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Learning ‘bout the environment
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Committed to recycling and GoingGreen, Saint Mary Academy Student Council members visited and learned about Waste Management’s Operation in Rochester recently. Students were briefed on Waste Management’s history, purpose and goals and then were led on a tour of the facilities, identifying both landfills, potential land fills, dump sites and locales for recycling of energy and goods. Saint Mary Academy Student Council received Foster’s GoingGreen Award in May of 2012 and returned to their school to promote environmental awareness, to educate their classmates about what and how to recycle and to encourage green living. | <urn:uuid:8a3dd4f2-d955-4e2c-bff8-c63f0d5b16b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121115/GJCOMMUNITY04/121119717/-1/FOSNews0413 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959335 | 148 | 2.046875 | 2 |
New kinds of social media are popping up like wildfire, but which ones are catching the eyes of consumers?
We all know the social media big timers—Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn—but a new wave of alternative social media sites are worth looking into. Some have been around a while, but they can still help your business’ visibility and discoverability.
- YouTube has been around since 2005 as a video sharing website. Recently, companies have been using this online tool to promote their services and advertise themselves. YouTube videos work because they are easily accessible and can be shared easily. Not to mention they help with Google Optimization.
- StumbleUpon was created to let users “stumble” through sites related to their interests. All companies have to do to become a part of StumbleUpon is submit their website and associated categories. From here, whenever a person clicks “stumble,” their website has a chance to pop up on the site. On StumbleUpon, a link to a company’s blog or specific product pages would be most effective.
- Pinterest (pictured above) is a different kind of social media site. A mix between StumbleUpon, Twitter, and Facebook, users can see images other users have “pinned,” or uploaded. You can “re-pin” an image someone else has already pinned onto your own boards. Users create boards and categorize them however they want, such as fitness, food, crafts, or weddings. Business can get into it, too. A bakery could utilize this site by uploading pictures of their wedding cakes and linking the pin on their website. Just one re-pin can reach hundreds of people. Uses of this site can be limitless to a company.
- Podcasts are a free tool that can be accessed on iTunes. Companies can create podcasts educating listeners about strategies used by the company and recent marketing efforts. It is a great way to keep clients up-to-date on your actions as a company. Podcasts also help with Google Optimization.
Social media has already proved itself to be effective among consumers. Expanding your social media outlets will further your competitive edge within the market, creating more buzz about your company. Businesses don’t need to try every outlet, it’s worth it to experiment and see which sites will benefit your business. | <urn:uuid:35b34bd7-c704-49dc-a894-b929d38042e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.envisionitmedia.com/blog/2012/01/dont-be-a-social-media-rookie-expand-your-reach/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963944 | 485 | 1.5 | 2 |
Contact Lenses - How To Put In Contact Lenses And How To Remove Contact Lenses
While more and more people are now wearing contact lenses, and most do so without any difficulty or health consequences, you should be aware, if you are a contact lens user, that there are a number of health issues that require you to take extra care. This is especially true if you are new to contact lenses and have not worn them before. Most of the steps described here are very simple and quick, and can drastically improve your contact lens hygiene thus decreasing any chance of infection of problems.
The first thing to remember is to keep clean hands. This means keeping your finger nails short and clean, washing your hands with soap before touching your contact lenses and drying them properly. Make sure that no soap, cream, toothpaste or anything else is on your hands when you touch your contact lenses.
How to put in contact lenses?
Before inserting your contact lenses you should make sure they are wet with saline solution. This will make the contacts a lot more comfortable and safe to wear. Once you have inserted your contact lens, cover the other eye to make sure that your vision is clear. This will indicate that the lens has been inserted correctly and is free from contaminants.
How to remove contact lenses?
You should take the same precautions when removing your contact lenses. Make sure that your hands are clean and dry. This is just as important when you are removing the lens. However, it is surprising how many people wash their hands for inserting the lens but fail to take this simple precaution when removing the lens.
Once your lens is out what you do with it will depend on the type of contact lens it is and the instructions of the lens manufacturer. However, as a general rule you should always obey what the manufacturer says. If the lens is a disposable lens, then throw it away after use. Donít think they are trying to con you out of more money by making you buy fresh lenses for each day. While this may be true, it is not safe to reuse disposable lenses.
If the lens is reusable, then make sure that you do not just leave it lying on the counter until the next morning. You should clean or sterilize the lens with the solution provided and always store your lens in a proper contact lens case.
Article Source: http://www.redsofts.com/articles/
Visit http://www.1-stop-contacts.com/ to read articles about biomedics toric soft contact lenses.
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Daddy Didnít Mean It! | <urn:uuid:977b4dc8-ade5-4dc1-b7c1-b415eafb6299> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redsofts.com/articles/read/284/60203/Contact_Lenses_How_To_Put_In_Contact_Lenses_And_How_To_Remove_Contact_Lenses.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916453 | 669 | 2.015625 | 2 |
In the debate over how to improve the governance of the city schools, most people seem to see the choice as either mayoral control or an expansion of the membership of the current Board of Education. We have not looked at how some of the most successful school districts in the state are run. Most New York districts with fewer than 125,000 students, including the most high-performing suburban districts, have elected schools boards. They are financially and politically independent of their municipal governments.
New York City, though, has never had an independent board of education. The current Board of Education is, at best, only quasi-independent, with members responsible to the borough presidents and to the mayor, who appoint them, but not to the taxpaying and voting public. To think that a New York City mayor does not already influence education funding and policy is, at best, naĂťve. The mayor controls the money because education is included in the city budget. New York State education funds go directly to the city, not the Board of Education, so the mayor has control of those dollars as well. The mayor also plays a role in the selection and removal of a chancellor. Yes, New York's mayor could have more control, but a review of cities that have mayoral control of education does not support the notion that that alone leads to reform.
And so perhaps we should consider legislation that would make New York City more like its successful neighbors. An elected school board should govern the city's schools. There would be a member from each borough as well as two at-large members elected by all voters.
More importantly, funding for this elected school board, and the school system, should come from a consistent source of city income earmarked for education, and legislation should insure that that funding does not fall below a certain level. Now local, state and federal education funds are all deposited directly into city coffers and allocated by the mayor and City Council. There would be more accountability if an elected school board, representing parents and taxpayers, received money set aside for education and knew that it was responsible for making sure the funds were well-spent.
Infrastructure and the building of new schools should also depend on a consistent source of funds, with the board able to issue bonds.
While the state legislature considers the overall governing structure for our public schools, we should also address the governance at the school level. Individual schools need greater autonomy. New York City must hire and retain skilled school leaders, principals, and teachers. They need guidance from parents and the authority and freedom to determine how their schools should be run.
These reforms, along with a change in Albany's funding of schools so that New York City is no longer short-changed, would go a long way to ensuring the success of New York City's public schools.
Jill Levy is the president of the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, the union representing principals, assistant principals, supervisors and administrators in city public schools.
School Control, by Irving Hamer, Jr.
Last Updated (Mar 15, 2013) | <urn:uuid:b66b4a45-0a70-4b25-acb5-080207a79128> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/topics/open-government/1677-elect-the-board-of-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977343 | 620 | 2.4375 | 2 |
National Town Hall Meeting
Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA) is a national consortium seeking to create meaningful futures for adults with autism that include homes, jobs, recreation, friends, and supportive communities.
On November 13, 2009, over 1,000 Americans came together across 16 sites and online to create a policy agenda for addressing the needs of adults with autism. These individuals, including adults with autism, family members, community leaders, service providers, and elected officials, came together out of a shared sense of concern and a deep shared commitment to create meaningful futures for adults with autism throughout the country.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the Town Hall meetings.
With the growing prevalence rates of autism in America and around the world, now is the time to act to improve services and opportunities available for the rapidly increasing population of adults with autism.
See below to view speeches made at the National Town Hall Meeting in Chicago by the city's mayor Richard M. Daley and his wife Maggie, Lisa Goring, Director of Family Services, and Peter Bell, Executive Vice President of Programs and Services at Autism Speaks.
Lisa Goring Introduces AFAA's National Town Hall Meeting in Chicago (YouTube ~7 minutes)
Peter Bell's Keynote at National Town Hall Meeting in Chicago pt. 1 (YouTube ~7 minutes)
Chicago Mayor and Mrs. Daley at the National Town Hall Meeting. (YouTube ~8 minutes)
Peter Bell's Keynote at National Town Hall Meeting in Chicago pt. 2 (YouTube ~6 minutes)
Lisa Goring's Closing Remarks at National Town Hall Meeting (YouTube ~4 minutes) The Town Hall, co-hosted by Autism Speaks, consisted of four major group discussions on cross-cutting issues, housing, employment and community integration for adults with autism. Each participant had a voice in determining the priorities of the national agenda to advance the futures of adults with autism.
Click here to see the Participant's Guide for the discussions that took place during the Town Hall.
Click here to see the Preliminary Report that includes the discussions and opinions of the over 1,000 participants.
The outcomes from the AFAA Town Hall Meeting will be compiled into a final report, to be posted on the web by January of 2010. The report will take the results and combine them into a single document so we can fully take advantage of the great input generated at the Town Hall sites. This statement will serve as a national agenda from which an action plan will be devised. The conversation will inform and educate participating stakeholders in both public and private sectors. The Autism Congress in 2010 will set forth recommendations for new public policy and changes to existing policy that will improve the lives of adults with autism.
The more people in our communities that share our goals and commitments, the stronger our efforts are going to be. We can expand the pool by spreading the word to friends and members of our communities.
Click here to go to the AFAA website to learn more. Join the AFAA Facebook group to receive updates and chat with others supporting the cause. AFAA is going to create discussion forums on the website for those who are interested in taking part in an ongoing discussion about what we can all do to help the cause. By working together, we can make progress toward the goal we all hope to achieve - to advance the futures for adults with autism.
back to top | <urn:uuid:b7232820-63b1-4375-8a39-99c574834206> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/advancing-futures-adults-autism/advancing-futures-adults-autism-afaa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935396 | 692 | 2 | 2 |
FERPA for Students: Academic Records
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. It became effective on December 31, 1974. The purpose of the act as it pertains to post-secondary institutions is twofold:
- to assure students access to their educational records and
- to protect an individual’s right to privacy by limiting the sharing of student records without his or her consent.
This information is made available to all students in accordance with the requirement that they be informed of the rights afforded them by the act. Specifically, students are advised of their rights as follows:
Records available to students:
Matriculated students have “the right to inspect and review any and all official records, files, and data... including all material that is incorporated into each student’s cumulative record folder, and intended for school use or to be available to parties outside the school....” The registrar’s office maintains the official academic record.
Rights of third parties to access records:
The University may disclose personally identifiable information from a student’s education records only with the written consent of the student, except:
- to school officials (i.e., persons employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research or support staff position; a person elected to the board of trustees; a person or company employed by or under contract to the University to perform a special task, such as an attorney or auditor; or a student serving on an official committee or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks) who have legitimate educational interests (i.e., the need to review education records to fulfill their University- related responsibilities);
- to officials of another school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll (note: it is the University’s policy to forward education records to other agencies or institutions in which the student seeks or intends to enroll only with written consent from the student; the University reserves the right to forward said records upon the request of such agencies or institutions, without written consent from the student after a reasonable attempt has been made to contact the student);
- to authorized representatives of certain FERPA designated federal and state agencies for the enforcement of federal and state legal requirements;
- in connection with a student’s application for or receipt of financial aid, as necessary to determine the eligibility, amount or conditions of the financial aid, or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid;
- pursuant to court order or lawfully issued subpoena, but only after reasonable attempt to notify the student of the order or subpoena, unless the subpoena prohibits disclosure of the existence or contents of the subpoena or information furnished in response to the subpoena;
- to accrediting organizations to carry out their functions;
- to parents of a student who claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
- in connection with health and safety emergencies, as permitted by law;
- to an alleged victim of any crime of violence or the results of any institutional disciplinary proceeding against the alleged perpetrator or that crime with respect to that crime; and
- as otherwise permitted by FERPA and its implementing regulations as amended from time to time.
With the exception of disclosures covered by the exceptions noted above, prior to release of personally identifiable information from a student’s education records, and subject to the rules regarding “directory information,” below, written consent must be received from the student specifying the records to be disclosed, stating the purpose of the disclosure and identifying the party to whom the disclosure may be made.
Whenever the University discloses personally identifiable information from an education record (except as to disclosures (1) of “directory information,” (2) to the student who is the subject of the record, or (3) to the parent of a dependent student) it shall inform the party to whom it is disclosing the information that it may not be further released or disclosed without the consent of the student or the parent of a dependent student.
The University continues to have the right to release “directory” information, limited to name, address, telephone number, email address, student photo id, dates of attendance, major field of study, degrees and awards received and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student, without first obtaining the consent of the student. Students wishing to have the information excluded from directories should contact the office of the dean of student life and co-curricular education.
FERPA may be viewed in detail by clicking here. | <urn:uuid:12d6dec7-68df-4c23-8f55-c0c89db49c3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stlawu.edu/registrar/content/28 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950602 | 954 | 2.734375 | 3 |
11/4/2008<< Back to Facilities Management Elevators Category Home
Eliminating In-Cab Elevator Controls
Compiled by FaciliesNet Staff
Long gone are the days of mechanical floor indicators above the doorways of lobby-level elevators. Gone, too, are the bellmen who actually operated elevators. And for many people, elevator controls inside the cab might also fade into memory.
Changes in elevator codes are paving the way for new elevator technologies, particularly for high-rise office space. Today’s premium elevators, particularly in high-rise space, eliminate traditional elevator controls, relying instead upon complex dispatching systems to shorten wait time for elevator passengers.
Destination-based dispatching systems were first pioneered in the 1990s by Schindler Elevator Corp., following the surge of increased microprocessor capacity during the 1980s. Generally, dispatch systems rely on a central control panel located in the building’s lobby. As people enter the building, they enter a destination on the control panel. Computer processors then match floor requests to elevators. A visual indicator or annunciator alerts passengers waiting in the lobby which elevators will service their destination.
Most destination-based dispatch systems can have control panels located anywhere facility executives deem appropriate. “Touchpads can be located in the lobby and at each floor, and they can also be in the car,” says Jeff Crusham, senior product manager of new equipment for Otis.
But increasingly elevator cars that are part of dispatch systems have no in-cab elevator controls. All destinations are entered at panels near the bank of elevators. Elevator company representatives say that the systems are simple to use after just one time — but warn that the first experience can stymie tenants or building visitors.
Some dispatching systems take into account additional data beyond the mere destination, using an individual’s personal information to tailor the dispatching system. With the Schindler ID system architecture, passengers use a badge, PIN code, key tag or other electronically readable device that is programmed with personal details. The system then assigns an elevator car based on that information — a feature that is particularly helpful for passengers with disabilities.
The ID system works in conjunction with the company’s Miconic 10 destination control system. Security functions can be added to that system. For example, when a visitor or tenant enters a location that requires a security clearance, the kiosk will prompt the user for security approval.
Most elevator major manufactures now offer the ability to use destination dispatch systems as an added layer of building security.
“We can use any number of identifying devices,” says Stuart Prior, ThyssenKrupp’s executive vice president for product sales and marketing in the Americas, “from keycards to codes, to infrared beams.
Schindler’s dispatching system allows facility executives to assign specific elevators to tenants. “Because this system can account for personal information, it will separate people and only allow access to specific elevators,” says Saloio.
Flexibility is part of what makes dispatching systems popular in high-rise spaces. Because the algorithms that govern car movement are programmable, dispatching systems can be custom-tailored to individual applications. Cars can be “ganged” during high-traffic periods of the day — at lunchtime, for example.
By accommodating specific facility needs, manufacturers claim that dispatch systems can save time, reducing passenger wait and travel times by as much as 30 percent.
Elevators Moving Up On Energy Efficiency by Loren Synder | <urn:uuid:72c5f63f-f95c-47d3-93df-cf8100b363ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.facilitiesnet.com/elevators/topic/Eliminating-InCab-Elevator-Controls--18522 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918712 | 745 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Despite some technological overhauls, grocery checkout lines continue to use traditional methods, some of which date to the 19th century.
Retail trade shows trumpet new innovations every year, but consumers are still looking for the fastest way to get out of a supermarket. Smartphone scanners, self-checkout lines and even an MRI-like tube that quickly scans a customer’s items have all been tried, but grocers find the technology often comes up short.
Grocers need to consider a technology makeover for their stores. Many of them are using the same basic technology, like conveyor belts, as they were decades ago. Even new technology inventions like self-checkout have issues that need to be addressed — such as missing or damaged bar codes that won’t scan. Grocers have a tremendous opportunity to improve the whole shopping experience for their consumers.
They’re trying, but sometimes find that technology isn’t the best way to make things quicker. Many retailers say the best way to make the lines move is good, old-fashioned people power, or efficient cashiers. And so they’ve turned to new line configurations. One major chain uses one line that feeds into numerous cashiers. It’s faster than traditional lines, says one of the chain’s executives.
Source: The Los Angeles Times, March 2012 | <urn:uuid:6851068a-21c5-493c-a910-d434da6264dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.retailerpdelivered.com/blog/whats-holding-grocery-store-technology-back/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950611 | 278 | 2.234375 | 2 |
The economic elite who caused the global recession are tasked with fixing it -- and they'll fix it in their favor
“Everything seems to be running exactly on schedule here, which is not what you expect in Italian politics … It looks like by Monday the markets will have Monti as their Prime Minister.” —BBC TV Rome correspondent, Nov. 12, 2011
As we move further into the fourth year of the global financial crisis, the questions of where it will end are becoming ever more insistent. When will political leaders finally come up with a solution? When will the atmosphere of dread and panic subside? Put most simply, when will life get back to normal?
There have been recessions before. Unemployment has risen, government revenues have dropped, but after a couple of years some combination of economic policy and new consumer demand has turned the tide and Western democracies have reverted to politics as usual, with parties of the left and right arguing over the distribution of social goods within their own countries. Why isn’t that happening again?
There are plenty of answers that speak to the immediate causes: the economic stimulus packages on both sides of the Atlantic have been too small to restart substantial growth; the European Union bureaucracy has been dysfunctionally slow to respond; the euro zone lacks a process for countries to give up the currency.
But as most people can sense by now, the changes we are experiencing go well beyond these headlines. In many countries, the fundamental political and economic bargain of postwar society is in the process of coming apart. The question, then, isn’t when will public life return to normal? It won’t. Nor should we be asking when will the crisis end. It won’t end for a very long time, perhaps decades. And it will change most people’s lives more profoundly than the end of the Cold War or 9/11 ever did.
- – - – - – - – - -
For two and a half decades after World War II, the West enjoyed a remarkably sustained period of economic expansion. Industry thrived, wages grew, there was something close to full employment and tens of millions of people entered the new middle class. Modern consumer society was born. By the late 1960s, however, this expansion had begun to sputter out. This was not just an economic problem but a serious political one, because businesses had become accustomed to sustained growth and voters to plentiful jobs and steadily rising income. Deviation from this condition was seen as an aberration that the government was obliged to fix.
As Wolfgang Streeck, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, has recently argued, this problem of slower growth in the West from the 1970s onward — and the societal expectation that it be overcome — led to a series of crises in the capitalist system. The first was inflation. Faced with recession in the early ’70s, governments eased monetary policy, i.e., printed more money, to raise consumer demand and ward off unemployment. But by the end of the decade inflation had reached the point where investors no longer found it profitable to risk their capital in new ventures and unemployment began to rise. In the early 1980s, again faced with recession, most governments turned instead to large public deficit spending to boost consumption, and in the U.S. and Britain in particular, they aggressively took on unions in an effort to break their power to demand wage increases.
But by the beginning of the 1990s, the resulting national debt and annual budget shortfalls had begun to worry financial markets and they were turned into a major political issue. In trying to maintain economic growth while at the same time cutting the deficit, both Washington and London dramatically deregulated their financial industries, leading to what some economists call “privatized Keynesianism.” By allowing financiers to invent and market endless new forms of private debt, these governments in effect shifted the site of borrowing from sovereign states to companies and individuals who could now fund their own current consumption (and speculation) by borrowing from their own future.
What ensued were two asset bubbles, the first in Internet stocks in the late 1990s, and the second, far more devastatingly in American real estate and the financial instruments derived from it, so-called mortgage-backed securities, which brought down Lehman Brothers in 2008 and began the current crisis.
- – - – - – - – - -
Seen in historical context, then, what we are experiencing right now is not simply a particularly severe economic contraction in the ordinary business cycle which will eventually abate. It is the acceleration of an endemic crisis in Western economies that has been building for four decades as we have attempted to replicate the supposedly “normal” economic gains of what were in fact historically anomalous postwar years. This is not to say there hasn’t been substantial growth since the 1970s. There certainly has been. But unlike during the postwar period, its distribution has skewed steadily upward producing an ever-greater inequality of income, particularly in the U.S. While GDP has grown, more in some countries than others, real wages have stagnated over the course of the last 40 years. In addition, over the last 20 years, the deregulated financial industry has become so politically powerful it can effectively block any serious reform of its practices, particularly on a global scale where reforms are needed most, thus locking in the trend of the upward distribution of any overall economic gains.
One of the related effects of this dramatic rise of finance capitalism has been to steadily erode the general public’s ability to understand how the modern economy actually functions. Most people can understand what political forces are at play when a union demands higher wages and a company resists, citing foreign competition. We can choose which politician to vote for based on the position they take in such a conflict and have a reasonable sense of whose interests we are supporting by so doing.
But what happens when a politician says we must lend billions of dollars to undercapitalized banks or indebted countries in order to provide liquidity to the financial system, and if we don’t we will enter a depression or blow up the euro? The content, let alone the truth, of such a proposition is hard for most people to assess. More troubling still, their assessment doesn’t much matter anymore. Because the answer to the question is now considered technical and because the situation demands immediate action, the key decisions are made without democratic consultation by financial bureaucrats working with private bankers. The public is relegated to the role of bystander, reading reports of what the (supposedly neutral but in fact determinedly free-market) technocrats have decided in the name of saving the economy. Financial policy becomes more like foreign policy, conducted by an executive strong-arming a parliament or legislature under conditions of emergency.
And so people get angry: They get angry at bankers, at politicians, at entire countries for not budgeting more carefully, and at the press for failing to explain what’s going on in such a way that they can understand where their interests actually lie.
Which brings us to our current moment. In the United States the bleak economy and the increasingly oligarchic division of wealth have led to protests on a scale not seen since the 1960s. In Europe, the euro is in danger of collapse and the entire postwar project of integration could conceivably begin to run in reverse, far more quickly than most people imagine.
Under intense pressure from the bond markets, Greece and Italy have essentially suspended their democracies and agreed to the installation of European bureaucrats (and former Goldman Sachs advisors) as their prime ministers. Their assignment is to impose steep cuts in public spending, raise taxes and privatize state-run enterprises at a time when their economies are either stagnant or already shrinking. This operation will be painful, the authorities in Brussels and Berlin say, but they will save the patient.
There are sound and, in fact, quite conventional economic arguments about why this will not work. Take the example of Ireland. It accepted these same conditions in order to escape having to pay such high interest on its sovereign debt. In return, it got a European bailout. For a time, the interest rate it had to pay to borrow money declined. But once investors examined how deeply the Dublin government was cutting spending, they decided the Irish economy was unlikely to recover any time soon, there being so little demand for goods. Thus, precisely because of its austerity, Ireland’s bonds now have a higher interest rate than before the bailout, setting the stage for further disaster.
But there is another — and in many ways deeper — reason why the technocrats put in charge in Greece and Italy are likely to fail, and it is related to the larger story of where Western capitalism has been heading for the last 30 years. The decisions the technocrats make will lack legitimacy with the populations they govern. In Europe, this is made clear by the imposition of the leaders by external forces. In the U.S., the imposition of the market’s sovereignty is felt through the now unlimited corporate campaign contributions that effectively circumvent the public preference for a more equitable distribution of income by bribing the Congress. In both places, the demands of the financial elite run against the popular will, and in both places the popular will is being ignored. There is no reason to believe that these abrogations of popular sovereignty cannot be sustained for a very long time with the tactical application of force. But if they do persist they will lead us into a condition we would no longer recognize as democratic. Capitalist, yes. Democratic, no.
- – - – - – - – - -
I write this article from Berlin where I have been living for the last three months. I’ve had occasion while I’ve been here to talk to a lot of people from the worlds of business and finance as well as ordinary Germans. And most all of them have held Germany up as the counter-example of what I’ve been describing thus far. The economy has done quite well over the last several years; unemployment continues to decline; there has long been greater cooperation between capital and labor. And here the popular will is being followed. Most Germans don’t want to send more of their tax money south to bail out countries they see as profligate and poorly managed. And their government’s policies more or less reflect that preference. If the crisis leads more countries to be more like Germany — living within their budget, enforcing their tax laws — than so much the better, they say.
As an American, I hail from a country whose banking sector and previous government are more responsible than any other for virtually all the trends toward instability and inequality I have been discussing, so I say what follows with all due humility. German prosperity relies on exports. As global confidence in the euro zone has declined so has the value of the euro, making German goods more affordable all over the globe. Indeed, for several years now, the worse the crisis gets for Europe’s southern rim, the better the German economy does. This is not entirely the German government’s fault, and it’s certainly not the German people’s fault. But it has created a perverse dynamic in which the very instrument that was meant to bind Europe even closer together — a common currency — now threatens to tear it apart.
And this is a tension that cannot be sustained. If enough members of the euro zone are driven into recession by German demands for austerity, and if major, basically solvent trading partners like Italy are pushed toward sovereign default, then Germany’s fortunes will decline. Moral bromides about countries having to live within their means like ordinary families will do no more good for Germany and Europe than they do for alleviating unemployment in the U.S. The structure of global finance is fiendishly more complex than a family checking account and politicians who suggest otherwise, including Barack Obama of late, are doing the public a disservice.
The prospects for even a short-term solution of the European crisis seem dimmer than ever as the interests of different nations within the euro zone are increasingly set against each other in the popular press. Comity seems a long way off and the democratic legitimacy of any resolution even further afield.
It is little comfort to be able to step back and see that this crisis is part of a much broader and endemic instability in Western capitalism that continues to redistribute wealth upward, weaken democratic institutions, and concentrate power in the hands of the few. But it is this larger force, not the daily ups and downs of the current troubles, that will continue to shape our lives for decades. Even if we cannot at present see a path to reversing this force, we can at least endeavor to understand it more clearly.
Adam Haslett is the author of the novel "Union Atlantic." His story collection "You Are Not A Stranger Here" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. More Adam Haslett.
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Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 picsclose X
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Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
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Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
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When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
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Recent Slide Shows
- 1 of 11 | <urn:uuid:3d00a1c5-4ec8-4e66-99de-5143599ab2c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/is_the_financial_crisis_now_permanent/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956329 | 3,481 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJ&E) Railway Bridge Number 552, now owned and maintained by CN, was originally built in 1888 with a movable vertical lift span dating from the 1930s. Located on the Illinois River approximately 20 miles southwest of Joliet, Ill., the bridge had the distinction of being the most frequently hit bridge spanning a navigable waterway in the United States. It was struck by navigation traffic 170 times between 1992 and 2001. CN made the decision to replace the existing span with a longer span to increase the horizontal clearance under the bridge.
Collins was approached by the project's contractor, McHugh Construction and its erection sub-contractor, Danny's Construction, to evaluate the feasibility of designing a temporary erection and launching runway structure that could be used to support the erection of a replacement 1,100-ton bridge span and allow it to be moved into place. The original lift span was 150 feet long, providing only 120 feet of clearance for river traffic. The new movable span has a main span length of 348 feet and provides 300 feet of horizontal clearance between the fenders, more than double the original. Principal funding was provided through the Truman-Hobbs Act, which funds the replacement of bridge spans that constitute hazards to navigation.
Because of the high volume of river traffic in this area, and the need to provide minimal disruption to rail service for customers south of the bridge, the closure of the river and the bridge was limited to 84 hours for the removal of the existing span and installation of the new span. Collins, McHugh, and Danny's built the bridge on a temporary runway adjacent to the bridge. Such a method improved crew utilization, as well as aided in meeting the stringent time constraints for the installation of the new span. An early cost-saving decision was to use the existing large concrete-filled dolphins at either side of the channel as the launch and receiving points for the span, which significantly reduced costs. Once the bridge was ready, a jacking and roller system was used to move the replacement span along the temporary runway and launch the span across the existing 120-foot draw. This process was accomplished within the allotted 84-hour window.
The project's final budget was $44.6 million-$1 million over the original budget due to factors unrelated to the use of the runway structure. Collins' portion of the project budget was $4 million. | <urn:uuid:44f64731-b37a-4963-9924-368b0adc6e90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rtands.com/index.php/track-structure/bridge-retaining-walls/collins-engineers-receives-award-for-eje-bridge-roll-in-design.html?channel=276 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961801 | 488 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Quartz Tube & T3 Halogen Lamps
Infrared thermal technology is very efficient and cost effective and the use can be traced to many products. The fast transmission of infrared energy from quartz tubes and Halogen lamps can be a perfect match between production speed and cost control. (see table below compairing different infrared energy emitters) A quartz glass tube or halogen lamp (also known as T3 lamps) is an assembly consisting of a filament (Tungsten) placed in a quartz tube or lamp, where the air is evacuated and filled with inert gases like Nitrogen and Argon. A small amount of halogen gas is usually added to prolong infrared heater life. Therefore the different names (Halogen lamp, Quartz halogen lamp).
Quartz glass lamps were originally designed for lighting applications, but when a lamp is at full power less than 5% of the emitted energy is in the visible spectrum. The other 95% are emitted in the infrared spectrum. The filament temperature is up to 2500 degF, which produces infrared energy in the short to medium wavelength. Delta T is also offering infrared sensors for temperature measuring. Contact us @ 800-928-5828 / RFQ and Contact Us Form if you have questions.
These infrared emitters require a phase fired (as opposed to a zero cross) power control (SCR) with soft start capability to handle the inrush current.
Infrared Applications for quartz tubes and T3 lamps
With up to 200 watts per linear inch, wavelength in the short to medium range, reach of full temperature in less than a second, these infrared quartz heaters are used in various applications. (examples: glass manufacturing, food processing, environmental chambers)For increased wattage (click here to see how to calculate wattage), quartz tubes can be constructed in duo tube version. These quartz infrared tubes produce more wattage per linear inch than any other heating element.
Duo-Tube Quartz heaters
Casso Solar duo tubes are available with a dual coat integral gold reflective coating or an integral white refractory that directs the infrared energy to the product without the need for external reflectors. The gold coating is the most efficient reflective material for all infrared energy up to 1400 degF. The white refractory will provide a wider infrared emission spectrum and is suitable for up to 1750 degF. The gold coated duo tube quartz heaters are significantly more expensive then the refractory style. Here is the product brochure P106 with pictures. You will need a phase angle SCR with soft start capability as a power controller.
Below is an overview over the different infrared emitters
quartz tube infrared heaters in clamshell | <urn:uuid:63d425d6-6f67-41bc-b3df-7157d86ae257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deltat.com/quartz_tube.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908013 | 547 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Family Filmgoer reviews ‘Escape From Planet Earth,’ ‘Snitch’ and ‘Safe Haven’
By Jane Horwitz,
6 AND OLDER
Escape From Planet Earth (PG). This animated interplanetary adventure should work best for kids 6 and older. It ranks well below the first tier of animated films we see nowadays, but it tells a fairly engrossing tale. Scorch Supernova is a muscle-bound celebrity astronaut on the planet of Baab. He flies off to rescue beings held captive or stranded around the universe. His brainy brother Gary works at Mission Control. They have a falling out over whether Scorch should fly solo to a distress call from the Dark Planet, a.k.a. Earth. Scorch heads to Earth anyway, and the military tranquilizes and takes him captive, under evil General Shanker. Gary goes to rescue Scorch and also gets captured.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Several scenes show Scorch and Gary in danger — frozen in cylinders or nearly falling to their deaths from space. Some of the interplanetary creatures play to American ethnic stereotypes.
Snitch. A businessman goes undercover in the world of drugs to save his relatively innocent son from a “mandatory minimum” prison sentence. “Snitch” is too intense and violent for middle-schoolers. John Matthews runs a good construction business. His teenage son Jason naively accepts delivery of a large bag of illicit drugs from a “friend.” DEA agents pounce as soon as the package arrives. Because of “mandatory minimum” drug laws, Jason faces 10 to 30 years in prison unless he gives up the names of other dealers. But he doesn’t know any. After the politically ambitious U.S. attorney explains the legal situation to John, he takes it on himself to go undercover and expose a drug dealer in return for a reduction in Jason’s sentence.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Action scenes include a couple of heavy gun battles but without a lot of blood or graphic injuries. It’s strongly implied by bruises and stitches on his face that Jason undergoes beatings and perhaps worse in jail. Families are shown at risk. The script includes mid-range profanity. Themes about divorce and how it can alienate children figure prominently.
Safe Haven. Teen fans of romance novels will nestle right into this predictable story. Moments of mostly implied violence occasionally cut into the love story, but not in ways that make the film too intense for middle-schoolers. At the start, we see a young woman running from one house and seeking shelter at a neighbor’s. The next thing we know, she boards a bus heading south out of Boston. We also learn that a police officer named Tierney is trying to find her. She disembarks at a small coastal town in the Carolinas and decides to stay. She changes her name to Katie, gets a job at the local cafe, rents a cabin and befriends a little girl whose dad, Alex, runs the general store. Alex is a widower who is instantly smitten. He tries to charm Katie with offers of neighborly help, but she’s wary.
The bottom line: A couple of flashbacks imply the possibility of murder and, later in the film, drunken spousal abuse. During the climactic confrontation at the end, lethal gunshots occur. At another point, a child falls off a dock and must be rescued. Tierney seems more and more unhinged and drunk. As Alex and Katie’s relationship warms up, they spend the night together, but aside from much kissing and removing of outer garments, nothing is shown.
Beautiful Creatures. Narrated by Ethan, a human who loves a teenage girl from a family of witches, the film unfolds in a contemporary Southern town caught in a time warp of big cars and banned books. Ethan, a motherless teen who loves books, can’t wait to go to college and break loose. He finds instant kinship with Lena Duchannes, the smart and sullen new girl at school. Parentless herself, she has come to live with her rich uncle, Macon Ravenwood. Lena will turn 16 in a few weeks and must go through a ceremony to learn whether she will use her powers for good or evil.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The acts of witchcraft involve a lot of special effects and lightning, but are not graphic. The film includes occasional profanity and one implied teen sexual situation. Nothing explicit occurs, but Ethan and Lena kiss and then drop out of camera view. The film features a potentially lethal shooting. Without preaching, the film says that good or evil is always a choice.
A Good Day to Die Hard. As long as action-movie fans 17 and older don’t require a story to make sense, they can appreciate the vehicular insanity, gun battles and explosions in this deafening and unnecessary sequel. Bruce Willis returns as police officer John McClane. He learns that his long-estranged son, Jack, is under arrest in Moscow, accused of assassinating a gangster. McClane discovers that Jack is a CIA agent, trying to salvage a quickly unraveling plan to spirit a jailed Russian billionaire named Komarov out of the country. Komarov has access to weapons-grade nuclear material and has grown a conscience about it. Needless to say, starting with massive explosions at the courthouse where Komarov is on trial, all is not what it seems. Grudgingly, Jack lets his father in on the action.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The movie consists mostly of eardrum-shattering gun battles and explosions and road-destroying, metal-shearing car chases and crashes. In all of this, the film depicts a few injured bystanders, but in reality the sort of violence they’re imagining would kill or injure many. Wounds are usually less than graphic. The dialogue includes strong profanity.
Horwitz is a freelance writer. Find her past reviews at the On Parenting page. | <urn:uuid:411425b7-d4a4-4ef7-b4b1-15414b4376fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/family-filmgoer-reviews-escape-from-planet-earth-snitch-and-safe-haven/2013/02/21/384a4256-7793-11e2-95e4-6148e45d7adb_print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936357 | 1,256 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Student Spotlight: Susan Neustrom, Ed.D.
Susan Neustrom, Ed.D.
Major: Associate's Degree
When she was 16, Susan Neustrom dropped out of high school.
"I really disliked school -- I disliked the subjects, I had difficulty studying and many of my friends were dropouts," she said. "I felt that I was not as smart as the other students and I gave up."
For 22 years, Neustrom worked in banking, starting as an entry-level employee and working her way up to assistant vice president. However, she wanted to transition into a career in social services, having volunteered at many organizations to help people in need.
The problem was that everyone assumed she had a degree, and applying for another job meant filling out an application that required her educational background.
"I was always embarrassed to talk about school and I did not want to tell anyone that I was a high school dropout," she said. "I felt stuck because I did not want to lie on a job application about my education, yet if I was truthful, I felt I would be disqualified as a potential candidate for a position in a nonprofit organization."
Neustrom had made several attempts to earn her GED but had a fear of taking the math test, because she failed math in high school. Finally, knowing that she wanted to work full-time in social services, Neustrom tried again.
"In 1998, 30 years after leaving high school, I took the GED Math test and the remaining tests at COD and I passed!" she said. "When I learned that I had passed, the staff cheered and applauded. I cried. I cried because I never realized that I could accomplish anything."
Continuing her education beyond the GED was something Neustrom wanted to do, but she wasn't sure if she could.
"When I first took my GED tests, I was intimidated by the thought of being in college. I felt that I was too stupid to even consider it. So if I could just get a GED, I would be happy," she said. "But everyone I encountered at COD was supportive and empathetic. I was not treated as an older adult trying to be a student. Instead, I was treated as an adult seeking knowledge."
Neustrom saw an advertisement about the COD Adult Fast Track program and earning an associate's degree in two years, so she contacted COD. But she was concerned about combining schoolwork with her own job, family obligations and volunteer work at a crisis pregnancy center once a week.
Because she never developed good study habits in school, Neustrom also worried about the rigor of the Adult Fast Track program.
"Instead, I found it easy to get into the swing of the program because of the structure," she said. "My classes were pre-assigned, the textbooks were readily available, and the syllabus was distributed prior to the beginning of every class. I knew what was expected. The cohort model was very comforting because we supported each other, created study groups, and celebrated our success together.
"No one at COD ever told me what I could not do, they only told me what I could do. Because of the structure of the program and the support of the faculty, staff, counselors and other adult students, I earned two associate's degrees: Management and Retail Marketing."
Neustrom transferred to National-Louis University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Management. She then enrolled at Lewis University and earned a Master of Art in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in training and developing.
After a six-month break from school, she applied at Argosy University to its doctoral program. In November 2010, she graduated with a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership.
Currently, Neustrom is executive director of JUST (Justice, Understanding, Service, and Teaching) of DuPage, a jail ministry in the DuPage County Jail. The nonprofit organization provides education and hope to incarcerated people.
"JUST of DuPage helps incarcerated women and men make positive changes in their lives, therefore contributing to healthier lifestyles for themselves, their families and their communities," she said. "We provide chaplaincy, counseling, spiritual enrichment, addiction recovery, education and social services. Behind the walls of the jail we offer addiction recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Addiction, Narcotics Anonymous, and AA and CA Big Book.
"We partner with College of DuPage and Literacy DuPage to provide inmates an opportunity to earn their GED, take ESL classes and improve their reading. Our faith community members provide spiritual guidance through Bible studies, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim worship. In 2010, with the assistance of 189 volunteers, we administered programs to 32,255 inmates."
Neustrom is grateful to College of DuPage for the education she earned and what it has helped her achieve.
"As a volunteer, I have seen first-hand the problems of diverse populations experiencing crisis pregnancy, domestic violence, cancer, poverty, homelessness, mental illness and unemployment," she said. "Before I began my educational journey, my voice was only a whisper, no one listened. With an education, I am empowered to speak, act and initiate change. Suddenly, I have a voice and people are listening.
"I reflect often on my experience at COD and realize that my life has changed dramatically since I obtained my GED. I am indebted to COD for supporting me when I needed to be supported and for giving me a solid foundation for pursuing further education. Thanks to COD, I no longer have a fear of failure because I was given an opportunity to succeed, accompanied by a team of supporters that included the COD staff, administrators, faculty and students.
"The lesson I learned from my experience at COD is that the value of education is not only what you learn in the textbooks. Book knowledge is great, but the real value of education is that it opens your mind to possibilities, allows you to reflect on your inner self, and helps you to discover your true potential and purpose in life."
College of DuPage
425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn IL
60137 (630) 942-2800
2012 College of DuPage | <urn:uuid:1b64b5d2-7f7c-438c-b310-42e64336538a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cod.edu/spotlights/students/neustrom.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983288 | 1,290 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Every working mother faces milk supply issues at some point in her breastfeeding career, here are some tried-and-true tips to help get you through the slump.
One of the biggest issues that employed breastfeeding mothers who are separated from their babies face is low milk supply. In talking with other active-duty mothers, you may think that a low milk supply is inevitable because it’s such a common issue. Some mothers find that while their milk supply is great on a Monday after a weekend of nursing, it is faltering by Thursday. Or they hit a slump at around the three-or six-month mark. A low milk supply is not inevitable. But if your supply does dip, here are some possible reasons why and how to bring your supply back up.
The number one reason most moms don’t have enough milk? Not draining your breasts often enough. Your breasts are like factories, they work on demand and supply. The more orders that are placed, the more milk that is put into production. When you leave the milk sitting in your breasts, that tells the factory to cease production and shut down. Here are some other common supply busters:
- Birth Control Pills can cause lowered milk supply, especially those with estrogen in them, as can Depo-Provera. Some mothers are even sensitive to the hormones in the mini-pill.
- Decongestants used for the common cold, such as Sudafed, can cause lowered milk supply in up to 20% women who take it.
- Growth Spurts can be a sneaky supply buster. Is your baby asking to breastfeed a whole lot more than usual? If so, he is building up your supply, but it can take a day or two for your breasts to catch up and meanwhile you can’t seem to pump enough for daycare and your stockpile is rapidly diminishing. Growth spurts are normal at around 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months. Be prepared and breastfeed as much as possible when you are together.
- Illness – If you have you been sick lately with a cold or the flu, you may find that your milk supply is down a bit. Increased breastfeeding, lots of fluids and rest should bring it right back up.
- Sage, Peppermint, Wintergreen can also lower milk supply. So watch out near Thanskgiving or if you eat a lot of Altoids.
- Overfeeding is a common culprit, especially at child development centers and daycare. Teach your provider to hold your baby, give small, frequent feeds and watch your baby for feeding cues. Here is a wonderful PDF handout to give your provider about How to Bottle-feed the Breastfed Baby.
- Pacifiers – If you use a pacifier a lot when you are together you may be sabotaging your milk supply inadvertently. Everytime you use a pacifier instead of breastfeeding, is one less time your breasts are stimulated to make milk. Pacifiers should only be used when you are apart. When you are together, pay attention to your baby and breastfeed!
- Return of your period – If you have started menstruating again, the hormones can cause a lowered milk supply in the week leading up to your period. Plan to increase your pumping during that time, and you may find yourself dipping into your stockpile more often during that time of the month.
- Sleeping through the night – if your baby has started sleeping through the night you may find your milk supply has taken a nose-dive. The hormones responsible for making milk are at their highest during the nighttime hours, and breastfeeding at night boosts those hormones which in turn boosts your supply. If your baby is sleeping through the night you are missing out on that boost. Consider pumping at least once at night, or waking your baby to breastfeed.
- Stress- If you are stressed it can affect your milk supply, and who isn’t stressed in the military? Do your best to leave work at work and relax when at home. Breastfeeding produces a naturally occurring relaxant hormone…enjoy that down-time with your baby and let the hormones do the trick to relax you both after a long day.
- Trouble with your pump can also cause milk supply issues. Check that all your valves and membranes are OK, look at your tubing to be sure it doesn’t have any pinpoint holes or cracks. Take your pump to an IBCLC who can check the suction (especially if it is a used pump).
It takes as long to restore your supply as it did to lose it…don’t expect results overnight. But within a few days it should increase. The key to maintaining or increasing your milk supply is to NOT go longer than five to six hours without nursing or pumping. Milk left in your breasts tells them to make LESS milk. It can be a challenge to keep your supply up, especially in the military, where you might work an odd schedule and certainly can’t just take a day off to stay home and breastfeed in order to boost your supply. Here are some tips that have proven helpful to other mothers (both in and out of the military) in maintaining and boosting their milk supply:
- Breastfeed often and exclusively (no bottles or pacifiers) when off duty and at home. This includes evenings, nights, and weekends. Remember: When my baby is with me, he gets the breast. When he is at daycare, he gets the bottle.
- Try a nursing vacation every few weekends (or off-duty day) to super-charge your milk supply. A nursing vacation means that you don’t do anything but breastfeed your baby very frequently, pump often, and rest as much as possible over a 24-48 hour period.
- Try cluster pumping, or nurse and pump every half hour for several hours instead of a regular nursing session.
- Pump in the middle of the night, since milk-making hormone levels peak around 0200 and your milk supply is highest then.
- Double pump after breastfeeding.
- Tandem pump by pumping one breast while your baby nurses on the other breast.
- Pump more often by adding a session, either at work or during the night.
- Power pump (a quick, five-minute pumping session) whenever you get the chance.
- Pump at least every three hours while separated. This may not be practical, given your work environment. But try to aim for this goal if at all possible. The longer you go without pumping, the fuller your breasts will become. Full breasts signal your body to slow production. It may seem like you get more milk to begin with, but over time it will lower your supply.
- Use a high-quality, double-electric, fully automatic breast pump. Using a less-than-best pump may affect your milk supply in the long run. Switching to a better one may turn your milk supply right around.
- Adjust your pump settings while pumping to stimulate a let-down. Do NOT turn the vacuum setting higher. This will not increase your milk supply. But it will most certainly give you sore nipples.
- Pump for at least 10-20 minutes and continue for about two to three minutes after your milk stops dripping.
- Breast massage and/or breast compressions before and during pumping can be very helpful in increasing milk output during a pumping session.
- Try different sized flanges or inserts (such as the Medela Soft-Fit®, Ameda Flexishield Areola Stimulator®, or Avent® petal massager insert) or rearrange the flanges after five to six minutes to help stimulate different parts of the breast and areola, which may result in more let-down reflexes, thereby increasing milk output.
- Try Reverse-Cycle feedings with your baby (see Reverse Cycle on the Kellymom website). The combination of nursing more at night, and your baby not needing as much expressed milk during the day, can help you to maintain, if not increase, your milk supply.
- Breastfeed your baby at drop-off and pick-up from the daycare provider and ask that they do not feed your baby within one hour of you picking him up. It may not seem like much, but those one to two extra nursing sessions during the day may be just the ticket to boosting your supply. This is particularly helpful when there is a long commute between the daycare and home. Once home, you can nurse him again, further boosting your supply. Breastfeeding your baby at daycare will also lessen the amount of milk you need to pump and leave with your caregiver.
- Drink to thirst (too much can actually decrease your milk supply) and eat a well-balanced diet.
- Discuss galactogogues (prescription or herbal) with your IBCLC and HCP as options for boosting your milk supply. These herbs and medications work best when combined with increased breastfeeding and pumping. They don’t work as well used by themselves. Some of the more popular options include:
- Herbs. Some all-purpose herbs for milk production include:
- More Milk Tincture or More Milk Plus – one dropperful per hour until your supply increases, then decrease until supply levels off. Tastes horrible. Use More Milk Two if you are pregnant.
- Alfalfa – 2 capsules, 2 times a day. Has a laxative effect.
- Blessed Thistle – 3 capsules, 3 times a day. Works best in combination with Fenugreek.
- Fenugreek – 3-4 capsules, 3 times a day until you smell like maple syrup. Works better with Blessed Thistle. Do NOT use if you are pregnant.
- Oatmeal – not an herb, but a food that is well-known to boost supply. Eat a bowl of rolled oats or check out Milkin’ Cookies for a tasty snack that has milk-prodcuing qualities.
- Others – Goat’s Rue, Nettles, Shatavari
- Medications. Domperidone (Motilium®) and Metoclopramide (Reglan®) are the favored prescription drugs for boosting milk supply. Domperidone increases prolactin and has an excellent safety profile. Unfortunately, due to the FDA review process, it is not approved for use as a galactogogue in the U.S. Metoclopramide also boosts prolactin levels, but it can cause depression in some mothers. It is approved for use as a galactogogue in the U.S. Talk with your Primary Care Provider about using any drugs for boosting milk supply.
Pumping for your baby takes a huge commitment. You should feel very proud of your accomplishment, no matter how little or how much milk you provide for your baby. Remember, that while providing your milk IS important, your breastfeeding relationship is more important. And pumping allows you to be able to breastfeed when you are at home. If you are finding that you are having issues with persistent low milk supply, and the tricks and tips on this page aren’t enough to improve the situation, take a look at the website Low Milk Supply for many additional great tips on boosting your supply. | <urn:uuid:ba91e24e-1391-4c98-81ed-d3300cf27297> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://breastfeedingincombatboots.com/faq/pumping/supply-issues/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949396 | 2,317 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Maple Seeds and Animals Exploit the Same Trick to Fly
PASADENA, Calif.—The twirling seeds of maple trees spin like miniature helicopters as they fall to the ground. Because the seeds descend slowly as they swirl, they can be carried aloft by the wind and dispersed over great distances. Just how the seeds manage to fall so slowly, however, has mystified scientists.
In research published in the June 12 issue of the journal Science, researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) describe the aerodynamic secret of the enchanting swirling seeds.
The research, led by David Lentink, an assistant professor at Wageningen, and Michael H. Dickinson, the Zarem Professor of Bioengineering at Caltech, revealed that, by swirling, maple seeds generate a tornado-like vortex that sits atop the front leading edge of the seeds as they spin slowly to the ground. This leading-edge vortex lowers the air pressure over the upper surface of the maple seed, effectively sucking the wing upward to oppose gravity, giving it a boost. The vortex doubles the lift generated by the seeds compared to nonswirling seeds.
This use of a leading-edge vortex to increase lift is remarkably similar to the trick employed by insects, bats, and hummingbirds when they sweep their wings back and forth to hover. The finding means that plants and animals have converged evolutionarily on an identical aerodynamic solution for improving their flight performance.
To measure the flow of air created by swirling seeds, the scientists built plastic models of the seeds with radii of about five inches, or 5 to 10 times larger than a maple seed. The seeds were spun through a large tank of mineral oil using a specially designed robot, modified from a device at Caltech called "Robofly." Previously, Robofly helped to determine the aerodynamic forces that keep insects aloft.
The size of the model seed, the speed at which it spun through the tank, and the viscosity of the oil were chosen so that the characteristics of the fluid flow generated by the model were identical to those produced by real maple seeds—just flowing through oil instead of air.
Next, the scientists used a powerful laser to create a sheet of light that illuminated tiny glass beads added to the oil. They then used a camera to capture images of the motion of the beads as the model seed spun through the tank. The images revealed the presence of a tornado-like vortex lying near the front leading edge of the spinning seed. Force measurements attached to the model showed that the swirling vortex created extra lift that would act to slow the descent of a seed as it spun to the ground.
To verify the results from the robot seed models, the team built a wind tunnel at the Wageningen University to examine the flow created by real maple seeds as they spin freely. Smoke was used to visualize the flow of air around the spinning seeds. These studies of 32 specimens confirmed that real seeds do indeed produce a vortex that generates exceptionally high lift, and that the vortex is aerodynamically similar in structure to the vortex made by the flapping wings of insects, bats, and hummingbirds when they hover.
The research might have implications for the design of swirling parachutes—which have been designed by space agencies to slow the descent of future planetary probes exploring the atmospheres of planets such as Mars—and of micro-helicopters.
"Maple seeds could represent the most basic and simple design for a miniature helicopter, if the swirling wing could be powered by a micromotor," says Lentink. Single-rotor helicopters have been built and flown successfully with wing spans of roughly a meter, but never at the scale of a maple seed.
"There is enormous interest in the development of micro air vehicles, which, because of their size, must function using the same physical principles employed by small, natural flying devices such as insects and maple seeds," says Dickinson. For example, Lockheed Martin attempted to develop inexpensive "maple seed drone cameras" that could be deployed in large numbers for surveillance, "although the project is no longer funded," Lentink says.
"This is still an open challenge for future aerospace engineers, and our aerodynamic study of maple seeds could help design the first successful powered 'maple' helicopters," he adds. Over the past four years, Lentink, an aerospace engineer, has designed operational flying, flapping, and morphing micro air vehicles, inspired by his insect and bird flight research.
The other coauthors of the paper, "Leading-Edge Vortices Elevate Lift of Autorotating Plant Seeds," are W. B. Dickson of Caltech and J. L. van Leeuwen of Wageningen University. The research at Caltech was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation.
Go to http://mr.caltech.edu/assets/619-mapleseed.mp4 for a video showing the vortex on top of a flying maple seed.
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Written by Kathy Svitil | <urn:uuid:74c0b7d8-cb46-4149-a9fc-3a801d27d806> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caltech.edu/content/maple-seeds-and-animals-exploit-same-trick-fly | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945029 | 1,060 | 3.71875 | 4 |
atelectasisArticle Free Pass
atelectasis, derived from the Greek words atelēs and ektasis, literally meaning “incomplete expansion” in reference to the lungs. The term atelectasis can also be used to describe the collapse of a previously inflated lung, either partially or fully, because of specific respiratory disorders. There are three major types of atelectasis: adhesive, compressive, and obstructive.
Adhesive atelectasis is seen in premature infants who are unable to spontaneously breathe and in some infants after only a few days of developing breathing difficulties; their lungs show areas in which the alveoli, or air sacs, are not expanded with air. These infants usually suffer from a disorder called respiratory distress syndrome, in which the surface tension inside the alveolus is altered so that the alveoli are perpetually collapsed. This is typically caused by a failure to develop surface-active material (surfactant) in the lungs. Treatment for infants with this syndrome includes replacement therapy with surfactant.
Compressive atelectasis is caused by an external pressure on the lungs that drives the air out. Collapse is complete if the force is uniform or is partial when the force is localized. Local pressure can result from tumour growths, an enlarged heart, or elevation of the diaphragm. The ducts and bronchi leading to the alveoli are squeezed together by the pressure upon them.
Obstructive atelectasis may be caused by foreign objects lodged in one of the major bronchial passageways, causing air trapped in the alveoli to be slowly absorbed by the blood. It may also occur as a complication of abdominal surgery. The air passageways in the lungs normally secrete a mucous substance to trap dust, soot, and bacterial cells, which frequently enter with inhaled air. When a person undergoes surgery, the anesthetic stimulates an increase in bronchial secretions. Generally, if these secretions become too abundant, they can be pushed out of the bronchi by coughing or strong exhalation of air. After abdominal surgery, the breathing generally becomes more shallow because of the sharp pain induced by the breathing movements, and the muscles beneath the lungs may be weakened. Mucous plugs can result that cause atelectasis. Other causes of obstruction include tumours or infection.
The symptoms in extreme atelectasis include low blood oxygen content, which manifests as a bluish tint to the skin, absence of respiratory movement on the side involved, displacement of the heart toward the affected side, and consolidation of the lungs into a smaller mass. If a lung remains collapsed for a long period, the respiratory tissue is replaced by fibrous scar tissue, and respiratory function cannot be restored.
Treatment for obstructive and compressive atelectasis is directed toward removal of any obstruction or compressive forces.
What made you want to look up "atelectasis"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:754e19a3-8422-4e44-b5cb-9a2a739abed1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40499/atelectasis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932205 | 610 | 3.828125 | 4 |
I'm trying to set up my raspberry pi to log input from an LDR. I've found some information which seem to cover exactly what I need, but I can't make it work.
Here's a link: http://pyevolve.sourceforge.net/wordpress/?p=2383
I've built the circuit and it works fine - if I connect an LED to the output it responds to a changing light level on the LDR. The problem comes when I connect that output to the Pi, the level of the GPIO pin seems to change at random, unrelated to the output from the circuit.
I've tried both python RPi.GPIO and the wiringPi gpio utility, both provide the same result. It seems like the input is floating but I've tried both internal and external pullup & pulldown resistors, neither improved the situation.
I feel like I'm missing something obvious but I'm clearly beyond the limits of my knowledge so I'm hoping someone else will have some useful insight! No idea too daft, I'll try anything | <urn:uuid:fc1aa87f-f896-4498-a806-9f21b2a6631a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.hackaday.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&p=13525 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949491 | 219 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Millions of Internet users in Iran could soon be permanently cut off from the Web, social networks, and e-mail.
In a statement released last week, Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology, announced plans to establish a national intranet within five months in an effort to create a "clean Internet," the International Business Times reported today. "All Internet Service Providers (ISP) should only present National Internet by August," Taghipour said in the statement.
Web sites such as Google, Hotmail, and Yahoo will be blocked and replaced by government-administered services such as Iran Mail and Iran Search Engine, according to the report. The government has already begun a registration process for those interested in using the Iran Mail that will verify and record each user's full name and address.
Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology called the International Business Times' report "completely baseless," according to a newer report in the International Business Times. "The report is in no way confirmed by the ministry," the ministry stated, blaming the original report on the "propaganda wing of the West."
Iranian Internet users have grown accustomed to censorship. The country's government cut off access to the Internet a few times earlier this year, the latest of which blocked access to all encrypted international sites outside the country that operate on Secure Sockets Layer protocol. Many Iranians use proxy servers over Virtual Private Networks to circumvent government efforts to block access to foreign news sites and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Taghipour told the Islamic Republic News Agency in January that a firewalled national Internet would soon become operational but gave no specifics as to when that would happen. The creation of such a vast "intranet" has worried cyberactivists in Iran because it would give the government an advantage in its cyber cat-and-mouse battle with opponents.
Updated at 9:45 a.m. PT on April 10 with the Iranian ministry's official statement denying original report. | <urn:uuid:dbb60c61-3196-4c0e-96ee-1bcbd35eec0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57411577-93/iran-expected-to-permanently-cut-off-internet-by-august/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950049 | 407 | 1.929688 | 2 |
She’s considered by many as the grandmother of using the American welfare state to implement revolution. Make people dependent on the government, overload the government rolls, and once government services become unsustainable, the people will rise up, overthrow the oppressive capitalist system, and finally create income equality. Collapse the system and create a new one. That’s the simplified version of Frances Fox Piven’s philosophy originally put forth in the pages of The Nation in the 60s.
Now, as the new year ball drops, Piven is at it again, ringing in 2011 with renewed calls for revolution.
In a chilling and almost unbelievable editorial again in The Nation (“Mobilizing the Jobless,” January 10/17, 2011 edition), she calls on the jobless to rise up in a violent show of solidarity and force. As before, those calls are dripping with language of class struggle. Language she and her late husband Richard Cloward made popular in the 60s.
“So where are the angry crowds, the demonstrations, sit-ins and unruly mobs?” she writes. “After all, the injustice is apparent. Working people are losing their homes and their pensions while robber-baron CEOs report renewed profits and windfall bonuses. Shouldn’t the unemployed be on the march? Why aren’t they demanding enhanced safety net protections and big initiatives to generate jobs?” [Emphasis added]
Those are the questions that frame what can best be called a roadmap for revolution. And it’s not long before those questions give way to directions. The first instruction: get angry.
“[B]efore people can mobilize for collective action, they have to develop a proud and angry identity and a set of claims that go with that identity,” she writes. “They have to go from being hurt and ashamed to being angry and indignant.”
And along with anger must come a denunciation of personal responsibility. Instead, workers must realize that others have put them in their current, uneasy situation: “[T]he out-of-work have to stop blaming themselves for their hard times and turn their anger on the bosses, the bureaucrats or the politicians who are in fact responsible.”
Only then, once their rage has been properly stoked, can the angry take action. And when they do, she says, the “protesters need targets.”
For Piven, the best “targets” are the people or organizations “capable of making some kind of response to angry demands.” Regular demands, notice, just won’t do. No, people must be fired up and not easily deterred. Angry and not quickly placated. It’s a concoction Piven has seen recently in other countries — countries such as England and Greece, which she uses as models for American unrest:
An effective movement of the unemployed will have to look something like the strikes and riots that have spread across Greece in response to the austerity measures forced on the Greek government by the European Union, or like the student protests that recently spread with lightning speed across England in response to the prospect of greatly increased school fees. [Emphasis added]
What exactly do those strikes and riots look like? They’re violent and bloody, like this one in Greece, where rioters firebombed police and beat bloody a former government official:
In England they look like this, where a mob of angry students attacked the future British King and his wife and shouted “Off with their heads!” while jabbing the Duchess with a stick:
“What she is calling for is nothing less than the chaos and violence engulfing Europe,” writes Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Ron Radosh on his blog. “Disgruntled leftist unionists, students who expect an education without cost, and citizens of social-democratic states cannot accept that the old terms of the social contract they thought would last forever have worn out their welcome. The European welfare-state governments can no longer function with the kind of social programs that now far exceed their nation’s budgets and hence are moving their countries to the precipice of total collapse.”
But violence has always been Piven’s preferred method of collapse. In 2004, she admitted as much, saying that violence is condoned as long as it is part of a grand plan:
What may be new is the brazen way in which Piven is now making her intentions known. No longer do her and people like her have to hide in the shadows. Now, they feel comfortable enough with the political climate to espouse their views openly, freely, unabashedly. It’s a phenomenon Radosh believes has to do with the current administration: leftists see a renewed opportunity now that Obama is in power.
“Now, as President Barack Obama is beginning the mid-point of his first and possibly only term in office, the Left is again trying to advance a new form of the old strategy,” he writes. And “as our national economy and many state and city budgets again are at the breaking point,” he adds, “Frances Fox Piven has issued a new call to repeat and build upon the ruinous strategies that she and her late husband advanced decades ago.”
In 1966 when Cloward and Piven published their first manifesto in The Nation, Americans were spell bound — especially poorer Americans who sucked up the couple’s call like a dying desert cactus. The New Republic’s John McWhorter writes:
But when Piven and Cloward published a manifesto in The Nation, there were 30,000 reprint requests. One thousand neighborhood service centers nationwide encouraged people to go on welfare who would not have otherwise. In the ’60s, one-third of the people whose incomes made them eligible for AFDC were on the rolls. By 1971, 90 percent were.
An old strategy for a new year. Let’s hope it doesn’t have the same effect.
Editor’s note: Piven’s entire editorial can be viewed here. However, in order to read it, you must be a subscriber. | <urn:uuid:4ce766b3-ab7b-4f1a-802e-8a4afcc9904a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2010/12/31/frances-fox-piven-rings-in-the-new-year-by-calling-for-violent-revolution/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964803 | 1,288 | 1.898438 | 2 |
As Part I of this series
(Zirkel, 2012) showed, the legal hub of RTI law at this point is at the state level. The federal impetus in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) legislation and regulations is in the past, and the case law is only in its infancy. The hub at the state level is in two interrelated but distinct forms—laws (i.e., statutes and regulations) and guidelines. Although varying from state education department directives and recommendations to related resources, guidelines do not have the force of law in terms of a binding effect on hearing officers and courts. For example, in Holmes v. Millcreek Township School District
(2000), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the parents’ reliance on state guidelines. Other courts have similarly made clear that state guidelines, because they have not followed the formal process for making law, do not have the binding force of legislation or regulations (e.g., Bethlehem Area School District v. Zhou
, 2009; D.K. v. Abington School District
, 2010). Policies adopted by state boards of education are in the gray area, depending largely on the lawmaking process in the state; this analysis treats them as law for the sake of simplicity.
The following sections categorize state laws and guidelines, with due differentiation where necessary, in terms of a) the distinguishing characteristics of RTI; b) the status of RTI for local school districts—permitted or mandatory; c) the scope of RTI, such as its use for other IDEA disability classifications; d) the specific provisions for RTI, such as duration and frequency of interventions; and e) the relationship of RTI to special education evaluation. The primary basis for this summary consists of previous, more detailed publications (Zirkel, 2010a, 2010b; Zirkel, 2011), although supplemental—including updated—information is provided.
Criteria for RTI
Although RTI has varying forms, its core characteristics, as repeatedly recognized by IDEA’s administering agency are a) “high quality, research-based instruction” in general education, b) universal screening for academic and behavior problems, c) continuous progress monitoring, and d) multiple tiers of progressively more intense instruction (OSEP, 2008, 2011). Although almost every state addresses these distinguishing criteria to some extent, they often do so via guidelines, because the majority of the laws do not go far beyond IDEA in terms of its absence of a definition of and procedures for RTI. For an exception, which also specifies the increasingly recognized criterion of fidelity, see Washington’s (2011) regulation.
Status of RTI
As of March 2012, the 14 states that mandate RTI for identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD) at least in part are—with those who do so by law in bold font
- completely and exclusively: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
- completely with the option of adding severe discrepancy: Georgia, Illinois, and Maine
- partially: Delaware (reading and math), New Mexico (Grades K–3), and New York (reading in Grades K–4)
Additionally, Iowa’s regulations require districts to use either RTI or the third option in the IDEA regulations (§ 300.307[a])—“other alternative research-based procedures.”
These classifications are subject to interpretation. For example, in transitioning from permissive to mandatory status, Idaho’s special education manual—which appears to be incorporated by reference in its regulations—dropped the express use of “RTI” to require this variation of the IDEA language: “response to effective, evidence-based instruction and intervention.” Similarly, the combination option in Georgia and Maine is based indirectly on the use of the IDEA “pattern of strengths and weaknesses” language, which—as Part I explained—OSEP has clarified as referring to the non-RTI options, namely, severe discrepancy or the third, other research-based alternative. Moreover, the listing for Maine is only in limited part in bold, because its mandatory status is based ultimately on the interpretation in the state guidelines.
All of the remaining states have chosen, per the options in the IDEA regulations, to permit districts to use RTI, severe discrepancy, and—much less frequently—the third, alternative research-based procedures option for identifying students with SLD. Nevertheless, several of these states, like those in the mandatory category, have specifications for RTI in law or, more often, in guidelines (Zirkel, 2010a, 2010b).
Scope of RTI
As explained in more detail in Zirkel (2011), most state law provisions for RTI in both the mandatory and permissive categories are, per the foundational provisions in IDEA, exclusive to the determination of SLD. However, a handful of state laws extend RTI to other IDEA classifications. The leading state is Louisiana, legally mandating RTI for not only SLD but also—via their particular prescribed general education intervention process—autism, developmental disabilities, emotional disturbance, intellectual disabilities, other health impairment, and orthopedic impairment. In second place, Florida requires RTI for not only SLD but also for speech and language impairment. Next, Delaware requires RTI for SLD and a subset of intellectual disabilities—“educable mental retardation.” Finally, as a different variation, New Mexico requires RTI as a service under its state dyslexia law.
Additionally, a second small group of states extend RTI beyond SLD identification via guidelines. First, connecting law with guidelines, Maine and Minnesota require RTI for the identification of various disability classifications beyond SLD to the unclear extent that their broader formal system of general education interventions (GEI) amounts to RTI. Second, a few states—Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland in descending order of clarity—seem to suggest the use of RTI globally via their guidelines. For example, Connecticut’s guidelines for SRBI, which is its RTI process, state, “SRBI can benefit students with a variety of disabilities, not only LD.”
Specifications for RTI
Allowing rather wide latitude for school districts, most states specify various implementation features for RTI, usually via recommendations in guidelines. These features include the following:
- district implementation plans: 10 states (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont ), with submission to and approval by state required in the majority of these largely permissive states (for example, Pennsylvania and Vermont)
- coordination with GEI: less than 10 states—for example, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, and New Mexico (with Georgia being notable for its connection by law between its separate specific requirements for RTI and “school support teams”)
- student intervention plans: approximately half of the states, largely via guidelines (with New Mexico unusually doing so via a § 504 plan at Tier 2)
- duration of the intervention:approximately half of the states with wide variation, with the majority in the form of recommendations rather than requirements
- e.g., Tier 1: very few states, ranging from Oklahoma’s guidelines requiring at least 4–6 weeks and New York’s guidelines recommending 1 year
- e.g., Tiers 2 and 3: several states, ranging from Delaware’s (2011) law requiring 6–12 weeks per tier to Arizona’s and Florida’s guidelines recommending 15–30 weeks per tier
- intensity and frequency of interventions:again, approximately half of the states with wide variation, with the majority in the form of recommendations
- e.g., Tier 1: predominantly 60–90 minutes per day, with variation per grade level and subject
- e.g., Tier 2: generally shorter periods, with only Delaware having a requirement by law, which is at least two sessions per week each for a minimum of 90 minutes (or 120 minutes if needed for both reading and math) in a small group
- e.g., Tier 3: wider variation, with only Delaware having a requirement by law, which is at least four sessions per week each for a minimum of 150 (or 180 if both reading and math) minutes in a smaller group
- universal screening and progress monitoring:majority of the states, with closer but still notable variation
- e.g., Tier 1: universal screening typically three times per year, with varying additional progress monitoring in approximately 10 states (including Delaware again being an outlier in terms of very specific requirements by law)
- e.g., Tiers 2 and 3: predominantly but not at all exclusively weekly or biweekly
- decision rules: very few states, with the basis either being percentiles (New Mexico and Tennessee guideline recommendations) or benchmarks (Delaware’s law) for moving from one tier to the next
Another example of unusually detailed legal specifications for the foregoing features, in addition to Delaware’s law, Wisconsin’s (2011) mandatory RTI regulation, which goes into full effect on December 1, 2013, merits excerpting:
The IEP team shall consider progress monitoring data from at least two intensive, scientific, research-based or evidence-based interventions, implemented with adequate fidelity and closely aligned to individual student learning needs. The median score of three probes is required to establish a stable baseline data point for progress monitoring. IEP teams shall use weekly or more frequent progress monitoring to evaluate rate of progress during intensive, scientific, research-based or evidence-based interventions. Rate of progress during intensive intervention is insufficient when any of the following are true: the rate of progress of the referred child is the same or less than that of his or her same-age peers; the referred child's rate of progress is greater than that of his or her same-age peers but will not result in the referred child reaching the average range of his or her same-age peer's achievement for that area of potential disability in a reasonable period of time; or the referred child's rate of progress is greater than that of his or her same-age peers, but the intensity of the resources necessary to obtain this rate of progress cannot be maintained in general education.
The Wisconsin regulation (2011) is also notable for its objective measure for the related criteria of “inadequate classroom achievement”:
A child's achievement is inadequate when the child's score, after intensive intervention, on one or more assessments of achievement is equal to or more than 1.25 standard deviations below the mean in one or more of the eight areas of potential specific learning disabilities. Assessments used under this subdivision shall be individually administered, norm-referenced, valid, reliable, and diagnostic of impairment in the area of potential specific learning disabilities … [with a designated exception]. The IEP team may consider scores within 1 standard error of the measurement of the 1.25 standard deviation criterion above to meet the inadequate classroom achievement criteria under this subdivision if the IEP team determines the child meets all other criteria.
Other leading examples of the relatively few states that, by law, provide relatively “meaty” specifications for RTI are Louisiana and West Virginia.
Relationship to Evaluation
The juncture between RTI and the formal evaluation process for special education eligibility is not clearly specified in most states. For example, Wisconsin’s aforementioned regulation provides that “intensive interventions may be implemented prior to referral, or as part of an evaluation, for [SLD].” On the other hand, an occasional state defines the relationship between the last tier and the evaluation. For example, in New Mexico, Tier 3 is special education, thus establishing the end of Tier 2 as the point of evaluation.
Aside from the handful of states—including Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Utah, and Washington—that allow a combined approach, thus presumably allocating severe discrepancy for the evaluation stage, very few states provide criteria for moving from RTI to the special education evaluation. Illustrating the subset of states that do so via guidelines, Maryland recommends evaluation if the daily progress monitoring at Tier 3 indicates that its interventions are insufficient to increase the student’s rate of learning and skill acquisition to a level comparable to peers. Representing a combined approach, New Mexico’s law requires a dual discrepancy criterion and then defines this requirement via guidelines as follows: a) the student is unresponsive to 1–2 rounds of Tier 2 interventions; b) progress monitoring data show a pattern of flat or declining scores and below acceptable/low rates of progress compared to peers; c) despite an intervention plan, the student consistently demonstrates significantly low achievement on assessments in comparison to peers; and/or d) the student has a clear disability or has a disabling condition that significantly restricts a major life activity, long or short term.
The other subset, states that specify by law the criterion for the transition from RTI to evaluation, are as follows:
- Delaware: if after 6 weeks of Tier 3 or a total of 18–24 weeks of intervention, the student a) has made no progress toward benchmarks, or b) is not on trajectory for the end-of-year benchmark
- Idaho: if a) the student’s actual rate of learning is lower than the reasonably expected rate despite interventions, and b) there is a discrepancy from peers’ performance on two or more measures, with at least one measure being a curriculum-based measure, according to specified objective criteria (e.g., student’s standard score on a nationally normed standardized test is at or below the seventh percentile)
- Minnesota: if a) the student’s rate of improvement is minimal and continued intervention will not likely result in the student achieving state-approved grade-level standards; b) progress will not likely be maintained without instructional supports; c) the student’s performance on repeated assessments of achievement falls below age or state-approved grade level standards, and d) the level of achievement is at or below the fifth percentile on more than one achievement test using state or national comparisons
- Mississippi: if the Teacher Support Team determines that the Tier 3 interventions are unsuccessful after reviewing them first within 8 weeks and second within 16 weeks
In sum, the legal dimension of RTI at this point centers at the state level in the form of laws and related guidelines. The laws themselves are rather limited in detail, largely merely clarifying the status of RTI in terms of being mandated or permitted for school districts. The occasional exception—such as Delaware and Wisconsin—merit special attention due to their unusually extensive legal specifications. On the one hand, these laws illustrate the language for those who favor rigorous legal requirements. On the other hand, because regulations are more difficult to change than guidelines and provide less flexibility for local customization, they reflect the rigidity that accompanies rigor.
In contrast, the vast majority of states rely on the rather fluid form of guidelines for the development and implementation of RTI. They are fluid in several respects: a) they do not have the full force of law; b) they often are worded in terms of recommendations rather than requirements; c) they range from directives to resources, with the resources often including links to professional sources; and d) they grow and change in rather direct response to both internal and external experience, including information from other states.
The combination of laws and guidelines reveals that a) almost all address the four core characteristics of RTI but with wide variance in strength and specificity; b) only approximately 15 states require RTI, with variations within and at the margin of this group; c) with few exceptions in law (e.g., Louisiana) or guidelines (e.g., Connecticut), the exclusive context for RTI is the IDEA classification of SLD; d) the recommended or required features of RTI vary widely in terms of both the range of specifications and the absence of specifications, allowing for broad discretion in implementation at the school district level; and e) the transition from RTI to special education evaluation—absent issues of child find and parental referral (e.g., Martin, 2011; Zirkel, 2012)—is largely unaddressed, with the exceptions being rather stark in their specificity.
The beauty of these results is that professionals and parents have rather broad latitude to fashion RTI to fit their particular needs and values at the district. The trade-off, or potential beastliness of these results, is that RTI may lose its distinctive meaning and its effectiveness. The wide gaps currently evident in the legal requirements for RTI present the risk of falling short of the increasingly recognized culminating characteristic of fidelity (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2010; National Research Center on Learning Disabilities, 2007). More specifically, without sufficient legal strength and specifics, the danger is that the systematic fidelity of professional discipline may give way to various counter pressures—for example, resistance to change, tight resources, and special interests, resulting in RTI simply becoming old wine, that is, GEI, in a newly labeled and not carefully sealed bottle. Hopefully, this information about state law and guidelines, instead, will facilitate the fermentation and experimentation to “fundamental change in mission and practice” of general and special education (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Stecker, 2010, p. 318). | <urn:uuid:57f38245-841f-4528-9e42-d1a01bf099fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rtinetwork.org/learn/ld/the-legal-dimension-of-rti-part-ii-state-laws-and-guidelines | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924224 | 3,588 | 2.859375 | 3 |
More In This Article
Science, it is sometimes claimed, is neutral: it is up to society to decide how to employ research findings. Yet society often struggles with its end of the deal. That is because science can also hold up a mirror to the results of our culture’s choices—and we may not like what we see.
Consider antibiotics. Since their discovery decades ago, these “wonder drugs” have been used far more widely than for the treatment of sick patients. Tourists take them when they go on vacation to prevent traveler’s diarrhea. We give them to livestock, helping to keep our meats cheap.
The microbes that have survived this selection pressure are now demonstrating a disturbing new pattern of resistance—and sometimes complete immunity even to last-resort medicines. Bacteria share genes freely, widening the global threat. Meanwhile pharmaceutical companies do not have drugs in the pipeline to combat the new bug strains. Hospitals have had to increase infection controls. Are we entering a postantibiotic world? Click here for Maryn McKenna’s sobering article, “The Enemy Within.”
In Science Agenda, the board of editors suggests a way to reduce the development of further resistance: stop dosing pigs, chickens and other farm animals with subtherapeutic amounts of antibiotics. The U.S. can take a lesson from Denmark, which has efficiently raised livestock without hurting farmers, by using better animal husbandry practices.
Last, brain scans have transformed our understanding of cognitive processes. Could they factor into trials, by providing insights into an accused’s mental state? Michael S. Gazzaniga considers the challenges involved in “Neuroscience in the Courtroom". As it turns out, neuroscience’s greatest influence may be in identifying root causes of illegal behaviors. But the choice of how to use the science is, ultimately, also society’s to make.
[UPDATE] Bring Science Home
A few months ago I wrote about Scientific Americans participation, as a part of Nature Publishing Group, in Change the Equation. This CEO-led initiative, part of the White Houses Educate to Innovate program, seeks to boost learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Soon we will be launching our first related project, called Bring Science Home.
A challenge of improving our nations performance in science education is that children who get turned off at a young age may never come back. And studies have found that even in kindergarten, students are forming negative views about science see “Start Science Sooner,” SA Perspectives; [Scientific American, March 2010]. I thought: How can non-STEM parents help foster STEM-loving kids?
That was the inspiration behind Bring Science Home, led by Katherine Harmon of our online team. For the month of May, www.ScientificAmerican.com will feature one science- related activity each weekday, which parents and their six- to 12-year-olds can do together. We consulted with members of the National Science Teachers Association so that the activities would echo themes taught in early grades. Parents will also find additional background to help them explain the concepts. But the overarching goal was simple: each activity had to be easy and fun, done with household ingredients and completed in less than an hour.
In the next issue, I will update you on other STEM efforts.
This article was originally published with the title Reflections from Science. | <urn:uuid:4996cc26-c662-4721-a1ec-e9f28822e322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=reflections-from-science | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941974 | 705 | 2.75 | 3 |
Due to my busy schedule, I've started preparing all my meals on Sunday and cooking one a day for the rest of the week. It's generally defrosted chicken or meat. Is it better for me to refreeze the ...
Possible Duplicate: How can I ensure food safety if my cooking utensils have touched raw meat? I tend to be over careful when handling raw meat when cooking. However, I think it is simply ...
Whenever I get done dealing with raw chicken, I feel like I need to wash my hands repeatedly with hot water and soap. Is this going to remove the potential bacteria away or is there a different way I ...
Why is safe to eat some raw or undercooked meats like beef and fish (assuming you're careful), but not chicken? I know that there are bacteria in chicken, but are they in all chicken, or just so many ... | <urn:uuid:ff2a902f-d7ee-4b2b-b73b-508cf90d291a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/chicken+raw-meat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955856 | 182 | 1.984375 | 2 |
It’s Time to Get Tested: Awareness Day Spotlights HIV Among Women
March 8, 2010— Every 35 minutes, a woman in the U.S. tests positive for HIV— but many others living with the virus remain unaware of their infection. On March 10, events marking National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day will urge women across the country to learn their status and take charge of their health.
The theme for this year’s awareness campaign, “It’s Time to Get Tested,” underscores a sobering reality: although the number of women living with HIV continues to climb, many women and girls believe that they are not at risk and do not seek HIV prevention or testing services. This lack of awareness has had a particularly devastating effect among African-American women, whose rate of infection is nearly 15 times higher than that among white women.
But for all women, HIV remains a risk. Biological factors render women more susceptible than men to infection through heterosexual sex; and social and economic factors such as stigma, discrimination, and poverty increase their vulnerability. In addition, women often face greater barriers to care, including lack of financial resources and access to transportation, or childcare responsibilities that prevent them from seeking services for themselves.
Since the mid-1980s, the number of women living with HIV in the U.S. has increased steadily, and in 2007, they accounted for more than a quarter of all new diagnoses. Worldwide, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of childbearing age, and women and girls now comprise half of the 33 million people living with HIV.
From free testing and prevention information to health seminars and rallies, local and national groups are planning a variety of events on Wednesday and throughout the month of March. For more information and event listings, visit http://www.womenshealth.gov/NWGHAAD/index.cfm. | <urn:uuid:6bfa31f7-c507-4c2d-9cc8-2751bef1935a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amfar.org/Articles/In_The_Community/2010/It%E2%80%99s_Time_to_Get_Tested__Awareness_Day_Spotlights_HIV_Among_Women/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953568 | 392 | 2.953125 | 3 |
A growing number of hospitals and health systems across the country are starting mandatory vaccine programs, and the largest health care provider in the east is no different.
Vidant Health completed its first mandatory influenza vaccination program in November. More than 99.9% of employees received the vaccine. Patient safety is the driving force behind the policy says Vidant Health CEO Dr. David Herman
"If you're in a hospital as a patient and you get influenza your chances of having that be a fatal event are about 1 in 4. So to prevent those infections, it really keeps our patients safe and allows them to leave the hospital with a much better outcome then they would have otherwise," said Dr. Herman.
Workers at all Vidant Health sites, including doctors, nurses and housekeepers, participated. Even non-Vidant Health employees who work at Vidant facilities were required to get the vaccination. | <urn:uuid:aee3ccd2-876e-4717-aa35-5df1c87ac61b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.witn.com/news/localnews/headlines/Vidant-Health-Employees-Got-Mandatory-Flu-Vaccine-183457281.html | 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 | 0.969644 | 181 | 2.25 | 2 |
New staff begin work on childhood obesity project
As part of a three-year, $448,334 grant received by Samaritan Health Services (SHS) and Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital (SNLH) from the Health Resources and Services Administration to implement a new childhood obesity program, four part-time staff members have been hired and are beginning work in Lincoln and east Linn counties.
The program is called Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH), and is an evidence-based childhood obesity prevention effort that is proving highly effective in increasing physical activity levels and improving eating behaviors among children. Implemented already in more than 8,500 schools across the nation, CATCH is an in-school, after-school and early childhood program that promotes healthy behaviors by bringing effective curriculum into the classroom, physical education classes, the cafeteria and the home. For example, organizations that become part of CATCH serve healthier meals at lunch time and also teach about nutrition during meals. The program will be implemented in 14 schools in Lincoln and east Linn counties, four after-school programs, and the Samaritan Early Learning Center in Lincoln County. Approximately 4,000 students will be reached.
The grant will be administered through SNLH, a founding member of the Coast to the Cascades Community Wellness Network, a consortium of health-focused community partners. A portion of the program funding has been used to hire the four part-time staff members. Marilyn Kennelly has been hired by Samaritan as the CATCH program director, and will be based out of SNLH. Daniel Roberson has been hired by the SHS Center for Health Research and Quality to assist with the research component of the program. Two part-time coordinators will serve the two counties, and are employed by local service organizations. Grace Rieke will serve as coordinator in east Linn County and is employed by the Lebanon School District. Toby Winn will serve as the coordinator in Lincoln County and is the executive director of Neighbors for Kids in Depoe Bay.
“This is community development at its best,” Kennelly said. “It is exciting that the staff work for different entities with the same mission. It is an innovative way to make this truly a community project right from the beginning.”
For more information about the CATCH program, contact JoAnn Miller, director of Community Health Promotion for Samaritan, at (541) 451-6939 or firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:d0dfe7e8-eee2-4d07-8dd7-53f126d9d9ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.samhealth.org/aboutus/newsevents/news/Pages/CATCH-Grant-New-Staff.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962014 | 509 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Ik ben geen ander (I Am No Other)
'What has Holland given you, now that you have lived here for a couple of years?' a friend asked the originally Indian director Mani Kaul. 'Extra belegen,' (extra mature cheese) his answer was. In I Am No Other, he tries to present an image of migration, identity and a multiracial society in general on the basis of his own assimilation in a new country. I Am No Other is midway between a home-movie and a cinematic essay. Mani Kaul films his children Rumi and Neisha playing games and correcting their father's pronunciation of Dutch words, but he also addresses the differences between the Dutch and Indian cultures and the changing vernacular of Mumbai. The carnival, Dutch class and a visit to relatives who left for the United States. This makes I Am No Other a film about becoming familiar with different groups of people and the change and preservation of one's identity. | <urn:uuid:72dd83e7-5402-4600-91f0-21d5677b10dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.filmfestival.nl/profs_en/films/ik-ben-geen-ander | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967925 | 202 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Garin Tzabar Hazorea - Members of Garin Tzabar, a program that helps foreigners join the Israeli Army, reflect on their decision to move to Israel and enlist.
What does it mean to be a soldier in the Israeli Army? It means freezing through cold winter nights and sweating in the sweltering desert sun. It means hardships that you never knew existed and was sure that you could never complete. It means friendships so strong and rare that no words can describe them. And it means walking through the streets with your head held high no matter how tired or sore you are because you are a soldier in the Jewish army. (read more...) | <urn:uuid:3302141d-e0cd-40b4-8ed6-f65f168023fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idfinfo.co.il/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967042 | 135 | 1.929688 | 2 |
First, I think this post should be moved to the CCSVI forum.
Second, I would like to post what Dr. Scalfani said about the studies cited in the blog post referred in this thread:
Dear Dr Sclafani,
Have you read the German and Swedish studies commented in the Wall Street Journal? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 10380.html
Did these studies use the doppler ultrasound with the right protocols?
It is regretful that Drs. Doepp and co-authors’ attempt to reproduce Professor Zamboni’s discovery of a link between multiple sclerosis and disturbance of the outflow veins of the brain and spine has been unsuccessful. It is particularly unfortunate that the authors’ misunderstanding of Dr. Zamboni’s publications about this subject have led to their conclusions that “No cerebrocervical venous congestion in patients with multiple sclerosis" exists
The authors mis-state several of the criteria for a positive ultrasound examination. They state that reflux must be present in both internal jugular veins or both vertebral veins. This is not accurate. Reflux in any one of these veins was considered a positive criteria by Zamboni.
It appears to me that Dr Doepp and colleagues have tried to elicit reflux by testing for incompetent valves in the lower jugular vein. Incompetent valves result in reversal of blood flow from the heart back up into the jugular veins. They used the Valsalva maneurer, a technique to increase pressure in the chest that reverses blood flow. However, Zamboni explicitly states that one should assess flow “never in (by) a forced condition such as the Valsalva manoeuvre.”
That the authors’ attempts were unsuccessful is not surprising. The ultrasound examination used by Zamboni is a simple one but the description of the technique has not been fully elaborated in his papers. Thus performance of the ultrasound by some investigators is often at variance and this may lead to differences of results. At my own institution, we were surprised that non-invasive testing by ultrasound did not correlate with the very obvious obstructive phenomena seen on catheter venography, which remains the Gold Standard of assessing veins. We also had difficulty identifying CCSVI on ultrasound, initially using the Valsalva maneuver during out testing. In fact we were able to find an obstruction in only one patient of twenty. It was only after being shown how to correctly perform this simple screening test by the Zamboni team during a visit to Ferrara, that we have become facile in detecting these abnormalities. It is clear that there is a learning curve to the use of this technique.
Nor does this paper refute the concept of CCSVI. Doppler ultrasound is only a screening test for CCSVI. When Doppler shows signs of CCSVI, the gold standard test of catheter venography is indicated to detect the sites of potential obstruction. Doppler is not the definitive test of CCSVI because it cannot assess the azygous vein, an important contributor to cerebrspinal venous outflow resistance. Catheter venographies routinely show evidence of outflow obstructions. Sluggish flow, reversal of flow, extensive collateral veins, strictures, duplications, reversed valves, thickened incompletely opening valves and misplaced valves are among the many abnormalities seen in MS patients that we never see in patients without MS.
The paper by Sundstrom and coauthors similarly rejected the CCSVI hypothesis by performing MR venograms and flow quantification in the neck. MR venography is suboptimal as a screening test because it underestimates and overestimates stenoses quite regularly. One can see from their illustrations two MRV images. It is noteworthy that neither image shows the portion of the jugular vein where lesions causing flow resistance are usually found: behind the clavicle as the vessel enters the chest. Both images show considerable collateral vasculature suggestive of CCSVI. Moreover the image on the right on page 258 purports to show a stenosis with an arrow. It is well known that most of the narrowings referred to by the white arrow are a common transient, non-stenotic narrowing caused by a true narrowing below the clavicle. Catheter venography shows abnormalities that cannot be detected by MRV.
I was struck by the rapidity of publication of both articles. Surprising! Both papers were accepted within six weeks. I have never had such rapid decision, editing and publication of any of my more than 120 publications.
This debate is going to be a challenging one. One side wants randomized prospective trials to prove efficacy. However while many proceduralists have noted sometimes impressive gains for patients, these proceduralists need to evaluate nuances of techniques before consensus can be built regarding the best approach to therapy. Only then can intelligent, carefully designed randomized prospective trials begin. Some who commonly perform randomized trials will try to reduce the work of those who will try to develop the best practices because they are not randomized. However, in my view this is a necessary initial step toward the final trials. | <urn:uuid:f028e9c9-4aa9-4108-8737-58f10f0e8740> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-discussion-f1/topic13193.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963007 | 1,053 | 1.570313 | 2 |
President Wants 'Prominent' Military Inauguration Day Role
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2005 Though the military has had a role in presidential inaugurations since George Washington took office, President Bush has requested that the military play an even more prominent role when he's sworn in for his second term Jan. 20.
"That was the president's choice," Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott told reporters during a conference call today from Capitol Hill announcing events for this year's inaugural program.
The inaugural ceremony will take place on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, and will feature patriotic musical performances before a crowd expected to number 250,000.
Lott, who heads the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said the "emphasis of the day and recognition of the military will be more than usual," adding that the president wanted a "prominence of military unit participation." The committee is charged with the oversight and planning of the presidential inauguration and related ceremonies on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Military participation during inaugural ceremonies traditionally includes musical units, marching bands, color guards, firing details and salute batteries.
Though the theme for the inauguration -- "A Vision of America" -- commemorates American exploration, development and conservation, Lott added that the ceremony will show the country's gratitude for the military.
"This is about a vision of the future of America, but it's also a way to express our appreciation for the great job our military is doing around the world," the senator explained. "I think that throughout the day, and throughout the whole week, you will see every opportunity taken to express our appreciation to the military."
Navy Capt. Curt Reilly, director of public affairs for the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, said the Defense Department is working with the Presidential Inaugural Committee to get invitations for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom troops to attend some of the inaugural events.
Much of the entertainment for the ceremony will be provided by military bands and singers. Scheduled to perform at the 2005 inaugural ceremony will be the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club and the "President's Own" U.S. Marine Corps Band. Also performing will be the Army Herald Trumpets and the Navy Sea Chanters.
Lott noted that for the first time in inaugural history, the Air Force will have a performing role. The U.S. Air Force Band will accompany tenor vocalist Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bradley Bennett, a member of the Air Force "Singing Sergeants," in performing the national anthem. Lott said Bennett's rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" should provide "one of the most memorable moments of the whole day."
Bennett, a native of Kent, Ohio, where he earned a degree in vocal music from Kent State University, said being chosen to sing at the inauguration is a "tremendous honor."
"It's very humbling, especially since it's the Air Force's first time," he said. "And I would just like to say 'thank you' again for this tremendous opportunity."
Following the swearing-in ceremony, the president will sign Cabinet nominations and later join invited guests for the traditional congressional luncheon. After lunch, he will then be escorted by Army Maj. Gen. Galen Jackman, commander of the Military District of Washington, to the east side of the U.S. Capitol for the pass in review of military units. Once again, the focus will be on the military, as some 400 military troops will march.
When a reporter suggested that some might expect a lower- key ceremony with the nation at war, Lott noted the president's desire to use the event to salute the people serving the nation in uniform. "I don't know how you would have made it lower-key and still have been able to express your appreciation verbally and vocally for what (military people) have done," the senator said. | <urn:uuid:8d8fbc93-ff15-48ba-91a3-12e032fbb80f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=24438 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956422 | 824 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Reid, McConnell Set Vote on Short-Term Debt Bill; GOP Lines Up Amendments
January 31, 2013
Alan K. Ota and Meredith Shiner
Senate Republicans are seeking to send messages on the debt through amendment votes on a bill scheduled to come to the floor on Thursday that would suspend the debt limit through May 18.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday hashed out the details of their first real amendment agreement of the new Congress. On Thursday, the Senate is expected to proceed on a House-passed bill that would raise the debt ceiling through May while also imposing “no budget no pay” rules, making the payout of congressional salary contingent upon approval of a budget resolution in each chamber.
Chief among the Republican provisions are two amendments from Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. One would attempt to permanently end government shutdown standoffs and another would codify the requirement that Congress find cuts commensurate with the amount spent to extend the debt limit.
The measure that passed the House this month would suspend enforcement of the federal borrowing limit until May 18 and then raise the debt limit the following day to the debt accumulated to that point.
The amendment that would prevent government shutdowns was introduced originally by Portman and Democrat Jon Tester of Montana earlier this month and would extend current law appropriations levels for 120 days after the original budget deadline, before gradually decreasing those levels as an incentive for lawmakers to act on another piece of legislation.
Democrats generally have criticized such proposals in the Senate and the House as thinly veiled attempts to perpetuate continuous spending cuts in the budget.
The other Portman amendment would permanent the so-called “Boehner rule,” after House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. The rule says Congress cannot agree to raise the debt ceiling unless cuts in spending by an equal amount are made over the next 10 years.
House Republicans abandoned — at least temporarily — the cause they took up in the summer of 2011 by approving the temporary debt limit extension last week. The bill the House approved, which needed both Democratic and Republican votes to pass, did not include cuts in exchange for the extension, just the language that House members and Senators not get paid if their respect chambers do not approve a budget resolution.
Given that Democrats call the House approval of the short-term debt limit a GOP retreat, Senate Republicans look to be taking up the mantle of conservatism in Congress. Multiple Republican sources indicated the Senate GOP felt more leeway to be the more conservative voice in the current argument, as Republicans in the chamber are in the minority and so less burdened by having to find majority support for whatever ultimately passes Congress.
The other Republican amendments likely to get votes Thursday are a provision offered by Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., that would call on the Treasury Department to prioritize different payments in case of Congress’ failure to extend the debt limit, and a relatively unrelated amendment from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that would prohibit the sales of F-16 planes and tanks to Egypt.
James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican on Armed Services, offered an amendment to give the Pentagon authority to reprogram, or move, funds from one budget account to another in response to the automatic spending cuts under the sequester, but that amendment was not included in the agreement on votes.
<- Go Back | <urn:uuid:5b73692a-1017-4a7e-a977-aacbed1be077> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uschambersmallbusinessnation.com/article/reid-mcconnell-set-vote-on-short-term-debt-bill-gop-lines-up-amendments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95091 | 703 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Do you remember seeing your first Terminator movie, and getting that creepy, itchy, uncomfortable feeling at the thought of a piece of autonomous intelligent machinery killing humans with electronic efficiency? It's not quite time to worry about that possible future yet--but there are a number of developments in robot evolution that might give you pause for thought.
Since first used in World War I (yes, even back then), robots have become an increasingly useful tool on the battlefield. Back then they were simple devices like the remote-controlled tracked Goliath robot (See video below.) developed in Germany to act as a "smart mine." There are certain situations that are too dangerous for a human, hence the need for expendable robots. And there are some things that a robot is actually better at.
That's why we hear so much about Predators and Global Hawks nowadays. Both are unmanned aerial vehicles that can be programmed to fly to specific areas and gather intelligence, loitering there for hours--all the while putting themselves at a risk you'd never expose a human-crewed aircraft to. (See video below.) And with the addition of rockets, the UAVs become Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles--Predators carrying Hellfire rockets are currently being used in a fight against the Taliban in border zones of Pakistan.
Then think of the ground-based robots like Talon and Swords (Video below.)--these systems are seeing deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan today. They're essentially smart systems with human remote-control authority--small tracked vehicles with a mechanical tool arm that is useful for investigating suspicious devices, and in the case of Swords of firing rounds at concealed targets or to detonate IEDs. They're effective, they expand the capabilities of the military, and they save human lives.
As such, you may think these 'bots are a long way from the human-destroying Terminators. And they are, in the main--despite an odd moment when a Swords robot was reported to have fired on its own controllers. But take a look at Big Dog.
It's been designed to act as an autonomous troop-assist robot, and it's smart. Damn smart. Smart enough to be able to trot over almost any terrain, even slippery ice or steep inclines, all by itself--and carrying a pack load that surpasses what a human could heft.
Its being developed by Boston Dynamics and at its core is a very Terminator-sounding tech: biomimicry. We're not talking of the artificial skin of a T-800, but about a system that uses natural-world inventions to solve technological problems. In Big Dog's case, it employs the sure-footedness of a four-legged horse and the master-servant relationship of a dog--it'll follow its "owner" troops wherever it's needed. Inside it sophisticated systems keep it balanced, and control its legs to successfully navigate the ground. It's motion is almost tangibly animal-like.Then check out a slightly different form of biomimicry: Bioassist.
The Sarcos-Raytheon XOS suit is a robotic exo-skeleton that multiplies the power and endurance of a human body. By expending only the smallest amount of energy to operate its controls, a human can lift and crush and push objects that would defeat whole teams of men. Imagine a squadron of exoskeleton troops, stomping across an urban battlefield, tearing their way into buildings and pushing roadblocks aside with a wave of a claw and you should get that Terminator creepiness. Particularly if you imagine generation 600 of these machines without a human operator inside. After all, artificial intelligence is still developing.
For the most part the robots mentioned so far aren't very physically adept--a Predator can't fly as well as an eagle, a bioassist claw is nowhere near as mechanically clever as a human hand. But biomimicry is not only being developed for war. Check out Dean Kamen's Luke arm project .
The goal is to help war veterans who've lost a limb in battle--it's named for Luke Skywalker's robot limb from Star Wars. And the Luke arm is incredible: It's the most sophisticated synthetic limb in the world, close to being as dexterous as a flesh and blood arm. Its control system is cleverly wired into the nervous and muscular system of its user so that it's essentially thought controlled. And its such a "natural" system that Kamen reports seeing a user drink a cup of coffee with the Luke hand and then deposit the cup on a nearby table without looking, all while carrying on a conversation. Though that's a meaningless physical act for able-bodied people, think about the man-machine synthesis that's going on here.
The Luke arm is all about smart engineering and programming, but consider this artificial heart design for some really eerie biomimicry. Developed by France's leading cardiac surgeon Alan Carpentier, and Euro defense and aerospace company EADS, it beats almost exactly like a real human heart so it won't present such a stress to the transplantee's system. To get around the problem of clotting on the mechanical device, it includes a "pseudo-skin" covering--a biosynthetic, microporous material.
Perhaps the ultimate humanoid robot existing today is Honda's Asimo. It's not far from being what we'd call an android. He can walk, run, navigate autonomously, decide the best way to achieve a goal, speak, take spoken commands, react to unexpected situations, climb stairs, carry objects and even conduct orchestras.
Honda foresees a future where Asimos are a part of everyday life, acting as butlers, servants and perhaps even child-minders. Wary of the potential sci-fi creepiness of such a smart machine Honda's even designed it to look "soft" and friendly and reduced its size to almost child-sized proportions as the design has evolved.
Not getting "You're Terminated" chills yet? Then Imagine an Asimo with the strength of Big Dog, the power of the exo-suit and dexterous limbs like the Luke arm--repurposed into a role that Talon currently occupies. It's the robot soldier of the future, and under the auspices of concealed military research, such a technological fusion is extremely possible. Call it the T1, and teach it battlefield morals, if you like. Flock the sky with smart drone vehicles armed to the teeth that communicate wirelessly with other flying or ground-based surveillance bots and military satellites. And then imagine something going wrong. | <urn:uuid:8569253a-32a1-4982-9581-710787ed5c73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcompany.com/1256414/terminator-tech-isnt-far-you-think | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948524 | 1,352 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Parking Meter enforcement
Check The Signs and Read The Meters
Before you park, check the signs. There may be limits on the amount of time vehicles may park or a permit may be required. Parking areas designated for individuals with disabilities requires the appropriate disability placard be displayed. There is no charge for vehicles with disability permits. The time they park at a meter is not limited.
Parking at a space regulated by a meter or pay station requires you to pay the denomination specified by the meter or pay station between the hours and days specified. If a pay station does not work please alert the parking division by calling 311. Remember to place the display receipt on the dash of the vehicle.
Vehicles parked at a meter must pay between the hours of 8 AM to 6 PM Monday-Saturday. A Driver does not have to pay the meter on Sunday or federally recognized Holidays. | <urn:uuid:8e0b2784-2db5-4ccd-8f90-5f8098192f75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cabq.gov/municipaldevelopment/residents/parking/meter-parking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933243 | 179 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Words With TRLanguage brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.
Five words that contain TR as a letter pair have had all of their other letters removed and placed into a pool. Put those letters back in their proper places. What are the words?
TR***, *TR***, **TR**, ***TR*, **TR***
Pool: A, A, A, C, E, H, I, I, K, L, M, M, N, O, P, S, S, U, X, Y
AnswerTRUNK, STREAM, MATRIX, PALTRY, OSTRICH
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Back to Top | <urn:uuid:7743e44d-cf87-46d7-9e2a-32148953f7b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/teaser.php?id=49694&comm=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934442 | 197 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Less is More
By relying on the cloud and Google’s rapidly expanding family of Chrome software, Samsung’s Chromebook 5 and Chromebox 3 are two of a kind for schools looking to cut down on the cost of getting and operating computers on campus. Because they are by their nature minimalist, they cost less than comparable desktops and notebooks to purchase, plus everything from programs to student data is stored on a server, so they’re easier to administer and keep running smoothly.
Which you choose depends as much on how mobile you want your teachers and student body to be.
The Series 5 Chromebook 550 picks up where the last Chromebook left off. It has a 12.1-inch screen that can show 1,280 by 800 resolution and weighs just 3.3-pounds. Inside is an Intel Celeron 867 dual-core processor that runs at 1.3GHz and has 2MB of on-bard cache. The system has all the ports you’re likely to need for either doing homework or teaching a class, including the ability to send high resolution images to a projector or monitor via Displayport, HDMI or DVI. The system has an SD card reader and a HD Web cam. It comes with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of solid state storage and costs $450 with WiFi and $100 more with a 3G data card built-in.
By contrast, the Chromebox 3 is meant to stay put in a computer lab, library or office. It’s a micro desktop unit that weighs just 2.5 pounds and is smaller than most classroom box. It can be screwed into a table or attached to the back of a monitor, creating the equivalent of an all-in-one computer. The Chromebox can drive up to two displays via a pair of Displayport connections and can be mated with either an optional wired or wireless keyboard. It’s powered by a 1.9GHz Celeron processor that has 2MB of on-chip cache and comes with 4GB of RAM as well as 16GB of solid state storage. It’s got WiFi and wired Ethernet and 6 USB ports. | <urn:uuid:ee63c853-a421-4c39-93e6-271366b0681f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.scholastic.com/techtools/2012/06/less-is-more.html | 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 | 0.945657 | 444 | 1.625 | 2 |
A third child and at least two adults in Michigan have died from flu-related illnesses as the number of flu cases in the state continues to climb.
The death of a 6-year-old from southwest Michigan was confirmed last week, said Angela Minicuci, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Community Health. Officials reported in December that an infant from the southwest region of the state and an adolescent from central Michigan had died of the flu.
Additionally, state health officials have learned that at least two adults have died this flu season. Because the MDCH is not mandated to report data on adult flu deaths, that figure may not reflect the total number of adults who have died, Minicuci said.
As of Dec. 27, there were 252 laboratory confirmed cases of the flu in Michigan, according to the MDCH. The number is up from 149 the previous week.
“Typically, we don’t see this volume of cases until much later in the flu season,” Minicuci said.
Minicuci said the best way people can protect themselves and their children is to get vaccinated. Health officials recommend that everyone age 6 months old and older get a flu shot. Some children between the ages of 6 months and 8 years require two doses of the vaccine.
Young children, people 65 and older, pregnant women and people with certain chronic medical conditions are most risk at for developing influenza-related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported that 31 states had widespread influenza activity the week ending Dec. 22.
Minicuci said in the 2011-12 flu season, there were 1,170 confirmed cases of the flu in Michigan. No children died from the flu.
During the 2010-11 season, there were 391 confirmed flu cases and six pediatric deaths. | <urn:uuid:f89f92da-d973-40bc-8387-3dcb43521650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freep.com/article/20130102/NEWS06/130102073/Michigan-flu-cases-continue-to-climb?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CSPORTS02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981851 | 373 | 2.125 | 2 |
By John Spoto
With the national elections now behind us, Americans have once again refocused their attention on how quickly and effectively our political leaders will act to tackle the huge federal deficit and national debt, and the implications of those actions for their jobs, businesses and investments. Right now, however, the two most urgent threats to our already fragile economy are the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling.
The "fiscal cliff" is the term adopted to describe the package of about $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that will become effective Tuesday if Congress and the president do not take preventive action. This self-imposed threat to an already fragile economic recovery is the product of a four-year political debate over the role of tax policy and government spending. In broad terms the fiscal cliff consists of two components, higher taxes and reduced spending.
While the focus of the debate has been on tax increases on higher-income and wealthier Americans, if no action is taken, millions of modest income earners will also pay higher taxes on working income, payroll withholding and investment earnings. This will leave people with less for spending and investing for the future. The major areas of spending cuts will slash the nation's military budget, substantially reduce the reimbursements doctors receive from Medicare, and eliminate extended unemployment befits for those still out of work. Not only will the impact
The "debt ceiling" is the maximum amount of outstanding debt the U.S. government is allowed by Congress to incur. An increase in the debt ceiling does not authorize new spending; it simply allows the government to pay its existing obligations. If we run a deficit (spending more than we take in) we must be able to issue new debt (borrow) to pay our bills. Congress has never failed to raise the debt; it has done so 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents. Failing to authorize a debt-limit increase would result in a U.S. government default on its legal obligations and inflict serious damage to our economy and economies around the globe.
Investors are justifiably worried that Washington's failure to resolve these two problems could send the markets into freefall, causing irreparable harm to their investment plans and financial security. Many are left wondering what pre-emptive actions can be taken to minimize the damage to their portfolios. Here are some things to think about when deciding what strategies are right for you:
* First, the direction of the financial markets is unpredictable. They are driven up and down erratically by emotions in response to events around the world that come when least expected, and change direction just as quickly. No one, including the experts, can consistently predict what turns the markets will take.
* Second, given our burgeoning national debt, we can reasonably expect any political solution will involve higher taxes and lower government spending, potentially triggering a short-term contraction in economic growth. However, we don't know for certain how the economy and the markets will react. Therefore, making sweeping changes to a long-term financial plan based on future events may cause more harm than good.
Although we can't control what Washington's final tax-and-spending plan will include, focus on what you can control and take prudent action based on your own personal circumstances and goals.
On the economic front, there is still reason for optimism. For the first time, leaders in both parties are acknowledging that restoring our country's economic prosperity will require sacrifice from everyone in the short term. However, having a sound plan for meeting the fundamental challenge of deficit and debt reduction will benefit all of us in the long term.
John Spoto is founder of Sentry Financial Planning in Andover and Danvers. For more information, call 978-475-2533 or visit www.sentryfinancialplanning.com | <urn:uuid:984fec0f-2086-43fe-81d7-60400b7a5da3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lowellsun.com/business/ci_22274986/time-has-come-scale-fiscal-cliff | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954592 | 771 | 2.109375 | 2 |
When she saw three teenagersone Jewish, another Hindu and the other Muslimsitting in a storytelling circle laughing and joking about a "village of fools" in Israel, it left her awestruck, said Kate Dudding.
"I was so struck by that because for one reason, how many places in the world would you find a Jew, Hindu and Muslim sitting together as friends and sharing stories? Second, who would have imagined one path to world peace had to do with a village of fools," said Dudding, of Clifton Park.
Dudding has been a storyteller for 15 years now, giving up her job as a computer scientist with GE's Global Research Center to pursue a far freer yet equally intricate life as a teller of tales.
"I fell in love with the art form. I did a little of it, just mimicking other storytellers I'd heard, and I realized if I didn't pursue it, I'd regret it the rest of my life," said Dudding, who was introduced to storytelling when her son was young at the New York State Museum. "It just spoke to me. It's a very personal art form because the storyteller is in the same room, looking into the eyes of listeners, reacting to what listeners are doing It's very intimate where the storyteller is present and acknowledging that they [and the audience] are sharing this experience together."
Dudding used her storytelling prowess to win top prize in a Story Slam at the 2010 National Storytelling Conference in Los Angeles in early August. Around 100 people attended the conference and 11 names were picked out of a hat for a chance to tell their story at the slam. Hers was the last name chosen and with her story of the three youth from different faiths, she won the competition.
The three youth her story centered around are part of a local youth interfaith storytelling group called Children at the Well. She serves as their webmaster and supporter. | <urn:uuid:02b5a885-3f2e-4d0f-a75e-24d3543a80ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/2010/aug/23/stories-a-slam-dunk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983052 | 401 | 1.625 | 2 |
A new state-of-the-art apartment complex called Via Verde boasts a series of terraced rooftop lawns and gardens, an outdoor amphitheater and stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. The building -- as its Spanish name suggests -- is also dedicated to the “green way,” meaning it meets the highest standards of environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient construction.
But unlike some other eco-conscious apartment buildings in New York City like the Solaire in Battery Park City, or the Tribeca Green in lower Manhattan, Via Verde is located in the South Bronx. And unlike these other luxury condos, it is built with middle-class New Yorkers in mind: Many of the 202 apartments in Via Verde are intended for families for four that earn less $56,700 a year. “We hope that [the Via Verde] proposal will serve as a prototype for future affordable housing developments built nationally and internationally,” said Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan.
Via Verde is not alone. A smattering of low-cost environmentally friendly projects housing projects are being built across the country, according to a recent article in the Next American City. In Duluth, Minnesota, for example, a project for 70 formerly addicted or homeless people will be convenient to public transportation and boast such features as a high-efficiency steam heating and hot water system, energy-efficient lighting and controls, ceiling fans and landscaping that requires no irrigation.
If Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets his way, there will be more buildings using such technologies in New York City’s future. On April 22, as part of a plan to make New York more sustainable, the mayor called for a series of new projects and initiatives aimed at reducing harmful emissions and energy usage.
But accomplishing such changes in the city could be a major challenge, with high demand, a scarcity of land combining to create a critical shortage of low- and middle-income housing - let alone apartments that are energy efficient , environmentally friendly and still available to less affluent New Yorkers.
GREEN BUILDING AND OUR FUTURE
But some experts believe that New York City cannot afford to neglect the environment in its push to provide more moderately priced housing. They argue that constructing buildings that use less water and energy and contain fewer toxic substances is not just an innovative idea but also a necessity.
The city is expecting demand for electricity to outpace current capacity by 2012, and a major portion of that demand comes from buildings. New York City buildings emit 79 percent of the global warming gases in the city, which in turn, accounts for 1 percent of emissions nationwide, according to a recent study from the mayor’s office. New York City alone emits as much as these gases than all of Portugal or Ireland.
And unless something is done, the pollution is bound to increase. More than a million people are expected to move into the city by the year 2030, according to the Department of City Planning.
This will “pose challenges that – if left unmet – could be paralyzing,” Bloomberg said in a recent speech.
THE COSTOF GOING GREEN
Through a variety of techniques, such as energy saving appliances, improved ventilation, recycling rainwater, green buildings use less energy than conventional homes, emit less of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, and often provide safer and more pleasant environments for residents who are not subject to harmful chemicals and compounds.
But one of the biggest obstacles is cost.
Estimates on the up-front costs of building green and the time it takes to recoup that investment vary. The city’s Department of Design and Construction has figured that green buildings cost 2 to 3 percent more to construct, and the U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of building industry leaders, estimates that, on average, it can increase initial costs by between 2 and 7 percent.
Proponents point out that these costs can be recovered in lower operating costs over the life of the building – particularly reduced energy and water bills. And those expenses pose an increasing burden for many homeowners and rents.
The cost of energy in US cities increased on average 11 percent last year, accordingto the US Conference of Mayors._New York City is considering an increase of 11.5 percent in water rates, which would add an estimated $72 to the average water and sewer bill for a single-family home in the city._
Despite this, many developers are reluctant to put more money into upfront construction costs.
To help developers and builders defer the costs of building green, the state and city have offered a series of tax incentives and financing.
The state began offering the first tax credit for developers of green buildings in the country in 2000. It has distributed the total $25 million allocated to the program among seven projects. The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency also offers a variety of help with different aspects of green building.
Some money is also coming from the non-profit sector.
The Enterprise > Community Partners has invested $130 million dollars to finance the development of 1,800 homes in the city over the last two years.
Yet many say this is still not enough, and so government has begun to require, not just encourage, environmentally friendly construction.
The state mandates that the buildings housing many state government agencies improve their energy efficiency by between 10 and 35 percent, and that they purchase up to 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources, such as wind or solar.
And the city enacted Local Law 86 at the beginning of this year, which requires that most new, non-residential developments using at least $10 million of city financing reduce their energy costs by between 20 and 35 percent, among other environmental requirements. The law is estimated to affect $12 billion in construction.
BLOOMBERG’S GREEN DREAM
On Earth Day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented list of 127 proposals, called PlaNYC, aimed at making a “greener, greater New York.” Dozens of the ideas involve making new construction more environmentally friendly – and even helping New Yorkers upgrade their existing homes to be more energy efficient.
The city's Department of Environmental Protection has already allocated $34 million dollars toward a water conservation effort that aims at a 5 percent reduction in water use. The program would provide rebates to replace toilets, urinals and washing machines with more efficient models starting in 2008.
In an effort to make green building more affordable, the new building code - which is expected to be adopted this summer - will provide rebates for many environmentally friendly features such as improved ventilation and white roofs, which reflect heat rather than absorbing it and so reduce energy needed for air conditioning. In a similar vein, the city plans to offer a property tax abatement for solar installations.
To indicate that the features normally associated with green construction are not limited to the affluent, some of the 55,000 units fundedunder the mayor’s plan to create or preserve 165,000 homes by 2013 were built to meet sustainability standards.
And from now on, the Bloomberg administration says, all of the new apartments and houses will adhere to more stringent standards.
Still, it will take some radical new approaches to ensure that New York can be environmentally sustainable and affordable.
While the Via Verde apartment complex in the Bronx has been hailed as eco-conscious model for features like the ability to rainwater, spaces to grow vegetables and fruit, solar panels, and even a Christmas tree farm, it began with a substantial commitment from the city: the land, which was valued at more than $4.5 million, was donated free of charge. | <urn:uuid:8ef44570-0869-4cbb-88e8-c7b819d8ba8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/topics/economy/3542-going-green-saving-green | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952509 | 1,573 | 2.515625 | 3 |
| ||To help keep Alberta Dutch elm disease (DED) free, the Society to Prevent Dutch Elm Disease (STOPDED) encourages everyone to pay attention to the Provincial elm pruning ban between April 1st and September 30th. To help eliminate beetle habitat, it is important to properly prune all dead wood out of your elms and dispose of all pruned elm wood and elm firewood by burning, burying or chipping by March 31. Stored elm wood can harbor the elm bark beetles that can carry DED.
“Elm bark beetles, responsible for spreading the deadly DED fungus, feed on healthy elms and breed in dead and dying elm trees,” says Janet Feddes-Calpas, STOPDED executive director. “If elm trees are pruned during the pruning ban period, these beetles which are active at this time can be attracted to the scent of the fresh wound and possibly infect an otherwise healthy elm with DED. Once an elm tree is infected with DED it will die within that year.”
Having your tree pruned properly is important. Many trees are killed or ruined annually from improper pruning. Pruning like any other skill requires knowledge and should be done by a professional certified arborist who can determine what type of pruning is necessary to maintain or improve the health, appearance and safety of your trees.
Topping or removing an excessive amount of live wood is not recommended on any variety of trees and will weaken the tree’s structure. For more information on pruning, certified ISA arborists and DED click the linked websites. | <urn:uuid:db685e2f-d303-4672-9452-a566dce6568d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/newslett.nsf/all/agnw20651 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915295 | 344 | 3.09375 | 3 |
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A woman who is a member of a police force.
- n. A female police officer.
- n. a woman policeman
- police + woman (Wiktionary)
“Because of the cases potential political ramifications, a young policewoman is sent from Paris to aid Bruno with his investigation.”
“Instead she signed on as a "policewoman" -- a very different job than "patrolman.”
“Selebi, who also faces charges for calling a policewoman a”
“If he really called the policewoman a 'f ... gorilla' he should be man enough to admit it and apologise," McIntosh said.”
“For Officer Christy Lynne Hamilton, becoming a policewoman was the beginning of a new life and the fulfillment of a dream -- one she put off until after she raised her two children.”
“The policewoman was an inch or two shorter than I, but broader, stronger, with a tough-looking body that belied the pleasant sweetness of her round face.”
“I haven't been called a policewoman in so long, but when I think about it, it's an honor," said Day, 59, dressed in a black jacket and black shoes that have taken her through Cincinnati's neighborhoods in search of justice for children.”
“It affects all officers who have earned the title "policewoman" by graduating from the police academy.”
“Escorted by Miss Brewster, who acted chaperon, or "policewoman" as Sheila insisted on calling her, they walked in orderly file down the eucalyptus avenue to the town, past the hotel, along the esplanade, and up a steep incline to the Villa Bleue.”
“Cincinnati's last 'policewoman' reflects on career”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘policewoman’.
Problematic and recommended terms according to the EP's guide on gender neutral language use
gender-neutral la..., biased, discriminatory, demeaning, political correct..., gender equality, gender neutrality, sexist language, masculine gender, inclusive form, generic form, discriminate agai... and 103 more...
Many of these words first came into common usage during World War I, and reflect not only the technological and scientific leaps of the early part of the 20th century, but the new experience of glo...
Looking for tweets for policewoman. | <urn:uuid:46f5b775-291d-4576-bf4e-f7d07653cf2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/policewoman | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936229 | 551 | 2.46875 | 2 |
I know that you’ve heard about trans fat and that it’s dangerous to your health. It’s a frequent topic of conversation, and now you’ve been seeing the labels in the grocery stating that such and such a product doesn’t contain trans fat (in slightly different wording). Do you know exactly what trans fat is though, and why it isn’t good for your body?
Here is simplified rundown on exactly what trans fat is:
Trans fats are found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (Note: fully hydrogenated vegetable oil does not contain trans fat). Vegetable oil is hydrogenated through an industrial process in which the “vegetable oil is reacted under pressure with hydrogen gas at 250 – 400 degrees (F) for several hours in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel or platinum”. The process of hydrogenating the vegetable oil causes it to be a solid at room temperature, provides a certain texture that you notice when you eat foods containing it, and it allows for a longer “fry-life” for cooking oils.
The reason it is called “trans” fat is because the hydrogenation process creates a change in the molecular linkage, placing hydrogen atoms in a “trans” position. When hydrogenated oil is used in processed food (commonly found in baked goods, and even bread), it extends the shelf life of the product up to approximately one year. Again, trans fats are solid at room temperature. An easy way to tell the difference between “good fats” (yes, there are good fats that your body needs) and “bad fats” is that the good fats are liquid at room temperature and get thick when they are cold (example: olive oil). The “bad fats” (whether they are trans or saturated, which is another topic ) remain solid at room temperature (i.e.: stick margarine, shortening – trans fats, and butter, lard – saturated fats).
The health dangers of trans fat are as follows:
- They lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, which is what clears the gunk out of your system.
- At the same time, they raise your level of LDL (bad) cholesterol, which leads to blocked arteries.
- They stunt your weight loss efforts and are present in the foods that are most associated with long-term weight gain (cookies, cakes, breads, butter, margarine).
Beyond the fact that they will sabotage your best weight loss efforts, they are seriously detrimental to your health, not only causing artery blockage and coronary disease, but also attributing to inflammation (more about this important topic as well as the topic of trans fat can be found in the book YOU On A Diet).
Basically, this stuff is just not natural, and like so many other ingredients and additives that make up processed food today, it doesn’t occur naturally and is not meant for human consumption! Our ancient (healthier than us) ancestors did not consume processed foods; the human body just won’t function at its peak by ingesting them.
Something very interesting that I learned while researching this topic (another fun tid-bit from YOU On A Diet ) is that trans fat was originally designed for candle wax. When Edison brought us electricity, there wasn’t a market for trans fat anymore; at least, not at that time. | <urn:uuid:2a198f69-5ad1-4b99-84dc-92ccce7bf3d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fearlessfatloss.com/food/what-exactly-is-trans-fat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954644 | 704 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Choosing cool and Soothing Colors for your home or office can be a herculean task, as there is a wide range of colors to choose from.
When it comes to remodeling a house, one of the most important aspects is painting. Any shade of paint can change the complete look of a room as a color has an ability to change a drab and boring room into a stunning one. Many people prefer to paint their homes in serene colors as it relaxes the mind. There are many hues of soothing colors to choose from that match the atmosphere of a room.
Let’s see more about Soothing Colors for different rooms, in the following paragraphs.
When choosing Soothing Colors for bedrooms, blue is one of the most calming colors that will help soothe your senses. There are many hues of blues but pale shade of robin’s egg blue is the appropriate color for a bedroom. Other soothing colors for the bedroom are lilac or lavender. From ancient times, inhaling the scent of lavender is known to induce sleep. Green is an ideal choice when it comes to choosing paint colors for a bedroom. This color not only gives the room a soothing appearance but also adds a refreshing appeal to it. Another popular choice of bedroom color is yellow. Though yellow is mostly considered a warm color, the correct shade of this color like buttery yellow or a warm honey hue can be suitable for a bedroom.
While painting a living room, you must take into consideration the furniture. Choose appropriate soothing colors that complement the furniture of the room. If you have dark-colored furniture then opts for pale, soothing living room colors. Try painting the living room in monochromatic theme, like using variations of a single color. You can use different shades of lavender as it is one of the most suitable colors for all rooms, since they have a soothing effect. Use a tint of just one color for painting the living room. You can lighten up your paint color by adding white to it. Use natural colors like green, blue and pale pink as paint colors for living room to add a refreshing and soothing colors effect.
For choosing soothing colors for your bathroom; choose soothing hues like green, blue and periwinkle purple to make your bathroom feel cozy. You can also choose a sophisticated and neutral color like cream or taupe to provide a refreshing yet soothing feel. There is also a wide variety of pastel shades like grays, lavenders and pink that can be used as bathroom colors. Make sure you have the proper lights to provide a relaxing effect.
These were some tips for choosing soothing colors. Before you paint the walls of the room, always paint a small portion of the wall to check how it looks. If you are satisfied with the result, you can go ahead with the task, or else you can always try other combinations. Whatever color you choose, make sure that it serves its purpose and brightens up the atmosphere of the room. Happy painting! | <urn:uuid:4ab64d8b-ec3a-4a44-90f4-fcbe98a5eca8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dighomedesign.com/choosing-the-best-cool-and-soothing-colors-for-your-home.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936902 | 617 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Mon, Jan 11, 2010
AL Hall Of Fame Pilot Played A Vital Role In The Bay Of
Joe Shannon,88, ended a 70-year career in aviation on Tuesday
after a brief illness. He was an aircraft mechanic, tactical
fighter pilot, air show performer, corporate pilot and civil
aviation enthusiast that was inducted into the Alabama Aviation
Hall of Fame in 1999.
A young Joe Shannon is shown in the cockpit of a P-38 -
courtesy of AL.com
"He was a remarkable individual," Hall of Fame Chairman Billy J.
Singleton told the AP. "He knew anything and everything about
Shannon started his career in the Army National Guard, enlisting
while still a high school student. He shipped out to England
in 1940 and trained in British Spitfires. Shannon survived 50
combat missions in Africa and Europe against Germany's
Luftwaffe. He also trained in the B-25 bomber before
participating in the China/Burma/India Theater of Operations.
Shannon was most famous for training Cuban Liberation Air Force
pilots and participating in the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
The director of the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Jim
Griffin, said Shannon was the last surviving Alabama Guard pilot
who flew in the invasion.
The CIA recruited Shannon in 1961 to participate in their covert
operations in Cuba. According to his son Lewis Shannon "it
was a defining point of his life."
Shannon was awarded numerous commendations including the Seal
Medallion for his role in the Bay of Pigs operation, the
Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal with 14 Oak Leaf clusters,
the Distinguished Unit Citation, the Chinese Air Medal, the Cuban
Liberation Air Force Medal for Valor, and the state of Alabama's
Distinguished Service Medal.
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Sign MoU With Diamond Aircraft On Electric Propulsion System EADS and Siemens are entering into a long-term research partnership to introduce new electric propulsion systems that c>[...]
The heights above the earth's surface of the lowest layer of clouds or obscuring phenomena that is reported as broken, overcast, or obscuration, and not classified as thin or parti>[...]
The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation (AAHF) is a non-profit public educational foundation dedicated to presenting the Army Aviation story to >[...]
“The serial electric propulsion allows us to design airplanes with totally different characteristics than today. Vertical take-off and high-speed cruise can be realized in a >[...] | <urn:uuid:055e5ade-6cf4-47f5-8e7e-cc7fe165cfbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=a6eb9606-e4fb-4e59-8eab-4a0ca5d9590d | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937072 | 579 | 1.828125 | 2 |
US government recognizes its acceptable to kill ones own people
US government officials admit they are killing US citizens, no trial, no jury, no question, mere executions in the name of national defense..
they are admitting, Hitler was right and correct in his actions of killing people, in the name of national defense.
and where are those that stand against such attrocities, silenced in their cowardness as those that were silence in the reality of the sitaution in all of history..
Do we admit that what todays children are repeated told is wrong, the US government itself does.
People have been propagandaized to not want to face the Truth of past history. Leaders coming to kill its own people to perpetuate their cause of ideal is often that finals straw of a govenrment have gone made, and cease to exist for a purpose to the people.
Abortion, or the demand for smaller families, the murder of the US owns children is founded on the propaganda the worldes population is going to swell and their would be mass starvation. Yet its recognized the US is now, as many parts of the world in a declining population pattern for the next hundred and beyound years.
The greatest tragidity and down fall of any civilization is to for sake that key element of freedom, life , liberty and justice for all.
IN the past ages of when people were educated, it would have been recognized in freedom, it was better that 99 guilty go free, as to one innocent man be punished for that which they did not commit. Punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit, was a crime of ones self. Todays age of ignorance and superstition brings forth the superstitious and ignorant that demand a execution of any they deem seem to challenge or do wrong...
and its also interesting to note, the governments quest in the 1930's to execute those that robbed banks was done in a operation of lynch mob exectuions. Today in white collar crimes, people can pilfer millions from others, and they seldom are even noted, as todays wars of the rich on the poor.
But the executioners in all of those trials never came to be whole in thier actions, nor those in roles of leadership that call for executions of humans in their "demand" of ideals.
Currently the French are noted to be flying over Africa and shooting people as deemed tobe accpeted by the military, thinnning down the crowd of potential opposition. as king george was doing in a fashion of bombing runs..
Hiliary Clinton was apealed to stand up for the people of Africa, but she noted it to be bussiness is bussiness.
warped people in the role of leadership, bring a great demise.
the US mitary can randomly execute people because the people dont stand against the govenrment becoming immoral, as the people themselves dont hold themselves to a standard, neither do they hold their government...
if people are to be accountable to themselves, then they must hold their elected to be accountable to them..
todays leadership condons wars of revenge, borrowing of money to fight unjustified wars, and the murder of children to bolster a fictional economics of borrowing and debt that is being forced on the next generations, to which their is nothing to show for.
According to Saudi daily Al-Youm, the committee argued that such a step, if adopted, would not violate Islamic law, allowing the emirs of the country's 13 local administrative regions to begin using the new method when needed.
"This solution seems practical, especially in light of shortages in official swordsmen or their belated arrival to execution yards in some incidents; the aim is to avoid interruption of the regularly-taken security arrangements," the committee said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where a death sentence results in beheading in a public square.
There have been calls in the kingdom for replacing public beheadings with lethal injections carried out in prisons.
The kingdom executes anyone convicted of murder, armed robbery, rape and trafficking in drugs.
It has executed 15 people so far this year, 76 last year and 79 in 2011.
================It appears you hypocrites have your own problems in the fake moon god cult, joe. But instead of being a FAILure here on AW, never making even one convert in all your wasted postings, I suggest you apply for Royal Saudi beheader. There's job security over there and you'll actually succeed at something for the first time in your kaMMel world existence. | <urn:uuid:b473aada-a142-4849-b53c-0b4549bb7218> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discussions.agweb.com/showthread.php?17704-US-government-recognizes-its-acceptable-to-kill-ones-own-people&s=a9a5742dfb9c40d4dc2e2d09afe11e24&p=326376 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971148 | 941 | 1.523438 | 2 |
My favorite part of last week's American Baseball Coaches Association convention was talking with former North Carolina bullpen catcher Chase Jones about his ongoing work to raise money for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation.
Jones' story really begins in 2006. One day after baseball practice, he started getting terrible headaches. UNC's student health services initially thought he was suffering migraines, but it turned out he had a brain tumor. He had surgery on Oct. 5, 2006, then underwent five rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.
"I was fortunate being 18 and being healthy and physically fit, so physically it wasn't as taxing on me," Jones said. "Mentally, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, as far as going to a treatment that makes you feel worse, and you don't know what the end result is going to be. Going to something that makes you feel like crap, and then you've got to go do it the next day and the next day—that was really shocking. But it was so inspiring to see kids next to me doing it the same thing, at such a young age, taking on the same things I did. That just changed my whole perspective."
In 2010, Jones organized BaseBald for the Cure at UNC. Before a game, players and coaches shaved their heads to raise awareness and money for cancer research and treatment. For every $100 donated to the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center, one Tar Heel baseball player shaved his head. That first drive raised $6,400. They did it again the next year and raised $15,000 more.
"I loved the initial reaction of the guys after we got done," Jones said. "It was not only are our heads shaved but it was like, 'Wow. We just raised a predominant amount of money by shaving our heads, and it was the easiest thing in the world to do.' The children's hospital in Chapel Hill was so thankful for what we provided them. We as a baseball team did so much more on that day than win a baseball game. We actually changed lives."
When Jones graduated last year, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do for a career, but he knew he did not want to see the BaseBald program come to an end. So he approached the St. Baldrick's Foundation—which organizes head-shaving drives around the nation—and landed a full-time job with the organization in September. His job is to reach out to baseball programs nationwide—from Little League to pro ball—to recruit more participants for the BaseBald program. So far, 10 schools are officially on board for 2012: North Carolina, Tulane, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, UNC Wilmington, Brevard (N.C.), Wright State, Illinois State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. Two other teams—Virginia Tech and Bryant—participated in St. Baldrick's events in the fall.
Jones, the nephew of Tulane coach Rick Jones, has been thrilled with the response he's gotten so far. He said N.C. State coach Elliott Avent is very excited to participate.
"He's actually shaving his head at home plate before they play Wake Forest, when they exchange lineup cards," Jones said. "Being a Carolina guy, it just kind of transcended college lines and everything. I almost got emotional, I'm just so excited about it."
This past October marked five years of being cancer-free for Jones, an important milestone.
"St. Baldrick's provided me with a doctor," he said. "In the simplest of ways, I'm here because of them."
To get involved, visit StBaldricks.org/Events/BaseBald, or contact Jones at (336) 209-2187, or by e-mail at chase@StBaldricks.org.
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About This Blog
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Search This Blog | <urn:uuid:3e128ce6-ac23-46c4-adf4-0fe13e75ed80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/2012/01/basebald-program-grows-under-cancer-survivor-chase-jones/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978054 | 891 | 1.585938 | 2 |
- Badgers, bats and reptiles are right at home at Durrants Village:: Developers at a village in West Sussex have gone to great lengths by protecting species on site during construction and including habitat for the existing wildlife on the site including bats, lizards, snakes and badgers.
- Amphibian Crossing:: The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has a project to protect spring breeding amphibians by moving them across roads during their migration to breeding sites.
- Why Every City Should Be Planting Rain Gardens:: An interesting history of rain gardens and compelling arguments for their installation by The Atlantic Cities.
- Hedgerows direct the flight of the bumblebee:: “Bees use hedgerows as motorways, academics have found, which may help future rural planning.”
- Adapt garden to make most of drought conditions:: The drought in Texas last year did have some benefit as this article shows, the The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department created a “Drought Survival Kit” which aims to help homeowners reduce water consumption as well as benefit wildlife by using native plants.
- Urban trees crucial for wildlife:: A study in Australia found that trees were vital in cities for sustaining biodiversity. They found ”large trees were considered “keystone structures”, providing resources such as food, nest sites and shelter for wildlife in agricultural and forestry-production landscapes.”
- For the Birds: Winged Predators Seek Certain Trees When Foraging for Caterpillars:: Birds care about the types of trees, findings of a recent study “suggest that chickadees and others zero in on the type of tree as much as the characteristics of their wriggly prey.”
- To stay relevant, conservationists embrace cities:: This is welcome news…”to stay relevant to the realities of most people in the world, the Nature Conservancy, one of the largest conservation organizations in the world, is shifting from looking just at preserving large swaths of open space — the idyllic forms of nature — to also focusing more on natural habitats in cities.”
- Does outdoor play help keep the doctor away?:: A great article from the BBC about getting kids into nature and the benefits of doing so.
- Urban green spaces require sustained investment:: This article discusses how urban green spaces take time and energy, they don’t just happen. “The inconvenient truth of this matter is that without investment, sustainable, urban green spaces will remain a wistful utopia.”
- The New Nature Movement – Environmental Health Leader Richard Louv:: Interesting interview with the author of Last Child in the Woods.
- The American Crow:: The Urban Wildlife Guide looks at one of the most common urban birds and describes how smart they are.
- Night fliers: how to attract moths to your garden:: This article from The Guardian discusses the simple ways to attract moths to your garden.
- Us against the world:: A recent post from the Next-Door Nature blog features a look at an increasingly common urban sight, coyotes.
- Hoverflies: Gardener’s Friends:: A great introduction to hoverflies in the UK.
- How to eco-fit your garden:: This feature on the Telegraph highlights a new book, ‘How to Create an Eco Garden’ by John Walker and includes some good tips and ideas about making gardens more habitat friendly as well as eco-friendly.
- Olympics shoot for green medal:: This in-depth article from the BBC discusses the site of the London Olympics before and details the design ideas aimed to improve the derelict for wildlife and water cleaning.
- VOGELHOTELS für VÖGEL, INSEKTEN und andere Tiere:: This page (in German) features a variety of bird hotels, also featured on the Vogelhotel website, which includes insect hotels as well.
- “Bird City” Habitat Hangs In Unused City Spaces — Boosting Urban Biodiversity:: Dutch designer Eveline Visser has created a series of unique modular bird houses designed to be hung on unused walls in narrow spaces that may otherwise be wasted.
- Inner city beehives and bat boxes unveiled:: The three finalists are featured from a competition in London to design habitats for bees, bats and other wildlife.
- Meadow Up Your Street:: This is a campaign from Rivers of Flowers in London to “ inspire people to use the space in their front gardens to create a haven of biodiversity. Walking along a street and seeing a meadow of glorious wildflowers flowing from front garden to front garden will lift the spirits of residents and visitors alike.”
© 2012, Kelly Brenner. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:37ae7301-3a52-49db-bb0a-c1a6d276d30d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metrofieldguide.com/foragings-the-latest-news-resources-designs-and-more-26/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91823 | 972 | 3.15625 | 3 |
In cooking, the process of clarification entails straining out extraneous muck from liquids so that they might be pure, clear and ideal for consumption. With this series on food terminology and trends we're attempting to do the same.
As food writers and reporters, we toss out a lot of terms - sustainable, pescetarian, free-range - and just assume that everyone's on the same page. If they're not, the conversation suffers, and we can't have that, now can we?
Here's a round-up of concepts and words we've explained thus far.
Is there something you'd like to see clarified? Let us know in the comments below, and we'll do our best to define.
From around the web | <urn:uuid:8fda9bdf-000a-47d4-8313-270259f0085e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/04/28/clarified-demystifying-food-terms-and-trends-2/?hpt=ea_bn10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943804 | 153 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Study reveals there is a ‘striking lack of evidence’ to back up claims made for trainers, drinks and supplements
Claims about how trainers, sports drinks and supplements will help grassroots or elite athletes train harder and achieve better times are usually based on no or flawed evidence, researchers have revealed.
Sportswear giants, such as Nike and Puma, and manufacturers of drinks, such as Powerade and Lucozade Sport, regularly insist their products confer advantages on users. But such claims are so difficult to verify because of a lack of reliable evidence to back them up that “it is virtually impossible for the public to make informed choices about the benefits and harms of advertised sports products, based on the available evidence”, according to a study by a team from Oxford University and the British Medical Journal.
“There is a striking lack of evidence to support the vast majority of sports-related products that make claims related to enhanced performance or recovery, including drinks, supplements and footwear,” conclude researchers led by Dr Carl Heneghan of Oxford’s centre for evidence-based medicine.
Half the websites for such products provide no evidence for these claims and of those that do, half the evidence could not be critically appraised. | <urn:uuid:c5c9add6-c932-4f51-82e4-e9e03e56c2ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://junkscience.com/2012/07/19/research-pours-cold-water-on-alleged-benefits-of-sports-products/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954967 | 255 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Ashland, AL – January 22, 2013 – Southern USA Resources, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTC BB: SUSA), a natural resource exploration and development company, today provides an overview of its properties located in the Alabama Gold Belt.
The Company’s flagship property, SUSAR No. 1, is a 230 acre prospect located in Clay County, Alabama. The property is approximately 3½ miles north of the City of Ashland, commonly referred to as the Idaho Gold District. The Company owns 100% of the land and the mineral rights to this property.
In addition to the flagship property, the Company also acquired the mineral rights to an additional 230 acres southwest of the current flagship property with crossing privilege over to this addition which the Company leased the mineral rights for and 770 acres located approximately 5½ miles northeast of the SUSAR No. 1, known locally as the Short Property.
Based on the Geological Survey of Alabama, gold mineralization in Clay County lies in the Northern Piedmont and Brevard Fault zone. Gold mined in the area comes from a series of quartz-gold veins. The Company has recently discovered an old mine shaft, most likely abandoned in the 1800’s, and based on new essay results evaluated by the Company, gold is very much evident in the area.
Evidence on SUSAR No. 1 shows that the Company is dealing with a structured vein system that appears to carry gold values from mica/graphitic schist’s that lie on either side of the quartz structures dipping 60 degrees to the south southeast. Generally, where there is no quartz, there is no gold, however gold is not located in most quartz but rather follows the quartz and lies to the zone parallel to the quartz. So far preliminary indications are that the belt of gold bearing ore is approximately the length of the property and beyond and is approximately 6 ft. to 180 ft. wide/down, based on historical reports of elderly miners who have verbally confirmed this. This suggests that SUSAR No. 1 may potentially contain several hundred thousand ounces of gold when mined to depth.
“We are excited about the potential gold recovery on our flagship property and very encouraged to have visual confirmation coincide with historical reports from old-time miners. With current gold prices reaching historic all-time highs of nearly $1700 per ounce, we are looking forward to mining in the Alabama Gold Belt for many years to come,” commented Charles H. Merchant, Sr., CEO of Southern U.S.A. Resources, Inc.
About Southern USA Resources, Inc.
Headquartered in Ashland, AL, Southern USA Resources, Inc. operates a gold mining operation and exploration group in the “Idaho District” of Northern Clay County Alabama. The Idaho District has numerous sites which have been producing mines and placer sites dating to the late 1800’s. Using modern mining techniques, the Company is revisiting prior producing sites where it plans to excavate to a minimum depth of 80 feet, projecting the life of this project to be in excess of 20+ years.
For more information, visit: http://www.susaresources.com
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts, including, without limitation, statements that relate to the Company’s expectations with regard to the future impact on the Company’s results from new products in development, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “may”, “could”, “should”, “anticipates”, “likely”, “believes” and words of similar import also identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on current facts and analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determined and assumptions of management. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Except as may be required under applicable law, we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release. Additional information on risks and other factors that may affect the business and financial results of Southern USA Resources, Inc. can be found in the filings of Southern USA Resources, Inc. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Southern USA Resources, Inc. | <urn:uuid:17ef74c2-b86e-40f2-9d05-ea5e661125cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.susaresources.com/southern-usa-resources-inc-provides-details-on-its-alabama-prospect/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945104 | 962 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton headed the U.S. delegation to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, which took place June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Secretary met with key world leaders while at the conference.
Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, served as alternate head of delegation, and Todd Stern, Special Envoy on Climate Change, served as chief negotiator. This conference commemorates 20 years since the June 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the “Earth Summit”).
In addition to Secretary Clinton, Administrator Jackson, and Special Envoy Stern, the U.S. Delegation included the following U.S. Government representatives:
Other members of the U.S. Delegation include technical experts from the Department of State, the United States Mission to the UN, the United States Agency for International Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy and the Treasury Department. They will also be accompanied by nine Private Sector Advisors representing business, state and local officials, nongovernment organizations, youth, women, and labor.
For more information, please visit: http://state.gov/rio20
06/22/2012 Remarks at the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative Launch
06/22/2012 Remarks at Meeting With Staff and Families of Consulate General Rio de Janeiro
06/22/2012 Remarks at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development Plenary
06/20/2012 Special Briefing by Special Envoy Todd Stern
Public Schedule for June 22, 2012 | <urn:uuid:d0ce3c63-472b-46f8-b388-5d02c97efab6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/2012/192215.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92518 | 348 | 1.992188 | 2 |
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|Previous: Malang||Table of Contents||Next: Malaya|
National Archives. Via about.com
Malaria is a debilitating and sometimes fatal
disease caused by parasitic microorganisms of the genus Plasmodium. The parasite has a
complicated life cycle that begins when gametocytes are picked up in a
blood meal from an infected human by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. The gametocytes mate in
the gut of the mosquito, then invade the gut wall to produce an oocyst.
This bursts to release sporozoites, which migrate to the mosquito's
salivary glands. When the mosquito bites another human, the sporozoites
are injected with the mosquito's saliva.
The sporozoites rapidly invade liver cells, where they divide into thousands of merozoites. After one or two weeks, the merozoites break out of the liver cells and invade red blood cells to multiply further. The merozoites periodically break out of the red blood cells to produce the cycles of fever and chills that characterized the disease. Some of the merozoites transform into gametocytes, which can be picked up by another mosquito to complete the life cycle.
The most common strains of malaria encountered in
the South Pacific were falciparum and vivax malaria. Falciparum malaria
was the more common and severe form the disease. Complications of
falciparum malaria include blackwater fever, which is thought to result
from a violent reaction of the immune system to the presence of the
malaria parasite during treatment with quinine. Large numbers of red
blood cells are ruptured and spill their hemoglobin into the
bloodstream. This leads to chills, high fever, nausea,
jaundice, and severe anemia. The passing of very dark urine is the
characteristic symptom of the disease. The mortality rate due to kidney
failure is very high. An even more deadly complication of falciparum
malaria is cerebral malaria, in which the parasite attempts to evade
destruction in the spleen by causing the red blood cells it infects to
stick to each other and to capillary walls. These clumps of red blood
cells can block circulation in the brain and other organs and lead to
severe brain damage and death.
Vivax malaria was less common and severe than
falciparum malaria, but it was subject to relapses that can occur long
after the initial cycles of fever and
chills have subsided. Relapses occurred because a few of the
vivax sporozoites transform into a resting form in liver cells, which
dormant for years following the initial infection.
Malaria is primarily a disease of warm climates, since the parasite cannot complete its life cycle within the mosquito at temperatures below about 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees centigrade). It was once common in southern Europe and the southeast United States, where nighttime temperatures are above the threshold much of the year, but public health measures to control mosquito populations had already greatly reduced malaria rates by the time of the Pacific War. The disease would be all but eradicated from the United States by 1947.
U.S. Marine Corps. Via ibiblio.org
Unfortunately, malaria was still endemic in the islands of the South Pacific where much of the fighting of the Pacific War took place, and many Japanese and Allied units suffered appalling casualty rates from the disease. 1 Marine Division at Guadalcanal suffered over 8500 hospitalizations for malaria in the first five months of the campaign. Japanese casualties were likely even worse. It is estimated that 95 percent of the Japanese servicemen deployed to Rabaul suffered at least one bout of malaria, with one in five incapacitated by the disease. One Japanese airman described a bout of malaria (Gamble 2010):
I had a mysterious fever since this morning. Now malaria is really showing itself. It is said that there are 50,000 parasites in a drop of blood. I cannot stand the idea of being ruined by malaria parasites. To what height can people bear fever? Fever seems to affect the brain. I don't feel clear-headed. From 5 to later than 10 0'clock I tossed and turned. I can't describe how hard it is to sleep. I am about to give in to this disease. I feel helpless, as I know that this suffering will continue.
Malaria was treated with
drugs such as quinine, which
blocks metabolism of the highly toxic heme produced by the digestion of
hemoglobin by the parasite. Quinine was also used as a prophylactic,
administered to healthy troops to prevent the infection from taking
hold. Almost all the world's supply of quinine came from Java, and with its fall to the Japanese,
the Allies were compelled to substitute atabrine, a synthetic quinine
analog whose dose rate was still being worked out. Atabrine
turned the skin of its users bright yellow, and an overdose could
produce nausea, dizziness, or even psychosis. Contrary to rumor,
infertility was not one of
its side effects.
In addition to prophylactic treatment with quinine
and its analogs, malaria could be prevented by keeping the mosquitoes
away from the troops. Since many species of Anopheles prefer to feed at night,
mosquito bed nets were effective in preventing the disease. This was
little help to soldiers in foxholes, however. Destruction of mosquitoes
themselves could be accomplished by oiling standing water to suffocate
mosquito larvae. More effective was the
use of DDT, which was lethal to
insects but much less toxic to humans. By mid-1943, amphibious operations in
the Southwest Pacific were usually accompanied by dusting flights that
dropped tons of DDT over the beachhead and eliminated the disease
Efforts to prevent malaria were slack during the Guadalcanal campaign, where insect repellent was unavailable, Marines who had other concerns "lost" their mosquito netting, and there was no systematic effort to take such elementary precautions as oiling standing water. In at least one theater, officers were threatened with relief for cause if their troops failed to make proper use of Atabrine and mosquito netting (Weina 1998) :
Sir William Slim's method for ensuring command responsibility was to organize surprise checks on units to assess the compliance with Atabrine discipline: "If the overall result was less than ninety-five per cent positive, I sacked the commanding officer. I only had to sack three; by then the rest had got my meaning." With regard to these events, Cantlie stated, "When for the first time in history a combatant officer was considered unfit to command a unit on the grounds that he had allowed his men to become ineffective through disease, a new day in military medicine dawned. The clouds of forgetfulness must not be allowed to overshadow the brightness of that day."
Slim's concern was justified. During the period July-November 1944, when XXXIII Corps suffered just 49 men killed in action, there were over 20,000 cases of malaria.
Japanese forces apparently did not have access to
DDT and relied heavily on quinine as a prophylactic. As troops were
bypassed and cut off from their sources of supply, they suffered
terribly from malaria and other tropical diseases, which often produced
many more casualties than enemy action.
Japanese troops were equipped with mosquito nets, mosquito repellent,
and smoke coils, but mosquito discipline was as poor among the Japanese
as it initially was among the Allied troops.
Collie and Marutani (2009)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (accessed 2008-2-4)
Weina, Military Medicine (September 1998; accessed 2008-6-24)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008-2009, 2011, 2013 by Kent G. Budge. Index
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Comment on this article | <urn:uuid:623a1723-63a6-43d4-bdff-7145a2bdb3ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/M/a/Malaria.htm | 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 | 0.962964 | 1,682 | 3.6875 | 4 |
As we have said here many times, there are no magic formulas to eliminating crime.
It takes people being the eyes and ears for police, astute investigation by police, parents raising their children in the correct culture.
And maybe it takes the right software.
The city of Williamsport's crimefighters are hoping there's something to be said for lightning quick information gathering.
A records-management system, a computer software costing an estimated $350,000, is not in operation. It gives patrolmen and investigators on a crime scene a database of information nearly instantly.
Quicker gathering of accurate information is a major advantage in the solving of crimes, most investigators will tell you.
City Councilman Don Noviello said the new technology will bring the city's crimefighting from the 20th century into the 21st century.
We should hope so, given the price of the technology and the sober fact that crime doesn't go away.
Certain forms of crime may ebb and flow, but crime continually evolves.
Right now, the crime focus locally is on guns, with a recent shooting and a suspect on the loose. Recently, heroin-related crime has been a heavy news presence.
No matter what it is, quick, accurate information will be the best path to solving the crime.
Hopefully, the city soon will have a new weapon to fight back. | <urn:uuid:e4c3764f-f98b-4f25-b5c1-844746e3f6d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/588103/City-has-new-weapon-to-fight-crime-with.html?nav=5004 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946523 | 280 | 1.585938 | 2 |
King Introduces Iraq Resolution Alternative
Thursday, February 08, 2007
For Immediate Release
|Representative Steve King
5th Congressional District of Iowa
|February 8, 2007|
|KING INTRODUCES IRAQ RESOLUTION ALTERNATIVE|
Washington, D.C.— U.S. Congressman Steve King (IA-05) authored and introduced a resolution today to show Congressional support for the troops, victory in Iraq and the global War on Terror.
Thirteen of King’s colleagues cosponsored his resolution, which supports victory in Iraq and the commanders and troops on the ground who will carry out the new Iraq strategy. King offered his resolution as an alternative to measures to prematurely withdraw American troops from Iraq.
Last month President Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq that calls for the addition of 21,500 combat troops to the American force in Iraq to help quell sectarian violence in and around Baghdad. Although the Constitution clearly delegates the responsibility of determining the strategy for war to the president as Commander in Chief, Congressional Democrats have called for the passage of non-binding and binding measures aimed at undercutting the President’s new plan and undermining his constitutional responsibilities as Commander in Chief.
“Contrary to what the mainstream media will cover, many Members of the House support our troops, our Commander in Chief, and this battle in the overall War on Terror,” said King. “We encourage and support the President’s new strategy in Iraq. This resolution highlights the importance of success in this historic fight for the safety and security of the American people and the preservation of the American way of life.” | <urn:uuid:b9c43e26-20ea-4196-bff6-ef41ea462b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://steveking.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3274&Itemid=300100 | 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 | 0.94382 | 337 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Friday Prompt: Poetry & Action
This week’s prompt is inspired by the Asian American Writers Workshop’s 2011 Page Turner Festival, which I attended two weekends ago in Brooklyn, NY.
An unexpected winter storm swept into town on the morning of the festival, pummeling Brooklyn with high winds and dumping snow and sleet all over the streets, but despite the merciless weather, a surprisingly large crowd of attendees bundled up and came out to watch panel after panel of writers light up the interiors of Powerhouse Arena and Melville House. All through the morning and afternoon, each event was packed; by the time I arrived at Melville House to catch the Poetry Showcase (my favorite, and last event of the day before I had to rush home to snow-covered NJ), the colorful, cozy performance space was standing-room only.
I’ve been to plenty of readings and conferences before, but never to a literary festival that felt this driven by a searingly-clear, single vision. Throughout the day, the one theme that continued to impress itself upon me again and again was the AAWW’s deep, active commitment to the political—from the reflections of the poets on the Occupy Wall Street panel about the critical and aesthetic possibilities of poetry shared by “human mic” to the powerful photographs and testimonies shared by the CultureStrike participants who visited Arizona in the wake of SB 1070—I was continually struck by AAWW’s unique vision for how the work of the artist can simultaneously inhabit the page and reach beyond it into world in a very physical, practical way.
Today’s prompt comes from that same sense of vision, and invites you to play with figurations of craft that “break” from the construct of the page-bound poem in order to tangibly evoke discussion and action within your immediate community.
Prompt: Construct, organize, present, and/or distribute a political “act of poetry” whose craft and form reaches beyond the written page to invite others to physically and verbally interact with, respond to, and share in its promulgation and completion. | <urn:uuid:197864c5-8e39-4be6-8ea9-0eac30e26443> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lanternreview.com/blog/2011/11/11/friday-prompt-poetry-action/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94233 | 438 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I arrived in Jerusalem and learned of the wrong that Eliashib had done in turning over to him a room in the courts of The Temple of God.
I was angry, really angry, and threw everything in the room out into the street, all of Tobiah's stuff.
Then I ordered that they ceremonially cleanse the room. Only then did I put back the worship vessels of The Temple of God, along with the Grain-Offerings and the incense.
And then I learned that the Levites hadn't been given their regular food allotments. So the Levites and singers who led the services of worship had all left and gone back to their farms.
I called the officials on the carpet, "Why has The Temple of God been abandoned?" I got everyone back again and put them back on their jobs
so that all Judah was again bringing in the tithe of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms.
I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms. I made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their right-hand man. These men had a reputation for honesty and hard work. They were responsible for distributing the rations to their brothers.
Remember me, O my God, for this. Don't ever forget the devoted work I have done for The Temple of God and its worship.
During those days, while back in Judah, I also noticed that people treaded wine presses, brought in sacks of grain, and loaded up their donkeys on the Sabbath. They brought wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of stuff to sell on the Sabbath. So I spoke up and warned them about selling food on that day.
Tyrians living there brought in fish and whatever else, selling it to Judeans - in Jerusalem, mind you! - on the Sabbath.
I confronted the leaders of Judah: "What's going on here? This evil! Profaning the Sabbath!
Isn't this exactly what your ancestors did? And because of it didn't God bring down on us and this city all this misery? And here you are adding to it - accumulating more wrath on Jerusalem by profaning the Sabbath."
As the gates of Jerusalem were darkened by the shadows of the approaching Sabbath, I ordered the doors shut and not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I placed some of my servants at the gates to make sure that nothing to be sold would get in on the Sabbath day.
Traders and dealers in various goods camped outside the gates once or twice.
But I took them to task. I said, "You have no business camping out here by the wall. If I find you here again, I'll use force to drive you off." And that did it; they didn't come back on the Sabbath.
Then I directed the Levites to ceremonially cleanse themselves and take over as guards at the gates to keep the sanctity of the Sabbath day. Remember me also for this, my God. Treat me with mercy according to your great and steadfast love.
Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
Half the children couldn't even speak the language of Judah; all they knew was the language of Ashdod or some other tongue.
So I took those men to task, gave them a piece of my mind, even slapped some of them and jerked them by the hair. I made them swear to God: "Don't marry your daughters to their sons; and don't let their daughters marry your sons - and don't you yourselves marry them!
Didn't Solomon the king of Israel sin because of women just like these? Even though there was no king quite like him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel, foreign women were his downfall.
Do you call this obedience - engaging in this extensive evil, showing yourselves faithless to God by marrying foreign wives?"
One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I drove him out of my presence.
Remember them, O my God, how they defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priests and Levites.
All in all I cleansed them from everything foreign. I organized the orders of service for the priests and Levites so that each man knew his job.
I arranged for a regular supply of altar wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online) | <urn:uuid:413154b3-0cd8-410a-ad83-0a8d84622c61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible/passage.aspx?q=nehemiah+13:7-31&t=msg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97978 | 1,005 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Fear of attacks by local militias has driven up to two million Darfurians in camps. WFP's Mohamed Amasha spoke to some of those whose lives are in tatters and who don't know what tomorrow holds.
Their only shelter is from plastic sheeting, they rely on plastic containers full of water for drinking and washing, and they face a daily battle with the wind which blows the desert sand in their eyes and with the scorching sun which beats incessantly. This is how the displaced people of Al-Salam camp in South Darfur live.
I fled alone as I could not find my family. I don’t know what happened to them
Considering the conditions, it's hard to imagine people actually wanting to live there, yet by mid-morning, there are already several hundred people waiting outside to get in.
They sit under the spreading branches of baobab trees, which cover their faces against the wind and sand, waiting to receive water and sheeting from aid workers and to enter the section of the camp designated for newly-arrived IDPs – internally displaced people.
Desperation and fear
Since mid-January when nearby Otash camp was closed to new arrivals because with 46,000 people, it was filled to capacity, the population of Al-Salam camp has tripled to 10,000.
The hordes of people who come to these camps do so in desperation and they are propelled by fear.
Today's group is from a village called Sanam Al Naga. After their village came under attack, the survivors say they headed northwards – many on foot or by donkey-cart – travelling 140 kilometres to relative safety near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. They arrived at the camp hungry and tired.
Aisha Ali and her daughters
Kenro Oshidari, WFP's Representative in Sudan, says: “WFP is providing a 15-day emergency ration for the new arrivals and will be registering them for general food distribution once the influx is stabilised."
Fleeing for their lives
The stories of the new arrivals are sadly very similar to those already there – and to the two million others who have fled their homes over the past four years to escape the attacks
I am afraid
Mustafa Adam, 5
and rapes that have scarred this remote Sudanese region.
One of the new arrivals, Gamila Mahmoud, 20, says she saw attacks on other girls: “I escaped with my mother and my sisters after they came in the village and destroyed everything. I don’t know where my father is. I want to go back now to find him, but my mother does not allow that for my safety.”
One hundred kilometre trek
No one is safe from the violence. Seventy-year-old Basher Ali is an elder at Al-Salam camp. As he shares his story, other men passionately join in to help him narrate. The men clad in flowing white robes all talk vigorously.
“One morning, an armed group invaded our village. They opened fire indiscriminately, setting homes on fire and stealing what they could. I lost everything. I came here after three days of walking over 100km. I was very worried about my family. Thank God we managed all to flee safely,” he says.
Aisha Ali, 45, sitting nearby under a donkey cart with her daughters to protect them from the sun, hears Basher and tells her story.
“My husband was killed while he was working in the field. Those armed men attacked us mercilessly. They took everything and kidnapped my children as well. I am very worried about my two daughters. We cannot go back any more,” says Aisha.
Meanwhile, under a huge baobob tree dominating the plateau, 25-year-old Mohamed Suliman is full of energy and health and doesn’t yet seem worn down by the difficulties he’s faced.
“I was a teacher in my village," he says. "I fled alone as I could not find my family. I don’t know what happened to them. I want to go back, but I can’t because there is no security at all.”
However, the tiniest members of the camp are still fearful after being abruptly uprooted. Mustafa Adam says: “I am afraid. My father grabbed me and put me on his shoulder and we fled our home. I am very afraid that they [armed attackers] can come here any time and kill us all.”
Whatever their age, fear is common to all the residents of Al-Salam camp, as no doubt it is to those who live in the other 100 or so camps spread across the vast region.
Everyone longs for a day when they can sleep safely in their own homes and they can look at the horizon without dreading the appearance of men on horseback who will come and tear their lives apart. | <urn:uuid:83375b96-985b-4b3d-96df-867102fa97da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfp.org/stories/darfur-idps-voices-desert | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978836 | 1,027 | 1.914063 | 2 |
MAPPING THE URBAN NOW.
In recent years more and more data about the city is digitally collected. This data from sources such as mobile phones, sensors, and location-based services can be visualized to reflect urban activity. Geovisualization stimulates the visual analysis of spatial patterns, relationships, and trends, as well as enables interactive exploration and understanding of location-based information. Usable and approachable visualizations allow casual users and experts alike to make sense of the massive streams of data, to see the city in different perspectives, and to understand their environment. I will talk about the challenges in urban data visualization in regard to user experience and interaction design, as well as showcase multiple projects that demonstrate current approaches to and new thinkings about urban data.
Till Nagel is a research associate at the Interaction Design Lab, and a lecturer for Advanced Media at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. He also is a research affiliate with the MIT Senseable City Lab, and doing his PhD at the Computer Science department at KU Leuven. His research interests focus on geo visualization, information visualization, and tangible interfaces. Till Nagel received a diploma in media and computer science at the University of Applied Sciences Wedel in 2002. Since 2001 he has worked for different media agencies and software companies as leading software engineer and IT consultant for international clients. Since 2006 he had taught courses on creative coding, data visualization, and multitouch interfaces at the Berlin Technical University of Arts (BTK), the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FHP), and the University Iuav of Venice (IUAV). In 2011 he visited the MIT Senseable City Lab, and worked at the Future Urban Mobility group in Singapore. Links http://tillnagel.com, http://twitter.com/tillnm | <urn:uuid:28d010ab-b473-43d5-85ee-411338be4e4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stadt-der-stroeme.de/en/2011/194/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925063 | 372 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Carriage Club, CO Real Estate
According to census data in the year 2000 there were 332 housing units in Carriage Club.
Of those housing units, 332 were located in either urbanized areas or urban clusters, and none were located in what is classified as a rural area.
Homeownership rate in Carriage Club is about 97.2%.
Carriage Club's vacancy rate, including seasonal lodging, is about 4.5%.
Average household size is 3.17 people.
The majority of houses, apartments or condos in Carriage Club were built after 1997.
|Housing Units by Size|
|Five Bedrooms or more||12.30%|
Owned Homes, Apartments and Condos
|Average Household Size||3.19|
|Median year structure was built||1997|
|Median Value of occupied units||$275,500|
|Median Price asked for vacant units||$287,500|
Rented Homes, Apartments and Condos
|Average Household Size||2.78|
|Median year structure was built||1985|
Owners Finance Status
|Second Mortgage & Equity Loan||0%|
|Home Equity Loan||10.70%|
|Median part of Monthly Household Income dedicated to covering home ownership costs||26.2%| | <urn:uuid:fe166b8f-c55b-4d3f-9b82-0ffdedab57b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idcide.com/realestate/co/carriage-club.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947356 | 278 | 1.640625 | 2 |
I remember simultaneously having three parishes in New South Wales, Australia. All three brought in a total of about AUS$1000, which was just enough to pay off the insurance. These were itsybitsy churches. To meet further expenses, I threw some pottery on the side over at a neighboring parish. I’m good at that. Meanwhile, the other priest had a kiln and knew how to glaze pottery, being a bit of a chemist. That made another AUS$1000, which I donated to the parish. We got by.
Now, imagine if I had been accused and was told that the Church would stand me down as a priest should I lose any court battle to defend myself, and then had to pay some hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees in order to stay alive as a priest. Where oh where would I get the money? I wouldn’t be able to get it. I would simply be run over by any anti-Catholic who wanted to make a few bucks, and that would be blessed and encouraged by the hierarchy. My, my… The Judas Crisis continues. Read more about it in The Judas Crisis widget in the sidebar of
Oh, and, by the way, that mention of “legal aid”… What is that, you ask? Good question. Legal aid means getting a court appointed lawyer. That lawyer is already swamped with cases, and — I’m generalizing now, though quite accurately — that lawyer will tell the “damn priest” (already judged by the legal aid) to do a plea bargain, it not mattering to anyone whether he is guilty or not. Of course he’s going to lose his priesthood after this, so why not avoid prison time as well by plea bargaining?! Get out in, say, a year, instead of spending life in prison. Legal aides don’t take no for an answer. They scream this at you and leave. So, some priests do this, abandoned by their bishops and fellow priests, totally, instantly. This is also about the time that the innocent priests commit suicide. They just can’t face the betrayal of their bishops and priests, who really appear that they absolutely couldn’t give a damn.
Remember, the Holy See is now collecting policies from all over the world so as to make a general policy for all. Remember that Cardinal Pell is a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which will have a key role to play in such policy.
Priests, be forewarned. Get ready to be betrayed. Ask Jesus about it. This also is why you were ordained: to suffer mistreatment and calumny with the very Son of God, who was betrayed by His own right unto death. Those who do the betraying should be careful:
It’s open season on priests. But this doesn’t bode well for real victims. When people are sick of priests being falsely accused, and when some independently wealthy priests countersue the accusers for everything they have not to mention having them thrown in prison, and when this happens regularly in the courts, so much so that even real victims are slammed down, do you think then that real victims will continue to come foreward? No? You would be right on that. All too sad, that.
So, what should the policy be, you ask? Due process for all, always, from the beginning.
But that wouldn’t seem fair, you know, because the accuser probably is getting pro-bono work done by lawyers. Uh-huh. Should we discuss the tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars, made by abuse lawyers? Fair? Uh-huh. So, what happens? This is what happens:
May it please Mary Immaculate’s Son to grant to His faithful priests a spirit of fortitude, to be able to say:
My heart is ready, O God! My heart is ready! | <urn:uuid:27b26d62-8bfd-4724-bec6-8d4adbef312c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://holysoulshermitage.com/2012/09/03/justice-for-priests-in-the-archdiocese-of-sydney/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978443 | 834 | 1.554688 | 2 |
An Algorithm to Turn Melodies Into Songs
New software creates chord progressions to accompany singers of all abilities
PHOTO: Emily Shur/Getty Images
11 July 2008--We all occasionally catch ourselves humming a tune, or singing along to the radio. What separates most of us from real musicians is the knowledge and skill to turn a hummed melody into a complete song. Three researchers in Washington state, however, aim to bridge at least some of that gap.
They've created a program called MySong that can generate a chord progression to fit any vocal melody. You simply sing into a computer microphone to the beat of a digitized metronome, and MySong comes up with an accompaniment of chords that sounds good with it. ”Lots of songs have only three chords,” says Sumit Basu of Microsoft Research, a cocreator of MySong. ”If you have the melody, it seems like you ought to be able to predict what the chords are.” Basu and his collaborators--Dan Morris, a Microsoft Research colleague, and Ian Simon, a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington, Seattle--will show off some of their program's features at The Twenty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence next week.
For any given melody, there's no such thing as a ”correct” chord progression. But we tend to like songs with patterns we're used to hearing. When a musician begins fitting chords to a melody, the choices are guided by a lifetime of listening to other songs and figuring out why they sound good. MySong's creators gave their program a similar musical education by assembling a library of nearly 300 songs in the form of lead sheets, sheet music where written-out chords--such as C major, A minor, G major--accompany a single melody line. (For examples of lead sheets, check out Wikiphonia, whose songs form the basis of MySong's library).
By analyzing this library, MySong creates probability tables that calculate two factors. For a given chord, which chords are most likely to proceed or follow it? And for each chord, which melody notes are likely to appear with it? These probability tables essentially give MySong mathematically derived music theory from pop music itself.
After a user records a vocal track, MySong initially provides two ways to alter the generated chord progressions, both in the form of slider bars. One slider affects how much weight each of the two probabilities is given: whether a chord best matches the vocal melody notes or whether it best fits in with the chords that surround it. The second slider allows the user to weight between major (happy-sounding) and minor (sad-sounding) keys.
”Typically in other machine-learning approaches, the blending would be fixed by whoever develops it,” says Morris. ”Rather than fixing it in our code, we put that on a slider and exposed it to the user as an extra creative degree of freedom.” This concept of opening to amateur users the hidden mathematics of the underlying model is one of the topics the researchers will discuss at the AAAI conference. ”With just a few clicks you can actually do a lot of manipulation and get a lot of different feels to accompany what you're doing,” adds Basu.
The technology behind MySong goes beyond simple modeling of song structure: before it can do anything else, it first has to make sense of the imprecise acoustic sounds we call singing. ”The voice is a real challenge,” says Basu, who notes that most people, including trained singers, use some vibrato, where the voice vibrates above and below the intended note. Although computers can accurately track pitch, it's difficult for them to determine the exact notes the singer meant to sing.
MySong's team realized that they could work around the complexities of the voice by requiring the user to pick a tempo and sing along with a digitized metronome so that the melody maps to uniform units of time. MySong takes frequency samples 100 times a second, and, rather than trying to accurately assemble a melody from those frequencies, it keeps track of how often each frequency appears during a user-defined number of beats. This quantity over quality approach means that the chord selected for a measure best fits those notes hit most often or held the longest.
MySong's novelty, says Christopher Rafael, an associate professor of informatics at Indiana University, is in this ability to avoid technical problems rather than solve them. He also sees promise in the program's ability to engage novices, a sentiment echoed by Gil Weinberg, director of music technology at Georgia Tech. ”I believe everyone has the ability to express themselves by singing songs or banging on something,” says Weinberg. ”What's nice about the voice is that you don't even need an object to bang on.” Weinberg says he hopes that MySong will provide a gateway for further learning. ”Many students just don't get to the expressive and creative portion of music, because there's so much technique and theory in the beginning,” he says.
Basu, Morris, and Simon may write software by day, but they each spend much of their free time writing and performing music. ”We're kind of casual, amateur musicians who love making music,” says Morris. In one test of MySong's abilities, they pitted some of the chord progressions they wrote for their own songs against those chosen by the software. A blind jury of experienced musicians consistently rated MySong's chord progressions nearly as high as it rated those chosen by human musicians.
For Basu, such success was bittersweet triumph. ”It made me feel proud for MySong, but these were the chords I had slaved over,” he laughs. ”But when I listened to what MySong had chosen, it was often more interesting that what I had done.”
Since developing MySong, Basu used the program to assist him in the early stages of songwriting. ”Dan [Morris] always jokes that I'm the one user of MySong,” says Basu. ”There are progressions I use now in my music that I learned from MySong.”
As a user and creator, Basu emphasizes that MySong is meant for creativity assistance rather than creativity replacement. ”The creative spark still has to come from people,” he says, ”and one of the things that makes me feel better as a musician is that there's more to music than just the chords you choose.”
Microsoft has not yet decided to commercialize MySong, but the team hopes to improve its core modeling algorithms, as well as provide more user control over which libraries the program relies on. Basu imagines users being able to select chords based on libraries of specific musicians. A slider, for instance, that could blend chord-progression styles between the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and the metal band Slayer.
To Probe Further
Listen to audio samples created by MySong users and judge the chords for yourself at http://research.microsoft.com/~dan/mysong/ | <urn:uuid:13fb1d7f-8164-490d-b779-171bc2802729> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/an-algorithm-to-turn-melodies-into-songs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959437 | 1,481 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Visible Only From Above, Mystifying 'Nazca Lines' Discovered in Mideast
The giant stone structures form wheel shapes with spokes often radiating inside. Here a cluster of wheels in the Azraq Oasis.
CREDIT: David D. Boyer APAAME_20080925_DDB-0237
They stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia, can be seen from the air but not the ground, and are virtually unknown to the public.
They are the Middle East's own version of the Nazca Lines — ancient "geolyphs," or drawings, that span deserts in southern Peru — and now, thanks to new satellite-mapping technologies, and an aerial photography program in Jordan, researchers are discovering more of them than ever before. They number well into the thousands.
Referred to by archaeologists as "wheels," these stone structures have a wide variety of designs, with a common one being a circle with spokes radiating inside. Researchers believe that they date back to antiquity, at least 2,000 years ago. They are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet (25 meters to 70 meters) across. [See gallery of wheel structures]
"In Jordan alone we've got stone-built structures that are far more numerous than (the) Nazca Lines, far more extensive in the area that they cover, and far older," said David Kennedy, a professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Western Australia.
Kennedy's new research, which will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, reveals that these wheels form part of a variety of stone landscapes. These include kites (stone structures used for funnelling and killing animals); pendants (lines of stone cairns that run from burials); and walls, mysterious structures that meander across the landscape for up to several hundred feet and have no apparent practical use.
His team's studies are part of a long-term aerial reconnaissance project that is looking at archaeological sites across Jordan. As of now, Kennedy and his colleagues are puzzled as to what the structures may have been used for or what meaning they held. [History's Most Overlooked Mysteries]
Kennedy's main area of expertise is in Roman archaeology, but he became fascinated by these structures when, as a student, he read accounts of Royal Air Force pilots flying over them in the 1920s on airmail routes across Jordan. "You can't not be fascinated by these things," Kennedy said.
Indeed, in 1927 RAF Flight Lt. Percy Maitland published an account of the ruins in the journal Antiquity. He reported encountering them over "lava country" and said that they, along with the other stone structures, are known to the Bedouin as the "works of the old men."
Kennedy and his team have been studying the structures using aerial photography and Google Earth, as the wheels are hard to pick up from the ground, Kennedy said.
"Sometimes when you're actually there on the site you can make out something of a pattern but not very easily," he said. "Whereas if you go up just a hundred feet or so it, for me, comes sharply into focus what the shape is."
The designs must have been clearer when they were originally built. "People have probably walked over them, walked past them, for centuries, millennia, without having any clear idea what the shape was."
(The team has created an archive of images of the wheels from various sites in the Middle East.)
What were they used for?
So far, none of the wheels appears to have been excavated, something that makes dating them, and finding out their purpose, more difficult. Archaeologists studying them in the pre-Google Earth era speculated that they could be the remains of houses or cemeteries. Kennedy said that neither of these explanations seems to work out well.
"There seems to be some overarching cultural continuum in this area in which people felt there was a need to build structures that were circular."
Some of the wheels are found in isolation while others are clustered together. At one location, near the Azraq Oasis, hundreds of them can be found clustered into a dozen groups. "Some of these collections around Azraq are really quite remarkable," Kennedy said.
In Saudi Arabia, Kennedy's team has found wheel styles that are quite different: Some are rectangular and are not wheels at all; others are circular but contain two spokes forming a bar often aligned in the same direction that the sun rises and sets in the Middle East.
The ones in Jordan and Syria, on the other hand, have numerous spokes and do not seem to be aligned with any astronomical phenomena. "On looking at large numbers of these, over a number of years, I wasn't struck by any pattern in the way in which the spokes were laid out," Kennedy said.
Cairns are often found associated with the wheels. Sometimes they circle the perimeter of the wheel, other times they are in among the spokes. In Saudi Arabia some of the cairns look, from the air, like they are associated with ancient burials.
Dating the wheels is difficult, since they appear to be prehistoric, but could date to as recently as 2,000 years ago. The researchers have noted that the wheels are often found on top of kites, which date as far back as 9,000 years, but never vice versa. "That suggests that wheels are more recent than the kites," Kennedy said.
Amelia Sparavigna, a physics professor at Politecnico di Torino in Italy, told Live Science in an email that she agrees these structures can be referred to as geoglyphs in the same way as the Nazca Lines are. "If we define a 'geoglyph' as a wide sign on the ground of artificial origin, the stone circles are geoglyphs," Sparavignawrote in her email.
The function of the wheels may also have been similar to the enigmatic drawings in the Nazca desert. [Science as Art: A Gallery]
"If we consider, more generally, the stone circles as worship places of ancestors, or places for rituals connected with astronomical events or with seasons, they could have the same function of [the] geoglyphs of South America, the Nazca Lines for instance. The design is different, but the function could be the same," she wrote in her email.
Kennedy said that for now the meaning of the wheels remains a mystery. "The question is what was the purpose?"
MORE FROM LiveScience.com | <urn:uuid:b27a00ae-75dd-41ef-b4cb-51ee3e95d3b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livescience.com/16046-nazca-lines-wheels-google-earth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975798 | 1,361 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Read in English below OR Ver texto em Português
A group of leading companies and non-governmental organizations have embarked on a new partnership in Brazil today to incorporate ecosystem services into business strategies. The Parceria Empresarial pelos Serviços Ecossistêmicos (PESE), or Brazilian Business and Ecosystem Services Partnership, represents a major effort to demonstrate how biodiversity and ecosystem services can enhance corporate performance in Brazil, home of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) next month.
The goal is to develop strategies that align business performance to the sustainable management of ecosystems. Leading companies, such as Anglo American, Grupo André Maggi, PepsiCo, Vale, Votorantim and Wal-Mart, are among the first companies participating in this initiative. The partnership was organized by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), the Center for Sustainability Studies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (GVces), and the World Resources Institute, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“Industry relies on ecosystem services, such as food production, clean water, a stable climate, protection from natural hazards, and more,” explained Craig Hanson, Director of the People and Ecosystems Program at WRI. “PESE will empower Brazilian companies to manage business risks and opportunities arising from their dependence and impacts on ecosystem services.”
The partnership will drive new business solutions to ecosystem degradation largely through local application of the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR), the leading assessment methodology developed by WRI in cooperation with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Meridian Institute. By applying the ESR, corporate partners will develop strategies to better compete and succeed in a world that is pushing against natural limits.
“Using the ESR, companies have been able to uncover new profitable strategies while protecting and restoring ecosystems. Our goal is to replicate these successes in Brazil,” said Marina Grossi, President of CEBDS.
One example of a company that has already experienced positive results from managing the ecosystems in which it operates is Mondi, Europe’s largest paper and pulp company. In 2008, Mondi conducted an ESR in three of its paper plantations in South Africa. The ESR highlighted strategies the company could implement to increase access to freshwater while improving regional watershed health, strengthening its relationship with local communities, and reducing operational costs.
An estimated 300 companies have already implemented the ESR worldwide since 2008. As this method gains traction in Brazil, WRI, CEBDS, and GVces will provide technical assistance and advice to corporate partners in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of applying the ESR.
The partners also aim to create a network of companies active in the management of ecosystem services in Brazil, in order to communicate results, contribute new case studies, and scale up successful strategies.
“As with the arrival of the GHG Protocol five years ago, the launch of PESE today represents another step towards sustainability for Brazilian business,” explained Mario Monzoni GVces coordinator.
The PESE launch event will take place on May 10, 2012, from 5:00pm to 6:00pm at the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro.
For more information, visit: http://insights.wri.org/pese
PESE is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of WRI, GVces, and CEBDS and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Contact (in English)
World Resources Institute
James Anderson; Janderson@wri.org; +1 (202) 729 7600
Contato (em português)
GWA Comunicação Integrada
Kelly Souza; email@example.com; (11) 6620-2234 | <urn:uuid:c1177560-84e4-4bb9-bad4-8da52af0a42e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.embarq.org/en/node/4886 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915834 | 840 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Viewer Question:I was diagnosed with a follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer (malignant). Treatment thus far has included total thyroidectomy and radioiodine treatment. I had been on Synthroid for 14 years prior to the diagnoses of the cancer. I am diabetic and am having a terrible time with elevated serum creatinine when they wean me off the Synthroid (using Cytomel) for cancer scans. It really seems to make daily difficulties in my health management seem exponential. I heard there is a recombinant TSH injection being studied. When will it be available? How does is work? What properties make it able to be continued in prep for future cancer scans?
Doctor's Response:Thyroid cancer affects approximately 19,000 people in the United Sates annually. The cure rate is very high, but the risk for post treatment recurrence is a life long reality. In fact the recurrence rate may be up to 25%. The key to successful management is to monitor patients regularly. Iodine whole body scanning, along with measurement of thyroglobulin levels (a protein made solely by thyroid tissue) are standard methods of follow-up on thyroid cancer.
Since Iodine is absorbed by the thyroid gland and by certain thyroid cancer tissue, radio-actively labeled iodine (radioiodine) can be used to detect thyroid cancer recurrence or spread to other organs (metastasis). When the radio-active iodine is injected into a vein, the radio-activity is picked up by thyroid tissue and by certain thyroid cancer tissue. A nuclear camera can be used to detect areas with concentration of radio-activity.
In patients on Synthroid (or any other brand name of synthetic T4 hormone replacement), the radioiodine scan cannot be performed until after stopping replacement for 4-6 weeks. This is because synthetic thyroid hormone replacement suppresses the thyroid tissue's ability to pick up iodine. The concern then becomes having a falsely negative test result.
Stopping T4 therapy for weeks can, in fact, complicate glucose control in patients with diabetes mellitus. In addition, patients often feel "low" or " hypothyroid." Constipation, fatigue, bloating, cold intolerance and metabolic abnormalities associated with under-replacement of thyroid hormone are seen. Some patients find these 6 weeks of hormone withdrawal extremely difficult to tolerate. In fact, that's actually part of the point: to render the patient hypothyroid so the thyroid tissue is really " thirsty" for iodine. As a result, the likelihood of picking up any thyroid tissue on the scan is increased.
Recombinant TSH (thyrotropin alfa) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for use as a tool in monitoring patients who have been treated for well-differentiated thyroid cancers. Recombinant TSH is a synthetic form of thyroid stimulating hormone, and it does just that- stimulates the thyroid tissue. Recombinant TSH is indicated for use as an adjunctive diagnostic tool for serum thyroglobulin testing with or without whole body iodine scanning. It is given in the form of an intramuscular injection.
Since the goal of scanning patients and monitoring thyroglobulin levels in the post thyroid cancer state is to detect new, abnormal tissue, stimulating the thyroid tissue with recombinant TSH for a short period should theoretically provide a higher yield of true positives. In one study, compared with thyroid hormone withdrawal alone, the use of recombinant TSH had a sensitivity shown to be 90% overall, with a 100% in identifying disease outside of the thyroid gland area in earlier studies. This means that some cancers in the thyroid bed actually went undetected. In another study, metastatic disease was missed in 9 out of 38 patients. A recent retrospective study by Robbins et al (2001) compared the use of recombinant TSH with thyroid hormone withdrawal as preparation for iodine scanning and thyroglobulin testing in monitoring patients post cancer treatment for disease recurrence. In this analysis, patients choose either recombinant TSH or thyroid hormone withdrawal. No differences were found between groups (each of which numbered over 100 patients) in diagnostic accuracy.
As you can see by the variance in the literature, recombinant TSH does not carry a 100% guarantee of finding cancer recurrences. The gold standard is still thyroid hormone withdrawal for 4-6 weeks then thyroglobulin testing and iodine scanning. In patients not willing to stay off thyroid hormone replacement for 6 weeks, or in those in whom being off for that length of time is contraindicated for medical reasons, it may be an agreeable option. Recombinant TSH is administered at a dose of 0.9mg intramuscularly every 24 hours for 2 doses or every 72 hours for 3 doses.
Recombinant TSH has been generally well tolerated. Approximately 15% of patients experience mild reactions such as headache or nausea. Infrequently, administration of this stimulating substance has resulted in rapid expansion of lesions. This is especially important in metastatic disease in the spine, where growth could cause nerve compression, or in the neck where tracheal compression could occur. These events are exceedingly rare, but patients should be made aware of the risks. Pre-treatment with steroids may help to prevent these events.
Another alternative for patients who do not like being withdrawn from T4
replacement for over a month, is the option of using liothyronine sodium (Cytomel). Cytomel is a
synthetic form of T3 (see thyroid replacement article) and the time that it
functions in the body is much shorter than T4. As a result, a patient
switched for T4 to T3 a month or so before iodine scanning/thyroglobulin
measurements, and can be maintained on T3 replacement for up to 2 weeks
before the procedures. This significantly shortens the time the patient is
rendered off replacement.
Last Editorial Review: 3/4/2003
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:5a16653c-a25b-4e5e-af29-2243c9954360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=22546 | 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 | 0.932606 | 1,251 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The broad-leafed bristle grass is a very tall, robust, tufted,
perennial grass which is shade loving. It may be found along rivers
in low-lying areas or forests and in dense bushveld where there
is plenty of moisture. It occurs in tropical and subtropical areas
of Africa, America and India where there is high rainfall. In South
Africa this species is mostly found in the summer rainfall areas
in the savanna, grassland and forest biomes.
The plant genus name Setaria is derived from the Latin word
'seta', meaning a bristle; and the species megaphylla from
the Greek word 'mega' which means large and 'phylla' the leaf. This
name describes the size of the leaves.
This grass plays a major role in water purification as it absorbs
excess nutrients from the water. It can also be used to stabilize
unstable soil and prevent soil erosion. This is because it naturally
colonises disturbed areas and is often found near water.
As a pasture grass it is good for grazing while still young when
it is palatable with high leaf production. This species may be confused
with S. lindenburgiana, which has smaller leaves and inflorescences.
Growing Setaria megaphylla
species is very attractive and may be used as a garden ornamental,
lining the borders of larger beds with its pendulous flowers. It
can be planted in groups or clusters. The colour of the foliage
is an attractive green and it remains green until late in the growing
season. Good texture and colour combinations can be created by using
this grass effectively in the garden. Its leaf texture also makes
it an attractive choice for a container. Setaria megaphylla
attracts birds to the garden as finches; canaries and other seed
eating birds eat the seed. The leaves are also used by weavers to
build their nests.
The best propagation technique of this type of perennial grass
is by division as it forms large rootstocks and creeping stolons.
Sexual propagation by means of seed can also be done, although in
most instances large quantities of seed will not be available. Seed
should be collected once the inflorescence has dried out. The dry
inflorescences must be removed, placed in paper bags and shaken
to release and catch the seeds. The best time to sow the seed is
from December to February (midsummer).
- Bromilow, C. 1995. Problem plants of South Africa. Briza Publications.
- Gibbs Russell, G.E. 1990. Grasses of Southern Africa. National
Botanic Gardens/ Botanical Research Institute Publishers. Pretoria.
- Van Oudtshoorn, F.P. 1999. Guide to Grasses of South Africa.
Briza Publications. Cape Town.
Van Oudtshoorn, F.P. 1992. Guide to Grasses
of South Africa. Briza Publications. Cape Town.
A. Hankey and L. Mashinini
Witwatersrand National Botanic Garden | <urn:uuid:d7ff37bb-35c3-4b45-87cd-ec0038222eff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/setariamegaphyl.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904674 | 656 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Q&A: Supernova Remnants and Neutron Stars
How long do we have before the Sun
goes supernova and fries us? Supposing this does happen, are any other
planets capable of maintaining human life?
Astronomers believe that our star, the Sun, is not massive enough to become
a supernova. Instead, in about 5 billion years it should dramatically
expand to become a red giant and will fry the Earth in that way. It's less
dramatic than with a supernova, but the Earth will eventually be
destroyed. There are probably many other planets in our galaxy that are
capable of maintaining human life, but astronomers haven't detected any
planets like this because our telescopes are not yet powerful enough.
Information on Tidal Disruption in the Milky Way: | <urn:uuid:d674c1d7-1d1b-4bfc-b121-4b8cad1663d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/faq/sources/snr/snr-31.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905967 | 173 | 3.625 | 4 |
A forum for kinesthetic lessons, tips, problems, and encouragement. Also successes, and research facts to back up the idea that moving and learning do not have to be separate concepts. Come on! Jump in!
We know it's there, but how do we use it, teach it, assess it, enjoy it? Let's have an open forum to talk about expereiences, lessons, activities, research; more importantly, how do you make the connection in your life?
Here is a place to share ideas that transform students into lifelong writers and help them succeed on any writing test, including STAAR. Download lessons from Barry Lane, Gretchen Bernabei and Alana Morris to add to your tool box. See More | <urn:uuid:70823da7-7c75-41cc-aaf8-8c9d08ab6495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discoverwriting.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?month=11&year=2011 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938762 | 150 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Catholic high school students, staff to closely watch conclave live feed
Reporter: Justin Schecker
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Now that the 115 cardinals are in the process of electing a new pope, the Internet will make it possible for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to watch and wait for the announcement.
Students and staff at Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School will monitor the live feeds from the Vatican, anxiously waiting news of who will become the next pope.
Theology department chair Lisa Astrouski told 9 On Your Side it's an exciting time to teach history and tradition as it happens.
For the students, it is the second time in their lives when the cardinals gathered to elect a pope.
"They experienced this eight years ago when Benedict became pope," Astrouski said. "But they don't remember because most of them were young, so they have lots of questions about what's going to happen with the conclave."
This time around, Astrouski says advancements in technology allow students to watch history unfold in real time.
"Back then we only had televisions to use, now we have the Internet that's going to provide us more instant notification of all the things that are going on," she said.
And once the cardinals pick the new pope, Astrouski says they will break from class.
"We'll stop and make announcements and hopefully everyone in the school will then turn on overheads and we'll be watching it," she said.
But living in this instant age of the Internet is also why Catholics sometimes question the church.
"The Internet, all that makes our world move very quickly," Astrouski said. "And the church takes it's time in the decisions that it makes and I think a lot of people -- even for older folks -- that can be frustrating that we move as an institution more slowly and cautiously."
9 On Your Side asked Astrouski what she thinks the next pope will need to do to connect with younger generations of Catholics.
"There's lots of possibilities, whether we get a conservative pope that comes in or one that leans more towards the traditional kinds of things," she said. "Or maybe a more liberal pope. It remains to be seen what the church as an institution is looking for." | <urn:uuid:c6a03e7a-aa66-498e-bdfe-1d60eef7f30d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/197314601.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972897 | 479 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Priest of the Congregation (or Institute) of St. Paul the Apostle, b. at New London, Conn., U.S.A. 30 January, 1823; d. in New York, 30 December, 1903. He was a graduate (1843) of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was a classmate and roommate of General U.S. Grant. His standing in class was high (second) and he afterwards taught mathematics and ethics at the Academy. Deshon was promoted to the rank of captain, but resigned his commission, was received into the Church in 1851, and soon after became a novice in the Redemptorist Order. He was ordained priest in 1855 and became associated with Fathers Hecker, Walworth, Hewit, and Baker, all regularly employed in missionary work. With them he obtained in 1858 a dispensation from his vows as a Redemptorist, and assisted in the formation of the new Paulist Institute, the first house and church of which were built in New York in 1859. He remained in this house during the rest of this life, being novice-master for several years, and afterwards assistant superior and in charge generally of the temporal interests of the community, which owed much to his business ability. He also superintended throughout the building of the church of St. Paul the Apostle, in which his skill and knowledge as an engineer, acquired at West Point, were of great service.
Father Deshon spent a considerable part of his time on the missions, in which he was specially eminent in the practical instructions, though his sermons were also most effective. A volume of his parochial sermons was issued in 1901. He published in 1860 a book entitled "Guide for Catholic Young Women", which acquired an abiding popularity. Father Deshon was elected superior general of the Paulist Institute in 1897. At that time houses had been founded in San Francisco, and at Winchester, Tennessee. The last important act of his life was the founding of the Paulist house in Chicago, for which he arranged with Archbishop Quigley in the fall of 1903. Though his life-work was so largely practical, he was noted for his interior spirituality, his favourite saints being the hermits and cenobites of the desert, and his spare time was always devoted to recollection and spiritual reading, in which he had evidently been occupied on the last night of his life, before retiring. He died suddenly of heart failure about midnight, having been just able to ring for assistance, and to receive the last rites of the Church.
SEARLE, The Very Rev. George Deshon, C.S.P., in The Catholic World (1904), LXXXVIII, 569-73. See also contemporary files, The Catholic News (New York).
APA citation. (1908). George Deshon. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04750b.htm
MLA citation. "George Deshon." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04750b.htm>.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:7107d0d0-1bb4-4664-ab61-7f6cc38c4f28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newadvent.org/cathen/04750b.htm | 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 | 0.983584 | 772 | 2.1875 | 2 |
is a UK reenactment society.Founded in 1997, it was originally formed to re-enact 1 Kompanie, SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 25, 12th SS Panzer Division,the society quickly grew and now has members representing British
troops. It is a strictly non-political organisation and engages in public displays, private battles, and educational talks. The membership is drawn from a wide cross-section of society from within the UK and abroad. Kompanie 1's vehicles have been used by film companies in such productions as 'Raiders of the Lost Arc', and 'A Bridge to Far', and its members have taken part in film work for television. In addition to the UK, Kompanie 1 has also taken part in displays in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Ireland.
The units currently represented by Kompanie 1 are:
British - A Coy, 1st Bttn, Royal Norfolk Regiment
German - 1 Kompanie, SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 25, 12th SS Panzer Division
. SS Feldgendarmerietrupp 12. 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment.
Kompanie 1 is recognised by all official military vehicle societies and police authorities in the UK. | <urn:uuid:0a5044d0-39ee-40cb-b233-bad13a1749f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pages.rediff.com/kompanie-1/330158 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940409 | 257 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Duck, quail, chicken, farm-fresh or free-range, white, brown or speckled, eggs have a long culinary history and should be revered. I am a huge fan of eating them hard-boiled, chopped up with butter and salt in a bowl. It was what my mom fed me every time I was sick; it's easy to swallow on a sore throat.
To this day it amuses me that every time I fire up a pot of hot bubbles to make my own, someone gives me unsolicited egg advice. It started early. When I was nine, my Aunt Gail said to "salt the water." I still do. And just last year someone taught me to "put the finished egg in the paper towel and roll it on the counter" for perfect shell cracking.
Chef Satterfield is masterful when it comes to eggs, so for a change, I went to him to solicit a bit of hard-boiled advice. “My first tip is only make it deviled, for the deviled egg is a hard-boiled egg's best friend," he replied.
Editor's note: Stacy Dean is the vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that focuses on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income people.
In their attacks on the food stamp program, some Republican presidential candidates are leaving a deeply misleading impression of the nation's leading anti-hunger program. No one aspires to enroll, but for those who must, it is an essential lifeline that addresses one of the harshest impacts of poverty and unemployment - hunger.
The food stamp program, now officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides about 46 million Americans in about 22 million low-income households with debit cards to buy food each month. Participants include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers and people on fixed incomes, such as Social Security. About three-fourths of SNAP recipients live in households with children; more than one-quarter live in households with seniors or people with disabilities.
Read the full story on CNN Opinion: "Food stamp program a necessary lifeline"
Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.
Much has been written about the relationship between the French and their cuisine, but one could also argue that the people of Japan take their love for food a step - or several galloping strides - further. Where else is it common to embark on weekend trips, the sole purpose of which is to sample several varieties of a single dish?
Modern Japanese kyodo ryori, or regional cuisine, is a tourist attraction all of its own, with a signature dish for nearly every major city.
While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.
Once you start poppin', there's just no stoppin' because today is National Popcorn Day!
Light, crunchy and a little corny, this favorite snack is made for more than just a day at the movies.
Popcorn can be traced all the way back to the Aztec and Peruvian Indians in the early 1500s. Corn was a staple in their diet, but popped corn was brought out for ceremonial purposes. There's nothing quite like a popcorn headdresses, necklaces and ornaments to bring about rain and fertility!
Pssst! Got a sec to chat?
We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.
Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic. | <urn:uuid:0f5589ff-e874-4123-8cfc-f11510558455> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/01/19/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963702 | 831 | 1.828125 | 2 |
As the holidays approach, charities tend to become more front and center. Even without the holidays, developers around the world are stepping up and donating time and services in a very unique manner. The concept of a GiveCamp has taken root and is growing.
What is a Give Camp?
For a perfect explanation of what constitutes a Give Camp, you can visit the Give Camp website at www.GiveCamp.org. In simple terms, it is a gathering of developers and other technology professionals for a short period of time -- usually a weekend -- to create applications or other technical solutions for charities. These are generally done at a local level, although a national (United States) Give Camp is planned for early 2011.
I started writing this article from the Indianapolis Give Camp that happened this past weekend. It started on Friday with a launch at 6:00pm and ran until the closing presentation that started at 4:00pm on Sunday. There are no planned breaks, no working hours, just a starting and a stopping point. Many of the attendees don't leave the event space until the projects are completed. A few will come and go, but overall many will spend all of their waking hours focused on building a solution for a charity. Many will sleep at the event as well.
The attendees are donating their time to help local charities. Prior to the event, a group of volunteers met and organized the event. They worked to connect with local charities that would otherwise not be able to afford six to nine developer's time for 48 hours each. They also looked for charities that would benefit form a solution these developers could create. They looked for charities that needed something that could be done in a week-end. Finally, they looked for charities that were willing to step up and be at the event to help answer the questions and concerns that would arise.
There were lots of charities that fit the criteria.
The volunteer leaders also looked for developers and technologists. For Indianapolis there were over 55 people that volunteered their time. These were .NET developers, designers, project leaders, Drupal experts, and more. The only limiting factor on the number of charities was the number of volunteers that stepped up. For Indianapolis, this equated to nine charities getting help. In other cities the number of volunteers has gone well over 100 allowing even more charities to be helped.
Of course the third component was sponsors. It is always interesting to see how various businesses step up to help with these events. Some places like MoonDog Café and McAllister's step up to help the community with little question. Others, like a pizza place that was used fail to see the altruistic value of the event and give tiny discounts. Regardless, in the end the sponsors help to bring the third piece together for these events, the logistics.
When all this comes together, I think it is a shining moment for the developer and technology community. This is a great way for developers to tap into their skill set and give back to their communities. For one weekend of camping out and working with their peers, the local charities get a bump in what they can. That bump via technology makes for stronger better communities. It is great to see the number of give camps increasing. It is even nicer to see the number of technologists stepping up and volunteering. My hat is off to all those helping to make the Give Camps a success across the world.
IndyGiveCamp was the local Give Camp in my area that I helped with. If you are interested in doing a GiveCamp in your area, visit GiveCamp.org. I'm also happy to provide any guidance I can as well as connect you with others that have done Give Camps. | <urn:uuid:ebee81e1-2c9d-46a9-a834-f0212bb0baab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.codeguru.com/blog/2010/11/developers-plus-community-equa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974095 | 748 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Recently, I’ve been scouting New York looking for Detroit (don’t ask), a search that ultimately led to me to northern Jersey. As I was driving down down Tonnele Ave in Jersey City, I had to pull over and shoot what has to be one of the coolest diners I’ve ever come across, The White Mana Diner. Seriously, do diners get any better than this?
Originally minus the ugly brick addition on the left, the diner was created specifically for the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing, where it was exhibited as the “Diner of Tomorrow!” Apparently, it was designed so that a waiter never had to walk more than 10 feet to get to the grille, cash register, or counter.
According to this Jersey City: Past & Present article, after the World’s Fair ended, the diner was purchased by a restaurateur named Louis Bridges, who transported it to Jersey City where he opened it up as the White Manna Diner.
Why is it now the “White Mana Diner,” and not Manna? Apparently, in the 1980′s, their sign came back from being serviced missing an “n,” and rather than go through the trouble of getting a new sign, the owners decided to just rename it. The diner originally sold ten-cent hamburgers and offered curb service after 5 a.m. (sadly, a thing of the past).
In 1979, the diner was purchased by a former employee, Mario Costa, who kept it running through the mid-1990′s. In 1996, Costa sold the diner for $500,000, only to find that the new owners were planning to tear down the place to put in a fast food chain. He unsuccessfully sued the new owners to prevent this, and ultimately re-purchased it at a higher price than he sold it in order to save it.
In recent years, the property was deemed a “local landmark” by the Jersey City Council, which offers some protection against future demolition threats.
There are four other White Manna restaurants in Jersey, but only one Mana that hails back to the World’s Fair. Next time, I’m stopping in for some sliders. | <urn:uuid:e3901bad-101c-4e1b-a2a1-51984748a3ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=1080 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976326 | 476 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Moreover, when there is so little Afghan administrative presence in the provinces, Afghan forces, even if they are well-trained, can achieve very little. There is now a civil service academy turning out bureaucrats, but it will be years before they make a difference.
Equally grave is the failure to establish an indigenous Afghan economy that is not permanently dependent on aid handouts. For the first few years after September 11 President Bush refused to rebuild Afghan infrastructure, including adequate roads and electrical supplies, and this stymied economic growth. Kabul got full-time electricity only this year. Industry failed to develop because of the lack of infrastructure and because neighbors such as China and Iran were dumping cheap goods in the Afghan market and undermining local productivity.
Obama has initiated a program to help the local civilian economy take off, but it needs time. The US Army still buys no local produce, but the Afghan army, at least, is being equipped with locally manufactured boots and uniforms. Another acute problem is that the huge profits of the drug trade are recycled into property speculation rather than economic production.
Thus the key question for General Petraeus is not how many Taliban he kills, but whether the bare bones of an Afghan state—army, police, bureaucracy—which have been neglected so badly in the past nine years, can be set up by 2014. Moreover, can Afghan leaders, including the President, win the trust of a people who have put up with insecurity, gross corruption, and poor governance for many years?
If there is to be progress toward self-government in Afghanistan, a clear-headed Afghan president is badly needed. Yet Karzai is wrapped in contradictions and enigmas. During a two-hour animated conversation I had with him in the presidential palace, he seemed to be straining to not break ties with the US and NATO, while at the same time wanting to throw off their yoke because it makes him appear as a Western puppet.1
Karzai’s on-again, off-again fights with Petraeus about the tactics of the US military surge are essentially about his own role, his own sovereignty, his own image in Afghanistan—in all respects he feels he is losing power. He wants the war to somehow go away. Petraeus wants to conclude it, which means more violence in the months ahead.
Karzai’s view of the world has undergone a dramatic change and he is bitterly critical of the West and everything it has failed to do in the past nine years. He no longer supports the “war on terror” as defined by Washington, and he sees Petraeus’s surge as unhelpful because it relies too much on body counts of dead Taliban, often killed by US drones with civilian casualties that are resented deeply, and on nighttime raids by US special forces. The alternative, says Karzai, is to seek help from nearby countries like Pakistan and Iran, which he thinks could help him talk to the Taliban and end the war.
Many Afghans would disagree with Karzai. Neighboring states like Pakistan and Iran have a long and bloody record of monumental interference in Afghanistan, propping up proxy Afghan warlords and fighting over the spoils. Afghanistan will not become peaceful unless the neighbors are brought into an agreement not to interfere there that could be monitored by the international community. Obama made a promise to do just that when he was inaugurated but little has been accomplished.
The major problem is Pakistan. All three major Taliban factions have been based in Pakistan for nine years, receiving official and unofficial support, sanctuary, funding, and recruits; yet three successive US administrations have been unable to stop the Pakistan military from continuing that support. The December 16 strategy review avoids direct criticism of Pakistan for failing to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaeda bases. However, two classified intelligence reports given to the President in late November cited Pakistan’s hosting of sanctuaries as a serious obstacle to US objectives.
President Bush never tried very hard, but Obama has offered much larger incentives and a tougher stick to Pakistan. Petraeus has been aggressive and made it clear to Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani that its support for the Taliban must end. But the US has no comprehensive strategy that either offers the Pakistani military some of what it wants or changes its assumptions that it must dominate Afghanistan. The army fears growing Indian influence in Afghanistan—an issue that nobody has addressed. It wants to use talks with the Taliban as a card in the endgame, so that maximum concessions can be extracted from the US, India, and Afghanistan in exchange for Pakistan obtaining concessions from the Taliban.
Iran too has learned to raise the stakes. Shia Iran has no love for the Sunni fundamentalists who make up the Taliban, but Tehran has stepped up its support and sanctuary for the Taliban groups operating in western Afghanistan. Like Pakistan, Iran sees them as a useful hedge for the endgame, when the US and NATO will have to bring it in to discuss noninterference in Afghanistan. Iran has joined with India and Russia to ensure that Pakistan is unsuccessful in dominating Afghanistan.
So the region is already sharply divided. On one side stands Pakistan, virtually alone with some support from China, but none from the Arab-Muslim world that used to support the Taliban. Opposing Pakistan are Iran, Russia, India, and the Central Asian states, which are extremely suspicious of Pakistan and the Taliban but lack a strategy to deal with them. They want the US to stay longer in Afghanistan, but are also suspicious of an indefinite US presence.
The Taliban Want to Talk
What of the Taliban?
In separate interviews four former Taliban officials, now living in Kabul, told me that the Taliban leaders want to open a political office in a third country that is not Afghanistan or Pakistan, so that they can start talks with the Kabul regime, the US, and NATO. All four occupied high office in the 1990s when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and cannot be identified for security reasons.
Some were captured and held for several years by US forces before being freed, and they all now live quietly in Kabul under heavy government guard. Still, they are allowed to remain in touch with the Taliban leadership based in Pakistan and have facilitated Karzai’s attempts to talk to Taliban leaders.
They all said that negotiations would be possible only when they were free to negotiate from a neutral place—preferably an Arabian Gulf state, Turkey, Germany, or Japan. With Afghanistan under US occupation and Pakistan’s Interservices Intelligence (ISI) trying to manipulate them, they needed space, freedom, and an address of their own.
The four former Taliban officials also called for a release of all Taliban prisoners held by the US in Guantánamo and Bagram, the main US base in Afghanistan, and the removal of the Taliban names from a list of terrorists that is maintained by the United Nations Security Council. Three of the four men I talked to said that Taliban–US talks were essential because the US is “the occupying power.” Karzai also admits that in his previous contacts, the Taliban have demanded talks with the Americans and he has tried to persuade Washington to agree.
The NATO summit did not mention anything about talking to the Taliban but it was the elephant in the room. Karzai sees his political survival as being linked to ending the war through a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. Petraeus is less keen, wanting to continue the surge next year, killing more Taliban commanders and weakening others before inviting them to any negotiating table.
Petraeus does not accept the argument that by killing more Taliban you radicalize the movement further, bringing in younger and more militant commanders who owe nothing to the older leadership and are easier for the ISI to manipulate. He believes that the Taliban leadership can be broken, fragmented, and split off one by one. As a result, while drones target Taliban leaders and frequently kill them and people near them, less than a handful of US officials in Petraeus’s headquarters are addressing the issue of reconciliation with the Taliban.
The US administration is divided about the need for talks now or later. Skepticism is greater after the CIA and Britain’s MI6 were duped by a fake Taliban negotiator who twice held talks with Karzai, but turned out to be a Pakistani shopkeeper who was paid $65,000 each time he came to Kabul. Western officials believe the ISI was behind the scam.
Moreover, at the moment neither Karzai nor the Taliban have a clear agenda for talks. They do not even have a clear notion of how to get to actual negotiations—but both sides realize that such a venture would have to include confidence-building measures to create trust on all sides.
The Taliban leaders said that their first political aim would not be to lay down terms for power-sharing with Karzai, but to reach an agreement on a definition of what the future Afghan state would look like—would it be a democratic state or a shariah state? The most sensible among the Taliban also realize that since they could not run the country in the 1990s they will not be able to do so in the future. Rather than trying to grab power and then face isolation by the international community and the denial of funds and aid, they see the logic of a power-sharing formula with Karzai that would retain Western aid and international legitimacy. Their main concern right now seems to be how to break free from Pakistan, something the US can help them do only when it is ready to support peace talks.
An Approach to Peace
To answer these questions and not give away too much to the Taliban at the outset, Karzai, neighboring states, the US, and NATO need to work together on a common agenda that reduces regional tensions and builds trust between the Taliban and Kabul. Any new approach to peace must include reciprocal confidence-building measures by Pakistan, Iran, and India as well as by the Taliban and the West. Karzai has set up the High Peace Council, a sixty-eight-person multiethnic body to negotiate with the Taliban, but he needs to do much more to build a consensus across the country. The main question, of course, will be how soon the White House and the Pentagon decide that it is time to talk to the Taliban. Victory on the battlefield is not possible but peace cannot be achieved without US participation in negotiations.
Here is a possible step-by-step approach, involving all the players, that is intended to build trust and confidence in the region so that ultimately negotiations with the Taliban can take place.
1. NATO, the Afghan government, and Pakistan free most Afghan Taliban prisoners under their jurisdiction and seek to accommodate them safely in Afghanistan or allow them to seek refuge in third countries. NATO guarantees freedom of movement for Taliban mediators opening an office in a friendly third country. | <urn:uuid:39e74ac1-a3dc-4025-9f00-f03b6f178c48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jan/13/way-out-afghanistan/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96918 | 2,190 | 2.09375 | 2 |
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with Mike Gourley
Sunday nights at 7:06pm, repeated Tuesdays at 12:30am
Disability Studies conference a first for New Zealand
An upcoming Disability Studies conference has the theme 'Every Body In'. And according to one of the organisers, Dr Gill Rutherord it'll be the first time that anybody who has an interest or involvement in disability issues and social justice can come together. The conference, to be hosted in Dunedin in November, will feature keynote speakers, including Dr Tom Shakespeare, and will provide an opportunity for a variety of presentations and papers. Abstracts are now being sought with a closing date at the end of June.
Trialling the Health Passport
Disabled people covered by the Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs now have an opportunity to try out using the Health Passport. That's a Health & Disability Commissioner sponsored project to see whether patients will get a better deal from health services if they carry key information about themselves, with that information being available to doctors and nurses. Rosie McLeod and Dr Pauline Boyles (right) talk about their hope that by making disability needs known at the outset, a trip to the doctors or hospital won't be such an ordeal.
Produced by Carol Stiles and Katy Gosset
The issues and experience of disability.
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A selection of music interviews, reviews, videos, concerts, sessions, and performances.
Downloads and podcasts are available for selected programmes. Our podcast page has a complete list of feeds.
Help on using online audio: formats, software, podcasts, downloading, and troubleshooting. | <urn:uuid:04a8d283-28bc-4211-9f23-ef7b67912aa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/oneinfive/20110529 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92277 | 465 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United States. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation. The structure of education finance in America reflects this predominant State and local role. Of an estimated $1.15 trillion being spent nationwide on education at all levels for school year 2011-2012, a substantial majority will come from State, local, and private sources. This is especially true at the elementary and secondary level, where about 87.7 percent of the funds will come from non-Federal sources.
That means the Federal contribution to elementary and secondary education is about 10.8 percent, which includes funds not only from the Department of Education (ED) but also from other Federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services' Head Start program and the Department of Agriculture's School Lunch program.
Although ED's share of total education funding in the U.S. is relatively small, ED works hard to get a big bang for its taxpayer-provided bucks by targeting its funds where they can do the most good. This targeting reflects the historical development of the Federal role in education as a kind of "emergency response system," a means of filling gaps in State and local support for education when critical national needs arise.
The original Department of Education was created in 1867 to collect information on schools and teaching that would help the States establish effective school systems. While the agency's name and location within the Executive Branch have changed over the past 130 years, this early emphasis on getting information on what works in education to teachers and education policymakers continues down to the present day.
The passage of the Second Morrill Act in 1890 gave the then-named Office of Education responsibility for administering support for the original system of land-grant colleges and universities. Vocational education became the next major area of Federal aid to schools, with the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act and the 1946 George-Barden Act focusing on agricultural, industrial, and home economics training for high school students.
World War II led to a significant expansion of Federal support for education. The Lanham Act in 1941 and the Impact Aid laws of 1950 eased the burden on communities affected by the presence of military and other Federal installations by making payments to school districts. And in 1944, the "GI Bill" authorized postsecondary education assistance that would ultimately send nearly 8 million World War II veterans to college.
The Cold War stimulated the first example of comprehensive Federal education legislation, when in 1958 Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik. To help ensure that highly trained individuals would be available to help America compete with the Soviet Union in scientific and technical fields, the NDEA included support for loans to college students, the improvement of science, mathematics, and foreign language instruction in elementary and secondary schools, graduate fellowships, foreign language and area studies, and vocational-technical training.
The anti-poverty and civil rights laws of the 1960s and 1970s brought about a dramatic emergence of the Department's equal access mission. The passage of laws such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibited discrimination based on race, sex, and disability, respectively made civil rights enforcement a fundamental and long-lasting focus of the Department of Education. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act launched a comprehensive set of programs, including the Title I program of Federal aid to disadvantaged children to address the problems of poor urban and rural areas. And in that same year, the Higher Education Act authorized assistance for postsecondary education, including financial aid programs for needy college students.
In 1980, Congress established the Department of Education as a Cabinet level agency. Today, ED operates programs that touch on every area and level of education. The Department's elementary and secondary programs annually serve nearly 14,000 school districts and some 56 million students attending roughly 99,000 public schools and 34,000 private schools. Department programs also provide grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 15 million postsecondary students.
Despite the growth of the Federal role in education, the Department never strayed far from what would become its official mission: to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
The Department carries out its mission in two major ways. First, the Secretary and the Department play a leadership role in the ongoing national dialogue over how to improve the results of our education system for all students. This involves such activities as raising national and community awareness of the education challenges confronting the Nation, disseminating the latest discoveries on what works in teaching and learning, and helping communities work out solutions to difficult educational issues.
Second, the Department pursues its twin goals of access and excellence through the administration of programs that cover every area of education and range from preschool education through postdoctoral research. For more information on the Department's programs see the President's FY 2013 Budget Request for Education.
One final note: while ED's programs and responsibilities have grown substantially over the years, the Department itself has not. In fact, the Department has the smallest staff of the 15 Cabinet agencies, even though its discretionary budget alone is the third largest, behind only the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, the Department makes over $120 billion in new loans annually. A wide range of management improvements have helped limit administrative costs to approximately 2 percent of the Department's discretionary budget and only about 1 percent of all grants and loans made by the Department. This means that ED delivers about 99 cents on the dollar in education assistance to States, school districts, postsecondary institutions, and students. | <urn:uuid:16b0984d-fedc-4923-ae78-5dc53c8975fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html?src=ln | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958528 | 1,182 | 3.40625 | 3 |
|Opening Statement of Rep. Ed Markey
Hearing of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee.
Re: HR 850, SAFE Act.
Date: May 25, 1999.
Source: This document was created by Tech Law Journal by transcribing from an audio recording of the hearing. The audio recording was of poor quality, and hence, there may be errors in this transcription.
Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much for having this hearing today.
This issue is a very difficult one from a public policy perspective. Policy makers are asked to balance personal security and freedom with national security and freedom, to enable better privacy protection, but to also help law enforcement fight crime, and to simultaneously salute our clear economic interest in promoting commercial exporting opportunities of encrypted products and services.
During Committee deliberations on this encryption legislation in the last session of Congress, I successfully offered an amendment which tries to strike a balance. There is no member of this Committee who is unsympathetic to the plight of law enforcement during this time of profound and rapid technological change. There is no member of this Committee who is unwilling to place certain restrictions on the most highly sophisticated encryption that could pose national security risks. The problem is that our export controls today have not fully kept up with advances in technology, or with the general availability of that technology in commercial products.
Last session, I suggested that if headlong pursuit of trying to help law enforcement officials by _____, we ought not rush into adopting rules, regulations, or instigating government intrusion into the high-tech marketplace, unless we are sure that the proposed solution solves the problem. I am convinced that proposals from the law enforcement community need additional work and further analysis. I understand their frustration. And last session I remember trying to get law enforcement the additional tools they need to fight crime. I suggested that the high-tech industry should assist law enforcement and create a national electronic technology center, at net center, to serve local, state, and federal, law enforcement authorities by providing information, and assistance regarding decryption technologies and techniques. I still believe that this policy is preferable to a policy that would place, for the first time, controls on the domestic use of encryption by American citizens, and thereby mandate how every American citizen protects his or her electronic security. I pledge to continue to try to work with the national security and law enforcement communities in trying to fashion a common sense encryption policy.
The high-tech industry has been highly organized in its efforts to liberalize and update U.S. policy towards the export of encryption software and related policies. It has correctly identified the commercial imperative, by opening up opportunities for U.S. companies to compete overseas in these critical knowledge based industries. The industry has also been quick to point out that strong encryption can help thwart crime. Moreover, the high-tech industry has noted that strong encryption can also avail customers of greater privacy protection. And the industry has been eager to assist consumers by creating products that permit people to safeguard their personal conversations or data files. For all of these efforts I wholeheartedly commend the high-tech industry.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman. | <urn:uuid:b3074ca1-1665-4f4d-8372-7c5567991d14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techlawjournal.com/cong106/encrypt/19990525mar.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957435 | 635 | 1.617188 | 2 |
It’s summer, fire up those grillsPublished 4:19pm Tuesday, June 19, 2012
For guys there is just something about cooking on an open flame.
I’m sure it goes back to the days of Joe Cave Dweller who went out and killed a dinosaur and then carried it back home and cooked it over a roaring fire, while his adoring wife looked on in amazement. That’s one theory anyway.
Maybe it’s because working over the hot flame makes us sweat profusely, which must mean that we’re working extremely hard – much harder than say baking a casserole.
Maybe it’s even more basic than that. Maybe it’s simply that guys like meat and we like fire, and combining the two just makes sense. That could be it.
Whatever the reason, there is deep in every man’s heart a longing to light up the grill and toss a big slab of meat on there. There’s a need to hear the sizzle, smell the smoke and feel the heat rise from the coals.
With summer upon us, you’ve no doubt already seen the plumes of smoke rising around town and smelled the familiar aroma of burning charcoal. Since grilling season is officially upon us, here are seven tips courtesy of the Eat Like A Man cookbook, that everyone should know before lighting up the ol’ grill.
- Charcoal is ready when 80 percent of the coals are ash-gray.
- If the fire gets too weak (you can hold your hand just above the grill for four or five seconds), try pushing the coals closer together. If it’s too hot (two seconds, max), spread the coals out and move your food to the edge. If the coals start to burn down and disappear, add more — but remember, that brings the temperature down, too.
- A covered grill is a hotter grill. Food cooked in a covered grill tastes smokier. This is usually a good thing, but not always. Also, it’s easier to overcook food when the grill is covered. Why? Because you can’t see the food.
- The resealable plastic bag was made for marinating.
- Careful with tongs. Squeeze too tight and you squeeze the juice out. Same goes for maneuvering using a fork or knife.
- The kebab was a wonderful invention. It’s like a whole meal on a stick. A kebab secret: If you want the meat medium-rare, pack it tight on the skewer. For medium-well, space the pieces out. Don’t forget that skewers get hot.
- There is no fruit you can’t grill. Pineapples, bananas, cantaloupe, oranges, peaches — slice or cut in half, brush with melted butter and, if you want, brown sugar, and grill. There are few tastier desserts than grilled fruit. | <urn:uuid:17caba60-fab7-4eaa-a111-f78f1b83c21b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenvilleadvocate.com/2012/06/19/its-summer-fire-up-those-grills/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920071 | 634 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The taxation of pensions drastically changed in 2006, opening up both opportunities and potential pitfalls. At the time, HM Revenue & Customs described the process of change as ‘simplification’. In many respects, this description was correct. For most people, the new tax rules did simplify the situation very considerably. The multiplicity of different tax regimes was abolished with effect from 6 April 2006 and initially very few people found the replacement tax regime’s allowances for contributions or retirement benefits in the least restricting. However, amendments to the pension contribution tax relief rules introduced from 22 April 2009 and further tax reforms implemented from April 2011 have changed the picture: simplicity is no longer the watchword.
Pensions remain the most tax-efficient way for most people to provide for their retirement. The shrinking minority of the working population who are still members of defined benefits (or salary-related) pension schemes will have a generally attractive and secure means of building pension benefits. Most of the remainder who depend on defined contribution (or money purchase) schemes will find that the tax advantages normally outweigh the restrictions on access and the other rules. If you are a business owner, your pension scheme could be a useful tax vehicle for achieving your financial objectives.
The recent and proposed changes could mean that this is a good moment to review your pension arrangements and possibly look at alternative methods of retirement provision. | <urn:uuid:adad3721-fd19-401e-bc2b-bb006e8c664e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bvmoney.com/site/knowledgebank/ifa_know_retirementplanning | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96826 | 275 | 1.546875 | 2 |
16 November 2012 - 04 May 2013
Closed Sunday, Monday, Thursday
Open Tuesday 12pm (noon) - 8pm, Wednesday and Friday 11am - 4pm, Saturday 10am - 1.30pm
RIBA Library, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD
Drawing on material from the British Architectural Library's extensive collections, this exhibition examines the history of colour in architectural photography.
Discover early attempts involving toning and hand-tinting in the 19th Century, judge the results of the significant advances made following the introduction of new technology in the 1930s and 40s and see the explosion of colour in the architectural press during the 1970s and 80s.
This display will reveal the influence that colour photography has had on architecture right up to the present day.
Colour in Architectural Photography
Tuesday 27 November, 6.30pm
As part of November's Last Tuesday 'Colour' themed evening, join exhibition curator Justine Sambrook for a closer look at colour in the RIBA Library Photographs Collection, from hand-tinted 19th Century lantern slides to the work of some of today's most respected contemporary architectural photographers.
Photo ID required for entry | <urn:uuid:302a5068-dc45-4c4f-897b-80482c4b62a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.architecture.com/WhatsOn/Exhibitions/At66PortlandPlace/2012/Autumn/ThePolychromeLensColourinArchitecturalPhotography.aspx?CalendarMode=Day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928326 | 248 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Grant aids toddlers, parents and pre-service teachers
Nov. 1, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- The Children's Place Day Care Center at Western Michigan University and the College of Education are the recipients of a four-year $73,380 federal grant to expand the availability of on-campus child care.
The grant, called Child Care Access Means Parents in School--CCAMPIS-- was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and will allow The Children's Place to begin programming for babies as young as 15 months old. Currently, toddlers must be at least 2 years old and out of diapers before they can enroll. The new funding, which will be made available each year for four years, underwrites the salary of a full-time toddler teacher and provides money for five teaching interns through the College of Education.
The center, which is licensed for 43 children, serves youngsters ages 2 to 11. The majority of the children in care are those of WMU student parents, who utilize the opportunity for part-time care while they juggle parenthood, full class loads and, in most cases, jobs. In addition, children of WMU faculty and staff are well-represented at the center, which also is open to the local community.
The new grant will help more parents take advantage of the center.
"Access to quality child care should not be an obstacle to job training or college studies," U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said in awarding the 222 grants, which total $10.5 million nationwide. "These grants can help parents complete school and make their career goals possible and their futures more promising," he said.
University officials agree.
"This award allows our student parents to maintain their educational energy, focus and progress, and at the same time, offers a field site for our pre-service teachers to have intern experiences," says Dr. Alonzo Hannaford, associate dean of the College of Education.
Most of WMU's grant money will go toward subsidizing the cost of childcare with a sliding fee scale to serve as many low-income student parents - those eligible for Pell Grants - as possible.
The Children's Place grant, the largest of seven awarded in Michigan, will be put to use beginning in January.
"This is like a dream come true because the demand for quality and easily accessible childcare is so high," says Joan Ashley, administrative director of The Children's Place and manager of the WMU Apartments where many student parents live. "We're moving on this grant at top speed and loving every minute of it."
Media contact: Gail H. Towns, 616 387-8400, email@example.com | <urn:uuid:82305d82-7cd2-4435-949b-1b92c93e4ddc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wmich.edu/wmu/news/2001/0111/0102-132.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961292 | 556 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Archive » August 17, 2006
By Gary Bartick
BASICS AND BENEFITS OF GENERATION SKIPPING
GST is not a food flavor enhancer with dangerous health effects and it isn’t an acronym for a nasty pesticide. But it can have unwanted impacts on your estate plan unless you’re not careful.
The Generation Skipping Transfer Tax is a transfer tax, like the estate tax and the gift tax, that applies to certain transfers of money or property between different generations. In the field of planned giving, GST comes into play whenever you make a donation that will benefit both charity and your grandchildren. If you are planning to fund gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts or other planned gifts that eventually benefit your grandchildren, you need to know the basics of GST.
GST, as its name suggests, applies to gift transfers (but not sale transfers) between people that are more than one generation apart – where a generation is "skipped." The most common example of a generation skipping transfer is a gift from a grandparent to grandchild, but GST applies whether the donor and gift recipient are related or not.
GST applies to three types of generation skipping transfers: direct skips, taxable distributions and taxable terminations. A direct skip occurs when a grandparent directly gives a grandchild a gift (rather than making a gift through a trust).
Grandma Gertrude gives Granddaughter Greta a check for $100,000. Because Grandma Gertrude and Granddaughter Greta are more than one generation apart, the gift is a "direct skip."
A taxable distribution occurs when a trust created by a grandparent distributes money to a grandchild (or any younger generation). Grandfather Godfrey creates a trust that gives income to his son, Samuel. The trustee of the trust is also permitted to give income to Samuel's children, Courtney and Charlie. Anytime Courtney or Charlie receives income from the trust, a “taxable distribution” occurs. This is because the trust is distributing money to Courtney and Charlie, who are more than one generation younger than Grandfather Godfrey.
Finally, a taxable termination occurs whenever a trust created by a grandparent changes so that grandchildren have all of the current interest in the trust. Grandmother Galinda creates a trust for her daughter Linda. The trust will distribute income and principal to Linda as needed during her lifetime. When Linda dies, her children (Galinda's grandchildren) will benefit from the trust. Until Linda dies, Galinda's grandchildren don't have a confirmed interest in the trust. After Linda dies, the grandchildren are the only beneficiaries. Since all of the money in the trust will benefit Galinda's grandchildren when Linda dies, Linda's death is a "taxable termination."
The GST tax rates are the same as the estate tax rates. Under current law, these rates are as follows:
Year Highest Estate and GST Tax Rate
2010 No GST Tax
There are two possible ways that a grandparent can make a gift to a grandchild without paying GST tax. The first is using the annual GST exclusion. The second is by applying the GST Exemption Amount.
In 2006, the annual gift exclusion allows a grandparent to give $12,000 to every grandchild (or any other person) without paying gift tax. (The $12,000 is indexed for inflation). Any gifts that fall within this annual gift exclusion are also exempt from the GST.
Every person can make a certain amount of generation skipping transfers during life or at death that are exempted from GST tax. This amount differs by year and is called the "GST Exemption Amount." Under current law, the GST Exemption Amounts are as follows:
Year GST Exemption Amount
2006 $2 million
2007 $2 million
2008 $2 million
2009 $3 million
2010 No GST Tax
2011 $1.1 million
These are just a few of the basics on Generation Skipping Transfers. If considering a crucial financial decision, it is wise to first consult an experienced advisor in this field.
All comments are subject to review after submission. Please allow a slight delay before comments appear online! | <urn:uuid:809f49e9-133d-40ed-9bca-95f5b29da256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://montecitojournal.net/archive/12/17/289/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922747 | 863 | 2.34375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Army soldiers have been ordered to put aside their usual duties and spend Thursday on suicide prevention training.
This military "stand down" comes as the Pentagon struggles with a spike in the number of self-inflicted deaths this year.
The Army's top enlisted soldier, Sgt. Maj. Raymond Chandler, says the day will focus on making sure that troops and their families know what programs are available to them and helping them get over the embarrassment that keeps many from seeking help.
Troops with duties such as combat operations in Afghanistan or medical duties in army hospitals will schedule their training when possible.
The Army is the largest of the services and it has the highest number of suicides. It is the only one planning the special training Thursday. | <urn:uuid:9846ffb2-1a1a-4a92-8bb3-45853eba1eb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/Army-Stand-Down-Focuses-day-on-Suicide-Training-171398241.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968717 | 153 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Colorado, United States
As the President of the Manitou Foundation (land granting organization), established in 1988, and the Manitou Institute (environmental stewardship), formed in 1994, Hanne Strong has established the largest intentional, interfaith, and ecumenical retreat center and sustainable teaching community in North America. Mrs. Strong has granted over 2000 acres of land to various spiritual, educational, and environmental groups. Through the Manitou Foundation’s land grant program, the Baca/Crestone community now houses many of the world’s spiritual traditions and is referred to as “A Place of the Heart” – which now accommodates approximately twenty thousand retreatants per year, seeking to develop inner peace and balance with oneself and nature.
Groups include: Spiritual Life Institute (a Carmelite monastic community), Crestone Mountain Zen Center, Haidakhandi Universal Ashram, the San Luis Valley Tibetan Project, Samten Ling Retreat Center, Yeshe Khorlo, Vajra Vidya Retreat Center and Tibetan Archives Library, Ligmincha (from the Bon tradition), White Elephant Monastery (Taoist), Shinji Shumekai of America (Shinto), Lindesfarne Dome (Celtic), Sanctuary House (Sufi), White Jewel Mountain Tibetan Buddhist Cremation Stupa and Nunnery, Dharma Ocean Foundation, and Sacred Passages Reconnecting with Nature and Sage House (Native American). Education and environmental organizations include: Colorado College, Naropa University, Sri Aurobindo Learning Center, EDUCO, Earth Origin Seeds Project, Earth Restoration Corps, Crestone Healing Arts Center, and Sacred Passages.
Mrs. Strong has been an advocate for environmental conservation and restoration, placing over 1,200 acres of the foundation's lands under Conservation Easements in order to protect and preserve the pristine mountain range, wildlife habitat, and fragile eco-systems of the Baca Grande. She is the founder of the Earth Restoration Corps (ERC), a global environmental-educational training program designed for young adults. ERC conducts and facilitates action-based environmental restoration training and training of ERC Master Teachers, in partnership with local grass-roots organizations and educational institutions worldwide. This training program is intended to lead youth towards productive and meaningful sustainable livelihoods and to engage in the restoration of threatened eco-systems. A unique component of the ERC training is facilitation of personal transformation by re-connecting participants with nature’s laws and drawing on people’s respective ethical, cultural, and spiritual traditions.
From 1972 to the present, she has traveled to over 100 countries and has attended numerous universities, seminars, and conferences as a guest speaker on ecumenical communities, sustainability, and spiritually-based environmental education. Mrs. Strong has organized several conferences for children, youth, and the disabled. In 1977, during a conference that paralleled HABITAT, UN Conference on Human Settlements in Vancouver, B.C., Mrs. Strong created a platform for children and youth to address prevalent global issues at the United Nations Plenary; Mother Teresa co-convened the conference at Mrs. Strong’s invitation. Mrs. Strong also served as the Senior Advisor/Organizer and Chief Fundraiser for the Millennium World Peace Summit for Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the UN in 2000. She has founded numerous nonprofit organizations for Native Americans and co-founded the first nonprofit private foundation in Kenya with Sir Richard Leakey and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Wangari Maathai, for disabled and street children. In 1992, Mrs. Strong organized and chaired two conferences in Rio de Janeiro during the Earth Summit entitled, “Sacred Earth Gathering/Wisdom Keepers Convocation.” Speakers included scientists, religious leaders, representatives of indigenous groups and NGO’s, and statesmen from around the globe.
Over the past 25 years, Mrs. Strong has worked with Native Americans throughout Canada and the United States and indigenous peoples worldwide to assist in their efforts to preserve their spirituality, cultural values, and native lands. She has received extensive spiritual training in the form of teachings, direct transmissions, and initiations from North and South American shamans, Tibetan Buddhist Lamas, Hindu masters, Sufis, and other mystics. Mrs. Strong’s mission has been the subject of featured articles in international publications, including several UN periodicals and books such as, Voices of the Heart; A Compassionate Call for Responsibility and Creating Harmony; Conflict Resolution in Community Living; as well as Maclean’s—Canada’s Weekly Newsmagazine—and news articles worldwide, including Reuters, Newsweek, Spirituality & Health, The Yoga Journal, and Tricycle Buddhist Review. She has authored articles on the topics of spirituality and environmental stewardship, such as “Ecological and Spiritual Revolution," published in Our Planet, the UN Environmental Program magazine for Sustainable Development, and has been interviewed on national television in the United States, Brazil, France, the Philippines, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Mexico, and Canada.
Mrs. Strong was born on July 29, 1941, in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she also received a degree in Design and Planning from the IAS Institute. She is married to Maurice F. Strong, former Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, former President of the UN University for Peace, and currently Honorary Professor of the University of Beijing. She has two daughters, seven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:ddbe3d4a-ba34-4fc5-9d36-81bc625016fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ibavi.org/content/hanne-strong | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940689 | 1,133 | 1.609375 | 2 |
St. John's Fortress, at the southeast corner of the city walls, has stood guard over Dubrovnik's harbor since the 16th century (though parts of it date back to...more
Dubrovnik isn't as great a beach destination as the Dalmatian Islands that surround it. The stone ledges around Old Town pass for beaches with locals, though...more
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Just across the water from Vis, the island of Biševo is famous for its waterlogged rock cavern, locally called the Modra Špilja, that can only be...more
Since visitors usually make a beeline for the islands, Split is overlooked as a destination. A pity: Croatia's second city is home to this 416,000-square-foot...more
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For seven weeks each summer, you can soak up some culture along with the Adriatic sunshine, when world-class musical, dance, and dramatic acts (James Galway,...more
Winter is chilly on the Dalmatian Coast. No wonder the warm months are filled with opportunities to get out and about, such as Split's monthlong Summer Festival...more
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Posted on November 23rd, 2008 12 comments
St. Louis University Cloister Walk
Grand & Chouteau, St. Louis City, MO
Some people are highly attuned and obsessive about the built environment while others pay little attention because their fascinations lie elsewhere. This is as it should be, because the diversity of human experiences is what makes our lives such a compelling journey.
There are a heaping handful of people in my world who exactly share my passion for buildings, while many others kindly tolerate my comments, exclamations and head swivels (and near crashes from not paying attention to the road) as we drive around. Most fall in the middle of these two extremes.
But there is one new-ish feature on our city landscape that everyone has a comment on – all of them favorable – and that is such a rare occurrence that it must be noted.
The Joan & Joseph Lipic Cloister Walk on the campus of the Edward A. Doisy Research Center at St. Louis University gets most everyone’s attention. The Research Center itself is the star attraction (see pages 4-6 of this pdf), as its tall, shiny and unique. It has a prime location, LEEDs certification and the best of intentions. I like the building, though I enjoyed watching it go up more than the final result. But in my opinion, it causes no harm or embarrassment, and entertains me in an Off-Broadway musical kind of way.
But its the brick “tail” of the building, snaking diagonally to the southeast across the campus, that thrills me the most. And it is this promenade connector that has elicited positive comments from everyone I’ve been with as we passed by. I’m talking unsolicited and unprompted comments by people who normally don’t notice these types of things, especially when it’s a low-lying, secondary feature of a major building situated far from the street. One has to make the slightest of efforts to notice it, and when they do, they instantly love it!
There definitely exists a snobbish line of thought among architects and designers that if the uninformed masses like something, it must be intentionally pandering to the cheap seats. This imperious manner is sometimes worn as a protective shield by those who design buildings and objects, and the fewer number of people who “get it” confirms its success to the creator.
I can buy into that aesthetic, but I also firmly believe that when it comes to buildings, the context, the purpose and the people it was created for deeply matters, and when the uninformed masses react apathetically or negatively to a new building it is because the creators failed on one or more of these fronts.
For instance, a Frank Gehry building is a dramatic and dynamic thing, but when it sends snow and ice flows crashing onto heads or blinds the neighbors on a sunny day, then form murdered function. The benefactors’ got a glorious trophy building while the inhabitants in and around it got shafted.
So, the Cloister Walk gets the attention and admiration of the St. Louis masses. The form pleases every eye. It looks intriguing but how does it function? It was time to investigate up close.
The Research Center comes courtesy of Cannon Design, and because the Cloister Walk shows up in their concept drawings, I’m assuming they designed it as well, even though no one has bothered to single out that fact. Again, the Research Center is the star, while the Walk is a bit player used to advance the plot, a way to get from one point to another in a formal and protective way.
It is a true pleasure to walk near and in this place. It mimics and facilitates movement in a low key manner, which is quite the accomplishment when it has so much going on. A Zen garden, and wild vegetation and babbling brooks go on in and around it, but it works as intended. The flanking rows of arcing ellipses create frames for the ever-changing scenes as you walk on, so the experience is both peaceful and invigorating. Its form is thoroughly modern urban, its intent is old fashioned and the result is a friendly addition to time and space.
The Walk is a private structure intended for people using the Research Center and the medical school complex it connects to, but no signs or efforts indicate that the public is not allowed to experience it. Because of where it’s situated, one does have to make a concerted effort to drive into and navigate the complex, which is full of paid parking lots and pass-only parking garages. But there’s free street parking to be found, and those who have business there truly don’t seem to mind the presence of those who don’t.
People were using it constantly, with folks even lounging on the benches and soaking up the sun by the fountain at the southern end of the Walk (which resolves a bit awkwardly; it evokes a hippo or dragon). So its function is good: it facilitates, accommodates and inspires additional uses.
It’s form looks good and feels even better, to the eye and the soul. I can see this becoming a popular place for photography students, especially for black & white assignments; it just keeps on giving and creating arresting still lifes, with intense plays of light and shadow.
It is joyous to have something that has captured so many’s attention from afar be even better up close. And it feels odd (but good) to finally be able to thank St. Louis University for a truly worthy and enjoyable architectural contribution in the 21st century.
SIDE NOTE One of the greatest views from this campus is the old Peveley complex across the intersection. I love all the contrasts of the Research tower against the Peveley smokestack, the boldly modern in concert with the contentedly industrial. The Pevely building is now for sale, and as the article points out, it is a significant plot of land in a prime city location. Which is why I’m worried. Please, oh please, let it find a new use that allows it to remain essentially intact. Fingers crossed.architecture, city of st. louis, design, modern architecture architecture, cloister walk, st. louis university
12 Responses to “SLU Cloister Walk, Best In Show”
Sadly, the building in question has permanently eliminated (for the next 50 years at least) any chance of South Grand and Midtown being linked together again with urban fabric. SLU has just about accomplished making a complete dead zone all the way from Highway 40 to I-44.
Nice post. I really like this building. I also read the article about the Pevely Campus. I would be really disappointed if this happened:
“DeSantis said the dairy’s old location near the city’s center is its strongest attribute, creating a number of future uses for the land. If the property were cleared, it would hold significant value as a large parcel of land in the center of the city near two interstate highways, DeSantis said. It could be used for parking for other developments in the area, for instance.”
While this building covered walkway looks stunning in these photos, in real life this design has created a bleak and empty corner at Grand and Chouteau. The building calls attention to itself with its grandness, while at the same time has no meaningful relationship to the Pevely building or the major intersection of our city that it sits on.
I am all about preservation, but sometimes you have to be realistic. Before the new research center was there, there was nothing. At least nothing notable that I remember and I’ve driven by there everyday for eight years. The building is certainly not offensive and has beautiful grounds. And because of who owns it, we can pretty well guarantee it will still look pristine twenty years from now and beyond. As a resident of the area I’m happy to see something there besides open land and a few derelict buildings.
supertaxicab November 26th, 2008 at 1:03 PM
I must agree with the naysayers. The tail is not terrible, but its relationship to Grand and Chouteau is deplorable, yet another example that SLU wishes to invest in their campus but not in integrating it into the city. Wouldn’t it have been possible to create a cloister garden like this in the interior of a building complex that respected the street wall?
Point taken, but there was nothing there to begin with. Maybe 100 years ago there was, but not in recent memory. If there had been an urban streetscape razed in the name of the research center I would have a complete change of heart. All I’m saying is that what’s there now sure beats what was there ten years ago so I see no reason to complain about it.
Vanishing STL November 26th, 2008 at 1:31 PM
Both the research building and the walkway are quite commendable from a design standpoint, except for the silly sign on top that looks at night like a giant ear of corn being dehusked. My problem with this whole ensemble is that it is an example of horrible planning! One building occupies FOUR square blocks of space that have been turned into a superblock. The building dangles in space from its elegant but poorly placed umbilical cord and holds neither the building line along Grand nor more importantly as Kara points out, the corner of a major City intersection. We can only hope that someday in the future all that wasted space will be filled with more research or med school buildings, but I’m not holding my breath. Its simply ONE MORE example of SLU injecting suburban planning ideals over the City with disastrous results.
john w. November 26th, 2008 at 4:40 PM
Maybe the fleur-de-lis is actually a corn cob being dehusked, and it’s a sign that SLU is planning to plant several acres of corn on that expanse, and use the cloister walk as a sales bazaar for those seeking to purchase freshly husked corn cobs.
Anonymous December 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 AM
There was at least one viable buisness on the south side of the parsel, they supplied restaraunt equipment. SLU forced them out and have since moved the Westport area. It seems foolish to trade a nice building and a viable buisness for 50 feet of green space and a wall, no matter how good it looks.
Ah, the name of the company was Peerless Restaraunt Supply.
supertaxicab December 11th, 2008 at 6:26 PM
I just have to say that the last thing St. Louis needs is more green space facing the street. It needs well designed buildings.
GMichaud December 20th, 2008 at 11:19 PM
Great photos, it looks nicer than I would have expected. Good design, at least there is an attempt at art.
It is great you went to explore.
The corner is a problem. At least with all of that green space it is still possible to put some low rise 3 to 6 story storefronts, (maybe on all four corners while saving the Pevely).
The Fleur de lis are ill-proportioned and almost ugly. It’s too bad because it can be a beautiful form.
And does anyone remember Peerless restaurant supply?! It was a poorly maintained wreck. I’m glad SLU bought them. Otherwise, it’d still look the same.
Leave a Reply | <urn:uuid:0cfc13a4-855e-4e38-821e-a9435bcf6831> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beltstl.com/2008/11/slu-cloister-walk-best-in-show/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961812 | 2,436 | 1.601563 | 2 |
In the Middle Ages, Biarritz was a small fishing port
where only a few boats would brave the rough seas to
This all changed in 1854 when the Empress Eugenie and
Napoleon III established their home here. fast joined by
the European elite, Biarritz soon gained its reputation
of being "the king of beaches, and the beaches of
Situated between Spain, the mountains and the Ocean,
Biarritz is today one of the most established centres of
tourism within Europe.
Sports enthusiasts are spoilt for choice with the city
offering a wide array of activities including golf,
surfing, rambling, scuba diving, rafting, paragliding,
horse riding... And the many kilometres of beach.
There are numerous spa centres at your disposal, you can
view concerts, expositions, visit museums and the many
natural and archaeological site to help you discover the
Basque culture and traditions.
We are sure that every day will prove to be
Click photos to | <urn:uuid:4c3cccc6-9aa3-461b-bf17-c328b2b76e6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://villagoeland.com/biarritz-basque-country.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921212 | 217 | 1.523438 | 2 |
In earlier columns, we looked at sources of equity investments, and the advantages and disadvantage of debt versus equity financing. This month, we’ll look at possible ways to borrow money.
Personal Cash / Friends and Family Cash
This is the source of money for nearly all new businesses. You dip into your checking and savings accounts and loan a certain amount of money to your new business. This requires disciplined record-keeping , however, as many owners are far too casual about mingling personal and business money. Another source is friends and family members. However, if your business does not perform to plan, it’s easy to imagine the awkward discussions you’ll be having at social and family gatherings when they ask about how your business – and their loan – is doing.
People often use credit cards, home equity lines of credit and loans from retirement plans to finance their businesses. This can be very effective, but you must be careful to ensure that your company’s activities don’t damage your personal credit; and as with cash, you must keep detailed records of money given to and repaid by your business. You must also be sure that you haven’t borrowed so much personal money that you no longer have enough credit for your personal needs.
Let’s be honest: Getting a bank loan for a small business is very difficult. However, the US Small Business Administration has a wide variety of loan programs designed specifically to help small businesses. You can learn more about the SBA loan programs at www.sba.gov/sba-direct/article/2951, you can find a list of Nevada banks that offer SBA loans at www.tinyurl.com/SBAbanks, and you can contact the SBA’s David Leonard – our local expert on SBA loans – at (775) 827-4923 Ext. 24 or by email at David.Leonard@sba.gov.
Microloans are actually a subset of SBA loans and are very small loans for “start-up, newly established or growing small business concerns. SBA makes funds available to nonprofit community based lenders which, in turn, make loans to eligible borrowers in amounts up to a maximum of $50,000. Applications are submitted to the local intermediary and all credit decisions are made on the local level.”
Microloans are available from Rural Nevada Development Corporation for borrowers throughout Nevada EXCEPT in urban Washoe and Clark Counties. For more information, visit www.RNDCNV.org or contact Mary Kerner at 775-289-8519 Ext. 1108 or firstname.lastname@example.org. Nevada Microenterprise Initiative (www.4microbiz.org) was purchased recently by Valley Economic Development Authority and hopes to soon resume microloans through all of Nevada.
Crowdfunding looks to a large number of people – often strangers found via the Internet – to provide funding for your business. As discussed in previous columns, several models of crowdfunding are evolving, including equity, donation, reward, pre-selling and debt. With the debt model, many people loan you small amounts of money. Be aware, however, that you now have responsibilities and obligations to each of these “lenders.” And, you may find it difficult to secure larger subsequent rounds of funding if investors feel you’re overly burdened with interest payments to the earlier investors. Major crowdfunding platforms include Prosper (www.prosper.com), People Capital (www.people2capital.com) and Lending Club (www.lendingclub.com).
Factoring is a financial transaction is which you sell your accounts receivables – at a discount – to a third-party called a “factor” for an amount less than the face value of what your customers owe you. In effect, you’re paying a fee to get faster access to your money. However, factoring may be a quick way to improve a short-term cash flow problem.
As you can see, small businesses have many options for borrowing money. As each option has significant plusses and minuses, you should consult your financial, tax and legal advisors before pursuing any of these options.
Dave Archer is President and CEO of NCET – Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. More info at www.NCET.org | <urn:uuid:17078f7a-425d-471b-a443-e984f84b409f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.rgj.com/davearcher/2013/01/23/funding-your-business-borrowing-money-feb-2013/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954937 | 904 | 1.78125 | 2 |
100 Years of Innovation
Well before Federation in 1901, Australians had demonstrated how innovative they were. Thousands of years ago, Indigenous Australians developed tools like fish traps, boomerangs and woomeras to assist with hunting. They lived in harmony with nature using the native flora and fauna as a source of food and medicine.
When the European settlers arrived in this harsh, isolated land, they also had to be ingenious to survive and thrive. Early inventions included the windmill, the stump-jump plough, the stripper harvester, mechanical shears, ice-making machines and even lamingtons.
1901: Federation Wheat
William Farrer released the Federation wheat strain, resistant to fungal rust disease and drought.
1901: Flotation Method of Ore Separation
The method for separating ore from rock crushings, using bubbles to float the ore to the surface, was developed by Charles Potter and Guillaume Delprat of NSW.
1905: Thrust Bearing
Anthony Mitchell invented the tilt-pad thrust bearing, which reduced friction and increased power transmitted. The technology has been used in ship building around the world and also in pumps and turbines.
1906: Surf Lifesaving Reel
Designed by Lyster Ormsby, the reel was first demonstrated at Bondi Beach.
1906: Feature Film
The Story of the Kelly Gang was the world’s first feature length film.
1906: Kiwi Boot Polish
The boot polish that could restore the faded colour of brown shoes was first available for sale.
1909: Improved Sheep Shears
Aboriginal inventor, author and spokesperson, David Unaipon, patented an improved handpiece for sheep shears.
1913: Automatic Totalisator
Invented by George Julius, the tote automated betting at horse races.
While the German firm Bayer first produced aspirin, a Melbourne pharmacist George Nicholas and experimenter, Henry Woolf Smith produced a high-grade aspirin product, ‘Aspro’, that later took over the international market.
1918: Anthrax Vaccine
John McGarvie Smith donated his secret discovery of an anthrax vaccine to the NSW Government shortly before his death.
1922: Rotary Hoe
Cliff Howard, with help from his brother Albert built the first full-size rotary hoe cultivator. It uses energy to turn the soil directly, rather than dragging a plough behind a tractor.
1926: Heart Pacemaker
A doctor from the Crown Street Women’s Hospital in Sydney, who wished to remain anonymous, invented the original pacemaker in Australia.
1928: Royal Flying Doctor Service
Reverend John Flynn was the founder of the world’s first Aerial Medical Service, now known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). In May 1928, Dr St Vincent Welch made the first official RFDS visit.
1928: First Crossing of the Pacific
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew performed the world’s first air crossing of the Pacific Ocean.
1928: Speedo Swimwear
This swimwear originated in Sydney when the MacRae Knitting Mills manufactured the company’s first swimsuit, the razorback, made from silk and joined in the middle of the back. Speedo introduced the world’s first nylon swimsuit in 1957.
1929: Pedal Wireless
The pedal-operated generator, connected to a wireless, was invented by Alfred Traeger.
1930: Letter Sorting Machine
Sydney GPO was the site for the first mechanised letter sorter which was developed by an engineer with the Posmaster-General’s Department.
1933: Utility Vehicle
The ute, with a front like a car and rear like a truck was designed by Lewis Bandt at the Ford Motor Company in Geelong, Victoria.
1941: Penicillin production starts
Penicillin, extracted and refined by a team led by Howard Florey, was trialled successfully on humans, and went into production in time to aid casualties of World War II.
1945: Hills Hoist
This rotary clothesline with a winding mechanism allowing the frame to be raised and lowered was invented by Lance Hill of Adelaide in 1945.
1946: Shepherd Castors
George Shepherd invented strong, easily manoeuvrable dome-shaped castors for furniture. These replaced traditional pivoted wheel castors.
1947: Cloud Seeding
Scientists at CSIRO conducted the first successful cloud seeding experiments, making rain fall near Bathurst, NSW.
1950: School of the Air
The first ever radio lesson was broadcast using the transmitter at the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Base at Alice Springs.
1952: Victa Lawnmower
The Victa version of the petrol lawnmower with rotary blades was developed by Mervyn Victor Richardson, and became an Aussie icon.
1952: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
Sir Alan Walsh of the CSIRO invented this instrument used for high speed chemical analysis of metallic elements.
1953: Solar Water Heater
The first prototype of a solar water heater was developed at CSIRO in Victoria.
1956: Redback Spider Antivenom
An antivenom for the bite of the redback spider developed by Dr Saul Weiner was released for use.
1957: Permanent Crease Trousers
The process of producing permanent creases in fabric was developed by Dr Arthur Farnworth of CSIRO by adding a special resin to wool fibres to change their chemical structure.
1957: A.E. Bishop Holdings Pty Ltd
This company was established by Dr Arthur Bishop, beginning his life’s work as an international leader in vehicle steering innovations.
1958: Black Box Flight Recorder
Dr David Warren in Melbourne invented the first black box flight memory recorder. The unit recorded the pilot’s voice and a few instrument readings.
1958: Round-the-World Airline Service
Qantas inaugurated a pioneering round-the-world airline service with two aircraft taking off from Melbourne.
1960: Plastic Spectacle Lenses
Scientific Optical Laboratories designed the world’s first plastic spectacle lenses which are 60% lighter than glass lenses.
George Kossoff and David Robinson built the first ultrasound scanner at the ultrasonics institute in the Commonwealth Department of Health.
1964: Latex Gloves
The Ansell company had made household gloves since 1925. In 1964 they introduced the disposable latex gloves for use in surgery.
1965: Inflatable Aircraft Escape Slide
Jack Grant of Qantas invented the inflatable aircraft escape slide which can also be used as a raft on water. These slides are now standard safety equipment on all major airlines.
1965: Wiltshire Staysharp Knife
The Wiltshire Staysharp knife was invented with a sheath which sharpens the knife each time it is withdrawn.
1965: Wine Cask
Thomas Angove introduced the wine cask.
1968: Polyvalent Snake Antivenom
A snake antivenom capable of acting against the poison from most Australian snakes was developed by CSIRO.
1969: Australia Shows the First Steps on the Moon
The radio telescope in Parkes, New South Wales, received and relayed to the world the first pictures of the first moon landing.
1970: Microsurgery Pioneered
Professor Earl Owen from Sydney pioneered microsurgery techniques by performing the first microsurgery operation when he rejoined an amputated index finger.
1972: Orbital Internal Combustion Engine
The orbital internal combustion engine was developed by engineer Ralph Sarich of Perth, Western Australia.
Rotary Club members designed a small four-wheeled vehicle, with hand propulsion and steering, to give mobility to disabled and incapacitated children.
1973: Pop Top Can
Sir Ian McLennan of BHP came up with the idea of press-buttons where the button is hinged to the can and does not cause a litter problem.
1973: In-vitro Fertilisation
The world’s first pregnancy using IVF technology was reported from Monash Medical Centre.
1974: Super Sopper
Sydney inventor Gordon Withnall invented this device which soaks up water from wet sportsgrounds.
CSIRO developed partially stabilised zirconia; an extremely tough ceramic with a wide range of industrial applications.
An aircraft approach and landing guidance system using microwaves was successfully tested at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.
1976: Electronic Ignition System
A silicon-chip ignition system for small engines in lawnmowers and chainsaws was developed by the Notarus brothers in Sydney.
Professor Ted Ringwood led a team at the Australian National University to develop synthetic rock to contain high-level nuclear waste with safety.
1979: Bionic Ear
The cochlear implant, designed to help the hearing impaired and profoundly deaf, was invented by Professor Graeme Clark of the University of Melbourne.
1979: Race Cam
A lightweight, fixed camera used in car racing and other sports broadcasts was developed by Australian engineer, Geoff Healey.
1979: Cool Lightweight Wool Fabrics
The technique for spinning lightweight wool was invented at CSIRO.
1981: Bodyguard Power Protector
Gerard Industries developed a power point with an inbuilt electronic circuit that cuts the power if there is a power leakage and virtually eliminates the chance of electric shock.
1983: Footrot Vaccine
CSIRO produced a vaccine against footrot using genetic engineering techniques.
1983: Winged Keel
Australia II won the America’s Cup in part due to the revolutionary winged keel designed by Ben Lexcen.
1984: In-vitro Fertilisation
The first frozen embryo baby was born in Melbourne using a technique developed by Dr Alan Trounsen and Dr Linda Mohr.
1985: World’s Most Efficient Solar Cells
Dr Stuart Wenham and Professor Martin Green from the University of New South Wales produced the world’s first 20% efficient solar cell.
1985: Dynasphere Lightning Protection
A Tasmanian company, Global Lightning Technologies, developed the Dynasphere lightning terminal. The company exports its products to over 30 countries.
The oral vaccine to prevent bronchitis, was developed by Professor Robert Clancy at the University of Newcastle. It reduces attacks of acute bronchitis by up to 90%.
1986: Gene Shears
The discovery of gene shears – molecules used to prevent harmful and unwanted genes in plants and animals – was made by CSIRO scientists, Dr Wayne Gerlach and Dr Jim Haseloff.
1987: Wave Piercing Catamaran
Ship builder Incat Australia Pty Ltd designed a low buoyancy bow which helps the catamaran pierce through waves, resulting in a faster and smoother journey.
1988: Plastic Banknotes
CSIRO and Note Printing Australia developed the world’s first polymer banknote made from tough flexible polypropylene plastics. These notes last longer and are more difficult to counterfeit than paper money.
1988: Biological Pesticides
The world’s first non-chemical biological pesticide was invented at the University of Adelaide.
1990: Reading Machine for the Blind
Milan Hudecek of Melbourne invented the world’s first reading machine for the blind.
1991: Plastic Rod Bone Repair
The technique of using plastic rods in place of metal pins and screws was developed by Dr Michael Ryan and Dr Stephen Ruff at Sydney’s North Shore Hospital.
1991: Biodegradable Marine Degreaser
The world’s first biodegradable marine degreaser, made from naturally-occurring marine oils, was developed by the CSIRO and Beku Environmental Products Ltd.
1992: Multi-focal Contact Lens
The world’s first multi-focal contact lenses were invented by optical research scientist, Stephen Newman of QLD.
1993: Underwater Computer
Bruce Macdonald at the Australian Institute of Marine Science developed the world’s first underwater computer with a multi-button hand-held keypad that mimics a conventional keyboard.
CSIRO developed a new bi–layer fabric consisting of wool and polyester, ideal for sportswear because the fabric allows rapid dissipation of moisture.
CSIRO developed this rabbit–specific virus that resulted in the number of rabbits declining up to 8% in some areas of Australia.
1996: Australian in Space
Dr Andy Thomas completed his first mission in space aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour. In 1998 he spent 141 days aboard the Russian Mir Space Station.
The world’s first anti-influenza drug was developed by the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Monash University and Biota Holdings. In 2000, the drug was approved for release in Australia, Europe and the USA.
1998: Hybrid Toilet
A lightweight, fully–enclosed toilet system which requires no water and minimal maintenance was released for sale.
1998: Skin Polarprobe
Polartechnics Ltd, the Sydney Melanoma Unit and CSIRO developed the Solarscan™, a device to scan the skin and quickly assess sunspots to determine if they are melanomas.
1999: Night and Day Contact Lenses
The Cooperative Research Centre for Eye Research and Technology developed this contact lens made of revolutionary material capable of transmitting six times more oxygen to the eye, allowing extended wear for up to 30 days and nights.
2000: Biodegradable Packaging
The Cooperative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science developed new biodegradable packaging materials based on starch.
How did these benefit the world?
Who owns these innovations now? | <urn:uuid:37d5c1f6-f9a9-400b-a36a-4063301c8d9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ausbuy.com.au/89.html?no_cache=1&tx_macinabanners_pi1%5Bbanneruid%5D=69 | 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 | 0.919059 | 2,845 | 3.125 | 3 |
Recently I made some pretty good headway on the Morey side of the family. Over Thanksgiving I was able to scan some pictures from my great aunt, and I came across one that had a bunch of people that I didn't recognize. Luckily, all their names were written on the back, and they turned out to be from the Morey family, of which I had very little information.
So from left to right in this picture are Nellie Hannah (Morey) McLeod (1866-193X), Susan Amanda (Greene) Morey-Annners (1845-1925), Edward Henry Morey (1870-1935), Charlotte Amanda (Morey) Marles (1879-1949), and Martha Cornelia (Morey) Wisner (1876-1939).
With the info that was on the back I was able to find more references to the Morey children, and put together a pretty solid picture of their lives thru census records. AND I was also able to find some of their marriages including Susan Amanda's marriage to William Nelson Morey. I did not have a date or any info on it, but now I have these 2 marriage index cards that I found on Familysearch.org.
So with this new information I discovered that today is the 147th anniversary of William Nelson Morey and Amanda Susan Greene, married on 15 March 1865 in St. Albans, Vermont. Also in this string of discoveries I found the names of William's parents, John Morey and Betsey Stearns and their marriage in 1835. I also discovered that William and Susan had at least 2 other children that died as children, John F Morey (1867-1974), and Mary E Morey (1877-1882).
On my mother's side I've been able to trace the Koops line pretty far back, at least into the 1600s. Today happens to be the 234th birthday of my 6 Great Grandfather, who was born on 2 March 1778, in the town of Pieze, in Drenthe, Netherlands. Here is the reference to his birth off of Drenlias.nl.
Peize, doopboek (1771-1811; DTB 120), 8 maart 1778, pagina 12
Gedoopt: Koob, geboren op 02-03-1778, zoon van Barelt Koobs en Roelfien Jakobs.
One of the interesting things is that his name is Koob and not Koop, and the same with his father's second name. Without seeing the original document it's hard to know if this is a typo or if the name has evolved over time.
306 years ago, on 1 March 1706, Edward Thurston died in Newport Rhode Island. He is my 10 Great Grandfather, and since he died so long ago the inscription is kinda cool and all olde English like. It says "Here lyeth the body of Edward Thurston who lived 90 years & departed this life ye 28th day of February 1706." | <urn:uuid:2d0fe2e0-c0ea-4855-8f01-7ca5c7a39042> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://broersmafamily.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971324 | 634 | 1.664063 | 2 |
2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. He must always tell the truth.
4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.
10. The Cowboy is a patriot. | <urn:uuid:278f5696-7ff2-4b9d-a437-164ccb6c9ae0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://friendsofthesouthwestmuseum.com/newsite/cowboycreed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970081 | 125 | 2.140625 | 2 |
View all articles in this issue
The Effects of Mood on Task Performance and Task Satisfaction
Download this article for $1.00 (FREE for Members)
by Doreen Cicchetti, Kathleen Moyer, and Jeffrey P. Nicholas* - Muhlenberg College
Categories: Cognitive | Social
This study investigated the influence that mood states have on task performance and task satisfaction. Forty-four undergraduate students underwent either a positive or negative mood induction procedure and then worked on an anagram task. Mood, task satisfaction, and task performance were assessed. Results showed that mood influenced participants’ satisfaction with the task: participants in the positive mood condition reported more satisfaction with the task than participants in the negative mood condition. Mood did not influence performance on the anagram task. The results are discussed in relation to implications for the understanding of job satisfaction and for the measurement of job satisfaction in organizations. | <urn:uuid:ffa6beff-eb80-41a7-b36f-2a78761c0f25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psichi.org/Pubs/Articles/Article_287.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90944 | 183 | 2.21875 | 2 |
My first post here is a reprint of a recent study of wine consumers I have been working on over the past year. Just so you know, I love ALL wine consumers and my research is directed towards the physiological and psychological factors that give us each our personal opinions and points of view. Hope you like it and let the games begin!
How Sweet it is: Wine Industry Owes Sweet Wine Drinkers HUGE Apology!New study shatters myths about wine consumers, uncovers opportunities for wine industry.
Napa, CA, 10/19/10 - A consumer study released today shows that physiology plays a major role in determining wine preferences and that White Zinfandel drinkers are often the most sensitive tasters shattering the myth that about sweet wine consumers. The study was conducted in conjunction with the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi. Tim Hanni, Master of Wine and originator of the study, says,
"We have uncovered a glaring error and misunderstandings by the wine industry that has led to the disenfranchisement of millions of consumers and a significant loss of market share to other beverages."
"My passion is in finding the scientific reasons behind our personal preferences,"said Dr. Utermohlen.
"To date, the industry message to consumers who prefer light, delicate and sweet wines is that they need to become more 'educated' and 'move up' to 'higher quality wines' such as dry wines. Our study demonstrates that physiological differences in human sensory anatomy are the driving force behind our wine choices and that the people with the greatest taste sensitivity may well indeed be sweeter wine drinkers and not the consumers of highly rated less sweet wines. The industry is guilty of alienating a large segment of consumers who frequently opt for other sweet beverages or even stop drinking wine altogether."Many industry professionals see this information as the means to introducing a more personalized approach to wine marketing. According to Dr. Jim Lapsley, co-editor of the highly regarded book Successful Wine Marketing,
"It will require some major changes in attitudes, wine education and the correction of worn-out stereotypes and myths, but this finding offers the wine industry a great opportunity to develop an overlooked but large and accessible market segment and to expand wine consumption."
The Wine Consumer Preferences Survey Summary can be accessed at www.consumerwineawards.com.
For more information on my background and what I do visit www.timhanni.com | <urn:uuid:b0d7fc09-5c27-4e53-bdfa-ad8fbf55b0de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-hanni/wine-industry-owes-sweet_b_772737.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941527 | 491 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Want more info?
(includes a 3-2 BS/MSA option)
Dr. Simon Petravick
The Degrees in Accounting
To prepare our students for satisfying and rewarding careers in accounting, auditing, finance, and other business related fields, Bradley offers both undergraduate and master’s degrees in accounting. Additionally, students with an interest in risk management and corporate governance may obtain a concentration in internal auditing. Since accounting is the language of business, it provides valuable skills for any career path, from attorney to banker to FBI agent.
Upon receipt of a bachelor’s degree, students will be eligible to sit for either the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) or Certified Management Accounting (CMA) exams. Students desiring to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam will usually require 150 credit hours. These credits can be obtained by taking additional undergraduate hours or enrolling in Bradley’s innovative 3:2 program, which allows students to receive both undergraduate and Master of Science in Accounting degrees through one integrated program. Our accounting faculty can help students determine if the 3:2 program or another academic path is best suited for their career goals.
All accounting classes are taught by faculty, not graduate assistants. Every member of our faculty holds at least one accounting certification (CPA, CMA, CIA, CA, or CFE); several have two certifications. Class sizes are small, 15 to 35 students. This gives you the opportunity to know your teachers and classmates.
Bradley is the only private downstate Illinois university that has an accounting program which is accredited by AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). AACSB accreditation means that you have access to the highest quality classes, teachers, and students in the world. Only 170 institutions worldwide hold this accreditation.
The Department of Accounting sponsors two student organizations: the Bradley Accounting Club (BAC) and Beta Alpha Psi (BAP). BAC helps members gain knowledge of specific accounting careers, obtain onsite experience through job shadowing and group visits to companies and foster good relations through social events and networking. BAP is an honorary organization open to juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Each year, these organizations sponsor more than 20 on-campus meetings with accounting professionals as well as several community service projects. Both clubs are student run, providing excellent opportunities for developing and enhancing leadership skills. For example, the members of BAP have recently tutored students taking principles of accounting courses, provided accounting services at Bradley's Relay for Life event, and raised $700 for the Race for the Cure.
Our BAP chapter has received numerous honors. In 2009, our BAP chapter was one of only 14 chapters in the world to earn BAP's Gold Chapter Award. Additionally, in 2010 our BAP chapter won the Business Ethics best practices competition at the BAP Midwest Regional Meeting.
Every organization needs accountants: large, small, public, private. Some of the organizations who employ Bradley’s students as either interns or full-time employees are:
- Big Four and National Public Accounting Firms such as Deloitte & Touche,PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and McGladrey & Pullen.
- Regional and Local Public Accounting Firms such as Baker Tilly, Clifton Gunderson, Porte Brown, and Heinhold-Banwart.
- Fortune Corporations such as Caterpillar, Archer Daniels Midland, State Farm, and John Deere. | <urn:uuid:8dbb407b-9b2f-46e3-8766-505df20f3935> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bradley.edu/admissions/transfer/academic/majors/detail.dot?id=108610 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941236 | 719 | 1.625 | 2 |
In building demolition, geotextile fabrics in combination with steel wire fencing can contain explosive debris.
Geotextiles have been used to protect the fossil hominid footprints of Laetoli in Tanzania from erosion, rain,石笼网-Nails, and tree roots.
Geotextile are permeable fabrics which, when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect, or drain. Typically made from polypropylene or polyester, geotextile fabrics come in three basic forms: woven (looks like mail bag sacking), needle punched (looks like felt),mesh wire, or heat bonded (looks like ironed felt).
Geotextile composites have been introduced and products such as geogrids and meshes have been developed. Overall, these materials are referred to as geosynthetics and each configuration-geonets, geogrids and others-can yield benefits in geotechnical and environmental engineering design.
Erosion control manuals comment on the effectiveness of sloped, stepped shapes in mitigating shoreline erosion damage from storms. Geotextile sand-filled units provide a “soft” armoring solution for upland property protection. Geotextiles are used as matting to stabilize flow in stream channels and swales.
Coir (coconut fiber) geotextiles are a popular solution for erosion control,razor barbed wire, slope stabilization and bioengineering, due to the fabric’s substantial mechanical strength.App. I.E Coir geotextiles last approximately 3 to 5 years depending on the fabric weight. The product degrades into humus, enriching the soil.
Geotextile and related products have many applications and currently support many civil engineering applications including roads, airfields, railroads, embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs,砖带电焊网-Razor Wire, canals,电焊石笼网卷-Black Wire Cloth, dams, bank protection, coastal engineering and construction site silt fences. Usually geotextiles are placed at the tension surface to strengthen the soil. Geotextiles are also used for sand dune armoring to protect upland coastal property from storm surge,钢格板, wave action and flooding. A large sand-filled container (SFC) within the dune system prevents storm erosion from proceeding beyond the SFC. Using a sloped unit rather than a single tube eliminates damaging scour.
Geotextiles can improve soil strength at a lower cost than conventional soil nailing. In addition, geotextiles allow planting on steep slopes, further securing the slope. | <urn:uuid:d8182c0b-6e50-4571-972b-9b08f0648f56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hescobastion.tk/blog/index.php/tag/wire/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907054 | 580 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Psychiatric Times - Category 1 Credit (Expired)
|This article was originally presented as an independent educational activity under the direction of CME LLC. The ability to receive CME credits has expired. The article is now presented here for your reference. |
After reading this article, you will be familiar with:
• The factors that contribute to increase suicide risk as well as those that are protective.
• The importance of well-documented suicide risk assessments.
• Evidence-based methodology for suicide risk assessment.
Who will benefit from reading this article?
Psychiatrists, neurologists, primary care physicians, geriatricians, nurse practitioners, and other health care professionals. Continuing medical education credit is available for most specialists. To determine whether this article meets the continuing education requirements of your specialty, please contact your state licensing board.
Suicide risk assessment is a core competency that all psychiatrists must have.1 A competent suicide assessment identifies modifiable and treatable protective factors that inform patient treatment and safety management.2 Psychiatrists, unlike other medical specialists, do not often experience patient deaths, except by suicide. Patient suicide is an occupational hazard. A clinical axiom holds that there are 2 kinds of psychiatrists: those who have had patients commit suicide—and those who will.
The psychiatrist frequently assesses suicidal patients who present with life-threatening emergencies. The psychiatrist, unlike other physicians, does not have laboratory tests and sophisticated diagnostic instruments to evaluate patients at risk for suicide. The psychiatrist’s diagnostic instrument is competent suicide risk assessment.
Substandard suicide risk assessments are the second most common root cause of suicide, after depression, and contribute to more than 85% of inpatient suicides.3 No single suicide risk assessment method has been empirically tested for reliability and validity.
Well-documented suicide risk assessments are a core measure of quality of care.2 Currently, standard practice encompasses a range of reasoned clinical approaches to suicide risk assessment. Using evidence-based psychiatry is best practice. It is not, however, a standard-of-care requirement for suicide risk assessment.
Various factors including tradition, caprice, defensiveness, and preconceptions can lead to the uncritical acceptance and perpetuation of substandard, suicide risk assessments. Mental health professionals must do more than merely ask patients if they are suicidal and then record, “No SI, HI, or CFS (no suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, contracts for safety).” Suicide assessment necessitates identifying, ranking, and integrating multiple risk and protective factors into an overall clinical judgment of risk.
Time, money, inadequate training, and litigation fears can combine to negatively influence adequate suicide risk assessment and documentation. The fear of becoming embroiled in a malpractice suit if a patient attempts or commits suicide can engender inappropriate defensive practices. Countertransference from an anxiety-provoking, suicidal patient can result in inadequate risk assessment and treatment.4 In addition, many psychiatrists have not been trained to do adequate suicide risk assessments.
It is generally assumed that clinicians will somehow acquire this knowledge in the course of clinical practice. Just as the internist must be trained to assess the emergency cardiac patient, the psychiatrist must acquire knowledge necessary to competently evaluate the suicidal patient. The core competence necessary to perform suicide risk assessments is difficult to obtain by unaided clinical experience alone.
No psychological tests exist that can predict suicide.5 Although self-assessment instruments generally cannot be relied on because guarded or deceptive suicidal patients may not answer honestly, some patients may reveal more about suicide risk on self-assessment than at the initial clinical interview.5 Assessment forms and checklists, however, often omit evidence-based general and important individual suicide risk factors. Some checklists contain items that are not recognized risk factors for suicide. The “know your patient imperative” is absent. Checking off forms robotically is not credible risk assessment.
An extensive psychiatric literature exists on suicide but relatively little exists on the topic of suicide risk assessment. The American Psychiatric Association’s “Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors” is an excellent source for the conduct of suicide risk assessment.6 Learning how to perform competent suicide risk assessments must begin during psychiatric residency. Lectures, tutorials, and especially case conferences that monitor patients for suicide risk during their course of treatment are essential. Assessment is a process, not an event.
Sackett and colleagues7 defined evidence-based medicine as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.”
The preferred methods of evidence-based psychiatry described by Gray8 for determining harm (risk) are cohort and case-control studies. Online evidence-based psychiatric information sources include the National Electronic Library for Mental Health (comprehensive sources), Evidence-Based Mental Health (structured abstracts), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (systematic reviews), and PubMed (original articles).
Table 1 provides examples of evidence-based suicide risk factors, which are arranged according to the hierarchy of supporting evidence. The hierarchy of evidences for studies of harm (risk) include systematic reviews (meta-analyses), the highest level of evidence, followed by cohort studies (prospective or retrospective), and case control studies (retrospective).8 In a retrospective cohort study, a historical cohort is identified through existing records for outcomes of interest at the beginning of the study. Dependence on existing records, however, raises questions of data quality.8 The basis for non–evidence-based suicide risk factors comes from case reports, case series, clinical opinion, and clinical consensus. Clinical opinion and consensus are important in suicide risk assessment, if buttressed by evidence-based studies. | <urn:uuid:625f4f5b-7465-4e8a-bc52-983b6dcc3023> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/forensic-psych/content/article/10168/1364880 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9194 | 1,172 | 2.4375 | 2 |
A suicide bombing at Russia's Domodedovo Airport in Moscow's claimed the lives of 35 people, with 130 more injured. This graphic video from inside the international terminal where the blast occurred shows smoke, fire, and piles of wounded people.
(Warning: both videos include images of wounded individuals)
The first video purports to be from the inside of the international arrivals terminal where the bombing occurred just moments after the explosion. This second video shows medical teams removing injured passengers from inside the terminal. This isn't the first attack on the airport as two suicide bombers boarded separate planes setting off from Domodedovo Airport in 2004, killing 90 people on board the two flights when they triggered their vests. | <urn:uuid:2d87c077-a21e-4dfe-8879-fb5083f0073f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jalopnik.com/5741831/video-from-moscow-airport-bombing?tag=planelopnik | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939792 | 141 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The issue of bullying
There is no doubt that in the past year the issue of bullying has made front-page news. After so many years of it going on it took some beautiful young teenagers to commit the act of suicide to bring to light this issue.
For me it is an issue that hits home because I know far too well what it is like to be called names. In my day, I didn’t quite understand what those names meant except for the fact that they stood for something bad. Today with so much information out there and of ways to get the information out there that teenagers have a better understanding of what those names mean, but it doesn’t make it any better to be called them.
Having the opportunity this past year to visit our local GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance) at our Sonoma Valley High School, I was touched by how open these kids were being. It truly made me reflect on my days in school and how much I wish I had a club like the GSA to belong to.
After visiting the high school students, I decided to set up a meeting with Louann Carlomagno, our amazingly wonderful superintendent of schools here in Sonoma Valley. There were two reasons for my meeting. The first was to find out what our schools were doing to combat the issue of bullying and what were the schools plan for teaching LGBT history in 2012, when the FAIR Education Act goes into effect. For those that don’t know, Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that mandates that LGBT contributions to society be included in the state’s history and social studies lessons. It is hoped that the FAIR Education Act will help to alleviate the loneliness of the LGBT students and in doing so combat anti-LGBT bullying, thus creating a better climate for all students.
I am happy to report that our school system here is doing a lot to combat this issue. In my meeting with Louann, I learned that aside from having a GSA, the schools also have Safe School Ambassadors in place. Their mission is to collaborate with schools and communities and to engage, equip and empower young people to become change agents and peacemakers in their own schools.
I got to witness firsthand a session this past week at Adele Harrison School when a representative from Community Matters gave a presentation to sixth graders on the topic of bullying. When asked to stand up if they had ever been bullied or have bullied another classmate everyone in the room stood up. I was amazed. I think it was pretty brave of these kids to stand up in front of one another.
I am very thankful to Louann Carlomagno and the staff at Adele Harrison for letting me sits in on this session. I hope that I can be a part of future sessions at our schools so that we can make our schools a safer place for children and the world a better place in which to live so we don’t have to read about another young life cut short.
Gary Saperstein is a transplanted New Yorker, living and thriving in Wine Country. Working in the restaurant business and focusing on hospitality for most of his “so called” adult life he has now started “Out In The Vineyard,” a Wine Country tour and event company marketing the LGBT community. It is his goal to make Wine Country a destination for his community with a chance of getting a date along the way. | <urn:uuid:593dbe4a-e340-46cf-b3ab-44682749c665> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sonomanews.com/News-2011/The-issue-of-bullying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979233 | 699 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Firstly I wish to excuse my English...this is responsible for the misunderstanding!
What I meant by "For example, we know that at least 12% of English is from Greek,( 35% according to some linguists), and we dont have any evidence for most of that, but does that mean it is not a fact?"
Even if we dont have evidence for how some Greek words reached the english language, it doesnt change the fact that indeed they came from Greek, mainly because they were used in Greek long before they reached english (or any other language).
Now, about 'Harrys', I didnt claim in any of my previous posts that the English 'Harry
' came from Greek 'Harrys'. All I said is that 'Harry
' is indeed closer to Greek 'Harrys' than to Norman
'Henry'...and isn't that a fact???
PS: I had the precious help of an English friend to write this, whose father's name coincidently is Harry
and he wished his name came from Greek because in Greek it means 'attractive'! :) | <urn:uuid:ccd26fc6-ebd1-4b6d-9958-b0cd69dcea95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/340292 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980911 | 222 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Fantasy author and iconic dreamer Ray Bradbury, who died Tuesday evening at age 91, didn’t just write influential novels, he also had a strong legacy in television that dates back to the 1950s. In fact, the small screen’s pace and payoff seemed better suited to Bradbury’s rhythms than the big screen, which came again and again to him with promises of projects that never got off the ground.
“They say they are going to make movies and then the calls just stop, there’s silence, nothingness,” the irascible author said in 2009 when asked about the rumors that Zack Snyder (director of next year’s “Man of Steel”) would be turning “The Illustrated Man” into a new feature film. “This is nothing new when it comes to the Hollywood films.”
There were feature films of course — François Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451″ and Disney’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” spring to mind — but it was on television where an adaptation of his work reached its widest audience: “The Martian Chronicles,” which many critics viewed as an elegant and surreal three-part version of Bradbury’s red planet epic.
Back in early 1980, Bradbury was less than thrilled by the final product (“Just boring,” was his succinct appraisal), but the NBC milestone moment was a powerful memory for then-young viewers such as Damon Lindelof, who would grow up to be co-creator of “Lost” and one of the screenwriters for the new sci-fi film “Prometheus.”
“I remember watching the miniseries as a kid with my dad,” Lindelof said Wednesday, ”and having intense nightmares afterwards that he had been destroyed and replaced by one of those very Martians.”
As the years passed Lindelof came to know the face, voice and work of the writer who, like Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling, had the charisma to step in front of the camera and address his audience directly.
“I remember Ray’s weekly trip up the elevator in ‘The Ray Bradbury Theater’ and always wondered if he actually lived in that house filled with endless stacks of books,” Lindelof said. “Most of all, I remember how he treated genre as literature and used it as a way to comment on the world we’re living in and somehow made it feel relatable instead of preachy.”
Early anthology series such as “Lights Out,” “Suspense” and “Out There” presented adaptations of his short stories. Over the years, his quirky, scary and sometimes funny short stories appeared on anthology series, most notably “Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby is a Friend of Mine,” which aired in 1982 on PBS’ “American Playhouse” series.
Bradbury also wrote for several series, most notably “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” — his first outing for that series was in 1956 when he supplied the story and teleplay for something wicked called “Shopping for Death” — and he also lent his talents to Serling’s landmark “The Twilight Zone,” penning the 1962 episode “I Sing the Body Electric,” about a recent widower who orders an android grandmother to help him with his three children. In 1982, he retooled that into the TV movie “The Electric Grandmother” with Maureen Stapleton.
Bradbury’s view of ”Martian Chronicles” — that it was dry and barren, just like Mars — probably left him wishing for more control over the television launchpad. He got that with his anthology series “The Ray Bradbury Theater.”
“The Ray Bradbury Theater” began on HBO in 1985 and continued on USA in 1988, where it ran for four more seasons. Not only did he host the series, he had writing credit on a staggering 58 episodes, many of which were based on his short stories, such as “A Sound of Thunder.”
The door to Bradbury’s imagination always swung free on its hinges — and the key to that door was persistence in his craft. He wrote every day, first thing, although the process changed through the years. In an interview two years ago with The Times, Bradbury playfully noted that the most amazing dreams were making things easier. “I write screenplays in the middle of the night,” he said. And every morning, he would call his daughter in Arizona and dictate the latest dispatch from the Land of Nod.
– Susan King and Geoff Boucher
RECENT AND RELATED | <urn:uuid:5e1c1a8a-6be9-403c-a6c0-e662ff765b00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tv/ray-bradburys-big-ideas-found-a-home-on-small-screen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978602 | 1,014 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Front Page Titles (by Subject) CHAPTER I.: ON EVIDENCE IN GENERAL. - The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol. 6
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CHAPTER I.: ON EVIDENCE IN GENERAL. - Jeremy Bentham, The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol. 6
The Works of Jeremy Bentham, published under the Superintendence of his Executor, John Bowring (Edinburgh: William Tait, 1838-1843). 11 vols. Vol. 6.
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ON EVIDENCE IN GENERAL.
Evidence is a word of relation: it is of the number of those which in their signification involve, each of them, a necessary reference to the import expressed by some other; which other must be brought to view at the same time with it, or the import cannot be understood.
By the term evidence, considered according to the most extended application that is ever given to it, may be, and seems in general to be, understood, any matter of fact, the effect, tendency, or design of which, when presented to the mind, is to produce a persuasion concerning the existence of some other matter of fact—a persuasion either affirmative or disaffirmative of its existence.*
Of the two facts thus connected with each other, the latter may, for the purpose of expressing the place it bears in its relation to the other, be distinguished by the appellation of the principal fact, or matter of fact: the other, by that of the evidentiary fact, or matter of fact.†
Taking the word in this sense, questions of evidence are continually presenting themselves to every human being, every day, and almost every waking hour, of his life.
Domestic management turns upon evidence. Whether the leg of mutton now on the spit be roasted enough, is a question of evidence; a question of which the cook is judge. The meat is done enough; the meat is not done enough: these opposite facts, the one positive, the other negative, are the principal facts—the facts sought: evidentiary facts, the present state of the fire, the time that has elapsed since the putting down of the meat, the state of the fire at different points during that length of time, the appearance of the meat, together with other points perhaps out of number, the development of which might occupy pages upon pages, but which the cook decides upon in the cook’s way, as if by instinct; deciding upon evidence, as Monsieur Jourdan talked prose, without having ever heard of any such word, perhaps, in the whole course of her life.
The impression, or something like an impression, I see in the grass—the marks of twisting, bending, breakage, I think I see in the leaves and branches of the shrubs—the smell that seems to present itself to my nostrils—do they afford sufficient evidence that the deer, that the enemy, I am in chase of, have passed this way? Not polished only, but even the most savage men—not human kind only, but even the brute creation, have their rules—I will not say, as Montesquieu would have said, their laws—of Evidence.‡
If all practice, much more must those comparatively narrow branches of it, which are comprehended under any such names as those of art and science, be grounded upon evidence.
Questions in natural philosophy, questions in natural history, questions in technology in all its branches, questions in medicine, are all questions of evidence. When we use the words observation, experience, and experiment, what we mean is, facts observed, or supposed to be observed, by ourselves or others, either as they arise spontaneously, or after the bodies in question have been put, for the purpose, into a certain situation.
Questions even in mathematics are questions of evidence. The facts, the evidentiary facts, are feigned; but the question concerning the inference to be drawn in each instance, from the feigned existence of the evidentiary facts, to the existence of the facts sought—the question whether, in the way of analogy, the supposed evidentiary facts afford a sufficient ground for being persuaded of the corresponding existence of the principal facts—is not the less a question of evidence. The matter of fact, which, presented to the mind in one point of view, is called by this one name, is it the same matter of fact which, when presented in another point of view, is called by this other name? Do two and two make four? and for example, the two apples on the right-hand side of the table, added to the two apples on the left-hand side of the same table, are they the same apples, and the same number of apples, that constitute all the apples now lying before me upon the table? In this question of identity—in this question of nomenclature disguised under scientific forms, we see a question of evidence.*
The first question in natural religion is no more than a question of evidence. From the several facts that have come under my senses relative to the several beings that have come under my senses, have I or have I not sufficient ground to be persuaded of the existence of a being distinct from all those beings—a being whose agency is the cause of the existence of all these, but whose separate existence has never at any time, by any perceptible impressions, presented itself, as that of other beings has done, to the cognizance of the senses?
Evidence is, in every case, a means to an end—a particular branch or article of knowledge, considered in respect of its subserviency towards a course of action in which a man is called upon to engage, in the pursuit of some particular object or end in view.
In the case of a branch of science—physical science—cultivated by a private individual, that object may be the producing some physical effect, whether of a customary or of a new complexion; or perhaps nothing more than the general advancement of the science—the making an addition to the mass of knowledge, applicable in common to the production of useful effects, customarily produced, or newly discovered, as it may happen.
On this ground, a great part of the business of science in general may be resolved into a research after evidence. The usefulness of it, with reference to the interests of mankind in general, will be in proportion to that of the department of science to which it belongs, and to the place it occupies in that department.
When the conduct to which the evidence in question is subservient—the conduct for the guidance of which the facts in question, and the knowledge obtainable in relation to them, are searched after—when the conduct thus at stake is the conduct of government as such—of men occupied, on the occasion in question, in the exercise of the powers of government,—the importance of the evidence, and of the conduct pursued in relation to it, take a proportionate rise.
In the map of science, the department of judicial evidence remains to this hour a perfect blank. Power has hitherto kept it in a state of wilderness: reason has never visited it.
In the few broken hints which, in the form of principles, may be picked up here and there in the books of practice, little more relevant and useful information is to be found, than would be obtainable by natural philosophy from the logicians of the schools.
The present work is the result of an attempt to fill up this blank, and to fill it up with some approach towards completeness. Not the minutest corner has been left unexplored: the dark spots have not been turned aside from, but looked out for.
Among the subjects here treated of are several concerning which not any the slightest hint is to be found in any of the books of practice.
Should this endeavour be found successful, it may be regarded as a circumstance not disadvantageous to the science, that the survey of the subject happened to be postponed to so mature a period in the history of the human understanding. So much the less rubbish to clear away: so much the less prejudice to contend with.
Should it happen to this work to have readers, by far the greater part of the number will be composed of those for whose use it was not intended—those to whom, were it not for the predilection produced by professional interest in favour of the best customer, Injustice, and her handmaid Falsehood,—justice and injustice, truth and falsehood, would be objects of indifference.
The class of men for whose use it is really designed, is a class composed as yet of those, among whom a personal or other private interest, hostile to that of the public, will prevent it, if not from finding readers, from finding other than unwilling and hostile readers—readers whose object in reading the work will be, to consider by what means, with the fairest prospect of success, the work and the workman may be endeavoured to be crushed.
The species of reader for whose use it was really designed, and whose thanks will not be wanting to the author’s ashes, is the legislator; the species of legislator who as yet remains to be formed—the legislator who neither is under the dominion of an interest hostile to that of the public, nor is in league with those who are.
[* ]In the word evidence, together with its conjugates, to evidence, evidencing, evidenced, and evidentiary, the English language possesses an instrument of discourse peculiar to itself: at least as compared with the Latin and French languages. In those languages the stock of words applicable to this purpose is confined to the Latin verb probare and its conjugates: a cluster of words with which the English language is provided, in addition to those which, as just observed, are peculiar to itself.
[† ]When the persuasion, if any, which is thus produced, is complete, and at its highest point, the principal fact may, in a more expressive way, be termed the fact proved: the evidentiary, the probative fact. But of this pair of appellatives, the range occupying but a point in the scale, the use will, comparatively speaking, not be frequent.
[‡ ]Esprit de Lois, L. I. ch. 1.
[* ]The difference, in respect of evidence, between questions of mathematics and questions of purely experimental science—of chemistry, for example—is merely this: that the evidence applicable to the former, is that description of evidence which is founded upon general reasoning; while the evidence applicable to the latter, is evidence of that description which is derived immediately from matters of fact, presenting themselves to our senses. To point out the peculiar properties of these two kinds of evidence, and to distinguish them from one another, belongs rather to a treatise on logic than to a work like the present; which, considering evidence almost exclusively in regard to its connexion with judicature, excludes all general speculations which have no immediate bearing upon that subject.—Editor. | <urn:uuid:99ea891f-4dfd-4081-a2e8-883b93990eb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1923&chapter=116009&layout=html&Itemid=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958659 | 2,385 | 1.96875 | 2 |