented substantial economic policy reforms since 1978. A fundamental element has been reform of the raft of agricultural and agriculture related policies contained in China’s governance framework. While the general direction of reforms has been consistent, there have also been numerous small policy shifts and changes in the detail of policies. In this chapter, trends in agricultural and related policies during the period 1990-2005 are highlighted, followed by an evaluation of the support provided to producers. In Section 2.1, the framework of agricultural policy is provided. This framework is examined with regard to key policy objectives, the national and sub-national institutional arrangements for administering agricultural policy, and the major instruments employed to implement policy. Section 2.2 contains an overview of domestic agriculture-related policies. This section is arranged in seven sub-sections devoted to: price and income support measures; reduction of input costs; agricultural taxation; rural public services infrastructure; consumer measures; environmental measures; and overall budgetary outlays on agro-food policies. Trade policies related to the agro-food sector are examined in Section 2.3. This section contains six sub-sections: overall reforms of the trade system; the objectives of Chinese trade policy in the agro-food sector; agro-food import and export policy measures applied by China; trade relations; trade policy measures applied by partners; and agro-food trade flows. Finally, Section 2.4 quantifies the extent of support provided to agriculture and the burden that this imposes on Chinese consumers and taxpayers.
Chapter 3 - Policy Impacts
This chapter reports analysis on the potential economic impact of reducing China’s agricultural trade protection and domestic support and comparing the effects with those that might accompany widespread reductions in support afforded farmers in OECD countries. Section 3.1 investigates, with the use of an economy-wide general equilibrium model (GTAPEM), the source and size of the sectoral and economy-wide gains to China from multilateral trade liberalisation. The estimated changes in prices and quantities due to liberalisation are then used as inputs to simulate how welfare gains and losses are distributed across various types of rural households in China. The last two sections of the chapter are devoted to an analysis of the potential impact on China’s main agricultural commodity markets of hypothetical reforms to agricultural trade and domestic policy both within China and globally (Section 3.2), and to an investigation of the impact of China’s grain policies on mid-term projections of its grain imports and the implications for grain self-sufficiency (Section 3.3).
How to order this publication
Readers can access the full version of OECD Review of Agricultural Policies - China, choosing from the following options:
Policy Brief : Agricultural Policy Reform in China
China’s farm support less protectionist than in most OECD countries, says new report
Selon un nouveau rapport, l’aide à l’agriculture est moins protectionniste en Chine que dans la plupart des pays de l’OCDE | <urn:uuid:21187204-1d20-45bd-b582-3ab7609befc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oecd.org/tad/agricultural-policies/oecdreviewofagriculturalpolicies-china.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924397 | 1,529 | 2.84375 | 3 |
(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The Dubai Customs recently seized a consignment of 4.3 tonnes of spoilt lamb meat worth Dh106,665 at the Dubai International Airport Free Zone.
According to a senior official, the meat cargo, with a bad odour aroused the suspicion of the customs inspectors who intensively and thoroughly searched the consignment.
Omar Ahmed Al Muhairi, Senior Manager of Air Cargo Operations at the Dubai Customs, on Monday told Khaleej Times that lab tests proved that the meat confiscated this week was unfit for human consumption. "The meat imported from a European country was also found to be packed in bags other than the specified type usually used for importing meat."
The Food Control Office of the Dubai Municipality at the Dubai Flower Centre, the authorised and specialised body for controlling food imports conducted several tests on the samples taken from the seized meat.
"Proved to be unfit for human consumption, the stinky meat was destroyed in coordination with the Food Control Department of the Dubai Municipality."
Al Muhairi said the customs inspectors are highly skillful and well-experienced in handling foodstuff consignments, especially meat, as they are trained to spot the spoilt meat by checking odour and color. In addition to the consistent training they receive at the Dubai Customs, the ongoing cooperation with the Dubai Municipality in terms of food control contributed much to the success of the seizure ensuring food hygiene and safety conditions as per the adopted criteria and standards in the UAE.
Last year, the Dubai Customs seized another consignment of spoilt meat from an African country weighing one tonne, consequent to the test results the Dubai Municipality provided, stating that it was unfit for human consumption.
"All imported brands of food stuff are subject to strict customs inspection and control since the Dubai Customs is the front defence line of the country against all threats against people's safety and health," he added. | <urn:uuid:aa5274e2-9763-4a84-ac33-a02f4a0a2d14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.menafn.com/menafn/qn_news_story_s.aspx?storyid=1093487674 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951433 | 399 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In April 2012 Google did it’s Penguin Update Noticeably affected the rankings of 3.1% of all queries.
In May 26th 2012 then rolled out Penguin 2, affected .1%
Recently on October 5th Google released Penguin 3 affecting .3%
Saying it will further lower the impact that low quality links have on a sites rankings. The definition of “Noticeably affected” is decided, stating that basically means a change to the rankings of a site that is in the top 5 results. So the percentages above are, in our opinion, lower than the actual affect. If you consider two factors.
1) That a “query” is different from the “sites affected”.
a. The number reported by google to be at least 500 times lower considering there are at least 5 sites above the fold for each query.
2) That there are sites that are affected that are below the fold (which is 99% of the entire internet).
Beginning today, Google will add another facet to its already complex algorithm by lowering search rankings for websites that have “high numbers” of copyright-infringement removal requests. An example of this, which most people have seen, is the sad faced box on Youtube that states “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by …” This requests are available due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which allows copyright holders to ask Google to remove links to URL’s that are directed at unauthorized use of material. However, with Youtube being one of the largest video hosting websites and undoubtedly receiving countless numbers of removal requests, there will be no change for their rankings. Google declined to comment on the reasons why, but we all know they wouldn’t want to hurt their own profits.
For the past few months we have been teaching our readers how to build on their already existing SEO campaigns, but what about the newcomers that have no idea where to start? There are two key places to start: first setup Google analytics campaigns on every one of your pages and second, (if you don’t already have this) add the files “robots.txt” and “sitemap.xml” to your website.
Google released the first class of a series of six classes on July 10th, designed to teach users how to better use the search service. The first lesson of Class 1 was a short two minutes and forty-five seconds, but before I could watch the video I was required to take a “Pre-Class Assessment” of 10 questions with a few of them varying each time you re-open the assessment. The assessment seemed to be learning tool as well because as I was answering the questions, if I didn’t know the answer, rather than clicking something at random I went to Google myself and tested the question out. Naturally I was surprised to find out this jewel of information and of course it sparked my interest in remaining in the course. Once the assessment is finished, the amount of questions answered correctly or incorrectly is not shown, to my disappointment. I can only assume that the “Mid-Class Assessment” and “Post-Class Assessment”, both unavailable to me at the moment, may be the same questions.
Quality-based SEO firms, like Phoenix Synergy for example, have been working for the past few years ensuring that their clients have a well-rounded SEO strategy by slaving away getting quality links, relevant content, large social media following, etc. Until now, some efforts were futile, resulting in thousands of hours equaling nothing. Penguin, the Google algorithm update originally released in April of this year, has been the best gift Google could give to not only SEO firms, but to companies as well. No longer will SEO be deemed a money pit and no longer will thousands of hours be fruitless. Since the original release Google has updated the algorithm to add a few extra perks; one example, when having SEO strategies that are more of a “spam” like quality, the exact opposite of the intention will occur.
Phoenix Synergy has worked with many web sites, sites of all types and sizes. Web sites are very different from one another. Large corporations work through obstacles related to Content Management Systems (Otherwise known as CMS) and can inherently bring on trouble for Search Engines. Some times the site itself is made with a focus on fancy and flashy, and without consideration to the Search Engines the site can become invisible to them and slowly lose all traffic. We Know the downfalls and the work-around’s.
Search Engines See Your Entire Site
These are some of the obstacles we’ve identified, don’t let an obstacle to good search engine results get in the way for you.
Without “Tricking” any search engine the most simplistic approach to getting found by those looking for your offering is to insure your specific Internet Community knows what your site is about. Search Engines do not trust the content on your site to tell them what it is about. There is a very solid reason for this, they’ve been duped. Web Sites have been “traffic” driven for a very long time. The term ” Internet Super Highway ” was coined under the premise that when a website is receiving a lot of visitors it is valuable real estate on a popular curve in the freeway of information. The more popular a section of highway is the more expensive the billboard space is. So since the people making the sites were only compensated by advertising dollars they drove traffic in. They did not care what kind of traffic; they just wanted visitors, lots of them. And they were duly compensated, even if the traffic was related to a term that was searched very often but had nothing to do with the site. The Search Engines began to lose face, people would stop using a particular engine because they could not find what they were looking for, they simply found sites that had a lot of banners and had a lot of the text they were looking for on the page, but nothing to offer. This is why the Search Engines do not trust your web site. They must determine what your site is about in some other logical manner. Remember these are machines, they only know numbers. So instead of the machine counting the words on your site, they count the words on all the sites that link to you. The sites that link to you are your Internet Community. If those sites are related, and they are popular, and you make sure the search engines can count the right words the right way, then you will have explained to the engine what your site is about without having to trick it in any way.
After the recent release of new updates to Panda, Google made significant changes to its search engine, code named “Knowledge Graph”. Google has created this database to make using the search engine easier to use with natural language and complex questions. The “Knowledge Graph”, named as such because it maps out the varying connections from your search query to things like people, places and things by using sources that we use every day (i.e. Wikipedia). For example, search the word “sun”, usually results would show the ball of fire in the sky. Now that the graph is in use results will vary greatly and will likely have a better connection to what is it you were looking for; rather than Google suggesting different spellings for your keywords, it may ask “Did you mean the Phoenix Suns?” The main goal for the use of the “Knowledge Graph” is for Google to be able to give relevant results for natural questions like, “Where can I find a vegetarian pizza place by the Chase Field?” or “Where can I attend an outdoor play in cool weather? What does this mean for SEO? Here’s what you can do to help get featured in the “Knowledge Graph” results.
Most of you have noticed the newest Panda update to 3.4 dubbed “Penguin”, and some of you may be hurting because of it. One of the biggest sinkers is link-over optimization, if your site had more than 50% of its incoming links with SERP keywords you were bound to be affected negatively. However, if your incoming links were other words, anything other than the words you were trying to rank for, you weren’t affected negatively. Most likely you wouldn’t have noticed anything! To add to the hysteria, Google is actually penalizing you for over-optimizing. However, if you are not an over-optimizing culprit you can rejoice in the benefit of a higher ranking given to you by Google for being relevant. To summarize what Google is doing in case it’s difficult to understand, they’re replacing the value of using anchor text with the value of content relevancy. In other words, your fitness blog should get rid of the links it has on office supplies websites. Now that you know what to fix to get your rankings back, here are some tips to bring that ranking up. | <urn:uuid:b8cf7fdc-8a31-4b9c-8205-143a3e5f16dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arizonaseo.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969263 | 1,881 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Featured Programs on KSJD March 3rd-9thSaturday, March 3rd
Tune in to KSJD for Mountain Stage at 1pm on Saturday afternoons for a line-up of fabulous live musical performances. This week's guests include Wanda Jackson, Joe Ely, Carolyn Wonderland, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Wronglers, and the New Rope String Band.
Sunday, March 4th
Big Picture Science returns to Sundries at 9am Sunday morning. In this week's episode, a tour of watery solar system bodies that hold promise for biology. Dig beneath the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa, and plunge into the jets of Enceladus, Saturn's satellite. And although Mars is rusty and dusty, it wasn't always a world of dry dunes. Did life once thrive here? Science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer joins in, and relates how these exotic outposts have prompted imaginative stories of alien life.
Monday, March 5th
Perishable artifacts such as sandals, blankets, and baskets present a unique opportunity to touch a part of prehistoric life that is rarely seen. Join us for the Monday morning Zine at 8:30 as we talk with a local perishable artifact specialist about her work on some of the earliest collections of these objects taken from archaeological sites in southeast Utah.
Wednesday, March 7th
Western films present a romantic and sometimes whimsical portrait of the history of our region. Tune in to the Wednesday morning Zine at 8:30 as we explore what makes Westerns so fun to watch, and discuss what to expect at the upcoming Mancos Western Film Festival. | <urn:uuid:f77117b0-1a64-4b50-a7c8-532554ed5e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksjd.org/news.cfm?mode=detail&id=1330728240241 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927166 | 334 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The overall U.S. economy continued to grow at a "moderate" pace over the Spring, but activity slowed in the Philadelphia region, according to anecdotal information gathered by the Federal Reserve.
"Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest overall economic activity expanded at a moderate pace during the reporting period from early April to late May," the Fed said Wednesday in its latest Beige Book.
The jobs market showed signs of a "modest increase" in hiring, reflecting a disappointing May jobs report that raised concerns the broader economic recovery has fizzled out.
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart acknowledged the economy could require additional stimulus unless the jobs market picks up.
"Should it become clear that something resembling my baseline scenario of continued, though modest, growth is no longer realistic, further monetary actions to support the recovery will certainly need to be considered," Lockhart said in Florida.
The next Federal Reserve meeting is set for June 19-20. Most analysts expect the Fed to hold steady but signal that a third round of quantitative easing is being carefully considered.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:9abf77bf-795d-415c-9508-eaf3484b3025> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rttnews.com/1901405/fed-s-beige-book-recovery-moving-at-moderate-pace.aspx?type=useco&SimRec=1&Node= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957142 | 237 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Allies in adversity, Australia and the Dutch in the Pacific War
No. 18 (NEI) Squadron, RAAF
In evacuating personnel from the NEI, priority was given to aircrew, and particularly to pilots, the training of whom was both time-consuming and expensive. As a result of this policy, by late March 1942 there were more than 100 Dutch airmen in Australia, few of them with aircraft, but most seeking a means of striking back at the enemy. Prior to the Japanese invasion, the Dutch had ordered and paid for a squadron (18 aircraft) of US-built B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. The delivery of these aircraft to Australia offered the opportunity to quickly raise a bomber squadron equipped with modern front-line aircraft.
In April 1942, No. 18 Squadron, RAAF, was formed at Canberra, its initial equipment being five B-25s. Shortages of Dutch personnel in a variety of roles, particularly air gunners and ground crew, were made up by the RAAF, and the unit soon graduated from training flights to operational coastal patrols. Considerable difficulties had to be overcome. There were initial problems with the supply of aircraft, and it was not until late September that the full complement of B-25 aircraft was received. Additionally, while the unit was considered part of the NEI forces, operational requirements dictated that it follow the organisational lines of the RAAF. In July, the squadron was officially retitled “No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron”. Discipline and administration for the Dutch personnel would conform as closely as possible to that of a regular ML-KNIL unit, while a separate but integrated unit, under Australian command, was to control the RAAF members. In recognition of their nationality, the squadron’s aircraft would carry the Dutch flag rather than RAAF roundels, and the usual Australian “A47” identification code for Mitchell aircraft was replaced by the unique “N5”. In December 1942, the long awaited move to an operational base in northern Australia began.
Flying initially from McDonald strip in the north-west corner of the Northern Territory, No. 18 Squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel B.S. Fiedeldij flew its first raid over Dili, Timor, on 31 January 1943 . From this time on, the Mitchells were constantly engaged in patrols, bombing raids, and anti-shipping attacks, often operating at the limit of their range. Casualties mounted steadily. In April, the squadron moved to Batchelor, a base closer to Darwin, and with considerably better facilities. Raids over the occupied NEI continued at an increasing pace, and many enemy transport vessels were destroyed in low-level attacks as the unit’s reputation grew. In early 1945, a move to New Britain began, but given the squadron’s affiliation with the NEI and the desire of the men to fly the Dutch flag over their homeland, the squadron was sent, first to Morotai and then to Balikpapan. From July 1945 the Mitchells operated from Balikpapan, dropping leaflets on the Japanese, and food and medical supplies to Allied prisoners of war.
In November 1945, the Australian element of the unit was disbanded, and in January 1946, control was returned to the Dutch government. During its wartime service, 90 Dutchmen and 25 Australians had been killed while serving with the squadron. | <urn:uuid:e37565b9-6ca1-4518-85ee-4ea23339b085> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/alliesinadversity/australia/nei.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984934 | 704 | 3.3125 | 3 |
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
what isthe average cost of braces for upper and lower?
Thank you for your question. The average cost of full treatment ( Upper and lower ) varies throughout the US and Canada. In Ohio and elsewhere the range is dependent on the difficulty of the problem. If it is a two year treatment plan the fee is likely to be between $3500 and $4,000. Sometimes with children there could be a first stage which might be as low as $1400-$1600. Usually this is to meet certain objectives and will usually require another period ( hopefully shorter ) to finish the work when all the teeth have erupted. There are some problems which require orthodontics and surgery to resolve, so obviously these figure do not cover that scenario, as far as the surgery is concerned. Remember also when dealing with first stage treatment there is a lifetime maximum of insurance reimbursement which may be in the $1000.00 range.
Walter C Buchsieb, DDS, MS
Professor Emeritus - Clinical, Associate of Dentistry
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University | <urn:uuid:aeb79808-dff9-4122-9272-6c1c9c54fd90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.uc.edu/question.cfm/17132.htm | 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 | 0.954635 | 260 | 1.59375 | 2 |
In his speech, Mr. Cheney echoed the argument of Mr. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the past week that Democrats had access to the same prewar intelligence that the White House did, and that they came to the same conclusion that Mr. Hussein was a threat.You know, they keep saying "same intelligence" and we keep saying, "No, not the same intelligence."
The administration, however, had access to far more extensive intelligence than Congress did. The administration also left unaddressed the question of how it had used that intelligence, which was full of caveats, subtleties and contradictions. Many Democrats now say they believe they had been misled by the administration in the way it presented the prewar intelligence.
The difference? They're lying. | <urn:uuid:ace0b4ac-076c-4c6c-83a4-420b4eaabeec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weinish.blogspot.com/2005_11_13_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982079 | 159 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Doing good. Helping others. Giving back. All things that have been on my mind a great deal lately here in Nepal. Over the past two months I’ve visited with children who have been denied an education simply because they are from lower caste parentage. I’ve met families living in dire poverty, sleeping five to a bed in a mud-walled shack on the shores of a filthy, trash-choked stream. And I have spoken extensively with Tibetan refugees who are unemployable because China demands that Nepal not give them citizenship; literally people without a country, they live in limbo, awaiting their chance to emigrate to other countries where they become productive citizens. These appalling experiences drive home how lucky I am to have been born in the USA, where a good education is commonplace and a world of opportunity is available to those willing to work hard. Having received so much in my life, I am now driven by a need to give back, but I have long struggled to find the best way to do so.
Though there are myriad choices for charities and non-profit organizations with which I might have associated, it was hard to know which were the most effective. Especially with larger organizations, I worried that an inordinate portion of donations were used for administrative costs rather than benefiting the people who really needed it. Fortunately, this concern was resolved for me when some of my fellow travel bloggers, who have all seen more than their equitable share of poverty and suffering around the world, launched a non-profit initiative named Passports with Purpose three years ago. In its first year, PwP raised money online for Heifer International, an organization that donates cows to poor rural families around the world. Last year they raised $30,000 to build a school in rural Cambodia; the school opened early last month and now there are a few hundred kids learning to read and write who would not otherwise have received an education. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:d4bb7562-be9a-48f0-a267-20b4d5ab57ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://holeinthedonut.com/tag/india/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976351 | 393 | 1.554688 | 2 |
GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY, Wash. -- The scene would have created panic 30 years ago in Grays Harbor County: thick, grey smoke pouring out of a tunnel beneath one of the cooling towers at the nuclear power plant in the hills above Elma.
Instead it's a sign of a new industry.
Seattle firefighters are spending the week training in the underground tunnels of the plant.
The state halted construction of the nuclear plant project in 1983 prior to completion. Even though the state spent nearly half a billion dollars on the plant, it never generated a kilowatt of power.
"You're not going to find very many places where 28 feet underground you have 12-foot diameter water pipers that run hundreds of feet in any given direction," said Tami Garrow, CEO of Satsop Business Park, the organization that now operates the property.
Garrow told KING 5 News last year developers dug up a section of the tunnel to be used by firefighters.
"We think this could be a really valuable training asset for public safety organizations from all over the west," said Garrow.
Firefighters from New York and Ventura County in California are training with Seattle firefighters at the site this week. Seattle used to send rescuers to a facility in West Virginia for tunnel fire training.
"It reduces time for training, travel all kinds of logistics issues," said Captain J. Havner, manager of Seattle Fire's Tunnel Rescue Team. | <urn:uuid:5c9b3ef0-8267-49c3-997a-03da179bd3b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.king5.com/news/Seattle-firefighters-breathing-new-life-into-infamous-Grays-Harbor-landmark-174682981.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943303 | 295 | 2.25 | 2 |
UnGraded Assessments (Student Submissions)
Assessment of Student Submissions These are the peer assessments made by students on each other's work. In general, these assessments do NOT have to be graded by the teacher. Provided each of the student submissions is assessed about five times, the system can make a reasonable judgement on the individual assessment performance of the students. When the number of peer assessments is low then the teacher may want to grade these assessments. Any grades given to the assessments can be taken into account when calculating the final grades for the students. | <urn:uuid:40900703-a454-4c45-b8f1-d706bb68bf91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysticalmindtraining.org/help.php?module=workshop&file=ungradedassessments_student.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960664 | 113 | 2.703125 | 3 |
In December 2011, CEF began discussions with local commercial and non-profit energy users about hosting a community-owned solar array that would open up access to clean energy ownership. In 2012, we built experience with the process of working with major host sites and investors, and have three projects ranging from 15kW to 25kW awaiting rebate awards from Xcel Energy that are financed independently so that the sites hosting the panels do not have to pay for the system up front. These projects are a pilot for launching true community solar in 2013, and are allowing us to work through the steps of securing an investor, creating a legal structure, working with installers, coordinating local sites and more.
Community Solar opens up a huge realm of opportunities for residents who cannot currently participate in solar. Currently, only about 5% of households have all the factors needed to participate in a roof-top, owner-financed approach to solar that has so far been common:
- Owning their own building and rooftop
- Having a south-facing roof that is structurally okay for solar
- Not having substantial shading of that roof
- Having the financial resources/ ability to access private financing to afford it.
Through a community solar model, renters, people with homes that are poor solar sites, and people able to invest as little as $500-$1,000 can participate in owning clean energy. It also creates an economy of scale that can provide a greater rate of return.
In April 2013, Cooperative Energy Futures is launching a Community Solar working group of interested community members and solar and legal experts to develop a pilot series of community solar projects across the Twin Cities, with a goal of initial installs either in late Fall 2013 or Spring 2014. Please contact General Manager Timothy DenHerder-Thomas at firstname.lastname@example.org, (612) 250-1621 if you are interested in attending of April 30th kick-off meeting or future planning meetings.
Currently pending state legislation would open up a new channel for community solar in Minnesota, so given that this is not yet available, there are two different options for how community solar could work:
- Currently allowed: A group of community members gets together (via an LLC) and finances and owns a solar array located on a local business, place of worship, school, non-profit, or other local institution. The LLC sells electricity to the site on which the panels are located and distributes profits to community members.
- Possible in the future pending legislation currently under discussion: A group of community members gets together and owns and finances a solar array located on a local business, place of worship, school, non-profit, or other local institution. They get direct bill credits to their bill for their share of the electricity produced by the array, as if it was on their own home. The site on which the panels were located could get some portion of the energy too.
Specific sites, legal models to allow investment, and direct opportunities to participate are not yet available, but we are ready to start building a list of people interested in learning more and joining in community solar arrays. If you are interested in this mdoel and might want to join in as a community solar owner, please sign up below! | <urn:uuid:6159e377-648f-4928-8909-8c21b47ebb41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cooperativeenergyfutures.com/communitysolar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964684 | 664 | 1.554688 | 2 |
As the blossoms fall from the cherry trees, farm groups head for Washington to state their case for the 2012 Farm Bill. The National Farmers Union is on Capitol Hill this week as 75 of its members meet with the offices of more than 150 members of Congress and their staffs to discuss Farmers Union priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill.
For this group, the key policy idea to promote is the Market-Driven Inventory System, designed to help during a long-term market collapse, the group says. MDIS uses a system of farmer-owned commodity inventories, loan rates and other policy tool to help moderate "both extremely low and extremely high commodity prices," the group says.
Adds Roger Johnson, NFU president: "The most valuable thing that our members can do is talk to their members of Congress to share their stories and describe the challenges they face on a daily basis. With the farm bill being written this year, this is an important opportunity for family farmers and ranchers to ensure their voices are heard. Congress must understand that a safety net needs to be designed and implemented that focuses on family farmers and provides assistance during difficult times, when markets collapse and when disaster strikes.”
The group is also going to advocate for strong energy and livestock programs. And like many groups, NFU wants the farm bill completed in 2012 rather than an extension to 2013.
“With agriculture programs facing tremendous budgetary pressure, it is critical that we come up with new ways to save money without sacrificing the safety net on which so many family farmers and ranchers rely,” said Johnson.
The group points to a University of Tennessee study that showed if MDIS were in place form 1998 through 2010, federal spending on farm programs would have decreased by $95 billion while net farm income would have remained unchanged. | <urn:uuid:76843f70-5b93-4bf7-8c68-16fafc0c47fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmprogress.com/story-farmers-descend-washington-talk-farm-bill-0-58951 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969544 | 365 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Application Deadline Extended for Energy Leadership Academy
The U.S. DOE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have decided to accept applications for the 2013 Executive Energy Leadership Academy until March 20.
The NREL’s “Energy Execs” academy is a leadership program that focuses on education community, government, and business leaders about achieving clean energy solutions by using energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Representatives from 150 organizations have completed the program since 2007.
Energy Execs has been described as a valuable asset to help drive change to individual organizations, a great way to learn how renewable technologies work, and helps create a better understanding of other energy related technologies.
Participants are selected from a national pool of candidates who complete a final project with the goal to have a direct impact on their organization.
Applications can be completed here. | <urn:uuid:c40454a9-52ec-416f-8faf-a59adb67ca24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eponline.com/Articles/2013/03/07/Application-Deadline-Extended-for-Energy-Leadership-Academy.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94524 | 171 | 1.648438 | 2 |
359 Cranborne to Commonwealth Government
Cablegram 336 LONDON, 24 November 1944, 9 p.m.
IMPORTANT TOP SECRET
Your telegrams-Canberra No. 310 , Wellington No. 303.
Statement on Colonial Policy.
1. We feel that there has been some misunderstanding as to the main purpose of our telegram No. 325. It was never in our mind to question the right of the Australian and New Zealand Governments to make any declaration which they think proper on Colonial as on other aspects of Public Policy. But we were seriously perturbed as to the practical results which were likely to flow from the procedure that has been adopted.
2. We are glad to have this full statement of the position of the Australian and New Zealand Governments in regard to the question of Colonial Policy. In particular we are glad to note that you had not contemplated an international Body which would interfere with the Sovereignty and control by the Parent States in relation to Colonial Territories. This was not clear from the published statement issued after the Wellington Conference.
3. Our proposals for the general scheme of international co- operation in Colonial Policy applicable to all dependent Territories are not yet complete. We will, however, telegraph particulars as soon as they have been fully considered here and approved and think you will find that they have much in common with the views of the Commonwealth and New Zealand Governments.
Difficulty which we saw over the announcement made after the recent Wellington Conference was that it might be interpreted generally, as indeed we ourselves had interpreted it, as requiring a form of International control which in our view would conflict with the authority of the Parent States. We are glad to learn that this is not, in fact, in contemplation.
4. In paragraph 4 of Australia's telegram No. 310 reference is made to the discussions at the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 regarding the possibility of a joint declaration on Colonial Policy. We regret that there should have been any misunderstanding about this. We thought that this had been made clear in the statement by the Colonial Secretary at the Prime Ministers' Meetings last May. The position was that after explaining our attitude to the United States Authorities, as indicated in our telegram D.No. 69 of the 9th February 1943 , the matter was not pursued further in any definite form by the United States Authorities, as preliminary and informal talk did not disclose any basis for agreement on any form of declaration. In the circumstances, although the position was explained orally to the Dominion representatives in London, we did not think that the point had been reached when a further communication to the Dominion Governments on the subject could usefully be made.
5. Declaration of the 13th July 1943 to which reference is made was confined to the question of Regional Councils as to which we had understood that there was general agreement on the part of the Dominion Governments.
6. We agree with the description of the purpose of the principle of Trusteeship as set out at the beginning of paragraph 8 of Australia's telegram, but we are not clear that these ends are necessarily served by the interposition of an International Body with special powers of investigation and supervision. As indicated above, however, we hope to develop our views on this aspect more fully in the further communication promised, and shall welcome your comments.
7. We are telegraphing separately regarding the proposal for the setting up of a South Seas Regional Commission.
8. As regards reference in paragraph 1 of Australia's telegram to consultation with the United Kingdom High Commissioner, Wellington, we understand that he urged the exclusion from the published statement of details of the recommendation on this point, but that the Australian and New Zealand representatives did not feel able to do more than make an amendment of the wording. | <urn:uuid:baa4a351-6002-4d61-a2ce-ce4f189dc200> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/historical/volume-07/historical-document-07-359.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977309 | 768 | 1.648438 | 2 |
I’m in my second trimester of pregnancy and just learned that my preschooler has fifth disease. Do I need to be concerned about my unborn baby?
Fifth disease (erythema infectiosum) is a virus that is passed through the air via coughs or sneezes. There is no vaccine for this virus. Researchers believe that about 50 percent of adults have had fifth disease at some point in their lives. When children contract fifth disease, the symptoms include low-grade fever, headache, rash, sore throat, and reddened cheeks (giving the appearance of a "slapped cheek").
Adults can sometimes develop flu-like symptoms, too. After being exposed to the virus, it usually takes anywhere between four and 14 days for symptoms to appear.
If you are pregnant and have had the disease previously, you will be immune. The problem is most women just don't know if they've ever had fifth disease. If a woman contracts this virus during pregnancy, it can pose health risks to the developing fetus. The virus can affect red blood cell production in the developing baby, leading to anemia.
The biggest danger lies especially in the first half of pregnancy (up to 20 weeks). In a 2005 study published in the journal Clinics in Perinatology, it was reported that about one in 400 women in the United States contract fifth disease during pregnancy. But contracting this disease doesn't always mean your baby will become infected.
Be sure to tell your OB if your child contracts fifth disease, and your doctor may order blood work to see if you have contracted the virus as well. Your doctor may also order frequent ultrasounds or more in-depth testing to make sure your baby is not experiencing any problems.
To help prevent the spread of virus in your home, be careful to follow good hand-washing techniques and teach your child to cover her mouth when coughing and nose while sneezing. | <urn:uuid:7c9f43d8-9aa8-4eb0-9af9-52c2c82116fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/is-it-safe/preschooler-fifth-disease-and-pregnancy_79303 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969289 | 392 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Neil Armstrong & Gene Cernan: The Right Stuff
Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan - Credit: NASA
Quick BioSage advice can be gleaned indirectly from the words of men who've done amazing things. In this interview series by Jim Clash called “The Right Stuff," we share nuggets of wisdom from great men who've taken big risks in life -- astronauts, mountain climbers, ocean divers, Olympians, scientists -- and come out the better for it.
What exactly is the right stuff? Other than the name of a famous movie and book about space, it is a state of mind. The term is a throwback to a time when character really counted -- when men routinely risked it all not to get rich, bloviate or self-aggrandize, but for their country, science and exploration.
Many of the interviews have appeared in The Explorers Journal, the flagship publication of The Explorers Club, but only for its membership of about 3,500. Here they are being made available to a broader audience. The Explorers Club, founded in the early 1900s, is the preeminent organization for exploration worldwide.
Clash, a fellow and director at the Club, is a seasoned adventurer himself. In reporting for Forbes and other publications over the last two decades, he has skied to the South Pole; driven the Bugatti Veyron at its top speed of 253 mph; flown in a MiG-25 at Mach 2.6 to the edge of space; visited the North Pole twice; and climbed the Matterhorn, 23,000-foot Aconcagua and virgin peaks in Antarctica and Greenland. He has also purchased a ticket from Virgin Galactic Airways to fly into suborbital space in 2013.
On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew touched down on the surface of the moon, cornering history. Hours earlier Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had separated their Lunar Module, named Eagle, from the Command Module, still orbiting the moon, for descent. The landing was high drama as the lunar surface proved rougher than expected; Armstrong nearly ran out of fuel maneuvering for an appropriate site. Once down safely, of course, he uttered his famous words and stamped his first boot-print into the lunar dust.
Now fast-forward to Dec. 14, 1972, for the exact opposite scenario. Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan stepped up from the lunar dust and into his Lunar Module, called Challenger, becoming the 12th and final person to walk on the moon. In less than four years, the Apollo moon visits were over; the only manned space exploration since has been shuttle flights to a few hundred miles above the earth.
In separate, rare interviews (Armstrong's is on Page 1 and Cernan's is on Page 2), these "lunar bookends" give firsthand glimpses into a significant window on history. In his answers, the late Armstrong, 80 at the time of the interview, understates the danger of his own mission while a more emotional Cernan, 76, recalls his landing like it was yesterday, but laments the failure of the U.S. to follow through with Apollo’s stellar promise for mankind. Interestingly, both men are Purdue alumni and once shared an office. | <urn:uuid:85ffad70-223e-4ff6-bbf5-242337fda0c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_400/490_neil-armstrong-and-gene-cernan-the-right-stuff.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955338 | 672 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The NFL Could Have Avoided a Super Bowl Blackout, Says Amazon Engineer
- 6:30 AM
The guy charged with keeping Amazon’s data centers up and running says that the NFL could have avoided its blackout black eye for the price of about two-and-a-half Super Bowl ads.
James Hamilton, an Amazon Distinguished Engineer, posted an analysis of Sunday’s blackout to his blog this week. According to him, the NFL could have bought a couple of bus-sized diesel generators, and hooked them up to an industrial-strength uninterruptible power supply system and then simply switched over to backup power when a breaker switched off power from one of the Superdome’s two main power feeds Sunday night.
Throw in a third generator, and the entire price tag would come to about $10 million, Hamilton estimated. He ought to know. He’s the guy who figures out how to keep Amazon’s dozens of data centers from going dark.
That $10 million is not much money compared to the $9.5 billion the NFL brought in last year.
And it could have come even cheaper. We called up a local Louisiana heavy-equipment rental company, who said that for $75,000, they’d let us have a set of three 2MW generators for a couple of weeks. Throw in a $2 million portable UPS system and the cost of switch gear, and other set-up costs and you’re looking at maybe $2.5 million, they reckoned.
The blackout cut power to about half of the New Orleans Superdome for 34 minutes Sunday evening. It led for some awkward television. But more than that, it seemed to change the dynamics of the game. The Ravens had been demolishing their opponents, the San Francisco 49ers. After the blackout, the 49ers came back and nearly stole the Super Bowl.
We still don’t really know what exactly snuffed the lights in Louisiana Sunday night, but the NFL’s response to it was caught on camera by a CBS crew doing a spot on the event. According to the video — and a subsequent account posted by the local power company and the Superdome’s management company — a sensor on the stadium’s power network picked up something abnormal on the network and tripped a circuit breaker, cutting off power from one of the stadium’s main lines, called the A feed. Crews then scrambled to tie in the rest of the stadium’s to the working feed line (that’s the “bus tie” the crew is talking about in the CBS video, below), and then they fired up the stadium’s gas-discharge lighting systems. Restarting these lights, alone, is a 15-minute process.
This isn’t the NFL’s first high-profile blackout. Two years ago, San Francisco’s Candlestick park went dark during a Monday Night Football game after a transformer failure.
There is an investigation underway, but Sunday’s game has already been dubbed the Blackout Bowl, and the league, the city, and the Superdome’s management company, SMG, have already been pretty thoroughly embarrassed.
The NFL couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. But given everything at stake, the league could probably take a tip or two from the the data center nerds. After all, Amazon’s web services platform is used by so many websites the whole world notices anytime the lights go out.
“I would expect that next year’s event will have backup power,” said Hamilton when reached Wednesday via e-mail. “The economics of it are just too obvious.” | <urn:uuid:be99d77a-bf3a-4f39-8dba-2916d75a0ab9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/02/superbowl/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953962 | 779 | 1.5 | 2 |
Strain and add that to a 2 gallon watering can and apply to everything outdoors. If you plan to use it indoors or in the greenhouse omit the garlic. This will fight red spider, white fly and aphids of all colors.
Soap is another big help in discouraging plant pests. My mother always used fels naptha soap which is still available on grocery store shelves in the laundry soap area. I use the shavings from our homemade soap. Soak ¼ C soap shavings in 1 quart of water. Mix thoroughly and store in a lidded jar or in a spray bottle. Shake before use. It is easy and effective especially for white fly and scale. Another old timer who tipped me off to using this soap spray for white fly said in his deep PA Dutch accent “It gums their wings together now– no fly, they die”. We have the largest citrus grove in
of boiling water (to cover) and infuse over night. Strain, pour into a sprinkling can, fill with water and use on infected plants. This is especially good against white flies, woolly aphids, squash bugs, potato bugs and beetles on radishes.
The effects of marigolds (Tagetes spp., not Calendula) upon nematodes a destructive invisible soil organism that causes great losses, was observed in the great bulb fields of Holland where, after one year of growing the spicy marigold (Tagetes erecta) the fields were found free of this dreadful pest for seven years. We rotate plantings of this colorful plant in different sections of the garden as a cheery preventative measure against nematodes. | <urn:uuid:49d5f3c0-17db-49fb-843b-09007de6badd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therosemaryhouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/quit-buggin-me.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913774 | 345 | 1.992188 | 2 |
A team of researchers from the Technical University of Valencia, the University Hospital La Fe, the University of Valencia and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona conducted in vitro studies of cytotoxicity (cellular affection) to assess the optimal concentration level of propolis in which this natural substance extracted from bee resin would offer the maximum protection against ionised radiation and not be toxic for blood cells.
According to the results of the research, this optimal concentration level is between 120-500 micrograms/mL. "Within this range can be found maximum protection against radiation-induced damage and the substance does not reveal neither a cytotoxicity nor a genotoxicity effect on non-irradiated human lymphocytes", says Alegria Montoro, head of the Laboratory of Biological Dosimetry at the University Hospital La Fe and lecturer of the Master in Radiological Protection in Radioactive and Nuclear Facilities offered by the UPV.
The conclusions of this study, which receives funding from the Spanish Nuclear Security Council (CSN), represent a starting point for future clinical applications using propolis. The results were published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology; in August a full revision of the study will be presented at the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society EMBC12, which will be held in San Diego, California.
In the study, the team of researchers used four genetic biomarkers, including the mytotic index and the cell proliferation kinetics, with the aim of determining whether propolis has cytotoxic effects on cells. "Using these biomarkers makes it possible to discover how a substance affects cell division: a substance which is cytotoxic and modifies the cell division stage would do so by accelerating, slowing down or even stopping the process, and all three effects are negative", explains Alegria Montoro.
The other two biomarkers used are the study of the possible induction of chromosome alterations in non-irradiated cultures at different concentration levels and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), a genetic biomarker of exposure to chemical agents.
"With this study we already know the in vitro experimental level, the concentration of propolis to be used to make it act as a radiation protector agent, without being cyto/genotoxic for normal cells. This is the first step, a starting point for future clinical assays. The final objective is to develop capsules containing the adequate dosis of propolis, but many more hours of research are needed before we are able to do this", Alegria Montoro adds.
UAB lecturer Francesc Barquinero, currently on leave to work at the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) headquarters in Fontenay aux Roses, France, participated in the original planning of the study and its design, as well as the interpretation of the results and posterior contextualisation of other studies published.
In 2008, researchers at the Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRyM) of the Technical University of Valencia and the University Hospital La Fe demonstrated that propolis can reduce by half the damage inflicted on chromosomes by ionised radiations, thus protecting the DNA from these effects. The new study is fundamental in discovering the range of concentrations in which this substance can have a toxic effect on non-irradiated cells.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:0750b997-c4cf-4d9a-bfb6-31fb6ba2f839> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/uadb-ivs070612.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902952 | 734 | 2.46875 | 2 |
chlorobenzeneArticle Free Pass
chlorobenzene, a colourless, mobile liquid with a penetrating almondlike odour; it belongs to the family of organic halogen compounds and is used as a solvent and starting material for the manufacture of other organic compounds.
Chlorobenzene was first prepared in 1851 by the reaction of phenol and phosphorus pentachloride; its formation by the chlorination of benzene was observed in 1868. It has been manufactured on a large industrial scale in Europe and the United States since the early 20th century by the reaction of benzene with chlorine in the presence of catalysts, usually the trichloride of a metal such as iron, antimony, or aluminum.
Chlorobenzene reacts readily with chlorine, nitric acid, or sulfuric acid, forming dichlorobenzenes, chloronitrobenzenes, or chlorobenzenesulfonic acids, respectively, and with chloral in the presence of sulfuric acid to form DDT, an insecticide. Under high pressure and at high temperature, chlorobenzene reacts with water or with ammonia, which displace the chlorine atom and form phenol or aniline.
Pure chlorobenzene freezes at -45.6° C (-50.1° F) and boils at 132° C (270° F); it is denser than water and practically insoluble in it, but it dissolves in a number of organic solvents.
What made you want to look up "chlorobenzene"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:797ef2de-1a01-41dd-ae3a-8d55355f0a98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/113669/chlorobenzene | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918041 | 330 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Central diabetes insipidus is a condition in which you do not have enough antidiuretic hormone. Having abnormally low amounts of this hormone makes your kidneys produce too much urine. There is a risk that you could become dehydrated unless you drink large amounts of water.
Antidiuretic hormone is often called ADH for short. It is made in an area of your brain known as the hypothalamus, and stored in another part of your brain called the pituitary gland. When your body needs to save fluids—perhaps when you are in a hot place and have been losing a lot of water through sweating—the pituitary gland releases ADH. The hormone travels in your bloodstream to your kidneys. It causes them to reduce the volume of urine they produce so that your body saves more water.
If you have central diabetes insipidus, you have a problem with ADH production, storage, or release. This means that your body is unable to reduce its urine output, even when you need to save water.
Another type of diabetes insipidus can occur if you have a kidney problem that prevents your kidneys from responding to ADH. This condition is known as nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Anything that damages the parts of your brain involved in making or storing ADH can cause central diabetes insipidus. This could include:
- brain surgery
- head injuries
- brain tumors
- blocked or swollen arteries in the brain
- certain rare genetic conditions
Some people have what is described as an idiopathic form of the disease. This means that it occurs without any obvious cause. In this form of the disease, it is thought that your body’s immune system mistakenly destroys the cells in your hypothalamus. It is not known why this happens.
Although it can occur at any age, the condition most often affects adults.
Symptoms of the disease can start suddenly or develop slowly. They may include:
You may need to have blood tests to check that you do not have diabetes mellitus (“regular” diabetes). In diabetes mellitus, you cannot control your blood sugar levels. Blood tests can also measure the levels of your blood salts, such as sodium and potassium, which can be raised in central diabetes insipidus.
Urine tests may be done to check for diabetes mellitus, and also to measure how concentrated or dilute your urine is.
You will probably have to take a water deprivation test. During the test, which lasts for several hours, you will not be allowed to drink any water. Your urine will be tested, and your weight checked, at regular intervals. Normally, when people limit their water intake, their urine output falls. However, if you have central diabetes insipidus, you may continue to produce large volumes of urine.
At the end of the test, the doctor may inject you with synthetic ADH. If you have central diabetes insipidus, your urine output should then fall. In people with the nephrogenic disease, their kidneys do not respond to the ADH and no change in urine output is seen. The test helps your doctor to decide which type of diabetes insipidus you have.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of your brain may be carried out to look for problems such as tumors. Your doctor might also order genetic tests if he or she suspects that an inherited disease is causing your diabetes insipidus.
The treatment you receive will vary according to the cause of your condition, its severity, and your general health.
If your condition is mild, you may be able to control it by monitoring how much fluid you drink. If you choose to do this, you may need regular tests to check the levels of salts in your blood.
If the condition is more severe, you may need to go on medication to help control your ADH levels.
Some people will need to take a synthetic version of ADH every day in order to replace the natural hormone, which is missing. This may be taken in the form of tablets, a nasal spray, or nasal drops.
If your condition is not severe, you may be able to take medication, which boosts your body’s own production of ADH.
With treatment, your outlook is likely to be positive. You may be advised to wear a special bracelet which can alert medical professionals to your condition in an emergency. | <urn:uuid:cc0f015a-9960-49bc-9ff8-c3257e354f80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes-insipidus-central | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955535 | 911 | 3.703125 | 4 |
"Court Seeks More Public Input on Nuclear Safety"
"A federal appeals court has ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must either allow more public participation in its decisions about fire safety at the Indian Point 3 nuclear reactor or to show why such input is impractical or inappropriate."
"A lawsuit brought by Richard L. Brodsky, a former New York State assemblyman and opponent of Indian Point, involves exemptions granted by the commission from compliance with some fire regulations. Like many reactors around the country, Indian Point installed a fire retardant called Hemyc around critical electric cables in the 1980s to meet a rule that the cables had to be safe from fire for one hour. But the material turned out to be nowhere near as fire-resistant as advertised.
In granting the exemption, the regulatory commission cut the amount of time that the retardant would have to be effective to a level that the plant could meet. Critics said this was unsafe, but the agency said it had re-analyzed the amount of time the substance actually needed to work to ensure safety."
SEE ALSO:Source: Green/NYT, 01/10/2013 | <urn:uuid:35df83b3-04b9-4169-a94e-5c004db2c0e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sej.org/headlines/court-seeks-more-public-input-nuclear-safety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965742 | 230 | 2 | 2 |
How Do I Know if I Have Mold?
Because they understand the health risks, thinking they might have mold in their home can be a frightening thing to many people. It would seem the solution is relatively easy, just get rid of it – problem solved. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.
First of all, discovering the presence of mold in your home isn’t as easy as you might think.
Yes, there are times when you can see it, but maybe even more often, there are times when it’s hiding, lurking in places you can’t or seldom look at like back in the dark corners of an under sink cabinet, or in the padding of your carpet or even in your drywall.
Mold is called a Filamentous fungus and is considered a parasite.
Mold can grow anywhere it has a food source (any organic materials), moisture or high humidity, and a little time (if conditions are just right, it doesn’t take much time at all for mold to begin growing).
What are the signs of unseen mold?
Mold smells…mold is considered a microbial volatile organic compound that releases gas while it’s growing which is where its odor comes from. When it is growing in enclosed spaces or in high concentration, the odor is much more noticeable.
If everytime you enter your home or a certain room in your house, you get a whiff of “musty”, chances are good that you have mold.
Keep in mind that in addition to the fact the smell develops slowly over a period of time, because you live in your home and you’re there a great deal of time, you could get used to the odor and not recognize it’s presence.
Health issues are another good indicator that you have mold.
Mold can make you sick…Although mold exposure doesn’t have the same effect on everyone, for some, it doesn’t take a great deal of exposure to cause health problems, especially for infants, the elderly and people who have respiratory or autoimmune disorders.
Some of the symptoms might be:
- Burning, watery or reddened eyes
- Nasal or throat irritations
- Sinus congestion
- Coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Chronic headaches
The difficulty using these symptoms as mold indicators is that they are so similar to cold and flu symptoms. If these symptoms persist and don’t go away it’s evidently not a cold.
If you have any indication of mold in your home, give us a call, don’t put your health at risk.
Mold Solutions is a full service mold solutions provider for the Seattle Puget Sound area, Bellevue, Everett, or Tacoma
We can remove the threats to your health and safety caused by mold. | <urn:uuid:c6b48b76-b736-41b6-90bf-d8fcb0f2d342> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thatmoldlady.com/do-i-have-mold/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947396 | 593 | 1.929688 | 2 |
How controlling your ‘inner elephant’ will make you a stellar executive
Vanderbilt management professor gives practical steps to fix leadership flaws
Senior Public Affairs Officer
(615) 322-NEWS | firstname.lastname@example.org
Aug 26, 2010
Whether you’re the CEO of a fortune 500 company or just trying to successfully manage yourself, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management professor Richard Daft says you must learn to control your “inner elephant.”
Daft found that everyone has two sides to his or her personality. The “executive” is objective, rational, and responsible and the “elephant” is emotion-driven, impulsive and habitual. Daft said that truly successful leaders must learn to recognize both sides and follow practical exercises to learn to control their inner elephant and ultimately change a weakness in their behavior.
“I find that virtually every leader has a bottleneck within them, one thing that if they could remove it—if they could be just a little less critical-minded toward other people or if they could be more focused and attentive— they could be a much better leader overall,” said Daft. “What this book does is help them identify that weak link and remove it, so they can be the best leader that they have the capacity to be.”
Daft, an expert in leadership, organizational performance, and change management, combined research in management, psychology, neuroscience and Eastern spirituality, along with years of teaching, executive coaching, and personal application, into a book called The Executive and the Elephant: A Leader’s Guide for Building Inner Excellence.
The six mental mistakes every leader makes:
1. Reacting too quickly
2. Inflexible thinking
3. Wanting control
4. Emotional avoidance and attraction
5. Exaggerating the future
6. Chasing the wrong gratifications
All of these are tied to a person’s emotional and impulsive side, or their elephant.
“The whole idea of the executive is to be objective and not to interpret things just based on your own likes and dislikes, your own hang-ups, your own issues. You have to be able to detach from that and be able to see the other point of view, the big picture, with some level of objectivity. When people can be in that place, they make wonderful decisions. It’s when they get anchored in their own neediness, their own greed, they get into trouble.”
Daft said that people can remove a lot of inner struggle by being in the moment and accepting their “elephant” but not let the elephant control them or their behavior.
Daft said that real change can only come from practice. He describes more than a dozen exercises that are grounded in practical application to help leaders control their elephant and change bad behaviors. He then gives examples of leaders who tried each individual approach and how it impacted each person. A few exercises include engaging and writing down your intentions; slow down your reaction time to think; and repeat a mantra.
“I’ve worked with a lot of executives who know what they should be doing, they’ve gotten feedback that they should do something differently or act differently with their employees, but they’re unable to execute the new behavior. I wrote this book not so much to tell them what to do, but how to change the behavior,” said Daft.
Daft has published 12 books, dozens of articles, and presented at more than 45 universities around the world. He also developed and managed the Center for Change Leadership, is a former associate dean at Owen, and is a fellow of the Academy of Management.
Daft is currently studying high performance mental models – which include cognitive models of high performing managers – and examining high performance management systems. He is also studying transactional versus transformational communication to engage people in organizational change.
“I know it sounds touchy feely, this idea of introspection and looking within, but it is so powerful. Know thyself. Know thyself has real power because once you know yourself, you can manage yourself. As long as you’re blind to your own bad habits, you’ve got no chance to be a strong leader,” said Daft.
Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management is ranked as a top institution by BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times and Forbes. For more information about Owen, visit www.owen.vanderbilt.edu. | <urn:uuid:2990c2d5-03ba-4b26-a13a-88c0d629c5ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/newsroom/press-releases/detail.cfm?customel_datapageid_42488=64507 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958381 | 951 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Use Local Live to Mark Family and Childhood Landmarks
Genealogy just got more interactive, at least in my own mind.
I’ve been using Microsoft Windows Local Live (powered by Virtual Earth) for a few months now to help in our search for a new home. This Web site gives you aerial photographs of the addresses you enter. We use this site to screen out any homes we don’t want to look at – we have a pet peeve with huge power lines in the backyard.
Depending on the area you’re looking at, you may be able to zoom waaaaay in. I’ve read about some people being able to read the advertisements on buildings in downtown Las Vegas.
But I never thought about using Local Live to mark special family landmarks until someone posted on alt-genealogy about it.
If you sign up with Local Live (free), you can save locations with virtual “pushpins.” For each pushpin, you can add text, graphics, or a link to a Web site. You can save all of this information to what Local Live calls a “collection.” But please note: This is a beta version and anything you save here could get lost into the black hole of cyberspace. Please don’t enter any data you’d be devastated to lose.
I entered the address of one of my childhood homes in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. I was pleased to see that Local Live labeled many items, such as the nearby Pinetree Pond where we kids used to catch tadpoles. And it was fun to trace the path I walked to school. I entered the name of my elementary school and a red pushpin marked it. When I hovered over the pushpin, I could see the label “Hillside Elementary School, Cottage Grove, Minnesota.” I could also see the commands to edit the pushpin notes, delete it, add URLs, and so forth. This is a fun place to play!
Another note: You don’t need to log in just to stop by this Web site and fool around. You’ll only need to log in if you want to save your pushpin locations.
Take a break and have fun with this! | <urn:uuid:b28a5839-e893-4714-8ec0-54ba96bf1756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://genealogy-journey.blogspot.com/2006/05/use-local-live-to-mark-family-and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944851 | 469 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Helene Kröller-Müller began collecting art in around 1905. The idea arose when she and her daughter enrolled in a course in art appreciation that was taught by H.P. Bremmer, an educator in the arts. Inspired by his lessons, she began collecting art herself. In 1907 she made her first purchase: ‘Train in Landscape’, by Paul Gabriel.
By this time Bremmer was visiting her at home every week and even began serving as her personal advisor. In the company of the couple, but also frequently at their orders, he visited national and international auction houses, studios and art dealers, searching for work that suited the collection.
Helene Kröller-Müller’s collection grew rapidly. After a few years she was the owner of the largest private Van Gogh collection in the world (not counting that of the Van Gogh family itself). During her lifetime, Helene Kröller-Müller purchased approximately 11,500 art objects.
Besides H.P. Bremmer, the architect Henry van de Velde also served as an advisor to the Kröllers. It was he who alerted Helene Kröller-Müller of the opportunity to buy the work ‘Le Chahut’ by Georges Seurat in 1922. It was her last major purchase.
Wm. H. Müller & Co., the Kröller’s firm, was hard hit by the economic recession. The situation became so dire that both the country estate on the Hoge Veluwe and the art collection were threatened. To keep the collection together, Helene Kröller-Müller presented it to the Dutch state in 1935 on the condition that an appropriate museum be built to house it. | <urn:uuid:8cb347d5-8ddf-46e2-8860-3afd96aa59de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kmm.nl/page/7/De-collectie?lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978721 | 368 | 2.75 | 3 |
As many of you know, this is Catholic Schools Week
here in the States, and observances are abounding in more places than they aren't.
It's an ever-needed reminder that the daily mission of Catholic education keeps on in our midst thanks to the almost 200,000 teachers, overwhelmingly layfolk, who serve in an untold number of schools and institutes at all levels.
Not for nothing has the Pope's voice on these shores termed
them "the greatest artists" we've got. And whether their venue is sectarian or public, the work of teaching too often exacts a just-as-great level of sacrifice on the part of those who, day after day, "sculpt the best of [them]selves, of who you are and what you know, not in a piece of marble, but in living, breathing human beings, who are the glory of God."
Especially in these days of rising costs, falling enrollments -- and, ergo, even greater sacrifices -- theirs is just another of the many vocations in the life of the church, and its life in the world, for which we don't always give sufficient thanks, encouragement and support.
Along these lines, one nearby diocese's Catholic educators were joined by hundreds of others last night in a call
for the restoration
of their union, which its central administration recently announced it would no longer recognize.
Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers President Michael Milz stood in the flatbed of a red pickup truck and spoke to the throng, many holding candles or signs with slogans including, “Practice what you preach or we won’t teach.”
Milz recounted the strong support the Catholic Church and the local diocese have shown for unionized labor in the past, holding up a picture of former Bishop Michal Hoban, President Theodore Roosevelt and United Mine Workers President John Mitchell together on the steps of Holy Savior Church in Wilkes-Barre during the miners’ struggle for better wages and working conditions.
“Bishop Hoban was not there for window dressing,” Milz said. “It was an acknowledgment that the Church in Scranton had supported the cause of the miners. And the cause for which they were fighting was nothing less than human dignity.”
Milz noted Mitchell was not born Catholic but converted after the church backed the union cause, ultimately being buried in the nearby St. Peter’s Cathedral cemetery.
“I’m sure the lights on his grave are shining just a little brighter tonight because we are here.”
UMW representative Ken Klinkel said about 20 from his union came to show support because “it’s the right thing to do.” Klinkel called the diocese’s rejection of the union “unjust.”
He noted there were representatives from the Teamsters, pipefitters, electricians, machinists and Scranton Fire Department unions....
The union first asked the diocese for recognition as sole bargaining agent for teachers under the new system when it was announced in November 2006 but where told such recognition would have to come from the regional boards.
When the boards were formed in October 2007, the union sought recognition from three of them, including the one overseeing Luzerne County schools, but were told to wait until the boards organized and settled other pressing issues. In December, the union asked those three boards for a firm answer by Jan. 10. That answer came through an article in the Jan. 24 edition of the Catholic Light, the diocesan newspaper.
That article said the three boards had each adopted a new “employee relations program” and rejected the union’s request to represent teachers. The union has insisted this runs counter to Catholic teachings dating back to 1891 when Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical called “Rerum Novarum,” which supported organized labor.
After his speech, Milz said the rejection was “very troubling” and promised the union will not give up its effort to reverse it.
“They have to change their decision because they can’t change the teachings of the church,” Milz said.
Among the many students in the large crowd, Joel, Tara and Paul Ignatovich stood on the curb before the rally holding candles and smiling. Tara, a senior at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, said their mother is a band instructor at the school, and the musical talent has been passed on. She plays the French horn while her brothers – twins in 10th grade – play trombone and trumpet.
“The church’s decision doesn’t make sense,” Tara said. “We (our teachers) should have the same rights as other teachers.”
Behind her, an adult shouted out: “United we bargain, divided we beg.”
In the six days since the diocese announced the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers will not be recognized as a collective bargaining unit, teachers have expressed their discontent and have vowed to keep fighting for the union.
“What’s at stake here is really the stability of the schools,” said Michael Milz, president of the teachers association. “The quality of Catholic education is going to slip.”
Instead of recognizing the union, the diocese will implement an employee relations program composed of employee councils and wage and benefit, health care and grievance committees.
In the year since the diocese reorganized its school system, Mr. Milz said teacher benefits have been cut and the workload and workday have increased. And although all school employees received a 3-percent pay increase, it went to insurance costs, he said.
The schools’ clerical workers have also seen an increase in their workday. In the summer, instead of working half-days like the employees had in previous years, they will work a full day with no pay increase, Mr. Milz said.
In a statement released Tuesday, the diocese said it was committed to “fair and just treatment of all its employees,” and that the employee relations program will fulfill the commitment.
“Implementation of this program is proceeding, and there will be no change by the diocese in this matter,” according to the statement. “The provision of affordable Catholic education continues to be the diocesan goal in which all are called to cooperate.”
For the record, as many of you already know, your narrator isn't a product of Catholic education -- like this work, I'm a very grateful, very proud "public." But many of my own teachers -- the folks responsible for whatever's good in me -- came from its embrace, and the years have blessed me with knowing so many great servants of the work, particularly those who, amid the difficulties of the inner-city, bring life and hope in the places where they're needed most.
Whether private, public, parochial or whatever else, to all our teachers, no words could ever say enough thanks...Danny,
look out for 'em.
PHOTO: Pete G. Wilcox/The Times-Leader-30- | <urn:uuid:0cacce84-efeb-40d5-8b34-6448d26d3fa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976271 | 1,505 | 1.6875 | 2 |
|By PR Newswire||
|September 26, 2012 07:16 PM EDT||
NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Rick Smolan, co-creator of the groundbreaking "Day in the Life" series and other globally crowdsourced projects, today launched a free mobile app enabling people to share and compare their lives for seven days (September 26-October 2) using the sensors in their phones and by responding to thought-provoking questions with others around the globe about their dreams, interests and views on family, sleep, trust, sex and luck. The Android version is currently available and the iOS version will launch later this week.
The app represents the launch event of The Human Face of Big Data, a series of initiatives aimed at inspiring a global conversation about humanity's new ability to collect, analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data in real time.
On October 2, Smolan and team are hosting a series of invitation-only media events in London, Singapore and New York, where leading Big Data experts will interpret and visualize seven days' worth of information streaming in from participants using the mobile app all over the world. In addition, leading data entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators will share examples of their work in an interactive "Big Data Lab." A live webcast will allow people around the world to watch the briefings as the day unfolds.
"Big Data is beginning to affect every aspect of our existence," said Smolan. "Everyone carrying a smartphone has become a human sensor, and this new ability to sense and measure the world in real time is something our planet has never seen before. From curing diseases to conserving precious resources such as water and energy, Big Data may be the tool we need to address many of the most pressing issues of our time."
Beginning today through October 2, The Human Face of Big Data mobile app invites people to share ideas and compare their responses with others around the world. People can map their daily path, share the objects and rituals that bring them luck, get a glimpse into the one special thing that others want to experience during their lifetime and discover hidden secrets about the world in which they live. The app is available in eight languages: English, Mandarin (simplified), Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Korean and Russian.
The Three Main Elements of The Human Face of Big Data App:
- Passive data: Information that your phone gathers in the course of a day. For instance, how far you travel and your average speed, or what time of day you are most active.
- Questions and real-time results: Topics include Me and Myself; Family; Trust and Safety; Sleep and Dreams; and Sex and Dating. People can see how their answers compare to others around the world and sort answers by age, gender and general location.
- Activities: Submit photos, map your daily travel and find your "Data Doppelganger." App activities include:
- Lucky Me: Asks people to share their "lucky rituals"—the things they do before a sports event, test, company pitch or other important event to turn the odds in their favor. They can then use filters to compare their own lucky rituals with others around the world.
- Map My World: Maps people's daily travel patterns, which can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, including total distance, average speed and most active time of day.
- Data Doppelganger: Gives people the opportunity to find their Data Doppelganger—a combination of their own face (if they choose to upload a photo) and that of the user who is their closest data match. People will also be able to see the age, location, gender, percentage of questions answered, passive data stats and completed activities of themselves and their doppelganger.
- Before I Die: In an activity based on Candy Chang's thought-provoking interactive project and upcoming book, Before I Die, people of all ages are invited to share the one thing they dream of doing during their lifetime. Participants will be able to compare their own hopes and dreams to those of others around the world.
At the end of the project, the anonymized data will be available to researchers, data scientists and educators to study as a data snapshot of a week in the life of humanity in 2012.
The Human Face of Big Data project is editorially independent and is made possible through the support of EMC Corporation, which serves as the primary sponsor. Supporting sponsorship comes from Cisco, FedEx, VMware, Tableau and Originate.
About The Human Face of Big Data
The Human Face of Big Data, produced by Against All Odds Productions, is a globally crowdsourced media project focusing on humanity's new ability to collect, analyze, triangulate and visualize vast amounts of data in real time. Against All Odds, described by Fortune magazine as "one of the 25 coolest companies in America," specializes in the design and execution of large-scale global projects that combine compelling storytelling with state-of-the-art technology. The company's projects have been featured on the covers of numerous magazines including Fortune, Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report.
Privacy and The Human Face of Big Data App
SOURCE Against All Odds Productions | <urn:uuid:19b5c91e-692d-4dc9-9275-c027824c08bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sys-con.com/node/2378411 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942568 | 1,076 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The Student Movement
|Publisher||Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada|
|Publication Date||1 August 1997|
|Cite as||Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, The Student Movement, 1 August 1997, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8654.html [accessed 25 May 2013]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
Considered one of the giant powers of black Africa due to its economic and human resources and its geographic and strategic position, Zaire is experiencing, paradoxically, economic and social deterioration. President Mobutu has officially ruled Zaire since November 1965, following a military coup d'état of which he was the prime instigator. The political system, which rests on a single party founded in 1970, the Mouvement populaire de la révolution (MPR) (Popular Movement for the Revolution), is under the influence of founding President Mobutu, who has proclaimed, "...there is no wiser interpreter than myself to grasp the true scope of the doctrine which is Mobutism, in other words, my ideas, my teaching and my action" (Durieux 1980, 712).
Since the creation of the MPR, human rights observers (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Amnesty International, etc.) have frequently reported the corruption of Zaire's political regime, and have denounced Mobutu's arbitrary powers and the many executions of people considered to be rebels. Over the last 25 years of Mobutism, thousands of citizens have been killed or subjected to torture, ill-treatment and prolonged arbitrary detention (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 1; Amnesty International Sept. 1990, 1). The totalitarian regime is maintained and the surveillance of the populace continued through significant corruption in the country's politics (Documentation-Réfugiés 9-18 July 1988).
As early as 1969 and 1971, the apparent stability of the government was shaken by student uprisings against Mobutism. On 4 June 1969, at a student demonstration organized under the aegis of the Union générale des étudiants congolais (UGEC) (General Union of Congolese Students), the army opened fire on protesters, killing tens of students. The days that followed were marked by mass arrests of students, the closing of several university establishments and the banning of student associations (Benchenane 1984, 181).
2. STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS AND THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE
Given the continual repression and the hardening of a political regime that does not accept opposition, student agitation became, along with the women's movement and some political parties, a means of resistance to Mobutu's absolute rule. Although student riots were triggered by economic problems and by the increase in poverty linked to the elite's appropriation of wealth, students' grievances had considerable political impact (Le Monde Diplomatique July 1990). Students attracted public sympathy and mobilized discontented masses. Faced with this threat, President Mobutu had to react by promising partial democratization of public life.
2.1 The February 1989 Demonstrations
Major student riots occurred in Kinshasa in February 1989. They were violently repressed by security forces, and at least eight students were killed (Libération 1 Mar. 1989, 27). The students were protesting against the scarce means of transportation in Kinshasa and the 80% increase in its cost, as well as the inadequacy of bursaries (FBIS-AFR-89-030 15 Feb. 1989; FBIS-AFR-89-031 16 Feb. 1989). In response to these riots, the government of Zaire decided to close Kinshasa University, the Advanced Medical Institute, the Health Department, the National Institute of Education and the Institute of Applied Technology (FBIS-AFR-89-031 16 Feb. 1989; Gèze, Francois et al. 1989, 284).
In February 1989 in Lubumbashi, students organized demonstrations following the discovery of the body of a student not far from a military camp. Security forces intervened by firing into the crowd of protesters, wounding or killing many (Le Monde 2 Mar. 1989). Government authorities reported only one death (Documentation-Réfugiés 24 Feb.-5 Mar. 1989, 6; FBIS-AFR-89-043 7 Mar. 1989).
Following the demonstrations in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, many arrests were made in student circles. In the capital alone, between 100 and 300 people were arrested (Documentation-Réfugiés 6-15 Mar. 1989). Not until mid-March, a month after the riots, were the universities and educational institutions reopened (FBIS-AFR-89-052 20 Mar. 1989; FBIS-AFR-89-055 23 Mar. 1989).
2.2 The May 1990 Demonstrations
Following the February 1989 riots, the economic and social situation deteriorated further, as illustrated by the many strikes held by various groups including public servants and teachers. Early in 1990, President Mobutu allowed different groups to express themselves by initiating a series of public consultations (Jeune Afrique Mar. 1990, 19). The public, often characterized as apathetic or apolitical, spoke out in over 500 briefs documenting its grievances, its difficulties and its aspirations (Le Monde Diplomatique July 1990). It is noteworthy that, in a speech on 24 April 1990 proclaiming recognition of a multiparty system, "Marshal Mobutu aroused hopes. His speech on 3 May 1990 dashed them" (Commission Justice et Paix 1990, 5). In the latter speech, delivered to the National Assembly, the President said that no other political party had yet been authorized. Four days before 3 May 1990, police intervened at a political meeting of the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS) (Union for Democracy and Social Progress), even though the party had in theory been legal since 24 April 1990. At least two people died in the confrontations (The New York Times 2 May 1990).
For three days, from 9 to 12 May 1990, the university campus of Lubumbashi (the country's second largest city) was the scene of violent clashes between students and security forces. When Lubumbashi students tried to organize a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with their fellow students in Kinshasa, they discovered that three of their Ngbandi comrades (members of President Mobutu's tribe) were in fact informers who gave the police the names of opponents of his regime (Libération 23 May 1990; Commission Justice et Paix 1990, 47). "They [were] beaten, thrown into a hole, stoned and burned until the Civil Guard came to free them" (Commission Justice et Paix 1990, 49). The three informers then confessed to various deeds, among them their participation in the abduction and assassination of 23 students considered to be opponents of the regime (Ibid., 146).
During the nights of 11 and 12 May 1990, students gathered around a fire after electricity to the campus was cut off and after the campus itself was surrounded by security forces. According to countless witnesses, an armed commando of the Presidential Special Division or Brigade (DSP or BSP, composed mainly of Ngbandis) burst onto the campus at about 11 p.m. to avenge their Ngbandi "brothers" who had been lynched some days earlier (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 84-85; Commission Justice et Paix 1990, 67-69). DSP members executed many students with knives, disembowelling some with daggers, throwing others from upper-storey windows or garrotting those who tried to escape. The students who were the chief targets of these reprisals came mainly from the regions of the two Kasais, Kivu, Bandundu and lower Zaire. Those from Équateur were spared because they could respond to the password "lititi mboka" (Ibid.).
The precise number of victims of this massacre will probably remain unknown, as "the bodies of the massacred students were taken away to an unknown place" (Commission Justice et Paix 1990, 70). The Belgian daily Le Soir estimates that 50 students were killed (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 85). The Zairian newspaper La Semaine sets the number of victims at 23 (Ibid., 90). According to one survivor, the number of victims is over 100 (Ibid.). Government authorities, however, assert that only one person was killed in the May confrontations in Lubumbashi, while Amnesty International suggests a figure between 50 and 150 (The New York Times 19 June 1990, 22; Documentation-Réfugiés 12-21 July 1990, 6).
Following these events, many students and teachers sought refuge in Zambia (The New York Times 19 June 1990, 22).
3. RISKS OF RETURN
The Mobutu regime does not tolerate any form of dissent. In the past the regime has repeatedly harassed political opponents who have returned to the country. Some of them have been placed under house arrest, imprisoned for long periods or subjected to torture and ill-treatment (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 119-20). Some opponents who had found refuge in neighbouring countries (Congo, Burundi and Uganda) have even been kidnapped by Zairian security forces and imprisoned in Zaire (Ibid.).
In 1981, an exiled professor from Zaire who had criticized the Mobutu regime openly, was arrested as soon as he returned to the country (Critique 1989 1990, 263). Fifty-seven Zairian refugees who were turned back by Switzerland in November 1985 found officials waiting for them at Kinshasa Airport to transport them to prison, where some died of torture (New African Jan. 1986). In October 1987, Zairian refugees living in the Congo were arrested and extradited to Zaire, where they were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, one of them for twenty years (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 120; Amnesty International 1990, 10). A Zairian dissident who had obtained refugee status in France and was visiting Burundi was abducted in April 1989 by Burundi's security forces and handed over to Zairian authorities (Ibid.; Documentation-Réfugiés 12-21 Oct. 1989, 2). He was ill-treated and detained in Zaire until the famous speech of 24 April 1990. In January 1990, Zairian refugees living in Belgium were arrested as they passed through Kampala, Uganda; they were transferred in April 1990 to prisons in Zaire, where they are still being held (Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights 1990, 120).
4. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
In April 1990, under the pressure of recent developments, President Mobutu was compelled to announce the end of the one-party state system and the establishment of the "Third Republic" with a multiparty system. The student demonstrations held only a few days after the 24 April speech showed that democracy is still far from Zaire's political horizon. Even today, as during the past twenty years, Mobutu's regime represses and oppresses women, students and political opposition parties.
There is a striking contrast between President Mobutu's speeches about democratization and the continuing repressive measures, such as the Lubumbashi massacre. This contrast has not escaped Mobutu's traditional ally, the United States, which recently suspended its aid to Zaire (The Washington Post 18 Sept. 1990; The New York Times 4 Nov. 1990, 21). The political reforms proposed by the President seek to "give pledges to Western allies," but they are nothing but a smokescreen (Le Monde Diplomatique July 1990).
As long as the existing government represses the people of Zaire and genuine reform is not undertaken, the possibilities for dissidents living abroad to return will remain slim.
5. APPENDIX: MAP
Amnesty International. September 1990. (AI Index: AFR 62/10/90) The Republic of Zaire: Outside the Law - Security Force Repression of Government Opponents, 1988-1990. London.
Benchenane, Mustapha. 1984. Les régimes militaires africains. Paris: Publisud.
Commission Justice et Paix. 1990. Zaïre : que s'est-il passé au campus de Lubumbashi? Brussels. (Testimonies of and official documents on the events of 10-12 May 1990)
Documentation-Réfugiés [Paris]. 9-18 July 1988. "Zaïre."
Documentation-Réfugiés. 24 February - 5 March 1989, p. 6.
Documentation-Réfugiés. 6-15 March 1989.
Documentation-Réfugiés. 12-21 October 1989.
Documentation-Réfugiés. 12-21 July 1990.
Durieux, A. April- June 1980. "Réforme de la constitution de 1978 du Zaïre" in Revue juridique et politique, indépendance et coopération. Paris.
FBIS-AFR-89-030. 15 February 1989. "Zaire: Students Demonstrate over Transport Costs" in Agence France Press [Paris], 14 February 1989.
FBIS-AFR-89-031. 16 February 1989. "Government Closes Education Institutions" in Agence France Presse [Paris], 15 February 1989.
FBIS-AFR-89-031. 16 February 1989. "Zaire: Students Demonstrate over Transport" in Service Domestique [Paris], 15 February 1989.
FBIS-AFR-89-043. 7 March 1989. "Zaire" in Agence France Presse [Paris], 4 March 1989.
FBIS-AFR-89-052. 20 March 1989. "Zaire: Mobutu To Pardon Students; Grants Released" in Agence France Press [Paris], 18 March 1989.
FBIS-AFR-89-055. 23 March 1989. "Zaire: Kinshasa Universities Reopen 22 March" in PANA [Dakar, in French], 22 March 1989.
Gèze, Francois et al. 1989. L'état du monde 1989-1990. Deval, H. "Zaïre." Paris and Montreal: La Découverte et Boréal.
Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. 1990. Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989. New York.
Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. 1990. Zaire : Repression as Policy. New York.
Jeune Afrique [Paris]. March 1990. "Zaïre", p. 19.
Libération [Paris]. 1 March 1989. "Violentes manifestations au Zaïre."
Libération. 23 May 1990. "Massacre d'étudiants à Lubumbashi."
Le Monde Diplomatique [Paris]. July 1990. Braeckman, Colette. "Multipartisme et répression au Zaïre."
Le Monde [Paris]. 2 March 1989. "Zaïre: Brutale répression de manifestations étudiantes."
New African [London]. January 1986. "Swiss Expel 57 Zaireans."
The New York Times. 2 May 1990. "Zaire."
The New York Times. 19 June 1990. "Stop Zaire Aid, Pending Violence Inquiry."
The New York Times. 4 November 1990. Krausse, Clifford. "U.S. Cuts Aid to Zaire, Setting Off a Policy Debate."
The Washington Post. 18 September 1990. Makau wa Mutua. "Zaire Doesn't Deserve That Aid."
REFQUEST (Version Francaise)
search index help about KIMS | <urn:uuid:086180f7-1f35-4633-8f30-a6ab0d772b07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=IRBC&type=COUNTRYREP&coi=COD&rid=&docid=3ae6a8654&skip=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932099 | 3,407 | 2.1875 | 2 |
How is abnormal uterine bleeding treated?
There are several treatment options for abnormal bleeding, depending on the cause of your bleeding, your age and whether you want to get pregnant in the future. Your doctor will help you decide which treatment is right for you. Or, if your doctor decides that a hormone imbalance is causing your abnormal bleeding, you and your doctor may decide to wait and see if the bleeding improves on its own. Some treatment options include the following:
Birth control pills. Birth control pills contain hormones that can stop the lining of your uterus from getting too thick. They can also help keep your menstrual cycle regular and reduce cramping. Some types of birth control pills, especially the progestin-only pill (also called the “mini-pill”) can actually cause abnormal bleeding for some women. Let your doctor know if the pill you’re taking doesn’t control your abnormal bleeding.
Intrauterine device (IUD). If birth control pills don’t control your bleeding, your doctor may suggest an IUD. An IUD is a small, plastic device that your doctor inserts into your uterus through your vagina to prevent pregnancy. One type of IUD releases hormones, and this type can significantly reduce abnormal bleeding. Like birth control pills, sometimes IUDs can actually cause abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor if this happens to you.
A D&C, or dilatation and curettage, is a procedure in which the opening of your cervix is stretched just enough so a surgical tool can be put into your uterus. The tool is used to scrape away the lining of your uterus. The removed lining is checked in a lab for abnormal tissue. A D&C is done under general anesthesia (while you're in a sleep-like state).
If you're having heavy bleeding, a D&C may be done both to find out the problem and to treat the bleeding. The D&C itself often makes heavy bleeding stop. Your doctor will decide if this procedure is necessary.
Hysterectomy. This type of surgery removes the uterus. If you have a hysterectomy, you won’t have any more periods and you won’t be able to get pregnant. Hysterectomy is major surgery that requires general anesthesia and a hospital stay. It may require a long recovery period. Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of hysterectomy.
Endometrial ablation is a surgical procedure that destroys the lining of the uterus. Unlike a hysterectomy, it does not remove the uterus. Endometrial ablation may stop all menstrual bleeding in some women. However, some women still have light menstrual bleeding or spotting after endometrial ablation. A few women have regular menstrual periods after the procedure. Women who have endometrial ablation still need to use some form of birth control even though, in most cases, pregnancy is not likely after the procedure.
Your doctor can do endometrial ablation in several different ways. Newer endometrial ablation techniques do not require general anesthesia or a hospital stay. The recovery time after this procedure is shorter than recovery time after a hysterectomy.
Written by familydoctor.org editorial staff | <urn:uuid:e94ef067-7639-4805-8b96-460c052f8b9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/abnormal-uterine-bleeding/treatment.printerview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924883 | 671 | 2 | 2 |
There is an exciting and varied range of events that take place in Russia each year. Russia is home to many of the world’s finest ballet companies who perform at the legendary Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the acclaimed Mariinsky Theatre in St Petes. Winning the bid to host the 2018 Fifa Football World Cup, has placed Russia centre stage on the world’s sporting calendar. Whilst the World Cup is still a long way off, there is plenty to keep sport fans entertained over the coming year; see Moscow’s great city football rivals Spartak and CSKA come head to head in the 80,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium or in St Petersburg watch the SKA hockey team play their high octane games in the 13,000 capacity Ice Palace, the season runs from September to February. For tennis enthusiasts October is the month to visit Russia, when the world’s top seeded players meet on the courts for the exciting St Petersburg Open and the Kremlin Cup!
Russians are well known for enjoying a tipple and there are plenty of entertaining events centred around drinking; St Petersburg’s Beer Festival in June/July is one of the country’s most lively street festivals and we will be offering the opportunity to join in the celebrations. Whilst in Moscow you can raise your glass at the Russian Wine Festival in November, or toast the Irish, with Guinness at the St Patricks Day celebrations in March. Or for music lovers Russia offers several outdoor and indoor music festivals throughout the year such as the wonderful Festival of French Jazz in April.
Our events calendar below details many of the exciting cultural, sporting and special events coming up in 2011. Most of these events are annual. These can be attended independently during your free time, before or after your tour. The date and details of each event are subject to change. For further information please visit the website of the particular event you are interested in or contact us.
Xmas only comes once a year...unless you’re Russian! Prior to 1918, Russia used the Julian calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Orthodox Xmas celebrations last for 6 days and begin on Xmas Eve.
Russians also celebrate New Years Eve twice and who are we to argue! The 14th Jan is now referred to as the ‘Old New Year’. Sample Moscow’s hedonistic nightlife and join in the celebrations!
Make the most of Moscow’s sub-zero temperatures and visit the incredible exhibition of ice sculptures during the two-month festival at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.
If you're a fan of the underwater world, visit Moscow's international diving festival at Gostiny Dvor. Showcasing a range of diving equipment and an excellent underwater film and photography exhibition.
Wreaths are laid at Moscow’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to commemorate Russia’s Defenders of the Motherland Day and the monument is surrounded with a spectacular carpet of flowers.
This colourful festival dates back to Pagan times. Join in the carnival style celebrations around StPetes and Moscow, with live music, dancing, sleigh rides, fireworks and lots of tasty blini’s (pancakes)!
This patron saint holds worldwide appeal and in Russia it’s seen as a day of Russian-Irish friendship.Join in the Irish celebrations in the capital, with a city centre parade and pints of Guinness galore!
See Russia’s largest cities battle it out on the football pitch at St Pete’s atmospheric Petrovsky Stadium or Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Watch Russia’s most prestigious drama, ballet, opera and musical theatre, at various venues around Moscow.
Experience a taste of Paris in the capital. The glamorous 16 Tons Club, presents a host of jazz musicians.
Calling all budding photographers. The world’s leading manufacturers exhibit in Moscow’s Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre, with a photographic exhibition and hundreds of gadgets.
Watch leading ballet companies perform in St Petes during one of the most significant events in the ballet season.
Spend a night at the museum! The most respectable museums and art galleries stay open until the early hours for this wonderful event which is accompanied by special exhibitions, street art and performances.
Commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in WWII. See the military parade, ceremonies and fireworks in Red Square.
Enjoy a night at the Mariinsky Theatre which hosts a series of opera, ballet and classical music concerts, and an exciting Battle of the Bands.
The official birthday of St. Petes - celebrated in style with special events, parties and fireworks around Palace Square. Join the party!
Watch musicians from around the world play one off concerts at the exquisite palaces of the Tsars.
Join 7000 revellers in Troparevo Park to enjoy a day of music and dancing at Moscow’s best folk festival.
St Petes best street festival. Watch the Nevsky prospekt parade and fireworks, whilst drinking lots of beer! On The Go will be offering an optional Beer Festival bolt-on, enabling you to attend this lively event at the start of your tour. Further details to follow, once the Beer Festival date has been confirmed.
Watch the acclaimed Moscow City Ballet and Russian National Ballet perform in the capital. Performances usually take place in the old Russian National Theatre opposite Red Square.
Moscow and St Petes celebrate the ancient traditions of this popular pagan holiday, with unusual water and fire games.
Attend Moscow’s largest and most exciting outdoor festival at the Tsar’s former estate of Kolomenskoe. International and local bands entertain crowds of up to 50,000.
Hear choirs from around the world sing in some of the city’s most magnificent venues, including the Kazan Cathedral.
Based in Moscow’s Hermitage Gardens, this folklore festival attracts dancers and musicians from all over Europe.
Watch the ships come sailing in! Hundreds of yachts sail from Vyborg to St Petersburg during this exciting regatta.
Celebrate Moscow’s birthday! Enjoy festivities, street parties and a free concert on Tverskaia Ulitsa street.
Watch St Pete’s ice hockey team play in the Continental Hockey League at the 13,000 capacity Ice Palace.
Visit the largest and most influential contemporary art fair in Russia, covering every aspect of modern art. 40 international galleries display pieces at the Central House of Artists.
If you can handle your alcohol head to Mekhana Bansko Bulgarian Restaurant for their 3 day celebration of absinthe!
See the world’s best male tennis players battle it out for the title at this exciting sporting event.
Russia’s answer to Wimbledon! Get tickets for Russia’s premier tennis event, held at the Olympic Stadium. Not to be missed!
Commemorating the historic communist revolution in the early 20th century, watch the colourful parade and events around Red Square.
Fancy a tipple? The Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre showcases wines from around the world. The event includes master classes, professional presentations and plenty of wine tasting!
Celebrating the arts, from painting to photography and music. Attend a month of special exhibitions and performances across Moscow.
Get your skates on and enjoy the music as you hit the ice skating rinks at Moscow’s Gorky Park.
Get in the festive spirit with Yuletide concerts at Moscow’s mighty Kremlin.
Russian Winter Festival: Moscow & St Petersburg - Mid Dec to Early Jan
Celebrate the Russian Winter Festival with troika rides (sleighs), folk music and games galore.
The Russian’s now how to celebrate New Year, with impromptu street parties, fireworks and revelling until dawn. See in the New Year in Red Square! | <urn:uuid:5c36b0bf-a6c1-4159-9c79-a76d83b84395> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onthegotours.com/Russia/Special-Events-Calendar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917383 | 1,633 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Yoram Weiss and colleagues from the Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital in Jerusalem, did a retrospective review of the hospital's response to the 33 multiple-casualty terror incidents that occurred in Jerusalem between October 2000 and September 2004. Following the incidents, 541 victims were admitted to the emergency department of the Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital. Out of these, 101 patients were transferred to Intensive Care Units (ICU's).
Weiss et al. recommend, first of all, the close follow-up of all severely injured patients from admission to the emergency department through to radiology and surgery a concept they call 'forward deployment'. They also advise the set up of a team of senior staff from all departments, who have ultimate responsibility during the whole emergency operation what they call the 'chain of command'. A senior surgeon directs the injured to the appropriate area of the emergency department, and other senior surgeons accompanied by anaesthesiologists with intensive care training guide the teams in each area. These intensive care professionals follow the most severely injured patients and assume care of them in the ICU.
In addition to these two main guidelines, the authors give details on the way they manage their staff and resources in the hospital before and during events. For example, they make sure that upon warning of a terror attack the emergency department is cleared out, as it is the
Contact: Juliette Savin | <urn:uuid:6f09ee1a-1620-4c72-83a8-1fb34fb2575d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-3/Israeli-critical-care-specialists-advise-on-how-to-deal-with-victims-of-terrorist-attacks-9224-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95726 | 279 | 1.773438 | 2 |
30.05.2009Interview with Corry GuttstadtTurkey, the Jews and the HolocaustTurkologist Corry Guttstadt has published a comprehensive study of the behaviour of the Turkish government towards its Jewish citizens during the Holocaust. In doing so, she has investigated a chapter of twentieth-century history that has thus far been all but neglected by international Holocaust research. Sonja Galler spoke to her about her findings
Corry Guttstadt: "Over the course of many centuries, the Ottoman Empire was an immigration destination for Jews fleeing the Reconquista in Spain and pogroms in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, to portray the Ottoman Empire as a 'multicultural paradise' is absurd and ahistorical." Much is made of the fact that there are approximately 20,000 Jews in Turkey today, a figure that is frequently held up as evidence of the country's tolerant attitude towards its Jewish minority. It is often claimed that this success story began when persecuted Sephardic Jews found refuge in the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of the modern Turkish state …
Corry Guttstadt: Well, there are currently over 20,000 Jews in Iran too. A number alone is not necessarily a reliable indication of whether somewhere is safe or free from anti-Semitism. As far as Turkey is concerned, it is important to emphasise that only 20,000 Jews now live in the country. That's in stark contrast to the estimated 120,000 to 150,000 that lived in the region at the end of the First World War. Both before and after the Second World War, and most particularly after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the vast majority of Jews left Turkey. This was a reversal of the trend of previous centuries.
Over the course of many centuries, the Ottoman Empire was an immigration destination for Jews fleeing the Reconquista in Spain and pogroms in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, to portray the Ottoman Empire as a "multicultural paradise" is absurd and ahistorical. As non-Muslims, the Jews were subject to countless constraints. Like the Christians, they had to pay a poll tax and were obliged to behave in a submissive manner towards Muslims. Moreover, it must be said that there were numerous fluctuations in the fortunes of the Jews in the 600-year history of the Ottoman Empire.
The period of Jewish persecution on the Iberian peninsula coincided with the expansion of the Empire, whose rulers were keen to increase the urban population. Another reason why they were happy to welcome the Sephardic Jews was because they brought with them important skills and expertise. Jews who had settled in Anatolia and in the Balkans before the Ottoman conquest, on the other hand, were forced to resettle – also for demographic reasons – and were subject to a number of considerable constraints.
What was life like for the Jews around the time the Turkish state was created?
Guttstadt: The foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the final chapter in the protracted disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, which had lost most of its territory in a series of wars against major Christian European powers. The situation for the Jews varied because unlike the Christian populations in the Balkans, they were not pursuing any separatist goals. In response to European protests about the Armenian massacre, Ottoman leaders liked to point to the Jews as a "model minority".
Guttstadt reveals that the dissemination of anti-Semitic tracts in the 1930s heralded the birth of modern Anti-Semitism in Turkey For their part, the Jews were often the target of anti-Semitic attacks at the hands of Christian minorities around this time and were, for that reason, reliant on the protection of the state. Consequently, most Jews initially regarded themselves as allies of the Kemalist movement and looked to the new Republic with largely positive expectations. These hopes were quickly dashed because despite their attempts to adapt and their declarations of loyalty, the Jews quickly became a target for the rigid nationalism of the young Republic. One of the defining policies of the young republic was the "Turkification" of state, economy, and society.
In this light, the Kemalist leadership regarded the rights that had been granted to non-Muslim minorities in the Treaty of Lausanne as a continuation of the interference of major imperialist powers. It put non-Muslim religious communities under pressure to renounce these rights "voluntarily". Jews were also successively driven out of a number of professions and economic sectors. This prompted many Jews to emigrate, particularly to France, but also to the USA, Italy or Germany.
Once war broke out, how did the Turkish state, which managed to remain "neutral" until the end of the Second World War, behave towards the Jews who lived within its borders?
Guttstadt: I think we have to differentiate here between anti-Semitism and anti-minority nationalism, which targeted not only the Jews, but other groups too. On the one hand, anti-Semitic tracts like the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion reached Turkey and were translated into Turkish in the 1930s. Following a visit to Germany, Cevat Rıfat Atilhan, who could be described as the father of Islamic anti-Semitism in Turkey, started publishing the anti-Semitic newspaper Millî İnkîlâp (National Revolution) in Istanbul, which contained anti-Semitic caricatures that had been lifted directly out of the Nazi newspaper, Der Stürmer. Although this and other magazines were banned for a certain period, they mark the birth of modern anti-Semitism in Turkey.
Both the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf have gone through umpteen new editions to this day. Nationalist measures that affected not only Jews, but also Kurds, Armenians, and Greeks, included forced resettlement, the so-called "wealth tax" − which led to the confiscation of assets of those who were not in a position to pay the arbitrarily fixed and frequently astronomical sums they were required to pay − and forced labour in camps in eastern Anatolia. Although these measures are in no way comparable with the persecution of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis, they destroyed the Jews' faith in the Republic so utterly that the majority of the country's remaining Jews left the country in 1947/48.
At this time, Turkish Jews were scattered all over Europe. How did they fare?
Guttstadt: At the start of the war, approximately 25,000 to 30,000 Jews of Turkish origin lived in Europe, most of them in France. Only about 10,000 of them still held Turkish citizenship, which became a matter of life and death during the Holocaust. There were many people who came to Europe as "Ottoman citizens", but whose place of birth had been assigned to other states once the Empire was no more. In France, it was relatively easy to obtain French citizenship. From the start of the 1930s, the Kemalist Republic began checking the nationality of citizens living abroad and revoking the citizenship of non-Muslims in particular.
Ceremony to mark the opening of the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul, one of the few remaining synagogues in Turkey: "During World War II, Turkey was not a major country of exile for persecuted Jews," says Guttstadt This policy of denaturalisation, which the Turkish state could initially pass off as a normal consequence of the new state order, focussed primarily on the Jews during the Holocaust. In October 1942, Germany delivered an ultimatum to the Turkish government to repatriate its Jewish citizens from the states occupied by the German Reich. Above all, however, the government in Ankara wanted to prevent a mass influx of Turkish Jews and decided to use the instrument of mass denaturalisation as a means of preventing it. What proved particularly fatal in this regard was the fact that according to Turkish law, people who had either voluntarily changed their nationality or had been denaturalised were not allowed to set foot on Turkish soil ever again − even as a tourist or a refugee.
Moreover, in 1938, Turkey passed a secret decree that forbade "foreign Jews who are subject to restrictions in their native countries, regardless of what religion they currently practice" from entering Turkey. With this decree, Turkey adopted the criteria that characterised anti-Jewish legislation in Germany and its allied countries.
What did the Turkish government at the time know about what was happening in the countries controlled by Germany and about the fate of Turkish Jews living in those countries?
Guttstadt: Naturally, the Germans did not tell the Turkish authorities that Jews who were not repatriated would be deported and murdered, but obscured the reality of the situation by saying that they would be "subject to the general measures applied to Jews". However, in view of the fact that numerous Jewish aid organisations had representatives in Istanbul, Turkey was a one of the places where concrete information about the Holocaust was available. From there, journalists reported about the systematic murder of Jews.
Jews that had escaped the concentration camps or ghettos and managed to make it to Istanbul, were questioned by aid committees and given the assistance they needed. Their reports were passed from Istanbul to other offices around the world. Both journalists and Jewish activists were undoubtedly under observation by the Turkish secret service. In March 1943, the Turkish government newspaper Ayın Tarihi reported about the mass murder of Jews in Germany. Several Turkish Jews living in Europe turned to the Turkish government for help.
About 3,000 Turkish Jews were deported to German concentration camps during the Shoah. To what extent can Turkey be held responsible for their fate?
Guttstadt: The Germans are responsible for depriving these people of their rights and for their persecution and murder. In view of current attempts in Germany to rewrite history again and in view of the German "victim" debate, I refuse to qualify German responsibility in any way. Turkey could have repatriated a much greater number of Jews and opened its borders to refugees. Despite the fact that aid organisations offered to assume the costs that would ensue, the Turkish government generally refused. That being said, Turkey was certainly not the only country to adopt a passive stance.
However, until such time as the Turkish archives are opened, we can only speculate about domestic discussions and criticism of the official policy towards the Jews. We must remember that the Turkish regime at the time was dictatorial; there was a one-party system; the press toed the regime line and was subject to strict censorship. The Jewish community was also completely intimidated and impoverished by the measures taken in the 1940s.
The official Turkish line is that Turkey was a safe harbour for Europe's Jews.
Guttstadt: Because of its close ties to Germany, Turkey actually had extensive opportunities to save Turkish Jews living abroad. Isolated Turkish diplomats frequently grasped these opportunities. In Paris, for example, Turkish consuls brought about the release of a number of incarcerated Turkish Jews. Turkish consuls in Milan and Vienna also protected individual Jews. Even though these acts were not always performed for purely humanitarian reasons − some consuls may have used their influence to line their pockets − it shows the great latitude they had. In many cases, it was enough to confirm the Turkish citizenship of a Jew to prevent him or her from being deported.
The hiring of German Jewish academics at Turkish universities is often mentioned as a humanitarian act. What is your view?
Guttstadt: It is true that from the autumn of 1933 onwards, a considerable number of German Jewish academics and artists found jobs in Turkey, where they played an outstanding role in building up new universities, hospitals, theatres etc. Even though they were not received for humanitarian reasons, but for reasons of utility, the Turkish government gave these people work, in most cases allowed their families to follow them to Turkey, and protected them against persecution by the Nazi regime. Nevertheless, Turkey was never a major country of exile for persecuted Jews. In terms of numbers, the few refugees that were allowed to enter the country do not appear in any pertinent statistics.
Interview conducted by Sonja Galler
© Qantara.de 2009
Corry Guttstadt: Die Türkei, die Juden und der Holocaust (Turkey, the Jews and the Holocaust) Verlag Assoziation A, Berlin-Hamburg 2008. 520 pages, 26 euros. | <urn:uuid:adfd8909-33c5-4fbd-901b-3f8c7877280d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.qantara.de/Turkey-the-Jews-and-the-Holocaust/8196c8265i0p9/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976173 | 2,507 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Just found this, leafing through the latest issue of Robot Magazine:http://www.themachinelab.com/
These guys are resellers for them:http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/c/2661-Track-Bots.aspx
" This platform is the most capable of The Machine Lab product line thus far. The MMP-40 mobile platform is the result of a conglomeration of input and ideas from people that are using robots in real life situations. We have gleaned detailed information from groups ranging from NASA sponsored research teams to Law Enforcement and SWAT agencies. We have even built several robots for the U.S. military that are in theater in Iraq right now.
Following The Machine Lab philosophy, this is a bare bones simple but rugged machine intended to help bring ideas to fruition faster.
The trend in mobile robotics is to get the machines as light and compact as possible without limiting their mobility in urban environments. At 40 pounds this platform is is designed to be a "Man Portable" workhorse. The machine can easily carry 30 pounds of payload and has plenty of space to be outfitted with cameras, sensors, computers, tools, test equipment, supplies, etc.
The best feature of this platform is that it can climb stairs. The added length and stair climbing ability allows the MMP-40 to negotiate larger obstacles and to reach deeper into urban environments.
The MMP-40 is has a water resistant aluminum hard anodized chassis. All drive train components are precision machined and all metal with long life ball bearings in critical areas." | <urn:uuid:1403f82e-56e2-4164-b1d8-bc03ac5ef4e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=998.msg6758 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915411 | 328 | 1.53125 | 2 |
If you are running a retail business — whether bricks and mortar or online — there are five core principles you need to adhere to. From customer care to the four Ps, Antony Welfare, author of The Retail Inspector’s Handbook, explains what you need to know.
The customer holds the key to every successful retail operation. Based on my 20 years' of experience with a number of different retail businesses, this article will introduce you to the journey to make your business customer-focused, and realise the potential you have to make your retail business a success.
The main retail principle to master is the customer; the customer should be the centre of your business and everything you do must revolve around that customer. Knowing them, and focusing on them in everything you do, will help you grow your business and your team — the customer is king.
One of the most famous principles in retailing is, of course, “retail is detail” — this is where the challenge lies: how do you become more detailed and what detail should you focus on? You need to address and improve your understanding of your customer. To do this, every retailer must focus on the detail and get the detail right the majority of the time. Mistakes are OK, but you must learn from them and do not repeat your mistakes. Customers will allow you some mistakes, but too many will turn them away; understanding the detail is a key skill to master in retail.
This is a very old principle but still has validity. This retail principle will help you understand the overall foundations of a retail business; the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion. These are the basic foundations of a successful retail business.
Providing great customer service starts with understanding and knowing your customer; however, knowing them is the start of the journey and you will need to deliver more than just customer service. To be successful you must deliver world-class customer service; you must “go the extra mile for the customer”. You and your team must continually go the extra mile for the customer, each time delivering just a little more than they expect. Doing this each time you and your team interact with your customers will win them over and make them loyal over a long period of time.
The final retail principle is: Location, location, location. History has dictated that this is one of the most important factors in the success of a physical store, and still to this day it will have a major impact on your success. The best location of your store will be dictated by your brand and product strategies. For example, a supermarket operation needs a car park and a high fashion store needs to be in a high fashion area that attracts the right customers for the store. I would argue, however, that location has less effect now than previously, due to two main factors: the first being the flexibility of the customers; now we often travel more, and the second being the internet.
The internet has changed our shopping habits and will continue to do so. E-commerce websites have opened up the world of “non-geographic” retail — a retail world without the need to visit the physical store. The emergence of “etail” from retail has been the biggest change over the past 20 years.
The journey from retail to etail has been quick, and we need to embrace the world of etail and ensure we understand its effects on our customers. The etail world is growing significantly and with new technologies, such as iPads and mobile commerce, it will continue to change the opportunities in the world of retail.
Antony Welfare is the director and founder of Retail Inspector Ltd and is the author of The Retail Inspector’s Handbook.
Popular content on retail marketing:
Find more articles, videos and tools on retail marketing in the Resources box. | <urn:uuid:0ca32bea-6553-4c48-bb3a-0177bf6d60f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/marketing-strategy/the-five-principles-of-retail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95687 | 781 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Structure in general
- The Singer Building was constructed from September 1906 to May 1908.
- Plans to enlarge the Singer Company headquarters at Broadway and Liberty Street in lower Manhattan began in 1902 when the sewing machine company purchased properties to the north and west.
- A former design by architect Flagg was a thirty-five story tower, but the Singer company soon decided to nearly double that height with a tower of almost 600 feet.
- The tower was clad in red brick and bluestone.
- One of the reasons the tower was demolished is that it was viewed as obsolete and unprofitable, with its floorplates measuring only 19.5 meters across.
- Tallest building ever to be demolished by a company. Replaced by One Liberty Plaza, originally known as the U.S. Steel Building.
- World's tallest building from 1908 - 1909; surpassed by the Metropolitan Life Tower.
Do you need more information about this building and its related companies?More Information
149 Broadway at Liberty Street, NW Corner
Also recorded for this building:
Structural engineering, General contractor
Features & Amenities
- One of the city's famous buildings | <urn:uuid:8c5eb8e2-b6f8-4ca0-8eb4-f11d99ea1f16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emporis.com/building/singerbuilding-newyorkcity-ny-usa727 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950275 | 236 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Credited as the book that launched Jack Kerouac’s career, On the Road epitomized to the world the generation that Kerouac himself named as "beat." It created a sensation by chronicling a spontaneous and wandering way of life in a style that seemed founded both on jazz and on drug-induced visions.
On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac's writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalized autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac's alter-egos, On the Road is a cross-country bohemian odyssey that not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture. | <urn:uuid:7084bd7b-4c20-4b3f-b361-30e765434c5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanpoems.com/store/1052-1000-0786180439-On_the_Road.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953991 | 199 | 2.390625 | 2 |
BACKGROUND: When developing a new model for predicting weather patterns, or increasing warning times for flood-prone areas, scientists must rely on an increasingly large, complex data sets collected by a wide range of disciplines. It is vital that these data systems conform to internationally adopted standards. The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is now running in parallel to more traditional systems used by the U.S. National Weather Service.
WHY WE NEED CAP: With adequate warning, people can react more quickly to natural or manmade hazards and disasters. There are many different warning systems, tailored to specific types of disasters for delivered through certain channels, but there is no public warning system that can reach everyone in every location at any time. More coordination is needed. CAP is intended to deliver warning messages that are universal; currently, such messages come from a wide variety of sources, often directly from news outlets.
HOW IT WORKS: CAP serves as a universal adapter for alert messages, replacing the diverse warning systems with a standard format, thereby paving the way for new alerting systems. It is essentially a "content standard": a digital message format suitable to all types of alerts and notifications, including the U.S. National Emergency Alert System, the Internet, and systems designed for multilingual and special-needs populations. CAP reduces the barriers of technical incompatibility. The sender can activate several different warning systems at once, reducing the cost and complexity of having to notify each system separately. People hear the warnings from several different sources, increasing the likelihood that they will heed those messages, rather than dismissing them as false alarms. CAP is compatible with broadcast radio and TV, as well as public and private data networks. Once it has been broadly deployed. CAP users will be able to monitor local, regional and national warnings of all types at any one time to get a complete picture of conditions.
WHAT'S THE FORECAST: Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Humankind has attempted to predict the weather since ancient times. For millennia people have tried to forecast the weather. In 650 BC, the Babylonians predicted the weather from cloud patterns. In about 340 BC, Aristotle described weather patterns in Meteorologica. Chinese weather prediction lore extends at least as far back as 300 BC. Ancient weather forecasting methods usually relied observed patterns of events. For example, it might be observed that if the sunset was particularly red, the following day often brought fair weather. This experience accumulated over the generations to produce weather lore. Today, weather forecasts are made by collecting data about the current state of the atmosphere and using computer models of the atmospheric processes to project how the atmosphere will evolve.
The American Geophysical Union contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report. | <urn:uuid:cbf52980-19f3-4d87-a42e-59bfa66d51b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aip.org/dbis/stories/2007/17023.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938561 | 569 | 4.0625 | 4 |
Riley Children's Cancer Center Our Services
Riley Children's Cancer Center provides consulation, diagnostic and treatment services for all blood-related diseases, leukemias and solid tumors that arise in children.
Riley doctors and staff provide compassionate, comforting, family-centered care and expertise to deal with these rare childhood conditions. Our team will individualize and help you select the best therapy for your child. Some of the treatments available to patients include:
Our team is dedicated to healing the body and spirit of both child and family, and offers support services that complement your child's cancer therapies. Quality of care also extends into post-treatment at the Cancer Survivorship Clinic, where a patient’s health is regularly monitored as they reintegrate into active life.
Stem cell transplantation stimulates hematopoiesis (the formation of new blood cells) by replacing blood cells destroyed in cancer treatment with healthy blood cells. The Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program is the only facility of its type in the state of Indiana. It has four full-time faculty, three pediatric nurse practitioners, two clinical coordinators, and a full-time social worker. It performs approximately 40 life-saving stem cell transplants each year.
Clinical and research activities of the program include:
The Department of Pediatric Radiation Oncology has extensive experience with pediatric patients, as well as its expertise with the latest radiotherapy and radiosurgery techniques, such as:
Use and experience in such cutting-edge radiation oncology techniques allows us to achieve gratifying results for the most threatening childhood problems.
The number of children surviving battles with cancer is ever increasing with 75 percent to 80 percent of children treated for cancer living five years or more after diagnosis, reflecting a dramatic increase in survival rates for children with cancer in the past 10 years. The growing number of survivors from childhood cancers calls special attention to the needs of survivors after treatment.
The goal of the Riley Cancer Survivorship Program is to help patients reintegrate into normal life at home, school and work -- identifying and addressing any barriers that may interfere with this process along the way. Nutritional and complementary medicine approaches such as exercise are used to help young cancer survivors adapt to and achieve a certain level of well-being after cancer treatment. | <urn:uuid:79c0ae33-fd86-45b6-a402-f5f0f0756fd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cancer.iu.edu/programs/pediatric/services.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942504 | 468 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Greenwich prime meridian
Thursday, 29th November 2007 by James Turnbull
The equator, or latitude 0, separates the northern and southern hemispheres of the globe. Defined as the middle point of the two geographic poles, there’s no way anyone could argue about its location.
However the meridian – longitude 0 – has no scientific definition so could basically be anywhere you like on the planet.
The most widely accepted meridian was defined at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. However, even here the meridian has shifted about a bit.
18th century astronomer James Bradley’s meridian is still shown on UK maps today, but has otherwise mostly been forgotten. The much more famous meridian, which is now used as the base point for all the world’s time zones, was defined by George Airy.
Airy’s prime meridian was chosen using the very scientific system of setting up his equipment in the observatory as close as possible to Bradley’s equipment, but without getting in the way!
Two miles directly north of Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, Airy’s meridian is marked out by a line of trees.
Also just to the north of Greenwich is a millennium sundial, which is a few metres off the meridian. Purportedly this was a construction error and the clock will always be wrong by about 8 minutes!
If you were to take your satnav device along to the observatory at Greenwich, or just set longitude to 0 in Google Earth, you’ll find yourself outside the observatory at this seemingly insignificant point, 102.5 metres east of the prime meridian.
That’s because Google Earth, and your satnav, use the International Reference Meridian, which was defined much later by observing stars from many different countries.
So readers, if you were defining a new meridian, where on the globe would you put it?
Thanks to LionelB, Reagan Blundell, Sly Golovanov, Frank Taylor & Roy G. Ovrebo. | <urn:uuid:6bf23221-e34e-4d1f-ac0d-82b430d8ef34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://googlesightseeing.com/2007/11/greenwich-prime-meridian/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956119 | 432 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Their method could pave the way for the development of similar techniques to halt or delay wrinkles, cataracts, muscle wasting and other age-related disorders in humans.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found the key was in a specific type of cell that builds up in our tissues as we age: senescent cells.
Senescent cells act differently from young, healthy cells, which divide continuously, helping to maintain the proper functioning of body tissues and organs. In contrast, senescent cells have stopped dividing. Although we produce senescent cells throughout our lives, our bodies are less able to clear them from our bodies as we age, so they build up in tissue.
The researchers used a drug to kill senescent cells and found that doing so improved the condition of the tissues holding those cells, thereby halting or preventing age-related disorders.
The finding was significant for several reasons. It was the first time that research showed that senescent cells can drive the aging process in the tissues in which they collect, said the New York Times.
Additionally, “If you could clear senescent cells, you perhaps could treat age-related diseases as a group rather than individually,” Jan van Deursen, the paper’s senior author and a Mayo Clinic professor, said to the Wall Street Journal.
He and his team published their results in the November 3 issue of Nature.
How the experiments worked
The researchers used mice who had been genetically engineered to age quickly and die of heart attacks at an early age, no matter how healthy their tissues. So, the experiments could not affect how long the mice lived. However, both studies did show that targeting senescent cells could improve health in old age.
In the first experiment, Dr. van Deursen injected the mice over their lifetimes with a drug that would cause senescent cells to self-destruct. He found “quite a dramatic delay” in age-related developments in the mice, such as cataracts and changes to muscles and fat.
In the second experiment, Dr. van Deursen used the senescent cell-clearing drug on mice that had already reached middle age and developed cataracts. While the cataracts did not disappear, signs of aging in fat and muscle were delayed.
Although these mice died early as they were genetically programmed to do, their old age was healthier than it would have been otherwise.
As Discover points out,
Note that the mice in this study didn’t live any longer; they just spent more of their life being healthy. That is an incredibly important distinction and one that scientists who work on ageing are starting to bear in mind. James Kirkland, one of the study’s leaders, says, “Until two or three years ago, the basic biology was focused on lifespan. Increasingly, it’s become more focused on increasing healthspan too. People may want to live longer but they don’t want to live longer at all costs. They want to live more healthily. Older people value independence and the ability to carry out the activities of daily life.”
The researchers plan to conduct experiments on senescent cells in mice who age normally to see if they live longer. They will also look at how often senescent cells should be cleared out: frequently or intermittently, such as once a year.
Another question is whether this technique could increase cancer risk. Senescence helps prevent cancer, because it keeps cells from dividing uncontrollably. If senescent cells were removed, it’s unclear whether tumors would proliferate.
Killing off senescent cells might also cause the loss of other benefits they provide: For instance, they may keep infections in check or repair skin wounds.
Still, the discovery of senescent cells’ role in the aging process is significant:
“People used to see aging as a rusting nail — there’s nothing you can do about it,” [Dr. Judith Campisi of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging] said. “But we now know that there are processes that are driving aging, and that those processes can be meddled with.”
photo: Tomas Castelazo/Wikimedia Commons | <urn:uuid:c2d1dc9c-6b9e-49f5-8032-a2edb44d225b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/scientists-slow-and-even-freeze-signs-of-aging-in-mice/11132 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969297 | 871 | 3.53125 | 4 |
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This slow-growing understory tree has highly ornamental, peeling orange-cinnamon bark. Its dark green, three-lobed leaves turn a brilliant orange-red in autumn.
This is a rounded to open-crown deciduous tree up to 70 feet tall and 30 feet wide with early, brilliant red fall coloring.
The 'Caddo' maple typically reaches a mature height of 30 feet and spread of 25 feet, but may be taller. Its star-shaped leaves turn under slightly at the edges, and turn muted yellow to orange in the fall that can be spectacular. Its crown is oval-shaped, with an upright/erect growth habit. This moderately drought-tolerant maple is a great street or shade tree.
'Caddo' maples, native to southwestern Oklahoma, are well-adapted to heat and drought, and resistant to leaf tatter and scortch common among many maples. The leaves are dark green, leathery, and deeply lobed.
If your shade garden needs a focal point, consider this small, rounded Japanese maple, with its lime-to-chartreuse-tinged golden leaves. In fall, its leaves turn orange and red, just like those of a sugar maple. This variety, like other small Japanese maples, needs shade and protection from sun and drying winds to keep the foliage from curling and turning brown at the edges. -Michael Ruggiero, Regional Picks: Mid-Atlantic, Fine Gardening issue #127
This tree offers many reasons to get excited:bright red spring foliage, wonderful chartreuse summer color, a vigorous growth habit, and an increased sun tolerance. It has a big, beautiful open form, similar to Aureum.
Compact and rounded, the Shantung maple reaches a mature height and spread of 25 feet by 30 feet. The leaves grow to 5 inches long and have five to seven lobes, resembling the leaves of the Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). Leaves emerge purple in spring and become glossy and medium green during the growing season. In autumn, the starry leaves blaze into shades of yellow and orange, accented by reds and purples. Samara (fruit) are red.
This golden-leaved version of the southern paper mulberry can be treated as a cutback shrub to control size and for best production of brilliant golden yellow, large, lobed leaves. Or it can be allowed to grow into a small- to medium-sized tree. It's a most desirable garden plant and looks fabulous with deep blue salvias.
This large, conical-shaped tree has dark green flattened sprays of evergreen scale-like leaves.
This deciduous small tree initially has a pyramidal form, and later rounded. Cercis-like, opposite, heart-shaped blue-green leaves are borne on stiff, slender, pendulous branches that fan out from the crown and sweep the ground. Caramel-scented foliage emerges bronze or purple-red, turns blue-green, then fades to gold or apricot in autumn. Tiny red flowers emerge in late March or early April before the leaves.
Small white flowers appear in profusion on leafless branches in early spring. Heart-shaped leaves emerge bronze, turning green, then yellow in autumn. Another white-flowered selection, 'Royal', has slightly larger blooms and more compact growth.
In early spring, 'Forest Pansy' awakens with a long-lasting profusion of bright purplish-pink blooms borne in clusters, before the leaves, along smooth gray branches. Its heart-shaped, blood-red leaves are finely veined and glossy when young, slowly turning a dark, purple-tinged green in full sun. Autumn foliage is a bouquet of reds, purples, oranges, and yellows. The plant's graceful branching structure stands out in winter.
Bright purplish-pink blooms are borne in clusters, before the leaves, along smooth gray branches. Heart-shaped leaves emerge bronze, turning green, then yellow in autumn. Cultivars are available with white ('Royal White') or pink flowers ('Tennessee Pink'), purple foliage ('Forest Pansy'), and weeping form ('Covey'). Grows 15 to 25 feet tall with a slightly wider spread.
Hinoki cypress is a conical, evergreen, coniferous tree with leaves that are actually minute scales on tiny branches in the form of fans. The outer foliage of 'Aurea' is golden and the inner is green. Growth can be slow. Use as a specimen or use several as screening.
This native flowering tree is best known for its early spring blossoms, which are actually yellowish green flowers clustered in the center of four showy, white to pink bracts 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Clusters of four bright red fruits mature in early fall, often persisting into the beginning of winter.
This is a coniferous evergreen with year-round interest and a graceful shape. Young foliage emerges a pale shade of yellow in a herringbone pattern in the spring and is a striking contrast to the deeper green of the older needles by summer. Crinkled brown cones dangle daintily on the ends of the branches in autumn, followed by new developing cones gleaming like little lanterns through the winter.
This conical evergreen offers year-round interest and a graceful shape, with branches that are more pendent than the species. Young foliage emerges a pale shade of yellow in a herringbone pattern in the spring and is a striking contrast to the deeper green of the older needles by summer. Crinkled brown cones dangle daintily on the ends of the branches in autumn, followed by new developing cones gleaming like little lanterns through the winter.
This is a lovely species grown for its distinct pairs of 7-inch-long, assymetrical white bracts which hang from the branches in layers in late spring. Given room and maturity (seed-grown trees may not bloom for up to 20 years), this plant is notable in both form and flower.
One of the oldest tree species on the planet, ginkgo grows only about a foot a year, reaching 50 to 80 feet. Female trees set fleshy fruit that smell unpleasant as they decay; they contain edible nuts.
Carolina silverbell is a handsome tree with clean green foliage and an upright spreading habit. In mid- or late spring, hundreds of silvery-white bell-shaped flowers dangle from every branch before foliage emerges. The tree also has attractive bark, unusual four-winged seedpods, and yellow fall color.
This tall, pyramidal, evergreen tree may be grown as a large shrub. Its evergreen, spiny foliage is leathery and glossy. Insignificant, though fragrant, flowers bloom in spring followed by red, orange, or yellow drupes that attract birds. Many cultivars are available.
Alliums All Season Long
Deer resistant and dynamic, these bulbs provide color from the first showers of spring to the last leaves of fall
by Stephanie Cohen
Find out what all the buzz is about by planting these colorful perennials
by Sally Roth
10 Shrubs for Summer Color
These vibrant bloomers give even the showiest annuals and perennials a run for their money
by Paul Cappiello
Enchanting Japanese Maples
Two experts pick their favorites based on color, shape
by Francie Schroeder
Q&A Moving houseplants outdoors for the summer
by Tim Pollak
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© 2013 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:daa02967-ef8f-4739-9576-ae4dba729b20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finegardening.com/PlantGuide/PlantFinder.aspx?274=16388&186=256&258=256 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90525 | 1,698 | 2.640625 | 3 |
CT Scans, MRIs Becoming More Common
Latest Prevention & Wellness News
CT Scan Rates Tripled at HMOs in the Last 15 Years, Doubling Radiation Exposure to Patients
By Brenda Goodman, MA
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
June 12, 2012 -- Another major study is pointing to significant increases in radiation exposure from the growing use of medical imaging tests such as CT scans.
For the latest study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers combed through the medical records of millions of patients enrolled in six large HMOs around the U.S. They found that the percentages of patients who received high or very high doses of radiation from medical imaging tests roughly doubled over the last 15 years.
Researchers say the increases in radiation exposures seen in the new study were driven by a sharp uptick in the number of CT scans ordered for patients.
From 1996 to 2010, CT scan rates tripled at the HMOs, rising from 52 per 1,000 patients to 149 for every 1,000 patients.
The increase was especially surprising in a population of patients treated at HMOs. Similar increases in medical imaging tests have been documented among Medicare recipients and in the general population -- where doctors get paid for every scan they order. But HMOs use a different financial model. That means doctors are ordering more imaging tests even when there's no financial incentive to do so.
Experts say the new study shows the reasons for the rise may be more complex than had been previously realized and that greater education about the dangers of radiation may be needed to curb testing where it has become excessive.
"We should make ourselves aware as providers, make our patients aware, and make our referring physicians aware that there are risks to the population from radiation," says Bibb Allen, MD, vice chairman of the American College of Radiology. "We certainly think that the benefits of imaging outweigh the risks. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the risks," says Allen, who was not involved in the research.
Concerns Over CT Scans
A CT scan, which stands for computed tomography, combines X-ray imaging techniques with computer software to create multiple cross-sectional images of the body. CT images give a more detailed look at internal structures of the body. This can identify abnormalities and also help guide doctors with procedures. But CT scans also expose people to radiation doses that are 50 to 500 times higher than the dose delivered by a typical chest X-ray.
"We do know that the higher dose will be associated with a much higher risk of cancer," says researcher Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, a radiologist and professor in residence at the University of California at San Francisco.
Although the current study did not look at the health effects of radiation, another one published last week in The Lancet found that children who have repeated CT scans before age 15 are at higher risk of brain tumors and leukemia.
Smith-Bindman says the risk of getting cancer from any one scan appears to be very small. But over time, doses may accumulate, increasing the risk. She says they will be looking at this issue in a future study.
The study also showed that doses of radiation delivered to patients can vary widely for the same test, depending on where it's performed. "Very few facilities know the doses they're using. They don't collect them. They don't look at them, so that's a huge problem," she says.
Though radiologists sometimes use higher doses of radiation to get a clearer image, Smith-Bindman says doses have escalated beyond the range that's needed for image clarity. "The doses are so much higher than they need to be," she says.
And researchers say that they found some evidence that testing was being ordered when it might not be needed.
"We know that in a lot of the cases, the CT really isn't necessary and maybe you can wait. Or if the CT is necessary, then maybe you can just go lower dose," Diana L. Miglioretti, PhD, tells WebMD. She is a senior investigator and biostatistician at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
Miglioretti says the doses of radiation they documented in the study were chilling when viewed in the light of the risks of brain tumors and leukemia documented in the recent Lancet paper.
Assuming typical average doses for CT scans, The Lancet study found that having two to three CT scans of the head before age 15 exposed children to radiation levels that could triple a child's risk of having a brain tumor.
"What we found is that for 10% to 20% of kids, just one head CT scan got them to those levels. So that's really scary," Miglioretti says.
By 2010, 2.5% of patients at HMOs received high annual doses of radiation from CT scans, up from 1.2% in 1996. Similarly, the number of patients who got very high doses of radiation from CT scans jumped from 0.6% to 1.4% in the same period. A high dose was anything between 20 and 50 millisieverts (mSv). A very high dose was over 50 mSv.
The risk for getting higher doses of radiation increased with age. Older patients were scanned more frequently than younger patients.
What Patients Can Do
Researchers say patients shouldn't be shy about asking questions when doctors order a scan, especially if it's a CT scan.
"We need to start getting into these discussions," Smith-Bindman says.
Good things to know before you get a scan include why the test is being ordered, whether or not the test uses radiation, and if it does, how much radiation.
In some cases, she says, patients may have to call the radiologist or imaging clinic to find out about dosing since her study found that many doctors aren't aware of the radiation dose patients are getting.
If you get repeated scans, it's also a good idea to keep track of each test and its associated radiation dose.
SOURCES: Smith-Bindman, R. The Journal of the American Medical Association, June 12, 2012. O'Connor, G. The Journal of the American Medical Association, June 12, 2012. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, professor in residence, departments of radiology, epidemiology/biostatistics, and obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Diana L. Miglioretti, PhD, senior investigator, biostatistician, Group Health Research Institute, Seattle. Bibb Allen, MD, vice chair, American College of Radiology, radiologist, Birmingham, Ala.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:81197ac1-75a7-46a1-a8bc-ec81ad2b10c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=159258 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962845 | 1,391 | 2.609375 | 3 |
A Look Ahead: Fighting the Insurgency in Iraq
The future fight in Iraq requires constant maintenance on all three fronts: political, military and economic. Yesterday, the White House issued a document titled Progress and the Work Ahead in Iraq. The fact sheet provides a clear, concise and honest look at the challenges in all three arenas for the year ahead. This document can be considered the summary of the "short term" goals of the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq.
In the political realm, the emphasis is placed on the formation of a new Iraqi government. The desired outcome is the creation of a national unity government and how they will tackle the "tough decisions on issues such as security, reconstruction, and economic reform." The Coalition can provide limited assistance in the area of governance, and specifically "help Iraqis build an impartial system of justice, combat corruption by strengthening the Commission on Public Integrity, and build effective government ministries." The political decisions are for the Iraqis to make.
In the economic realm, the focus is on economic reforms, rebuilding critical infrastructure, and restoring energy independence in the oil and electricity sectors. The document is quite clear there are serous deficiencies in the energy sectors; "since liberation, terrorists have targeted these areas for destruction. As a result, oil and power production are below pre-war levels." Calls for international donors to honor their pledges and for debtors to release Iraq from Saddam's debt are also made.
In the security arena, the focus is on building the local and national Iraqi police forces. The upcoming year has been referred to in many military circles as "the year of the police" , as the goal is to stand up local police forces to work in conjunction with Iraqi Army units and Coalition forces. For this reason, the Iraqi police are the target of a concerted al Qaeda campaign.
There are three areas the Coalition is working to improve the police forces: at the federal level with the Interior Ministry's Special Police; the border police; and the local level. As in the economic section, the problems are not glossed over, as problems with forming police units are clearly stated. Training, human rights, and corruption are major concerns. At the local and national level, Coalition forces will pair up with Iraqi police units. The situation with the local police bears special notice:
These local Iraqi police forces need the most work. There are now over 80,000 local police officers across Iraq - a little more than halfway toward the goal of 135,000. To improve the capabilities of these local police, the Coalition is partnering local Iraqi police units with teams of U.S. military police and international police liaison officers, including retired U.S. police officers. These officers will work with provincial police chiefs and focus on improving local police forces in nine key cities that have seen intense fighting with the terrorists - Baghdad, Baquba, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Mosul, Najaf, Ramadi, Samarra, and Tal Afar.
The selection of the nine cities above highlights where the Coalition and Iraqi government predict to be the strong points of the insurgency. Each of the cities, with the exception of Najaf, are in North and Central Iraq, the Sunni heartland regions which we predicted early in December (and followed up in further detail at the end of December) would become the focus of the insurgency and joint Iraqi and Coalition operations.
Najaf is singled out as it was the nexus of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's failed uprisings in the spring and fall of 2004. The rest of the cities lay at the heart of the Sunni seat of power, or maintain critical oil infrastructure which insurgents are targeting. The success and failure of the Iraqi police in this cities bears close watching during "the year of the police." | <urn:uuid:2380d43d-42a2-4dc5-ac9b-53b00e8f7ce2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2006/01/a_look_ahead_fightin.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941434 | 765 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Amanda Clark, education policy analyst at MHPC, presented this report at luncheon events in Portland and Brewer. She will present it again in Auburn on January 31. This is the first of a three-part series that she will present on customized learning in Maine. Download the report here.
By Amanda Clark
MHPC Education Policy Analyst
Customized learning is a student-focused system where kids enroll in the curriculum which best meets their educational needs. Customized learning is not new and, in fact, is at the heart of Maine’s well-rooted educational history going back to the days of town academies. Unfortunately, this individualized method of education never fully flourished to its full potential where every Maine child could thrive in a customized learning environment.
More than ever, Maine needs creative solutions for today’s kids. Maine now faces a “Demographic Winter” where the shrinking number of children threatens the very sustainability of the current population level and economy. As a consequence, falling student enrollments will mean fewer educational opportunities for today’s children. Yet, specialized career interests, Gifted and Talented programs, apprenticeship opportunities, foreign language courses and more are all what make individual schools unique—almost as unique as the individual needs of our children.
For the sake of our kids and for the sake of Maine’s future, customized learning is the best way to grow our students and our economy. Already a few tentative steps have been taken toward building a greater customized learning environment with the recent introduction of charter schools and online learning. More still needs to be done.
This is the first study of a three-part series examining customized learning in Maine.
The second study will highlight successful examples of customized learning in Maine. The third study will lay out a policy roadmap to customized learning for all Maine children.
Early Customized Learning: Town Tuitioning
Throughout the late 1700s and the 1800s, many private insitutions of learning, known as Maine’s town academies or independent schools, sprouted with various purposes concerned with the needs of children. Some schools were founded on religious grounds, some
offered comprehensive boarding programs, and even one, the Carrabassett Valley Academy, originated as a tutoring establishment for those training in the arts of winter sports on Sugarloaf Mountain.
Berwick Academy (page 1) was Maine’s first academy, founded in 1791, nearly thirty years before Maine became a state. The people of Berwick, York, Kittery, Rollinsford, Portsmouth and Wells got together and financed the founding of Berwick Academy, to educate the “deplorable youth in this part of the country.” To give you an idea of Berwick Academy’s historical timeline, recall that also in 1791, the United States Bill of Rights was passed, King Louis XVI swore an oath as a “constitutional king” during the French Revolution, and Congress created the United States Mint.
The other 11 academies which continue to serve Maine’s students today are:
Following an 1873 law which provided for the receipt of state aid by public schools, Maine’s legislature mandated in 1903 the local towns’ responsibility for the education of their respective residing school-aged kids. Even with state aid, many of the towns, especially those in rural Maine, could not afford to build a local high school. The solution in these situations was the ability for the child’s town of residence to send a “tuition” payment with each child to the public or private, religious or non-religious school of his choice. Of course, many of the private schools at that time happened to be town academies. Although many of the academies initially did have religious grounding and affiliations, over time, they secularized their missions. Since 1980, due to a ruling by Maine’s highest court, religious schools may no longer obtain public funds.
Current Customized Learning: Traditional Public, Private, Charter, Online
Today, Maine’s tuitioning system continues. Towns without local public high schools have arrangements that vary in the degree to which they allow customized learning. These agreements range from contracts with a single nearby public or private school (leaving little room for customization per student), all the way to the other end of the spectrum where towns send “tuition” to any school that will accept the funds, in or outside the State of Maine.
Saco, Arundel and Dayton for example do not operate local public high schools. Saco contracted with Thornton Academy in 1889, and its students have enrolled there ever since. Arundel and Dayton also contract with Thornton; Arundel sends their sixth through eighth graders and Dayton sends their high school kids. For ninth through twelfth
grade, Arundel allows its kids customized learning through enrollment at schools including Thornton Academy. Currently, Maine towns “tuition” well over 10,000 students a year to schools outside their residing localities.
The kids to the right, dressed in the uniforms of their respective “grown up” aspirations, for the purposes of this illustration are residents of Raymond, Maine. The town of Raymond has withstood reorganization and consolidation threats to school choice throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Therefore, kids who reside in Raymond are nevertheless privy to the opportunity of seven different schools in Maine. The bubble thoughts are true to their situation today. Their parents are able to offer them a customized education by evaluating a number of school options. All of the schools, by way of their geography, emphasis, tuition, online courses, may have remarkable qualities. However, there’s likely one school that will stand out as the best fit for their child, for the sake of foreign language courses or study abroad programs, their student’s talents or learning disabilities, transportation or ability to walk, career goals or current high school jobs, and more.
More than twenty-five of Maine’s private schools are approved to receive public funds in the form of “tuition” from towns without a local public school. These private schools include L’Ecole Française du Maine in South Freeport, Stillwater Montessori School in Old Town, The New School in Kennebunk, and the Watershed School in Camden. Of course those noted as options in the above thought bubble may also receive public funds.
John Bapst High School (Bangor), ranking first nationwide for the number of its students enrolled in college courses, has a body of which more than sixty percent of its students are tuitioned by towns throughout Maine. At least eleven other private schools collect town tuition for more than sixty percent of their student body.
Private schools outside of Maine which have been approved for the receipt of tuition payments from Maine’s towns include Montessori High School at University Circle in Cleveland, Ohio, Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Emma Willard School in Troy, New York. Town tuition payments to these schools may not exceed the cost of education for Maine’s state average public secondary student; that average is $8,873.46.
Maine’s newest additions to customized learning are charter schools, also recipients of tuition funds. Maine became the forty-first state to allow for the founding of charter schools when Governor LePage signed L.D. 1553 into law in June of 2011. Although this was a landmark victory for the world of customized learning, we still need to expand the charter school market. Maine’s law allows authorization, given by the Charter School Commission, of ten charter schools within a ten-year span. Local school boards, which are reputably less apt to push for the founding of neighborhood competition, may authorize an unlimited number of charter schools within that time frame.
The Commission, composed of seven members (three from the State School Board, and the other four nominated by the original three), was formed in the winter of 2011 and has since approved two schools for operation. Having both opened their doors in 2012, Maine Academy of Natural Sciences (frequently referred to as MeANS) currently serves 46 high school students, and Cornville Regional Charter School has enrolled sixty kindergarten through sixth grade students.
This month, the Charter School Commission received five applications for proposed charter schools, two of which were virtual and had been denied in a review last year but recommended to resubmit come this past review cycle. The Commission approved only one out of the five proposed charter schools to move on with the authorization process; both virtual schools, again, were denied the next step in authorization.
The Commission utterly fails to recognize the inherent accountability system set up within the charter school law. Charter schools are governed by a board independent of the local school system and, of course, rely on the enrollment of parents and students wanting customized learning. The degree to which a charter school does or does not succeed is a direct reflection of the learning experience it offers.
Perhaps the most universal style of customized learning around the world is online learning. Often referred to as “anywhere, any time learning,” online learning is an education model whereby a student completes his coursework through internet-based programs. Of course, this model can take many different shapes. It is possible for a student to enroll in a full-time online learning program which is comprehensive of all the subject matter for his grade level. Or a student may take just one or a handful of courses online while he is enrolled in a traditional brick-and-mortar school.
Although Maine’s charter school law does allow provisions for a full time virtual charter school, use of this full-time virtual school model currently exists in Maine only in a home school situation where parents pay for it out of pocket (in addition to their taxes which in part fund the local public school system).
Founded in January 2012, the Maine Virtual Learning Consortium which was established by the Maine International Center for Digital Learning and RSU 19, offers eight courses including Latin, Anatomy and Physiology, and Art History. Schools which choose to participate are called “Partner Schools;” they pay an annual enrollment fee and must contribute two one-semester online courses to be distributed for use throughout the other Consortium Partner Schools.
There are currently seven state-approved online learning providers for Maine. They are Advanced Academics, Apex Learning, Connections Academy, K12, Inc., Lincoln National Academy, PLATO, and Virtual Learning Academy. In recent years, Maine passed a multi-district online learning law by which districts can share online courses and therefore enroll their students in subject areas that they would not otherwise be able to offer due to school finances.
Demand for Customized Learning
Maine’s school enrollment trends, over a stretch of fifteen or more years, reveal to us the desire of parents and students for customized learning. The Maine Department of Education has listed as far back as 1995 the annual attending enrollment for each category of public schools, private schools, and homeschooling. As you can see in the chart, the public school enrollment in Maine has declined quite strikingly!
The primary reason behind the decline in public school enrollment is Maine’s “Demographic Winter” where Maine’s net natural population growth (births minus deaths) is negative. As a consequence, the younger cohort of Mainers is shrinking and, naturally, that translates into lower school enrollments.
Additionally, the level of private school enrollments and the popularity of homeschooling have eroded public school enrollments. It’s safe to say that a large number of parents in Maine are searching for customized learning. Without customized learning available through their town, they are presumably pulling their kids out of the local public school. Parents are then enrolling their kids, at their own personal expense, in various private schools and homeschooling which often cater better toward the unique needs of students.
The volatility is the result of the most recent recession, which officially ran its course between December 2007 and June 2009 according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. The recession affected all three categories of school enrollment. Public school enrollment experienced a bump up during those years, but that increase was remarkably short-lived. Private school enrollment took a sharp dip during the recession, and quickly rebounded about the same time that public school enrollment continued to decrease again.
Home school enrollment has fluctuated throughout the years but, overall, has most certainly climbed. Note also the slight increase during the recession followed by a slight decrease following the recession. We conclude that in hard financial times, some parents were forced to default to the local public school and homeschooling and after getting back up on their feet, re-enrolled their students in the private schools that best met their kids’ needs.
Customized learning is nothing new to Maine. The seeds were planted with the founding of Maine’s academies and other private schools several hundred years ago. Unfortunately, customized learning has always been limited – offered only to those without a local public or contracted school and to those who are wealthy enough to afford a private school of their choice. Customized learning already exists in Maine – why not allow every Maine kid the opportunity?
Maine’s birth rate has been dropping off for years, and we just experienced for the first time a negative birth rate last year in 2012. This same year also marked a negative in-migration rate. Maine is experiencing a “Demographic Winter” with too few young people to support the current population level. Towns must find ways to provide a meaningful education when the traditional brick-and-mortar school model is becoming more difficult to sustain with ever-shrinking student enrollment.
We need creative solutions for today’s kids. Specialized career interests, Gifted and Talented programs, apprenticeship opportunities, foreign language courses and more are all what make individual public, private, charter, and online schools unique—almost as unique as the individual needs of our children. For the sake of our kids and for the sake of Maine’s future, expanded customized learning, as shown by Maine’s own history, is the best way to grow our economy and help our students succeed. | <urn:uuid:d16a5c1b-9eca-4c18-995c-e7c18b025f14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themainewire.com/2013/01/present-customized-learning-maine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969243 | 2,934 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Reporting Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (CBS) – For many, it is the second time in eight weeks they have been without power. The cost and inconvenience are wearing on people.
Many are asking the question: is there a better way?
The images are all too familiar: no power, no internet, and spoiled food, all because tree limbs are snapping and ripping down power lines all over the state.
WBZ-TV’s Joe Shortsleeve reports
“I moved here the beginning of this past year, and it’s the first time in my life I have gone so many times without electricity. It has been a new experience,” said one woman.
So, what do we do with these high power lines running along most streets in New England?
WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Kim Tunnicliffe reports
As another woman put it: “By now you would think they would have figured it out…but we are not so lucky.”
Is the answer putting the power lines underground? That is one what they did in one section of Brookline.
Gov. Patrick was asked about the idea of underground utilities Monday at his press conference at the MEMA emergency bunker in Framingham.
“I love the idea. Apparently though, that is a $1 trillion project across the Commonwealth. And that cost and how to pay for it, no one has answered yet,” said Gov. Patrick.
A number of communities like Brookline have moved in recent years to put utilities underground, like Duxbury, Randolph, Newton and Chelmsford. The problem is they tend to be just small pockets in a community of a much larger population.
Brookline Town Engineer Peter Ditto studied the underground utility issue in depth seven years ago, but ultimately Brookline leaders decided against it.
“Based on the prices at the time, it was anywhere from $45 to $150 million and the time frame was 75 years,” said Ditto.
And there are drawbacks to the plan.
Last winter, the i-Team reported about stray voltage, which happens when salt and rain corrode underground wires. Also, repairing underground power lines, when they do fail, costs a lot more because the worker would be repairing the sidewalk or road as well.
A few years ago in downtown Brookline, a high-voltage underground power line failed. The line was cooled with oil, which caused a serious environmental issue as well. | <urn:uuid:eebba760-eca2-4487-8e46-1bcf0a18d3c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/31/patrick-1-trillion-to-bury-power-lines-underground/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969864 | 515 | 1.9375 | 2 |
On June 1, 2010, The Salvation Army will officially commence its work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This will bring the number of countries where the Army operates to 121.
Less than two years ago, The Salvation Army’s work began officially in neighboring Kuwait. Then, exploration started with regard to the possibility of extending the Army’s ministry into the UAE. An invitation was extended for the Army to plan a Christmas carol service in Dubai and this was attended by hundreds of people. Meetings then commenced in rented property in Sharjah
Working in cooperation with other churches, The Salvation Army’s legal presence in the UAE is growing. Residency permits have been obtained for officers/pastors, and rented premises have been secured for regular meetings in both Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, where significant groups of Tamil-speaking Salvationists live.
The Salvation Army is also developing its relationships with prominent members of the government, diplomatic and legal communities in the UAE. Together with the formation of an advisory board, these steps will help ensure that The Salvation Army becomes part of daily life in the Middle East. | <urn:uuid:e754e73f-70d7-4e14-99e3-d84bf00b1ea4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2010/05/14/salvation-army-commences-work-in-united-arab-emirates/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963005 | 227 | 1.546875 | 2 |
If you lost 5% or more of your sales and it just can’t be explained how it occurred, would it bearable or terrible to the financial health of your business? Shortages in cash may be somewhat understandable. Cashiers handle cash transactions, credit cards, gift cards, checks, traveler’s checks, and any number of discounts and coupons. When transactions go awry for some reason, they must void, no sale, refund, discount, or reduce the price in some way. During interactions with the public they may encounter attempts at credit or gift card fraud, bad checks, counterfeit, price changing, quick change schemes, drive-offs, walk-offs or some other new scam of the day. The cashier is expected to know all of these transactions, handle them flawlessly, and yet have a perfect cash drawer at the end of the shift.
But what if they don’t? What if the cash is short? And how much does the cash till have to be short to get your attention? Some owners and/or managers create a policy that shortages must be paid back. There are many reasons why this is not a sound policy, and against the law in some states. Frequent cash drawer overages are not desirable either. Overages may be indicative of poor cash management or worse, manipulation of the cash operation and theft.
So, what amount of cash shortage, or overage, is acceptable within the framework of your business? Knowing that a perfectly balanced cash drawer is not practical in a blind remittance procedure, what is bearable? More importantly, are cash handling policies written, performance expectations clear and disciplinary actions for excessive cash overages and shortages fair and consistent?
• Policies and procedures - Establish written policies, procedures, and expectations in handling transactions. They should include before and after shift count verification, single drawer accountability, manager authorizations for voids, refunds, over rings, and closing the cash drawer after every transaction. Calculators and unauthorized credit cards “skimming” devices near the cash registers must be prohibited and stated in policy.
• Blind remittance – At the end of their shift, cashiers should not be privy to cash totals on the ‘Z’ tape as they countdown their cash till. They should report what they have in their till, minus the beginning bank.
• Communicate Expectations – Communicate cash management and security related expectations via written memo, employee handbook, and as part of everyday operations.
• Signed cashier policies – Have every cashier sign cash handling expectations. Retain in their individual personnel files.
• Making Change – Teach cashiers the habit of counting back change to the customer.
• Cash shortages and overages – Establish a tolerable dollar amount of cash shortage or overage. Some companies have established a $3-5 range per individual cash drawer per cashier depending on the number of cash transactions and total sales per shift. Set an aggregate amount over the course time as well; i.e. .1% of sales each month.
• Establish acceptable level of exceptions – Set acceptable performance standards in the number and dollar amount in percentage to sales for voids, over rings, refunds, no sales, check average, and others that are pertinent to your business.
• Cash drops – Managers should remove excess cash and large bills from the cash register and place in the safe.
• Train – Train cashiers on how to handle all transactions, including handling suspected counterfeit, and the common scams involving credit/gift cards and quick change.
After policies and procedures are established, expectations are clearly communicated, and cashiers are properly trained, it’s time to routinely evaluate their performance. Emphasis should be placed on operating the cash function with minimal errors. When errors do occur and the cash handling performance is not within established guidelines, the appropriate action should be taken to correct the behavior or performance and get them in compliance. If the individual cashier’s performance is routinely outside of the established acceptable performance levels, they move into “terrible” and must be dealt with accordingly.
Dealing with Terrible
• Formal cash management reviews - Establish a formal cash management performance review process. (Daily, Weekly, Monthly)
• Progressive Discipline – Implement progressive discipline process consisting of warnings, written reprimands, and terminations for poor cash handling performance that is not in compliance with acceptable standards.
• Investigations – Investigate large unexplained shortages or overages to determine the cause. Unexplained large discrepancies should enter the progressive discipline process at a higher, more serious level, i.e. Suspension, Termination.
• Retrain – Retrain cashiers that are not in compliance with performance standards.
• Reassign – Reassign cashiers that are not in compliance with cash management standards to a non-cash position, if available.
• Policies and procedures – Reevaluate policies and procedures relating to cash management, security processes, and disciplinary measures and make adjustments according to the needs of your business.
Handling customer transactions is a tough job, even for the most experienced, conscientious cashier. Mistakes happen and unexpected shortages and overages occur. The key to successful cash management operations is to have sound policies and procedures, clear expectations, routine audits, and fair and consistently applied progressive discipline. Your shortages will quickly respond from “terrible” to “bearable”, increase profitability, and make you more competitive in the marketplace.
For more information on security, safety, loss and crime prevention for restaurants, visit www.LossBusters.com. For daily tips on restaurant loss prevention, follow on Twitter @LossBusters
The restaurant manager’s home phone rang. She recognized the cell phone number of her shift manager on the display. Before she could say “Hello” she heard a loud, frantic voice declaring, “I was robbed!” The shift manager then described the frightful event of being robbed at gunpoint while on way to the bank with the deposit. On a fairly desolate street the shift manager described stopping behind a stalled vehicle. Suddenly her driver’s side door was yanked open, and a gun was pointed at her face. The gunman then demanded the deposit that was lying on the passenger seat. When she picked up the deposit, the gunman grabbed and jumped into the front passenger seat of the vehicle in front of her. The car then sped off.
It’s tough to run a restaurant. We’ve taught customers to be value driven in their selections in eating out. The rising commodity prices continue to challenge restaurant operators providing the value customers seek balanced with profitability. In the article, “Study: Restaurants avoiding menu price increases”, Brad Moore of SpenDifference stated that commodity prices, on average, topped 2% in 2012. In 2013 commodity price increases are expected to top 3% and some proteins going up more than 15%. The article notes strategies that operators are taking to counter higher costs. They include:
The holiday season has arrived which means restaurants and stores are busy with hungry shoppers. Gift cards are a popular choice and the majority is purchased during the season. Fortunately, the season brings increases in sales and more people are paying with cash. Unfortunately, cash is a target for dishonesty from both internal and external sources. Robbers target restaurants and stores with lax security and untrained employees. Restaurants and stores may also fall victim to their own employees. Managers frantically trying to keep up with the frenetic pace of the holiday season may take shortcuts in an otherwise strong security and loss prevention program.
Approximately 3:30 AM on a Friday morning, a robber described as 6’ 5”, 245 lbs., entered a fast food restaurant, forced the manager at gunpoint to open the safe. He then forced her and co-workers into the store’s freezer before exiting the building. One of the crew members called 911 on her cell phone from inside the freezer. Police stated that the robber got away with about $1,000 in cash.
Armed robbery. The very combination of those two words makes one shudder. Within the Justice system, the act of armed robbery is a felony and a conviction carries serious consequences. Yet many, fueled by drugs, alcohol, or desperation, plus their perception of an “easy mark”, are willing to take the risk.
The statistics are staggering. The latest National Retail Security Survey states that 45% of losses to retailers are attributed to theft by employees. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reports that 5% of revenues of a typical organization are stolen by company workers. The average internal fraud scheme goes undetected for 18 months. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable since they don’t have the resources or the processes in place to avoid and/or detect fraud activity. With no formal loss prevention programs in place, many owners and managers rely on their experience and expertise to react to incidences of employees stealing. Others rely on their beliefs, perceptions and ideals that their employees would not steal from them for a number of reasons. The following are myths associated with those ideological thoughts:
My employees would not steal from me because …
1. They Like Me – While it is true that good relationships with the boss may deter a small percentage of employees from stealing, research has shown that dishonest employees are driven by a number of factors. Loss Prevention professionals cite the presence of the Theft Triangle as the breeding ground for employee theft. When these elements are present in the workplace, employees may be tempted to steal or become involved in other counterproductive behaviors.
a) Motive - Potential gain and use for the cash or product
b) Opportunity – Ability to quickly and safely steal the cash or product
c) Low Risk of Detection – Perception of low probability of getting caught
The employees may genuinely like the manager or owner, but if the three factors are present in the work environment, the temptation to steal may override friendship.
2. They’re My Best Employees – Many managers and employers perceive that because certain employees are self-motivated, hard workers, they do not have any integrity issues. They are above reproach simply because they exceed expectations in their performance. And because of that belief, those employees are not scrutinized for compliance to the rules, nor suspected of counterproductive behavior or theft. Without accountability to the rules, even the best of employees may take advantage and steal.
“I’d like you to paint this room”, she said to the painter.
“Hey man; how do like your job at that fast food place?” “It’s alright. It gives me a bit of cash for some bills, and I get to eat for half price.” “So, do you work much in the drive-thru?” “Yeah, I work the drive-thru cash quite a bit. Why do you ask?” “Well, how would you like to make a LOT of easy money while you’re working the drive-thru?” “Keep talking; I’m listening.” “OK, here’s the deal. I know these guys that will give you a credit card skimmer that fits in your pocket. All you have to do is run a credit card through it at the same time you swipe a customer’s card as you ring up a sale. You get to decide when you think it’s safe and won’t get caught. You get paid $25 for every card you swipe in the skimmer. What’s beautiful is that it doesn’t matter what kind of credit card it is. You get paid for all of them. You meet with me after your shift, give me the skimmer and I pay you for all the information you’ve swiped. I’ll give you another empty skimmer and we do it all over again. It’s that simple. Are you in?” “Oh yeah, I’m all in. Sounds great; let’s go!”
This conversation could possibly be taking place with your employees. Credit card “skimming” fraud is epidemic in the QSR and Quick Casual restaurants as employees such as the one above are recruited or planted by organized crime rings. The primary targets for the collusion are low wage employees that handle customer credit card transactions. In this case, the fast food, drive thru cashier. They handle a lot of credit card transactions in relative isolation. The customer information captured on the portable skimming device is used to make fraudulent credit cards. Customer identities are stolen to produce other fraudulent documents such as driver’s licenses and credit applications. The result is often a trail of unhappy customers with credit messes to clean up, large amounts of stolen merchandise, and a public relations nightmare for the company.
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- May 2010(2) | <urn:uuid:d88ce6e5-70c5-44de-861c-aaf13f0104f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lossbusters.com/blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945007 | 2,918 | 1.945313 | 2 |
In Through Jewish Eyes by Craig Hartman, you’ll find a myriad of parallels between Jewish customs and New Testament truth. Drawing from his own Jewish heritage, Hartman demonstrates how to use these parallels as points of contact for gospel witness and for a better understanding of the New Testament’s Jewish background. He speaks about the need for Christians to understand Judaism and to reach their Jewish neighbors and coworkers with news of the Messiah. Through Jewish Eyes will give you deeper insight into the Scripture and into Jewish culture.
Craig Hartman is the director of Shalom Ministries in Brooklyn, New York, and a well-known speaker at conferences and churches across the country. | <urn:uuid:0e6d9648-c89e-401f-b254-2c3542a97899> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Through-Jewish-Eyes____2244057 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933242 | 135 | 1.9375 | 2 |
BOSTON — Massachusetts health officials say people who have bought three- or five-gallon bottles of water since Nov. 1 should check them for gasoline odors.
The state health department said Thursday a Massachusetts girl was treated and released at a hospital after drinking from a 5-gallon container of Poland Spring bottled water that was found to have signs of gasoline contamination. The bottle came from a plant in Framingham.
Clean bottled water doesn’t have a chemical smell.
Officials said some people in states with shortages after superstorm Sandy used the water bottles to hold gasoline. Some were turned in for recycling, and have been found and blocked by water companies. It’s believed a few have made it through the detection and sanitation process.
Officials said the exposure level wouldn’t be likely to cause long term health effects. | <urn:uuid:db60efa1-1d61-4583-ab2a-fe4cf2a4e5ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.app.com/viewart/20130207/NJNEWS18/302070111/Mass-officials-warn-bottled-water-taint | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977776 | 171 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Finding the First Thursday
Is it possible, knowing the months and years, to determine the dates of certain Thursdays using Excel? Specifically, I'd like to know the first or third Thursdays, based on other cells.
Jarhtmd (PCMag.com Forum Member)
We'll concentrate on finding the date of the first Thursday; you can add 7, 14, or 21 to the results to get the second, third, or fourth Thursday. Let's suppose the month (a number from 1 to 12) is stored in cell A2 and the year is in B2. This formula will yield the date of the first Thursday:
=DATE(B2,A2,1)+MOD (12-WEEKDAY(DATE(B2,A2,1)),7). We'll break it down to show why it works.
DATE(B2,A2,1), which appears twice in the formula below, returns the date of the first day of the specified month. Passing that result to the
WEEKDAY function returns a number from 1 (Sunday) to 7 (Saturday) representing the day of the week for that date. Knowing the day of the week for the first of the month, you can calculate the date of the first Thursday. The day-number for Thursday is 5, but you can't just subtract the day-number for the first of the month from 5. (That would yield a negative number if the first fell on a Friday or Saturday). Instead, subtract from Thursday plus a week (12) and pass the result to the
MOD function. The
MOD function returns the remainder resulting from dividing its first argument by its second, so the result will always be from 0 to 6. Adding this number of days to the first day of the month yields the date for the first Thursday. Of course, you can easily modify this function to find the first Monday or another day of the week.
blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:1a10fb56-2d73-4d26-bc80-a5e09a8411a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1401338,00.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918584 | 406 | 3.109375 | 3 |
AquaAnimal Health will use MetaMorphix technology and develop other new technology in the field of aquaculture. (Photo:MetaMorphix/NOAA)
Venture launched to genetically boost aquaculture breeding
Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 00:30 (GMT + 9)
Animal genetics firm MetaMorphix, Inc (MMI) and Stirius, Inc announced last week their jointly formed AquaAnimal Health, Inc to develop aquaculture technologies to augment output and advance disease resistance in farmed marine animals like finfish and crustaceans. AquaAnimal Health will use MMI’s Myostatin technology to maintain and enhance fish and crustacean quality across all aquaculture breeding.
AquaAnimal Health is an aquaculture animal health firm that claims to dedicate itself to serving the rapidly growing global finfish and crustacean industry. MMI has given AquaAnimal Health a license to its proprietary Myostatin technology for an undisclosed sum and an option to also use its GENIUS Whole Genome SystemTM in aquaculture.
Myostatin is a natural protein and potent regulator of muscle growth in humans and animals, having been observed in over 40 species of fish and in profitable marine invertebrates such as shrimp, scallops and crab. Natural inhibition of this protein in finfish was recently shown to produce greater muscle protein and increase feed efficiency.
New products MyoAqua I and II are expected to lower feed consumption ratios while boosting aquaculture earnings.
"We believe that aquaculture answers many of the concerns in the pending world protein crisis as well as provides environmental advantages over beef, poultry and swine production," Stirius CEO Karl Kelly said.
MMI already sells test kits for meat quality and production efficiency traits validated on several hundred thousand commercial cattle. It is expected that MMI genomic technology will provide similar benefits in aquaculture.
"We feel marker-assisted selection will allow breeders to identify aquaculture species with superior traits, thereby improving quality and production efficiency," said MMI President and CEO Dr Edwin Quattlebaum.
AquaAnimal Health is now evaluating sites in South Carolina for the establishment of process development and aquaculture research laboratories.
MetaMorphix is a life sciences company that touts itself as dedicated to discovering and commercializing multiple technology platforms to improve human and animal health. It was founded in 1994 and has headquarters in Beltsville, MD and lab facilities in Davis, CA.
Stirius is located Ninety Six, South Carolina and was chartered in 1993 and supports emerging life science companies including biopharmaceuticals, animal genetics, agricultural biotechnology and biochemicals. The company assists in commercialization and product development for emerging companies in the US and worldwide.
- Transgenic rainbow trout may revolutionize aquaculture
By Natalia Real | <urn:uuid:c9cd1f9f-0a19-492f-94c9-c7f6ec3044f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=30&id=36036&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929957 | 587 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The African reed-warbler
, Acrocephalus baeticatus
, is a common, summer breeding inter-African migrant to South Africa. The first birds arrive in August, with the main mass of breeding birds arriving in September. After breeding, numbers drop off gradually with most birds having departed by the last week of April. Some juveniles over-winter.
We netted one in my garden this weekend.Large view
The African Reed Warbler is the smallest of the reed-warblers found here. A note-worthy feature is that the soles of the birds feet are yellow, something not mentioned in field guides. It has a noticeably flattened forehead and our bird only weighed 10 grams. The length of the primary wing feathers (in this case, well short of the rump) is a major ID-feature. From the picture, the worn state of the birds’ feathers can be seen, indicative that it has just arrived from its long journey from somewhere up north.Large view
Generally this warbler breeds monogamously. Some instances have been observed where unrelated males participate in the brooding and feeding of nestlings, suggesting that a polyandrous breeding system is sometimes used, probably in high predation areas. Warblers build a deep basket nest from strips of reed blades, grass and sedges, which is lined with finer grasses and placed in the densest reed patches available in their territory. The clutch consists of two to four white eggs.
The African Reed Warbler is usually seen alone or in pairs, moving through vegetation and clambering up and down plant stems. It eats insects and other small invertebrates. | <urn:uuid:1da7ef29-f7e3-4454-b750-ecd4a267b87b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=26191 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943669 | 339 | 3.640625 | 4 |
This blog post is in response to the blog prompt for Week #46 as provided by Amy Coffin at We Tree (via GeneaBloggers): “Comment on obituaries in your collection. Obits come in all shapes and sizes. Share some of the stand-outs with readers.”
My lessons learned after writing, reading and relying on the information made available in obituaries includes that they can be chock full of useful information: next of kin, parents, burial information and of course, major life events, but they are not the most reliable sources.
I am a reporter by training and have written several obituaries, both for relatives and for complete strangers*. Not all obituaries are written by professional journalists, however (and much to my chagrin, even when they are, errors can be edited in later). Many obituaries are written by relatives of the deceased — they may or may not have gone through the rigors of checking original sources of the information listed in the obit. In fact, it’s not impossible to imagine that many may gloss over some facts in remembering the life of their loved one and they may, inadvertently or not, introduce errors into the listing.
Before she passed away, my mother requested that I be the one to write her obituary. This I did, including the names and places of residence for her surviving family members, including her three younger sisters, all in the state of Virginia. Even though I typed the information for the obit and emailed it (in copyable/paste-able form) to the newspaper for inclusion, the state of residence for my youngest aunt was printed as California and not Virginia. Sigh.
Another obituary in my collection is for my great-grandmother, Della Hayes. I had always assumed that her maiden name (Crow) was spelled with an ‘e’ on the end because that is how it was listed in her obituary. All records I have found since then point to a spelling without an ‘e.’ Similarly, her mother’s maiden name also appears to have been misspelled in the obituary (Gorley instead of Gourley, as I have found in other records). Whether these spellings were provided by the family incorrectly or were printed incorrectly for some other reason, I do not know.
Of course, not all obituaries are so error-ridden and they are good starting points for finding facts that should be confirmed through further research.
*Obituaries are often the first things that budding reporters learn to write. Therefore, I found everything had come full circle during my final stint as a reporter (I decided not to pursue a career in journalism shortly after graduating from college). My final article as a general assignment reporting intern at the Viriginian-Pilot‘s Virginia Beach bureau was the obituary for G. Dewey Simmons, a minister who hailed from that area. He had gained notoriety by performing wedding rituals in unusual places, including one ceremony underwater. On my last day in the bureau–the day the obituary appeared in the paper–I had a voicemail on my phone. It was his daughter, in tears, calling to thank me. She said it captured his life perfectly. I can’t think of a better way to end my reporting career.
Interesting side note: the major news services pre-write obituaries for major public figures so that when these individuals do meet their demise, it is simply a matter of adding the details of death before posting on the wire. I learned of this practical, if morbid, procedure while touring the Knight-Ridder library at the National Press Building during another reporting internship in college. It’s often the newsroom librarians who compile the facts for these canned pieces, before they are polished up by the reporters. | <urn:uuid:5996ca5d-1b0d-479c-b5e3-efc845f60c7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://baysideblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/obituaries-researchers-beware/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=7f81158ee4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975335 | 800 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Pacific Life strives to support the communities where Pacific Life employees live and work. In 1998, the Pacific Life Foundation developed the 3T’s of Education program. Grants are given to K-12 schools where there are concentrations of children or grandchildren of Pacific Life employees. A K-12 school cannot apply for a 3T's of Education grant, as it is an invitation-only process based on the results of an annual employee survey held in September.
To help schools across the nation maintain a high quality of instruction, the 3T's of Education grants must be designated by the principal in one or more of the following areas: teacher training, textbooks, and technology.
For the 2012-2013 school year
, 132 schools
are eligible for 3T grants totaling $402,500 in the following categories: Technology ($292,925) Examples include the purchase of SMART boards, computers, and student response systems Teacher Training ($83,350) Examples include funding of one-day workshops for teachers and conferences for staff Textbooks ($26,225) Examples include grants for reading books for school libraries
Over the past 16 years, the Pacific Life Foundation is pleased to have contributed nearly $5,300,000 to strengthening the learning environment of hundreds of K-12 schools nationwide. | <urn:uuid:12e246d6-15b9-4fbb-86b9-219c7ccff2ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pacificlife.com/PL/FoundationCommunity/GrantRecipients/Corp_PLF_3Ts+of+Education.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936528 | 259 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Keeping Up with the Latest in Air Conditioning
This certainly illustrates the importance of installing professional-level air conditioning. The newest systems can provide cost-efficiency as well as a higher quality of air for homeowners and apartment dwellers. One of the newest trends in air conditioning is the hybrid air system, which is designed to cut electricity costs by as much as 50%. Other units have zone control and variable speed, which can help to keep temperature control precise.
Comfort air systems filter the air eliminating contaminates and pollutants that can aggravate respiratory conditions. The air condition companies of today can help provide you with a much higher caliber of system that will keep you cool all year long. | <urn:uuid:a3fd5c62-7f8d-463e-9ba6-a338812c206a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mmcomfortsystems.com/blog/news/post/keeping-up-with-the-latest-in-air-conditioning | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960218 | 137 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Posted By PlacePlay on May 11, 2012
The original goal of PlacePlay was to provide iOS and Android app developers with an SDK to make their games location enabled, not location based. The key difference here, from a game perspective, is location based mobile games require location in order to play the game; location enabled games use location to add fun. Simply: location only vs. location additional.
As we have shifted our focus towards in-app mobile advertising, geo-targeted mobile advertising specifically, we see a theme emerging: people don’t understand the true value of location data in mobile advertising, or, more likely, they are ignoring it for reasons we discussed here.
The biggest benefit of location data is NOT in the ability to serve a mobile ad for what’s around a consumer: the biggest benefit is the ability to use location data to derive context. Location only vs. location additional, again.
First of all, understanding context from a limited set of data isn’t easy and we will never be 100% accurate. That’s OK.
Real-time location data combined with parameters like time stamp, app session duration, et al tell us really specific things about an ad request and help us determine the most relevant mobile ad to serve in response. Here’s a really simple example (this is uber simple – so, grain of salt):
If a consumer at a varying lat/long engages with an app for 20-30 minutes between 6:30 am and 9:00 am we can reasonably assume that they are in transit to school or work. Given that they are utilizing their mobile app for 20-30 minutes we can further assume they are passively consuming content – ie, they are more likely to engage with advertising.
With data that shows a moving location, time stamp, and session time we are able to provide much better targeting – and the knowledge that they are more likely to engage with advertising, we can source not only the most relevant, but the highest paying, mobile ad.
That’s a win for the consumer, the advertiser, and the developer.
Users are shifting to mobile apps as their primary method for content consumption and mobile advertising networks, advertisers, and publishers have a unique opportunity to connect with consumers in meaningful ways that are unavailable in traditional advertising channels. Location data can help us understand the context necessary to make those unique connections a reality.
Did you enjoy this post? Maybe your social networks will too! | <urn:uuid:b7886754-4fb1-485e-8b50-5c9d962da83c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.placeplay.com/location-based-contextual-advertising/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939804 | 506 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Secaucus has a cadre of new reporters on the scene who are ready to cover all news and events at Clarendon Elementary School. As new members of the School Newspaper Club, the group recently published the Clarendon School Courier, renamed from the previous Clarendon Times. The four-page newspaper included a lead story about student favorite rock band One Direction, a Sports Corner, an interview with the Teacher of the Year, and other selections.
Creative minds at work
Co-advisors Felicia Maloney and Dawn Doering led a recruitment process last fall for newspaper club members, open to fifth and sixth graders.
“We are looking for people who love to write…are highly motivated…[and] would like to be part of a team,” said Doering last week.
Students demonstrated their interest in the club in a written letter, which was reviewed by the co-advisors. Eighteen students are involved in the group.
“I love this idea to gather information and capture the creative minds in all of us,” wrote fifth grader Savannah Kocerha in her letter.
“I think this would not only be a fun experience, but a learning experience too,” said Mira Rajani in her letter. “We would learn how hard newspaper editors, writers, photographers, etc. all work together to give us news.”
“I like getting the word out about news.” – Sabina Galang.
“I've been writing since second grade,” said fifth grader Vanessa Buckwalter. “I am capable of using colorful vocabulary, varieties of sentences, and text structure. I use my writing abilities to make my stories and essays interesting for different kinds of genres.”
Buckwalter isn’t the only one who has had a passion for writing since an early age. A number of students shared last week that they had written fiction stories with characters who ranged from a young girl who was mayor to super heroes.
Lunchtime editorial meetings
The students are working to produce between four and five newspapers a year. They work on their articles during their free time or at home. They meet every other Wednesday during lunch to pitch ideas and discuss possible stories.
“They can sit and eat lunch with us….we brainstorm,” said Doering.
At a recent editorial meeting, the students tossed around a number of ideas, such as writing about a school food drive for Little Ferry families affected by Hurricane Sandy, featuring different clubs, writing book reviews, or writing about a new substitute teacher at Clarendon. A few students were interested in offering up editorial pieces.
“I like to express my thoughts to the world,” said fifth grader Eshaan Mangat.
“I like having people hear what I have to say,” said fifth grader Mackenzie Szabo.
The students were also interested in how a reporter gets stories, how long it takes to write an article, and what happens when someone doesn’t want to be interviewed, among many other questions. The student reporters all had a grasp of the fundamentals of a good story in that it answers who, what, why, where, when, and how. Many had a keen interest in telling a good story.
“I like writing information,” said fifth grader Daniel Merchel.
“I like getting the word out about news,” said fifth grader Sabina Galang.
Beyond art and comics
“Many wanted to do art work and comics,” said Maloney about the first set of editorial meetings. “But we kept on reminding the students that it was a newspaper and [it] needed articles or stories for students to read in addition to art and comics.”
Maloney and Doering brought in real newspapers as well as examples of other school newspapers.
While articles slowly drifted in at first – not enough to fill a newspaper – the students met the task of turning in a story once they learned that club membership was on the line.
“As advisors, we told the reporters [they] each had to submit an article if they wanted to stay in the club,” said Maloney. “Within the next day or so, we had so many articles that it immediately went to a four-page spread.”
The students had the opportunity to see the newspaper in color on a Promethean Board before it went to print.
“The students were excited to see the final copy of the paper,” said Maloney.
“Once they saw how nice it came together, it really motivated them,” noted Doering.
She added, “We’ve gotten positive feedback,” in regard to the response from the rest of the school.
Adriana Rambay Fernández may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:689d4b6c-e153-4ffc-8b9e-b0355f013261> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/21729211/article-Rookie-reporters-Kids-get-the-news-out-through-Clarendon-school-paper-?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971627 | 1,035 | 1.554688 | 2 |
For the 5th year in a row, School on Wheels is hosting its 5k Fun Run and Walk to benefit homeless children.
There are 1.6 million homeless children in the USA. Over 300,000 live in California. School on Wheels was founded in 1993 by a retired school teacher who believed that one person can make a difference in the life of a homeless child, by focusing on their education and providing weekly tutoring and support. Today, thousands of volunteer tutors throughout Southern California are providing that one-on-one weekly mentoring to children living in shelters, motels, cars, on the street or in group foster homes. As a charity they rely on donations and support from individuals and organizations that believe as they do that every child has the right to succeed in school. Join our team and help support this very worthy cause. | <urn:uuid:97f06764-da00-413a-a9fb-ad3d16c57c27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.razoo.com/story/Candice-Ciampa-Fundraising-For-5th-Annual-5k-Fun-Run-Walk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969942 | 170 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Please note: ARTSEDGE hosts the Champions of Change report as a service to the arts education community. If you experience difficulty downloading the report, or would like a hard copy, please contact the Arts Education Partnership at http://aep-arts.org.
The ultimate challenge for American education is to place all children on pathways toward success in school and in life. Through engagement with the arts, young people can better begin lifelong journeys of developing their capabilities and contributing to the world around them. The arts teach young people how to learn by giving them the first step: the desire to learn. Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning also shows that the arts can play a vital role in learning how to learn, an essential ability for fostering achievement and growth throughout their lives.
American education is changing, and changing for the better. Who teaches, what is taught, where teaching takes place, and how teaching occurs are evolving dramatically in communities across America. And a key factor in changing American education for the better is to increase high quality arts learning in the lives of young Americans.
Why is American education in such flux? In simplest terms, the reason is because America is in transition. We are a more diverse society facing daunting demands from global social and technological innovation. The American economy is shifting from a manufacturing-driven engine to a services-driven enterprise. If young Americans are to succeed and to contribute to what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan describes as our economy of ideas, they will need an education that develops imaginative, flexible and tough-minded thinking. The arts powerfully nurture the ability to think in this manner.
Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning provides new and important findings on actual learning experiences involving the arts. The report which follows presents these research findings, complete with ground-breaking quantitative and qualitative data and analysis, as articulated by leading American educational researchers. These researchers investigated the content, process, and results of learning in and through the arts. Perhaps what makes their findings so significant is that they all address ways that our nations educational goals may be realized though enhanced arts learning. As the researchers discovered, learning in the arts can not only impact how young people learn to think, but also how they feel and behave.
The American public is demanding more than ever from our schools, and rightly so. Parents and other caregivers want to equip young people for professionally and personally rewarding careers, and they recognize that to do so we must give them greatly enriched experiences. As these researchers have confirmed, young people can be better prepared for the 21st century through quality learning experiences in and through the arts.
Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote
|Download the "Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning" PDF| | <urn:uuid:97347db5-636e-4b7a-bf8f-e3d3d2bdb92f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/message.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951518 | 563 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Blogging is not a hobby any ore. There are many people who have blogging as a profession. This is because of the fact that those who are involved in blogging are able to make a lot of money through this. In fact many people are full time bloggers because of the fact that they are able to earn a huge income from it.
Some of the methods that will help to make money through blogging are seen here. The use of the blog to direct traffic to the website of the person where he is selling products is one of the main methods that is followed by many people. The website may be a marketing site where a lot of products are being sold. The blog acts as a feeder that allows the person to bring more traffic to the website.
The blog itself can have various advertisements and links to affiliate marketing products that will help to pay the blogger if there are people subscribing to them. This is another of the methods that is used in making money. There are many blogs that are dedicated to various affiliate marketing programs and they attract new clients.
The in text advertisements and the other advertisements like Google Adsense that are placed in the web pages are also one of the methods that can be used by the individual to make money. There are many people who are making a living just by using these methods. This is because of the fact that this method of having content on the webpage and then increasing the traffic to the sites will allow many people to read the content and any person who is interested in the advertisements may click on them and the income that is generated goes to the webmaster who owns the blog. | <urn:uuid:489df6d7-df63-47db-829d-2bd0aea463e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediainst.org/blogging-can-help-to-make-money.htm | 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 | 0.983576 | 324 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Gun Control: Four Must-See Graphs
Articles like this one began to appear soon after last month’s tragic massacre in Connecticut. The logic embodied in them is straightforward: Guns are designed to kill people, and more guns mean more dead people, therefore fewer guns mean fewer dead people.
The reasoning is so patently obvious, in fact, that anyone who argues against common-sense gun control like a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines is either an idiot or a murderer-in-waiting, and we can’t afford to let either of these join the conversation. We just don’t have time.
I mean, come on, people! How many more innocent children have to die before we figure this out?
Before we jump any deeper into an emotionally-charged conversation, let’s take our own look at the data. And let’s commit to intellectual honesty. No fudging the facts or conveniently excluding data that do not support our thesis.
Let’s zoom out and consider the issue more broadly than others usually do: Murder of an innocent person in any form is evil, and guns certainly aren’t the only way that bad guys kill. They also use knives, swords, baseball bats, crowbars, rocks, pointy sticks, ropes, lead pipes, candlesticks, automobiles, bombs, poison, fire, water, and even their bare hands, among other things too numerous and too gruesome to list. So why analyze only firearm-related murders?
To the murdered innocent and those who love him the precise manner of his demise is of secondary concern, subordinate only to the principal fact that he is dead, that he has been unjustly deprived of life and this evil deed cannot be undone.
Well, this is troubling. It looks like there are 20 or so countries that have significantly lower firearm ownership rates and homicide rates that are at least as high as that of the United States, as if a higher firearm ownership rate was correlated with a lower overall homicide rate.
How could there be so many murders in those countries with so few guns? Puzzling. The model is probably skewed by all those Spanish-sounding names in the upper left quadrant.
Since we’ve committed to be intellectually honest, we can’t simply exclude these “outliers” and compare the United States against, say, Northern Europe – which is buried in that cluster of blue points in the lower-left quadrant of the graph with practically no guns and practically no murders – even though doing so would clearly support our thesis that fewer guns would make us safer. No, we’ll take the high road and try to find another dataset that controls for factors like living in a narco-state vs. a Scandinavian socialist utopia.
Here is Graph 2, in which we compare Homicide Rate vs. Firearm Ownership Rate by State. The firearm ownership data come from a 2001 survey of 201,881 households by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (whose name sounds very safe and trustworthy in spite of containing the word surveillance) and are paired with the 2001 intentional homicide rates by state (compiled from various sources):
This whole exercise is starting to get frustrating. This graph exhibits the same troublesome negative correlation between the firearm ownership rate and the homicide rate as the previous graph, but the best-fit regression line is logarithmic, which means that there might be indirect effects for the first few armed households, i.e. their guns may be indirectly protecting more households than one. The R-square indicates that 35% of the variance in the homicide rate is explained by the firearm ownership rate, which is significant even though the factor’s coefficient contradicts our thesis. Regardless, 65% of the variance in the homicide rate across jurisdictions is explained only by factors other than firearm ownership, which doesn’t bode well for our idea that we just need fewer guns to make our society safer.
But most disturbing of all, three of the four jurisdictions with the most-restrictive gun laws and the lowest firearms ownership rates (Washington DC, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) have murder rates that are 2-3x higher than those of the states with the next three highest murder rates (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi), all of which have much-less-restrictive gun laws and rates of gun ownership that are 8-10x higher than the more-restrictive states. And this particular cohort pairing shares a number of otherwise blameworthy factors (high poverty rates, high unemployment, poor public education systems, etc.). Not good at all.
Could the United States really be that similar to the rest of the world? These household firearm ownership statistics are probably comparable to the rest-of-world firearm ownership numbers, as they may control for the fact that the US, due to high per-capita GDP, likely has many more households with multiple firearms than does any other country.
Enter Graph 3, in which we compare Homicide Rate vs. Firearm Ownership Rate for the US (by state/territory/district) and the Rest of World:
Controlling for US households that own multiple firearms, then, it looks like the distribution of household firearm ownership by state is well within that of the rest of the world. And the same inverse relationship between the firearm ownership rate and the homicide rate seems to hold.
There are exceptions, notably Hawaii and the cluster of blue points that surround it, all of whose names have been invoked by the media with great reverence as examples of the success of strict gun-control laws, but we cannot ignore the reality that more-restrictive gun laws and a reduced firearm-ownership rate can be associated with a significant increase in the homicide rate, both in the United States and the rest of the world.
To say that this observation is counter-intuitive would be a gross understatement.
But really, how bad could it be if we enacted sweeping gun-control legislation at the national level? Let’s assume what looks like the worst-case scenario, with the entire United States adopting the position of Washington, DC:
There would be 3.8 households out of 100 that own firearms (down from a national average of 31.7 per 100, Senator Feinstein would be pleased) and there would be 40.3 homicides per 100,000 people (up from a national average of 4.7 per 100,000 in 2011).
That’s an 8.5x increase in the national homicide rate.
That’s 125,840 homicides per year.
That’s more than 12 Sandy Hook massacres every day.
Perhaps the data do not necessarily support the easy, ”intuitive” arguments for gun control after all. It seems that disarming a population is correlated with increasing the variance in the expected homicide rate. There are good outcomes, make no mistake about that. But there are also some very bad outcomes, on the order of 10x worse than the status quo.
But we can still ban those scary-looking assault rifles, right? And those big high-capacity magazines like the terrorists use. There’s clearly no point in having those if you aren’t planning on killing lots of people. They’re no good for hunting, and you don’t need that kind of firepower to defend yourself against a mugger or a rapist or a burglar in the middle of the night.
Wrong. Dead wrong.
It turns out that Washington, DC is far from the worst-case scenario for homicide. And it turns out that gun violence, or violence of any type, is far from the most efficient way to massacre innocent people.
The most efficient weapon in the history of the world is forced starvation, and the Ukrainian language has a word for it: Holodomor (literally hunger-extermination).
The Holodomor was Stalin’s answer to the problem posed by the kulaks, relatively prosperous farmers who owned their land and had resisted collectivization following the Bolshevik revolution. When Soviet economic policies that favored trading grain for farm machinery caused food to become scarce, the government responded in August, 1932 declaring that all food was property of the state and mere possession of food was evidence of a crime. Crops were seized from the kulaks and redistributed to party loyalists under a quota system, while the kulaks and more-affluent peasants were left to starve. By the most conservative estimates the Holodomor killed 3 million people in Ukraine during the following 12 months and 6-7 million during that same time period across all of the Soviet Union.
One of those victims was my wife’s great-great-grandfather, who died in August, 1933 under forced labor on what had previously been his family farm. He had sent two of his sons to the United States prior to the Bolshevik revolution, and today our family is fortunate to have a collection of his letters to those sons, letters that document in excruciating detail the tightening grip of the tyranny that ultimately took his life.
Can you fathom the loss of 3 million lives in one year? How about 3 million out of a total population of 29 million?
That’s a homicide rate of 10,345 per 100,000.
In the United States today, that would be 32.5 million people in a year.
That would be more than 3,300 Sandy Hook massacres every day. For a year.
Here is Graph 4, in which we compare the Holodomor to the overall homicide rates in the rest of the world. The scale of the vertical axis is now logarithmic to accommodate the magnitude of this atrocity. The Holodomor was 100x worse than the homicide rate of modern-day Honduras, currently the world’s most violent country. You will note from the graph that there was no legal firearm ownership in Ukraine in 1932, the Soviets had outlawed firearms in 1929 after years of kulak resistance to collectivization:
The actual food confiscation of the Holodomor was carried out not by bureaucrats but by urban thugs loyal to and armed by the regime. They raided farms, built watchtowers over the fields to ensure the peasants weren’t “stealing” grain (the penalty was summary execution), abused the peasants going to and from work, and amused themselves by raping the women who lived alone in the countryside. These mobs had been half-starved themselves and brainwashed by propaganda into thinking they were doing their civic duty, and there was nothing that the disarmed kulaks could do to stop them.
Think this type of massacre couldn’t happen today? You’re wrong. One is brewing right now: Venezuela has long had a strict permit process for firearm ownership. Last year Hugo Chávez enacted sweeping new gun-control measures, banning all retail sales of firearms and ammunition. And just today, his heir-apparent vowed to crack down on “hoarding” and sent troops to take control of food distribution networks. Who will protect the disarmed producers when the loyalist paramilitary mobs come for their food?
Remember the Los Angeles riots of 1992? 53 dead, 2000+ injured, billions of dollars of property damage. 6 days before the National Guard and the Marines were able to restore order to the city. 45% of property damage was inflicted on Korean-owned businesses even though Koreatown was far from the epicenter of the rioting. The business owners had no one to protect them, their families, and their livelihoods — no one except themselves and their neighbors. One gentleman reported firing more than 500 rounds from his rifle — into the ground and into the air — to defend against the mobs of looters after the police had abandoned his block and before the National Guard arrived days later.
This is precisely why law-abiding citizens must never be banned from owning powerful weapons that are designed to defend against large numbers of armed, violent people when tyranny rises.
Sandy Hook was a tragedy, and we should learn from it and do better in the future. We need to look beyond legal firearm ownership as the cause of murder, since the data show that jurisdictions with stricter gun laws and fewer firearms per capita can have significantly higher murder rates compared to states with more firearms.
And as we try to learn from Sandy Hook, let us never forget the 32.5 million reasons why we have the Second Amendment. | <urn:uuid:5956e76f-113e-4445-aca1-9372b50a67b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zachmortensen.net/2013/01/10/gun-control-four-must-see-graphs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966472 | 2,564 | 1.5 | 2 |
Baseball program launched for special needs kids
Evanston Baseball & Softball Association invites individuals with special needs to participate the new Evanston Buddy BasebALL League.
Buddy BasebALL provides the opportunity for individuals with a mental and/or physical disability to play baseball despite their handicaps.
Mike Hamann, EBSA vice president of operations, says Buddy BasebALL will help individuals learn teamwork, promote self-esteem, and have fun.
"Two of EBSA's core values are that every child has the opportunity to play and to give back to the community. We feel that our Buddy BasebALL program accomplishes both of these by giving special needs children a chance to play and by teaching our players the importance of giving back to the community," said Hamann.
The EBSA Buddy BasebALL league will not charge any fees to participate, and tee shirts and ball caps will be provided for all players.
Each special needs player will be paired with an Evanston travel baseball player from EBSA’s 14U travel league, comprised of 14 year old players. The target age group for special needs individuals needed, is between 5 and 20 years old. Ideally there will be enough participants to field two teams. The games will last about innings and take place on Sundays in July at James Park in Evanston.
"EBSA families have been overwhelmingly supportive of our initiative to create this inclusive baseball program. As a community based organization, we believe it is our responsibility to support all children in our community," said EBSA President David Campbell.
More information is available online. | <urn:uuid:94ee5fff-ddfe-428d-ac79-89d33b91a474> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.evanstonnow.com/story/sports/bill-smith/2012-06-20/50387/baseball-program-launched-for-special-needs-kids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952156 | 325 | 1.578125 | 2 |
|Home > National News > Article||Thursday June 13, 2002|
A collection of iconic images illustrating the experience of Australian prisoners of war on the Burma Railway have, in the words of the English artist who created them, returned "home".
The works have been bought by Tattersall's and will have their permanent home at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Their creator, Jack Chalker, studied at the Royal College of Art in London and started the war with a British artillery unit but was demoted after an altercation with an officer.
In 1942, he was among the allied prisoners shipped to Thailand in overcrowded trains to build the railway line linking that country and Burma.
There, the man who yesterday described himself as "a fringe Anzac" first came into contact with Australians.
"The Australians were vigorous and ingenious and they hated all the bullshit that I hated in the British Army," he said.
"I responded to the Aussies. They could live rough and make do in the worst of conditions. I made a lot of Australian friends and wanted to be with them."
In a hospital camp, he met Colonel Edward "Weary" Dunlop, the surgeon who famously preserved the morale of his men amid starvation, maltreatment and disease.
Dunlop later recalled the young Chalker as "a stripling Michelangelo whose nose, due to onslaught by a Japanese guard, had a similar malalignment to that of the Master".
Dunlop soon recognised that beneath Chalker's gentle, courteous manner lay a spirit hardly less daring than his own.
In the absence of photographic records, Dunlop realised "the immense historical value" in Chalker's ability to record not only the detail of prison camp life, but also the various diseases to which the prisoners of war were subject.
Completed on scraps of cloth and paper, the drawings then had to be hidden in places such as an artificial limb to survive the frequent searches by guards.
Chalker says he recognised Dunlop's stature "almost immediately".
"He worked his guts out for everyone else, even when he was sick. He was always there. You thought, `If Weary's here, we're okay.'
"Looking back, you realise how bloody lucky you were. For three-and-a-half years, he battled on."
Chalker was present the day Dunlop, having been log-tortured and with broken ribs from a beating with sticks, limped back to the hospital tent and resumed his operating schedule.
"You think, `Who else would do this'?" Now 84, Chalker says: "When Weary died, he took a part of us with him."
Included in the collection is Chalker's painting of Dunlop performing an amputation in the bamboo hut lined with mosquito netting that passed for an operating theatre in the Chungkai camp in 1943.
The collection also has possibly the most famous of all Burma Railway images. Titled Working Men, Konyu Camp, October 1942, it shows a barefooted man supporting an emaciated companion, who is struggling along with a bamboo walking stick.
The Jack Chalker Collection will remain on display in the Melbourne Museum's Australia Gallery until June 23.
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In this section
Aboriginal remains to return home
Use of foetal tissue attracts wide support
'Blokey' Australia will have a female PM, says Vanstone
Mayor says Waste Management has managed to waste quite enough
Ombudsman slams $350,000 payment to gaming body
Minister supports crime court
Medibank cuts jobs to stem losses
Bid to stop bleating about the the bush
US medical patent plan may cost us millions
Catholic order to pay out $3.6 mil
The best of friends... with a little beef
Backing for baby sleep theory
Pratt's man goes for a little pratfall
BHP unions make 'goodwill' gesture
Honorary Anzac sees his Burma heroes go home
|text | handheld (how to)||
Copyright © 2002 The Age Company Ltd
|advertise | contact us| | <urn:uuid:20a5d299-7925-4f85-bead-7e41bda2a2e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/12/1023864298731.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965629 | 869 | 2.625 | 3 |
Lauinger Library can provide library instruction to non-Georgetown groups on a limited basis to support a well-defined research need that requires Georgetown University Library resources. We do not provide walking tours of the building.
Please contact the Library Instruction Coordinator at least two weeks in advance to make arrangements. Groups should plan to visit with a clear educational objective in mind. For example, students should have research topics to investigate or library research tools or collections they are ready to use. Be sure to provide:
- Name of school or group
- Contact person, email and phone number
- Purpose of visit and educational objective
- Preferred dates and times of visit
- Number of students
Library Instruction Coordinator 202-687-7452
The Georgetown University Library collections are designed to support the university’s curriculum. Because these materials are not appropriate for elementary or middle school students, we will provide instruction only for high school-age students and above. Due to limited computer workstations in the library instruction classroom, groups are limited to 24 individuals. A teacher, librarian or school library media specialist must accompany classes. Groups of more than 15 must have an additional chaperone. The best times for visits are during Spring Break (first week of March), Summer Sessions (mid-May through the first week of August), and Winter Break (mid-December through mid-January). We are not able to accommodate requests for dates in September, October, February or March after Spring Break. Borrowing privileges are not available to anyone not associated with Georgetown University. | <urn:uuid:57280945-7031-4104-adf5-5b8fe4c0e216> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.library.georgetown.edu/policies/entrance-use/tours?quicktabs_3=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933668 | 314 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Josephine Cygal's wedding dress, first worn in June 1943, wasn't exactly pampered over the years. When it wasn't playing a part during a game of dress-up, it lay unwrapped and unpreserved in the bottom of a laundry hamper.
Still, Jaymi Brandt, Cygal's granddaughter, was able to wear the short-sleeved, embroidered gown at her wedding last September.
"It's always been my dream to wear it," said Brandt of Barrington Hills, who remembers trying on the dress when she was a girl.
Even in a time when designers like Monique Lhuillier and Vera Wang dazzle brides-to-be with their astonishingly beautiful--and astonishingly expensive--dresses, a few brides hold on to the tradition of wearing their mother's or grandmother's wedding gown.
"I think there's an upsurge [in wearing vintage dresses] because we're feeling nostalgic right now," said Pamela Vanderlaan, business manager at the Dress Doctor, a Michigan Avenue shop that specializes in restoring vintage wedding gowns.
Much can happen to a wedding gown in the decades before it is worn again. Fabrics discolor and even disintegrate over time, said Tim Long, assistant curator of costumes at the Chicago Historical Society. Natural materials like cotton or silk stand the test of time longer than synthetics, he said.
Fabrics also react to how they are stored. For instance, the popular method of preserving garments in a sealed box actually harms them, because the seal traps gases and other elements in the box along with the dress, Long explained.
But most dresses manage to weather the ravages of age and storage.
In her two years at the Dress Doctor, Vanderlaan said she has never seen a gown that was beyond repair.
The restoration process, which includes cleaning and pressing, can cost from $80 to $900 and takes about three months.
Chicagoan Debbie Ginsberg, 35, spent around $500 restoring her great-grandmother's 1906 wedding dress for her own wedding last October.
"I'm not into the whole dress-shopping thing. Something meaningful is more important than something fashionable," said Ginsberg, adding that her mother, Gail Cohen Ginsberg, also wore the high-necked, white eyelet gown for her wedding in Dec. 1966.
To prepare the dress for Ginsberg, the restoration process took four months. Stains were removed, a panel was added to the back to widen it and a crinoline underskirt was made to fill out the dress. The time and cost were worth it, Ginsberg said. "People said it was one of the loveliest dresses they'd seen."
Brandt, 28, paid about $800 to have her grandmother's dress cleaned and altered.
As a tribute to 93-year-old Josephine Cygal, Brandt tried to copy Cygal's wedding-day look with not only the dress, but pearls, simple shoes adorned with a bow and a veil placed on the back of her head.
And how did Cygal react?
"On the video, she has a big smile on her face, but when I went to give her a kiss, she pulled me close and said, 'You should have worn the veil on top of your head,'" Brandt said. | <urn:uuid:ea7d49ac-fc33-4b02-8255-c5194035aa40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-03-02/features/0503020003_1_wedding-dress-wedding-gown-dress-shopping | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969991 | 698 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Solid Tumor: Desmoid Tumors
Alternate Names: fibromatosis juvenile (infantile) fibromatosis, aggressive fibromatosis, desmoid fibromatosis
- Desmoid tumors occur in children and young adults.
- They arise from muscle or connective tissue (“soft tissue”) around muscles or bones, and can appear anywhere in the body.
- Desmoid tumors are very rare, accounting for less than 1 percent of childhood tumors.
- They can occur at any time throughout childhood.
- The cause of desmoid tumors is unknown.
- In some patients, desmoid tumors can occur as part of an inherited syndrome called Gardner Syndrome, in which patients also have colon polyps or colon cancer.
- Desmoid tumors can also occur in pregnant women, which has led to the theory that hormones may influence growth.
- Most of the time, desmoid tumors occur in previously healthy patients with no other medical problems.
Clinical Features and Symptoms
Desmoid tumors usually appear as visible or palpable masses in the soft tissue beneath the skin.
They can be painful.
They can grow to be quite large (4 – 5 inches) in diameter before they are discovered.
They can spread to involve nearby normal tissues around them.
Depending on where the tumor is located, other symptoms may occur.
Desmoid tumors usually occur as a single tumor, but sometimes a patient may have more than one tumor at diagnosis.
Desmoid tumors are neither a truly benign nor a truly malignant cancer.
They can be life-threatening if located next to vital organs like the spine or trachea (windpipe) .
Surgical removal of the entire tumor usually achieves a cure. However, if even small amounts of tumor cells remain, the tumor can grow back again.
Depending on the location of the tumor, surgical removal may not be possible. In these cases, radiation therapy or chemotherapy may prevent further tumor growth or cause the tumor to disappear.
The St. Jude Web site is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, you should consult your health care provider. | <urn:uuid:5a5fe53a-a920-407f-af2d-f28272c8f430> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=459d061585f70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=3b8fbfe82e118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926099 | 501 | 3.296875 | 3 |
On September 30, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act is set to expire. Sounding the alarm for public support, local HIV/AIDS service providers say millions of Americans living with HIV/AIDS are dependent for their medical care on the Ryan White programs, making it vital that the act is reauthorized by Congress.
“The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act is a critical part of our health care safety net,” said Randall Ellis, director of government relations for Legacy Community Health Services. “Timely extension of this legislation is essential to ensure that uninsured and underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS do not experience a gap in the delivery of life-saving medical and supportive services as our nation transitions into a new health care environment. An unprecedented consensus among those on the frontlines of the epidemic, nearly 300 HIV/AIDS organizations in 45 states across the country, have endorsed a plan that would amend and reauthorize this legislation for three years. Congress must act swiftly when they return to Washington, DC, in September.”
Enacted in 1990, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act was named after a teenager infected with HIV who became a national spokesman for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. The largest federal program for helping people with HIV/AIDS, the act makes care available to those patients who cannot afford treatments by any other means. Starting with $220 million in 1990, funding of the Ryan White programs in 2005 increased to $2.1 billion with roughly one-third of the funding going to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, providing HIV-treatment drugs to low-income patients in all 50 states.
According to an August 26 news release from Centerlink (formerly the National Association of LGBT Community Centers), Ryan White HIV/AIDS programs are the “payer of last resort,” helping people living with HIV/AIDS who have no other way of paying for their medication and treatments. Without the programs funded by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act, these people would literally be unable to afford their medical care, the news release said.
Activists recommend that the Ryan White Program be extended for three more years with the recommended changes, such as the inclusion of Such Sums Necessary language, the updating of the Requirement of Name-Based Reporting language, and the extension of TGA eligibility, which has been endorsed by over 270 organizations across the U.S. - by Nancy Ford
Editor’s note: OutSmart urges readers to contact their legislators to recommend extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act to avoid service disruptions to persons with HIV/AIDS. | <urn:uuid:59549c2d-999b-4757-95a1-4ee4285db852> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://outsmartmagazine.com/2009/09/reauthorization-sought-for-ryan-white-hivaids-treatment-modernization-act/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954722 | 545 | 1.96875 | 2 |
liberated (part of speech: verb)
dismissed (part of speech: verb)
refused (part of speech: verb)
vindicated (part of speech: verb)
forgave (part of speech: verb)
annulled (part of speech: verb)
dissolved, negated, destroyed, undone, disavowed, eradicated, annulled, nullified, denied, withdrew, abnegated, eliminated, canceled, deleted, vetoed, repudiated, divorced, withdrawn, invalidated, refuted, effaced, rejected, extinguished, abolished, disclaimed, disaffirmed, retracted, revoked, obliterated, neutralized, undid
acquited (part of speech: verb)
- And it'll be dismissed. - "Courts and Criminals", Arthur Train.
- He says he found that the Attorney General had not looked into the record carefully, and so he did not think the case should be dismissed. - "The Squatter and the Don", C. Loyal.
- Alexina having arranged it to her satisfaction dismissed the subject. - "The Sisters-In-Law", Gertrude Atherton. | <urn:uuid:a58f1034-b1a6-4f56-b1b3-e30b4814bcf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dictionarylink.com/dismissed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920476 | 247 | 2.6875 | 3 |
I'm interested in investing in power functions based trains, but want to automate switching points. Is this possible? What is the cheapest / easiest way of achieving this?
There is a pure way of changing the points at a track. It requires as few pieces as you like: a motor and two technic beam/bricks. This video demonstrates the principles of point changing with a NXT motor and will work with PF and RCX.
You can use Mindstorms to program the events that trigger the points to change, it will cost you extra but there are benefits.
One elegant solution is to use pneumatic elements, as a small pneumatic pump is enough to move the lever. If you're lazy to figure out how, you can buy a kit from a fan which will allow you to control 2 points (you'll need one more pump to generate the pressure). With the included instructions, you can build more controls if you have the parts, or simply buy more kits. (He also sells compatible pneumatic hose by the meter, and his custom waggons are nice as well).
His design is very compact, probably much more than you'll be able to get with electrical power; plus, it saves energy. The only drawback in my opinion is the hoses which you'll need to run from your control station to each point, which are slightly larger that electrical cables.
Another typical solution is to use a motor which controls the point. This will take more place, and you have to be careful that the motor doesn't run too far (use a clutch gear). One promising way is to use the new small linear actuator: which should behave more or less like the mini pneumatic pump; but of course any other Technical solution should be good. Use your imagination, or dive into BrickShelf in search of inspiration.
Of course, you'll need to run electrical wires, or use infrared receivers, but then you'll be limited in the number of points you can control. Note that sometimes, the configuration of your layout means that pairs of switches can be controlled together (think of a bypass to change from one track to the other), so that you can spare some control channels, or wires.
Non-LEGO solutions can be achieved with about anything, including solenoids (electrical actuators), which LEGO doesn't produce. One other elegant solution I can think of is to use bike brake cable, but I have no real idea if that would be easy to do. | <urn:uuid:065a52fa-f3e0-4a2c-b386-aaceeaabe38f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/512/can-i-remotly-control-the-points-on-pf-train-tracks?answertab=oldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959247 | 510 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Page 1, Chapter 1, Verse 1: Making Moves
The magic number is 198. That’s the distance in miles (318 kilometers for all you engineers) from UML to my apartment in
Now the majority of kids, when they move to college, have never lived away from home before. This newly discovered freedom can cause a student to behave many different ways, but there are two that are most apparent in my mind.
First scenario, the student becomes consumed by the party scene. They end up marching to the tune of Sean Kingston’s Sleep All Day (And Party All Night) and when the grades are released over winter break, they find themselves on academic probation. Potentially having this classic conversation…
Hopefully, this is enough for the student to get their act together, develop some decent study habits, and turn things around for the Spring semester (and the rest of college). OR they will SAY that they will do all of what I previously stated, but instead keep the “dream” alive. I think Animal House sums it up again pretty well...
After one year of college they find themselves changing majors, taking summer courses, taking a year off or just calling it quits period.
Second scenario, the student understands their new found freedom, and becomes more self aware. College doesn’t wait for you, or put up with your excuses. The student understands they need to wake up go to class, pay attention, do their work, or suffer the consequences.
*Side note: This is what bothers me about the world today, people thinking they are entitled, that they don't need to suffer the consequences. When did the whole world become one big participation award, the whole every kid gets a trophy, 6th place ribbons, there is something for everyone, everyone is a winner, etc. NO! College isn’t like that. There are winners and losers. No one is going to hold little Johnny Jones or Susie Snowflakes hand all through college. If you fail, YOU FAIL, no second chances, no extra credit. Better luck next time! So that’s why I don’t feel bad for the kids who drank or slept their way out of the engineering program, and then are all upset saying something along the lines of, “This test/paper/professor is (insert profanity), I pay a lot of money to go to school here.” Maybe if you cared an inkling about your school work, and not about that extra hour of sleep, getting a few games of ruit in on Tuesday night, or 3 hours of Zombies/Team Death Match, you would have passed. Cause if I could quote a great man, myself, “There is nothing better than going out on the weekends and knowing you’re getting good grades.” Anyway…
The student finds a good balance between social life and academic life, making them both a better student, and a better person.
As for me, I have not lived at home for the past 13 summers, and since starting college, I live at home maybe 2 months of the year. So when I moved into UML freshman year, I knew the deal. I went to class, got my work done on time, studied for my exams and earned those top notch grades. And I still manage to go out with my friends over the weekends and have time for myself.
So now I’m in
Instead of my school work, I have actual work. When you are employed by a company, you are on their dollar, so “time is money.” Their money! So you can’t procrastinate and wait till the last minute, because at the end of the day, it’s a business, deadlines are real, extensions don’t exist, and expectations have to be met. Otherwise, it costs the company money, and in the business world, everyone is cheap.
My point is, moving away from home is a big deal, and you don’t really understand how big of a deal it is until you’ve left. Moving, away for a summer Co-Op isn’t all about the work experience either, there are a lot of fun things to do up here in
To be continued… | <urn:uuid:cf97dc42-4e7f-499e-831b-3666edc6277c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.uml.edu/hawktalk/jared/2011/07/page_1_chapter_1_verse_1_making_moves.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954042 | 888 | 1.875 | 2 |
George Rhete one of the first printing of the 16. Century in SzczecinOf admin | 29. September 2010 | Category: Biographies, Digital Library, Genealogies | Comments Off
But neither this fact nor the general introduction of the Reformation in Pomerania 1534, could Szczecin still in Greifswald establish at that time a book printer Officin. The first Buchrucker were usually also the publisher. The first publisher I call in this area was George Rhete.
He was the founder of today's F. Hessenland'schen letterpress printing and typography at the same ancestor of a second sex in Szczecin. Almost simultaneously with Johann Eichhorn and his son Andreas Kellner, Rhete acquired in 1577 Duke John Frederick the privilege of a printer in the Old-Stettin.
Little is known about the origin, no doubt, but he came from Greifenberg, had studied in Frankfurt on the Oder, and in 1573 as a sub-deacon and clerk at the St. Mary's Church served. His commission as such, dated 1. January 1573, while only from Easter from his office for a year and managed 30 Guilders and 1 Wispel rye and free lodging in the home of a little Domstrasse, the bell tower of St Mary's received over.
In 1574 Rhete handed a petition to the patronage of St. Mary's Church because of his salary increase, and authorization of wood grain and one, But he received a negative response. These offices he managed with care and loyalty for eight years and was 1581 Finally, pastor of St.. Peter and Paul Church.
George was the first Rhete, who dealt in Szczecin with the making of calendars and other Prognosticis. 1577 the idea came to him in addition to his official activities to have their own printing press. He sent letters and calendar signs, even hand-carved wooden characters missing, let himself make a wooden press, and since Rhete had received in the same year of Duke Johann Friedrich the authority to publish his calendar, he made it up myself. Also from him a description of the Szczecin came on 13. November 1577 Comets seen, he on 1. January 1578 published. (The first publication is waiter 1576 printed hymnal called)
George was married to Anna Rhete Ramelow, the daughter of the mayor to Treptow and had ten children from this. Rhete died on 15. February 1586. After his death, took over the writing of David Herlicius Calendar, remained during the pressure in the Rhete'schen Buchdruckerei. The latter took the eldest son Jochim, who had learned the art of printing with the Father. Jochim was born on 2. February 1566 and having been married since 4. September 1592 Elisabeth Cradeln, the daughter of the Prince Philip moneyer Cradeln. After his death, his son, David, the business of the Father. David was married to Regina Wentland and received at 24. More 1625 by Duke Bogusław XIV. his commission as a book printer to Old-Stettin….
Meyer, William Henry: History of book printing and publishing of action of F. Hessenland in Szczecin : the year 1577 by the year 1877, Szczecin: Druck der Officin. (Shrub with a genealogy of the families, Struck, Hessenland, Redies, Meyer) | <urn:uuid:9eb26f65-1bbd-451e-a2d1-1747e90ea5c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rambow.de/buchdruckerei-hessenland-und-georg-rhete.html?lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977811 | 752 | 2.390625 | 2 |
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is both a story of scientific progress and a biography of the poor Southern family whose matriarch, Henrietta Lacks, made that progress possible. It is also a critical exploration of the interplay between science, race, class, and ethics in the United States. Finally, it is, at times, the personal narrative of Rebecca Skloot, a reporter who worked for 10 years to learn these stories and to tell them. Cassandra Campbell’s performance captures the full range of tone in these elegantly woven narratives. She delivers what the story demands of her, uniting several storytelling styles into one single, dynamic voice.
In her narration, Campbell makes particularly masterful use of distance and proximity. At some points in the story, she has the cool tone of an investigative reporter, duly noting the gruesome evidence of patient mistreatment at the Hospital for the Negro Insane in the 1950s or the horrors of medical malpractice in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. When she tells the stories of the members of the Lacks family, her voice is warm and compassionate, but still carries the distinct distance of a biographer/observer. And, at a few rare but poignant moments in the story, Campbell’s voice sounds exposed and intimately close to the listener’s ear, as the narrative brings us inside Skloot’s own struggle to understand and cope with the uncomfortable truths and thorny issues Henrietta’s story raises.
Bahni Turpin, who performs the dialogue for all the members of the Lacks family, supplies those voices with more than the appropriate dialect. Though she speaks for several different characters some of them appear only briefly or infrequently in the story Turpin manages to give unique weight and depth to each. Her portrayal of Zacharia Lacks, Henrietta’s youngest son, is perhaps most exceptional in its taciturn conveyance of anger, love, and pain. Emily Elert
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells, taken without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years.
If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they'd weigh more than 50 million metric tons - as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings.
HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bombs effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.
Now, Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the colored ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henriettas small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.
Henrietta's family did not learn of her immortality until more than 20 years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family, past and present, is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.
©2010 Rebecca Skloot; (P)2010 Random House
"One of the most graceful and moving nonfiction books I’ve read in a very long time…The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks…floods over you like a narrative dam break, as if someone had managed to distill and purify the more addictive qualities of Erin Brockovich, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and The Andromeda Strain.…it feels like the book Ms. Skloot was born to write. It signals the arrival of a raw but quite real talent.” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times)
"Writing with a novelist's artistry, a biologist's expertise, and the zeal of an investigative reporter, Skloot tells a truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force." (Booklist)
"Science journalist Skloot makes a remarkable debut with this multilayered story about 'faith, science, journalism, and grace.'...A rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society's most vulnerable people." (Publishers Weekly)
I cannot say enough good things about this book. Yes, it is a book about science; and you will understand it. It is a book about a family; and you will love them. It is a book that honestly explores racism;and you will cringe. It is a book about a tenacious reporter; and you will know this was her book to write....The narration is exceptional. This book will inspire you, break your heart, and teach you. Buy the book , use your credit, you will not regret getting this great read.
I have spent the last few days glued to my iPod until its battery ran down (twice), with this book.
This is one of the most compelling books I have ever read -well-written, with subject matter unbelievable and staggering in its implications for medicine.
Henrietta Lacks died at the age of 31 at Johns Hopkins in 1951, in the black ward, of cervical cancer. Her doctor retrieved a tissue sample from her cervix --something researchers do routinely -- to place the cells into a culture. Such cells were increasingly useful in the new field of virology.
Henrietta's cells lived, and they named this new cell line HeLa, using first letters from both of her names. HeLa cells were so robust, and replicated so fast, that their use has revolutionized medicine and lab research. They are the most commonly used research cells in the world. And for over 30 years, her family never knew or understood their importance.
Science writer Rebecca Skloot is wonderful with the clarity of her scientific explanations for the layman, and the timeline of important scientific events and discoveries made by the use of HeLa cells. The family's story is very moving. And her examination of the legal and moral ramifications of human tissue handling is even-handed and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.
It's hard to imagine that so much scientific research and advancement in medicine could come from the cells of one person. Skoolt exposes this story with loving detail, and helps us understand where the personal history of one family and science meet. All I can say is thank you, and bravo for a book so well written. And thank you to Lacks family for having the courage to trust and share their story after being taken advantage of by so many others.
Incredibly engaging and given that this history has so much to do with all humans alive today; also for anyone we know who has not died from a curable infection or certain cancers and that fewer and fewer people die from diseases that are now almost eradicated in many parts of the world, suffering and death are at an all time low due to this amazing woman's cells.
I want to thank Rebecca Skloot for her tenacity and without her willingness to give so much of HER life to telling the truth on this story; we would be forever ignorant to such an important and integral part of all our lives.
The story is one of innocence, intrigue and all out war; a fight that the Lacks family may never win, but with public outcry, and this book; I believe that this part of her story may very well change.
I think that there will always be pushback from the medical and scientific community, when it comes to our rights about our bodies and as human beings. Also, some of the issues raised in this book will be ones we will be addressing for the next few hundred years! I believe that these and others we can not even comprehend; will be issues that societies as a whole will hotly debate and those societies woes in this area will carry on debates of one kind or other for all time.
I highly recommend this book it is truly one that will be cited in history books and should be used (and most likely will be) in all medical and school curriculums.
The audio book was narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin, both of which I first experienced in the phenomenal book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I remain impressed with their skills of narration, and will start perusing their lists of audio books more frequently.
This book was absolutely fascinating. Miss Skloot was able to re-humanize an important aspect of science who had been objectified and exploited from the start, but to the overall benefit and evolution of medical science, its ethics and practice. The Immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks (HeLa) as the medium, has had a profound impact on biological studies, the likes for which the entire world could and should be grateful.
This is not just a recollection of scientific and biological history, but a biography of Henrietta's legacy. The book also offers a valuable snapshot of the dismissive and often cruel nature of race relations and segregation that took place as little as 60 years ago. Though she and her family suffered greatly, I am glad to know of Mrs. Lacks. I'm also thankful for what she and the scientific community has done for me, my friends, family, and the world.
This book was easy to listen to, understand, and follow. I highly recommend this audio book!
This was an outstanding listen, with superb narration. I was impressed with Rebecca Skloot's remarkable powers of observation and objectivity, and found it refreshing not to be walloped by a writer's agenda.
I was expecting the science story to be intriguing, and it is, but the interweaving of the Lacks family members into the fabric of the narrative is masterful. The real-life events of Henrietta's children held me in a grip, and often kept me listening long past the points I planned to pause.
This is a necessary book - aside from informing us about what seems today like the the dark ages of cancer research and the reported unfair treatment of minorities by the medical community in the era of Henrietta Lacks, it's time we all became more enlightened as to the fate of our body products once we part with them in a doctor's office, lab or hospital. This book raises important issues as to the space required for storage of all discarded tissue, which is unlike printed material that can be converted to digital format.
As an historical novel there are bound to be characters that are not "likable" nor relatable in the usual fictional sense. This family was troubled in many ways, in addition to the implied racial implications, the possible malpractice issues regarding the HeLa cells, and losing any financial stake in the success of the HeLa cell line. The family came to Baltimore to be part of the then growing steel industry. They were originally from a bare bones town in Virginia, having farmed their own tobacco crops after indirectly inheriting the property after being emancipated from slave status. There were some hard workers amongst the marginal characters, but basically this was a hard-strapping family who had to make do in order to survive. And several of them fell by the wayside to crime and mental dysfunction.
The book is well-written, even with the frequent disjunctions in time periods. It can be difficult to follow the genealogy and plethora of major and minor characters, and the myriad mentions of various studies. But all that is mere technicality.
The book accomplishes its goal of promoting proper documentation of, and credit for - financial or otherwise - biological tissues that are saved and used for research. It raise the question of ownership of our own tissues, and whether or not we have proprietary rights to our own bodies, in situ or in vitro.
I thought the weaving of the different characters was expertly done, loved the audible interview with the author at the end. great read - couldn't stop listening!
I am a scientist, and I enjoy reading books about science that would also appeal to the general public. This book is wonderful: I really enjoy the interweaving of science with the lives of the people in Henrietta's family. It is so interesting to learn about the history of the family, as well as about all the things that these cells have been used for, and all the things they have been involved in.
Report Inappropriate Content | <urn:uuid:26b3d5db-bc2b-4d0a-80df-638ef9a591e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=pr_rev_1_2?asin=B0035FVJQQ&_escaped_fragment_=/followNotice/close | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966919 | 2,709 | 2.3125 | 2 |
In many ways, the success of your business depends on your marketing abilities. A successful marketing plan includes the following components:
Packaging and labeling
Investing in a good marketing plan will generate excellent returns.
However, there's more to a winning marketing plan or advertising campaign than a profitable product or service. Unfair, untruthful or purposely deceptive advertising can result in costly penalties. The resources below provide information on how you can legally advertise your small business:
Learn how to avoid making false and misleading statements
How to comply with labeling laws for consumer products.
Specific rules for advertising and selling products over the Internet.
Learn the rules for advertising specific products; everything from alcohol to 900 numbers.
Rules for marketing and advertising over the phone.
Learn the rules for making environmental or "green" claims in advertising.
Tools and resources to help you market and advertise your business.
Resources to help you learn about your customers as well as competitors. | <urn:uuid:930d322f-6347-4dc5-94f6-ceb5c9ef8b67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sba.gov/content/advertising-law | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9189 | 196 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Date: 10 May 2012
The event will be held in Ankara , Turkey , with the participation of distinguished participants from academia, government, civil society, international organizations, and the press. The list of well known participants making opening remarks, presentations and commenting on the publication includes:
Managing Director of TEPAV
Muhammad H. Malik
Economic Affairs Officer
Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Country briefing note <download pdf file>
After achieving high growth rates in 2010 and 2011, economy is projected to slow down in the current year
The economy of Turkey , which is comparatively more open than most other economies in Asia due to its strong trading links with the European Union countries, contracted sharply in 2009 due to the global economic crisis.
However, a sound macroeconomic policy and reforms implemented in the previous years helped to limit financial system stress by keeping the balance sheets of banks and households strong, which successfully contained interest and exchange rate volatility. The implementation of a flexible policy response in terms of relaxation of fiscal, monetary and financial policies also contributed to the strong economic recovery.
After growing at 9% in 2010, GDP expanded by 8.5% in 2011, driven by strong private investment and consumption. Domestic demand increased at a rapid rate, financed by loan growth made feasible by historically low interest rates.
However, even though the Turkish economy remains relatively more robust, it is not immune to stress in the international financial markets due to its high current account deficit, which has made the country dependent on external financing and thus exposed to fluctuations in global liquidity cycles.
Because of its stronger linkages with the European economies coupled with a weaker global outlook and signs of slowing demand at home, GDP growth in Turkey is projected to slow to 3.2% in 2012.
Inflationary pressure remains strong
In Turkey , inflationary pressure remained strong. Average inflation was 6.5% in 2011 as compared to 8.6% in the previous year. While inflation fell in 2011 but it was still high, partly due to a substantial depreciation of the Turkish lira and indirect tax increases announced in October 2011. Inflationary pressures increased sharply towards the end of the year when monthly inflation reached double digit in December 2011.
This trend has been continuing since the beginning of 2012. Monthly inflation remained double digit during the first three months of 2012. However, with GDP growth moderating and commodity prices facing downward pressure, inflation is expected to come down later in the year.
Eased monetary policy maintained to support growth
The central bank of Turkey has kept the country's key policy rate low and partly reversed recent hikes in the banks' required reserve ratios for long-term liabilities. It is being cautious about pursuing a tightening monetary policy due to the highly uncertain global environment and the expected decline in economic growth of the country in 2012.
Budget deficit has been falling over the last two years
Turkey posted an improvement in its fiscal performance. The country's budget deficit, which increased sharply in 2009, eased to 1.4% of GDP in 2011 from 3.6% in 2010.
The economic policy programme of the Government presented to the Parliament in July 2011 called for a fairer and simpler tax system, with an increase in the proportion of tax revenue coming from direct taxes. The Government intends to keep fiscal policy tight and is looking to the private sector to drive economic growth.
Large current account deficit raises concerns
In Turkey , higher commodity prices and credit fuelled domestic demand, which outstripped domestic supply, resulted in a rapid expansion of imports. As a result, the country's current account deficit rose to 10% of GDP in 2011.
Sustainability of such a large deficit raises concerns about its financing given ongoing global financial volatility. A sudden reduction or reversal of capital flows could have serious repercussions for the Turkish economy.
Even though the Turkish lira depreciated substantially against major currencies in 2011, an improvement in the country's external account is likely to be gradual in the year ahead due to expected weaker global demand, and technical constraints on import substitution. The Government plans to tackle the services current account deficit problem by promoting innovation, domestic production of intermediate goods and the use of alternative energy sources.
Factors behind the decline of the Turkish lira were the country's large current account deficit and low interest policy.
Policy brief: Living with high commodity prices <download pdf file> | <urn:uuid:da889524-833f-4d36-8862-944e2c6a1c52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/survey2012/notes/Turkey.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949528 | 898 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Space technology spins off knee brace
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, have leveraged space technology to invent an innovative knee brace for those recovering from strokes and knee injuries. Called the Selectively Lockable Knee Brace, the prototype device could mean quicker, less painful rehabilitation by allowing movement of the knee. Currently available knee braces lock the knee in a rigid, straight-leg position. In the new design, the upper part of the brace attaches around the thigh, with the lower part secured by a stirrup around the shoe. "It works by allowing the knee to bend when weight is not on the heel," explains co-inventor Neill Myers. "Once weight is placed on the heel, the brace locks into position." The device is a spin-off of mechanisms and materials technology used in developing propulsion systems at Marshall. The inventors are working with a private company to test the prototype and verify the design. For details, e-mail Dave Drachlis at email@example.com.
Carbon nanotubes contain chemical reaction
A team of researchers from three institutions has carried out a chemical reaction in what may be the world's smallest set of test tubes: carbon nanotubes with inside diameters of less than 10 nanometers and lengths of just one micron. The work could ultimately have important applications in microelectronics and other fields where extremely small conductors and other structures would allow production of new types of nanoscale devices. Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincotron in Brazil, and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland formed the carbon nanotubes, then opened the ends and allowed capillary action to fill them with molten silver nitrate. In the final step, they decomposed the silver nitrate into metallic silver by heating the tubes with a beam from an electron microscope. The process resulted in chains of tiny silver beads within many of the nanotubes, each bead separated by a pocket of gas under pressure as high as 1,300 atmospheres. Next, the team wants to use the process to produce a continuous metallic wire with a graphite sheath around it. The technique could also be used in flat-panel displays and to produce encapsulated compounds. For more information, visit http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/rco.asp.
Diaphragm pacemaker could enable independent breathing
Surgeons at Penn State's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center recently implanted a medical device that may eventually allow the patient--a former high-school athlete--to breathe without a ventilator for the first time since a summer sports injury rendered him a quadriplegic. If the surgery proves successful, the patient's nerves will regenerate enough to use the implanted device--a tiny electrode and radio receiver with an implanted antenna. Doctors performed two nerve grafts during the six-hour surgery. After a few months, the implanted pacemaker's application of repetitive stimulus patterns to the phrenic nerves should result in smooth, rhythmic contractions of the diaphragm, thus allowing air into the lungs. Diaphragm pacing is far less expensive than using a mechanical ventilator. The technology also lets patients live outside of hospitals and nursing homes, eliminating the cost of inpatient care. Added benefits include: more normal breathing and speech, ease of eating and drinking, increased patient mobility, unobtrusiveness of the equipment, and silent operation. E-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Satellite-based remote sensing to map Earth resources
Within two years, scientists hope to launch satellites that will let them produce the most complete maps of the composition and temperature of the Earth's surface. The data are essential in exploring for natural resources such as minerals and natural-gas deposits, monitoring global warming, or giving early warning of volcanic eruptions. The satellites, making up an Earth Observing System, will use remote sensing to gather data for studying the planet's surface and atmosphere. One of the goals is to make, for the first time, a worldwide map of the thermal radiation emitted from the planet's surface. John Salisbury, a research scientist at the Johns Hopkins Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, pioneered the technique using an infrared spectrometer to learn what something is made of by analyzing the thermal radiation it emits. He is compiling a library of the spectral signatures of infrared radiation emitted by specific materials. These data will help scientists interpret the satellite data. FAX Johns Hopkins at (410) 516-5251.
Process yields durable, lightweight metal parts
A metals-forming process developed about 25 years ago by MIT scientists is now giving automobile components manufacturers a new way to produce highly durable, lightweight precision parts. The process, known as rheocasting, is taking off mainly because of new automotive industry requirements for long-life, reliable, and lightweight parts that cannot be met by the traditional forming process of die casting. MIT has licensed the process to Alumax Inc., St. Louis, which has used it primarily to make longer-lasting aluminum automotive components for suspensions and air conditioners. Rheocasting was discovered in 1971 by David Spencer, then a doctoral student in the lab of Professor Merton Flemings of MIT's department of materials science and engineering. Spencer found that agitation of a molten metal during solidification made it smooth and creamy when it was partly solid, like ice cream. It was immediately clear to researchers that this flowable semisolid material could be the basis of a wholly new metal-forming process. The original work was supported by the Office of Naval Research and the Army Research Office, subsequent work by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and current work by the DOE and industry. E-mail Elizabeth Thomson at email@example.com.
Modems go cordless
Operating on the same principle as cordless telephones, new cordless modem technology jointly developed by IBM and Panasonic allows users to go on-line without physically connecting to a phone jack. Instead, the data are transmitted directly between the PC and a small device connected to the jack. Because the technology requires no software, driver, or operating-system changes to PCs, it literally offers users "plug-and-play" convenience. Based on patent-pending technology originally developed at IBM Research, the cordless modem technology delivers V.34 connections at speeds up to 28.8 kbps using a modified radio architecture similar to that used in current 900-MHz cordless phones. By basing the technology on existing protocols, the two companies each anticipate developing products this year that support high-speed analog modem data rates at an affordable cost. E-mail firstname.lastname@example.org or email@example.com.
Plans afoot to convert natural gas to diesel fuel
Exxon Corp. may build the oil industry's first plant to cost-effectively convert natural gas into liquid fuels such as diesel. The firm is in talks with Qatar's state-owned oil company to build such a plant--using Exxon's technology--supplied by oil fields too remote for natural-gas pipelines. Such liquid fuels are more easily transportable and are cleaner, too: Natural gas-produced diesel is of a higher quality than that produced from crude oil, and has no sulfur. When burned, it produces less carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions. Tulsa, OK-based Syntroleum Corp. is working on a similar project. Visit http://www.calstart.org.
Prosthetic foot promises better balance
ATufts University bioengineer has developed a prosthetic foot that he says better mimics how a biological foot works. Besides helping amputees maintain their balance and stand, walk, or run more naturally, the new design decreases the pressure that can cause painful and dangerous wounds to the area where the prosthesis attaches to the leg. Current prosthetic feet are fairly good at shock absorption and propulsion, or "push off," says inventor Mark R. Pitkin, research assistant professor of bioengineering at Tufts School of Medicine. But a natural foot also provides balance and gait control using 33 complex joints, 26 bones, and more than 100 ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Pitkin analyzed the electrical impulses in biological feet and lower leg muscles during a stance--the part of a stride when all or part of the foot is on the ground. Using that data, he pinpointed and measured the moments of resistance in the ankle joint produced by muscle and tendon contractions. Pitkin noticed that the pattern of resistance was nonlinear and concave, with resistance almost nonexistent in the first part of the stance as the body leans forward and weight shifts from the heel to the ball of the foot. He then mapped the resistance patterns of the most popular prosthetic feet and discovered that they didn't match the physical reality of the gait. Pitkin's device, called a rolling-joint foot, allows for a progressive buildup of resistance in each stance. "The idea is the foot rolls along, producing resistance in a certain pattern," he says. For more information, e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Light-duty, long-range natural gas vehicle debuts
The nation's first long-range natural gas vehicle has hit the road. The "LongRanger" van, a working prototype developed by Long Beach, CA-based NGV/USA Inc., is a modified Chrysler Dodge Ram 350 van that achieves extended range by using a Multi-Fuel Storage Chassis. This chassis design incorporates cavities into the structure of the frame that allow natural gas cylinders to reside there, rather than attaching the cylinders as an afterthought. Two 62 Χ 14.8-inch cylinders are attached with steel hoop rings and brackets lengthwise within storage cavities located in the modified frame rails. The two existing smaller tanks remain perpendicular to them in the rear of the frame between the rear axle and bumper. The overall dimensions, suspension, and drive train of the Chrysler remain unaltered. Together, the cylinders hold 27 gasoline-gallons equivalent of compressed natural gas--enough for the vehicle to travel up to 340 miles before refueling. Previously, natural gas vehicles had been limited to a 150-mile range. Preliminary research indicates that when mass-produced, this adaptation can be cost effective and modified to accommodate other alternative fuels, such as propane, hydrogen, and even electricity. Interest in natural gas vehicles has increased over the last seven years due to governmental mandates and heightened concern for the environment--natural gas is about 30% cheaper and burns twice as clean as gasoline. FAX NCV/USA at (310) 595-0446 | <urn:uuid:48e1c745-2db8-4462-823c-9bf21f7a4ac5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=223563 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92637 | 2,212 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Youth hockey teams usually participate in a few weekend long tournaments each season. It is customary for the teams hosting the tournament to present each players mom (or dad, grandmother, etc.) with a small pin they can wear during the tournament. It is usually created in each team's color, and it sports their child's jersey number and sometimes their name. While these pins can be purchased for tournaments, many hosts prefer to hand make the pins.
All of the pin projects I share below are easy to make and mass produce, and if all or most of the team parents gather together the task can be accomplished in an evening. These pins can also be modified to suit other youth sports teams, or they make fun magnets for refrigerators or lockers.
- Flaming Puck Pin
- Miniature Hockey Bag Pin
- Hockey Puck Pin
- Hockey Jersey Pin
- Pennant Pin
- Hockey Skate Pin
- Hockey Star Pin
I do have two other hockey related pin patterns I created, however I would not recommend making them for tournaments as they are more time consuming. They may serve as a fun gift for just your team moms (or dad, grandmother, etc.)
Please share your hockey pin ideas and designs and they may be feature here. If you want to explore more hockey craft projects, check out this page, or you can find hundreds more free beaded safety pin projects in this directory. | <urn:uuid:3b33c097-f7c6-4eee-ac39-56fa4bebeb66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familycrafts.about.com/od/broochespinstomake/a/hockeypins.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952506 | 288 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Radiologic Technology program at Concorde Career Colleges will provide and maintain an excellent learning environment and curriculum while preparing students for entry-level, diagnostic radiographer positions in the growing medical field. As part of their education, students will gain the knowledge and training necessary to perform medical imaging examinations. Students will develop problem solving and critical thinking skills, as well as practice effective communication skills. Students and graduates will demonstrate the values and ethics of the Registered Technologist in Radiology, RT. The Radiologic Technology program at Concorde Career Colleges provides the healthcare community with quality radiographers. | <urn:uuid:4e5ea33a-6956-4ebd-954e-247ba762b74f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://concorde.edusearch.com/program/radiologic-technology-aas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935306 | 117 | 1.914063 | 2 |
The Audio Library's mission is to make UN audio recordings available to media organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations, researchers and civil society at large, in order to foster public understanding of the United Nations and its goals. The Audio Library's role is to provide customers with the audio materials in a timely and efficient manner.
The Library provides audio recordings of meetings and events at UN Headquarters, as well as historic recordings of UN Radio programmes, Secretaries-General's collection, Interviews, among other. The files cover UN activities in a wide range of topics including human rights, peace keeping, education, health, conflict resolution, development, etc. The recordings are available for download via the library's website (link), or via FTP upon demand.
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New York, NY 10017 | <urn:uuid:1e660aeb-bdaf-4639-b2c3-5850e4d95bdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library/about.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914546 | 583 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Khajuraho Group of monuments is one of the ancient archaeological masterpieces of India built by the Chandel kings during the period 950-1050 AD. Located in central India in the state of Madhya Pradesh it stands as the evidence of a rich cultural heritage of the country. Set along the serene backdrop of beautiful villages, the sculptural works of the images and statues adorning these temples attract tourists worldwide. A small airport has been set up in the villages to handle the large number of tourists mostly the foreigners. Declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it is considered as one of the seven wonders of India.
The name Khajuraho is derived from the Khajur or the Indian date palm tree that grew in abundance in the adjoining villages. The Indian architecture reached its zenith during this medieval period as evidenced from these architectural marvels. Out of 84 temples built only 22 are in existence, the rest being destroyed due to the natural weathering and sheer neglect.
The life and the reign of the Chandela Rajputs are engraved on its walls with the finesse and craftsmanship that remains unparalleled even today. The Chandela dynasty is believed to have descended from the moon and the founder king Chandavarman started building the temple complex later finished through successive generations. The structures are built on high sandstone platforms. The columns, epistyles are all carved out of megaliths weighing about 20 tons.
Gorgeously carved arches leads to the opening facing eastwards. The ceilings are adorned with intricate geometric and floral designs. The roofs are designed in such a way that resembles the ranges of a mountain. Various manifestations of gods like Shiva and Shakti and the principles of Yin and Yang are carved out in these temples. The temples are divided into three divisions: western, eastern and southern. The western group is the most famous with the highest Kandariya Mahadev temple of a height of 31 meters.
A small part of the temples bear marvelous erotic structures which were carved out for the purpose of study for men after attaining manhood and before entering the family or "Garhasta" life. Besides, these erotic structures also reveal the inner feelings, passions and joy which are faced in reality by the human beings.
The temples have various facets of women carved out in pillars which are splendid projections of the womanhood. The colorful nature of the women - loving, caring, coquettish, innocence, smiling all are reflected in the various images of women. These represent the basic philosophy of a human life of carrying on the duties and responsibility amidst all the enjoyments of life.
Make your Khajuraho tour unforgettable with EliteTravelHub.com | <urn:uuid:67ec3249-d937-4d18-a72a-4643cda296d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elitetravelhub.com/khajuraho-tour-package.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954397 | 548 | 2.71875 | 3 |