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Shots - Health Blog
Wed February 29, 2012
The High Price Of Caring For A Loved One With Alzheimer's
As a kid, Joy Johnston was Daddy's little girl.
Her father, Patrick, worked in the trucking trade, took care of his family and loved singing to his daughter.
When Joy got older, she moved to Atlanta for work and her parents retired to New Mexico. When she flew in for a visit in 2008, she noticed her father was changing. He would pay for gas but not fill up the tank. He would ask his wife, Jane, "Where's Jane?"
Patrick, like more than 5 million other Americans, had Alzheimer's disease. "It can be heartbreaking at times," Joy tells Shots about caring for her father. "You have to relearn your relationship with your loved one."
Caring for a family member with the personality-draining disease can take a hefty financial and emotional toll. Nearly 15 million people fall into the role of unpaid caregiver for those sick with dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Add it all up, and it comes to about 17 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $202 billion in 2010 alone.
So to help with the staggering cost of care, the Obama Administration has included $26 million in the proposed 2013 budget. That money will go to education, outreach and support for families affected by the disease.
"Caregivers are often in a situation where their feelings and what they have to do are in conflict," Dr. Peter Rabins tells Shots. "That's very hard for most of us because we've related with people that we love in a certain way. The disease forces a change in that relationship." Rabins, the director of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, says that the medical bills can pile up fairly quickly.
For the Johnstons, Jane cared for Patrick at home while Joy supported them from Atlanta. She flew in to help her parents as often as she could afford. After a trip to the hospital for a kidney stone, Patrick's physical health deteriorated so severely that he could no longer live at home. Jane and Joy had to fork over $4,200 a month for a semi-private room in a nursing home for help.
"That's a tremendous financial challenge for many families." Rabins says. Not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on medication, treatment, therapy, clothing, and other things that so many caregivers have to supply besides room and board.
The Johnstons caught a lucky break. Jane bought a lottery ticket on her wedding anniversary, just as she and Patrick had one for years. She won $100,000. But after taxes and medical expenses, the winnings dwindled.
Money was only one problem. The emotional costs start growing once dementia is diagnosed. Family members often begin grieving a death of someone who is still physically present but mentally disappearing. "Those feelings of loss can become quite chronic," Rabins says.
For many caregivers, the constant dependency of an agitated, confused and sometimes wandering loved one can be stressful. The job is so time-consuming that caregivers can become isolated from other family members and friends. Those social outlets are crucial for caregivers to maintain their own mental health, Rabins says.
That's where some of the newly proposed money could help. Rabins says funds could first go to launching more websites with accurate information and hotlines open for specific questions from caregivers. Also, providing the money to hire a caregiver for a day would allow families to take a break and recharge.
The changes are coming too late for Joy and her family. Patrick died Dec. 20, 2011. They're still grieving.
As she looks back, she says she would have welcomed an occasional respite, saying that even four hours off to see a movie could have made a big difference.
In addition to financial aid for medical costs, she says that using the money to educate people about what's to come and what to expect should be high on the list. Discussions about living wills and power of attorney need to happen while someone is still lucid, she says.
If there's one thing Joy could change about how she dealt with her dad, she says she would have spent more time with him and not been put off by his behavior. "I would have joined him more on his journey where he was at," she says. "It's important to put aside who they were before and learn to love the person that they are now." | <urn:uuid:2e9a5afb-5406-46d4-8362-7e0752cc8007> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wamc.org/post/high-price-caring-loved-one-alzheimers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981764 | 1,003 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Select Other Language
Family child care providers offer care for children in the provider's home. Although requirements vary from state to state, most states require family child care providers be regulated if they care for more than four children. Many states have a voluntary regulation process for providers caring for four or fewer children.
All states set minimum health, safety and nutrition standards for providers. Most states require family child care providers to have a criminal records check and/or child abuse and neglect clearance. Many states require providers to have pre-service and/or on-going training. Most states inspect family child care homes annually or on a random sample basis.
Parents choose family child care because they want to keep their children in a home-like environment. They prefer to relate to a single caregiver and believe that children are healthier, happier and more secure in smaller groups.
Some parents like having all their children in the same group, or trust what they learned about the provider from friends. Sometimes they choose family child care because they find it closer to home, less expensive or more flexible. | <urn:uuid:69674e53-7c87-4e6a-9fcc-6646b764f45d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://childcareaware.org/parents-and-guardians/child-care-101/types-of-care/family-child-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953306 | 216 | 2.40625 | 2 |
SHELBVYVILLE — The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is changing procedures that are used to detect signs that a trainer has applied painful chemicals to the horses’ legs in a banned practice known as soring.
The show in Shelbyville is considered the biggest show for Tennessee walking horses, a breed that is judged in competitions for its high-stepping gait. But soring, banned by the federal Horse Protection Act, uses chemicals and other devices that painfully induce the horses to step higher.
In addition to a physical inspection by USDA inspectors to look for signs of abuse, each horse entered in the Celebration will be swabbed for chemicals that harm the horse or mask soring.
The show’s board of directors on Monday announced in a news release that for the first time, it will make the results of those chemical tests public and it will result in trainers immediately losing their trophies and prize money if caught abusing horses.
While in the past the results of such chemical testing could be delayed, the show’s board of directors decided to pay for expedited results so that they will be available during the event that begins Wednesday and runs through Sept. 1.
“The Celebration is the premier Tennessee walking horse event in the world, so it is only fitting that we lead the way in reforming the industry so that all horses are treated humanely and trained in a safe environment,” said Doyle Meadows, CEO of the Celebration.
The industry has long struggled to rid itself of allegations of abuse, and this year the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video taken at a walking horse trainer’s barn of horses being beaten and treated with chemicals to create the “big lick” gait that wins prizes and awards at shows across the country.
In a federal case stemming from the video, horse trainer Jackie McConnell of Collierville was indicted earlier this year and pleaded guilty to violating the Horse Protection Act. He awaits sentencing.
The USDA implemented a new rule this summer mandating stiffer penalties for soring and other related violations, and other walking horse groups, including the Walking Horse Trainers’ Association, have also started new testing and penalties this year. | <urn:uuid:ecd5fceb-b7ae-4bd6-b440-1a1bbe4db4c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://columbiadailyherald.com/sections/news/state/show-changes-testing-detect-horse-abuse.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948487 | 448 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Career Exploration Program
The Council launched the Career Exploration Program (CEP) in Fall 2008 to broaden the career horizons of disadvantaged girls attending public middle schools in New York City.
CEP is designed as a progressive, three-year program that builds participating schools’ capacities to offer an enhanced academic experience for girls.
CEP instruction is delivered to girls during the school day in girls-only classes for 32 weeks during the school year. In addition to classroom instruction, the program also assists participants with the high school enrollment process.
According to an evaluation conducted by Metis Associates, our short-term outcomes include: improved attendance and academic performance, increased self-esteem, and awareness of healthy lifestyle choices vs. risky behaviors.
Long-term outcomes will include: increase in high school graduation rates, college enrollment and completion rates; and increase of employment in well-paying jobs with potential growth.
Participating Middle Schools:
- JHS 22 Jordan L. Mott
- IS 129 Twin Parks
- South Bronx Academy for Applied Media Arts
- JHS 131 Albert Einstein
- Leadership and Journalism JHS 318
Who Our Program Serves
We served 354 girls in 2008-2009; served 720 sixth- and seventh-grade girls in 2009-2010, and expanded to reach more than 1,100 girls in the 2010-2011 school year. During the 2011-2012 cycle we served close to 1,400 girls, which included our first 9th-grade alumnae class. In 2012-13 we will serve over 1,500 girls, including an alumnae class of more than 400 girls.
Approximately 92% of the students from our participating schools are living at or below the poverty line. | <urn:uuid:0938a669-21c1-4405-b08c-9d25a69426c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.girlscoutsnyc.org/girls/career-exploration-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948521 | 351 | 2 | 2 |
“In this timely, pointed study, Glain challenges the efficacy and wisdom of continuing an enormous, costly U.S. defense buildup abroad in the face of the flimsiest excuse for an enemy and where statesmanship would better be served. A work of smoldering focus and marshaled evidence that just might have found its publishing moment.” — Kirkus Reviews
STATE vs. DEFENSE
The Battle to Define America’s Empire
By Stephen Glain
As of 2010, the Pentagon acknowledged the concentration of 190,000 troops and 115,000 civilian employees inside 909 military facilities in 46 countries and territories. The price of America’s military base network overseas, along with the expense of its national security state at home, is enormous. Over $1 trillion—equal to nearly 8 percent of GDP and more than 20 percent of the federal budget—is spent annually (5 times the combined annual security budget of China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and North Korea). Quietly, gradually—and inevitably, given the weight of its colossal budget and imperial writ—the Pentagon has all but eclipsed the State Department as the center of U.S. foreign policy.
For most of the twentieth century, the sword has led before the olive branch in the shaping of U.S. relations abroad. In STATE vs. DEFENSE: The Battle to Define America’s Empire (Crown Trade; August 2, 2011), veteran journalist Stephen Glain shows how America has managed its imperium and explores the constant tension between the diplomats at State and the warriors at Defense. A masterful account of how 60 years of American militarism created the Cold War, fanned decades of unnecessary conflict, helped fuel Islamist terror, and threatens to bankrupt the country, STATE vs. DEFENSE is the first book to provide a historical narrative about how and why American foreign policy became militarized.
Glain shines a light on the corruption of George Kennan’s containment doctrine into a mandate for endless war and the resulting mismatch between America’s diplomatic and military resources. He dispels the notion that the Pentagon’s policy-making primacy is a legacy of the Bush administration and it’s War on Terror; rather, Glain identifies landmark events when successive American presidents, largely out of political imperative, chose military solutions to what were in fact diplomatic challenges, if not opportunities, including:
* Harry Truman’s decision to maintain Washington’s monopoly on atomic weapons despite opposition from his Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, who warned that not internationalizing the bomb would lead to “a desperate arms race.”
* The U.S. decision in 1950 to isolate Mao Zedong despite his appeals for entente via State Department China experts, a rebuff that led to expanded wars in Korea and Vietnam.
* A series of CIA-engineered coups under Dwight Eisenhower, such as the putsch against Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, despite warnings from diplomats and intelligence agents that toppling the freely elected leader would result in blowback.
* Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 decision to militarize the U.S. role in Vietnam in response to charges from the political right that he was appeasing the Sino-Soviet bloc, which by then had ceased to exist.
* The provocative Carter Doctrine, unveiled in retaliation for a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that was wrongfully interpreted as a move on Persian Gulf oil supplies.
* The Reagan military buildup, including the deployment in Europe of intermediate-range missiles which, together with unusually aggressive U.S. military maneuvers, nearly precipitated a nuclear war in 1983.
* The demand by Congress in 1988 that the Pentagon lead the “war on drugs” in violation of posse comitatus, the legal principle that restricts the military’s involvement in law enforcement. Today, such peacetime missions, referred to by the defense establishment as “stability operations,” are the Pentagon’s stock-in-trade.
* The Bush administration’s militarized response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and its steam-rolling of Secretary of State Colin Powell in the run-up to the Iraq war; the “Building Global Partnerships Act of 2007,” which allows the Pentagon to directly allocate funds among foreign governments to modernize not only their militaries but other “security forces;” the growing frequency with which U.S. military teams conduct operations in foreign countries without the concurrence, and sometimes knowledge, of U.S. ambassadors.
The founding fathers feared nothing more than the corrosive properties of a standing army. Even Alexander Hamilton, who for his imperial ambition could be regarded as America’s first militarist, warned against a permanent military class. Thankfully, in faith with the founders’ vision, the military has kept to the barracks, and there is no popular desire for generals to assume a dominant role in the making of security polity, or for the lifting of constraints on legislators to make it easier for them to declare war. Despite this, U.S. relations with the world, and increasingly America’s security policy at home, have become thoroughly and all but irreparably militarized.
In STATE vs. DEFENSE, using declassified Soviet archives, Glain shows how U.S. security experts inflated Soviet military capacity throughout the Cold War (Not only did the Soviets reject a nuclear first strike policy, they feared that public comments from the Reagan White House about “winning” a nuclear war was a prelude to a pre-emptive U.S. attack.). The book also pays special attention to the significance of America’s far-flung regional commands, legacies of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which has empowered combatant commanders at the expense of Washington’s diplomatic corps; and, it examines the Defense Department’s proprietary authority over foreign military aid that violates the spirit, if not the letter of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which concentrated responsibility for such programs within the State Department.
Finally, Glain considers whether the militarization of U.S. foreign policy can be reversed at a time when some form of confrontation between the U.S. and China appears increasingly likely. “Already,” Glain writes, “the two countries are skirmishing in disputed waters off the Chinese coast. Should another Gulf of Tonkin incident erupt, would a U.S. president be able to resist the centripetal forces of militarization, which have so deeply intensified over the last eight years?”
STEPHEN GLAIN has been a journalist for twenty years. He spent four years in Hong Kong writing for the local South China Morning Post before joining the Wall Street Journal in 1991 with stints in Tokyo, Seoul, and then Tel Aviv and Amman. His articles on U.S. foreign policy, East Asia, and the Arab world have appeared in The New Republic, The Atlantic, The Nation, the Financial Times, Gourmet, Smithsonian, Newsweek, The National, and The Progressive and elsewhere. Glain has appeared on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate, PRI’s The World, CSPAN and CNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews among others. He is based in Washington D.C.
State vs. Defense | Stephen Glain
On-sale: August 2, 2011 | Hardcover | 496 pages
ISBN: 978-0-307-40841-9 | Price: $26.00
Also available as an eBook
Publicity Contact: Dennelle Catlett, 212-782-9486 / email@example.com | <urn:uuid:1bd3bbb5-2f9b-4334-bc23-a5da2e67d791> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crownpublishing.com/tag/military/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936665 | 1,583 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Mad Cow Tests Negative
Two confirmatory laboratory tests on an animal suspected of having mad cow disease (BSE) came back negative, the USDA reported last week.
"The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, IA, determined that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on Nov. 18 has tested negative for BSE upon confirmatory testing,” the USDA said in a news release.
“NVSL used the immunohistochemistry (IHC) test, an internationally-recognized gold standard test for BSE, and received a negative result on Nov. 22,” the release said. “Because the Nov. 18 screening test results were reactive in both the first and second screens, NVSL scientists made the recommendation to run the IHC test a second time. On Nov. 23 they reported the second IHC test was negative.”
The news should be supportive for Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures on Wednesday, but the market has already gained back much of the ground it lost last Thursday after the “inconclusive” screening test results were reported.
Live cattle futures rallied sharply last week after talk that the BSE tests were negative reached the trading floor just before the market opened. The circumstances may warrant an investigation into whether information was improperly leaked to the market.
Confirmation of the positive test may also take pressure of the corn futures market, which has been concerned about feed demand.
Because the BSE tests were negative, USDA will not likely release any details about the case, such as where the animal was discovered or how old it was.
Editors note: Richard Brock, The Corn and Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.
To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at www.brockreport.com. | <urn:uuid:f0705e38-d900-44b8-8ca4-37828d4616d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/print/brock-online-notes-199 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949811 | 387 | 1.898438 | 2 |
About the project
Past developments in the domain of modern biotechnology, such as for example the fate of GM food in Europe, have shown that the consideration of public concerns is crucial for sustainable technology development.
Such concerns are likely not only to be based on sound science understandings of risks and utilities but, and increasingly so, to involve ethical issues and general ideas about 'how we want to live'. This is especially likely with sensitive technologies in the life sciences such as embryonic stem cell research, synthetic biology or human-animal chimeras, to name but a few.
The purpose of the STEPE project is to investigate these broader public concerns – which we conceptualise as 'public ethics'. It is our aim to stimulate new, empirically grounded, thinking on public ethics as a contribution to wider debates and policy making on responsible technological innovation.
STEPE involves 13 European laboratories from 10 countries and is coordinated at the London School of Economics and Political Science by Professor George Gaskell.
Eurobarometer 2005 in the news as UK GM debate is re-activated
See the following article from The Guardian. | <urn:uuid:bea7529f-5319-468e-9a00-5ea501814197> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stepe.eu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922506 | 223 | 2.34375 | 2 |
New crew docks safely at space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The first post-shuttle-era crew to launch toward the International Space Station arrived at the outpost Wednesday after a two-day flight from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
With cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov in the commander's seat, a Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Poisk module on the Russian side of the station. Poisk, named for the Russian word for "Search," was added to the station in 2009. It is a dual-purpose docking compartment and airlock.
Flying in the Soyuz on either side of Shkaplerov were cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and U.S. astronaut Dan Burbank. The link-up came at 12:24 a.m. — about nine minutes earlier than scheduled — as the Soyuz and the station flew high over the South Pacific.
PHOTOS: This week in space
Burbank and his crewmates had been slated to launch Sept. 21, but their flight was delayed by an investigation into the Aug. 24 failure of of a Soyuz U rocket during launch of a station-bound supply ship. The Soyuz FG rocket used to launch crews is equipped with the same RD-0110 third-stage engine blamed in the failure.
A crew of three station residents that included U.S. astronaut Ron Garan returned to Earth Sept. 16. The arrival of Burbank and his crewmates marked the restoration of a full staff of six at the outpost.
Hooks and latches between the Soyuz and the Poisk module pulled the two spacecraft tightly together after the docking. Shkaplerov, Ivanishin and Burbank will perform leak checks over the next couple of hours to ensure a tight seal between the spacecraft.
Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa will brief the incoming crew on station safety systems and then an abbreviated handover period will begin. Fossum and his crewmates are scheduled to return to Earth next Monday. | <urn:uuid:3e525cfc-01ad-4fd7-9fbb-fee7398379b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2011-11-16/soyuz-docks-at-international-space-station/51235592/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958311 | 420 | 2.375 | 2 |
From what I understand, virus software has basically white listed anything that is python. I think that because just like java, they can't tell one python from the other to determine if it is malicious or not. They would have to ban all java and python.
So the theory is that by putting shellcode in the python script, you can evade anti-virus. You can go one step further and use py-installer and create an executable from your python script so that it can be run on the victim's computer. (without python installed)
Yes you can run run poison Ivy as a python array. I have not tried it, but that was the reason behind it.
Exporting to a python array is simply exporting a bunch of code that you can copy and paste into your python script. You will need a python script that can load shell code.
So your task if you choose to accept it:
1. export shell code from poison ivy
2. find a python script that can run the python shell code generated from poison ivy to connect back to poison ivy command center.
3. get the above working standalone
4. use Py-Installer to create an executable from the above.
5. Automate all the above using a python script
And of course report back here on your progress so that we can help and learn from your experiences. | <urn:uuid:8028a228-ee76-474a-be40-6d48f2266c33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forums/showthread.php?t=50310&p=219472&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921119 | 283 | 2.375 | 2 |
It’s that time of year when so many of us say were going to do it, then it seems like just a few actually follow through. The New Year's resolution of working out, and getting fit for the upcoming year.
It seems like we all do it, say were going to get fit and workout, and a few months later, it's back to the same old routine, one that doesn't include a workout plan. That’s why this year; those who do want to get healthy can actually do so with the help of a realistic goal.
Many workout facilities including the Weston YMCA are offering special deals to kick-off the New Year. The YMCA is offering a special 12 Days of Fitness Deal, one they hope will get people off the couch and into the gym.
YMCA Health and Wellness Director, Shannon Wagman says the YMCA is doing it’s part to help those who want to get healthy. "It’s called 12 days of fitness. You come in on Jan.1st where we have an open house from 8-12. We are waiving the joiners fee from Jan.1st through the 12th of January. If you come in on Jan.1st you sign up for $1 a day and so on through the 12th." That deal will be good through the entire month of January, allowing gym users a much most cost efficient way to keep themselves healthy.
Wagman says that one of the biggest mistakes people make is being overly ambitious. Keeping attainable goals will also keep people coming back, seeing gradual results throughout their time at the gym.
One thing trainers at the YMCA say they see all too often is the 6 week bubble. That is people working out until around mid-February, then giving up. That is one thing people wanting to get fit should always avoid
If you are unsure about specific workout plans, or ways to get yourself healthy, the YMCA offers consulting and help for members.
Designed by Gray Digital Media | <urn:uuid:414785dd-b652-4217-922d-d87f9907c826> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsaw.com/news/health/headlines/Make-Your-New-Years-Resolution-Workout-Plans-Happen-In-2013-185311612.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981822 | 424 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Powers that be let South Siders down
Frank Mauro's "What is the historic importance of the Bluestone building" was the best letter to the editor I've read in The Reporter in years because he is absolutely right and spotlights what we all want on the South Side: another supermarket.
So far the powers that be have let us down. Giant Eagle has a monopoly. It needs some healthy competition. We live in America not North Korea. Don't let the Bluestone building stand in the way of an Aldi Market.
As Mr. Mauro pointed out: the Bluestone building is supposedly historic and the J&L mill complex where SouthSide Works sits wasn't. What a joke. The only thing historic about the Bluestone building to me is the marble soda fountain. And that can be removed.
Years ago we were promised a supermarket at SouthSide Works, but instead we still have a surface parking lot on the corner of South 26th and Sidney streets. In fact, many visitors don't even know what SouthSide Works means.
They don't know that J&L Corp. once had a vast steel mill complex there. That it was instrumental in helping with the war effort and in building our country's infrastructure. There is a generic small steel exhibit in Tunnel Park that few see. And fewer yet see the mill model by the Hot Metal Bridge.
There isn't even a state historic marker near SouthSide Works! What an insult to the thousands of men and women who worked there all those years.
There should be a large bronze statue of a steelworker near that squirting water fountain in front of The Cheesecake Factory. And there should be a supermarket where the Bluestone building now stands. It's what the people want. It's what they need.
If SouthSide Works couldn't get the job done, then thanks to Burns & Scalo, Aldi Market can. Roadblocks from the Historic Review Commission are unwelcome. | <urn:uuid:158d1dfd-a42d-4015-83aa-879f785aa473> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sopghreporter.com/story/2010/08/17/opinion/powers-that-be-let-south-siders-down/10588.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 | 0.965399 | 401 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The classroom was once a sanctuary, a place for kids to learn and thrive in a safe environment.
That was then and this is now.
Remember Columbine, April 1999; the school campus changed forever. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a murderous, calculating and well-planned killing spree.
Watch: What should kids do if confronted by a school shooter? (Part 2)
Thirteen students died. The killers then took their own life. Police didn't enter the school until three hours after the shooting began.
Virginia Tech, 2007: 33 students killed by a mentally disturbed student armed with two guns.
Police didn't enter that campus until more than two hours later.
But before Virginia Tech and before Columbine, the Bay area would experience its own tragedy on February 1988 when violence struck at Pinellas Park High School.
Dr. Nancy Blackwelder was there when the shooting happened. She says, "They were bragging they had guns. We didn't have kids bringing guns to school."
But that all changed in an instant. Dr. Blackwelder, along with Mr. Bailey and Mr. Allen, approached Jason McCoy in a cafeteria full of students. Blackwelder says, "He stood up and pulled out a .38 and pointed it directly at Mr. Bailey."
A struggle for the gun ensued. Mr. Bailey got the gun and walked away. McCoy was in custody. But then another student, Jason Harless approached with a gun. When Harless was finished, he then turned the gun on Nancy.
"As he looked me dead in the eye, he pointed at me. I said, 'If you don't move, you're dead meat.'"
A single .38 ripped through Nancy's arm, entered her stomach and lodged in her leg.
Richard Allen died, Nancy survived. "The one good thing as a society is when a bad thing happens, we evaluate it and try to figure out how to make it not happen again."
Which brings us to the question: What if the teachers weren't there? What if students were on their own? Can they or will they fight back against an armed subject?
Dr. Laronga explains they teach security people what to do, but never the students. So we put some local kids to the test. What would they do in this situation today? How could your kids survive something so horrible?
Our local expect says students need to fight back and not be sitting ducks. In Part 2 of our story, he explains what kids should do.
School Massacre: Connecticut school shooting leaves dozens dead, most are kids
Shooting Suspect: Adam Lanza, 20, id'd as school shooting suspect
More on the suspect: Who is the Connecticut school shooter?
Facebook, Twitter: Social media reactions to Sandy Hook Elementary shooting
Obama reacts: Tearful president calls for action in school shooting
More: Photos as Obama reacts to school shootings
Prepare: What to do if you're caught in a school shooting
Share: Join the conversation on how to talk to you kids on our Facebook page
Photos: Sandy Hook Connecticut school shooting pictures | <urn:uuid:f6a6c0b7-683c-46c6-be3f-05dd2a3bce07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/217730/8/Surviving-a-school-shooting | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974457 | 643 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
On Discipleship and Self-Hate
This Sunday's Gospel
'lays the smack down,' so to speak, on those who would wish to be our Lord's disciples:
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own self, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
'Hate' is a harsh word. But there's no backpedaling on it. The Amplified Bible
, that awful monstrosity, betrays its squeamishness by awkwardly inserting "in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God." The word 'hate' (Gk. miseo
^) means just that, 'hate,' as it is used in Luke 21:17 ("All men will hate you because of me
," cf. also Matt. 10:22, 24:9). But certainly there is more to this 'hard saying' than meets the eye. Jesus is certainly not concerned with generating negative feelings towards members of our families, or self-loathing, for that matter. The trouble is, what exactly is
Jesus concerned with?
The key to this passage, I think, is in the climax of the sentence . . . 'and even his own self
.' St. Augustine, in his 46th Homily on the New Testament
, addresses this passage in terms of a priority of loves. Man, for St. Augustine, is always caught in the flux of two competing loves, the love of self (cupiditas
) and the love of God (caritas
). To love oneself is to prize one's own will, to idolize one's own desires and lusts above all else. But paradoxically, the man who loves himself is "driven away from himself, to love those things beyond himself." The man full of self-love can never rest in himself. Whether his preference is for money, for women, or for power, he can never be satisfied with what he possesses, but is always driven to strive for more, but always in vain. He becomes dissipated, exhausted, spent, estranged from himself, 'fallen from himself,' like the prodigal son who finds himself in a strange land.
Paradoxically, for St. Augustine, it is by denying himself that man finds himself: "learn to love thyself by not loving thyself!" The man who loves God prizes only God's will, and the very life of God, and he finds this divine life within his own very self. This is not, contra
Ms. Dole, to speak of 'the divinity of every soul,
' but it is nonetheless true that man - created in the image of God and thereby participating by his very nature in the life of God - discovers the Godhead primarily by 'returning into Himself,' rather than by dissipating himself in empty and selfish pursuits outside of himself in God's creation. In the quiet of His own soul - memory, reason, and will - He discovers the Triune God.
This is how man finds God by denying Himself: "Let him withdraw himself from himself, that he may cleave unto God." And in this framework, given a proper prioritizing of loves, we may address the 'harshness' of Christ's saying. "Hard and grevious does this appear," says Augustine - to carry one's cross, to hate one's own self, to deny oneself.
"But what He commands is not hard or grevious, who aids us in order that what He commands may be done . . . For whatsoever is hard in what is commanded, charity makes easy. We know what great things love itself can do . . . How great hardships have men suffered, what indignities and intolerable things have they endured, to attain to the object of their love? whether it be a lover of money . . . a lover of honour . . . or a lover of beautiful women. And who could enumerate all sorts of loves? Yet consider what labour all lovers undergo, and are not conscious of their labours!"
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From beakers to bicycles
Chemistry Professor Marty Jones retires
What would dr. jones do?
At the 2012 Adams State University spring commencement ceremony, Dr. Frank Novotny, vice president of academic affairs, drew attention to the green band around his wrist while addressing the packed gym: “Many of us today are wearing these bands with the initials, WWDJD – What Would Dr. Jones Do?”
He would do the right thing – he would make the choice that most benefited the student, his friend or colleague, the campus, the community… the earth. If this statement sounds grandiose and exaggerated – you don’t know Marty.
“Marty has a positive approach to life that is contagious, and he brings out the best in those around him, hence the bracelets WWDJD,” Novotny explained.
Students and colleagues donned the bracelets to recognize Jones’ retirement and appointment as emeritus professor of chemistry. As for retirement plans, Jones said: “I think I will just figure it out after the fact. It will give me great opportunities to bike and fish in the middle of the week during the fall, which is the best season we have here in Alamosa, and I would also like to travel.”
Focus on teaching
In his 23 years at Adams State, Jones always taught chemistry, specifically organic chemistry. He also taught introduction, general, advanced, and chemistry of sustainability, as well as nursing chemistry and other courses when necessary. “Marty was never one to shirk responsibility or forgo an opportunity to lend a hand,” said Dr. Christina Miller ’92, professor of chemistry.
“When I interviewed for a chemistry faculty position, and in my first year, it was very clear that Marty was very student-centered and expected other faculty, especially those in chemistry, to be the same,” Novotny said. “He challenges students to do their best, while providing the support necessary for them to succeed.”
Jones said: “I came to Adams State because I wanted to move away from a Ph.D. granting institution to a primarily undergraduate institution, one that put a really high value on quality undergraduate teaching. I found a very good fit at Adams State.
“People talk about when you see the ‘light’ go on, ‘I finally got it.’ That really does bring a smile to your face. When a student asks a very good question, that brings a smile to my face – that means they are paying attention and thinking about what we are covering.”
Student respect & admiration
“He has great teaching methods; he’s easy to understand, and if I don’t understand something, he’ll stop and explain it another way,” said Brianna Metter, a sophomore biology major. “If Dr. Jones ever did teach a chemical reaction wrong; the chemical reaction would change to ensure he was right out of pure respect for Dr. Jones.”
Keiko Woodyard, also a sophomore biology major, added: “His classes are packed with information, but he approaches it with a light heart and brings real-world applications to the material.”
Dr. Steve Valentine ‘95, a chemistry grad who recently accepted a tenure track position as an assistant professor at West Virginia University, said: “Marty’s devotion to student achievement affected me personally; it strengthened my desire to become a teacher. Marty was an exceptional instructor. He was able to connect with students at the individual level, essentially providing the most effective learning environment.”
While mentoring graduate students at Indiana University, Valentine often revisited Jones’ teaching techniques. “Marty would have classroom presentations to describe chemical phenomena such as reaction mechanisms. From him, I learned that visual learning is one of the most effective methods used by students.”
“In addition to always being willing to write me letters of recommendation, he had a strong influence on my decision to attend graduate school,” said senior chemistry major Bryce Turner.
“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have finished my degree,” said James Trujillo ‘02, executive assistant to the President and Board of Trustees. After switching his major multiple times and many years in college, Trujillo had given up on obtaining his degree. Jones reviewed Trujillo’s transcripts and discovered he was closest to a business degree. “He helped me make a plan and graduate.”
Trujillo also noted: “You can’t frequent school functions and not see Dr. Marty Jones around. He is notorious for serving the flapjacks during the finals week late-night breakfasts.” Jones was also active in the community steel drum band.
“Dr. Jones has an undeniable gift for teaching. He has the ability to light up a classroom with enthusiasm, which can be difficult for a subject with the reputation of being incredibly difficult,” said Reyna Reyes, a senior chemistry major. “He makes you believe in yourself; that is the most inspiring thing about his teaching style.”
The Elements of Marty Jones
- Western Auto early ‘60s bike with longhorn handle bars, wide tires and coil springs under the seat
- 3 speed English racer (although he coveted the “cool” kids’ Schwinn Sting Rays)
- Western Auto 10 speed (stolen)
- Peugeot 10 speed (stolen)
- Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike; 2 road bikes (including current Specialized Roubaix)
- 1964 Chevrolet Nova
- 1972 Pinto station wagon (“bad decision”)
- 1968 VW van, 1980 Mazda station wagon
- 1989 Nissan pickup
- 1989 Chevy S-10 Blazer
- 1999 Ford Explorer
37 years to Diana (instructor of mathematics): “She is smarter than I am and a better teacher – she is phenomenal.”
“It is a real treat to catch a carp on a fly in the San Luis Lakes.”
To Aaron Moehlig (filling Jones’ faculty position) “Respect the students and all your colleagues (including staff). The students are why we are here.”
He and Diana consider Adams State and the community their extended family and think it’s “cool to hang out with other good folks.”Influences
- Originally majored in math: “A lackluster math teacher turned me off –a wonderful chemistry professor turned me on.”
- Discovered the rewards of teaching in graduate school.
- Dr. Kay Watkins and Dr. Mel Arnold, emeritus professors of chemistry, convinced him to teach at Adams State instead of USC (now known as CSU Pueblo).
- 2010 Autumn@Adams Last Lecture: “Things I Learned Without Going to Kindergarten”
- Served as interim chair for Human Performance and Physical Education during the spring 2010 and spring 2011 semesters.
- Initiated Adams State EARTH – Environmental Action for Resources, Transportation & Health – promoting recycling, renewable energy, and sustainability
- Along with colleagues, hosts the annual Chemistry Magic Show, free and open to the public.
- 2007 AS&F Award for Excellence in Student Engagement
- 2009 Presidential Teaching Award
- 2012 Associated Students and Faculty Award for Excellence in Student Centered Instructio
Article by Mariah Pepe ‘15 and Linda Relyea ‘96 | <urn:uuid:b23e5f70-1868-4398-b9af-61f18624dd55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://adams.edu/news/sept1209.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958424 | 1,589 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Is Fructose Making People Fat?
TUESDAY Jan. 1, 2013 -- New research suggests that fructose, a simple sugar found naturally in fruit and added to many other foods as part of high-fructose corn syrup, does not dampen appetite and may cause people to eat more compared to another simple sugar, glucose.
Glucose and fructose are both simple sugars that are included in equal parts in table sugar. In the new study, brain scans suggest that different things happen in your brain, depending on which sugar you consume.
Yale University researchers looked for appetite-related changes in blood flow in the hypothalamic region of the brains of 20 healthy adults after they ate either glucose or fructose. When people consumed glucose, levels of hormones that play a role in feeling full were high.
In contrast, when participants consumed a fructose beverage, they showed smaller increases in hormones that are associated with satiety (feeling full).
The findings are published in the Jan. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association .
Dr. Jonathan Purnell, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, co-authored an editorial that accompanied the new study. He said that the findings replicate those found in prior animal studies, but "this does not prove that fructose is the cause of the obesity epidemic, only that it is a possible contributor along with many other environmental and genetic factors."
That said, fructose has found its way into Americans' diets in the form of sugars - typically in the form of high-fructose corn syrup - that are added to beverages and processed foods. "This increased intake of added sugar containing fructose over the past several decades has coincided with the rise in obesity in the population, and there is strong evidence from animal studies that this increased intake of fructose is playing a role in this phenomenon," said Purnell, who is associate professor in the university's division of endocrinology, diabetes and clinical nutrition.
But he stressed that nutritionists do not "recommend avoiding natural sources of fructose, such as fruit, or the occasional use of honey or syrup." And according to Purnell, "excess consumption of processed sugar can be minimized by preparing meals at home using whole foods and high-fiber grains."
Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, agreed that more research is needed. "This study provides an interesting look at how the brain reacts to different chemicals found in foods, but how this might impact obesity and the growing number of people who are obese cannot be determined from this study alone," she said.
Dr. Scott Kahan, director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, D.C, added there is a lot that scientists do not know about fructose and how it affects your body. "There are certainly differences between sugar molecules, and these are still being worked out scientifically," he said.
According to Kahan, high-fructose corn syrup, a ubiquitous sweetener that manufacturers love because it is inexpensive, super-sweet and helps extend shelf life, gets a bad rap about its potential role in the obesity epidemic, but it has about the same amount of fructose as table sugar (sucrose). "We don't entirely know if there is some uniquely unhealthy aspect of high-fructose corn syrup," he said.
One thing that is clear, Kahan said, is that "almost all of us eat too much sugar, and if we can moderate that we will be healthier on a number of levels."
Dr. Louis Aronne, founder and director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, noted that most sweeteners contain a mixture of glucose and fructose. For these reasons, "the effect is not as dramatic as you might see in a trial like this."
Still, a growing body of evidence is pointing toward the hypothalamic brain region as having a role in obesity. "Things as subtle as a change in sweetener can have an impact on how full somebody feels, and could lead to an increase in calorie intake and an increasing pattern in obesity seen in this country," he said.
So what to do? As a nutritionist, Sharon Zarabi, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, tells her patients to read food labels. "Avoid having fructose or glucose listed as one of as the first three ingredients, and make sure that sugar is less than 10 grams per serving."
The American Heart Association has more about sugar.
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Enzalutamide adds five months survival in late-stage prostate cancer
Results of a phase III clinical trial of the drug Enzalutamide, published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, show the drug extends life by an average five months in the most advanced stages of prostate cancer.
"This is a major advance. Not only do we see more survival benefit than from traditional chemotherapy, but the side effects of Enzalutamide are much lower. It provides both more benefit and less harm you get the quantification of more life, but also see quality of life improvements," says study co-author, Thomas Flaig, MD, medical director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center's Clinical Investigations Shared Resource and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The study, known by the acronym AFFIRM, followed 1199 patients with prostate cancer that had progressed despite both hormonal and chemotherapy treatments, with 2/3 of patients receiving the drug Enzalutamide versus control. Median overall survival for patients in the treatment arm of the trial was 18.4 months compared to 13.6 months for patients in the placebo arm. In addition to prolonged survival, patients given Enzalutamide showed meaningful improvement in other measures including PSA blood levels, an increase from 3.0 months to 8.3 months in time until PSA progression, and an increase from 2.9 months to 8.3 months in overall progression-free survival.
The once-a-day oral drug works by blocking prostate cancer's ability to supply itself with androgens hormones including testosterone that otherwise drive the cancer's growth. It does this by binding to cancer cells' androgen receptors the waving tentacles on the outsides of cells that are designed to grab specific molecules as they float past. Enzalutamide plugs these receptors, removing their ability to grab androgen.
This out-competition for space in androgen receptors is not a new strategy. But when treated with existing anti-androgen drugs, prostate cancer tends to pull androgen receptors inside the cell walls, into a cell's nucleus where the receptors are shielded from drugs but can continue to trap androgens and thus signal growth. In addition to plugging receptors, Enzalutamide inhibits this nuclear translocation.
"Prostate cancer has traditionally been viewed as having two phases," Flaig says, "first is the hormone-sensitive stage and second is the stage at which the disease is no longer dependent on hormones and we're forced to turn to more toxic chemotherapies." Even a few years ago, the use of a hormonal agent in this second phase of prostate cancer would have been viewed at futile. Beyond establishing a new treatment for advanced prostate cancer, this study also helps to redefine "hormone-refractory" prostate cancer and proves that androgen-targeted treatments continue to be relevant later into the disease process than previously believed.
"This approach represents a much more potent and effective means of targeting the androgen receptor than possible with previously available agents. While this study examined the effect of adding Enzalutamide to standard androgen deprivation therapy, future studies could explore a single agent approach with this drug to treat prostate cancer," Flaig says. Another major study to look at this pre-chemotherapy activity is underway.
"We are in a renaissance period in the medical therapy of prostate cancer," Flaig says. "Enzalutamide is a key member of a half dozen new and emerging drugs and the challenge of the next five years is to discover how to best time and potentially combine these new agents. But even at this early stage, Enzalutamide is a game changer."
Journal reference: New England Journal of Medicine
Provided by University of Colorado Denver
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4 hours ago | not rated yet | 0 | <urn:uuid:01b581c0-12c1-4fc9-8218-afc38e93d4d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-enzalutamide-months-survival-late-stage-prostate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934731 | 1,940 | 1.546875 | 2 |
WALTHAM, MA— The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. The grant will allow for a 10-week module in STEM within the FaB Factor Program, which is an early intervention and prevention program for at-risk, inner-city girls ranging from five to 17 years old.
Consistent with the Center’s emphasis on promoting diversity in the life sciences workforce, the Girls Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts serves 178 communities composed of 41,000 girls ranging in age from five to 18 and over 17,000 adult volunteers. As Girl Scouts celebrate their 100th anniversary, they are more than ever committed to bringing the value of the Girl Scout experience to communities traditionally underrepresented in Girl Scouting.
To address the fact that women are underrepresented in the majority of STEM fields, the Girl Scouts has created the FaB Factor STEM Fractions, Fixtures, Bits and Beakers (F2B2) Program which will serve close to 2,000 girls in eastern Massachusetts. Girls participating in the F2B2 Program will utilize the Get Moving! And Breathe Journey Series to learn about how science, technology, engineering, and math affect everything around them. In addition, girls will have the opportunity to participate in over 25 STEM programs including MathMovesU, Mad Science, Leadership Convention Club, Journey with Science, Hands on Science Career Fair, and short internships at various biotech and biosciences companies in the region.
“When today's girls graduate from college, America will need three million more scientists and engineers. Girl Scouts is fueling this pipeline. Programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) now account for over half of all Girl Scout programs, as well as introducing girls to inspiring role models in scientific fields,” explains Ruth N. Bramson, CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. “Girl Scouts sees STEM as a vital focus and we will continue to build awareness and educate community leaders on the important issue of increasing girls' involvement in STEM. We are grateful for the generous support of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center in these important efforts. This grant will help us to provide STEM programming that captures the imagination of our girls to more girls within our footprint, so we can nurture their interest and educate them about opportunities within this field.”
“I commend the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts for recognizing the importance of STEM education and am pleased that the MLSC is able to generously support their efforts," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, Chair of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, which leads the Administration's efforts related to education and training opportunities for students in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and math. “The strength of our innovation economy relies on a talented workforce, and increased exposure to STEM education is a key building block for our future.”
According to a report released by the US Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration the STEM workforce is crucial to America’s innovative capacity and global competitiveness, yet women are vastly underrepresented in STEM-related jobs.
"Women and ethnic minorities generally are underrepresented in the STEM fields and in our life sciences industry,” said Susan Windham Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. “Through innovative planning and research, the Girl Scouts organization has created multiple programs that expose young girls from diverse backgrounds to the life sciences field at just the time that their interest in science needs be nurtured and developed. We are pleased to support the Girl Scouts organization of the 21st Century!"
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
About Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts serves more than 40,000 girls ages 5-17 and 17,000 adult volunteers in 178 communities across Eastern Massachusetts with the mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. The Girl Scouts provide
girls with the opportunity to DISCOVER their world, CONNECT with and build an understanding for others and TAKE ACTION to make the world a better place. Girls are guided by committed and caring adults who make learning fun. Girl Scouting helps each girl achieve her personal leadership pathway to the future. The Girl Scouts organization has a rich history and has been the nation’s leading expert on girls for nearly 100 years. For more information, please visit | <urn:uuid:4d4df021-60ed-4be1-8e28-823c636e6dbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biospace.com/collaborative/News/massachusetts-life-sciences-center-announces-50000/249170 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934886 | 1,012 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Cline has basically adopted the ADL's disingenuous argument that it's "deception" to assert that accepting Jesus as the Messiah is compatible with Jewish theology. But how does Cline know what the "real" Judaism is? Did God tell him? If so, did God also say which of the varied beliefs of the Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jews are compatible with Jewish theology? They can't all be right about God's law.
There's no inherent logical conflict in a Jew accepting Christ as Messiah, and certainly no contradiction nearly as serious as those involved the concept of God generally. Jesus was a Jew, and presumably the ultimate Jew for Himself.
There is hardly an aspect of contemporary history more irritating and mystifying than the fact that of all the great unsolved political questions of our century, it should have been this seemingly small and unimportant Jewish problem that had the dubious honor of setting the whole infernal machine [the Nazi movement and World War II] in motion. Such discrepancies between cause and effect outrage our common sense....
... According to Tocqueville, the French people hated aristocrats about to lose their power more than it had ever hated them before, precisely because their rapid loss of real power was not accompanied by any considerable decline in their fortunes. As long as the aristocracy held vast powers of jurisdiction, they were not only tolerated but respected. When noblemen lost their privileges, among others the privilege to exploit and oppress, the people felt them to be parasites, without any real function in the rule of the country. In other words, neither oppression nor exploitation as such is ever the main cause for resentment; wealth without visible function is much more intolerable because nobody can understand why it should be tolerated.
Antisemitism reached its climax when Jews had similarly lost their public functions and their influence, and were left with nothing but their wealth. When Hitler came to power, the German banks were already almost judenrein (and it was here that Jews had held key positions for more than a hundred years) and German Jewry as a whole, after a long steady growth in social status and numbers, was declining so rapidly that statisticians predicted its disappearance in a few decades. ... to a statistician Nazi persecution and extermination could look like a senseless acceleration of a process which would probably have come about in any case.
The same holds true for nearly all Western European countries. The Dreyfus Affair exploded not under the Second Empire, when French Jewry was at the height of its prosperity and influence, but under the Third Republic when Jews had all but vanished from important positions....
Kristol has acknowledged his intellectual debt to Strauss in a recent autobiographical essay. "What made him so controversial within the academic community was his disbelief in the Enlightenment dogma that `the truth will make men free.'" Kristol adds that "Strauss was an intellectual aristocrat who thought that the truth could make some [emphasis Kristol's] minds free, but he was convinced that there was an inherent conflict between philosophic truth and political order, and that the popularization and vulgarization of these truths might import unease, turmoil and the release of popular passions hitherto held in check by tradition and religion with utterly unpredictable, but mostly negative, consequences."
Kristol agrees with this view. "There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people," he says in an interview. "There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work."
Buy a Shirt | <urn:uuid:787d5dc4-468a-4587-8733-5fec7c592316> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metatalk.metafilter.com/11746/Dont-slag-my-religion-and-I-wont-slag-yours | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978151 | 748 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The striking contrast between the stories that we've been hearing lately about the slow going of SOA initiatives in the enterprise and the vibrant and rapidly growing ecosystems similar to them on the consumer Web has been generating a lot of debate and discussion in the enterprise IT community recently. This discussion was brought into sharp relief when ZDNet colleague Joe McKendrick recently reported on Burton Group's Anne Manes stating that it "has become clear to me that SOA is not working in most organizations", based on a wide ranging study they performed.
It's become clear that the SOA world will have to change some basic assumptions.This is just one data point of many recently showing the continued shortfalls we've experienced in trying to get our enterprise systems to work together in the ways that we would like. Organizations clearly want to leverage high levels of interoperability to seize new business opportunities, innovate on top of existing assets, and properly leverage the extensive landscape of software, data, and infrastructure that most organizations have accumulated in large quantities over the years. But we are still having a great deal of difficulty doing so and SOA investments are just not reaping the types of return on investments that most businesses would like to have.
Looking for answers on how to improve SOA
This has driven a search for new models since there's little question that the core ideas behind SOA seem to be the right ones. Rather, it's been how we've gone about designing and implementing SOAs that appears to be at the crux of the issue. As we look at the most successful examples of SOA actually working, we keep being drawn back to the Web itself, with companies such as Amazon and their highly successful Web Services Division (with hundreds of thousands of business consumers of their global SOA), Google and its numerous and varied open Web APIs from Google Maps to Google Data, eBay and billions of dollars in listings it generates through its public SOA, or the rise of applications like Twitter (which gets 10 times the use through its APIs than from its user inteface) and applications that are primarily used via their SOA presence. Then there is the increasingly widespread adoption by millions of users of a sort of "visual SOA" with Web widgets and gadgets as well the rapidly growing story of software mashups, aka composite applications in the SOA world. There are many more SOA-ish success stories like this on the Web, but few in the enterprise.John Musser's ProgrammableWeb remains the best directory for finding all the APIs that Web companies have contributed to the Global SOA. Over 700 APIs are listed currently.
So if so-called Web 2.0 companies -- which value participation almost above all else, both from consumers and organizations that want to integrate them into their offerings -- are seeing highly desirable levels of adoption and significant ROI, how can this help understand how to improve our efforts in the enterprise? Most new Web 2.0 applications start out life with an API since getting connected to partners that will help you grow and innovate is a well-known essential for success online today. Despite years of SOA, we still don't focus on consumption and openness as fundamentally essential characteristics to building an internal partner ecosystem that have beat a path to your door to use the services you are offering to them to build upon.
One big issue, as I've written about in the past, is that enterprises are often very much unlike the Web. Many of the aspects that make the Web successful (simple flat link structure, billions of deep interconnections, a handful of simple and easy to process data formats, etc) just don't exist in the enterprise with it's wilderness of relational databases, proprietary applications, and silos of every description, despite some success in adding a traditional SOA layer on them.
Turning to WOA as an exemplar of good SOA
Dana Gardner recently wrote about here on ZDNet and respected SOA expert David Linthicum covered on Infoworld, the integration and ecosystem models that are working on the Web are increasingly being discussed in the SOA community as potent examples of how to implement SOA with better results. As WOA examples get better and better, it's emerging solutions to many of the issues we have in getting robust SOAs built with high levels of adoption and measurably better business outcomes.
As we extract the positive outcomes of thousands of startups on the Web that have tried virtually every integration and composition scenario imaginable, we've begin to see the broad outlines of what works. And these new models intrinsically take advantage of the important properties of the Web that have made it the most successful network in history. This extraction of what works best has begun to be called Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA), which I've explored here in the past several times and was coined a few years ago by Nick Gall. The concept of WOA has evolved as we've learned more lessons about the new approaches working on the Web.
Read a more complete and technical description of Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA).
One of the challenges of WOA is that it's an emergent set of best practices that we can independently observe and verify on the open Web. It's not a formal set of standards but an set of approaches and delivery techniques that seem to be work extremely well and achieving most of the major goals that we originally set out for ourselves in the SOA world. But there is work to adapt WOA to the enterprise and while we're seeing early successes with RIA models like Ajax, which are natural fits for a SOA and consume Web services naturally, there is more work to be done to figure out how governance, security, orchestration, and other issues will look like. Because like many things in the Web 2.0 world that are then adapted to business, there is usually an "enterprise context" that has to be added to make them workable inside our organizations.
What sort of things might we see in an organization that is trying to adopt WOA? While WOA adoption is actually happening at a grassroots level in many organizations already, we can use those early stories and what's happening on the consumer Web to give us an idea:
What WOA looks like in the enterprise:
- A rich web of REST resources. Instead of a few point SOA services, enterprise data will be exposed through millions of granular REST resources (like the Web itself), which almost any application than can consume HTTP and XML can use. Much higher levels of syndication using RSS and ATOM will also be a hallmark of WOA adoption as it has been so successful in unleashing the Web of data on the Internet.
- Simple tools to weave the Web of resources into new applications. There are is a rapidly growing set of tools becoming available to build mashups quickly out of WOA (and SOA if you must) resources. Increasingly, these tools can be used by end-users but developers can very easily compose WOA resource into new solutions. IT developers will also use these tools as well as their own to create interoperability and integration where needed, like they do with SOA now.
- Highly consumable and reusable WOA "parts" including widgets, gadgets, and embedded social apps. There are now tens of thousands of Web components that can project data and functioanlity throughout the Web (and the enterprise) with a simple point and click. In combination with tools like blogs, wikis, and anything else which lets users add markup, this lets users build basic applications out of commonly available parts. Enterprise adopting WOA will take their own WOA resources and package them using popular "widget models" like Google's OpenSocial and many others. The very presence of these Web parts drives viral adoption of a WOA as other users see them and use them, spreading them to the corners of the organization and beyond.
- Open Web APIs exposed on the Internet to ad hoc partners. Many organizations will start usintheir WOA to work with existing partners and start going into the Web services business, ala Amazon, themselves. We are learning that many organizations are highly underleveraging their vast assets in data and functionality and open them up to the Web in a dynamic way allow innovation and growth to be pushed out in the cloud and exciting new scenarios emerge. And as we've seen in many cases on the Web now, it's also a direct revenue driver (see middle here).
The future is bright for SOA but it's become clear that the SOA world will have to change some basic assumptions about the approaches that are used for design and implementation. Because the consensus is growing that the techniques riding under the aegis of WOA will be the ones to bet on.
Get a full overview of the intersection between Web 2.0 and the enterprise.
Is your organization looking at or using any of the ideas in WOA? Share your story in Talkback below. | <urn:uuid:71162a03-682e-4674-bfe4-fa878000810e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hinchcliffe/web-2-0-success-stories-driving-woa-and-informing-soa/168 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95926 | 1,821 | 1.5625 | 2 |
If your friend is grieving a death or loss, it can be hard to know what to say. These tips for helping a grieving friend are from the author of a book about surviving grief – Jane Galbraith.
She explains why talking about the loved one your friend lost is so important:
“Who hasn’t felt like they don’t know what to say when someone has died?” asks Galbraith. “Or we feel helpless, like there’s nothing we can do to help a grieving friend. But there ARE things we can do and say to help those who are suffering after the death of a loved one.”
For more information on baby boomers and grief, read Galbraith’s book Baby Boomers Face Grief: Survival and Recovery.
And, here are her five tips for supporting mourning friends…
5 Tips for Helping a Grieving Friend
Talk about the person who has died
We may not want to mention the loved one who died to grieving friends because we don’t want to upset them. But, people love to speak the name of the person they lost! To not talk about them as if they have never existed is very distressing to your friend who is grieving. Speaking about lost loved ones may produce tears, but it’s often more comforting than feeling that the name can never be mentioned. So, when your friend loses a loved one, don’t be afraid to talk about him or her.
Don’t accept “I’m fine” from your friend
Ask your friends how they feel — and don’t let them get away with “I’m fine.” We are so polite in our society that we don’t want to burden others with our problems. Ask your friend how they feel many months after the death. In the beginning, people are in shock and the pain sometimes takes months to hit. By then the world feels you should be “getting over it”! To support mourning friends, don’t just ask when you see them at work or at a social function. Pick up the phone and call.
Say it’s a difficult time when your friend loses a loved one – be real
It takes an enormous amount of energy to “be strong” or look “normal.” Many would win Oscars for their performances, looking and acting as they did before so their friends would not be uncomfortable. In actuality they are trying to discover what their new “normal” is, and that takes time. Just because people look good doesn’t mean they feel good, so don’t let the façade fool you. Your mourning friend may need someone to acknowledge that this is a difficult time. To learn the importance of expressing grief, read tips for grieving widows or widowers.
Avoid clichés about friends, death, and losing loved ones
Avoid clichés about “getting on with life” and “getting over it” because they irritate your friends who have lost a loved one. They know these expressions do not represent the reality. They won’t get over it, but they will learn to live with it or adjust to their new world. Your mourning friend isn’t just dealing with the absence of the person they loved, but also how that person affected their lives, and the loss of future plans and dreams. Continue to love your friend as he/she changes and adapts to a new world.
Keep reaching out to your friend
Sometimes they don’t know what they need and don’t have the energy to figure it out, so it would be better if you figure out what your friend needs and just do it. If it is an invitation to go somewhere, don’t be offended if you are turned down. Keep asking. Everyday is different and by continuing to ask you are staying in touch and connecting with someone who is in pain. Continuing to invite someone will let him or her know you are there for him or her and you care.
If your spouse is grieving a loss, read When Your Spouse Withdraws Because of Grief – 5 Ways to Stay Close.
Find practical ways to help a friend who lost a loved one
Bring meals that freeze well and can be heated up in a few days or weeks. Offer to do laundry, grocery shopping, or errand running. If your friend has kids, volunteer to take them to sports practices or ballet lessons. If you haven’t given a gift or card, consider a “thinking of you” sympathy gift basket — it’s both practical and thoughtful.
How do you help a friend grieve his or her loss? Comments welcome below.
Jane Galbraith, BScN, R.N., offers presentations and workshops to organizations on grief and its effects on the workplace. To contact Jane or order her book, visit Baby Boomers Face Grief. This article is copyrighted by Galbraith. | <urn:uuid:d6ef47b8-7f0f-4d72-8aa6-6b72e0b3e444> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theadventurouswriter.com/blog/5-tips-for-helping-a-grieving-friend/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95734 | 1,046 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Shipping and Handling: $6.96
The Four Cs of Diamonds
CUT: The cut is a diamond's most important characteristic. The way a diamond is cut affects how it handles light and has great influence on the diamond's overall sparkle. The closer to ideal proportions that a diamond is cut, the more light will reflect back to the eye, resulting in the fire and brilliance that make diamonds so beautiful and so popular. Shallow or deep cuts allow light to seep out of the bottom or escape out of the side.
COLOUR: Diamonds with absolutely no colour are extremely rare. Colour actually refers to a diamond's lack of colour with D being perfectly colourless. The subtle differences in colour among most gem-quality diamonds are due to traces of other elements that were present during the diamond’s formation millions of years ago. Diamonds are rated on a letter scale indicating the degree of yellowish tinge from D all the way to Z, which is markedly yellowy. E and F are colourless to the naked eye, and G, H and I will appear very nearly colourless, particularly in a gold setting. After cut, colour is generally considered the second most important characteristic when selecting a diamond.
While the fire of perfectly colourless diamonds will never go out of style, modern jewellers and jewellery lovers have discovered the incredible beauty of coloured diamonds in gorgeous shades of blue, green, pink, chocolate and even black, and may people prize yellow (or "canary") diamonds for their luminous colour.
CLARITY: Diamonds usually contain "inclusions", which are small markers of how the diamond formed deep within the earth. Very few diamonds are without inclusions, and such stones are termed "flawless." Inclusions do not necessarily affect beauty, but they do affect value. Many imperfections are microscopic and those with the least and smallest imperfections receive the highest clarity grades.
Ratings & Reviews
(average rating based on 15 reviews)
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Reviewed by 15 customers
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It's a beautiful ring and I love these blue diamonds with my emerald ring, or even just the blue diamond ring by itself. I agree though with the other reviewer. I wish the stones were bigger but fewer rather than the stones going all the way but only a few can be seen..
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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( 5 of 5 customers found this review helpful)
Not the same as advertised!
I ordered this ring in red. I was very disapointed that the red was not the same color as advertised! The diamonds are so dark they are almost black! The only reason for purchasing was the bright red color. The rest of the ring is very nice although the settings are a bit uneven. If given the opportunity to exchange this for one that is closer to the advertisement, I would feel more confident in shopping for jewellery on TSC in the future, for the moment, I won't run the risk again.
Bottom Line No, I would not recommend this to a friend
( 1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
I bought this ring and I am very happy with the quality. I have received complements on it every time I wear it.
( 2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)
I ordered this ring in blue. Although the diamonds are small I was pleased with the brightteal colour. The detail work on the silver wasalso very nice.
( 7 of 8 customers found this review helpful)
Not a Keeper!
from Medicine Hat, Alberta
This ring doesn't do a thing for me, although I do like the filagree work. I previously purchased a blue diamond and silver ring (item 457-214) and got way more value for my money. This little one will just get lost amongst all my other rings and you can't even notice it on your finger. The stones are tiny and dull. It's not worth the money. What a disappointment! I received it today and it's going back today!
( 10 of 11 customers found this review helpful)
Not a hit
from thunder bay
If theres one thing i know real well its blue diamonds. I ordered this to go with my blue diamond white gold engagement ring. Most of my silver goes well so I was expecting a good match. Lets face it with the price of gold were stuck with silver. I don't mind because a well made silver ring lasts as long as a gold one. I recieved this ring and was so disappointed. The blue diamonds were in no way even close to the color of my ring. There dark and dull. The price of this silver ring with this low quality stones don't jive. I have been sending a lot of jewelry back because of this. TSC if your going to make silver rings and charge triple what silver is worth then at least have bright colorful stones to offset the overpricing.
larger stones would be great
tried to wear this with my wedding band, but not comfortable so I wear it alone. agree with others who have said that would have preferred a white setting for the colored stones, not black, they make the darker colors look even darker,,, also would have liked to see fewer but larger stones rather than go 3/4 of the way around that no one sees---next time I can afford it , I'll get another to stack,,,,love all the beautiful work on the side
( 4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)
from Nepean, Ontario
I purchased this ring with black diamonds and I was not disappointed when I received the piece. I have no complaints about the colour, shape, setting or workmanship...I have had many compliments about how lovely the ring is and no one would guess that it was so reasonably priced.
( 4 of 8 customers found this review helpful)
I received the "brown" diamond ring. It is well made. The colour of the champagne diamonds is true to the picture, but the prongs are plated with yellow gold not rose gold as seen in the picture. Although it is a very nice ring, the coloring of the ring blends in so much with my skin that you hardly notice the ring at all unless it is in direct sunlight.
( 8 of 13 customers found this review helpful)
CHEAP and for a reason :(
I was so happy to receive this ring as it was such a great deal. BUT, it looks so nice on camera and not at all in person. I sent it back right away. It doesn't look expensive or even reasonable looking for the price. Sorry TSC! | <urn:uuid:f6fd20a6-f412-4b95-8671-d0f7355fc56e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/Diamonds-in-Silver/Rings/Half-Carat-Diamond-Sterling-Silver-Ring/pages/productdetails?nav=R:459154 | 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 | 0.959148 | 1,395 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Being at work does not, any more, mean being physically present within the four walls of your office. Thanks to technology, workers now have the option of working from home with the same efficiency, if not more.
This is an even more viable option for individuals whose work is not confined to the office and involves out-of-office work. Moreover, it is a godsend for women employees who after maternity absence can resume work from home faster as it cuts out commuting.
A LinkedIn survey of upwards of 7,000 worldwide revealed that three-fourth of them felt that flexible hours and telecommuting would be the defining forces for employment in the future. They opined that it had multiple advantages that made it surpass conventional work environments.
Companies would have lesser overheads, no coffee to be provided, less office stationery, lower electricity consumption and telephone calls curtailed would amount to a lot of saved cash. Moreover, there would be more desks and office-spaces available for other work.
In addition it would make it easier for them to retain their employees and not lose them to other employers who allow this flexibility. Moreover, it would decrease absenteeism and the onus would shift from working within prescribed hours to meeting pre-scheduled work targets.
On the reverse side, working in their pajamas’, without being monitored and without colleagues could become gloomy and reduce enthusiasm. The line between private and professional lines could blur to such an extent that one loses sight of the fact, that even though they may be in the comfortable confines of their homes, they are actually supposed to be doing office work.
The biggest loss would be in terms of lack of contact with people and discussing thoughts and sharing ideas that are such a vital ingredient in successful work accomplishments.
One way, workers from home, can overcome this shortcoming is by joining virtual, LinkedIn Groups, that pertain to the type of work that their workplace does and share outlooks and opinions, that could usher in an atmosphere of creativity and innovation and prevent stagnation from setting in.
However, those wanting to work from home must understand that you may not find yourself at your productive best when you are surrounded by family and your pet dog. Concentration is the key and a determined focus and steely discipline are indispensable for working from home. Deadlines should be kept in mind and employer expectations should never be belied.
When an employee is allowed to work from his home, he gets the feeling of being valued and trusted enough to do the work, without being monitored. This leads to self-motivation and a feeling of, I must not betray the trust. Employees must set must-do-targets for themselves, even though the television remote is beseeching you to come and watch the latest sporting encounter.
Of course as long you meet your employer’s expectations and accomplish the work assigned to you, it hardly matters to him or her, whether you are playing games at home with your kid and completing the work late into the night – that’s what flexible hours are all about.
The LinkedIn study says that a flexible working environment requires a move from old stereotypes that employees tend to slack off if they are left alone or are not supervised. The study reveals that the truth is different. Workers who work from home feel duty-bound to produce results and repay the trust imposed in them by living up to expectations and in fact even going beyond them – The study says that it can turn out to be one of the most fruitful and rewarding decisions the company will ever make.
The post LinkedIn Study: Allowing Workers To Work From Home Could Be The Wisest Decision Employers Could Make appeared first on EmploymentSpectator. | <urn:uuid:c1fefece-99a9-4395-804e-b911fd799164> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.employmentcrossing.com/lcviewblog.php?id=24366 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97292 | 753 | 1.679688 | 2 |
If you had $75 billion for worthwhile causes, where should you start? That is the question the Copenhagen Consensus project posed to researchers worldwide. John Hoddinott, Mark Rosegrant and Maximo Torrero answered, by building on the project’s 2008 findings that micronutrient interventions are the most effective low-cost investments to combat hunger. To increase food security they argue policymakers should continue to prioritize micronutrient interventions. They also recommend bundling nutrition interventions, increasing global food production, and improving market functioning for the rural poor.
Their research finds that adopting these policies could lead to a significant reduction of hunger. Bundling nutrition interventions, at a cost of about $100 per child could reduce chronic malnutrition by 36 percent in developing countries. Increasing global food production would make food more affordable to the poor and serve as a form of social protection against the negative effects of climate change. This would require an increase in the current annual global public investment to agricultural research and development by $8 to $13 billion. By 2050 the number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by 210 million by spending an additional $8 billion annually.
Given that approximately 80 percent of the hungry in the world live in rural areas this population would benefit from improved market functioning through cellphone accessible market information and reduced barriers to fertilizer access. The authors find that there is up to an 8.35 return for every dollar spent on a subscription to text message of crop market information. In addition, farmers in developing countries are increasingly dependent on imported fertilizer. The fertilizer industry is currently highly concentrated among four tops firms limiting competitive pricing. In order to increase fertilizer affordability for poor farmers the authors encourage policymakers to invest public funds towards the construction of new production capacity. This would encourage local fertilizer production and offset the high start-up costs of building fertilizer plants. | <urn:uuid:8de087cf-c2ea-40a2-84f9-3431798b1a7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ifpri.org/blog/copenhagen-consensus-paper-suggests-investments-improving-food-security | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937925 | 370 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Friday, February 08, 2013
Changing Uses for Bypass Trusts
Every year, each individual who dies in the U.S. can leave a certain amount of money to his or her heirs before facing any federal estate taxes. For example, in 2010, a person who died could leave $3.5 million to his or her heirs (or a charity) estate tax free, and everything over that amount would be taxable by the federal government. Transfers at death to a spouse are not taxable.
Therefore, if a husband died owning $5 million in assets in 2010 and passed everything to his wife, that transfer was not taxable because transfers to spouses at death are not taxable. However, if the wife died later that year owning that $5 million in assets, everything over $3.5 million (her exemption amount) would be taxable by the federal government. Couples would effectively only have the use of one exemption amount unless they did some special planning, or left a chunk of their property to someone other than their spouse.
Estate tax law provided a tool called “bypass trusts” that would allow a spouse to leave an inheritance to the surviving spouse in a special trust. That trust would be taxable and would use up the exemption amount of the first spouse to die. However, the remaining spouse would be able to use the property in that bypass trust to live on, and would also have the use of his or her exemption amount when he or she passed. This planning technique effectively allowed couples to combine their exemption amounts.
Late last year, Congress changed the estate tax rules. For the years 2011 and 2012, each person who dies can pass $5 million free from federal estate taxes. In addition, spouses can combine their exemption amounts without requiring a bypass trust (making the exemptions “portable” between spouses). This change in the law appears to make bypass trusts useless, at least until Congress decides to remove the portability provision from the estate tax law.
However, bypass trusts can still be valuable in many situations, such as:
(1) Remarriage or blended families. You may be concerned that your spouse will remarry and cut the children out of the will after you are gone. Or, you may have a blended family and you may fear that your spouse will disinherit your children in favor of his or her children after you pass. A bypass trust would allow the surviving spouse to have access to the money to live on during life, while providing that everything goes to the children at the surviving spouse’s death.
(2) State estate taxes. Currently, 13 states as well as Washington D.C. have state estate taxes. If you live in one of those states, a bypass trust may be necessary to combine a couple’s exemptions from state estate tax.
(3) Changes in the estate tax law. Estate tax laws have been in flux over the past several years. What if you did an estate plan assuming that bypass trusts were unnecessary, Congress removed the portability provision, and you neglected to update your estate plan? You could be paying thousands or even millions of dollars in taxes that you could have saved by using a bypass trust.
(4) Protecting assets from creditors. If you leave a large inheritance outright to your spouse and children, and a creditor appears on the scene, the creditor may be able to seize all the money. Although many people think that will not happen to their family, divorces, bankruptcies, personal injury lawsuits, and hard economic times can unexpectedly result in a large monetary judgment against a family member.
Although it may appear that bypass trusts have lost their usefulness, there are still many situations in which they can be invaluable tools to help families avoid estate taxes.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Year End Gifts
If you’re like most people, you want to make sure you and your loved ones pay the least amount of tax possible. Many use year-end gift giving as a way to transfer wealth to younger generations and also reduce the overall potential estate tax that will be due upon their death. Below are some steps you can take to make gifts to your heirs without triggering any gift tax liability. Some of these techniques may also reduce your own income tax liability.
A combination of estate and gift tax exemptions can be used to significantly reduce the overall tax liability of your estate. Upon your death, federal estate tax may be owed. A portion of your estate is exempt from the tax. That exemption amount is set by Congress and can change from year to year. For deaths that occur in 2011, the exemption amount is $5 million and the value of an estate in excess of that amount is subject to estate tax.
Many taxpayers make annual gifts to loved ones during their lifetimes, to reduce the overall value of the estate so that it does not exceed the exemption amount in effect at the time of death. It is important to consider that gifts made during your lifetime are subject to a gift tax (equal to the estate tax). However, certain gifts or transfers are not subject to the gift tax, enabling you to make tax-free gifts that benefit your loved ones and reduce the overall taxable value of your estate upon your death.
The annual gift tax exclusion allows each individual to make annual gifts of up to $13,000 to each recipient. There is no limit to the number of recipients who may each receive up to $13,000 totally tax-free. Married couples may gift up to $26,000 to each recipient without triggering any tax liability. This annual exclusion expires on December 31 of each year, and larger gifts may be made by splitting it up into two payments. By making a payment in December and one the following January, you can take advantage of the gift tax exclusion for both years. Keeping annual gifts below $13,000 per recipient ensures that no gift tax return must be filed, and that there is no reduction in the estate tax exemption amount available upon your death.
Annual gifts may also be made in the form of contributions to a §529 College Savings Plan. These, too, are subject to the $13,000 annual gift tax exclusion. Additionally, such contributions may afford the giver with a state tax deduction.
Payment of a beneficiary’s medical expenses is also excluded from the gift tax. There is no limit to the amount of medical expense payments that may be excluded from tax. To qualify, the payment must be made directly to the health care provider and must be the type of expenses that would qualify for an income tax deduction.
If you have a large estate that may be subject to taxes upon your death, making annual gifts during your lifetime can be a simple way to reduce the size of your estate while avoiding negative tax consequences.
Monday, November 05, 2012
Beware of “Simple” Estate Plans
“I just need a simple will.” It’s a phrase estate planning attorneys hear practically every other day. From the client’s perspective, there’s no reason to do anything complicated, especially if it might lead to higher legal fees. Unfortunately, what may appear to be a “simple” estate is all too often rife with complications that, if not addressed during the planning process, can create a nightmare for you and your heirs at some point in the future. Such complications may include:
Probate - Probate is the court process whereby property is transferred after death to individuals named in a will or specified by law if there is no will. Probate can be expensive, public and time consuming. A revocable living trust is a great alternative that allows your estate to be managed more efficiently, at a lower cost and with more privacy than probating a will. A living trust can be more expensive to establish, but will avoid a complex probate proceeding. Even in states where probate is relatively simple, you may wish to set up a living trust to hold out of state property or for other reasons.
Minor Children - If you have minor children, you not only need to nominate a guardian, but you also need to set up a trust to hold property for those children. If both parents pass away, and the child does not have a trust, the child’s inheritance could be held by the court until he or she turns 18, at which time the entire inheritance may be given to the child. By setting up a trust, which doesn’t have to come into existence until you pass away, you are ensuring that any money left to your child can be used for educational and living expenses and can be administered by someone you trust. You can also protect the inheritance you leave your beneficiaries from a future divorce as well as creditors.
Second Marriages - Couples in which one or both of the spouses have children from a prior relationship should carefully consider whether a “simple” will is adequate. All too often, spouses execute simple wills in which they leave everything to each other, and then divide the property among their children. After the first spouse passes away, the second spouse inherits everything. That spouse may later get remarried and leave everything he or she received to the new spouse or to his or her own children, thereby depriving the former spouse’s children of any inheritance. Couples in such situations should establish a special marital trust to ensure children of both spouses will be provided for.
Taxes - Although in 2011 and 2012, federal estate taxes only apply to estates over $5 million for individuals and $10 million for couples, that doesn’t mean that anyone with an estate under that amount should forget about tax planning. Many states still impose a state estate tax that should be planned around. Also, in 2013 the estate tax laws are slated to change, possibly with a much lower exemption amount.
Incapacity Planning – Estate planning is not only about death planning. What happens if you become disabled? You need to have proper documents to enable someone you trust to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated. There are a myriad of options that you need to be aware of when authorizing someone to make decisions on your behalf, whether for your medical care or your financial affairs. If you don’t establish these important documents while you have capacity, your loved ones may have to go through an expensive and time-consuming guardianship or conservatorship proceeding to petition a judge to allow him or her to make decisions on your behalf.
By failing to properly address potential obstacles, over the long term, a “simple” will can turn out to be incredibly costly. An experienced estate planning attorney can provide valuable insight and offer effective mechanisms to ensure your wishes are carried out in the most efficient manner possible while providing protection and comfort for you and your loved ones for years to come.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
When To Distribute Trust Assets After Death
You have to wait until the survivorship period is over before you can distribute any property to anyone. This will be in the trust--it is usually thirty (30) days, but can be longer. A person has to survive at least that long after there's been a death to inherit anything. This is to prevent property going to someone, and then having them die and leave the property to someone else entirely. You can transfer the house the day after that period ends. But settling an estate takes time. Please don't distribute anything until you're sure you know what the bills and debts there are to pay off and whether there will be income taxes due for the last year of the decedent's life. Beneficiaries are often in a big hurry to inherit, but prudent trustees take their time and let beneficiaries know that debts and bills come first.
The lawyers at Sowards Law Firm assist clients with Estate Planning, Wills, Living Trusts, Probate, Estate Administration, Medi-Cal Planning, Business Law and LLC Preparation throughout California, including clients located in and around, Oakland, Palo Alto, Petaluma, Pleasanton, Point Reyes, Redwood City, Richmond, Salinas, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Rafael, San Ramon, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Union City and Vallejo. | <urn:uuid:556e2c33-e154-48c3-aad9-0595c99e8b2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sowardslawfirm.com/lawyer/blog_category/Trust_Administration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969333 | 2,508 | 2.03125 | 2 |
How to leverage existing technology to gain
a competitive advantage
Photography by Matt Greenslade
Mission-critical applications are the lifeblood for most large enterprises, which often rely on mainframes for data and transaction processing. While these systems are crucial for business operations, many organizations perceive them as a costly burden keeping enterprises from innovating and remaining competitive.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Legacy applications contain a wealth of knowledge and logic that can be leveraged to push businesses into surprising new directions. The problem many IT departments face, though, is learning how to do this without breaking the bank.
As Kristof Kloeckner, general manager of IBM Rational* Software, explains, this shouldn’t be an issue. Using the proper tools, techniques and collaborative teamwork, IT can combine existing code and knowledge with newer techniques and technology to speed delivery of new services. The results? Enterprises remain competitive and—somewhat counterintuitively—save money.
Q. Are enterprises able to react quickly to emerging business opportunities while also dealing with internal complexities such as older, existing investments in applications?
A. When you look at phenomena like mobile computing or the consumerization of IT interfaces, there’s a user expectation that IT—based services will be delivered faster, in a very consumable manner and with high quality. But if an enterprise develops applications in a traditional fashion, typically with 18-month cycles, I don’t think what they’re delivering can keep up with customer expectations. The bottom line is, they will lose that competitive edge. When you then take into account that fewer applications are single-system, single-platform applications, but are instead networked with the capabilities of many different systems—and sometimes not even restricted to one enterprise—you can see how complexity can lead to problems. We know, for instance, that more than 50 percent of IT projects are ultimately not successful. Why? Because the complexity of the underlying infrastructure puts a huge strain on development resources. If you put fragmentation on top of that—as related to processes, skills and development environments—you have a very complex mix of issues to deal with. So although, yes, while emerging technologies are a help to the consumer, they can also be extremely challenging for IT to manage.
Q. Is that why companies are increasingly addressing application-modernization issues?
A. Legacy applications represent assets that generations of developers have worked on, and they embody tremendous innovation and investment. One number I’ve seen, from IBM market analysis and estimates based on IT industry consultant and other data reports, is $4.5 trillion in cumulative investment in software from 1995 to 2010 alone. We can’t squander this heritage. But sadly, 70 to 80 percent of the development effort taking place within mature enterprises is actually spent on maintaining existing systems. This preoccupation with “keeping the lights on” prevents them from reacting to new challenges and opportunities in an agile fashion. Reducing the amount of effort spent on maintenance by looking at your application portfolio and deciding what you need to concentrate on is very important. That’s why IBM has a focus on enterprise modernization solutions to help customers adopt a more incremental and continuous approach for modernizing existing software assets, skills and infrastructure. You need to be able to look at the entire portfolio to determine what is and isn’t differentiating. To stay competitive, companies must establish business priorities for IT investments. Our application portfolio management solution gives companies the ability to jump-start this process. Let me provide an example: One of our customers, a large North American bank, conducted a very detailed analysis of its existing applications and was able to reduce the number of applications it had in service from about 600 to 147. That’s significant. You remove redundancy, you remove unnecessary complication, you allow your team to focus, you create critical mass for those applications that really make a difference and provide a competitive advantage—and you save money.
“IBM has a focus on enterprise modernization solutions to help customers adopt a more incremental and continuous approach for modernizing existing software assets, skills and infrastructure.”—Kristof Kloeckner, GM of IBM Rational Software
Search our new 2013 Buyer's Guide.
Cover Story | How to leverage existing technology to gain
a competitive advantage
Cover Story | The mainframe is entering new markets and encouraging new uses | <urn:uuid:840fb5c9-0784-4345-88d2-2c2f964aa1d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibmsystemsmag.com/mainframe/Business-Strategy/Competitive-Advantage/Agile-Thinking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934526 | 897 | 1.734375 | 2 |
ETS loophole to halve cost for NZ's biggest carbon emitters
New Zealand's acceptance of carbon credits banned from the European Union's emissions trading scheme means major industrial greenhouse gas emitters face half the cost of carbon faced by emitters in Europe and other countries implementing carbon-pricing schemes.
ETS broker and commentator Lizzie Chambers says in her weekly Carbon Match newsletter that three types of carbon credit - known by the acronyms CER, ERU, and RMU - face restrictions in the EU ETS, but remain "good tender" in the New Zealand ETS.
The value of such credits has sunk on global carbon markets to around half the value of EU-compliant credits.
These credits can "only be used in small proportions by emitters in the EU ETS," says Chambers. "The logical thing from an emitter's perspective is now to ... switch into (such) units wherever possible."
Electricity generators, oil companies, and non-exporting energy-intensive industries are on the hook for the cost of negating one in every two tonnes of carbon emitted each year, with an upper limit price of $25 per tonne.
However, over-supply and dysfunction in the EU ETS have sent carbon prices available to New Zealand emitters plunging to around $8 a tonne late last year and as little as $5 a tonne this week.
"The idea that we face a European carbon price here in New Zealand is not correct," says Chambers. "This year, it should be possible for emitters to achieve below half those levels. Know the rules, and work with what you've got," says Chambers, who is critical of New Zealand's "lack of ambition" on actual climate change action.
Where other countries were creating opportunities to spend ETS funds on carbon-reducing projects, New Zealand was relying on foreign-derived carbon credits traded in the ETS.
"An ETS which does nothing but drive cash offshore is not consistent with that and will ultimately represent a terrible loss of what could have been really dynamic capital," says Chambers.
Ollie Belton, of Christchurch-based Permanent Forests International, noted foreign carbon was already the "credit of choice" last year, as shown by the release of surrender information for the first calendar year of the scheme's operation.
"Worryingly, the cheapest international units were used in abundance. ERUs and RMUs trade at a discount to CERs and accounted for over 44% of all units retired."
Some 3.17million RMUs were surrendered under the ETS in 2011, around one-fifth of the total of 16.34 million units surrendered. RMUs, or Removal Units, are derived from a little-known carbon offset involving Russian and Hungarian forests called RMUs (Removal Units). That compared with no RMUs surrendered in 2010, when the scheme had only run for six months.
"The NZ ETS is the only trading scheme in the world to accept RMUs," said Belton. "So far only 3.9 million RMUs have been issued by Hungary and New Zealand looks to be the home for most of them."
Even greater was the contribution of 4.27 million ERUs (Emissions Reductions Units), from zero in 2010, which relate to offsets allowed in developed countries to underpin schemes that cut carbon emissions.
Certain ERUs contain the same industrial gases as are found in some CERs (Carbon Emissions Reduction) units and are banned under the EU ETS.
While New Zealand has followed the EU and banned CERs containing such gases from next April, it has not done the same with ERUs derived from the same banned gases.
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While you were sleeping Cautious calm returns | <urn:uuid:6e7e9e58-aaca-4e7e-9d26-4e8574927621> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/fda194e5/ets-loophole-to-halve-cost-for-nz-s-biggest-carbon-emitters.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948061 | 898 | 2.375 | 2 |
Different Roads Toward Quantum Criticality
OCTOBER 17, 2007
Denis McWhan still vividly remembers his Physical Review Letter on the effect of pressure to the antiferromagnetic ordering in chromium, 40 years after its publication:
“Before doing experiments I usually went in to see Conyers Herring to bounce ideas off of him. I asked whether it would be interesting to determine the critical pressure for the suppression of antiferromagnetism in [chromium (Cr)] and his response was, ‘Where are you going to get the megabar?’ I said, ‘Oh, no problem. The Néel temperature drops at 6 degrees per kilobar, so I only need 60 kbars.’ He smiled and said I should try the experiment.”
This exchange led to the first real attempt to characterize the magnetic P-T phase diagram of chromium. The study of magnetism in Cr was still in its infancy in 1967 when McWhan discovered the exponential dependence of the magnetic order on pressure, thereby validating a seminal theory of spin density wave magnetism and anticipating the modern interest in so-called quantum phase transitions. Today, Cr stands as the archetypical spin density wave system; nevertheless, the P-T phase diagram remains incomplete. It seems fitting, therefore, that the next advance in the phase diagram of this model system was also published in Physical Review Letters exactly 40 years later. The work was led by Yejun Feng (XSD-MM) and graduate student Rafael Jaramillo, working in the group of Prof. Thomas F. Rosenbaum at The University of Chicago, in addition to a group of scientists from both the Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, and from the Carnegie Institute of Washington and the University College of London.
The study of magnetic phase diagrams is essential to understanding the organizing principles of correlated electrons, as well as understanding the way in which physical parameters determine material properties. Advances on an important model system such as Cr are therefore relevant to two separate but parallel fields, one being the fundamental physics of emergent magnetism, and the other the development of advanced materials for technological application. The emergence of magnetism at very low temperatures is controlled by quantum mechanics rather than thermal energy. The theory of such so-called quantum phase transitions, first formulated in the 1970s by John Hertz at The University of Chicago, has become central to our modern understanding of correlated electrons and is an important tool in the study of enigmatic materials such as high-temperature superconductors and so-called heavy Fermion systems. However, due to the inherent complexity of such systems there is a need to understand the relevant physics in a simplified model system such as Cr. On the technological front, the ability to produce useful electronic and magnetic materials by tuning physical parameters holds tremendous promise for the electronics and information processing industries. Studying the effect of pressure on magnetism elucidates the dependence of electron correlation on lattice spacing and helps clarify the effects of chemical doping.
To address these questions, the researchers employed a new generation of instruments: high-energy synchotron radiation at Advanced Photon Source sectors 4 (X-ray Operations and Research) and 16 High-Pressure Collaboration Access Team), laser-diced miniature single-crystal samples, and a membrane-controlled diamond anvil cell to provide adjustable high pressure at low temperatures, all of which were unavailable to McWhan in 1967. In fact, this work is believed to be the first time non-resonant x-ray magnetic scattering has been applied for the study of magnetic ordering under pressure.
The results of this study yield insights into the microscopic ordering of itinerant magnetism in Cr under pressure which are only accessible to high resolution x-ray diffraction. The authors make the case for a semi-rigid band structure approaching the quantum phase transition and pinpoint the exact functional forms for the evolution of the spin and charge order parameters. From these results it is concluded that the magnetism is destabilized by an increase in electron kinetic energy relative to the magnetic potential energy.
This effect of pressure on magnetic order is readily compared to that of chemical doping. By collapsing the phase diagrams of both pressure and vanadium doping (see figure) the divergence of these two approaches to quantum criticality is brought into sharp relief. Whereas under pressure the exponential suppression continues to the highest measured pressures, with doping such evolution is cut off above a dopant concentration of 2.5%. Chemical doping, which is characterized by both static disorder and a varying electron density, therefore hastens the onset of quantum criticality.
This work expands the phase diagram of a canonical model system and provides new insights into the microscopic details of itinerant magnetism. By probing both spin and charge order using x-ray diffraction it was possible to identify the driving factor in the suppression of magnetic order. The resulting picture is delightfully simple and suggests that chromium under pressure may well be an ideal laboratory for the study of emergent magnetism at a quantum phase transition. To this end, the same group of researchers at The University of Chicago and the Advanced Photon Source are actively pursuing the critical region, where the disappearing diffraction signals and stringent requirements for pressure control make the experiment more challenging than ever. - Yejun Feng
Contact: Yejun Feng, firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:c2b37f8a-47f1-4566-a354-820bb1359e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ixs04.aps.anl.gov/Science/Highlights/Content/APS_SCIENCE_20071017.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91851 | 1,107 | 2.453125 | 2 |
ACCUPLACER is HCCC’s placement test. ACCUPLACER tests are computer-adaptive. This means that the computer automatically determines which questions are presented based on your answers to previous questions. This technique “zeroes-in” on just the right questions to ask you without being too easy or too difficult. Your final score on each test is determined by two things: how many questions you answered correctly, and the difficulty level of the questions you answered correctly. A proctor will be present to answer questions or to assist first-time computer users.
How much computer experience do I need to take the test?
Although you will be taking these tests on a computer, it is not necessary that you have extensive skills. The number of questions on each test ranges from 17 to 22. The questions will appear one at a time on the computer screen. The questions are multiple-choice and you will only need to use the mouse or space bar on the keyboard to select the desired answer. The test will begin with a tutorial explaining how to respond to each question type. To take the writing portion of the test you will need to type your essay in a standard Microsoft word processor.
What are the scores used for?
At the conclusion of the test, the computer automatically determines your placement into first-semester English and math classes using criteria established by our faculty and staff. Course placements made on the basis of the test scores serve as a beginning step in the advisement and course registration process. The goal is to place you in courses that best fit your abilities. Please note that your scores will not effect, in any way, your admission to HCCC.
How does it work?
ACCUPLACER measures your abilities in English and Math, and you may be required to take one or both parts (the proctor will tell you what you need to take). You will be entering your information into the computer, so if you’re not familiar with them be sure to complete the brief tutorial before starting the assessment. You may not use a calculator unless ACCUPLACER provides one for you, and no web assistance is allowed at any time.
What should I bring?
You will need to bring an official photo ID. Make sure you know your social security number. Any and all other materials will be provided for you by the college.
How much does it cost?
ACCUPLACER is free of charge. | <urn:uuid:d2726ca7-4904-4536-b8e9-344b9dc72cf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hccc.ntcnet.com/placement_testing/what_is_accuplacer/ | 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 | 0.931212 | 505 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Bordered by Orange County and the Inland Empire in the north, the Mexican border in the south, Pacific Ocean to the west, deserts to the east, and blessed with an ideal climate San Diego is California’s paradise. This vibrant area is a top destination for everything from its 70 miles of sandy beaches to arts, culture and wild animals.
The second most populous county in California with over 3 million residents (2010 Census,) the San Diego area contains 16 significant naval and military locations including Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Established in 1948, the Maritime Museum of San Diego is home to the largest collection of historic sea vessels in the United States. The USS Midway Museum consists of the aircraft carrier Midway and is the largest museum devoted to carriers and naval aviation.
San Diego County serves up a myriad of enticing menu options in its urban scene. The Gaslamp Quarter in the city of San Diego is considered Southern California's premier dining, shopping and entertainment district. The Quarter is home to a truly eclectic blend of food, fun and culture all within one of San Diego's most historic areas. San Diego’s North County boasts a variety of over 50 vineyards, from larger wineries that feature guided tours and full gift shops to small family-run places. Live music can be enjoyed at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, an outdoor performing arts theater in Chula Vista, the largest concert venue of its size in the San Diego area.
Optimum weather conditions and diverse landscapes-including beaches, mountains, deserts and rural back country offers a list of outdoor recreational possibilities that is virtually endless. There are more than 100 miles of breathtaking trails within the county park system. Huntington Beach features the most consistent waves on the West Coast, an attribute that helped the city receive the nickname, Surf City USA®. Huntington Beach has been consistently ranked as of the United States safest large cities. San Diego County has a freshwater system of lakes ideal for all anglers. Although trout can be snagged during the right time, largemouth bass is king here. The 90+ San Diego Golf courses scattered throughout San Diego County is the last undiscovered, very affordable, “all-around” family fun vacation spots and SERIOUS golf destinations in the U.S.A.
Popular destinations include; Mount Laguna Observatory, the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Sea World, Balboa Park, Legoland, Oceanside Harbor, Julian Mining Company, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego Botanic Garden, Mission Bay Park and Mission Trails Regional Park.
The area which is now San Diego County was historically home to the Kumeyaay, Luiseño, Cupeño, and Cahuilla Native Americans for more than 10,000 years. Today, San Diego County has 18 federally recognized Indian reservations, more than any other county in the United States. In 1542, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on the west coast. Juan Cabrillo claimed the entire area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. European settlement began with the founding of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá, by Spanish pioneers, in 1769. This county was part of Alta California under the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the Mexican revolution. From 1821 through 1848 this area was part of Mexico until the Mexican-American war and the admission of California to the US. San Diego County was one of the original counties of California, and it was created at the time of California statehood in 1850. The county was named for San Diego Bay, which had been rechristened in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno in honor of the Franciscan St. Didacus of Alcalá, known in Spanish as San Diego de Alcalá de Henares, and whose name was borne by Vizcaíno's flagship. Originally San Diego County was quite large, and it included all of southern California that was south and east of Los Angeles County from the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River. During the later part of the 19th century changes to the borders of the country created Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial Counties.
San Diego County has a varied topography of everything from coastline to mountains to desert. The county’s 70 miles of coastline gives way to hills, mesas, and small canyons. The western third of the county is primarily urban and the northeast portion is mostly undeveloped backcountry of mountains and desert. The Santa Ana, San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, Laguna, Palomar and Viejas mountains are all part of San Diego County’s share of the Peninsular Range which runs predominantly north-south. Palomar Mountain is home to the Palomar Observatory. Viejas Mountain can be seen from parts of metropolitan San Diego. The Sonoran Desert resides to the far-east, Cleveland National Forest is spread across the central portion of the county, and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park occupies most of the northeast. Top Picks for lake fishing in San Diego County include; Lake Cuyamaca, Dixon Lake, Lower Otay Reservior, Lake Jennings, Lake Miramar, Lake Morena, Lake Murray, San Vicente Reservoir, Chollas Lake, and Santee Lakes. El Capitan is the only reservoir that allows the use of personal watercraft, such as jetskis. Major rivers in the county include Santa Margarita, San Luis Rey, San Dieguito, San Diego, Sweetwater, and the Otay rivers.
San Diego is one of the top-ten best climates in the Farmer's Almanac and is one of the two best summer climates in America as scored by The Weather Channel. Under the Köppen climate classification system, the San Diego area straddles areas of Mediterranean climate to the north and Semi-arid climate to the south and east. As a result, it is often described as arid Mediterranean and Semi-arid Steppe. The climate in the San Diego area often varies significantly over short geographical distances due to different topography resulting in microclimates. Frequently, particularly during the "May gray/June gloom" period, a thick "marine layer" cloud cover will keep the air cool and damp within a few miles of the coast, but will yield to bright cloudless sunshine approximately 5–10 inland. Inland areas tend to experience much more significant temperature variations than coastal areas, where the ocean serves as a moderating influence. Thus, for example, downtown San Diego averages January lows of 50 °F and August highs of 78 °F . The city of El Cajon, just 10 miles inland from downtown San Diego, averages January lows of 42 °F and August highs of 88 °F. Rainfall along the coast averages about 10 inches of precipitation annually. The months of December through March supply most of the rain, with February the only month averaging 2 inches or more of rain. The months of May through September tend to be almost completely dry. Rainfall is usually greater in the higher elevations of San Diego; some of the higher elevation areas of San Diego can receive 11–15 inches of rain a year. Snow in the city of San Diego is so rare that it has been observed only five times in the century-and-a-half that records have been kept.
Learn more about the San Diego Region including these areas:
The San Diego County area has a wide variety of attractions including the many golf courses, beautiful mountains, deserts, thoroughbred horse racing, miles of beaches, Sea World and beautiful Mission Bay ... just to name a few!
CLICK HERE to view San Diego attractions. Check back often as more attractions will be added.
With so much to explore, isn't it time to Camp California? Make your campground or RV Park reservation now. Click here. | <urn:uuid:228d21e2-4355-4c11-a0d0-7989bf055806> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.camp-california.com/San-Diego-Area/california-san-diego-visitor-camping-information.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946466 | 1,628 | 1.5 | 2 |
- Showing 4 posts filed under: Policy [–], School [–] published between Nov 01, 2009 and Nov 30, 2009 [Show all]
"I'm a dominating bully"
Three students from Milwaukee’s Custer High School, two girls and a boy, didn’t offer research evidence or a PowerPoint presentation. They just described incidents they have been involved in as bullies and as victims, gave their thoughts on why students act the way they do — and held the rapt attention of the audience.
All three are part of the Violence Free Zone project at Custer, run by Running Rebels, a local organization that aims to direct teens away from violent behavior.
Restorative justice: From principles to practice
Restorative justice is not only a practice it’s a philosophy. A school is working within a restorative justice framework when the primary focus is on relationship building: student-to-student; adult-to-student; and adult-to-adult. A whole school model of restorative justice promotes a continuum of practices that are used like tools for different situations. Although restorative justice practices take different forms like, for example, mini-conferences, peer mediation, and talking circles they are similar insomuch as they use restorative communication as the norm. These include: (1) speaking calmly, (2) speaking respectfully, (3) using simple, straightforward language, (4) being sensitive to cultural differences, and (5) using the language of restoration with everyone.
Stop bullying now
Attending the Law School’s conference on bullying yesterday took me back vividly to the one and only time I was bullied. It only lasted about 24 hours, but it made such an impact on me that I’ll remember it always.
When I was in sixth grade, our class bully threatened to kill me because I beat him out for the basketball team. I was traumatized, because he had flunked two times and was physically superior to everyone in my class.
Implementing restorative justice: A guide for schools
Recently, the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority released the guide Implementing Restorative Justice: A guide for Schools as part of a series of resources created to help with the statewide implementation of restorative justice for working with young offenders. Developed with assistance from juvenile justice practitioners and school personnel, it provides guidance for implementing policy and practice in both elementary and secondary schools. The goals of the guide include:
- Introduce to school personnel the concepts of restorative justice and restorative discipline.
- Offer new tools that can reduce the need for school exclusion and juvenile justice system involvement in school misconduct.
- Offer ways to enhance the school environment to prevent conflict and restore relationships after conflict arises. | <urn:uuid:c9562c78-2cb3-422e-8b12-caa75c7fdc67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/?Subject:list=Policy&Subject:list=School&from:date=2009-11-01%2000:00:00&to:date=2009-12-01%2000:00:00 | 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 | 0.955539 | 562 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The word on the street is that a new kind of Facebook virus is out there to get us. I don't really know any details on that. My sister, however, had been searching the net, and from the huge result set of sites about "Facebook virus", she was getting a bit nervous.
We tried three different virus / trojan cleaners, but none of these reported about any installed virus og trojan. Then it struck me that it could be something with her settings. The following change of settings is a classic within the web developer community, because it enables a developer to see the last change he/she made properly.
In Internet Explorer, go to
Tools -> Internet Options and click Settings under "Temporary Internet Files". Here you check "Every visit to the page". Click OK twice.
The default setting is "Automatically". I'm not sure about what algorithm that is behind "Automatically", but basically it all comes down to how and when to use cached items on your laptop instead of downloading them from the web page in question.
After doing this change my sisters problems with Facebook were gone.
PS. The computer acting wierd and her problems with Facebook had nothing to do with each other. But that's a different posting... | <urn:uuid:31b4fe73-a6e7-495d-bbd9-af9392361eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christer.dk/2008/08/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968268 | 258 | 1.695313 | 2 |
If you own a clothing boutique, you'll frequently need to restock the inventory following a specific clothing lines are sold out. Buying clothing at wholesale cost is a good way to earn profit. Many retailers targeted at buying clothes an inexpensive price and sell them at a high price.
Before you sell an item, you are required to have federal tax identification. The federal tax identification can be acquired in the IRS website. Using a business tax ID entitles you to definitely open a banking account beneath your company name. By opening a business account, you can separate between your business and personal income. In addition, you need a vendor license. Most wholesalers asks the shoppers to exhibit the seller license. Without a vendor license, you will not be allowed to purchase the clothing at wholesale price. The seller license proves that you've a physical retail store.
You will find hundreds and maybe thousands of wholesale fashion clothing suppliers available on the market. It is best to shop at the local store where you live. While in the local store, you can personally look into the quality of the clothes. Should you shop online, it will likely be more difficult to look for the legitimacy from the suppliers. It is advisable to buy from online shop that show the present picture of the clothes. By analyzing the photo, you will know the condition of the clothes. Types of places where one can shop for wholesale clothing online include eBay, Craigslist, Wholesale Central and etc. It is important to compare the costs between different Clothing wholesale stores to be able to find one that offers the least expensive deal. Wholesale fashion clothing is usually sold in bulk. The larger the bulk order, the higher the discount you're going to get. You need to only buy just as much clothing since you need. | <urn:uuid:79ae5686-3098-4c2b-b8c8-a8877f4523a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eyeuser.com/blogs/viewstory/920093 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956949 | 358 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Economic Report of the President together with The Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers
by The Council Of Economic Advisors
Government Printing Office, 448 pages, $34.50
The Employment Act of 1946 committed the federal government to the pursuit of “maximum employment, production and purchasing power,” a commitment whose cash value has fluctuated drastically from time to time. It also established the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), to be appointed by the president in order to provide him with objective economic analysis and advice contributing to the achievement of those goals.
In its early years the CEA stuck close to the central macroeconomic issues of “employment, production and purchasing power.” Inevitably, as the economy itself, and the federal government’s involvement in it, became more complicated, the CEA took on a much wider range of issues of economic analysis and policy. Today it functions as a sort of all-purpose economic consulting firm with only one client, the president. It is pretty small, as consulting firms go: the chairman and two members are still appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and the professional staff numbers just twenty-one, including research assistants. The effectiveness of the CEA depends almost entirely on the extent to which each president wants to hear what the best analytical and empirical research has to say about the hot issues, and on the chemistry between the CEA chairman and his client, the chairman at present being R. Glenn Hubbard, who is on leave from the Columbia University economics department. Somehow I do not see George W. Bush as actually panting for those closely argued memos, but I hope I am wrong.
This year’s Economic Report runs to 300 pages of text, including many expository tables and graphs, plus fifteen or so pages of administrative detail, and roughly 125 pages of precious “Statistical Tables Relating to Income, Employment and Production,” most of them including data going back as far as the mid-1950s. They are not everything you always wanted to know about the US economy, but they are a lot of it.
The text itself has to walk a very thin and winding line. The three members and many of the senior staff are on temporary leave from university posts. In a few years they will go back to their departments, their teaching, and their research. They do not want to say dumb things in public, to look like fools to their students, their academic colleagues, and themselves. But they are working for the president now. No matter what they tell him in internal memos—we’ll never know—they have to follow the party line in the Report. Even if this or that favorite presidential idea or policy proposal is pointless or wrongheaded—and it has been known to happen—the Report has to take it seriously, in fact solemnly, and argue for it with whatever ingenuity can be scraped together. Nor can the CEA afford to be coyly noncommittal; the political hacks and ideologues in the White House are watching every word.
The 2002 Report has a few good moments and some bad moments, but mostly it has bland moments … | <urn:uuid:74e1f6aa-9b88-45ee-a3cf-b78a4de9e580> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2002/apr/11/party-line/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975439 | 647 | 1.960938 | 2 |
William F. Jasper
After months of initiatives and statements from the new Obama administration indicating it intended to reverse U.S. policy and reopen relations with Syria, President Obama, on May 7, signed an executive order renewing sanctions on Damascus that had been put in place by President George W. Bush in 2004.
As Iran celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Khomeini Revolution and the American hostage crisis, U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were both talking about talking — with each other. Ahmadinejad, on February 10, said his country "is ready to hold talks, but talks in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect." He made the remarks at a rally to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when members of the PLO-trained Revolutionary Guards took over the U.S. embassy and held the embassy personnel hostage for 444 days.
Less than two weeks after Iraq’s provincial elections, the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki welcomed a large high-level delegation from Iran. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki led the delegation, which visited Baghdad on February 11 and included representatives from the Central Bank and oil, trade, and energy ministries. Mottaki met with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, as well as Prime Minister al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani.
Provincial council elections in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces on January 31 strengthened Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party, a militant Shia Islamic group, while also bringing many Sunnis who had boycotted the 2005 elections back into the political process. More than 14,400 candidates ran for 440 seats in the councils, which appoint the provincial governor and oversee finance and reconstruction. The three provinces of the Kurdish autonomous region and Kirkuk will hold elections in May.
Rather than merely calling Vladimir Putin on the telephone to congratulate him on his March 4 election victory for a new term as president of Russia, Silvio Berlusconi hopped in his jet and headed for Sochi, the Russian resort town that will be the site for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Italian billionaire and media mogul, who resigned his position as Italy’s prime minister last November, is embroiled in legal battles over charges of bribery, corruption, illegal wiretapping, and sex with an underage prostitute, but those concerns took back burner to his party time with Putin.
Vladimir Putin claimed victory in Russia’s presidential election on Sunday, March 4. "I promised you we would win, and we won — glory to Russia!" he proclaimed to a throng of supporters at Moscow’s Manezh Square, in front of the Kremlin, as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Marta Andreasen (left), the courageous former chief accountant of the European Union, will not give up. In 2002 she was fired for refusing to sign off on the European Commission’s accounts. But she has continued to hold the EU politicians and eurocrats in Brussels to account, exposing fraud, waste and corruption on her website, http://www.martaandreasen.com. In 2009 she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), an office she uses to shine the light of exposure on the dark dealings of the EU’s priviledged politicians and civil “servants.” In a January 26 article entitled “MEPs should hang heads in shame over ‘jollies,’” published by Public ServiceEurope, Ms. Andreasen exposed recent records of lavish spending by the eurocrats for foreign junkets.
“We need a larger firewall.” So declared Christine Lagarde (left), Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a speech in Berlin on January 23, in which she called on taxpayers of the world to chip in $1 trillion to the IMF to stave off a global crisis. “We need to act quickly or else we could easily slide into a 1930s moment,” Lagarde warned, in an obvious reference to the Great Depression.
Rosen Plevneliev managed a narrow victory in Bulgaria's recent presidential elections on a reform platform pledging to clean up the country's corruption-plagued government, one of the most notorious in Europe. On November 3, Plevneliev was certified as the official winner in Bulgaria’s presidential race. The President-elect immediately declared that the first thing he plans to do after assuming office is fire all Bulgarian diplomats abroad who have been exposed as former agents of the communist Committee of State Security (CSS).
Mikhail Gorbachev is coming to Middle America. To Wisconsin’s Fox Cities, to be precise — a group of communities on the Fox River clustered around the city of Appleton. Mr. Gorbachev will be the keynote speaker and main attraction at an October 1st-3rd conference that proposes to launch a new project called Communities for International Development. Some Fox Cities business, media, and academic leaders are all aglow over the supposed opportunities and prestige the Gorbachev visit will bring. However, the Appleton-based John Birch Society offers a far less naпve, and more realistic, take on the hype-driven event. | <urn:uuid:5b9c99b3-9071-468d-8353-91c1325eb9c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenewamerican.com/world-news/south-america/itemlist/user/53-williamfjasper?start=160 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964198 | 1,104 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Survey of Energy Resources 2007
Nuclear Country Notes
There were 31 nuclear units installed at ten different sites at the end of 2005, with an aggregate net generating capacity of 21 743 MWe. The reactor types represented consisted of eleven 925 MWe LWGRs, nine 950 MWe WWERs, four 411 MWe WWERs, four 11 MWe LWGRs, two 385 MWe WWERs and one 560 MWe FBR. In all, NPPs provided almost 16% of the Russian Federation's electricity output in 2005.
Four reactor units, with an aggregate capacity of 3 775 MWe, were under construction at the end of 2005, comprising three 950 MWe WWERs and one 925 MWe LWGR (Kursk-5). Of the WWERs, Volgodonsk-2 (also known as Rostov-2) is due for completion in 2009, whilst Balakovo-5 and Kalinin-4 are expected to come online in 2010-2011.
In October 2006, it was reported that the Russian Government had formally adopted a two-stage development programme for nuclear energy, which includes plans for commissioning a new series of power reactors, to be implemented in two stages (2007-2010 and 2011-2015). The programme envisages that from 2009 Russia will add some 2 000 MWe to its nuclear generating capacity each year, so that by 2015 ten new reactors should be in operation and a further ten under construction.
According to the head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom), as reported in November 2006, the Federation plans to install 42 new nuclear reactors by 2030. It was reported in February 2007 that construction would commence (later in 2007) of Russia's first two advanced pressurised water reactors (AES-2006) of 1 200 MWe each, with completion envisaged for end-2012.
Russia is building the world's first floating nuclear power plant at Severodvinsk on the White Sea, with completion scheduled for 2010. The pilot BNPP (buoyant nuclear power plant) will be assembled in a shipyard and then towed to the generating site. The vessel will be 140 m long and 30 m broad, with a displacement of 21 000 tonnes. It will accommodate two 35 MWe reactors of a type similar to those on a nuclear icebreaker. The plant is designed to have a lifetime of 40-50 years. There are plans for two other BNPPs, to be sited at Vilyuchinsk and Pevek Bay, both in the far east of the Federation. | <urn:uuid:f950d8b2-d1f2-4fe5-bd0e-462ff9074cfb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldenergy.org/publications/survey_of_energy_resources_2007/nuclear/country_notes/2328.asp?textsize=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941229 | 533 | 2.34375 | 2 |
To link to this article, copy this persistent link:
(Apr 16, 2012) On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al Salafiah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the al Jama'a Islamiah.
In its ruling, the Court stated that there is an apparent conflict of interest: Members of Parliament do not have the authority to participate in a panel that will draft a constitution defining the powers of the legislative branch. The Court therefore banned Members of Parliament from serving on the constitutional panel and assigned parliamentarians to select experts and individuals who do not belong to the legislative branch to join the panel. The Court also stated that the manner in which the members of the panel were picked violated article 60 of the Constitutional Declaration approved in a vote in March 2011.
The case has been referred to the Supreme Administrative Court, which is the appellate court that reviews the decisions issued by the Administrative Judicial Court. (The Administrative Court Kills the Constitutional Panel and Grabs It from the Islamists [in Arabic], THE DOSTOR DAILY NEWSPAPER (Apr. 10, 2012).)
- Author: George Sadek More by this author
- Topic: Constitutional law More on this topic
- Jurisdiction: Egypt More about this jurisdiction
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Last updated: 04/16/2012 | <urn:uuid:68557d20-afcb-4b06-9790-f53f6aa58d89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403099_text | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927476 | 394 | 1.929688 | 2 |
none you will get an uneven cut,and the grass will clog up the undercarriage of the mower,and you will picking grass out more than you will be mowing.Also, if you leave the grass under the carriage ,you have a great chance of propagating fungus,which you can transfer to your lawn,and damage your lawn.It also dull the blades.Mow dry.
A cylinder mower gives the finest finish to any lawn but its never a good idea to cut wet grass. Most mowers will clog up every 2 minutes. If you do have to cut wet grass get a 'swish rod' or a long light pole and sweep the grass over and back sideways so the dew comes off the grass and sits on the soil allowing the mower to work better. If your using a rotary mower and want a good finish you'll have to cut it twice for a good finish (once up and down, once across the lawn)
None, not only will wet grass clog, but it can also dull your blades, no matter if you have a reel, line, or rotary mower. The only way to mow wet grass is with a brush hog, and that isn't pretty, nor is it feasible most likely. Just wait a few days until it dries out a bit, but if you have to mow, select the highest setting you possibly can.
An air cushioned mower (flymo) will cut grass when it is wet but it is better to let the grass dry before cutting it or follow the suggestion about removing the moisture first.On our cricket square we use a brush which is pulled over the grass first which disperses the moisture and enables us to cut the grass. | <urn:uuid:51c9a36b-0e75-4ade-ba06-66d558ffe1cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090504061207AAtICyn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930191 | 359 | 1.695313 | 2 |
DULUTH -- With construction crews gearing up to add technology to Interstate 85, residents have one more chance to give input into the state's toll lane project.
Fiber optic cables and signs will pave the way for traffic relief, officials say of the project, while critics say it punishes carpoolers who have used the high-occupancy vehicle lanes for free.
"It's a method of attacking the congestion. HOV lanes was one of these (methods), but it's not working that well," Georgia Department of Transportation spokesman Mohamed Arafa said.
While cars with two people inside will no longer have free access to the lanes, which will cover 16 miles from Chamblee-Tucker Road to Old Peachtree Road, it will be complimentary for carpoolers with three or more in a vehicle, buses, motorcyclists and alternative-fuel vehicles.
Everyone else will have a chance to drive in the lanes, but at a price. The rate will vary based on traffic, going up the more congested the interstate is, because officials are hoping to promise a 45 mph flow. According to a study released last year, the average trip will vary from 60 cents to $6.
"It will benefit everybody, not just the affluent," Arafa said. "When you move out of my lane and go to the HOT lane, I can go faster, and I don't have to pay."
Arafa said the pay structure is still up in the air, but officials have released information about a planned Peach Pass program, which includes a transponder to record when drivers enter and exit the HOT lanes. The technology will be available this spring, and officials hope to open the toll lanes by next September.
In the meantime, as crews prepare to begin lane closures at night, beginning in the next several weeks, the planning continues.
A public meeting is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Gwinnett Center to continue getting feedback on the proposal.
"This is to serve the travelers on I-85," Arafa said. "Their concerns are important because we are still shaping up the project. Their input will give us a feel as to what they want." | <urn:uuid:0c4174b6-2fc9-4530-a152-55d4eed3413a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2010/aug/27/toll-lanes-a-hot-topic/?community | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957204 | 453 | 1.632813 | 2 |
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
“Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is much the same.”
“It's a trap!”
- ~ Admiral Gay Mohit on marriage
“-You're virgin ! thank god !
-You'd better thank my ass ! ”
- ~ Obama and his wife on first time together
“Marriage is also the number 1 reason for divorce"”
- ~ Keenze on marriage
“Show me a woman who wishes to marry me and I'll show you the Christian God.”
- ~ Nietzsche on marriage
- ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on marrying Constanze
“Men marry because they are tired; women because they are curious. Both are disappointed”
- ~ Oscar Wilde on marriage
Marriage is a compound word combining "mar" and "I rage". It is not a word, but a sentence. It 's also a synonym of torture and Government Conspiracy. It is supposedly somewhere between a man and a woman, but exactly where has not been determined. When we looked, all we could find was her bra and his undershirt and chest hair.
ATTENTION!!!! After extensive scientific research, it has been determined that wedding cake lowers the sex drive of women by 90%. But 90% of men are impotent to begin with. So they whine and bitch. See below:
Marriage is a Government Conspiracy used to Rape and fuck the minds of men everywhere.
Marriage is used as a punishment for shoplifting in some countries.
It happens when you have exhausted all other mating possibilities and is mourned at an event called a wedding.
In some cultures, it is considered the biggest leap of faith a grown moron can make.
In most western countries, this unholy covenant is encouraged due to the mistaken belief it allows for the raising of children with the male ending up paying for the support of the child as opposed to the government or church that encouraged the marriage in the first place. However, the top members of both organizations are exempt from marriage. The priest remains childless while the corporate and governmental officials make enough money to afford extramarital affairs. Its other benefit to society mostly include keeping divorce lawyers well paid.
Marriage is supposedly the bedrock of society, and has been for the stereotypical thousands of years since Ogg the stereotypical caveman clubbed Bong the stereotypical cavewoman and stereotypically dragged her off to his messy cave. However, cuckolds and whores tend to disprove that assumption. Nonetheless, it's in the Bible, right?
Marriages today seems to be an optional way of getting out of your parents house with out living on the streets this is usually accompanied by a horny old man trying to make his 3rd attempt more satisfying. People in general decide to get married for the soul purpose of reproducing a balance species and love is found on the side. It is general knowledge that the person who qualifies to be the father of your children or vice verse is likely to not be the same person you loved endlessly.For the heart you love with lacts vision and often cant see the greassing faults everyone else points out to you. Once ofspring are present then the lover/companion is seeked or divorce follows.
It is also a popular excuse for poor women to dress up pretty and pretend to be princesses. It has been known to make poor women actually become rich by marrying themselves to wealthy old men. See Kanye West as an example of such a poor woman.
The "lavish wedding" option also includes a ride to the ceremony in the Cinderella coach, costumed trumpeters heralding the couple's arrival, and attendance by Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters dressed in formal attire.
Were it not for marriage, the process of discovering faults in a partner would be much more time-consuming. However, in a marriage this takes only about as long as it takes to have a couple of kids and get stuck with the other person.
Despite all these problems, there are four recorded instances of marriages that actually worked out. However, they all took place in Varpnarplia, a magical, mystical kingdom filled with marshmallow fields, lemonade skies, and talking unicorns that inject dreams into your nervous system while you sleep with their razor-sharp horns. Marriage is also an important part of the immigration process.
edit Reasons for marriage
Why get married? This depends on the couple's social class.
- Upper class: People get married for money.
- Middle class: Because the couple fell in love Realistically they soon get sick and tired of each other and divorce.
- Working class: Because the girl got pregnant, or "knocked up".
- Unemployed: Because they can get more dole money.
- Religious: God will finally let you have sex without the whole Damnation for eternity thing.
- Everyone else: Because men have nothing better to do but to listen to their wives ramble on about all the things they've ever done wrong in life, and women have nothing better to do than spend their husband's money on another pair of shoes they won't wear.
edit Unusual spouses
It is quite possible to get married to a non-human spouse. Here is a list of them!
- Hangman's wife. When a man is about to get hung, apparently there is a reprieve if the hangman's wife takes pity on the criminal. This works only if the hangman is ugly, criminal stunningly handsome, a divorce is pending, or its a film being shot.
- Hangman, if the condemned is a beautiful woman, or man if hangman is gay.
- A computer. One cybers so much that the computer becomes sentient and grow peripherals such as artificial vaginas.
- Magical Ponies (Especially that cute pastel pegasus that takes care of animals
- Jesus. Jesus loves you! Frequently.
edit Will it save you money to get married?
While a full financial appraisal is not entered into here, it is believed that as a rule of thumb, the married state is astronomically more expensive than the single.
This is actually counter-intuitive due to certain misunderstandings that:--
- The single life is one of extravagance, such as clubbing at $200 per night.
- That married couples can save on income tax by better tax rates and a higher standard deduction.
- That it is cheaper for both husband and wife to be unemployed and be on welfare.
In actual fact:--
- The wedding itself can be very expensive - costs a lot of money - we are talking at the very least $10,000. Unless it is all very hush-hush and done on a strict budget involving only two witnesses who are invited to a meal at McDonalds.
- You are required by law to give a treat to all your friends on Facebook, Orkut and other social networking sites, after the marriage. The list also includes all people who ever visited your institute.
- Not being married and having the higher earning partner file as head-of-household, and the lower earning partner (usually the woman) file as single will usually produce more in tax savings for the couple.
- Then you have a house to buy on a stonking mortgage. On a budget you can expect to put down at least $20,000 for your very own piece of trailer trash.
- The couple may expect to bring up children. In USA each child can cost $500,000 until adulthood. More if you are paying the child to go to college. Even more if the child stays at home until 25 and never pays the "rent".
- You may be required to buy a new set of bling to match your wedding ring. That can set you back at least 500 grands.
However, the expenses of marriage can easily be recouped by the husband becoming a successful businessman, for example as well-paid crack dealer, pyramid scheme salesman, protection racketeer. Plus he can pimp his wife out.
Due to the US dollar being all weak and flabby to the pound, British live-in lovers should snap up a bargain marriage, by way of cheap flight to Nevada, where there are walk in wedding chapels. Avoiding Las Vegas with a bargepole, and sleeping rough, you can save £9.99 on marriage costs! Sale! Bargain!
edit Average woman's life cycle
- Fucks like a crazy slut in college. Gangbangs at frat parties on weekends. Destroys her body by drinking, smoking and lying in the sun to get a nice tan.
- Gets a power corporate job, pumps her fist in the air over grrl power, and fucks more men. One night stands during business trips are normal.
- Suddenly "oh no, I'm turning 30 and must land a husband".
- Contacts every guy from her past, including that guy she rejected in high school, and that Mexican guy she fucked during spring break.
- Wonders why no one wants her bitter, angry, wrinkled ass. Watches "Sex and the City" and reads Cosmopolitan magazine for enlightenment.
- Eventually gives up, and orders 20 cats. Spends the next 50 years listening to the same old sad songs every night as her cats wail in agony. Keeps pictures of herself from her high school and college days to show people that she was once an attractive, young girl.
- Finally dies. Cats rejoice with a feast of her flesh.
edit Why Women
Want Need Think they need Men
Well, look at it this way. Iran is on the brink of getting nuclear weapons. How long do you think it will take for them to use them? Three years? Five years? When they do, the result will be a nuclear war, centered in the middle east. That's where all those sand suckers produce the petroleum that powers the large capacity station wagon you use to hall around your massive brood of welfare recipients in. (see 3rd paragraph of this section for more on this)
And when the whole fragile infrastructure comes tumbling down, you are going to wish to God for a few things. Size and strength. Some kind of practical skill, that's useful. Some kind of safety. Or at least, physical attractiveness, which you can barter with the Mexicans for an oozi or two, as women have done since the dawn of history.
Men are big, small, stupid, smart, short, tall and when push comes to shove, capable of calmly eating a bag of potato chips while watching a horror movie, but most importantly, ummm....hmmmm. Well the alimony can be really helpful. Also, child support and/or life insurance whichever comes first. But most importantly, women should marry as many different men as possible. And even more important, have only one kid with each one because 1 man can't bear the burden of 5 child support checks, but 5 men? 1 check a piece? You're rich biatch!
edit Why Men
Need Want Women
Sex and ironing. Initially the former, the longer the marriage, the more important the latter. Also, some men marry so they can have half the bills paid. Also some men are known to marry because they cannot cook. Most men are, beneath it all, genuinely filthy-minded, perverted bastards, who see marriage as both a legal, and religious, excuse to suit one or more of their sordid, sexual fetishes, as Garfield knows all too well.
edit A Woman's Point of View
After sorting through a myriad of feelings after reading the above, similar to the ones I felt that time my only featured jpeg got voted off the island (smarted enough to make my eyes water), I felt the article could use a more fair and balanced point of view, the woman's.
edit His Window Rattling Snoring
Studies have shown that this is the leading cause of divorce and #3 motive behind murder in most developed countries. Although it's tempting to hate the snorer instead of the snoring, the best way to deal with this is to get a 2nd shift job and sleep during the day. The less time you spend around him, the happier your marriage will be.
Thank God for them. Many women aren't aware of the important insights to be gained by listening to what the husband hollers during a football game. When your Miami Dolphins fan foams at the mouth while screaming such things as "YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. YOU ARE SO FUCKING STOOPID!! or "MUTHAFUCKERS. COCKSUCKING WORTHLESS PIECES OF SHIT" it doesn't mean he's about to burn all his Dolphins baseball caps and t-shirts. Think about that the next time he shouts at you "FUCKING CUNT WHORE BITCH". He's actually on your team. Since anger is the only acceptable emotion for a man to express, this is his way of venting all those confusing feelings without looking like a FUCKING PUSSY.
It's like one day his father went for a walk, found a toad, kissed it and it turned into your mother-in-law. Although former toads look harmless enough one should never forget that beneath their massive piles of warty flesh beats the heart of Donald Trump.
edit Married Couples and TV
I have to admit, I gained a lot more respect for my husband when I realized that he should anchor the evening news (when he isn't showing the Dolphins how to play football and making Dale Earnhart, jr. learn how to fucking drive) because he knows things that they don't. Somehow he's always 2 steps ahead of those idiots.
The sooner you realize that the image of a naked woman with 44DD breasts and 12" waist pops up in your husband's head every 3 seconds and makes him want to have sex with you twice a day, the easier it is to only give him sex once or twice a week. Since it's physically exausting for any woman to look like what the man really wants in bed, you should focus on making yourself happy instead. To satisfy your need for romance, try reading Harlequin novels while envisioning yourself floating through the skies of LazyTown at sunset with Sportacus at your side in his awesome blimp with a fold out sofa in the back surrounded by candles and drinking champagne. But you might still have to force yourself to have sex with your husband every so often just to keep the marriage alive.
edit The Asexual Point of View
edit The homosexual point of view
Marriage is actually not as old as it claims to be, but was in fact invented in the last couple of years by Christians in order to promote the "Hetero Agenda". Although we have a great deal of respect for heterosexual people, we regard marriage between them as inherently wrong, and feel that if too many of these "marriages" are carried out, it will devalue the sanctity of our own civil unions and civil partnerships. Gay marriage is of course OK (except when it comes up for a vote), unless of course you happen to be reading this in one of the Red States in which case the widely held belief that if one man's penis enters another man's anus, the gateway to hell shall open and Satan shall crawl forth from the givers cock and the receiver's anus simultaneously. However, if you are from the red states and some how are reading this, then chances are you have an education and already know that there is not really is a problem with Gay marriage
edit A Religious Point of View
The church claims that if one reads the Bible they will see that it is a sin to have sex before marriage and go to hell. This is completely false and just a way to profit off the selling of marriage contracts along with the Government. Trust me, I've never seen that once. Of course I've never read the Bible so I'd know better. Other religions
don't give a damn may vary.
But anyhow..Who cares? Religons Stupid!
edit So, to sum it up
Marriage consists of a union between
two three six umm, two people, each wishing for something that could never happen with someone who doesn't exist but who got married anyway and usually wind up divorced in the end.
Argued by many, this sort of union is the biggest bullshit and most money-draining experience one would have the misfortunes to come across if they are so fucking stupid in love. Fucking wanker. For sex and intimacy, do you really need a wife for that? There are brothels and prostitutes who wouldn't mind to have their pipes cleaned. They may be expensive but at least they don't nag at you nor there will be children to fuck your life up
On the plus side, you always have the peacefulness of the grave to look forward to.
There is also the no so common belief that marriage is a twisted, devious plan justified through "religion". The belief is basically, the devil made up a man named "jesus" and wrote an overly extravagant story about him and made all who follow this "religion" believe in marriage. Once married the couple must sign a marriage license, which in reality, is a contract selling their souls to eternal damnation in hell. The devil also made the basis for this religion anti-devil to remove any suspicion from him. Brilliant plan, extremely succesfull plan, but he didnt intend on my figuring him out.
edit See also
- Married Women
- Premarital wanking
- That procedure done by many over the milleniums | <urn:uuid:8a5c54aa-644a-4e7d-8a1a-23e67885e8db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Marriage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965483 | 3,680 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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Despite warnings, it will take more than a measly flu to keep Spaniards from puckering up.
MADRID — “Don’t kiss. Don’t shake hands. Say hello,” reads a banner hanging from the facade of the Madrid medical association.
The advice seems obvious enough to help prevent infection by the H1N1 flu virus (a.k.a. swine flu). But for tactile Spaniards, following these recommendations borders on a cultural revolution.
The association’s instructions are blatantly ignored by health authorities. In fact, they puckered up and gave each other pecks at meetings held to discuss that very issue. Trinidad Jimenez, Spain’s minister of health, distributed kisses left and right in August at a regional meeting with health department representatives to agree on H1N1 flu prevention measures. Jimenez and Esperanza Aguirre, Madrid’s regional leader, also kissed each other the following day at a meeting to discuss the same topic — and they belong to rival political parties.
Spaniards touch and kiss each other constantly. Babies are smooched by strangers. A kiss on each cheek is the ordinary greeting between two women and between men and women. (Spanish men don’t usually kiss each other, unless they are members of the same family.) It is also a normal way of salutation on a first-time introduction. “This is the first time I’ve been kissed by an interviewee,” revealed an amused foreign correspondent on assignment here. It is not rare for an unfamiliar person to sit next to you in the park, no matter the empty benches all around. People bump into each other in the streets, no apologies; they brush by people’s arms and backs in the metro and bars. Caregivers — mostly immigrants — walk arm-in-arm with old folks. Personal space is much smaller than in northern European and Anglo countries.
Kissing and touching are so instinctual one wonders whether these habits are at the root of Spaniards’ genetic code. For the doctors’ advice to be adopted, “the situation would have to be tremendously serious, almost a catastrophic epidemic like the Black Death,” argued Javier Callejo, a sociologist professor at UNED, the Distance Learning University, and a member of the Colegio Oficial de Sociologos y Politologos de Madrid, Madrid’s official sociologists’ and political scientists’ association.
Callejo explained that personal space is larger in Anglo-Saxon countries because there is a greater sense of individualism. “The Protestant religion probably has something to do with it. And also the fact that the industrialization and modernization process happened earlier. With modernization come individualism and separation of community and social relations. In Latin countries, modernization happened later.” | <urn:uuid:37cb04aa-78b2-408d-a876-af91dd3c30e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/spain/090903/kisses-usual | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93451 | 605 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Introduction and Summary
I Pledge Allegiance by June Swanson with illustrations by Rick Hanson is a fantastic book that teaches the history of the Pledge of Allegiance since it was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892. School children actually played a part in why the Pledge of Allegiance was written. To celebrate the 400 year anniversary of Columbus discovering America, Francis Bellamy and James Upham (two men from the children’s magazine The Youth’s Companion) requested that American children collect flags to be raised in their classrooms to celebrate what would become Columbus Day. Together, these children would say something to honor the flag. That is why Bellamy wrote the very first pledge. The original version was “I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands–one nation indivisible–with liberty and justice for all.” (p.14) The book then defines the words allegiance, Republic, nation, indivisible, liberty and justice so that all school children would know what the pledge meant. The book goes on to talk about how the United States was changing such as, states that were being added, technological advances like the automobile and the Wright Brothers historical flight, and the wars that we fought. As the nation changed, so did the pledge adding new phrases such as, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,” and “one nation under God” which was added due to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg address. (p.36) In 1923 it was decided that every one who said the pledge should put their right hand over their hearts. (p.29) Though many children say it today in our schools, the book points out that no one can force anyone to say it.
This book tells about how school children were a part of the history of what is now a traditional practice that honors and fosters patriotism in the United States. (VA SOL 1.11) It also provides the history of the pledge since it’s inception in 1892. (VA SOL 1.11 b) Children will also learn about historical events that happened in the United States, and how Abraham Lincoln had a direct affect on the Pledge of Allegiance. (VA SOL 2.11)
The Pledge of Allegiance in Schools is a website that lists famous court cases that have involved the Pledge of Allegiance and also discusses the religious implications because of the term “under God.”
Historic Documents is a website that not only gives a brief history of the Pledge of Allegiance, but also lists several other historical documents in United States History such as, The aforementioned Gettysburg Address, Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, etc.
USA Flag Site is a website that gives a history of the American flag. Also contains images of the bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty.
Flag Picture Gallery is a website that shows the many different versions of the American flag.
Book: I Pledge Allegiance
Author: June Swanson (website link not available)
Illustrator: Rick Hanson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Publication Date: 1992
Grade Range: 2nd-4th | <urn:uuid:de8539b3-a585-436c-bbfd-b4aa754fd4c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.richmond.edu/openwidelookinside/archives/2575 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95172 | 658 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Cory has 6 years of experience teaching 8th grade social studies. Prior to that he spent one year as a special education instructor. Andrea has four years of teaching experience at the 6th grade level teaching social studies and language arts. Andrea is currently staying at home and designing learning experiences for a boy obsessed with anything with wheels.
We love creating materials that make learning hands-on for the students. Something that we know will make it to the dinner table for conversation that night. All of our materials use best teaching practices. Multiple intelligences, differentiation, brain-based learning and student led activities are at the heart of our teaching style.
Bluffton University - Outstanding Educator Award 2005 Heidelberg University - Masters Program Award of Excellence 2009
Andrea: Bachelor's degree in Middle Childhood Education and master's degree in curriculum and instruction. Cory: Bachelor's degree in secondary social studies and master's degree in curriculum and instruction. We both completed our master's practicums on differentiated learning.
Yet to be added | <urn:uuid:250b44e0-5419-4efc-a6b6-c61c4e254205> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Teacher-Couple/Type-of-Resource/Posters | 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 | 0.944745 | 208 | 1.625 | 2 |
Supreme Court to Settle Tip Taxation Controversy
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case that could change the way the Internal Revenue Service assesses Social Security taxes on tip income. This far-reaching case could affect restaurants, casinos, barber and beauty shops, hotels, and any other businesses where employees regularly receive tips from customers.
The case, United States v. Fior d'Italia, involves a San Francisco restauranteur who claims that the IRS is incorrect in assessing the restaurant's share of Social Security taxes on employee tip income based on estimates made from tips recorded on credit card charge slips. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the restaurant, explaining that making blanket estimates of all tips based on information on credit card slips incorrectly assumes that cash tippers tip as much as credit card tippers. "People paying in cash, however generous they may feel, are limited by the amount of cash in their wallets," opined the court.
Furthermore, according to the legal brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by Fior d'Italia, the only way to accurately know how much employees receive in tips is to rely on reporting by the employees. "Since tips are…split with indirectly tipped employees (e.g. hostess, busboys, bartenders, bread girls, etc.) in varying amounts at the discretion of the directly tipped employees, employee reporting is the only way for an employer to know the amount of tips retained by individual employees."
The restaurant's attorney, Tracy J. Power, points out that waiters, waitresses, and bartenders don't even earn the amount of tips shown on credit card receipts. The workers share tips with other employees, some of whom are exempt from taxation on the small amount of tips they earn.
Reports are that the Supreme Court justices seemed sympathetic with the restaurant when responding to oral arguments on Monday, however Justice David Souter reminded spectators that although "it makes a lot of sense" to criticize a law in which "the burden is on the taxpayer to give information he is not in the best position to know," the IRS might still prevail because there is no high court precedent that requires common sense to be a requirement when it comes to tax laws. | <urn:uuid:14e55e7a-7c7d-4290-875b-fd53760c8f3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/tax/supreme-court-settle-tip-taxation-controversy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956051 | 462 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Kate Wong brings us up-to-date on the latest research into the Neandertals in this month’s issue of Scientific American.
I’ve always been fascinated by ‘Neandertal Man’ as he/she used to be called. We think about what it would be like to meet aliens. (Well, I think about what it would be like to meet aliens!) Would we be able to communicate? Would we be able to understand each other? Yet here in our own back yard, in Europe and the Near East and much of Asia, modern human beings were living side-by-side with another hominid form, meeting and presumably trying to communicate, only 30,000 years ago. I refrained from saying ‘another human species’ because the great and still unresolved question is whether we belonged to distinct species, and whether or not modern humans and Neandertals could interbreed. And despite the theories about genocide (by humans), climate change, and diet – we still don’t know why they became extinct about 28,000 years ago.
It seems that they had jewellery and bone tools and made sophisticated weapons; but modern human beings had the edge – in their social organisation, in the efficiency of their physique, and in their sheer intelligence and creativity. ‘The boundary between Neandertals and moderns has gotten fuzzier’, writes Christopher B. Stringer – but there is still a boundary. There is something radical and new about human intelligence, a leap and not just a lurch, that gives rise to art, creativity, sophisticated language, morality, and some more reflective kind of self-consciousness. And, interestingly, one of the key markers for paleoanthropologists is the emergence for the first time among human beings of symbolic customs surrounding the burial of the dead. Human intelligence seems to go hand in hand with an appreciation of the significance of death.
Neandertals, we presume, in some way asked questions about how to live; human beings, as far as we can tell, are the only creatures to ask questions about the meaning of that living, and the possibility of living beyond death.
[A wonderful book that first got me interested in human uniqueness in relation to Neandertals is Becoming Human by Ian Tattersall, OUP 1998. It's probably a bit old now, but it is still in print] | <urn:uuid:44d5790f-d365-4457-9dad-ffc534d77f5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bridgesandtangents.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/neandertals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962483 | 498 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Sambalpur (Caritas News) -- A team of officials from Caritas Japan visited two tribal hostels that Caritas India has built for tribal children in Badibahal and Pallahara areas in Orissa.
Caritas India supported the establishment of hostels for tribal children located in the areas, where they can reside and attend regular schools. The hostels in Badibahal and Pallahara were built by the Sambalpur Social Service Society. Caritas Japan, a resource-sharing partner of Caritas India extended the financial grant towards this. The five member team from Caritas Japan comprising of Deacon Sadato Yabuki, Team Leader - Fr.Tadashi Machida - Fr.Shigeru Yoshida - Fr.Isao Shimoguchi - Mr.Katsuhiro Kawahara, visited the two village hostels recently. The hostel children welcomed the team with tribal dancing and singing. The team was truly impressed with the tribal dances and songs presented by the hostel children in both the places. “Unlike children in Japan, the children here show greater interest in education” said Mr. Sadato. He further said in his address: “You may acquire any amount of wealth and material but this will never remain. It may be robbed. But if you posses knowledge, this will never be stolen,” Caritas India with its local counterparts is truly empowering the poor and marginalized to emerge as respected individuals in the society, acknowledged the team from Caritas Japan. On their way back, the Caritas Japan officials visited Baruipur and Calcutta Diocesan Social Service Societies. Caritas Japan team were happy to meet the people in several places, who are closely connected through Caritas India and Japan; and to see how their small help is utilized fruitfully for their basic necessities. | <urn:uuid:427c0553-f4a5-40e4-bc2d-a87acad1ebdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caritasindia.org/NewsDetails.aspx?Nid=77 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962791 | 379 | 1.507813 | 2 |
eso9827 — Photo Release
The VLT Images a "Rectangular" Planetary Nebula
23 June 1998
The first VLT 8.2-m telescope (UT1) is now undergoing a "Commissioning Phase" during which all systems are thoroughly tested and further tuned. Although priority is given to technical work, some astronomical images have been obtained during the recent weeks.
IC 4406 is a planetary nebula with an unusual, almost "rectangular" shape. It is located in the southern constellation Lupus (the Wolf). The distance is somewhat uncertain, possibly around 5,000 light-years.
Like the Butterfly Nebula, IC 4406 belongs to the class of bipolar nebulae. However, the dark and dusty central band (the "disc-like structure") is less pronounced in this object and the internal structure is more uniform. The different colours correspond to regions of different composition and physical properties.
The photo is based on a series of seven exposures through three broad-band optical filtres, obtained under less optimal observing conditions during a small break in the technical work. They have been combined to produce the present photo. The use of these wide filtres also tends to suppress the fine structure that is particularly well visible in narrow-filtre exposures because of the line emission from the nebula.
Further images of astronomical objects from the VLT UT1 will be published at irregular intervals.
About the Release
|Legacy ID:||Photo 21/98|
|Type:||• Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary|
• X - Nebulae
|Facility:||Very Large Telescope| | <urn:uuid:af63d7de-8df6-4e2f-a99f-2ac1a6a9e6d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eso.org/public/news/eso9827/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926795 | 337 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Victoria is full of heritage homes that have been given this designation due to their state of preservation, date of completion, and their significance to Victoria's history. Three such lovely homes are Point Ellice House, Emily Carr’s birthplace and Helmcken House.
Craigdarroch Castle - a heritage home in Victoria -seen to the right.
Point Ellice is a rambling house with the waters of the Gorge lapping up to its front gardens. Built in 1861, this house was the home of the O'Reilly family for 78 years, when it was turned over to the BC Heritage Trust. A self-guided tour of the house and tea in the lovely shaded gardens make this heritage home a must see. Point Ellice can be easily reached by catching one of the little harbour ferries that constantly leave the Inner Harbour area.
Carr House, birthplace of Emily Carr, was built in 1864, on acres of land that nestled up to Beacon Hill Park. Emily, Canada's most renowned female artist and winner of the Governor General's award for her writing, led an eclectic and fascinating life. On a tour of this heritage home, Emily herself appears and tells her stories, enchanting the guest with recollections of life in the early 1900's.
Helmcken House, the marriage home of Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, was built in 1854 amongst trees and the wild outskirts of Victoria. Dr. Helmcken was the first doctor in the fledging colony, when the adult population for miles around only numbered 300. This heritage home is just as the Helmckens left it, complete with medical instruments that Dr. Helmcken used. If you are lucky, you may hear one or two of the ghosts who still haunt the house today.
These three heritage homes are just blocks from the downtown core. A tour can be arranged to include one or all three of the homes, depending on the length of tour desired.
This tour is by group bookings only and is $150/guide/hour; however if the tour includes a ride on the Harbour Ferries or tea at either Carr House or Point Ellice, the tour price would reflect that. A maximum group size is 22 guests. We can negotiate a group price for a customized tour and would be pleased to work with tour operators. If there are more than 22 people in the group, then we will arrange for another tour guide. | <urn:uuid:699df62a-aedc-4b8b-a2e9-a0805c551c60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.walkabouts.ca/heritage.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958353 | 496 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Confessional Lutheran theology, hagiography, philosophy, music, culture, sports, education,
and whatever else is on the fevered mind of Orycteropus Afer
+ Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Confessor +
27 June AD 444
Saint Cyril (ca. AD 376-444) became Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt in 412. Throughout his career he defended a number of orthodox doctrines, among them the teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is "rightly called and truly is the Mother of God
" — Theotokos
, "the God-Bearer" (Formula of Concord, Epitome, VIII:12
). In 431 the Council of Ephesus
affirmed this teaching that the Son of Mary is also true God.
The Council was responding to the Nestorian heresy
, which distinguished so completely between the divine and human natures of Christ that claims were made that the divine Christ did some things while the human Jesus did others.
Some of the differences are quite subtle; perhaps even Nestorius himself could not have foreseen the full ramifications of his position, including a "resurrection" of only the divine nature. Ephesus condemned the title of "Christ-Bearer" (Christotokos
) for the Virgin, since the Nestorians would only claim that Mary bore the Christ, but not God Himself.
Cyril receives almost as many brickbats as he does bouquets, even from orthodox Christians, because he's also known for being what one person calls "an ill-tempered, quarrelsome, hasty, and violent man
." This seems especially so during his early years as Bishop of Alexandria.
A particularly acute example of his extreme rigity comes from his closing of Novatianist
churches, although the Novationists weren't particularly unorthodox. Their "fault" was as much one of pride as of theology — they descended from those who'd stood firm in the persecutions of earlier years and refused to associate or worship with the heirs of those who recanted the Faith under persecution. Their main theological aberration were insisting upon rebaptism of converts from "lapsed" Christianity and an attitude that was, perhaps, less than Christ-like in dealing with erring brothers.
Cyril also ran the Jews out of town. The reason given was that they were seditious and violent, although we're left with little evidence. This action likely contributed to an ongoing feud with Orestes, the imperial prefect. These disagreements seemingly spilled over into a quarrel with the prefect's friend, the neo-platonist scholar Hypatia
, who was later murdered by a mob.
Few have directly condemned Cyril for her death but the leaders of the mob certainly claimed the bishop as their leader. In modern times, Carl Sagan, in his book Cosmos
, blamed Hypatia's death (and the destruction of the great Library of Alexandria) on dogmatic Christianity's desire to root out rational paganism. However, other scholars see the whole feud as an internal Church struggle and no one has yet established a definitive cause (or date) for the final destruction of Alexandria's library.
At any rate, and despite the considerable rancor that accompanied his early years as bishop, the mature Cyril worked diligently to reconcile the Nestorian and Orthodox parties. His efforts led many of the less virulent Nestorians back to full communion.
The writings of Cyril on the doctrines of the Trinity and the person of Christ reveal him to be one of the most able theologians of his time. Cyril's Christology influenced subsequent church councils and was a primary source for Lutheran confessional writings. He still speaks clearly to our age, especially as the old Christological heresies are trotted out under new guises.Collect
Heavenly Father, You used Your servant Cyril to confess the mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of Your Son being one person with fully divine and human natures. Grant that we, also, might be constant in Your Word, bold in Your confession, and steadfast in Your worship, to the glory of Your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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| African history | <urn:uuid:ea396867-87ce-41b2-815b-9c28eaeba4af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aardvarkalley.blogspot.com/2011/06/cyril-of-alexandria-bishop-and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956371 | 967 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Photos and VideosMore Photos and Videos
An adorable 1-year-old red panda named Biru now calls the Central Park Zoo home.
Biru recently joined his female companion, Amaya, in the Temperate Territory of the zoo.
Red pandas are endangered due to habitat loss caused by deforestation for timber, fuel, and agricultural use. It is estimated that fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx, Prospect Park, and Central Park Zoos all work with the Species Survival Plan for red pandas.
If you want to see Biru, visit the Central Park Zoo, open daily. General Admission is $12 for adults, $9 for senior citizens, $7 for children 3 to 12, and free for children younger than 3 years old.
Zoo hours are 10 a.m to 5:30 p.m., April through October, and 10 a.m. to 4:30pm daily, November through April.
Tickets are sold until one half-hour before closing. | <urn:uuid:aae71990-0261-4697-a453-51afa385ef8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Baby-Red-Panda-Finds-New-Home-in-Central-Park-Zoo-127757263.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948475 | 216 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The Apotheosis of Washington, Capitol Rotunda (© Julie O'Connor, 2009)
Welcome to Day Five of Julie O’Connor’s Magical, Mystical, Masonic Photo Tour of Washington, DC. You’re staring up at The Apotheosis of Washington, a fresco painted onto the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865.
The use of The Apotheosis of Washington in The Lost Symbol is classic Dan Brown, directing the reader’s attention to an unusual episode of American history that is hidden in plain sight:
For most people, The Apotheosis of Washington got stranger and stranger the longer they looked at it. “That’s George Washington on the central panel.” Langdon said, pointing 180 feet upward in the middle of the dome. “As you can see, he’s dressed in white robes, attended by thirteen maidens, and ascending on a cloud above mortal man. This is the moment of his apotheosis . . . his transformation into god.”
Langdon goes on to point out the major figures in the painting: the goddess Minerva giving inspiration to American inventors such as Ben Franklin and Samuel Morse; the god Vulcan helping America build the steam engine; Neptune demonstrating how to lay the transatlantic cable.
Though this scene, in Chapter 21, is memorable, The Apotheosis of Washington plays only a minor role in the novel at this early stage. It holds no secrets and offers no clues to guide Robert Langdon on his quest.
But, for the attentive reader, it does point the way to one of the overarching themes in The Lost Symbol–the power of human thought and the god that lies within every man.
So important is The Apotheosis that Dan Brown returns to it at the end of The Lost Symbol, with a memorable, some might say, cinematic scene, in Chapter 133, where Langdon and Katherine Solomon climb to a circular catwalk and marvel at the fresco while discussing the key to the Ancient Mysteries–the power of the human mind:
Langdon had to admit, not many frescoes in the world fused scientific inventions with mythical gods and human apotheosis…Today, this soaring icon–the father of our country ascending to heaven–hung silently above our lawmakers, leaders, and presidents . . . a bold reminder, a map to the future, a promise of a time when man would evolve to complete spiritual maturity.
And now Katherine:
“Robert,” Katherine whispered, her gaze still fixed on the massive figures of America’s great inventors accompanied by Minerva. “It’s prophetic, really. Today, man’s most advanced inventions are being used to study man’s most ancient ideas. The science of Noetics may be new, but it’s actually the oldest science on earth–the study of human thought.
Noetics is a topic for another post. But there is much more that can be said about The Apotheosis.
Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, adjunct professor of religious art and cultural history at Georgetown University, has written a detailed essay about the fresco for Secrets of The Lost Symbol.
Among her many fascinating insights, she points out that although the painting, mingling gods and real people, might seem confusing today, at the time The Apotheosis was commissioned the depiction of abstract ideas, like moral courage, as a recognizable person was commonplace.
She also draws attention to small details Robert Langdon doesn’t acknowledge, such as that fact that the 13 maidens attending Washington represent the 13 original colonies. And that six of them have their backs turned to represent their secession from the Union during the Civil War.
To find out more pre-order your hard copy of Secrets of The Lost Symbol today or download it now as an e-book. | <urn:uuid:1f98db6e-d804-4aff-8bb4-4ffe05664897> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://secretsofthelostsymbol.wordpress.com/category/george-washington/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923325 | 810 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Stephen Scherer is co-author on the recent paper ‘Functional impact of global rare copy number variation in autism spectrum disorders‘. I caught up with him via email to ask a few questions:
1) What is the ‘bottom line’ message readers can take away from your work?
I am always frustrated when I hear at the end of most news stories…’and we don’t know what can cause autism’. Data from the past few years including our new study show alterations in genes can cause autism. We have not found all of the genes yet, and not all autism cases can be accounted for (the genetics can be complex) but genes can cause autism. For the specialists, through our new study we show either de novo or rare inherited copy number variations as one form of genetic alteration involved in autism. The genes affected are often linked together in a connected functional pathway and may of these molecules dictate how brain cells (neurons) develop and communicate. Some of the autism genes we found have already been found to cause intellectual disabilities, which is not entirely surprising since many individuals with autism also have these challenges.
2) How does your paper tie in with other gene/autism studies?
We validate many previous findings, but also find dozens and dozens of new autism risk genes. Our data furthers the hypothesis that rare genetic alterations contribute much more relative risk to developing autism than common genetic variations.
3) What should future researchers use your study for in terms of direction to take their own work?
I think one of the most important impacts of the study is the design itself. Nature really wanted us to include the Figure 1, which outlines the design and analysis. CNV studies are still quite tricky to do and the data has to be of the highest quality to make sense of it. I think our study on autism will set the standard for all other studies going forward, so they should follow it. Moreover, many of the functional pathway studies published before may have been either underpowered, flawed by low resolution arrays or high false discovery rates, or incomplete study designs. We spent alot of time thinking of how to best do this properly so if others are interested they should read the Supplementary Information carefully. Use it as a guide. Finally, for the functional biologists look at the long list of genes we present in the Supplementary Information since they may find their favorite gene to be an autism candidate gene!
4) How difficult was it managing the input from such a very large amount of co-authors?
The Autism Genome Project has some 120 scientists from 11 countries involved (see the authorship list). We selected a ‘writing team’ comprised of genome scientists, statisticians, medical geneticists, psychiatrists and developmental pediatricians. Interesting, everyone saw their own story in the data. I pretty much new in advance what I wanted to see in the final manuscript so much of my job was bring focus to the many other good ideas (note that there are five other papers spinning out of this larger study presenting some of these other data and interpretations). In took about 12 solid months of analysis of the data, three months of writing and editing, alot of cursing, and then submission to Nature (with even more cursing). The review time from submission to publication took ~six months. This was the hardest for me (except other than constantly changing the author list….and affiliations). The reviewers were very very thorough and Nature can (rightfully) be very demanding. In the end we are very proud of the manuscript. Dalila Pinto who is the first author and a post-doc in the lab was the driving force behind the analysis and deserved a lions-share of the credit. Would I do it again? I’ve had two Senior Author papers in Nature this year, which have been very draining. But I would do it again! | <urn:uuid:8522fdcb-8621-475b-81e4-41bbf6882b44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/category/science/stephen-scherer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96676 | 789 | 2.125 | 2 |
How to Build a TrailerPosted by monsterguide
How to Build a Trailer
A good axle kit must be chosen for the trailer, and the suspension, frame, weight capacity and height must be considered, depending on the type of trailer that you want to build.
Step 1: The main frame pieces have to be first cut up and welded. A good cut off saw and welder can be used for this task. The things need to be flat as well as square. The flatness as well as the shape need to be tested before further steps can be taken.
Step 2: The axle needs to be positioned depending on what kind of trailer you need. If it is a tilting trailer, the axle has to be positioned in such a way that it is towards the gravity center.
Step 3: Next the tongue weight must be calculated when everything is done. You can use about five percent of the trailer’s weight as the tongue weight. This would be sufficient when you want to trail it, after you unload the goods.
Step 4: The axle has to be centered with the frame, and this is a very critical point that cannot be ignored. It has to be in line with the center line of the frame. To make sure that the tracking is straight, the distance between the wheels to the hitch has to be equal. The axle needs to be square and centered on the frame, and for this the tongue has to be square and centered to the frame.
Step 5: Having the frame upside down, the tongue can be mounted to a cross bar, and it should be ahead of the axle. There will be a solid round bar at the end, and it will be a square tube that forms the tongue. There will be two mounting tabs with half inch holes, and the round bar has to be between them. This is for the pivot action that is needed for the trailer.
Step 6: Next a latch has to be attached, and this will prevent the trailer from tilting. It has to be latched to something so that it will not fall out of place.
Step 7: Small rods can be used for fenders and low heat can be used to weld them into the system (Learn how to weld). Angle iron can then be used to reinforce the fenders, and this can be used as mounting points for various purposes. The rails on the side can be done with an angle iron. At the side, the fenders can be attached so that it will strengthen the hold of the system.
Step 8: The vertical pieces for the back, can be made with two pieces of angle iron, which are welded together. This is naturally used if you want to put any gate, with the help of a board, for any loads you might take. A good ground connection with the pivot must be given, and this will dim tail lights.
The surface rust can be removed before the painting is done, so that it is long lasting. (If you’re novice in rust removal, learn how to get rid of rust) This trailer would cost much less to build than one that you were to purchase from a shop.
Images In Building a Trailer | <urn:uuid:e3683fc0-3d3b-4050-83a9-367c58486c22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://monsterguide.net/how-to-build-a-trailer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960658 | 651 | 2 | 2 |
1 in 4 people have a mental health problem. Stigma associated with mental health makes people feel ashamed sad & alone. Let's change minds!I've been researching the effects that the stigma has on children with mental health problems over the last 12 years. I've designed a toolkit and framework to help children schools and communities tackle stigma. In 2009 the Tackling Stigma framework was piloted in 6 areas of the country and children and young people worked really hard to change people's minds about mental health - visit www.chimat.org.uk/tacklingstigma. The results have been amazing! My goal is to make sure that the message about tackling the stigma of mental health is in all of our minds. We can't do it without spreading the word. We need to break the silence and end the shame. Carrying the Olympic Flame will keep the message alive. Let's change minds together! | <urn:uuid:7d3e34dd-c85d-4d68-b9d1-7d4dd9cfe555> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/torchbearers=fiona-warner-4785/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957589 | 187 | 2.234375 | 2 |
- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com -
The Truth About the CBO
Posted By Alex Knepper On March 25, 2010 @ 2:00 pm In NewsReal Blog | No Comments
Is the CBO really so infallible?
Almost alone in the public’s appraisal of the government, the Congressional Budget Office emerged from the health care debate as a symbol of nonpartisan truth-telling. Who, asked the media, would doubt the Non-Partisan, Objective CBO? If the CBO claims that the Democrats’ plan will reduce the deficit, who are we citizens to doubt?
Well, contrary to expectations from the infallible CBO, which stated there we had six more years until this problem would arise, we now know according to an article from yesterday’s New York Times that Social Security revenue will not equal payout beginning this year:
This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, said that while the Congressional projection would probably be borne out, the change would have no effect on benefits in 2010 and retirees would keep receiving their checks as usual.
The problem, he said, is that payments have risen more than expected during the downturn, because jobs disappeared and people applied for benefits sooner than they had planned. At the same time, the program’s revenue has fallen sharply, because there are fewer paychecks to tax.
One might think that starting a new entitlement program in the midst of such news would be a bad idea — and one would be right. But during the debate over Obamacare, the Democrats would often roll out the CBO’s numbers as evidence of how “fiscally responsible” the plan really was. The incarnation that passed was alleged to actually reduce the deficit by nearly $150 billion over ten years.
Given that a nearly-identical state-level plan in Massachusetts incurred massive overruns — and that the major subsidies don’t even begin until 2014 — this claim should strike a person as dubious. But one simply can’t argue with the unfalsifiable. The future can’t be proven. Today’s news is a timely reminder, though, that the CBO can be very, very wrong.
Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2010/alex-knepper/the-truth-about-the-cbo/
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:2ecb304d-5514-43fd-8c4b-886941f073ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/alex-knepper/the-truth-about-the-cbo/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956071 | 559 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Indiana has seen 13 confirmed adult flu-related deaths since November 1, and two pediatric deaths, according to the state's health department.
Arkansas has seven confirmed flu fatalities. Many of the hospitals are at capacity because of the flu or other illnesses, state health spokesman Ed Barham said.
South Carolina has counted 22 flu-related deaths this season, compared with one for all of 2011, according to the South Carolina Department of Health. From September 30 through January 5, the state saw 1,084 influenza-related hospitalizations, the department said.
In Illinois, Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck said Wednesday that since October, six flu-related deaths of patients in intensive-care units have occurred.
"We have been and continue to see an increase in flu activity across the state. The flu strain that is predominately circulating this year is typically more severe, with more hospitalizations and deaths," Hasbrouck said. "From the beginning of October through the end of December we've seen almost 150 people admitted to hospital intensive care units with influenza like illness.
"This compares to last year at this time when there were only two ICU hospitalizations and no deaths."
In Michigan, there have been four pediatric deaths related to the flu, said Angela Minicuci, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Community Health.
And the North Dakota Department of Health is reporting 1,077 cases of flu in the state as of Wednesday -- a sharp increase from the 625 cases reported last week.
Dr. David Zich, internal medicine and emergency medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said this is the worst flu season he's seen in his 12 years at his hospital, in terms of the concentration of patients.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is on "bypass," which happens when it is beyond capacity because of an influx of patients, such as during flu season.
That means advanced-life support ambulances with patients who are stable are referred to the next closest hospital, no more than five minutes away, Zich said, and transfers are not accepted from outside hospitals. For everyone else, they are open for business.
"The majority of flu patients are sent home, with very little else done, so we can handle that," he said.
Why so many cases?
Zich theorizes that one reason there are so many flu cases is that the heart of the flu season coincided with the December holiday season, meaning many people were already sleep-deprived from parties and were more likely to get sick.
Those who went to gatherings of family or friends may have already begun to feel sick, and spread the virus to others. People are generally contagious the day before symptoms start, and for five days after becoming sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last flu season was light, but this year has brought with it some "ominous signs," Fauci of the NIH said Tuesday.
Flu cases started going up early, toward the end of November and the beginning of December, he said.
"And it went up on a pretty steep trajectory," he said. "The last time we saw that happen that way was the flu season of 2003 and 2004, which turned out to be a bad flu season."
The type of flu that is going around is called H3N2, which is often linked to more serious disease compared to other flu varieties, Fauci said.
But there's good news: That type of flu matches up well to the vaccine that is being distributed and given out throughout the United States.
People may get more complications from this particular strain of H3N2, "which may make them ill for a longer period of time," Dr. Michael Jhung, medical epidemiologist in the influenza division at CDC, told CNN's Mary Snow.
"But symptoms typically last up to seven days for a normal infection, a noncomplicated infection with influenza," he said. "And we usually see that from year to year regardless of what strains are circulating."
In a "light" year, a few thousand people may still die, but a particularly serious year could see up to 49,000 deaths from the flu, Fauci said. "There's an average of about 200,000 hospitalizations and there's a lot of economic burdens."
If you haven't gotten an annual flu vaccine, it's not too late, doctors say. To further protect yourself, try to avoid anyone who is sneezing and coughing, and wash your hands. Also, exercise and eat healthy foods, Zich said. | <urn:uuid:4a9e2e61-0f22-4a6c-98a7-e2570e9dd3b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kesq.com/news/health/Flu-epidemic-spreading-health-official-says/-/232884/18070244/-/item/1/-/91l8si/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981217 | 944 | 1.796875 | 2 |
at 33.4km (NW) from Damnoni beach
Gavalohóri (GR: Γαβαλοχώρι) is an old big traditional village, with fine examples of traditional rural architecture and stone buildings that are well preserved. The village has been declared a traditional settlement and is awarded a protected status. Many interesting buildings still stand, such as the 18th century olive press, the church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) and that of Agios Sergios, the old school and the complex of the wells from the period of the Venetian occupation.
at 34km (E) from Damnoni beach
The town of Timpaki (GR: Τυμπάκι) is located in the west edge of the plain of Messara, 65.3km away from the city of Iraklion. It is a rich and busy town with significant economic activity especially due to the early vegetables production in the wider area. There are banks, a post office, medical centers, stores, schools, hotels, restaurants, ect to cover both the needs of the locals and visitors.
at 35.1km (SE) from Damnoni beach
A small coastal village with a long sandy beach is becoming very popular with tourists due both its natural beauty and its proximity to Phaistos, Gortys and other important sites. There are quite few hotels, apartments etc and taverns, cafes by the beach.
at 35.4km (NW) from Damnoni beach
Kókino Horio (GR: Κόκκινο Χωρίο), which is located at a higher altitude, has maintained its traditional architectural style even more so than the other villages with its narrow roads, beautiful gates and tiled roofs. A group of cisterns, built in a sloping field, gather the rainwater, an interesting example of local architecture, dealing with the permanent problem of lack of water. Above Kokino Horio one can see the strangely shaped hill Drapanokefala or Calapodha (so named during the venetian occupation). The coastline northwest of the village is an extremely interesting place for a stroll due to the ground formation and the caves, such as the cave of Petsi (or Karavotopos). Another cave called Katalimata, located at the centre of the village, is also an interesting site. At cape Drapano, approximately 10 metres under water, is the impressive Elephant cave, an area 60mx60m full of stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes and colours.
at 36km (NW) from Damnoni beach
Pláka (GR: Πλάκα) is a lovely village in the Apokoronas area, less than one kilometer away from Almyrida, with interesting architectural style, which is unfortunately changing due to intense building mainly for tourist purposes. Its ~300 permanent inhabitants, occupying mostly with farming, stock-breeding, fishing and lately with tourism. It has all the basic amenities, including excellent tavernas, bars, a grocery store and a kafeneion. Plaka is built on the slope of a hill at 70 m above sea, with a panoramic view of the bay of Souda. The surrounding environment has maintained its character well and is ideal for walks either inland or along the coast. Visitors can also admire a magical sunset from here. Every summer -at about the end of July- a two days traditional feast - The Plakiana - is organized to honour the memory of the great local lyra player Mihalis Papadakis or else Plakianos. During the feast guests enjoy Cretan dances and can visit the textile and ceramics exhibitions. The custom of Klidonas is celebrated at the end of June and the Carnival usually takes place in March.
at 36.1km (NW) from Damnoni beach
A beautiful small sea side village with long sandy beach where wind surf, canoes, paddle boats, umbrellas and sun beds can be rented. The place provides all the facilities for the visitors with small hotels, rooms, apartments and many taverns with traditional food and fresh fish. Recent years it became very popular with expatriates and there is a significant development in the real estate sector.
at 36.2km (SE) from Damnoni beach
One of the most beautiful sandy beaches of Crete, extends from a clump of rocks riveted in the shallow waters in the south to the Kalamaki settlement in the North. In Minoan times there used to be the ancient port of Phaistos. The antiquities lie just a few meters away from the sea.
at 36.5km (SE) from Damnoni beach
Matala was the ancient port of Phaistos and Gortys and a former fishing community which has developed into a modern holiday center. It is located 4 km south-west of the village of Pitsidia and 75 km from Iraklion. It is built on the coast line of the Messara bay inside a small and picturesque inlet. During the 60's the caves of Matala were hosting a hippie commune.
at 36.6km (E) from Damnoni beach
The "Royal Villa" at Ayia Triada which is situated very close to Phaistos, was built in about 1550 BC. i.e. just before the new palace at Phaistos, and was destroyed by fire in l450 BC, like all other important Minoan centres. It succeeded the first palace at Phaistos as the economic and administrative centre of the regions depriving the new palace there of this role, and appears to have had connections with Knossos. The two wings, with an open-air space between them, consisted of groups of interconnecting rooms (polythyra), storerooms and stairways. On the site of the ruins, a Mycenaean megaron, the so-called "Agora" and an open - air shrine were subsequently built. In the villa's disaster layer from the fire in 1450 BC, excavation revealed a valuable group of exceptional works of art, precious materials, records in Minoan script and seals. The famous black serpentine vessels, the "Harvesters' Vase", the "Boxers' Vase" and the "Chieftain ‘ s Cup", the wall paintings depicting the natural landscape, the sarcophagus, the bronze and clay figurines of worshipers and the copper ingots from the Treasury are among the most noteworthy findings.
at 36.7km (NE) from Damnoni beach
Panormo is a small coastal village with ~400 inhabitants, located 25km east of Rethymnon in a small distance from the national road. The village has developed to a tourist resort providing quite a few tourist facilities such as hotels, apartments, lovely taverns and bars. There is also a small fishing harbour that serves mostly the locals. It is an nice place for swimming as its beaches - with umbrellas , sun beds etc - are with fine sand and clear water. Early-Christian basilica in Panormo In 1948 the archaeological axe brought to light the largest early-Christian basilica of Crete southwest of the village of Panormo. The basilica of Aghia Sofia had a wooden roof and dates back to the 5th century.
About 25km from Panormo to the mainland is the archaeological site of Eleftherna. | <urn:uuid:390d95fc-18ef-4513-a5cc-216f4454bc23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.interkriti.org/crete/?display=5&category=f2regional&area=&whatsnew=&keyword=&more=spr&from=1367505&trad=50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962632 | 1,583 | 1.96875 | 2 |
The debt ceiling deal hammered out by President Barack Obama and congressional leaders and passed in the House on Monday afternoon makes deep, painful, and lasting cuts throughout the federal government's budget. What's on the chopping block? The numbers tell the tale.
The Obama-GOP plan cuts $917 billion in government spending over the next decade. Nearly $570 billion of that would come from what's called "nondefense discretionary spending." That's budget-speak for the pile of money the government invests in the nation's safety and future—education and job training, air traffic control, health research, border security, physical infrastructure, environmental and consumer protection, child care, nutrition, law enforcement, and more.
The White House's plan would slash this type of spending nearly in half as a percentage of gross domestic product, from about 3.3 percent of America's GDP to as low as 1.7 percent, the lowest in nearly half a century, says Ethan Pollack, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Pollack's calculations suggest the cuts in Obama's plan are almost as deep as those in Rep. Paul Ryan's slash-and-burn budget, which shrunk non-defense discretionary spending down to just 1.5 percent of GDP. The president has claimed that the debt deal will allow America to continue making "job-creating investments in things like education and research." But on crucial public investment, Obama's and Ryan's plans are next-door neighbors. "There's no way to square this plan with the president's 'Winning the Future' agenda," Pollack says. "That agenda ends."
Environmental protection offers one useful window onto the damage this deal might inflict. The president has boasted that his deal with the GOP will usher in an era featuring "the lowest level of annual domestic spending since Dwight Eisenhower was president." But Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist with the Sierra Club, says the plan could choke off funding needed to enforce the bedrock environmental-protection laws on the books, including as the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. "Remember, the Eisenhower era was before we passed the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act," Pierce says. "There just won't physically be the funds available to protect drinking water and to ensure there's clean air to breathe."
Ben Schreiber, a tax analyst with Friends of the Earth, a national environmental advocacy group, says the Obama-GOP debt ceiling deal could also drive a stake through the heart of investments in wind, solar, and other clean-energy technologies. "The clean-energy revolution becomes a casualty of these cuts," Schreiber says. He adds that the Environmental Protection Agency also sends money to the states for their own environmental protection efforts, which could suffer after such a drastic cutback in domestic spending. At the same time, he says, corporate subsidies for oil and gas companies, worth an estimated $30 billion over ten years, are untouched in the latest debt ceiling proposal. "Polluters are getting off scot-free," he says. "We're basically turning the environment over to the industry."
Jobs programs could also go under the knife. Rick McHugh, a staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project, points to two endangered programs: the Workforce Investment Act, which funds job training programs for young, adult, and dislocated workers, and the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides benefits and training to workers whose jobs were lost due to outsourcing. McHugh says both programs are necessary at a time when 14 million Americans are out of work.
McHugh adds that the bill does not include an extension of federal funding for unemployment benefits, which is set to expire at the end of the year. All told, he fears that already weak job market could be dealt a massive body blow by the Obama-GOP debt deal. "To have this big of an austerity proposal in Washington is disconcerting and misguided," he says.
When it comes to public funding for education, the picture is more mixed. The White House's proposal protects Pell grants for low-income college students, a big victory for education advocates. But protecting Pell funding meant eliminating an interest-rate subsidy for graduate students and a perk that lowered interest rates for graduates who made their loan payments on time. Amy Wilkins, the vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, says funding for K-12 public schools, Head Start, special education, and more are vulnerable too.
Education, environmental protection, and jobs programs are just the start. An array of social safety net programs—the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, food stamps, housing assistance for low-income individuals, foster-care money, and basic income-security programs—could lose funding under the debt ceiling plan. So, too, could critical infrastructure investments in better bridges, roads, and rail transportation.
Nor is this the final round of cuts. The Obama-GOP deal also sets up a bipartisan deficit reduction committee that must identify, by the end of 2011, an additional $1.5 trillion in cuts to be spread over 10 years. If the committee fails to reach an agreement or Congress fails to enact its recommendations, across-the-board cuts totaling as much as $1.2 trillion will occur anyway. In the end, nondefense discretionary spending could see billions more in cuts on top of the initial $570 billion. Social Security and Medicaid would be protected from deep cuts, but Medicare could be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars if, for instance, the committee decides to raise the eligibility age for the program.
What's not in the deal could hurt too. In particular, EPI's analysis estimates that not extending federal unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut, combined with the deal's array of cuts, will result in 1.8 million fewer jobs and a loss of $241 billion in economic output in 2012. "It's going to suck a good deal of demand out of the economy," EPI's Pollack says. "It's going to be devastating." | <urn:uuid:77d616fb-12cd-4a49-9d28-adb0b75dd2cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/united-states-of-austerity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956889 | 1,232 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Japan Society Gallery, MIA
Japan Society Gallery explores the continuing generative power of Japanese popular culture in Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints (March 9-June 9, 2013), an exhibition juxtaposing contemporary works of art with nearly 100 historic ukiyo-e woodblock prints drawn from one of the world's great collections of "pictures of the floating world" at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA).
In showcasing approximately 30 works by ten International Artists who either draw inspiration from the ukiyo-e artists' style, technique, or engagement in popular culture, Miwako Tezuka, the newly appointed Director of Japan Society Gallery, has recast the exhibition, which comes to New York from the MIA, where it originated earlier this year. Dr. Tezuka will feature different contemporary artists than those shown in Minneapolis, as well as the iconic ukiyo-e prints.
True to the chic, playful aesthetic of culture in the Edo period (1615-1868), Japan Society Gallery is commissioning AIKO, a graffiti artist based in Brooklyn, to create at the entry to the exhibition a wall-size mural that pushes her tough, urban, pop sensibility while referencing traditional ukiyo-e motifs. Other present-day artists selected to participate are Emily Allchurch (London), Paul Binnie (London), Hatakeyama Naoya (Tokyo), Ishii T?ru (Saitama prefecture), Kazama Sachiko (Tokyo), Tomokazu Matsuyama (New York), Narahashi Asako (Tokyo), Jimmy Robert (Brussels), and Masami Teraoka (Hawaii).
The Edo period was a time of great change as both artists and printers in the city (now called Tokyo) labored to satisfy the appetite for the new among a rising class of townspeople. Although color woodblock prints became affordable enough for almost everyone, low cost alone did not account for their immense popularity. Rather, as artists experimented with dramatic compositions, they also began to introduce audacious subject matter. "The subversive quality of ukiyo-e made these prints absolutely irresistible," says Tezuka. "I see the contemporary artists we are focusing on as descendants of Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, and more of the great ukiyo-e masters represented in the exhibition."
One of Edo Pop's themes is images of Beauty, which is explored in juxtapositions suggesting that the role of provocateur was as familiar to ukiyo-e practitioners as it is to artists today. At the beginning of the exhibition, AIKO's pert, liberated 'grrls' and a number of other images of women will be placed in close dialogue with sensual and fashionable ukiyo-e depictions of female entertainers and denizens of brothels-including Kitagawa Utamaro's Love for a Farmer's Wife (1775-96), in which a languorous beauty with a swan-like neck very discreetly allows her kimono to fall open at the breast. A stencil print created by the London-based artist Paul Binnie in 1994 will also appear in this section, through which the viewers will gaze upon the beauty of the male physique. Binnie's noir-ish print will be placed near a vertical woodblock created more than a century and a half earlier by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Kuniyoshi's masterful rendition of a carp (koi) swimming upstream in a waterfall reappears as a carp tattooed onto the arm of a muscled young man in the contemporary print and enhances the erotic aura of the subject.
A section about the realm beyond the ordinary includes ghosts, demons, mythological figures, and legendary heroes often played by Actors-ukiyo-e artists delighted in animating all these subjects, narratives, and more. The Brussels-based artist and choreographer Jimmy Robert has created an installation in the form of a table with scattered photographs that appropriates a theatrical quality of ukiyo-e images and actor prints' intense focus on the actors' gestures. Referencing the theatrical composition of Jeff Wall's A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), Robert carefully positions sheets of photographs on and around the table as if blown in wind. Each photograph depicts a moment when his collaborating Butoh dancer twists her body as if reacting to the sudden gust of wind.
Further into Edo Pop, a section devoted to the Joy of Life highlights how the latest fashions, makeup, lacquers, ceramics, clocks, and pipes, as well as rare flowers, fish, and even pets figure in the worldview of ukiyo-e. Just as Edo-period artists cast their curious eyes on everyday life, contemporary artists are bringing a comparable visual inventiveness to their attempts to capture the vitality of life today, especially as manifested in the street and youth cultures of neighborhoods like Williamsburg or Bushwick in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn-based artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, whose neon bright, super-charged pop paintings will be featured in the exhibition, is among these emerging talents.
In the 19th century, as the government loosened restrictions on travel, prompting city dwellers to take to the road in search of adventure and exotic pleasures, Landscapes, too, became an important sub-genre of ukiyo-e. In Edo Pop, the British photographer Emily Allchurch will be represented by a series of photographs mounted on light boxes, each referring to a framing technique of the ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige. By engaging with the 19th-century master's innovations in picturing landscape, Allchurch follows such modern artists as Van Gogh and Whistler, who were also inspired by Hiroshige's dynamic compositions. But while Allchurch's delicate, pastel-hued scenes appear at first to chronicle the beautiful remains of old Edo, on closer inspection hints of globalization, commercialization, and urbanization intrude, along with their darker sides, including pollution and homelessness. Kazama Sachiko, a printmaker who today lives and works in Tokyo, will also contribute to this section in a large-scale black and white engraving that demonstrates how virtuosic technical mastery can be effectively placed in the service of a dyspeptic view of a warlike, violent world.
The historic prints on view in Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints are all masterworks, selected to convey the great breadth of ukiyo-e production and the variety of expressions of 21 of its masters. The legacy of ukiyo-e, so well represented here, is inspiration for Ishii T?ru, a 31-year-old artist based in Japan. More than any other of the featured contemporary artists, Ishii, who creates pop paintings not on canvas but on silk using a method of dyeing called yuzen, has challenged himself to reinterpret the spirit of Hokusai and other ukiyo-e artists in the visual language of today.
The contemporary portion of the New York presentation is organized by Miwako Tezuka, PhD, who assumed the position of director of Japan Society Gallery in July 2012. Dr. Tezuka is an internationally recognized curator and expert in modern and contemporary Japanese art who has contributed greatly to the field through her scholarly and curatorial work. Prior to her appointment, Tezuka was associate curator at Asia Society, New York, where she was responsible for Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool (2010) and Mariko Mori: Kumano (2010), among other notable exhibitions.
The original iteration of Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints was curated by Dr. Matthew Welch, deputy director and chief curator and curator of Japanese and Korean art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The MIA has produced a major catalogue of the top 300 ukiyo-e prints in its extensive collection, nearly 100 of which will be featured in Japan Society's presentation. Worldly Pleasures, Earthly Delights: Japanese Prints from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis: 2011) is available through MIA museum shop at: http://artsmia-museum-shop.stores.yahoo.net/wopleadejapr.html (hardcover; 375 pages; full color; $49.95 plus shipping and handling). | <urn:uuid:5681ba48-37c5-4502-a784-38fcca001aed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://art.broadwayworld.com/article/EDO-POP-Exhibit-to-Open-at-Japan-Society-Gallery-39-20130219 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944436 | 1,736 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Tanzania: Where Climate Change Could Be a Good Thing?
Takepart.com – Wed, Aug 1, 2012
Tanzania could actually benefit from climate change by increasing corn exports to the United States and other countries that may have more difficulty producing the crop in the future, according to a new study.
Researchers at Stanford, Purdue University, and the World Bank set out to determine how certain trade policies might provide a buffer for countries like Tanzania from the worst effects of climate change.
Tanzania, they found, could take advantage of worsening drought in countries like the U.S., China, and, India by selling more maize, its staple crop, to places with less rainfall.
MORE: Obama and Romney Are Decidely Not Climate Change Debaters
The study, which was published in Review of Development Economics, used economic, climatic, and agricultural data, along with computational models, to forecast weather in Tanzania for its international trading partners for the next nine decades.
The country will have adequate and moist growing weather in most of the years that its African trading partners will experience severe dry spells, they found. In 96 percent of the years that the U.S. and China are predicted to be dry and inhospitable for farming, Tanzania will not suffer drought.
Furthermore, because poverty rates have dropped historically in the East African nation during years that produced a lot of maize, study authors argue that an increase in climate-change-related exports might reduce poverty in Tanzania. Yes, you read that right: climate change will lift Tanzanians out of poverty.
However, the researchers cautioned that the Tanzanian government would have to create more open-trade policies so that citizens could take advantage of surplus maize. The government has a history of issuing heavy controls over its trade policies.
In 2011, the Tanzanian government banned maize exports, a policy it implemented to try to ensure food security in the country as its East African neighbors were enduring famine. But some analysts believe the practice merely enriched the wealthy and hurt the rural poor. The ban was lifted earlier this year.
Current “trade policies and international agreements implicitly reflect the climate that we have now,” says Noah Diffenbaugh, co-author of the study, and assistant professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford’s School of Earth Sciences.
In the future, countries will need to reevaluate their trade policies and work with partners to ensure that trade can mitigate the coming food shortages. “The greater level of integration, the greater potential to buffer any country when there’s a [climate] shock,” Diffenbaugh told TakePart.
Many developing countries rely heavily on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism—all industries that are likely to be impacted by climate change, according to a 2009 report by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. Countries that are disadvantaged in certain sectors will likely have to rely on trade with other nations to meet their needs.
Right when the local food movement is hitting primetime, a growing body of literature seeks to understand how climate change will shift the way food will be shuffled around the world. Which international mechanisms and infrastructure will govern these shifts will likely be a matter of much debate.
Trading, of course, involves emitting greenhouse gases by transporting massive quantities of goods—something else that countries will have to take into account as they seek to lower their ecological footprints while simultaneously providing for their citizens.
Food for thought: according to the World Trade Organization, the most carbon-efficient method for shipping goods internationally is maritime transport.
How do you feel about a country potentially benefitting economically from climate change? | <urn:uuid:03181104-31d2-4f49-9416-a1bd6755ad6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jamiiforums.com/jukwaa-la-siasa/302811-global-climate-change-a-big-advantage-for-tanzania.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944539 | 747 | 2.671875 | 3 |
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Irène Joliot-Curie — Chemist and physicist
Shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband Frédéric Joliot for discovering that radioactivity could be artificially produced.
You’ve heard of the achievements of Nobel Prize-winning scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. Now discover their brilliant scientist-daughter Irène Joliot-Curie who would also later earn the Nobel Prize based on groundbreaking research in radioactivity! Born in 1897 in Paris, Irène, always a intellectually sharp and curious child, began working as her mother’s assistant in the Radium Institute in Paris shortly after graduating from secondary school. In 1925 she received her Doctor of Science degree, having done her thesis on the alpha rays of polonium (the first of the two radioactive elements her mother had discovered 27 years earlier). At the Radium Institute, Irène met scientist Frédéric Joliot, her future husband and research partner. They married in 1926 and would soon make science history together in nuclear physics.
Why She’s Important: Irène, working with Frédéric Joliot, was the first to discover artificial, or synthetic, radioactivity. In the basement lab of the Radium Institute they bombarded stable chemical elements (boron, aluminum, and magnesium) with alpha particles, demonstrating in the end that normal chemical elements could be transformed into radioactive ones through human intervention. Thanks to their discovery, artificially radioactive atoms could now be prepared quickly, relatively inexpensively and in abundance, thereby opening the way to important progress in nuclear physics and medicine. The discovery earned Irène and Frédéric the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935.
Other Achievements: Shortly after her fame from the Nobel Prize, Irene was awarded a professorship at the Faculty of Science in Paris, and later was named director of the Radium Institute. In 1938 her research on the action of neutrons on the heavy elements was an important step in the discovery of uranium fission. Among her other numerous achievements, she played a key role in working out the plans for France’s large new center for nuclear physics at Orsay, served in the French Cabinet as Undersecretary of State for Scientific Research, and became a prominent proponent for the social and intellectual advancement of women.
Education: For a few years of her childhood Irene was educated by her mother, Marie Curie, but Irene later completed her studies at the University of Paris. Beginning in 1918 she assisted her mother at the Institute of Radium of the University of Paris while studying for her own doctoral degree, receiving that degree in 1925.
In Her Own Words: When her husband Frédéric happily exclaimed to her one day that his cloud chamber (a laboratory device he used for his work on uranium fission) was “the most beautiful phenomenon in the world,” Irene (who was by then the mother of two children) mildly corrected him by saying: Yes, my dear, it would be the most beautiful phenomenon in the world–if it were not for childbirth.”
However, the years of working so closely with harmful radioactive materials finally took their toll on Irene. She was later diagnosed with leukemia (similar to her mother). In 1946, Irene had been accidentally exposed to polonium when a sealed capsule of the element exploded on her laboratory bench. Treatment with antibiotics and a series of operations did relieve her suffering temporarily but her condition continued to deteriorate. She died in 1956 in Paris. The two children of Irene and her husband — Hélène and Pierre — would also go on to become greatly recognized scientists.
For more exciting role models in science and engineering, visit the USA Science & Engineering Festival www.usasciencefestival.org | <urn:uuid:9d5052a4-f9c8-4154-bc53-4bd4b2d6b7fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scienceblogs.com/usasciencefestival/2012/11/12/women-who-changed-the-world-through-science-engineering-irene-joliot-curie/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967814 | 788 | 3.453125 | 3 |
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Tired of using simplejson or cjson to encode and decode your data. Think that you need to have object support, like to exchange information outside of your class. jspickle allows for any Python object to be serialized into JSON. This library is based on the cjson library and allows for the ... [More]
If for some reason you have a number of abandoned pickle files (e.g. a doomed web app originally stored user info this way), this script can help you recover your data without spending the 10 minutes it would take to write the script yourself. Given a Python pickle file (text or binary), this ... [More] | <urn:uuid:9c9cad3d-1cfb-4d73-91ae-c0c5f173a71b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ohloh.net/tags/json/pickle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900979 | 150 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A $150-million-plus Chinese real estate and tourism deal that is slated for a suburb of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, is creating a quandary for many Georgians. The project is feeding a long-standing desire for foreign investment, but it is also stoking wariness about foreign influence.
Last week, Turkmenistan’s president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, gathered regional leaders in his marble capital ostensibly to mark Navruz, the Persian New Year. But he seemed more interested in talking gas and transportation deals than jumping over any fires, as Zoroastrian tradition instructs.
China is financing the construction of Kyrgyzstan’s first major oil refinery, and excitement is building in Bishkek that the facility could enable the Central Asian nation to break Russia’s fuel-supply monopoly. At the same time, some observers express concern that the project may stoke local resentment, or become enmeshed in political infighting.
China may have been able to carve out quickly a large economic role for itself in Central Asia, but it will take a lot more than money for Beijing to solve some of its geopolitical dilemmas in the region, according to a report released today by the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group.
A surge of economic nationalism is making life uncomfortable for Chinese companies working in Kyrgyzstan. Faced with obstacles to trade and investment in the restive republic, Beijing is looking for ways to mitigate risk. Kyrgyzstan, Chinese officials know, is not the only place in Central Asia eager for business.
On a main thoroughfare in central Bishkek stands a rare type of building in Kyrgyzstan these days: a busy factory. Women hunched over long tables can be seen from the street working late into the evening in boxy rooms under the greenish glow of florescent lights.
The building that houses the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure is in a walled compound in the center of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. I had the good fortune to be among the few Americans invited to take a peek inside.
Kyrgyzstan’s president-to-be, Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, and his political allies seem intent on calibrating the cash-strapped country’s foreign policy so that it aligns with Bishkek’s dire economic needs. This is likely to force Kyrgyz officials into a delicate balancing act in which they are challenged to keep the country’s two largest trading partners -- Russia and China – happy. | <urn:uuid:a7ef3d8f-ce3e-4389-9874-5c92c2854932> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurasianet.org/taxonomy/term/2725 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947479 | 555 | 1.75 | 2 |
Although protein drug discovery is still a new field, many companies are developing sophisticated technologies to enhance its potential. These companies will be presenting information on their most recent efforts at the upcoming "Drug Discovery Technology World Congress" in Boston this August.
Focusing on Protein-Protein Interaction Targets
Protein-protein interactions play a large role in cellular processes and represent therapeutically active points of intervention. However, these interaction sites tend to be wide and flat, making screening difficult.
Utilizing its proprietary NMR-based screening technology, Combinature Biopharm (www. combinature.com) has successfully identified small molecule ligands to a challenging protein-protein interaction target. This is the PDZ domain of the human gene af6, which modulates the activity of the pivotal oncogene ras.
"These PDZ domains are present in more than 400 human genes and represent a large class of underexplored protein-protein interaction targets binding to the C-termini of transmembrane receptors and ion channels through a barely druggable shallow grove," says Markus Schade, Ph.D., vp, NMR drug discovery.
He adds that NMR screening provides structural resolution, which is important for the chemical optimization of fragment hits toward high affinity and selectivity.
Additional advantages of this technology include site-selective screening, acceleration of lead optimization by structure-aided connecting of building blocks, and generation of lead structures with desirable pharmacokinetic profiles. The company has its own NMR-fragment library of 20,000 synthetic compounds for screening.
Customer services currently include NMR-based screening using its in-house library or customer libraries, determination of binding sites and affinity of hits by NMR, and determination of 3-D protein-ligand complexes by NMR. Although Dr. Schade says NMR screening is a new technology, "the potential for applications are wide because there are thousands of protein-protein interactions and many enzyme targets requiring the design of highly selective inhibitors."
Polyphor (www.polyphor.com) is also focusing on protein-protein interactions, but is zeroing in on the most relevant secondary-structure motifs occurring in proteinsbeta-hairpin loops. These are involved in approximately 90% of all protein-protein interactions.
The company has developed a technology process, in collaboration with Professor John A. Robinson at the University of Zurich, to make mimetics of beta-hairpin loops called Protein Epitope Mimetics (PEM).
"These are fully synthetic structural mimetics of proteinogenic beta-hairpin loops," says Daniel Obrecht, Ph.D., CSO. "They are synthesized on an automated, parallel platform that allows for rapid iterative cycles for optimization of biological activity, and in vitro and in vivo ADMET properties."
The molecules are approximately 12 kD, and can be assessed via NMR. Its 3-D information can be integrated into a small molecule design process.
The company presented information on two applications. One involves inhibitors of serine proteases, cathepsin G, elastase, and tryptase, which are all involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Most small molecule inhibitors lack good selectivity and have side effects. The company developed fully reversible and selective inhibitors of cathepsin G and elastase exhibiting good ADMET properties.
The second application is the discovery of antagonists of the chemokine receptor, CXCR4, a protein-ligand CPCR initially described as a co-receptor for T-tropic HIV, but recently shown to be an important receptor in angiogenesis, metastasis, and stem cell release.
"Antagonists of CXCR4 could be useful for the treatment of HIV, as well as for cancer, stem cell transplants, and inflammation," states Dr. Obrecht. The company expects to bring these compounds into preclinical trials soon, and will also be looking at intracellular protein-protein interaction targets.
Generating Novel Proteases
As an alternative to therapeutic antibodies, Direvo Biotech (www.direvo.com) has developed two technology platforms. One is the directed evolution of natural proteins, which optimizes existing therapeutic proteins. The second, called NBE (New Biological Entities), creates new proteases with custom-made specificities and targets.
The directed evolution platform consists of an ultra high throughput screening process that can handle 100,0001,000,000 individual protein variants per day. Optimization includes efficacy, selectivity, substrate specificity, stability, and yields. Applications include in vitro assays (cell-based and pure chemical), assays for solvents, and assays for antibodies and enzymes.
NBE is relatively new, but has already been used to develop a new anti-inflammatory protease to inactivate TNF-alpha. "We can generate proteases with this platform which do not exist in nature with tailor-made specificities against nearly any protein target," says Andre Koltermann, Ph.D., CEO. "This is comparable to the therapeutic antibody approach, but our method has several advantages."
These advantages include: cleaving their target, causing irreversible inactivation; inactivating hundreds to thousands of target proteins with one NBE protease; cost-efficient production via bacteria expression systems that work in vitro; and a production time of only three to six months. Antibodies can only neutralize one target protein, require mammalian expression systems and immunogenicity, and take much longer than six months to create.
The NBE process begins with a library based on the human protease backbone, and then random loops in the protease gene are inserted into specific regions called SDRs (Selectivity Determining Regions). These are stretches of a few amino acids at certain regions of the protease that can determine and alter its specificity. Then the NBE library is screened for desired specificity, and if necessary, the protease is further optimized for process conditions.
Preclinical studies are currently under way for the company's novel anti-TNF-alpha protease. "This is an efficient way to treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and psoriasis," adds Dr. Koltermann. "Our future plans are to broaden our protein platform to generate more proteases for specific targets."
Polymedix (www.polymedix. com) creates small molecule mimetics of host defense proteins, eliminating the potential of drug-resistant bacteria as seen with current antibiotics. Exclusively licensed from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, this process involves several computational design tools.
"The first thing we did was to design a novel antibiotic," says Nicholas Landekic, Ph.D., president and CEO. "Instead of targeting a biochemical molecule, we're disrupting the bacterial cell membrane from the outside. It's difficult to envision how resistance would occur."
The tools include a special force-field, GOLDYN (Global Optimization of Long-Time Dynamics), which takes into consideration solvent effects (i.e., water) on molecular shape and interaction. "Molecular dynamics is a key tool if one is trying to create membrane-active compounds, which is what we're doing with our antibiotic compounds," says Dr. Landekic.
"With the COSMOS (Coarse Grain Molecular Dynamics Simulations) approach, we're able to do molecular dynamic simulations of over several hundred microseconds, even using modest amounts of computer power. This is real-time for the interaction of many molecules with their membrane targets."
PACE (Proteomic-Assisted Computational Engine) is a set of algorithms that build nonpeptide backbones from common organic building blocks. These are built in a variety of shapes to mimic the backbone of the active portion of a protein the company is trying to mimic. Later, functional groups are added to give it biological activity.
The company has tested 300 novel small molecule antibiotic compounds to date and approximately 65% are considered hits. Approximately 50 of the 300 compounds are potent, selective, non-toxic, and considered leads.
"By developing small molecules that mimic host defense proteins, we've achieved compounds that are broad-spectrum, work on a wide range of gram positive and gram negative strains, as well as fungus, and are fast actingbactericidal within seconds to minutes. Most current antibiotics take one to three days to work and only arrest bacterial growth," states Dr. Landekic.
FivePrime Therapeutics (www.fiveprime.com) has developed a platform for the production and screening of all secreted proteins and receptors. The principles of high throughput screening of small molecule compounds are applied to the screening of entire sets of human secreted proteins on primary cells.
The company has the most comprehensive human cDNA collection, with more than 300,000 cDNA, of which more than 90% are full length, with an average of 12 clones per gene.
"Full-length cDNAs give a much better chance to make functional proteins rather than using ESTs, which most companies use," says Ge Wu, Ph.D., director of assay development and screening. These are derived from a tissue bank containing over 2,400 samples from 135 different normal and disease tissues.
High throughput protein production allows for the production of more than 2,000 proteins per week for screening. "Then we put these 2,000 proteins in different assays that are medically relevant. We decide on a disease first, then decide what type of cells are a good target, so we match the cell to the screening. We use primary cells, not cell lines," explains Dr. Wu.
This screening process is automated and has shown results to be reproducible. A database captures activity profiles of all proteins across all screens, which is a key element for lead selection.
The proprietary Espresso in vivo testing system generates information on secreted protein function in animals by mimicking intravenous injection of the protein without the need for protein production.
FivePrime is currently applying this technology to four disease areas: oncology, type 2 diabetes, immune disorders, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Wu says they currently have a "promising target called FPT025, which targets monocytes and T-cells."
A new area is cardiology, where Dr. Wu says the company currently has two projects under way. One is screening for factors that protect the cardiomyocyte after ischemia, and the other is screening for factors that stimulate the regeneration of heart cells from stem cells.
Combining In Vitro Assays with In Silico ADME Prediction
Nimbus Biotechnology (www. nimbus-biotechnology.net) combined in vitro assays with in silico approaches to optimize drug profiling and enable early profiling of new chemical entities or whole compound libraries. There are two early ADME assaysone for lipophilicity/membrane affinity (characterizes intestinal absorption of the compounds) and one for serum/HAS binding (mostly responsible for drug distribution).
These high throughput TRANSIL bead-based assays are in ready-to-go plates, adaptable to all major screening platforms, and state of the art read-out (UV, HPLC, LC/MS) is supported. It is capable of measuring more than 1,000 compounds/day, and processing time is less than one minute per drug in the 384-well format, according to Nimbus.
Pk-Map (originally developed by Bayer Technology Services and exclusively distributed by Nimbus) is a software tool for assessing ADME properties of compounds in different stages of the drug R&D process via the TRANSIL assays and uses this as major input parameters (lipophilicity, protein binding, buffer solubility, molecular weight of compound).
"The prediction models are optimized by using close to nature' assays like the TRANSIL approaches for the measurement of lipid-water partition coefficients and binding to HAS (human serum albumin)," explains Thorsten Hartmann, Ph.D., group leader, analytics. "This combination allows a fast and precise ranking of drug-like compounds as soon as possible in drug discovery."
A user-friendly graphical interface allows selection of compounds with suited properties without looking through complex databases.
Dr. Hartmann says that the biggest concern of most companies is to provide the right information base for selection decisions during a drug discovery project. "Therefore researchers want to have a maximum amount of information about their compounds right from the beginning, which is provided through the combination of in vitro and in silico tools." | <urn:uuid:56a5b632-1fcb-4803-b0d7-aa7758f52d79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/tapping-the-potential-of-protein-drug-discovery/1000/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93663 | 2,600 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Our colleagues at Physicians for Social Responsibility posed to top researchers, physicians and advocates the question, "What are we learning about the relationship between environmental toxicants and cancer? How should our regulatory system respond to this information?"
Of course this is a topic the Breast Cancer Fund is keenly interested—and deeply involved—in. Our staff Nancy Buermeyer and Connie Engel responded with a piece that focuses on breast cancer, of course, but also hones in on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs):
One of the most disconcerting set of chemicals linked to diseases, including breast cancer, are those termed endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including BPA, phthalates and other chemicals found in our everyday products. EDCs disrupt the body’s hormone systems, which regulate nearly every aspect of the intricate and exquisite process of life—from the awe-inspiring process of fetal development to the dramatic changes in puberty to the everyday processes of turning food into energy. Since one of the known risk factors for breast cancer is increased exposure to estrogen, it stands to reason, and the research bears out, that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that look like estrogen to our cells would increase the risk of developing the disease.
EDCs are a perfect example of why the “dose makes the poison” logic is flawed. EDCs can sometimes exert their most significant effects at exquisitely small doses. This is no surprise, since the hormones normally affect physical processes at very low doses. (Read complete article.)
Their essay stands alongside essays from top experts in environmental health, which we highly recommend reading. You can view them all on PSR's website. | <urn:uuid:1314e6c5-4634-4a4c-a8b6-427b2cf9c11d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insideprevention.org/2011/06/convenience-at-what-cost-the-connection-between-chemicals-and-breast-cancer-environmental-health-pol.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952672 | 347 | 2.65625 | 3 |
| Noelle, a laboring Mom, needs to deliver urgently because her baby shows signs of distress. When the baby is delivered, he does not breathe on his own. The team of physicians and nurses first attend to the medical needs of the mother and then take their positions to perform a neonatal resuscitation. The baby begins breathing on his own. This scenario sounds real and happens in true life, but the S575 Noelle® and SimNewBTM are actually state-of-the-art specialized manikins used for simulation education training at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.
In an effort to provide the most advanced medical training for primary care residents, the Memorial Hospital/Brown Family Medicine Residency Program unveiled the new Center for Clinical Skills Training in their Family Care Center on October 19th.
Family Medicine faculty and residents demonstrated the hospital’s new high tech teaching simulators which will be used for training in various settings including emergency, OB/GYN and pediatric care. Funds for the equipment were provided by a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to fund innovative primary care/family medicine residency training, as part of the federal government’s initiative to strengthen and grow the primary care workforce. HRSA is the primary Federal agency dedicated to improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable by providing national leadership in the development, distribution and retention of a diverse, culturally competent health workforce.
Memorial’s Family Medicine Center for Clinical Skills Training provides a unique experience for physicians, residents, nurses and other health care staff. The programmable manikins are capable of interacting with health care professionals, mimicking real people. They talk, have a pulse, have a blood pressure, move, and have changes in skin color. As interventions are performed the “patients’” condition will improve to reflect the treatment administered. Some of the interventions health care providers can perform include airway management, CPR, administering medications and IV access in children and adults, as well as management of labor complications such as post-partum hemorrhage and seizures.
“High tech simulation training equipment within the hospital and office settings is revolutionizing residency training,” said Gowri Anandarajah, MD, and director of family medicine residency. “Since family physicians provide care throughout the lifespan, it’s essential that they are highly competent in the emergency care of all age groups. We are thrilled that our medical, nursing and other hospital staff can offer the highest quality care to the patients of Blackstone Valley.”
The computerized integrated manikins — adult, pediatric and neonatal — are all controlled wirelessly, demonstrating true care in motion. In addition to Noelle, simulation equipment includes: SimNewBTM, a newborn simulator for neonatal resuscitation; S3005 Pediatric HAL®, a five-year-old simulator, an Advanced Life Support Trainer and Susie® S2000, an adult simulator. Additional equipment will also improve residents’ skills in clinical ultrasound, gynecological and musculoskeletal procedures. | <urn:uuid:93b5d056-d299-4d02-ba75-3ee754ad74e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mhri.org/ss_plugins/content/content.php?content.2272 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947136 | 635 | 2.015625 | 2 |
The NFRC disagrees with this court decision. The federal government has the fiduciary responsibility to take possession of commercial nuclear power plant spent fuel. Billions of dollars have been collected from ratepayers to support the federal government's responsibility for managing the waste.
The 26-year-old nuclear reactor and dry storage facility are located 10 miles north of Richland, Washington. Energy Northwest sued the Department of Energy in 2004 for money it spent on moving spent nuclear fuel from its overcapacity spent fuel pools to a newly built dry storage facility.
Energy Northwest could not be reached for comment.
The contracts stipulated that the federal government was required to dispose of spent nuclear fuel generated by the reactor by 1998 and Energy Northwest was bound to prepare the waste for storage and contribute money to the Nuclear Waste Fund.
The Obama administration ended support for the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, prompting DOE to withdraw its application for the project and forcing utilities to store waste on-site.
Nuclear plants must store spent fuel in pools for at least five years and thereafter can leave the rods in water indefinitely, but the pools can fill up depending on their arrangement and must be moved to dry storage, according to NRC. Energy Northwest determined by the early 1990s that the pool would reach capacity after 2003 if the government did not take the waste and decided in 1999 to build an "independent spent fuel storage installation" to store the fuel indefinitely in dry casks. The facility was approved to store spent nuclear fuel in 2002. (NYT, 4/8/2011) | <urn:uuid:b66cc2da-e7a5-42b8-84e1-b2d3351dd4f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nfrcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/04/energy-northwest-nuclear-waste-claim.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966527 | 313 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The Alderney Elizabethan Wreck
The Alderney Maritime Trust
In 1996 the States of Alderney set up the Alderney Maritime Trust to oversee the security, excavation, conservation, display and publication of the Alderney Elizabethan Wreck and its contents. The purpose of this website is to make the work of the Trust available to scholars and the general public. With the exception of recent finds, everything recovered from the wreck has been published at an academic level in book form. Everything that has been conserved is on permanent museum display, or in museum storage, and is available to the public. Everything that is not on display or in storage is currently in teatment with professional conservators. As far as we are aware no other excavation in British waters can make these claims. As a volunteer organisation we feel we have achieved much of which we can be proud. We hope you will agree.
The Historical Perspective
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 did not end the Spanish threat. Within three years Queen Elizabeth I had sent England’s best known and most experienced soldier, Sir John Norreys, to Brittany with 3000 men to prevent Spain from securing a suitable port from which it might pursue its war against England. The Channel Islands straddled the route between England and Brittany, so most of Norreys’ transports and supply vessels would have passed within the near vicinity of Alderney.
In a letter to Lord Burghley dated 29th November 1592, Sir John mentions “a shypp that was cast away about Alderney”. Because of its location and period and because it was carrying military supplies (helmets, body armour, muskets, shot, hand grenades, etc.), it is believed that our wreck is the ship that was mentioned in the dispatches to the Queen’s Chief Minister.
The Elizabethan Age was when England moved out into the world. Never were its ships more important. Men like Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins and Frobisher fought battles at sea and set out on journeys which, in time, would establish England’s maritime and territorial domination of the world. Upon its ships, England under Gloriana achieved wealth, power and greatness it had never known before.
In broad terms, the importance of the Alderney wreck lies in the fact that it is the only ship from this pivotal period to be found and excavated in British waters. Archaeologically and historically, it is second in importance only to the Mary Rose, and illuminates better than anything else that has come down to us, these crucial years in Elizabeth’s war with Spain.
Alderney – The Location
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands group. It is 3½ miles long, 1¼ miles across and has a population of around 2500. It is situated on the edge of the continental shelf, just 9 miles from the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula, Normandy, and 55 miles south of Portland Bill, Dorset (see its location here).
Alderney is notorious for its fierce currents and hazardous reefs. Over the centuries these have claimed many fine ships, not least of which was this gunned Elizabethan vessel with a military cargo that was discovered in 1977.
www.visitalderney.com – Alderney invites you to travel to and discover one of the few unspoiled, peaceful, natural and totally relaxing British Isles. You can also find out more about the island and its governance on its official site: www.alderney.gov.gg
You can now buy replicas of the unique pan weights recovered from the wreck – the sale of these items go towards the funding of The Alderney Maritime Trust. They make great paperweights and a unique gift!
We are also now featured on the BBC History of The World website – see our Elizabethan pan weight as one of the featured objects. | <urn:uuid:e9dae450-5277-493a-b242-7ae1ae73d5a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alderneywreck.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963677 | 806 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Syrian government forces and rebels engaged Saturday in fierce clashes throughout the vital and culturally rich city of Aleppo, with portions of a storied marketplace going up in flames.
Abu Abdallah, an opposition activist in Aleppo, told CNN that rebel forces had liberated at least four neighborhoods by the third day of an offensive against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
But the government trumpeted its actions against the opposition.
"The armed forces on Saturday continued to target hideouts and gatherings of terrorists in Aleppo city and its countryside, killing and injuring dozens of terrorists and destroying their vehicles," according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The see-saw fight for Aleppo, once considered an al-Assad stronghold, has continued nearly unabated since July, though the number of casualties has steadily increased.
Syrian forces targeted "terrorists" at several sites, including part of the city's medieval souk, a historic market, and killed and wounded several of them, SANA reported.
Video posted on YouTube showed a fire that had been initially set off on Saturday night continued to spread through the souk Sunday amid the sound of gunfire. The description on the video said it was recorded Saturday after "Assad gangs" burned the market.
CNN is unable to independently verify the veracity of the video.
The marketplace, once popular with tourists, is a labyrinth of covered alleys.
The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said, "the (rebel) Free Syrian Army and the families of the city were unable to extinguish the fire due to the spread of regime snipers." | <urn:uuid:c54dd93d-9573-4be5-b082-b340bd335905> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wapt.com/news/national/Syrian-army-rebels-fight-for-Aleppo/-/9157010/16787994/-/um4022z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970971 | 325 | 1.578125 | 2 |
As a parent there is one guarantee in life. Your child is going to catch a cold at some stage in their life. For new parents, a babies first cough, cold or runny nose can be a worrying experience. It needn't be. Follow these simple tips and life for you and baby will so much easier.
Most children, particularly when they hit school age, suffer around 10 coughs or colds each year. The effects remain for two to fourteen days depending on what type of cold they have.
Coughs, colds and some runny noses are generally result of a common cold virus. These viruses cannot be treated by anti biotics, in fact there is little that medicine can do to 'cure' a cough, cold or runny nose in a baby.
Classic signs of the common cold in babies
There are several signs that your baby may be coming down with a cough, cold or runny nose. The first is frequent sneezing although this may also be due to allergens. So to the watery red eyes. However, if the nasal congestion thickens then you know it's a cold.
Other symptoms include a low grade fever and eventually coughing. If the cold has settled in the chest first then you may find the cold starts with coughing rather than the runny nose.
Treating a babies cough, cold and runny nose
For babies less than three months, consult your doctor particularly if the temperature is high or there are any breathing difficulties. For older babies, the best you can do is alleviate the symptoms and make life a little more comfortable for them.
Plenty of fluids is rule number one. There is no such thing as too much in the way of fluids. If possible, plain water (boiled and cooled) in between feeds is best.
Avoid any medication for under two year olds including pain or fever relief medication. The mild fever is the bodies way of dealing with the virus. Cough medications can prove fatal for under two year olds so do not self medicate. Seek doctors advice first.
You can moisten the air using a humidifier. If you don't have a humidifier then place baby in the bathroom filled with steam for short periods (be sure the bathroom is mold free first).
For babies with runny noses that are quite thick, you can purchase prepared saline drops. A couple of drops in each nostril may help to flush out any of the mucous. You can also use an eye-dropper to suck out the mucous.
Preventing coughs, colds and runny noses in babies
Prevention is always better than the cure. However, it is almost impossible to prevent babies from catching a cold all the time. Some prevention strategies include keeping baby away from those that do have a cold. Washing your hands before handling a baby, and teaching everyone to sneeze or cough into a tissue rather their hands or the air.
If your feel the symptoms are getting worse or you becomes worried, seek medical advice. Common coughs, colds and runny noses in babies are rarely serious, however medical advice can help alleviate your fears which will help you to control the situation. Staying calm and following these guidelines will make life much easier for everyone. | <urn:uuid:ef79d558-eb96-423b-8d01-281154b1f1a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wellsphere.com/parenting-article/coughs-colds-and-a-newborn-s-runny-nose/386634 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95502 | 670 | 2.59375 | 3 |
If you spend a lot of time online, you’re probably aware of phishing scams and know what to look out for. In other words, you’re not one of those ignorant types who clicks on links and starts entering personal information without hesitation. Writer and blogger Cory Doctorow is what you might call hyper-vigilant–he keeps unique passwords, uses a VPN when going online in public, and generally knows not to trust strangers. Still, he got phished a couple of weeks ago. [More]
Since 2007, the FBI and authorities in Egypt have been running an investigation they’ve called “Operation Phish Phry,” sigh, and this week it paid off with 53 charges against U.S. defendants and 47 against people in Egypt. Three of the 53 in the U.S. have been arrested, and the FBI are looking for the other 50. To prove you’re not one of the remaining 50, please send the FBI your login credentials to your bank. Ha ha, we kid.
PC World notes that phishers are now targeting Steam account holders. Games are an easy target because you can make quick money off of them and the security isn’t as high as with, say, credit cards. The site that first reported this, SpywareGuide, demonstrates two examples—steamgift.com and steamverification.com—that will attempt to trick you into giving them access to your digital library of games.
Phishing attacks are pretty cleverly designed, because they skip most virus checkpoints altogether and go for the true weak spot in human-computer interaction, the human. Lorrie Faith Cranor, a computer security researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, has been studying phishing attacks to identify new ways to fight them.
The various takeovers and mergers in the financial fallout give phishers a new opportunity to try to scam you into giving over your bank account warns the FTC. As most of you know, any unexpected email message that looks like it came from a financial institution, asking you to “update,” “validate,” or “confirm” your account information is invariably a scam. Unwitting victims are redirected to a login site that looks like it’s for their bank, but is really just a way to steal your account logins and/or personal information for use in further identity theft. Here’s the FTC’s tips for getting “hooked” by the “phishers” (gotta love it when the Feds pun)…
Phishers have a new target: your Google Calendar. Nigerian-419-type scammers are spamming sending their messages as meeting invites on people’s Google’s Calendars. This happened to me a few days ago. One way to combat it is to change the “Automatically Add Invites To My Calendar” setting from Yes to No.
Oh, this is just classic. Phishers are now trying to capitalize on the PIN block crisis.
Dan writes in a story of a lady pretending to be Capitol One and asking for his social security information. The callerID showed up as a number registered to Capitol One. | <urn:uuid:eafac734-fe35-48cb-9ebc-9ecd5b559ed2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consumerist.com/tag/phishers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939106 | 665 | 2.0625 | 2 |
The blog of The Antient and Honourable John Adams Society, Minnesota's Conservative Debating Society www.johnadamssociety.org
Friday, June 02, 2006
I obtained these graphs US Global Change Research Program: The Green line represents the actual temperature data from the US. The red and blue lines are based on differnet climate change models. I don't know about you, but I recall from math class that trends from graphs are usually based on the existing data. You find the average points on your data line and then extend that trend line outward. In these graphs, the projections seem almost unrelated. In fact, if you drew a line for the actual U.S data, the line would be straight across. The actual data shows wild fluctuations, but on average shows there has been no tempature change in the United States from 1900 to 2000. How can that be? | <urn:uuid:7a3826a1-62ce-49d3-8b93-1ae4638635a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://johnadamsblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/where-is-global-warming-evidence.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91159 | 181 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Since the mid-1960s, data for estimating vaccine coverage in England and Wales have been collected from health authorities and published annually by the Department of Health (DH) and the Welsh Office. Estimates initially used the number of live births in each district health authority as the denominator, moving in 1988 to using resident children in the district (Körner returns) (1). These annual data reported vaccinations given up to three years previously and, although they were useful for measuring long-term trends, did not provide information on recent fluctuations in vaccine cover or on the implementation of new vaccines.
In 1984, the World Health Organization set a target of 90% primary vaccination cover for Europe by 1990 in an attempt to eliminate indigenous measles, poliomyelitis, neonatal tetanus, congenital rubella, and diphtheria by 2000 (2). Vaccine coverage for measles and pertussis vaccines in England and Wales at this time fell well short of this target. In the mid-1980s, however, the increasing use of computerised child registers that hold vaccination details for all children meant that vaccination coverage data for the entire population could now be calculated using resident children as the denominator. In addition, designated co-ordinators of local vaccination programmes were appointed. These two developments created the opportunity, through the development of the COVER (Cover of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly) programme, to improve coverage by providing rapid feedback of clear, accurate and relevant information and to enable changes in vaccine coverage to be detected quickly (2).
COVER was first piloted in England and Wales in January 1987, with 14 districts contributing data. By May 1989, 175 of the 200 districts in England and Wales were participating. Vaccination data were requested from each district/health board in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for quarterly cohorts of resident children who had recently reached target age for completing vaccination with sentinel antigens. District data was aggregated at the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC), and regional and national statistics fed promptly back to district immunisation coordinators and regional medical officers. Summary data were also included in the Communicable Disease Report (CDR).
Concurrent to COVER data being collected by CDSC from districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland each quarter, Körner data were compiled annually for England by DH, for Wales by the Welsh Office, and for Scotland by the Scottish Information and Statistics Division for the Scottish Office. Although there were great similarities in these datasets they were not directly comparable, resulting in a duplication of effort, and the publication of slightly conflicting data. In 1995, the Körner and COVER systems were merged to create an integrated and more streamlined system for the collection of immunisation coverage statistics (3). At the same time compatible data from Scotland became available allowing the production of UK coverage statistics.
With the reorganisation of the NHS in April 2002, COVER data for England is now collected from primary care trusts (PCTs) rather than health authorities. The denominator is defined as the PCT relevant population and includes all children registered with a GP whose practice forms part of the PCT, regardless of where the child is resident. It also includes any children not registered with a GP, who are resident within the PCT's statutory geographical boundary. Children resident within the PCT geographical area, but registered with a GP belonging to another PCT, are the responsibility of that other PCT. | <urn:uuid:8a8f1514-2748-41bd-b20e-3728967cb3fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/VaccineCoverageAndCOVER/GeneralInformation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959851 | 694 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Aaron Copland plays his piano at home in Rock Hill, N.Y., in 1978.
In 2000, former NPR producer, musicologist and Civil War historian Andy Trudeau was charged with writing a musicial biography for NPR's Aaron Copland Centennial coverage on the Web.
Introduction: The Turn of a Century
When Aaron Copland was born in 1900, America's classical-music masters were composers that, today, are fairly obscure — Edward MacDowell, Ethelbert Nevin, George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, and Arthur Foote. The spirit of their music was indisputably romantic, its language accented in German, its standards largely imitative of European models. Original and strong voices, such as that of polytonalist Charles Ives, did exist; but the force of convention lay with the Old World, not the New.
It was this milieu that initially nurtured a budding composer who, in his own words, was born "on a street in Brooklyn that can only be described as drab." His family was utterly unmusical; therefore, Copland was an Outsider from the beginning, a perspective that served him well throughout the struggle to find his own compositional voice.
His early studies and compositional exercises were grounded in conventional practice, but curiosity, and a feeling that the right sounds for him were not those around him, took Copland to Paris where he fell under the sway of the extraordinary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, and, through her, the ground-breaking music of Igor Stravinsky. In many ways Stravinsky became Copland's first important model.
In his early important works like the piano Passacaglia (1921-22) and Organ Symphony (1924) one hears a leanness of texture, starkness of color, and driving, angular rhythm. Also present are the spirit and distinctively open intervals (the distances between chords and notes) that epitomize the American sound.
Modernism & Jazz
Copland's return to this country found him with a split personality. On one hand, there was the steely modernist who produced challenging, loud, declamatory pieces like the orchestral Statements (1932-35) or the powerfully original Piano Variations (1930). On another, Copland turned to jazz with a vengeance, making aggressive use of its colors, rhythms, and attitudes in the Piano Concerto (1926) and Music for the Theater (1925). Copland later admitted that as a fruitful journey of discovery, his jazz period proved a dead end, but as with all experiences, he picked up elements that would stay with him for the rest of his creative life.
No composer lives in a vacuum and a mix of world events and personal values began to move Copland in the direction that would result in some of his most popular and enduring works. As the United States fought its way through the Great Depression, massive government programs extended into the arts world, creating a powerful impetus for "art for the people." Finding the right mix of quality and mass appeal became a guiding principal for many of the different artists of the late 1930s and early '40s.
Copland's political affinities to movements that emphasized appeal to the masses, also helped shape his decision to craft a style that would appeal to many. (He was also canny enough to recognize that the new technologies of commercial recording and radio created the possibility for an individual composer to reach thousands more than could ever squeeze into a concert hall.)
Perhaps not surprisingly, Copland began his journey through the filter of American myth. His ballet music for Billy the Kid drew craft from his previous work; the inspiration stemmed from his enthusiastic embrace of a historical landscape rendered better imaginatively. Copland showed ingenuity in his ability to seamlessly incorporate pre-existing folk material (in this case, cowboy songs) into music with sophistication.
Unlike other notable modern composers who utilized folk materials either by imitating or merely orchestrating them, Copland absorbed them into the total texture of his work. It was something to which he returned in his subsequent ballets Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1943-44), as well as in some charming orchestral miniatures like John Henry (1940).
The Hollywood Years
Always media savvy, Copland entered the world of film-music composition at a time when that industry was still fairly young. The Hollywood standard then was that of loud, big, and ultra-romantic scores. Copland brought simplicity, directness, and economy to his scores for Of Mice and Men (1939), Our Town (1940) and The Heiress (1948). The latter brought him an Oscar, making him one of the few who could point to a wall-shelf displaying both an Academy Award and a Pulitzer Prize (this for an orchestral suite of Appalachian Spring).
Copland never saw film scoring as more than a part of his overall resume, so he, in turn, scored few. (Copland finished eight scores in his lifetime — this at a time when a major studio composer like Max Steiner would turn out that many and more in a single year!)
The period of the Second World War saw Copland rise to a patriotic occasion with several works that became part of regular concert life — and one which has come to symbolize in music the essential American spirit: the Fanfare for the Common Man. His work for narrator and orchestra, Lincoln Portrait (1942), uses the utmost economy to link a Norman Corwin-inspired text of Copland's crafting (using portions of Lincoln's words tied together by Copland's commentary) to a powerful evocation of American ideals.
The result? Lincoln Portrait has become one of the very few pieces for speaker and orchestra still regularly performed. For a slight, seemingly throw-away commission from the Cincinnati Symphony for a suitably patriotic miniature, Copland provided his Fanfare for the Common Man which, in its three-minute length, manages to encapsulate everything that is noble, proud, and hopeful about the American spirit.
In later years, no one was more surprised at the work's increasing popularity than the composer himself.
The Great American Symphony
Copland emerged from the war years with an intentionally atypical piece. As someone who always seemed to always write best in short forms, Copland long aspired to write something grand and expansive in the manner of the late-19th-century symphonist Gustav Mahler. He labored for two years to create a work which was his sincerely felt contribution to the pursuit of "The Great American Symphony."
Copland's Third Symphony (1944-46) came after two that he did not number until this one (the first was a version of his Organ Symphony without organ; the second was his Short Symphony of 1932-33; another similar work called Dance Symphony was never numbered).
The Third Symphony speaks to the breadth of the American landscape and evokes a stirring spirit that is triumphantly made in the U.S.A. (It is also a reflection of Copland's thought that his Fanfare for the Common Man already enjoyed its short happy life, since he incorporated it into the finale.) Critics remain divided on how well the work succeeds but it was to be Copland's last effort in the symphonic form.
Copland remained active as a composer well into his 70s. His post-World War II efforts saw him, to some extent, revisiting his past compositional stopping points. Copland, the stern ironed modernest, re-emerged though his powerful Piano Fantasy (1952-57), the unabashedly twelve-tone Connotations, and the equally compromising Inscape (1967).
A populist, musical color was never far away in Down a Country Lane (1964) and the Three Latin American Sketches (1972). Copland even renewed his early marriage to jazz in the Benny Goodman-inspired Clarinet Concerto (1947-48).
This brief and subjective overview has necessarily passed over many of Copland's works including his music for concert band (Emblems of 1964, several fanfares and alternate versions created by Copland's orchestral works), and his vocal/choral works (including the superb song cycle on poems of Emily Dickinson, the moving Old American Songs of the 1950s, and his low-key prairie opera The Tender Land, 1954).
Also overlooked is his work organizing the business of American music, his efforts as author/teacher to general audiences and future composers, his work as a conductor, and as an international spokesperson for American culture in general.
Those concerns notwithstanding, one would be hard-pressed to find a more complete composer than Aaron Copland. His "popular" works achieve their honest success without compromising compositional quality; his "modern" works, though never memorable monuments, reveal a wide-ranging intellect in full command of a 20th century palette. For the best summary, one can only echo Leonard Bernstein's off-hand comment about Copland. For Bernstein, Aaron Copland was "the best we've got." | <urn:uuid:aafa92d3-8a79-43b8-95de-6f920ac54458> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4161670 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974334 | 1,879 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Mac vs PC
When going off to college, many students will want to bring a laptop or desktop computer with them. But with so many laptops to choose from, one might find themselves confused with what laptop is right for them, afterall, no one wants to spend a lot of money for a crappy laptop.
The two major powerhouses in computing today is Microsoft and Macintosh. Both have their pros and cons, but the major you intend to pursue can affect which laptop you should get. A PC based laptop is better for engineers and power users, but Macintosh is better for multimedia based programs. I personally own a Windows computer because I like how I can find almost any program for it, and if one that I need is not available, I can easily make one myself. I did kind of want a MacBook too because of itís fun artsy programs like photobooth and such, but I eventually settled with PC since I wasnít going to be majoring into anything like communications or art.
When shopping for laptops, many factors should be considered to make the right purchase. The specifications for the laptop are always given, and very important in deciding what laptop you should get, but many people donít know what any of it means. Iíll give a brief explanation on the important things that should be considered when purchasing a laptop:
Processor speed: will be given in ghzís, you donít want anything under 1.6 ghzís otherwise youíll find the computer sluggish. Anything around 1.6 or higher is good, 2.0-2.4 or high is really good, the more the better.
RAM: This also affects the speed of your computer. This will usually be given in GBís but I think theyíre still some laptops that come out with 512MB ram (1024MB = 1GB). You donít really want anything under 1GB so I would steer away from anything with just 512MB, some offer 2-4GB RAM nowadays, but anything 1GB or higher should be good enough. If you consider yourself a poweruser or a gamer, you might want something more around 2 or higher GB. But you can always ask them to install more RAM for you if necessary.
Video card memory: This will affect the video speed of your laptop. You donít really need to care about this unless youíre a gamer. When watching movies, laptop nowadays can handle it, but when playing video intensive games such as Halo, youíll notice it being very sluggish unless your laptop has at least 1GB of RAM dedicated to video.
Screen size: Bigger is usually better, but you donít really want to be carrying a huge laptop around with you. Bigger screen sizes are better for people who watch a lot of movies on their laptops or play a lot of games, but usually for the casual user, anything like 14.1Ē-15.4Ē is good enough. My friend just got a 17 inch laptop and at first I thought that would be cool with such a huge screen, but when I saw it, I was surprised at how big it really was. Again, you need to remember youíll be carrying this thing around.
Weight: This is the same as before in that you donít want to be carrying a mammoth around with you. There really isnít any benefit in having a heavier laptop anyways, so lighter is always better.
Some people may find themselves wanting to get a desktop computer instead though. Same things apply really above, but nowadays desktops usually come cheaper than laptops. The only downside is portability.
Some other accessories you might want to invest in:
Microsoft Office <- this has things like Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc. It is very costly and there are other economical methods than buying this suite, but many people like Microsoft Word.
A laptop lock. All laptops will have a premade hole for a lock built into them which you can attatch something called a laptop lock into it and then bolt it down to your desk. This will make sure that you donít have your huge investment stolen from you.
Carrying case Ė This is very handy for carrying your laptop around with you while keeping it safe.
Printer - for printing out anything you want.
Please note, I have heard that UML does provide computers/printers and I believe has a 24 hour computer lab.
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Laptops.
TrackBack URL for this entry: | <urn:uuid:4282328a-cd59-4d71-ab0a-da58a65e4659> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.uml.edu/hawktalk/hai/2008/08/laptops.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959816 | 935 | 2.25 | 2 |
(CNN) -- It may have been a simple misunderstanding that led to a horrific lynching.
On October 5, four University of Port Harcourt students, Chiadika Biringa, Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku, and Tekena Elkanah left campus for the village of Aluu. According to Biringa's mother Chinwe, Obuzor was owed some money and he asked his three classmates to accompany him to the village to collect on the debt.
Within minutes of their arrival, a rumor spread that the students were not there to collect but to steal. An enraged mob stripped them naked while beating them with sticks and rocks then wrapped car tires around their necks -- a form of torture known as "necklacing." As the four men sat on the muddy ground dazed and pleading for their lives, someone doused them with gasoline, lit a match and set them on fire.
The killing of the "Aluu four" was filmed and posted on the web for the world to see and now serves as a stark reminder of what can happen when the rule of law fails and communities turn to vigilante groups to carry out summary executions of criminal suspects, said Eric Guttschuss, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"Vigilante justice and mob justice generally takes place when there is a culture of impunity for crimes and in Nigeria, the Nigerian authorities have failed to crack down on this culture of impunity," Guttschuss told CNN.
Mob justice is not unique to Nigeria and it would be unfair to characterize it as such.
One infamous lynching in particular shocked the world and helped to spark the civil rights movement in the United States. In August 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was beaten, his eyes gouged and shot in the head. His body was then thrown in the Tallahatchie River with a 70-pound cotton gin tied around his neck with barbed wire. His crime? Allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Till's mother insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket showing the horribly mutilated and bloated body of her child so that the world would see the brutality of the lynching. Chiadika Biringa's mother felt the same way when CNN approached her to talk about her son's killing.
"I want the world to know how our security failed us. I want the world to know that my son and his three friends are innocent of what they said they did," Biringa said.
According to news reports, the village of Aluu was on edge after several incidences of armed robbery -- and in a country where critics say corrupt police are sometimes considered more dangerous than criminals, mob justice is how many disputes ranging from pick-pocketing to kidnapping are often resolved.
But Chinewe Biringa says her son and his friends were just innocent kids. "He was a very kind hearted boy and we (were) so close," she said. "If my son sees you 100 times he will greet you 110 times."
Biringa says the boys also had promising futures in music. They had already recorded a song together called "Ain't No Love in the City" -- a title she now says seems eerily like a premonition of what came to pass.
"It's almost as if they knew they were going to die," Biringa said.
Biringa and her husband, Steven, an oil executive at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says that he watched the video because he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen his son's killing with his own eyes.
"I want them to know from beginning to end the barbaric nature with which they chose hunt them down," he said. "Even your worse enemy should not be treated in such form in the 21st century that people are still behaving and killing human beings as if they were rats."
The Nigerian police have arrested 13 people and, shockingly, one police officer who was on the scene and may have encouraged and even participated in the killing. While that officer is awaiting trial, the Nigerian police force has denied broader charges of rampant corruption and abuse.
Spokesman Frank Mba says while Nigeria's police is not perfect, the police "are committed to improving our competency through training and retraining and to improve our service, deliver to protect law and order and to stabilize democracy in Africa's largest country."
Guttschuss says it is not enough. He told CNN: "Generally if you are the victim of a crime and you go to the police, you are asked to fund the criminal investigation. If you don't have the money to fund it and meet the incessant bribe to the police the case is often dropped. On the other hand, the criminal suspect, if he or she has the financial means, can simply pay off the police."
This is why these extrajudicial executions are still all too common across Nigeria. It is impossible to find official statistics, but a quick search of the words in YouTube pulls up dozens of clips showing what happens to someone accused of crime when a mob sets themselves up as judge and jury.
This incident however, has seemingly galvanized the public. There are petitions and websites springing up to raise awareness of the issue and to pressure government and police officials. But many also say there are already laws against assault and murder which, when it comes down to it, is what mob justice is all about. For things to change, they say, the culture has to change.
Chinwe Biringa believes her son is now a martyr, and hopes that his lynching will lead to change -- much in the way that Emmett Till's killing did.
"If justice is done, then I will be happy," she said. "Because I know my son died a hero. He paid the price for Nigerian students in generations to come." | <urn:uuid:328527b1-ccb1-4d5b-b0b8-83247d0dc2d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/26/world/africa/nigeria-mob-justice-duthiers/index.html?hpt=ju_c2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98176 | 1,212 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Swabi is a beautiful city in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, lies between the Indus and Kabul River. Swabi is the fourth most populous city of the province. A motorway connecting Peshawar with Islamabad passes through Swabi with an access interchange at Ambaar village. It is a farming area, and the foremost crops are wheat, corn, vegetables, sugarcane, maize, and tobacco. Swabi produce many fruits like peaches, watermelon, apricots, and citrus. One of the finest marble of the country also produced here, and export to the other cities all over Pakistan. One of the mainly influential institutions of Pakistan, located here in village Topi, named Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute. Swabi contains many archaeological sites, frequently visited by tourists, some of them are:
The Fort of Hund: It is a prehistoric stronghold, sited on the right bank of River Indus, and construct by Moria Emperors. It is half way between Tarbela Dam and Jehangira. This fort is a doorway to India, and all the conquerors crossed the River Indus at this point. The antiques found here gathered in Hund Museum, which is located on the bank of River Indus and perceptible from the Indus Bridge on the Motorway from Peshawar to Islamabad.
Rani Ghat: These ruins Gandhara Civilization situated on the top of a mountain, and it is the famous historical palace, used by the Queen of that era. It believed that these are the remnants of a big university of that time. This area is a hub of researches for different institutes, and used to be a fairyland for visitors, which came here for gather knowledge about Buddhism.
Kandao Valley: Climbing over the Kandao Pass, Valley of Kandao placed, with lush green fields and scenic mountains. Famous villages of this region are Panjman, Jhanda, Bolo, Pabaini, and the huge mountain of Mahaban is clearly visible from the Valley.
Ghazi Barotha Dam: Located in village Gallah, It is the biggest dam in Swabi. This dam has acquired round about 14000 canals. The remnants in the upstream mountains of Ghazi Barotha Dam are rich in archaeological materials, and the historical Neelab Town and Imrana Kala also placed in these hills.
Hund: It is another important archaeological treasure and been the capital of the Turk Shahi and Hindus for nearly three hundred years. Various ancient objects and remnants of old buildings spread all over the area. | <urn:uuid:25619a7f-eb15-48dd-9081-b7facbea140a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bookitnow.com/swabi-pakistan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94732 | 540 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Friday Mosque (Masjid Jamek)
Masjid Jamek, the Friday Mosque, is located where the Gombak River flows into the Klang River and with its palm trees and curved steps leading to the water's edge, it is a haven of peace and tranquillity set among the buzz and rush of modern Kuala Lumpur. The mosque is situated on the spot purported to be where the founders of Kuala Lumpur fist set foot. The design was inspired by Mogul mosques in northern India. Cupolas and minarets top the brick walls and arched colonnades. As with all mosques, a visit calls for conservative dress and the removal of shoes; the mosque staff at the entrance supply women and men with appropriate attire for a mosque visit if they have not come prepared.
If you only visit one mosque in Kuala Lumpur the Friday Mosque is probably the best option, but the National Mosque is also worth investigating. A modern contrast to the Friday Mosque, the National Mosque was completed in 1965 and remains the largest mosque in Southeast Asia - the vast main prayer hall can accommodate up to 10,000 people. Many of the city's Malay office workers congregate here for the Friday afternoon prayers. The impressive 18-point star-shaped dome represents the 13 states of Malaysia and five central Pillars of Islam. Entry is only permitted once prayers have been concluded. Robes can be borrowed from the desk at the mosque entrance.
Address: Jalan Tun Perak
Telephone: Friday Mosque: +60 (0)3 2691 2829; National Mosque: +60 (0)3 2693 7784
Transport: Friday Mosque: Masjid Jamek LRT station. National Mosque: LRT to Pasar Seni LRT station.
Opening times: Friday Mosque: Saturday to Thursday 8:30am to 12:30pm and 2:30pm to 4pm; Friday 8:30am to 11am and 2:30pm to 4pm. National Mosque: daily 9am to 6pm, except Friday during prayers from 2:45pm to 6pm. | <urn:uuid:a9a24804-cccb-4762-b4cb-deb8f18b2f74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordtravels.com/Attractions/568 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940381 | 430 | 1.992188 | 2 |
The main subject in Sebastian Picker’s work is a small, chubby man with a bald head. On various canvases, he goes about his day taking on both the mundane and the magical: He prostrates himself before corporate power in the form of a disembodied three-piece suit; he carries a giant smiley face on his back, referencing the Atlas myth. Picker paints his stylized protagonist at a tiny scale within his canvases, and there is something distinctly voyeuristic about the way that the viewer nearly always sees the little man from behind or from high above. The implication here is that he is under constant surveillance, and it’s the viewers who are implicated in the intrusion. Picker mixes creepy and cute in a way similar to Colombian painter Fernando Botero: Picker’s roly-poly figure flirts with being as fleshy as Botero’s rotund characters, and Picker’s work addresses sociopolitical ideas as Botero’s figures raise uncomfortable questions about class and power. Picker exiled himself from his home country of Chile during the dictatorial rule of Augusto Pinochet, and he sends up social and political conformity with his hapless little hero, but the absurdity is energized with enough paranoia to push the comedy a little toward the dark side. On the whole, Picker’s images are highly illustrative, and you could imagine them inhabiting a dystopian graphic novel about a brave clerk who begins to understand that he’s compliant in his own slavery. Think Dilbert penned by Philip K. Dick. | <urn:uuid:e9563e76-418d-4708-8e03-09c8a0f9ef44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/sebastian-picker/Event?oid=3298700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967578 | 327 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Members of Koumbit in Support of Jaggi Singh and all Toronto G20 Protestors Still Facing Accusations
(Koumbit feels this matter is of sufficient importance and urgency to highlight on our frontpage, however we do not, as an organisation, endorse this letter. A majority of the workers and many members of Koumbit have instead freely chosen to support this declaration. This letter was written in response to a call for support for Jaggi Singh from the 2010 Anti-Capitalist Convergence.)
In the spirit of solidarity, Koumbit has long supported the expression of dissent, online as in the streets. We believe this expression is a fundamental requirement for a just society. We too dream of a world without borders and fences, and strive to liberate our communications and knowledge of such restrictions.
While we did not, as a collective, go down to Toronto to protest the G20 in June of 2010, we did provide material and logistical support to groups that did, and will continue to do so. Thousands of people, from all walks of life and from throughout the world, marched in the streets of Toronto, seeking to do one thing: give all peoples a voice in proceedings that will shape the course of their lives for decades to come. One of the many repressive measures the state used to prevent these voices from reaching their intended destination was a physical fence.
As our leaders seize unmandated powers and shirk their responsibilities, we declare our support to those courageous souls who called for the dismantling of these barriers, who sought to hold our leaders accountable. We deplore the decision to uphold the sanctity of military force, the government's power to unilaterally declare public spaces closed, and the illegitimate repression of dissent by attacking and imprisoning their critics.
The scapegoating and marginalization of those who call for justice in an unjust society is nothing new. We have seen the same things recur over and over again, with state repression squarely aimed at Mohawks who dare to reclaim their land; police racial profiling and killings in our neighborhoods; the endless cycle of displacement faced by the thousands of homeless people who call our streets home; the imprisonment of hackers who dare challenge and question our security apparatus; attacks on women's organisations fighting for their security and reproductive rights; and countless others.
Over a thousand people were arrested in Toronto, but ultimately, very few of the charges laid have been maintained, and fewer still have resulted in convictions. A few dozen people have been prosecuted for various minor criminal charges; Byron Sonne was imprisoned for almost a year before being granted bail; and 17 people, after months under virtual house arrest, are still facing charges of conspiracy. Now it is Jaggi Singh's turn to bear the brunt of the state's frustration, and, following a plea bargain, he risks jail time.
About his plea bargain, Jaggi had this to say:
By pleading guilty to counseling to commit mischief, I can openly state that the fence deserved to come down, and that the G20 deserved to be confronted. I'll pay a price for having said so openly, but I am ready to assume that responsibility.
It is also our conviction that any call for the dismantling of barriers at the Toronto G20 conference in 2010 was entirely justified by the atmosphere of extreme repression in the city and the illegitimate control of public spaces exercised by the authorities. The police paramilitary mobilization in Toronto at that time was among the most massive, wasteful, and violent of our country's history.
We can see why, with the expenses for the G20 conference under public scrutiny and the pertinence of the security apparatus in Toronto in question, the government is anxious to sweep this whole episode under the rug.
Like many groups involved in social struggle in Montreal, we have had occasion to come into contact with, and appreciate, Jaggi's work as a community organiser and activist. His vitality and conviction are an inspiration to us all. It is our demand that Jaggi face no further imprisonment for his acts of resistance, so that he may be free to continue the work to which he has already devoted many years of his life.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with the 17 other G20 co-defendants charged with conspiracy and with the many other people who have faced state repression for resisting the G20 in Toronto, in 2010.
- Sofian Benaissa, worker, Koumbit.org
- Stéphane Couture, board member, Koumbit.org
- Marc Angles, worker, Koumbit.org
- Matt Corks, worker, Koumbit.org
- Omar Bickell, worker, Koumbit.org
- Antoine Beaupré, worker and board member, Koumbit.org
- Guillaume Boudrias, worker, Koumbit.org
- Jessica Charest, worker, Koumbit.org
- Julie Delorme, worker, Koumbit.org
- Lydie Servanin, worker, Koumbit.org
- Patrick Hétu, worker, Koumbit.org
- Samuel Vanhove, worker, Koumbit.org
- Sebastien Grenier, worker and board member, Koumbit.org
- Shane Bill, worker, Koumbit.org
- François Pedneault, worker, Koumbit.org
- Mathieu Petit-Clair, worker, Koumbit.org
- Christopher Gervais, worker and board member, Koumbit.org
- Heidi Strohl, worker, Koumbit.org
- St-Arnaud Patrice, member, Koumbit.org
- Stéphane Lussier, worker, Koumbit.org
- H. Kurth Bemis, worker, Koumbit.org
- Eric Leduc, member, Koumbit.org
- Wahiaronkwas David, member, Koumbit.org
- Julie Belpaire, membre, Koumbit.org
- Olivier Loyer, membre-fondateur, Koumbit.org (Inde)
- "Je souhaite en ma qualité personnelle et en tant que membre de Koumbit, vous signifier mon appui à votre démarche visant à exempter Jaggi Singh et d'autres d'être emprisonnés injustement pour avoir "osé" démocratiquement manifester leur dissidence à la mascarade que représente le G20 et ce genre de conférences bidon sans vision constructrice pour les citoyens du monde." - Christian Rocquebrune, membre, Koumbit.org
- Ryan Hayes, member, Koumbit.org
The original call for support
On taking down fences and the criminalization of dissent: An interview with Jaggi Singh (rabble.ca)
Crown seeks six months for G20 protester (thestar.com)
Crown demands harsh sentence for G20 activist (NOW Magazine) | <urn:uuid:914a7bac-b79c-4428-9571-6b33546f308f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koumbit.org/articles/members-koumbit-support-jaggi-singh-and-all-toronto-g20-protestors-still-facing-accusations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911203 | 1,475 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Herman Kermit Warm has been marked for death. The Commodore hired Eli and Charlie Sisters to kill him. The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt, is Eli’s first person account of being a hired murderer on the job in 1851. Eli and Charlie don’t know Warm’s offense and it doesn’t matter. The Commodore pays well and on time. Traveling from Oregon City to Sacramento, Eli coddles the idea of finding a woman, settling down and owning a business. Charlie scoffs at his brother’s domestic pining and revels in encounters with an oversized bear, a witch, hard frontier women, an orphan, treacherous trappers, drunken harlots and a gold rush. If you like Charles Portis’ True Grit, you’ll probably enjoy The Sisters Brothers.
Hired Murderers on Slow Horses
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You must be logged in to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:0deb132a-568a-4af4-8d7c-a7145097b2f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mppl.org/check-it-out/hired-murderers-on-slow-horses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911204 | 197 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Sudden cardiac death: Time of day link found in mice
How the time of day can increase the risk of dying from an irregular heartbeat has been identified by researchers.
The risk of "sudden cardiac death" peaks in the morning and rises again in the evening.
A study published in the journal Nature suggests that levels of a protein which controls the heart's rhythm fluctuate through the day.
A body clock expert said the study was "beautiful".
The inner workings of the body go through a daily routine known as a circadian rhythm, which keeps the body in sync with its surroundings. Jet lag is the result of the body getting out of sync.
As the chemistry of the body changes throughout the day, this can impact on health. US researchers say they have identified, in mice, how the time can affect the risk of sudden cardiac death, which kills 100,000 people a year in the UK.'Insights'
They identified a protein called kruppel-like factor 15 (Klf15), which was controlled by the body clock and whose levels in the body went up and down during the day. The protein influences ion channels which control heart beat.
End Quote Dr Michael Hastings Medical Research Council
It gives a beautiful molecular mechanism which explains a phenomenon that's been kicking around for a long time”
Genetically modified mice which produced too much Klf15 and those which produced none at all both had an increased risk of developing deadly disturbances in cardiac rhythm.
Prof Darwin Jeyaraj, from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said: "Our study identifies a hitherto unknown mechanism for electrical instability in the heart.
"It provides insights into day and night variation in arrhythmia susceptibility that has been known for many years."
There are important differences in the way that human and mouse hearts work, so it is unknown whether the same mechanism exists in people.
Fellow researcher Prof Mukesh Jain said: "We are just scratching the surface. It might be that, with further study, assessment of circadian disruption in patients with cardiovascular disease might lead us to innovative approaches to diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment."
Dr Michael Hastings, from the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology, told the BBC: "It's a great paper, it gives a beautiful molecular mechanism which explains a phenomenon that's been kicking around for a long time."
He said translating the findings into medicine was all about "targeting the most vulnerable stage" such as slow-release blood pressure drugs, which become active first thing in the morning when the risk is highest.
"When you think about it, it's so blooming obvious," he added. | <urn:uuid:67d293e2-6384-48ff-9201-3f9759518a68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17127649 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958554 | 547 | 3.09375 | 3 |
USDA scientists are working on a solution for controlling barn flies.
USDA scientists are developing strategies to help livestock producers control stable flies, the most damaging arthropod pests of cattle in the U.S.
An economic impact assessment by scientists at the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Agroecosystem Management Research Unit (AMRU) in Lincoln, NE, looked at four sectors of cattle production: dairy, cow-calf, pastured and range stocker, and animals on feed. They found that stable flies cost the U.S. cattle industry more than $2.4 billion each year, due to reduced milk production in dairy cows, decreased weight gain in beef cattle, and lowered feed efficiency.
Stable flies are not only a problem in barnyards and stables, for which they are named, but in pastures as well. AMRU entomologist David Taylor and his colleagues showed that this is partly due to the use of large bales of hay placed in fields as supplemental feed for cattle during winter. These feeding sites where wasted hay, manure and urine accumulate produce an ideal habit for stable flies.
To find an easy, inexpensive, quick way to control stable flies, Taylor tested cyromazine, an insect growth regulator that interferes with molting and proper development of an insect's external skeleton. A single application of cyromazine sprinkled on a hay-feeding site reduced the number of emerging adult stable flies by 97%. The treatment took 10 minutes, cost $10/site and was effective for 10-20 weeks.
Other potential methods for controlling stable flies include what AMRU entomologist Jerry Zhu calls a "push and pull" strategy. The "push" requires using a repellent to drive flies away from livestock. Treatments contain effective plant-based repellent chemicals like catnip that are low in toxicity. The "pull" involves developing natural attractants or substances associated with the flies' environment to lure and trap them.
So far, Zhu and his team have developed several catnip oil formulations to reduce stable fly field populations. In collaboration with Microtek Laboratories, Inc., of Dayton, OH, the researchers are testing a new granular catnip product that prevents stable flies from laying eggs.
Read more about this research in the January 2013 issue of Agricultural Research magazine. | <urn:uuid:8c32c181-0487-41c3-ae15-a256a21a2364> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beefmagazine.com/cow-calf/treating-stable-flies-pastures | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952251 | 480 | 3.046875 | 3 |
The Helsinki Process, which began in 1990, developed the general guidelines for the sustainable management of forests in Europe. The Process has sought to identify measurable criteria and indicators for the evaluation of how European countries have progressed in their efforts to follow the principles of sustainable forest management and conservation of the biological diversity of European forests. There have been four meetings in this process, two at the ministerial level and two at the expert level.
FIRST MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON THE PROTECTION OF FORESTS IN EUROPE: Ministers from 31 European countries, the European Community and four international organizations met in Strasbourg, France, in December 1990, under the chairmanship of France and Finland, to consider measures toward cooperation on protection and sustainable use of forests. They passed six resolutions and a General Declaration. Resolution S1 established a European Network of Permanent Sample Plots for Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems; S2 addressed conservation of forest genetic resources; S3 organized a decentralized European data bank on forest fires; S4 adapted the management of mountain forests to new environmental conditions; S5 expanded the Eurosilva Network of Research on Tree Physiology; and S6 established a European network for research into forest ecosystems. Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the EC, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Yugoslavia have signed all the Strasbourg resolutions.
SECOND MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON THE PROTECTION OF FORESTS IN EUROPE: The second Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe met in Helsinki, Finland, from 16-17 June 1993. The Conference produced a General Declaration and four resolutions: H1) general guidelines for the sustainable management of forests in Europe; H2) general guidelines for the conservation of the biodiversity of European forests; H3) forestry cooperation with countries with economies in transition; and H4) strategies for a process of long-term adaptation of forests in Europe to climate change. Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, the EC, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UK signed all four Helsinki resolutions. France and Sweden did not sign H4. The second Ministerial Conference also reviewed progress and implementation of the Strasbourg resolutions. Participants adopted a French proposal assigning each of the resolutions to an international agency or agencies.
FIRST EXPERT LEVEL FOLLOW-UP MEETING OF THE HELSINKI CONFERENCE: A core set of criteria and indicators was adopted at the first expert level follow-up meeting to the Helsinki Process, which was held in Geneva on 23-24 June 1994. The criteria and indicators are the tools for gathering and assessing information on how the signatory States have succeeded in implementing the general guidelines for sustainable forest management, as described in the Helsinki Resolutions. The six European criteria are: (1) maintenance and appropriate enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to global carbon cycles; (2) maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality; (3) maintenance and encouragement of the productive functions of forests (wood and non-wood); (4) maintenance, conservation and appropriate enhancement of biological diversity in forest ecosystems; (5) maintenance and appropriate enhancement of protective functions in forest management (notably soil and water); and (6) maintenance of other socio-economic functions and conditions. The indicators associated with each of the criteria were designed to be scientifically applicable and technically and financially feasible measures to observe the fulfillment of the criteria. A General Coordinating Committee, consisting of Finland, Portugal, Austria and Poland, designed the criteria assisted by the Scientific Advisory Group, an informal advisory unit of scientists from these countries, and input from other experts.
SECOND EXPERT LEVEL FOLLOW-UP MEETING OF THE HELSINKI CONFERENCE: The second expert level follow-up meeting of the Helsinki Process was held in Antalya, Turkey, from 23-24 January 1995. Twenty-nine European country signatories, 10 non-European governments and nine intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations attended the meeting. Participants produced the Antalya Statement as their contribution to the FAO Committee on Forestry (FAO/COFO), reviewed European experiences in using the six criteria and associated indicators adopted in June 1994, and agreed to convene the Third Ministerial Conference, co-chaired by Portugal and Austria, in 1998.
The Antalya Statement recognized that the FAO/COFO and CSD meetings will provide an opportunity to examine proposals and seek consensus on new instruments and arrangements for forest policy. Participants in Antalya, however, decided against including specific suggestions on future European activities under the Helsinki Process, specific recommendations to the CSD for next steps at the global level, or an endorsement of a binding instrument on forests. On criteria and indicators, participants emphasized the previously adopted quantitative indicators, but began to consider more qualitative, descriptive indicators. The Antalya Statement accepted some descriptive indicators for possible use along with the quantitative indicators, but some participants argued that the qualitative indicators did not merit the same consideration as quantitative ones. The experts also reviewed reports of the various indicators associated with each criterion from national questionnaires. They agreed that data collection methods must be clarified before publishing results, and that it was premature or undesirable to identify individual countries in statistical charts.
Additional information and reports from the Helsinki Process, including proceedings of the ministerial conferences, reports of the expert meetings and a review of implementation of the Strasbourg resolutions, is available from the Liaison Office of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, P.O. Box 232, FIN-00171 Helsinki, Finland; tel. +358-0-160-2405; fax +358-0-160-2430.
[Return to start of article] | <urn:uuid:7a78decf-c757-41f4-9446-4991b4aac222> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iisd.ca/vol13/1301003e.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904776 | 1,240 | 3.09375 | 3 |
As part of the degree requirements for obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Nursing from WVU, students were required to chose a Healthy People 2010 Objective that aims to improve the health and lifestyles of the citizens of his/her community. After extensive research, the most prevalent health need for Logan County was determined to be in the areas of nutrition and obesity awareness. Statistics from the CDC ranked West Virginia third in obesity prevalence in 2006.
According to the WVDHHR, Logan County ranked 1st in obesity prevalence among WV counties with a rate of 40.4 percent, and the county ranked 8th in the state for lack of leisure activity. These statistics alone presented a health crisis for the citizens of Logan County.
Citizens must take action to control this obesity epidemic for not only adults, but children as well. Studies show that overweight children and adolescents can be at a greater risk for health problems during their youth and as adults. Easy steps such as limiting the amount of fast-food consumed and promoting healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables can help reduce obesity rates. Engaging in an active lifestyle with walking, jogging, or bicycling can help boost metabolism in adults and children.
By making simple lifestyle changes, citizens can decrease the risk of many diseases and health conditions related to poor nutrition and obesity including hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and some cancers.
For more info visit www.wvdhhr.org/bph/hp2010/objective/19.htm
Kristin Neal, R.N. | <urn:uuid:d65e4842-73e5-4651-bb50-f70585dff7a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loganbanner.com/view/full_story/1548107/article-Obesity-in-Logan-County | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943178 | 329 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Does placing a metal spoon in an open bottles of bubbles, sparkling wine & Champagne help keep its fizz ? If so why is this ?
As a beer brewer, I'm pretty concerned with fizz ;) Since the below may be a little tl;dr, the short answer to your question is, "I don't think so."
This is actually the first time I've heard of the metal spoon "trick", so I can't directly comment on that, but I'll share a little of what I know about carbonation.
Carbonation is carbon dioxide (CO2) that is dissolved in the liquid (beer, champagne, soda). The fizz is that CO2 coming out of solution and escaping into the air.
Keeping it cold helps keep the fizz, as CO2 dissolves more readily into a cold liquid. And conversely, comes out of a warm liquid more readily. Ever pour a glass of warm soda or champagne straight after opening? It'll foam over everywhere.
The only way to not lose all that CO2 is to seal the container. Even then, the CO2 will come out of solution and pressurize the headspace (space in the top of the container). That's why you get a hiss when you first open a bottle.
Again, temperature comes into play. In a warm bottle, more of the CO2 comes out of solution and pressurizes the headspace. Chill that same bottle down, and the CO2 can dissolve back into the liquid, giving you a sparkling beverage again.
Now, back to the spoon. I would think that putting a spoon in the carbonation liquid would produce nucleation points, causing the CO2 to come out of solution faster. This is why many beer glass manufacturers are coming out with laser-etched designs on the bottom of their glasses - the effervescence caused by the nucleation points helps bring out the hop aromas.
My own experience confirms the answers from the related question from Skeptics. If you hang a spoon inside an open bottle, the fizz goes out.
However, I've been able to keep the fizz in the bottle for a couple of days by putting cling film over the top. | <urn:uuid:1991315b-ece8-4f6d-8c5b-67580d7b22a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/24474/does-placing-a-metal-spoon-in-an-open-bottle-of-sparkling-wine-etc-help-ke | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941318 | 458 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Tuesday 14 March, 6.30-8pm
Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE, Aldwych, London
As part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)'s Social Science Week 2006, the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation is hosting a public debate at LSE on Pandemic Risk and Risk Management.
With the outbreak of the HN51 virus in a growing number of countries, this is a timely moment to consider the strengths and vulnerabilities of modern states, societies and economies in the management of pandemic risks.
Bubonic Plague, Cholera, Spanish Flu, SARS, HIV, Avian Flu. Pandemics - past, present and future? The catastrophic threats presented by pandemic scenarios periodically attract the prediction that it is "...not a matter of if, but when" society will confront yet another catastrophe. There is a distinct air of inevitability to pandemic risk.
Are modern societies with their wealth of scientific expertise better able to cope with pandemics than their predecessors? Or do pandemics still present us with catastrophic threats?
Pandemic scenarios are a unique setting for discussion of the significance and nature of risk management and regulatory practices. An expert panel will discuss such issues as:
How reliable are prophecies of pandemic risk? How proportionate are the corresponding political and public fears?
More importantly, are we prepared? How seriously should we take worst case, cataclysmic scenarios?
What might we learn from history about our relative capacity to foresee or manage future pandemics? What are the different social and organizational dimensions of planned responses to pandemic risk at local, national, and international levels?
Alternatively, is this simply another mass panic? Does the threat of a catastrophic pandemic only fuel collective anxieties and fears?
Are we misdirecting valuable and limited resources to unlikely crisis scenarios? Or do these pose consequences that are far beyond the normal capacity and expertise of government to manage with any confidence? Is this symbolic political treatment of a systemic and overwhelming threat?
What do these events tell us about the relationship between science and society?
Discussing these issues are:
Professor Peter Baldwin, professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Professor Thomas Abraham, director of the Public Health Media Project at the University of Hong Kong.
Professor John Oxford, professor of virology at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry; scientific director of Retroscreen Virology Ltd.
David Frediani, executive director of MMC International, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC).
Outbreak? Pandemic Risk and Risk Management in the 21st Century is on Tuesday 14 March at 6.30pm in the Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSE, Aldwych, London. This event is free and open to all with no ticket required.
To reserve a press seat, please contact:
Speakers may be available to brief media before the event between 4.30pm and 6pm. f you wish to attend, please contact the event organisers.
Outbreak? Pandemic Risk and Risk Management in the 21st Century is a public debate at LSE hosted by the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation as part of the ESRC's Social Science Week 2006.
Peter Baldwin is professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is author of Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 (Cambridge, 1999), Disease and Democracy: the industrialized world faces AIDS (University of California Press, 2005), and The Politics of Social Solidarity: class bases of the European welfare state, 1875-1975 (Cambridge, 1990).
Professor Thomas Abraham is director of Public Health Media Project, University of Hong Kong. He is a former editor of the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Prior to joining the SCMP, he spent 13 years as a foreign correspondent based in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Office in Geneva, and London for one of India's leading newspapers, The Hindu. Thomas Abraham has worked for the United Nations in Geneva and been a regular commentator on South Asian issues for BBC World Service Television. He is the author of Twenty-first Century Plague: the story of SARS (Hong Kong University Press, 2004).
Professor John Oxford is professor of virology at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, and also the scientific director of Retroscreen Virology Ltd. He has co-authored two standard texts: Influenza, the Viruses and the Disease with Sir Charles Stuart-Harris and GC Schild and most recently Human Virology, a Text for Students of Medicine, Dentistry and Microbiology published by Oxford University Press. Professor Oxford has also published 250 scientific papers. His research interest is the pathogenicity of influenza, in particular the 1918 Spanish Influenza strain. This research has been featured on Science TV programmes recently in the UK, USA, Germany and Holland.
David Frediani is executive director of MMC International, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC). Mr. Frediani has been with the firm for more than 25 years. During this time he has held numerous positions in management, client service, industry practices and business development. He started his career in the San Francisco and New York offices and has spent over 20 years working outside the United States in Mexico, Malaysia, Italy, and the United Kingdom. From 2000 to 2003, he was a member of Marsh's European Board and Executive Committee, with responsibilities for Business Development, Industry Practices, Marketing, Communications, and International Client Service.
MMC is a global professional services firm with annual revenues exceeding $12 billion. It is the parent company of Marsh, the world's leading risk and insurance services firm; Guy Carpenter, the world's leading risk and reinsurance specialist; Kroll, the world's leading risk consulting company; Mercer, a major global provider of human resource and specialty consulting services; and Putnam Investments, one of the largest investment management companies in the United States.
20 February 2006 | <urn:uuid:b9b9a6db-3e5e-4b46-84ad-49360dd7a0b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2006/PandemicDebate.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920948 | 1,263 | 1.726563 | 2 |
10.1-4 Criminal Simulation -- § 53a-141 (a) (1)
Revised to December 1, 2007
The defendant is charged [in count __] with criminal simulation. The statute defining this offense reads in pertinent part as follows:
a person is guilty of criminal simulation when with intent to defraud, (he/she) makes or alters any object in such manner that it appears to have an antiquity, rarity, source or authorship which it does not in fact possess.
For you to find the defendant guilty of this charge, the state must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
Element 1 - Made or altered an
object to falsify it
The first element is that the defendant made or altered an object in such manner that it appeared to have an antiquity, rarity, source or authorship that it did not in fact possess. Simulation is the assumption of a false appearance. Criminal simulation is a feigned or fictitious transaction to effect a fraud.
Element 2 - Intent to defraud
The second element is that the defendant specifically intended to defraud another person. <See Intent to Defraud, Instruction 2.3-6.>
In summary, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) the defendant made or altered <insert type of object and describe how it had been falsified>, and 2) (he/she) intended to defraud another person.
If you unanimously find that the state
has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the crime of
criminal simulation, then you shall find the defendant guilty. On the other
hand, if you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt any of the elements, you shall then find the defendant not | <urn:uuid:30d52522-10e8-4453-8fa2-9efcbbfc6c6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jud.ct.gov/JI/Criminal/Part10/10.1-4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921023 | 359 | 1.546875 | 2 |
When most people think about a telegraph key, a piece of 1890s tech with a lever that moves up and down comes to mind. These ‘straight keys’ were terrible for telegraphers and led to repetitive stress injuries like carpel tunnel syndrome..Iambic keys came along and move the contacts to a horizontal position. If you ever see a HAM playing with his CW rig, chances are they’re using an iambic key. It’s great, then, that you can build your own iambic key in five minutes using parts you have lying around.
The build [Dimitris] put up is dead simple – just two metal contacts with a pair of 470K pullup resistors. All this connects to three pins on an Arduino. All the micocontroller needs to do is measure the rise time a touch sensor pin when a voltage is applied. If there’s a finger on the pin, the capacitance increases and the rise time is longer. After that, just assign one sensor as ‘dit’ and the other as ‘dah’ and you’ve got an iambic key.
[Dimitris] put all the code for his project up on his blog. His iambic key seems like the perfect project after a tiny Morse trainer. Check out the video of the key in action after the break | <urn:uuid:2b8f387d-dd04-4b56-b9cc-67a279f30d8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hackaday.com/2011/12/05/an-iambic-keyer-in-5-minutes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937542 | 288 | 2.75 | 3 |
1) Skydivers carry two parachutes as a safety precaution. This is so that if one parachute malfunctions, there is still a backup parachute. The main parachute is put in a deployment bag while the backup parachute (also known as the reserve) is also carried at the back
2) Before skydivers jump, they have to make preparations. Firstly, they have to ensure that their equipment is packed properly. Next, they have to coordinate exactly when and where to jump off so that they can determine the best place to land. When on the ground, the skydivers practise their moves first and also climbs on board in reverse order. They then strap themselves in the jump seats.
3)As the aircraft is in the air, the pilot flies the plane over the jump site to allow the skydivers to get ready. When the plane is above the right spot, the skydivers will line up and jump out. Skydivers will then leave the plane and stay close together.
4) Jumpers start to open the parachute by extracting the pilot chute folded in a pouch in the parachute system. The pilot chute fills with air and pulls the parachute container open, dragging the packed parachute out. The parachute then opens and fills with air, becoming a canopy that slows downt he skydiver. This step takes about five seconds.
5) The skydiver can steer the parachute using toggles which are located above the skydiver's head. The toggles are attached to one side of the parachute each. Pulling the toggle causes the skydiver to turn in that particular direction. Pulling both toggles would slow down the speed of the jumper.
6) A normal parachute ride would last about 2 to 3 minutes. When the skydivers are about to reach the landing site, they will turn and face the wind direction so that they will land at a lower speed. When the skydivers are about to land, they will bend their knees and prepare to touch the ground. When they touch the ground, they will then start running forward as there is still a force pushing them. In some cases, however, the skydivers will have to roll on the ground to avoid injury. | <urn:uuid:2b9902a2-d764-49f1-b9bb-073bbe26b996> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01949/page_skydive2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951029 | 453 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Pali was already struggling with a serious budget shortfall for the coming year when the Los Angeles Unified School District warned that it may no longer provide bus service for the charter school's students. That could be a critical blow, since about 1,200 of them live in neighborhoods far away and depend on LAUSD buses to get to class.
Then this week, another set-back. The school's top administrator, shown in the video above, announced her resignation.
Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held said she has taken a position next year at a start-up charter school. She declined to name the school. Prior to her resignation, Dresser-Held expressed some of the frustrations she's experienced while at Pali High. The high school was part of the LAUSD until six years ago, when it re-organized as a charter school. "As a conversion charter, we've really been going through a transition," Dresser-Held said. "We're learning how to fund-raise, learning how to be a school of choice. We're located in one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, but we don't have fund-raising here."
With UCLA releasing a study about charter schools titled "Equality Overlooked," and some saying that charter schools are failing in their mandate to increase diversity, Pali High, with its rich demographic mix of 2800 students, seems like a counter example, at least for the time being.
Pali High is extending its admissions deadline and ramping up recruitment efforts, just in case LAUSD makes good with its threat. Still, though, "How do you ensure students would be able to get here?" Dresser-Held asked. "How do you ensure the school doesn't become a re-segregated West Side school?"
Last year, the school received about $1 million in federal stimulus money. The money was used as "backfill," supporting programs that would have been otherwise cut back.
Now, the school is facing a $1.1 million budget gap for next year. And that assumes all other costs remain flat and doesn't include the LAUSD's threat to cut busing. Pali has already decided to cancel summer classes, even though they are one of the factors Dresser-Held points to in her school's success at closing the achievement gap.
As they wait for LAUSD's decision, Pali High is soliciting input for next year's budget from the community. The high school has a proud tradition. It opened in 1961, and among those who attended is this year's Oscar winner for best actor, Jeff Bridges. In our conversation, Dresser-Held said, "This is a great school, I would hate to see anything happen to it."
But now she's leaving, and the fate of Palisades Charter High School will be in the hands of a new executive director. | <urn:uuid:b34e97f8-0d5f-4c3d-97ee-49b38356d7dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcet.org/socal/dream_interrupted/issues/education/palisades-charter-high-school.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978989 | 593 | 1.648438 | 2 |
A church meal program has become the target of residents seeking to reduce the number of homeless people living in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.
St. Francis Lutheran Church officials say that despite a recommendation introduced last week to suspend Sunday morning meal service for 90 days to see if it affects the area’s homeless population, they intend to keep feeding people.
Merchants in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood are concerned about what they say is an increase of homeless people in the area — enough to call for a meeting with police and elected officials.
Business owners say they worry that violence and theft are increasing in the area, too, due to the presence of people on the streets who are mentally ill or have substance-abuse problems. Read More | <urn:uuid:1420eb23-053f-41ca-88f9-fe25b2bb20f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfexaminer.com/topics/welcome-ministry?quicktabs_6=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951072 | 150 | 1.671875 | 2 |
No visit to Norfolk Island is complete without a good look at its history.
There are few places where you can pack so much action into a relatively short time, and even fewer have so many reminders of their history - family names, original buildings, unique dialect and early graves - still intact.
Norfolk Island is small, just 35sq km, so touring the island is easy. Car hire is straightforward (the only lesson required is how to wave to the locals), speed limits are low and there is little traffic.
But before setting out on a tour, a little local knowledge is sensible so that landmarks take their place on the island's historical map.
Although three settlement periods are often recounted, there were, in fact, four.
The first, in about 800AD, about the same time as Maori reached New Zealand, saw sea-faring Polynesians arrive on Norfolk Island. They stayed for about 200 years, and their legacy remains in the banana plants, rats and scattered artefacts such as adzes.
Little remains of their tenure, just a wide shallow dip in the ground near Emily Bay where most of the artefacts were found.
It was a good place for a settlement: Emily Bay is one of the few places where small boats can be launched from the beach. It is also an excellent swimming beach and glass-bottomed boat tours now run from here.
Then came the British. In 1774, Captain James Cook spotted the island and thought that the towering pine trees would make excellent spars for the British Navy, and the rampant flax could be used for rope-making. He thought wrong - not for the first time - but claimed the island for Britain and named it for his benefactress, the Duchess of Norfolk.
As it turned out, the trees had too many knotholes to make ship spars and no one knew the method for turning flax into cloth - not even the two Maori men kidnapped from New Zealand to teach the newcomers. They were men, after all, and flax-making was women's work.
There was little else on the island to support a community and the settlement faltered. Nothing remains of this short-lived occupancy apart from naming rights to various tourist ventures and accommodation options.
The third effort, known as the Colonial Settlement, began in 1788 as an outpost of New South Wales. This occupation of the island earned the honour of being the second British settlement in the Southern Hemisphere.
Also in 1788, HMS Bounty, captained by William Bligh, anchored famously at Matavai Bay in Tahiti. His second-in-command, Fletcher Christian, took exception to Bligh's leadership style and set him adrift in one of the ship's launches, with 18 crewman for support. The rest of the mutineers fled in the Bounty and, with as much good luck as good navigation, ended up on the tiny isle of Pitcairn.
With the nine mutineers - John Adams, William Brown, Fletcher Christian, William McCoy, Isaac Martin, John Mills, Matthew Quintal, John Williams and Edward Young - went 12 Tahitian women, six men and a baby.
The community endured, mainly thanks to the agricultural and survival skills of the women, and in time outgrew the island.
Meanwhile, back on Norfolk, the Colonial Settlement had closed, making way in 1825 for one of the harshest penal colonies in the world. An island paradise became a living hell for nearly 2000 prisoners, who were the hardest cases from the prisons in Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania.
Floggings, torture, hangings and bestiality were the norm, to the point where the men (and they were only men) broke rules deliberately so that they would receive the ultimate punishment - the only way out of the hell-hole.
Although the penal colony on Norfolk had three barracks, the biggest and best preserved by far is at Kingston, close to one of the two boat-launching wharves. The prison, guards' barracks, rudimentary hospital and commissary still stand, along with houses of varying degrees of grandeur. All are open to the public and provide an insight into the horror that was Norfolk Island.
The cemetery, home to many unsettled spirits, creates its own moving narrative of death and desperation. If you see only one place on Norfolk, let it be the cemetery.
In 1855 the Penal Settlement, in Kingston and elsewhere on the island, was disbanded and the few remaining wretches were shipped back to Van Diemen's Land.
Norfolk Island was granted to the Pitcairners by Queen Victoria, and in 1856 the entire population of Pitcairn Island was relocated, with three extra Englishmen: John Buffett, John Evans and George Hunn Nobbs.
These members of the Pitcairners' Settlement set about repopulating their new home immediately. The present community, of about 1800 permanent residents, comprises a majority of the descendants of the mutineers and their Polynesian partners, and names such as Christian, Young, Quintal and McCoy abound, both in business and in the island's roads.
The unique language and culture developed on Pitcairn (pronounced Pit-kern by the locals) persists on Nor-foke Ailen - not Norf'k, as we most commonly say it - and adds a unique touch to this extraordinary place.
The variety of tours and shows available on Norfolk Island are proof of the importance of its history, both to the locals and to the tourism industry.
Arthur Evans (the old names live on) leads twice-weekly tours of the historic sites, including the saltworks and the coastal area where huge blocks of rock were cut by convict hands for the construction of buildings.
Evans has an idiosyncratic view of the island's history but the tour is entertaining and informative, and the artefacts at his home are fascinating.
A stroll around the cemetery at Kingston offers a moving testimony to the hardships encountered in such an isolated place.
Young sailors, children, wives in childbirth and soldiers all found their resting place here.
The Historic Convict Tour of Kingston, by bus in the evening, includes re-enactments of the horrors of the penal colony, complete with drum rolls, screams and moans, shouting and the sound of gallows trapdoors thudding open. It's a charming tour, at first a little amateur and then gradually becomes more absorbing.
Other offerings include historic murder mystery dinners, a lantern-lit ghost tour, Mutiny on the Bounty theatre shows and, best of all, the Fletcher's Mutiny cyclorama.
This 360-degree artwork was the brain-child of islander Marie Bailey and took artists Tracey Yager and Sue Draper 16 months to paint. It opened in 2002 and illustrates the story of Fletcher Christian and the decisions that led to the communities on Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands.
The ground area of the cyclorama is strewn with boulders from local beaches and parts of the walkway are constructed to resemble ships' decks and wharf piers. Storyboards, maps and a soundtrack of sea shanties add to the experience.
It is said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Although the world has moved on, and financial imperatives on Norfolk Island demand change, there is little chance of its history being forgotten.
Getting there: Air New Zealand has direct flights between Norfolk Island and Auckland on Saturdays only.
Tours: Baunti (Bounty) Escapes, Norfolk Touring and the World of Norfolk Visitor Information Centre are all in Burnt Pine, the island's retail and business centre. The Cyclorama is in Queen Elizabeth Ave (easy to find, there aren't that many roads) and is open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 3pm on Sunday.
Further information: See norfolkisland.com.au.
Phoebe Falconer was the guest of Norfolk Island Tourism.By Phoebe Falconer Email Phoebe | <urn:uuid:823d6a01-1459-4ab3-bacd-30333e51756e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pacific-islands-travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=1500884&objectid=10686429 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966064 | 1,664 | 3.296875 | 3 |
7x04 How to Dial a Murder
First Aired: Apr. 15, 1978 on NBC
Summary: Motivational psychologist Dr Eric Mason discovers that his wife, who died in a car crash several months earlier, was having an affair with his colleague Dr Charles Hunter. Mason has planned for some time to murder Hunter in a way that will be untraceable to him.He owns two Dobermans named…
Main Characters in this Episode
Lt. Columbo: [trying to trigger the attack word for the dogs] Kill! Kiss! Diamonds! Rubies! Sneakers!
Lt. Columbo: Who knows what goes on in the head of a dog?
Lt. Columbo: Most people could sit and listen to somebody talking about their personality for hours - Lord knows *I* could.
- Goof (revealing mistake): Trees in the background remain still while tumbleweeds are blown around by high winds. | <urn:uuid:b66ba818-dec7-4611-b16a-c332ab2d83a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sharetv.org/shows/columbo/episodes/154279 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956504 | 194 | 1.617188 | 2 |
THE DEADLIEST PREDATORS
OF THREE SEPARATE EONS
Captain Andy Blacklock was overseeing the change of shifts at the state of Illinois' maximum-security prison when the world outside was suddenly ripped. They thought it was an earthquake until they found that the Mississippi River had disappeared, along with all signs of civilization. Then the sun came up—in the wrong direction. And a dinosaur came by and scratched its hide against the wall of the prison ...
Something had thrown the prison back in time millions of years. And they were not alone. Other humans from periods centuries, even millennia, apart had also been dropped into the same time. Including a band of murderous conquistadores. But the prison had its own large population of murderers. They couldn't be turned loose, but what else could be done with them
Death walked outside the walls, human savagery was planning to break loose inside, and Stephens and the other men and women of the prison's staff were trapped in the middle. | <urn:uuid:d6611897-2200-4fef-90c2-860b8b750490> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baenebooks.com/p-792-time-spike-earc.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986618 | 206 | 1.625 | 2 |
Israel has become the first ever country to not turn up to its own session under the UN ‘Universal Periodic Review’ (UPR) setting a worrying precedent. By boycotting this human rights mechanism, they have moved further away from their friends and foe in the international community.
In July 2010 I wrote:
“We cannot allow their regime to dictate when it will cooperate; equally we cannot risk casting them off into the diplomatic wilderness where human rights abuses can occur unchecked”
I was writing about Iran and their unhelpful approach to the UN UPR.
On that occasion, the papers were quiet. It wasn’t considered news that Iran had essentially failed to cooperate, in any genuine way, with the new UN human rights process.
Today, in contrast, the papers are filled with Israel’s non-cooperation with the UPR. Israel didn’t attend their own review as part of their ongoing boycott of the UN Human Rights Council. They are boycotting the council after the council launched a fact-finding mission in March 2012 on the (illegal under IHL) Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israel has long argued that there is bias against it within the UN. Since 2006 more than half the resolutions passed by the Human Rights Council since it started work in 2006 have focused on Israel, specifically over the treatment of Palestinians. For some within the Israel the fact-finding mission was the last straw.
For others it was an essential investigation into Israel’s ongoing violations of IHL.
Regardless, this boycott by Israel has set a dangerous precedent of non-compliance.
Peter Splinter, Amnesty International’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva argues:
“Israel’s deliberate absence would sabotage the principle of universality. Consequently the Universal Periodic Review stands to lose the compelling legitimacy it derives from being applied even-handedly to all state”.
He continued, “Why should states that would prefer to escape scrutiny of their human rights record, or are severely resource constrained, submit to this process if Israel’s non-compliance demonstrates that it is no longer universal?”
Iran, at least gave lip service to the process. Even Turkmenistan turned up!
There are very good reason why we should be worried about Israel’s no show. Again, in the words of Peter Splinter:
“There is evidence that for many countries throughout the world the Universal Periodic Review has contributed to narrowing the gap between human rights standards and their implementation. It would be a great loss to the global human rights project if the Universal Periodic Review were jeopardized”.
Israel’s closest allies, the United States, urged them to take part in the review. The United States ambassador to the council, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, said,
“We have encouraged the Israelis to come to the council and to tell their story and to present their own narrative of their own human rights situation…The United States is absolutely, fully behind the Universal Periodic Review, and we do not want to see the mechanism in any way harmed”.
It is not just those who care about Israelis and Palestinians who should be worried about this development. This has the potential to set a precedent for worst human rights violators around the world to follow.
Israel has recklessly disregarded another staple of international human rights mechanisms and have moved further away from their friends and foe in the international community.
Now, more than ever, we need Israel to be a functional part of this international consensus – not a rogue state on fringes.
We have to wait and see if they turn up to the rescheduled session later this year. | <urn:uuid:c222f560-41a9-493b-9b3c-bd05ff6bc9fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stevehynd.com/2013/01/31/israel-boycotts-un-human-rights-session-despite-warnings-from-friends-and-foe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95919 | 764 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By popular demand, we’re offering a new webinar on Preparing Your Model for CheckMate Pro! In addition to learning all the ins and outs of submitting your 3D model for the highest standard, you’ll get a first look at recommendations from the recent CheckMate Advisory Board meeting. These recommendations aren’t out yet–this webinar is the only place to find out about them right now.
The webinar is being offered at two different times, so you can choose the one that fits your schedule best. Space is limited, so register now!
Do to unforeseen circumstances, the CheckMate Webinar originally scheduled on January 31 has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 6. Those registered for the January 31st webinar have been automatically enrolled for the new date. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Time: 10AM CDT and 6PM CDT
You under According to 2.2.1 in the CheckMate Pro Specification, the topology must be quads and triangles only for CheckMate Pro Certification.
This video will show you how to find and fix Ngons in 3ds Max. Ngons are polygons with more than 4 sides. The reason Ngons are not allowed in CheckMate Pro is due to the fact that models with Ngons are hard to animate and edit.
There are several ways to eliminate Ngons. The first and most important way is fixing them by hand. We highly recommend that you go through and fix them by hand because that is the best way to keep clean/good topology- which is required for CheckMate Pro Certification.
As you can see, I already have a model open in 3ds Max 2012.
First, we want to “Unhide All” so right-click and choose “Unhide All”.
Make sure the model is ungrouped. If you are not sure, select the model and then select “Group” > “Ungroup” from the top of the program; confirm that it is not grouped or select the option to ungroup.
Next run the CheckMate Pro Script to find out which objects have Ngons.
Download the script from the link provided then go to MAXScript and choose the CheckMate Pro Script; you can also open the script from wherever you have saved it on your system.
When the Script window pops-up click “[Update]”.
When the script finishes, in the middle in the “Ngons” column you can see which objects have Ngons. If there is the #5 or higher in the brackets then there are Ngons.
Now we can go down the list and select the Ngons that we want to fix. Select one of the object with Ngons and when you do that you can see that that object shows up in the modify panel.
Minimize the script and in the modify panel extend Editable Poly by clicking the “+” and choose “Polygon”.
Now, we are going to use the Graphite Modeling Tools to find the Ngons (these are available in Max 2010 and later). To open the Graphite Modeling Tools go to “Customize” at the top, then select “Show UI” and check “Show Ribbon”.
Once the Graphite Modeling Tools Panel is up, choose “Selection” and then “By Numeric” and then choose greater than “>” and for sides we want to input “4” so that it is only showing up the Ngons and then click the arrow “õ” to select.
Now that we have identified the Ngons, we are going to manually fix them by connecting vertices. On the modify tab, choose “Vertex” and then choose two vertices that you want to connect. Select one vertex and hold down “Ctrl” and select the other one to divide off the part you want from the Ngon.
Click “Connect” on the Modify panel.
Now, when you choose “Polygon” selection again and under “By Numeric” you click the arrow again, the areas you connected will no longer highlight as Ngons.
This video will show you how to find and fix overlapping faces using xView in 3ds Max 2010 or later.
Select the model.
If grouped, ungroup the model.
Go to “Customize”, then “Units Setup…”, and select “Generic Units” so that it matches our CheckMate script.
Find “xView” in the drop-down menu and once your mouse is over it another set of options will appear and you want to select “Overlapping Faces”.
Again, make sure the model is selected, then at the bottom click where it says “[Click Here To Configure]”.
Change the “Tolerance:” to 0.0001.
Choose an overlapping face that you would like to fix, then go to the modify tab, and under “Selection” choose “Polygon”.
Select the overlapping face that you chose to fix and it should highlight in red or be outlined in red.
Now there are two options to fix the overlapping faces:
You can choose “Select and Move” and move the X-coordinate (or whatever coordinate is appropriate) out slightly, or
At the bottom, select “Absolute Mode Transform Type-In” and enter in the X-coordinate (or whatever coordinate is appropriate) how much you want the face to move out from its original location (in the video I moved it out 0.01).
Offering exchange file formats (OBJ, FBX, etc.) with your models is one way to boost your sales, but how do you export decent files that will satisfy customers? Come to our free webinar and find out how!
Although TurboSquid has offered free file format conversions for several years, many customers want to download an exchange format immediately. Offering an exchange format as part of your product can boost your sales, but only if the file works as expected. While customers don’t expect all the bells and whistles of your native format, they do expect the model to be constructed in the same way shown in thumbnails, and to include UVs and textures.
In this free webinar, TurboSquid Member Services Supervisor and conversion expert Chris Johns brings his knowledge to you. CJ (as he is known around here) will show you how to identify potential trouble areas in your model and avoid problems with conversions.
We held a webinar on “Preparing Your 3D Model for CheckMate Lite” this week. Artists cited the “little tips, suggestions, and inside data” as a main benefit, and also liked finding out about “sales and CheckMate progress overall”. We also had numerous requests was that we post the webinar on our YouTube channel so those who couldn’t attend could see what it was all about.
We’re pleased to tell you that the webinar has now been posted on YouTube in two parts. The first video describes how to prepare your model for publishing, and the second video goes over the publishing process and what happens after you submit your 3D model to CheckMate. There are a few points along the way where I talk about feedback from customers, particularly how wireframes affect their perceptions of 3D model quality.
We’ll be holding webinars on CheckMate Pro next week. As always, attendance is free! Click here to register and hold your place.
How useful do you find the videos above? Please tell us by commenting on this post. | <urn:uuid:1a5ce816-aa44-45d7-8ccd-d3d018dd7d3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.turbosquid.com/tag/webinar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934942 | 1,657 | 1.757813 | 2 |
While the Harper govt. keeps announcing new environmental programs it refuses to pass the revised Clean Air Act--or whatever its new name is! Every little bit helps but only a little bit!
Sask. gets $44M from Ottawa for CO2-cutting projects
Last Updated: Thursday, April 5, 2007 | 5:32 PM CT
Saskatchewan projects aimed at cutting pollution and putting less carbon dioxide in the air will be getting $44 million, the federal and provincial environment ministers announced Thursday.
The federal money is Saskatchewan's part of a $1.5-billion trust fund set up to help provinces and territories reduce greenhouse gas emissions, smog and pollution, federal Environment Minister John Baird said during a stop in Regina.
Some of the $44 million will be spent at the International Test Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture at the University of Regina.
Researchers there are looking at ways to reduce emissions from burning coal in the province's power plants. One strategy is carbon sequestration, where CO2 is pumped back into the ground instead of being released into the air. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas. Scientists say it is contributing to global warning.
There's also money for preliminary work on a near-zero carbon emission power plant somewhere in Saskatchewan.
SaskPower hasn't decided whether it will proceed with such a plant, which could cost $1.5 billion, but it expects to make a decision soon.
Saskatchewan environmentalist Ann Coxworth supports research to reduce carbon emissions, but says deadlines need to be set and the impact of Thursday's announcement remains to be seen.
"It's unclear yet whether and to what extent it will actually move us towards the targets that we must reach if we're going to prevent complete climate chaos," she said.
The money earmarked for Saskatchewan will also be spent on biofuels and solar energy projects.
The Calvert government says it will reveal more about its green strategy over the next few weeks.
Saskatchewan Environment Minister John Nilson said the federal money will help support the province's long-term goal of getting one-third of all its energy from renewable sources. | <urn:uuid:2c032dc1-842a-4df4-84a5-3ff7e1492a7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kencan7.blogspot.com/2007/04/sask-gets-44m-for-environmental.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939627 | 439 | 1.992188 | 2 |
In October 1921 nine young women were admitted to Leicester's new University College. Eighty years later more than 4,000 men and women enrolled at the University of Leicester, including some 2,400 undergraduates - the highest student intake in its history.
They arrived in very different worlds. Those nine young pioneers embarked on their academic careers just three years after an estimated 10 million had perished in the First World War, most of them young people of student age. The building had previously been a wartime hospital and the College was established to commemorate the victims of the war.
College rules were strict. One student felt obliged to hide a bottle of sherry under her gown when a member of staff walked into the kitchen during the making of a trifle, and by today's standards accommodation was spartan even as late as 1957 when the University College received its University Charter. Dr Wendy Hickling (née Baldwin) - the first graduand to be presented with a University of Leicester degree rather than the London degree offered by the University College - admitted: "In our rooms with outstretched arms you could touch each wall. You were allowed five items on your dressing table and nothing on the radiator. If you contravened this rule your surplus items were confiscated and you had to pay to get them back." A rising bell awoke the students at 7.30am during the week and 8.00am at weekends.
The University's history is enshrined in the names of the buildings, from its founding fathers, including Mr Thomas Fielding Johnson, Dr F W Bennett, Dr Rattray and Dr Astley Clarke, to the Ken Edwards, Maurice Shock and Robert Kilpatrick Buildings, commemorating two more recent Vice-Chancellors and a Dean of Medicine.
The novelist C P Snow was the first in a long line of famous people to have studied at the University over the years. Others include another novelist, Malcolm Bradbury, who was later to write in glowing terms in the Times Literary Supplement about the late founding Professor of English, Arthur Humphreys. Other prestigious former students include the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir John Stevens, British High Commissioner to India Sir Rob Young KCMG, City businesswoman Carol Galley, war correspondent Michael Nicholson OBE, television presenter Sue Cook, comedian Bob Mortimer, travel writer and broadcaster Pete McCarthy, Astronomer and broadcaster Heather Couper, Gulf War hero John Peters and international landmines campaigner Chris Moon MBE.
Sir Liam Donaldson and Sir Rob Young were among eleven public figures to receive honorary degrees from the University in its 80th Anniversary "honours" in July 2001. Speaking of the pleasure this gave him, Sir Rob said: "The University of Leicester has had a very formative influence on my life and career. I feel deeply privileged to be receiving an Honorary LLD. It will strengthen my links with - and affection for - the University." Mrs Jean Humphreys, wife of the late Professor Humphreys also received an honorary degree for her commitment to the University spanning 50 years. She said: "It has been a rare pleasure and privilege to be in at the birth of a university and to see it grow through succeeding stages to the large and flourishing institution it is today. I have known some of the people whose generosity and vision created the University College, and all of the Principals and Vice-Chancellors who guided it on its way from 1947 to this day."
The actor and film director Lord Attenborough and his naturalist brother Sir David Attenborough grew up on campus during the years their father was Principal of the University College and still retain a lively interest in the University, while the poet Philip Larkin was a librarian at the University during the late 1940s.But if some of the University's people have become famous names, its research record is no less prestigious. It was here, in the Department of Genetics, that Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys discovered DNA genetic fingerprinting, techniques which have revolutionised crime investigation and paternity cases across the world.
The University is home to one of Europe's biggest space research groups and since 1967 not a year has passed without some Leicester-built instruments being launched into Space. The National Space Centre, the Millennium Landmark Project for the East Midlands was founded by the University and the City Council, while the University plays a major role in developing Beagle 2, the Mars Lander which may discover life on Mars.
The University's Law Department has been cited by the country's leading 100 law firms among the top ten in the country, while the Management Centre has received the much sought-after AMBA accreditation for its MBA degrees. Leicester houses 60 specialist centres. The School of Historical Studies is one of the largest in England and Wales, while the departments of English Local History and Museum Studies are unique in their fields worldwide. The Centre for Mass Communications Research is one of the oldest of its kind, while the School of Archaeological Studies is renowned internationally for its research.
During this anniversary year, the University has been acclaimed among the top 20 in the country by both the Financial Times and the Sunday Times. It has continued its record run of Excellent teaching scores from the Government's Quality Assurance Agency, with a total of 18 subject areas now deemed to be excellent for teaching.
Research funding has exceeded £33 million and in the national Research Assessment Exercise 84 per cent of all staff were considered to be conducting research of national and international quality.
During celebrations of the 140th anniversary of Vaughan College and the inauguration of the Leicester Institute of Lifelong Learning, Secretary of State for Education Estelle Morris commended the University as a "national leader" in widening participation and social inclusion, which still maintained a high quality of education and research.
Now one of the county's biggest employers, the University has an annual turnover of over £130 million. Its six faculties span more than 220 undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, and it is Britain's largest provider of postgraduate education.
An anniversary is not just a time for looking back with pride but it is also important to look to the future. Addressing the University's Court, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Burgess outlined £31 million development plans that will result in two new buildings for space and biomedical research, the creation of new laboratories and the provision of state of the art resources. A £3 million refurbishment programme will also be carried out, benefiting a number of departments including Archaeology, Chemistry, and Psychology.
The Vice-Chancellor said: "The University of Leicester plays a pivotal role in raising the profile of the city, county and region. In celebrating our 80th Anniversary, we stand at a pivotal point in our development. I have every confidence that this University, thanks to its staff and students, is going to be an even greater success."
[feature, Leicester Graduates' Review, Summer 2002]
Find out about the University's 80th Anniversary events: http://www.le.ac.uk/press/80th/university80th.html
For more information about Graduate Relations, visit www.le.ac.uk/alumni
Last updated: 24 May 2002 17:00
Created by: Rachel Tunstall
This document has been approved by the head of department or section.
If you are an authorised user you may edit this document through your Web browser. | <urn:uuid:f099c821-0899-46b0-ad54-b786ba4b8766> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.le.ac.uk/press/ebulletin/features/happyanniversary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967481 | 1,500 | 2.0625 | 2 |
by Dan Clost
Gentle Reader, we’re heading into a bleaker winter than we might have hoped. World markets are fluctuating and each expert gives us a different reason. We heard that those incredibly high gas prices were very good for us, that the loonie being relatively stronger than the American dollar was bad and that we Canadians are buffered from the meltdown. That was last week. This week we are told that the low gas prices are bad for us, a stronger American dollar is bad and the Big 3 auto manufacturers are standing in line for bailouts.
Closer to home, our local economy has taken a big hit with the Quaker announcement and we don’t seem to have any good news on the horizon. Bottom line, hard times is a-comin’ iffen they’s not already here, so batten down the hatches.
How does this segue into a gardening column? Very nicely; in fact, it sashays us right into the middle of the veggie patch that we’ll be planting next year. Before we get to that, let’s review our options for acquiring food. The preferred source is our own garden. But, that’s a big garden. It needs space, time and commitment. Today’s city dwellings don’t always lend themselves to agricultural pursuits nor do the lifestyle requirements of today’s city dwellers. That doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t grow as much as we can. The second preferred choice is from a local organic farm. (We’ll be looking at a group of producers in this area in upcoming columns.) The third choice is local conventional farmers who offer their produce to us, usually through a farmers’ market. The fourth choice is the local food store; look for those who purchase locally. (And to forestall any worries, I have absolutely nothing against the food store chains. It’s sort of like going into any retail outlet where you are offered a choice between a Canadian made product and one manufactured elsewhere.)
The goal is to search out some local resources, get a handle on what a vegetable garden really is, how to select and grow your plants, making sure they will be harvestable before winter, when and how to harvest; and how to store your harvest. Finally, I would like to encourage Gentle Reader to start researching now.
Folks, if you have questions or know of local sources for produce, please let me know. The questions will help guide my writing so the information will be as helpful as possible. Letting us know of resources, will help both us and the local producer as well as reduce our travelling miles.
I confess that there are other reasons connected with my urgings. I firmly believe that we, as a society, are losing touch with our agricultural heritage. More than that, we are losing touch with what food is.
Grow some food and see what the challenges are. Then take that challenge and increase it ten thousand fold. Welcome to the world of the farmer. By the way, if our little potato plant doesn’t come through, we’ll just go down to the grocery store and pick up a ten-pound bag for a couple of loonies. If Johnny Farmer’s potatoes don’t grow, he doesn’t eat. In the long run, neither will we.
We are no longer connected with the soil that sustains and as a result, we treat this resource almost cavalierly. Think I’m off the mark? Drive in a big circle around Trenton or any other city. Here’s what you will see: prime agricultural lands disappearing under asphalt, cleansing wetlands being filled in, heck even floodplains with their delicate eco-systems have houses on them.
Okay, I’ll put away the soap box for now and get back to the gardening. And you too! Vegetable gardening that is. | <urn:uuid:4c895bb7-bfec-42f9-8925-d745670a334c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.harvesthastings.ca/sustainability/newslinks/2008/11/good-earth-hard-times | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947999 | 830 | 1.65625 | 2 |
When one travels through the heart of San Bernardino, one of the main streets is Baseline Avenue. While many street names are comparatively easy to figure out, often the question arises — what is a baseline?
Baseline Avenue refers to the San Bernardino Baseline, the main east-west line upon which all land surveying in Southern California is based. Its corresponding north-south line is called a Meridian, but you have to go all the way to the eastern part of Hemet before you’ll encounter an aptly-named Meridian Street.
The history of the baseline dates back 160 years to November 1852.
At that time, Col. Henry Washington, the deputy surveyor who was under contract with the U.S. Surveyor General of California, was given the task of establishing an Initial Point, where the baseline and meridian would intersect, at a highly-visible point in Southern California. The general location of that Initial Point had already been established by Leander Ransom, who just the year before had established California’s main Initial Point at Mt. Diablo in present-day Contra Costa County.
In short, the decision to place the San Bernardino Initial Point was based upon two things — first, it needed to be as high as possible to facilitate surveying. Secondly, it needed to be far enough inland so that the meridian would reach clear to the Mexican border and not drop into the Pacific Ocean beforehand.
After a four-day hike into the mountains from San Bernardino through very rough territory, Washington and his team of 12 assistant surveyors established the Initial Point at a location approximately a half-mile west of Mt. San Bernardino.
While not the highest point in Southern California, it certainly was close, and afforded anyone in the San Bernardino Valley a view of the point. Strangely enough, though, Washington did not actually start surveying from that point to establish the baseline and meridian. Instead, he constructed a huge monument that he felt could be seen for miles around that could be used as a survey monument.
Needless to say, this caused some confusion in the years ahead. When John Rice established the meridian from the north in 1894, his survey ended fully 887 feet east of Washington’s Initial Point. Therefore, Rice established a second Initial Point for all surveys north of the baseline. Similarly, when George Pearson surveyed the meridian up to Mt. San Bernardino, he came to a point between Washington’s and Rice’s. He, too, established an Initial Point, thereby giving the San Bernardino Baseline and Meridian a third Initial Point!
This set of circumstances has been discussed at length many times by surveyors, so we won’t go into that here. However, I do wish to thank Michael Duffy for his essay entitled “Three Monuments, One Initial Point,” which provided much information for this article.
If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place, or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:bf7e618a-4477-44f7-b25f-ef6b1f7b7c8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20120928-back-in-the-day-dissecting-the-history-of-baseline.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955924 | 636 | 3.828125 | 4 |