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“We are earning the scorn and condemnation of history…. It is magical thinking to imagine that somehow we will be spared the plain and foreseeable consequences of our failure of duty.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered a 23-minute stemwinder last week on the failure of the U.S. Senate to act on global warming pollution. Here’s the remarkably blunt opening:
Mr. President, I am here to speak about what is currently an unpopular topic in this town. It has become no longer politically correct in certain circles in Washington to speak about climate change or carbon pollution or how carbon pollution is causing our climate to change.
This is a peculiar condition of Washington. If you go out into, say, our military and intelligence communities, they understand and are planning for the effects of carbon pollution on climate change. They see it as a national security risk. If you go out into our nonpolluting business and financial communities, they see this as a real and important problem. And, of course, it goes without saying our scientific community is all over this concern. But as I said, Washington is a peculiar place, and here it is getting very little traction.
Here in Washington we feel the dark hand of the polluters tapping so many shoulders. And where there is power and money behind that dark hand, therefore, a lot of attention is paid to that little tap on the shoulder. What we overlook is that nature — God’s Earth — is also tapping us all on the shoulder, with messages we ignore at our peril. We ignore the messages of nature of God’s Earthand we ignore the laws of nature of God’s Earth at our very grave peril.
I have little doubt future generations will curse our names if we keep listening to the “siren song of well-paying polluters.” Whitehouse makes this point better than any national politician I’ve heard — by reviewing the science and the politics in a speech few of his fellow politicos have the guts or wisdom or conscience to deliver.
This is a speech Obama should have given — heck, he still can — but his spin-meisters (notably David Axelrod) and his own fecklessness prevent him. And so his presidency is headed toward the (coal) ash-heap of history.
Here is the must-see video of the whole speech and the full transcript ( via TP Green):
Here’s the rest of the transcript:
… There is a wave of very justifiable economic frustration that has swept through our Capitol. The problem is that some of the special interests — the polluters — have insinuated themselves into that wave, sort of like parasites that creep into the body of a host animal, and from there they are working terrible mischief. They are propagating two big lies. One is that environmental regulations are a burden to the economy and we need to lift those burdens to spur our economic recovery. The second is the jury is still out on climate changes caused by carbon pollution, so we don’t need to worry about it or even take precautions. Both are, frankly, outright false.
Environmental regulation is well established to be good for the economy. It may add costs to you if you are a polluter, but polluters usually exaggerate about that.
For instance, before the 1990 acid rain rules went into effect, Peabody Coal estimated that compliance would cost $3.9 billion. The Edison Electric Institute chimed in and estimated that compliance would cost $4 to $5 billion. Well, in fact, the Energy Information Administration calculated the program actually cost $836 million, about one-sixth of the Edison Electric Institute estimate.
When polluters were required to phase out the chemicals they were emitting that were literally burning a hole through our Earth’s atmosphere, they warned that it would create “severe economic and social disruption” due to “shutdowns of refrigeration equipment in supermarkets, office buildings, hotels, and hospitals.” Well, in fact, the phaseout happened 4 years to 6 years faster than predicted; it cost 30 percent less than predicted; and the American refrigeration industry innovated and created new export markets for its environmentally friendly products.
Anyway, the real point is we are not just in this Chamber to represent the polluters. We are supposed to be here to represent all Americans, and Americans benefit from environmental regulation big time.
Over the lifetime of the Clean Air Act, for instance, for every $1 it costs to add pollution controls, Americans have received about $30 in health and other benefits. By the way, installing those pollution controls created jobs because they went to manufacturers to build the controls and to Americans to install them. But setting that aside, a 30-to-1 benefit ratio to keep our air clean sounds like a mighty wise investment to me. That 30-to-1 ratio doesn’t even count the intangible benefits — intangible but very real benefits — of clear air and clean water, the benefits of the heart and the soul, the benefits to a grandfather of taking his granddaughter to the fishing hole and still finding fish there or of the city kid being able to go to a beach and have it clean enough to swim there or the benefit to a mom who is spared the burden of worry, of sitting next to her asthmatic baby on the emergency room albuterol inhaler waiting for his infant lungs to clear.
Well, unfortunately, polluters rule in certain circles in Washington, and they emit propaganda as well as pollution, and they have been emitting too much of both lately.
Their other big lie the jury is still out on is whether human-made carbon pollution causes dangerous climate change and oceanic change. Virtually all of our most prestigious scientific and academic institutions have stated that climate change is happening and that human activities are the driving cause of this change. Many of us in Congress received a letter from those institutions in October 2009. Let me quote from that letter.
Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science.
Let me repeat that last quote.
Contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science.
This letter was signed by the heads of the following organizations: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the American Meteorological Society, the American Society of Agronomy, the American Society of Plant Biologists, the American Statistical Association, the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, the Botanical Society of America, the Crop Science Society of America, the Ecological Society of America, the Natural Science Collections Alliance, the Organization of Biological Field Stations, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Society of Systematic Biologists, the Soil Science Society of America, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
These are highly esteemed scientific organizations. They are the real deal. They don’t think the jury is still out. They recognize that, in fact, the verdict is in, and it is time to act.
More than 97 percent of the climate scientists most actively publishing accept that the verdict is actually in on carbon pollution causing climate and oceanic changes — 97 percent. Think of that.
Imagine if your child were sick and the doctor said she needed treatment, and out of prudence you went and got a second opinion. Then you went around and you actually got 99 second opinions. When you were done, you found that 97 out of 100 expert doctors agreed your child was sick and needed treatment. Imagine further that of the three who disagreed, some took money from the insurance company that would have to pay for your child’s treatment. Imagine further that none of those three could say they were sure your child was OK, just that they weren’t sure what her illness was or that she needed treatment, that there was some doubt.
On those facts, name one decent father or mother who wouldn’t start treatment for their child. No decent parent would turn away from the considered judgment of 97 percent of 100 doctors just because they weren’t all absolutely certain.
How solid is the science behind this? Rock solid. The fact that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorbs heat from the Sun was discovered at the time of the Civil War. This is not new stuff. In 1863 the Irish scientist John Tyndall determined that carbon dioxide and water vapor trapped more heat in the atmosphere as their concentrations increased. A 1955 textbook, “Our Astonishing Atmosphere,” notes that nearly a century ago the scientist, John Tyndall, suggested that a fall in the atmospheric carbon dioxide could allow the Earth to cool, whereas a rise in carbon dioxide would make it warmer.
In the early 1900s, a century ago, it became clear that changes in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might account for significant increases and decreases in the Earth’s average annual temperatures and that carbon dioxide released from manmade sources, anthropogenic sources — primarily by the burning of coal — would contribute to those atmospheric changes. This is not new stuff. These are well-established scientific principles.
Let me look for a moment at the book I talked about, “Our Astonishing Atmosphere,” published in 1955 — the year I was born, more than half a century ago — for the “Science for Every Man Series.” Let me read:
Although the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere remains at a concentration of 0.03 percent all over the world, the amount in the air has not always been the same. There have been periods in the world’s history when the air became charged with more carbon dioxide than it now carries. There have also been periods when the concentration has fallen unusually low. The effects of these changes have been profound. They are believed to have influenced the climate of the earth by controlling the amount of energy that is lost by the earth into space. Nearly a century ago, the British scientist John Tyndall suggested that a fall in the atmospheric carbon dioxide could allow the earth to cool whereas a rise in the carbon dioxide would make it warmer. With the help of its carbon dioxide, the atmosphere acts like a greenhouse that traps the heat of the sun. Radiations reaching the atmosphere as sunshine can penetrate to the surface of the earth. Here, they are absorbed, providing the world with warmth. But the earth itself radiating energy outwards in the form of long-wave heat rays. If these could penetrate the air as the sunshine does, they could carry off much of the heat provided by the sun. Carbon dioxide in the air helps to stop the escape of heat radiations. It acts like a blanket to keep the world warm. And the more carbon dioxide the air contains, the more efficiently does it smother the escape of the earth’s heat. Fluctuation in the carbon dioxide of the air has helped to bring about major climate changes experienced by the world in the past.
This is 1955. This is “Our Astonishing Atmosphere,” out of the “Science for Every Man Series.” This is not something that was just invented.
Let’s look at the facts that we actually observe in our changing planet. Over the last 800,000 years — 8,000 centuries — until very recently the atmosphere has stayed within a bandwidth of between 170 parts per million and 300 parts per million of carbon dioxide. That is not theory, that is measurement. Scientists measure historic carbon dioxide concentrations by, for example, locating trapped bubbles in the ice of ancient glaciers. So we know, over time — and over long periods of time — what the range has been.
What else do we know? We know since the industrial revolution, we — humankind — have been burning carbon-rich fuels in measurable and ever-increasing amounts. We know we release up to 7 to 8 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year. A gigaton, by the way, is 1 billion metric tons. So if you are going to release 7 to 8 billion metric tons a year into the atmosphere, predictably that increases carbon concentration in our atmosphere. “Put more in and find more there” is not a complex scientific theory. It is not a difficult proposition. And 7 to 8 billion metric tons a year into the atmosphere is a very big thing in the historical sweep.
So we now measure carbon concentrations climbing in the Earth’s atmosphere. Again, this is a measurement, not a theory. The present concentration exceeds 390 parts per million.
So 800,000 years and a bandwidth of 170 to 300 parts per million, and now we are over 390.
This increase has a trajectory. Plotting trajectories is nothing new either. It is something scientists, businesspeople, and our military service people do every day. The trajectory for our carbon pollution predicts that 688 parts per million will be in the atmosphere in the year 2095 and 1,097 parts per million in the year 2195. These are carbon concentrations not outside of the bounds of 800,000 years but outside of the bounds of millions of years. As Tyndall determined at the time of the Civil War, increasing carbon concentrations will absorb more of the Sun’s heat and raise global temperatures.
Let me end by reviewing the scale of the peril that we are facing if we fail to act. Over the last 800,000 years, as I said, it has been 170 to 300 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Since the start of the industrial revolution, that concentration is now up to 390 parts per million. If we continue on the trajectory that we find ourselves, our grandchildren will see carbon concentrations in the atmosphere top 700 parts per million by the end of the century, twice the bandwidth top that we have lived in for 8,000 centuries.
To put that in perspective, mankind has engaged in agriculture for about 10,000 years. It is not clear we had yet mastered fire 800,000 years ago. The entire development of human civilization has taken place in that 800,000 years, and within that 170 to 300 parts per million bandwidth. If we go back, we are back into geologic time.
In April of this year, a group of scientific experts came together at the University of Oxford to discuss the current state of our oceans. The workshop report stated:
Human actions have resulted in warming and acidification of the oceans and are now causing increasing hypoxia.
Acidification is obvious — the ocean is becoming more acid; hypoxia means low oxygen levels.
Studies of the Earth’s past indicate that these are the three symptoms . . . associated with each of the previous five mass extinctions on Earth.
We experienced two mass ocean extinctions 55 and 251 million years ago. The rates of carbon entering the atmosphere in the lead-up to these extinctions are estimated to have been 2.2 and 1 to 2 gigatons of carbon per year respectively, over several thousand years. As the group of Oxford scientists noted:
Both these estimates are dwarfed in comparison to today’s emissions.
As I said earlier, those are 7 to 8 gigatons per year. The workshop participants concluded with this quote:
Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effects of climate change, overexploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean.
The laws of physics and the laws of chemistry and the laws of science, these are laws of nature. These are laws of God’s Earth. We can repeal some laws around here but we can’t repeal those. Senators are used to our opinions mattering a lot around here, but these laws are not affected by our opinions. These laws do not care who peddles influence, how many lobbyists you have or how big your corporate bankroll is. Those considerations, so important in this town, do not matter at all to the laws of nature.
As regards these laws of nature, because we can neither repeal nor influence them, we bear a duty, a duty of stewardship to see and respond to the facts that are before our faces according to nature’s laws. We bear a duty to shun the siren song of well-paying polluters. We bear a duty to make the right decisions for our children and grandchildren and for our God-given Earth.
Right now I must come before the Chamber and remind this body that we are failing in that duty. The men and women in this Chamber are indeed catastrophically failing in that duty. We are earning the scorn and condemnation of history — not this week, perhaps, and not next week. The spin doctors can see to that. But ultimately and assuredly, the harsh judgment that it is history’s power to inflict on wrong will fall upon us. The Supreme Being who gave us this Earth and its abundance created a world not just of abundance but of consequence and that Supreme Being gave us reason to allow us to plan for and foresee the various consequences that those laws of nature impose.
There is no wizard’s hat and wand with which to wish this away. These laws of nature are known; the Earth’s message to us is clear; our failure is blameworthy; its consequences are profound; and the costs will be very high.
It is the science that make clear precisely why future generations will heap scorn and condemnation on us if we fail to act quickly and decisively: “An Illustrated Guide to the Science of Global Warming Impacts: How We Know Inaction Is the Gravest Threat Humanity Faces.” | <urn:uuid:688c5575-33fb-4967-b5dc-40d9b09b6abf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/10/19/347768/senator-whitehouses-climate-speech/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953458 | 3,688 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
No that isn't a typo. A group in England took the idea behind "Who Do You Think You Are?" and created a new website that poses the question, "Who Do We Think We Are?" The site helps teachers and their students explore issues relating to Britain--citizenship, ethnic identity, migration and settlement. I found it difficult to locate material unless I used the search box at the top of the screen. Using "immigration" turned up ten links. There is a mix of material written by contributors and hits that then take you to another website. There are initially four pilot areas--Barking and Dagenham, Bradford, Bristol and Cheshire--with plans to expand. I'm having a great time trying different terms in the search box to see what turns up. It's a fascinating teaching tool. It makes me wonder, could a group create a project like this in the U.S.? | <urn:uuid:b7954de0-3a39-495e-aed3-111fa5ced194> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photodetective.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-do-we-think-we-are.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954478 | 191 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Q&A: The end of the licence fee?
A right-wing think tank says the television licence fee should be scrapped and replaced by a voluntary subscription service for some BBC programming - such as drama and entertainment.
The growing use of the internet for viewing has made licensing TV sets outdated, according to right-wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute.
But what does this mean for viewers?Will the licence fee be scrapped?
Chris Curtis, deputy editor of media magazine Broadcast, doesn't think so.
"The report's findings are really radical, and probably done to promote debate and bring the issues into focus. It would be a very extreme change of circumstances. I don't think it's going to happen. There is no point in debating the practicalities.
"There is lots of anti-BBC sentiment in the commercial world but the public still have a residual love affair with the BBC," he adds.
But Andrew Pettie, TV and Radio editor at the Telegraph newspaper, isn't so sure.
"It's not necessarily the case that the removal of the licence fee would lead to decreased revenue for the BBC, as the corporation could go on to make more money abroad," he says.
He believes the BBC could increase its revenue with advertising overseas and access to the iPlayer for those living abroad.Could the BBC really become the new Sky?
"It's a big jump from a reduced licence fee to a voluntary subscription," says Curtis.
"This report comes from a right-wing think tank - it holds Sky up as a model… Sky has been very successful and there is lots to admire about it but it couldn't be more different from the BBC," he adds.
"Criticising the BBC for not being Sky is like criticising football for not being chess."What are the negatives of the proposed changes?
"The good thing about the licence fee is that, because it is collected from everyone, it doesn't have to be populist," says Pettie.
"The main danger of the subscription model is that it is under pressure to provide lots of different packages - that could mean the loss of lucrative things like Doctor Who and things on BBC Four, Radio 3 and Radio 4," he adds.And the positives?
Pettie believes there are two main attractions.
"Collecting the licence fee from everyone is technically outdated since lots of people consume the BBC through different ways - i.e. on the PC," he says.
"And if you pay some form of subscription, you could have advertising. You could make revenue from abroad, promoting the BBC as a global brand - this could benefit viewers in Britain.How would the plans compare with other models overseas?
Pettie concedes it could be difficult to replicate successful subscription schemes, such as HBO in the US.
"The UK is a relatively small country - with HBO, it delivers excellent high-end TV but the subscription works as there are enough people to pay for it. But if the same percentage took that up in the UK, it wouldn't be enough." | <urn:uuid:6112edf6-e479-4fcd-af29-1ebddedae250> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10839629 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977331 | 626 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is an alternate universe Harry Potter fanfiction written by Eliezer Yudkowsky, an AI researcher and decision theorist at the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. The story focuses on a Harry Potter who enters Hogwarts after having been raised with an Aunt Petunia who married a scientist. The fanfiction is known for possibly being the most reviewed Harry Potter fanfiction, with nearly 18,000 reviews on Fanfiction.net as of 29 June, 2012.
The fanfiction's official website can be found here. It features a mirror of the fanfiction, as well as a cover artwork and links to PDF, podcast and other versions. The site also contains notes from the author, background on scientific concepts featured within the series, fanart and an option for update notifications.
Harry Potter has lived for 11 years with the Evans-Verres - Petunia and her scientist husband Professor Michael, reasonably happy but unaware of magic. One day, he receives a letter addressed to Mr. H. Potter inviting him to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sceptical, he nevertheless agrees to a visit from Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall for a demonstration of magic. With magic now seemingly a proven reality, Harry now takes his place at Hogwarts, "armed with Enlightenment ideals and the experimental spirit." | <urn:uuid:6dd99b0c-0b75-4b6b-bd04-a72ef41a46a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality?oldid=717427 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953083 | 271 | 1.796875 | 2 |
We’re delighted to have architect and author Sarah Susanka as a guest of Marvin Windows and Doors at this year’s Remodeling Show. Here are some tips from Sarah’s latest book, “Not So Big Remodeling,” written with Marc Vassallo.
1. Set Priorities. When beginning a remodel, consider the three values of quality, quantity and cost. Determine which two are the most important. Because remodeling is an inexact science, one of these variables must be allowed to “float” in order to make a remodel possible.
2. Examine the Space. Begin exploring remodeling options by first looking at what can be done within the existing footprint of the house. By thinking creatively about the available space, you may discover that no additional space needs to be added on.
3. Think in Terms of Activity Areas. Don’t think about remodeling in terms of rooms. Instead, create a list of activities that need to be accommodated — recognizing that a place for the activity is needed, but not necessarily an entire room.
4. Start With the Simplest Strategy. Begin by exporing the simplest solution — working within the existing footprint — and only move to more complicated solutions, such as a bump-out or a small addition, after determining that the simpler solution won’t work. This is the most important tool for discovering a Not So Big solution.
5. Study Storage. Evaluate the home’s existing storage areas. Many homes have too little storage in places where it is most needed, and too much in places where it is only marginally useful. A little well-designed storage in the right place can replace a lot of poorly designed storage, opening up floor space.
6. Bump Out a Little. Bumping out a section of wall by just a few feet can add some much needed square footage just where it is useful. A bump out that creates an alcove or a small extension running the width of a room will keep costs down while maintaining the scale and proportion of the existing house.
Marvin's Ultimate Replacement Casement
7. Add On With Grace. If none of the above strategies meets the remodeling needs, and budget allows, a small addition may be the best option. A well-proportioned addition can greatly enhance the value of a house, while a poorly proportioned addition can actually reduce a home’s value.
8. Let the Roof Be the Guide. To ensure that a bump out or addition will look good on a house, let the existing roof inform the design solution. The roof shape will make some options easy and others nearly impossible without looking like a mistake.
9. Work With Windows. Few things can have as much impact on the character of a room as the shapes, patterning and positioning of the windows. In any remodeling decision, an interesting composition of windows can add personailty to both the inside and outside of the house.
10. Include the Exterior. Few remodeling strategies can affect the long term value of a home more than an external face lift. These can be accomplished inexpensively when done with a Not So Big focus on quality rather than quantity. | <urn:uuid:29b94c5d-53d4-47ef-ac26-6a091702e725> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marvin.com/benefits-features/about-marvin/marvin-media-room/post/not-so-big-remodeling-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91077 | 665 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The Alfred Toepfer Heritage Scholarships 2011 are now open for applications! The award provides three young European conservationists with €3000 to undertake a study visit to one or more protected areas in European countries other than their own. It is given by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and the EUROPARC Federation. The deadline for applications is Friday May 20th 2011. Last year CMA member Matt McGettigan a ranger at Langdon Hills Country Park, won one of the awards. http://www.europarc.org/what-we-do/alfred-toepfer-schol
Roger Cole CMA International Adviser
The Weerribben-Wieden National Park(Netherlands) will be hosting EUROPARC's 10th International Junior Ranger Camp, from the 16th to the 23rd of July 2011. The park is delighted to invite Junior Rangers from all over Europe to participate at the event. Ten Parks, each with one adult Ranger and two Junior Rangers each, will have the opportunity to attend this years camp. Registrations will be accepted on a first come first served basis, but no more than two parks per country will be admitted (unless there is still space at the end of the registration period). To register, participants must fill in a registration form ( http://www.europarc.org/home/ ) and send it electronically to email@example.com and a signed version to the EUROPARC Federation, Waffnergasse 6, 93047 Regensburg, Germany. The deadline for registration is Wednesday 18th of May 2011.
Roger Cole CMA International Adviser
India's latest tiger census shows an increase in their numbers - but also that threats to their roaming territory could reverse those gains. The census counted at least 1,706 tigers in forests across the country, about 300 more than four years ago. The world tiger population is around 3,000.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh called the increase good news but cautioned against any complacency in efforts to save tigers from extinction. "The rise in numbers is the result of sustained efforts, but the shrinking of tiger corridors is alarming," he said. Wildlife experts who conducted the census said tiger corridors, which are the routes frequently used by the big cats to move from one reserve to another, had declined sharply as huge power projects, mining and roads cut into their habitats.
"Securing these corridors should be taken up as a priority," said Rajesh Gopal, director, National Tiger Conservation Authority. India has also set up more tiger reserves. In 2004 there were only 28-33 tiger reserves, now there are 39 reserves
Wildlife experts, however, are doubtful about the accuracy of the latest tiger figures. “The rise in numbers is significant but you can always fudge the figures if you want to, whatever counting method you use,” said M.K. Ranjit Sinh, chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India.
Nevertheless, the threats to tigers in India increase as the government tries to juggle the competing claims of development and wildlife conservation.
Unlike earlier tiger estimates, when pugmarks of individual tigers were counted, this time conservationists used hidden cameras and DNA tests to count the cats in 17 Indian states where tigers live in the wild. There were estimated to be around 40,000 tigers in India at the time of independence from Britain in 1947 and a century ago, about 100,000 tigers roamed India's forests.
Roger Cole; CMA International Adviser.
The Countryside Management Assocation is the largest organisation of its kind representing professionals engaged in countryside and urban greenspace management throughout England and Wales. This news page is for news and announcements of interest to all members of the Association.
This blog was designed
and is managed by Pinkeye Graphics Ltd | <urn:uuid:507836ed-3763-4836-887a-915c939eb1c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://countrysidemanagement.org.uk/news/index.php/2011/04/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945566 | 779 | 1.96875 | 2 |
April 12, 2011
Redlands, CaliforniaMore than a dozen organizations have come together to provide mapping support for the Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster. The group, known as the Emergency Mapping Team (EMT), is supplying maps and web services that are being used to make better decisions for relief and recovery efforts related to the recent Tōhoku, Japan, earthquake and resultant tsunami. EMT-produced maps are enhanced with information generated by disaster management experts that helps supply updated status reports on the overall situation.
“The use of geographic information system (GIS) technology has contributed to overall situational awareness,” says Russ Johnson, public safety director, Esri. “In addition, thousands of maps that utilize the analytical power of GIS have been produced to support critical decision making. EMT’s maps and services supply valuable information, from evacuation zones to rolling blackout locations to seismic activity.”
EMT maps and services give people information on shelters, highway and traffic conditions, infrastructure, and more. For example, EMT-produced resources have been used by the Japanese government to understand conditions on the ground, develop a list of recovery and relief priorities, and deploy personnel and equipment. These resources are available online as both static maps and dynamic map services available for mashup capability. As new maps and services are created, they are made available online at the EMT website.
Several organizations are involved with EMT: Esri, ESRI Japan Corporation, Honda Motor, Pioneer, and more.
# # # | <urn:uuid:7b2f1e9d-e6c6-4c74-9fd3-2c82ffa4b948> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esri.com/news/releases/11-2qtr/emergency-mapping-team-supplies-resources-for-japan-disaster.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950347 | 313 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Fifty years ago, John Glenn performed America’s first manned orbital flight in space. J. BROOKS SPECTOR remembers the glorious day very well.
Years ago, on a family vacation in Florida, we found ourselves with an open, unscheduled day when it was too cold to go to the beach, we’d finally had our fill (and then some) of theme park rendezvous with cartoon mice, synchronised swimming killer whales or terror-inducing roller-coaster rides. Cape Kennedy and the rockets remained, however.
Although we’d been to Florida numerous times, for some reason we’d never actually made the pilgrimage to the space program’s 'holy of holies'. While the rest of my family was not entirely convinced, as we got underway, I realised just how much I had wanted to make this trip. I’d grown up with the space race, from its inception in the 1950s. I distinctly remembered the horror of adults when the first satellite to orbit the Earth had been named “Sputnik” rather than “Pioneer”, “Vanguard” or “Explorer.” America was the country, after all, that had won the Second World War on its technology and industrial base, and was delivering a veritable cornucopia of consumer goods – an automatic washing machine, tumble drier, no-frost refrigerator, television, hi-fi set and automobile for every household in the country.
For years, the US government had been publicly discussing the inevitable future of rockets and space travel to the Moon and beyond. There had been television specials on the science to be carried out in space, there was a popular weekly television series, Men in Space, that portrayed the human side of space exploration with heroic pilots, and, of course, there was science fiction – films, paperback books, magazines, many of which speculated on the space age. It seemed inevitable that, soon enough, astronauts with names like Jim, Bob or Bill would be circling the Earth – and thereafter just a short hop to the Moon’s surface. Like Buzz Lightyear would tell us years later, “to the universe and beyond”.
And besides all this material wealth, willingness and energy, the US had also succeeded in gathering up the pick of the World War II German scientists and their remaining V-2 rockets to serve as the foundation upon which the country would build its new civilian, out-in-the-open-for-all-to-see-and-wonder-over space program. Dr. Werner von Braun – Germany’s World War II chief rocket scientist and his team – got their second chance to go into space – only this time it would be with his brains plus America’s industrial heft to go in peace for all mankind. Of course there was also that growing larger fear of the Russians and what they might do with space if they conquered it first – and they had their share of German scientists, including some pretty savvy homegrown ones too.
Mercury Seven: Back row - Shepard, Grissom, Cooper; front row - Schirra, Slayton, Glenn, Carpenter in 1960. This was the only time they would appear together in pressure suits. Slayton and Glenn are wearing spray-painted work boots. (Wikimedia Commons)
That point about the Russians was the key to everything. The US was in the midst of the Cold War and everything could be – and often was – measured against or advocated for in terms of its connection to the struggle with the Russians. Even the nation’s interstate highway system was initiated during the Eisenhower administration because of its potential role in moving military supplies around the nation in time of war – and even as a resource of emergency airstrips for military craft on all those highway straight-aways across the nation.
But to the consternation of many Americans who assumed a self-evident technological ascendancy on the part of the United States, the first satellites turned out to be Russian ones. By contrast, the US had a string of public and embarrassing failures to launch a satellite much more than a few metres off the launching pad.
But there was worse to come when Yuri Gargarin and then Gherman Titov both rode Soviet rockets into full Earth orbits. Finally, after months of agonising waiting following Gargarin’s successful flight, the US managed to put Alan B Shepard and then Gus Grissom into their 15-minute-long, suborbital flights with old reliable Redstone military rocket, splashing down a several hundred kilometres into the Caribbean Sea off the Florida coast.
Then, finally, with these first tests of the Mercury capsule completed, the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent John Glenn into orbit, this time marrying another of the Mercury capsules with an Atlas multistage rocket; a rocket that had been first developed for delivering the Pentagon’s nuclear warheads – and that just happened to have a lineage that could be traced back to von Braun’s old V-2s. These Mercury flights were to be the first steps in a chain of launches in response to President Kennedy’s national challenge to put a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. The decision to make the Moon the goal was a bureaucratic one – the reasoning was that anything else less challenging seemed like it could be trumped by whatever those Russians already had up their sleeves but weren’t telling us.
As an eighth-grade student in junior high school at the time of these early space flights, I joined the entire student population in the school’s hall to watch on two black and white televisions as the minutes ticked by and one mysterious thing after another urgently needed to be checked, fixed or adjusted at the last minute at the launching pad. The dolorous television commentary behind those pictures from Cape Canaveral made it clear that this was no ordinary event – it was fraught with dangers of almost unimaginable shape. It was easy to imagine Shepard, Grissom and, finally, Glenn atop their rockets – they called them candles – in one of those nearly rigid, early-model Nasa pressure suits before Velcro came along, filled with test pilot determination to wait nerveless as the problems were solved.
And so, on 20 February 1962, former Navy and Marine pilot, World War II and Korean War vet, John Glenn, was placed inside his craft, “Friendship 7” and as his rocket finally cleared the gantry tower and rose heavenward, Scott Carpenter, another of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, called out “Godspeed John Glenn” on the radio. Carpenter’s spontaneous prayer was relayed by American television and radio networks live to the entire world.
Watch John Glenn celebrate orbiting earth:
Even if America wasn’t first into orbit with a real spaceman, unlike those secretive Russians, the US had shown the world its best effort with none of those Russian-style hidden launches just in case things suddenly went seriously off the rails. Americans had nothing to hide with their space rockets and steely-eyed test pilots. And Glenn was the cleanest-cut, most courageous, most sternly set-jaw of the bunch of them. Church going, happily married, straight arrow, he was a genuine war hero and exemplary test pilot hero – just the ticket to take the race into space back to where it belonged. And after he had landed safely – there had been serious issues with the possibility his craft’s heat shield had come loose – he received a rapturous parade in New York City comparable to the one Charles A Lindbergh had received in 1927 after his flight across the Atlantic to Paris.
Years later it came out that Glenn probably had been barred from the Gemini missions or one of the Apollo flights to the Moon – because of a fear inside Nasa of what would have happened to the national psyche if he had perished in a fatal accident. Glenn finally received clearance to fly again years later on one of the space shuttle flights when he was 77 years old – this time to test the effects of space on a fit older specimen.
Photo: STS-95 crewmember, astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn poses for his official NASA photo taken April 14, 1998. Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth and returned to space in 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. REUTERS/NASA/Handout.
Eventually Glenn found his way to politics after his first flight. He became a long-serving Democratic Senator from Ohio for four terms, he was considered for the vice presidency several times by presidential candidates and he even took a run for the presidential nomination himself in 1984 but couldn’t generate sufficient momentum to beat out Walter Mondale, a senator who was not a space hero. The efforts of the original Mercury astronauts – plus those of another test pilot, Chuck Yeager, the man who first broke the sound barrier – were portrayed in the 1983 film, The Right Stuff.
The Glenn camp first thought such big screen treatment would help push him over the top to the nomination; but for many people the film seemed to make him out to be such a prissy blue nose that it may actually have harmed his chances for the presidency.
But to return to that Florida vacation for a moment, our tour took us to the old Mercury launch flight control headquarters, the “block house”. Inside, the equipment had been left just as it had been in the early 1960s, before flight control for manned space missions was moved to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. Astonishingly, there in the Mercury control headquarters, it all looked so – well – ordinary and underwhelming. Most of the equipment looked like it was left over from a yard sale of old electronics spare parts. No flashy video screens, digital readouts and banks of special consoles and there were a couple of narrow slit windows to observe the launch directly. Inevitably, too, our guide explained that the computing power of the entire command post was less than might be inside an ordinary PC – and that was 20 years ago. Now your smart phone could probably have run a Mercury launch and had enough computing power left over to let you play on social media at the same time.
Sadly for those of us who were entranced by the wonder of those space missions then, Nasa now has a greatly shrunken profile. The proposed Mars mission is far away – and, under current budgetary constraints, maybe it is actually located in Never Never Land, despite Newt Gingrich’s idea to get a new American state up-and-running on the Moon if he is elected. The staffing at Cape Kennedy is half what it was at its peak during the shuttle program. The current crop of American astronauts reach the International Space Station courtesy of Russian rockets. On the 50 anniversary of John Glenn’s flight, John Logsdon, a space policy expert who is a member of Nasa’s advisory council, commented this reliance on the Russians for crew transportation has become “embarrassing” and that “it's very hard for the States to maintain its claim to be the leading space country in the world when we cannot even launch people into orbit.” And of the Russians? Dr Igor Sutyagin of the UK’s Royal United Services Institute adds, “Russian astronauts feel like space taxi drivers, not equal partners.”
None of this is what was promised back in those heady days of the early 1960s. The bean counters are in charge now. Yes, we have a wealth of deep space knowledge from the Hubble and other telescopes about the creation of the universe, satellite communications, GPS technology – and Velcro. And we’ll always have those film images with soundtracks of heroic music of the spacesuit-clad pioneers like John Glenn, waving as they board the van to take them to the launching pad, as the world held its breath each time. And at age 90, John Glenn now says that those past events should be “a stepping stone to the future.” And so they should. DM
- An Interview with John Glenn at The New York Times.
- America and Russia: Uneasy partners in space at the BBC.
- Astronaut John Glenn marks 50 years since first orbit at the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17107817?print=true
- Letters: Americans and Space (2 Letters) at The New York Times.
- 50 Years Later, Celebrating John Glenn’s Feat at The New York Times.
Photo: John Glenn heading towards his journey 50 years ago. | <urn:uuid:ece96cfb-0f79-4198-a7f8-c92729a407d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-02-22-john-glenn-and-the-foregone-future | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970246 | 2,610 | 2.5625 | 3 |
We are all feeling the effects of rising food costs.
A recently published study appearing in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, “Limited availability and higher cost of gluten-free foods,” found that gluten-free versions of wheat-based foods cost, on average from 76% to a whopping 518% more. Ouch!
The good news is that there are lots of ways you can cut your gluten-free grocery bill, while staying healthy on a gluten-free diet. Two of my favorite ways to lower my gluten-free food costs include (more…) | <urn:uuid:c9aaf04e-6dfc-4ee8-88e4-0eec0e4ceeab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://glutenfreeworks.com/blog/tag/saving-money/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959364 | 119 | 1.734375 | 2 |
*A small four-stringed guitar of Hawaiian origin made in Todd Korup’s basement workshop in Port Washington
Todd Korup has spent a decade making acoustic and electric ukuleles, the small, four-stringed member of the guitar family frequently associated with Hawaii.
But Korup, who calls himself the Uker of Oz, couldn’t be farther away from Hawaii. He painstakingly builds each of his ukuleles in his basement workshop in Port Washington.
He has sold more than 70 of his ukuleles to people around the world, and among those who own them are a few celebrities.
In 2003, while buying his sister a gift at a music shop, Korup noticed a ukulele for sale. On a whim, he bought it.
“That was kind of the start. It just made sense playing it,” said Korup, 42, who learned how to play the guitar in high school. “There’s so much on the guitar so you can get discouraged easily, and the uke just makes sense. It has four strings. I have four fingers to put on it.”
After a year of playing the ukulele, he decided to try building the small guitar himself.
“I just started looking at it more and said ‘I could probably make this,’” Korup said. “At the time I started, there was not a lot of information around on them. I gleaned little bits that I could off the web.
“I never really worked with blueprints, but it’s an instrument, so there are things that have to be right to get it to play.”
It was a process of trial and error, Korup said.
“The first two that I made I have in our bedroom. They look awesome, but they sound like junk because I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “The third one I made actually sounded pretty good, and that’s when I started thinking, ‘OK, now I know what I did wrong.’”
He started by purchasing guitar-making supplies and cutting them to size. Now Korup makes everything from scratch.
“I’ve thinned my own woods,” he said, noting that had to build some of his own tools to use for the job.
A friend in Hawaii ships him the wood of koa trees, which are native to the islands. A nice sounding ukulele starts with good wood, Korup said.
“It can’t just be thin wood. It has to be cut right. The person cutting it and selling it as instrument wood needs to know what they’re doing,” Korup said.
The first thing Korup assembles is the body of the ukulele.
“The body is kind of the heart of the whole thing,” he said.
Korup uses steam to bend wood into the curved shape for the outside frame of the guitar.
This is the most difficult part of construction, Korup said.
“Sometimes they don’t want to bend and they blow apart and I have to start all over,” he said.
Wood blocks are put inside the frame to reinforce the body and support other parts.
“I’ll do a top and glue that on, then I’ll do a back and I’ll glue that on,” Korup said. “After that, depending on what size I’m making, I’ll select the wood and cut out the wood for the neck.”
Finally, he turns it into a string instrument.
“The most important part, as far as it being an instrument, are the frets, the fret board and the length (of the neck). Otherwise it won’t play,” Kroup said.
It doesn’t take long for him to find out if he’s done a good job on a ukulele.
“A musician will pick it up and they’ll let you know really quick if it’s good or bad. If it doesn’t play right, they’ll say so,” he said. “I learned a lot early on about what I should and shouldn’t be doing as far as making something that people will like.”
None of the parts on his instruments are touched by a machine. Korup sands, assembles and stains each one by hand.
The process takes anywhere from 15 hours to more than 40, depending on the intricacy and detailing of designs, Korup said.
The depression-style ukuleles he builds from vintage coffee cans and cigar boxes are especially popular.
While the materials are easier to work with than wood, there’s a challenge to finding coffee cans that produce the desired sound, Korup said.
“I would go around flea markets and tap on cans. People would look at me wondering what I was doing,” he said.
It was one of his coffee can ukuleles that caught the eye of a celebrity customer, popular children’s author Sandra Boynton, who saw the instruments on Korup’s website.
Boynton, who had just finished a children’s music album, wanted to give Korup’s instrument as a gift to country music star Brad Paisley, who worked with her on the album.
She also bought a banjo ukulele as a gift for Ron Block, who plays banjo for country and bluegrass music star Alison Krauss.
Korup said he was flattered to have his instruments given as gifts to professional musicians.
“It made me think ‘OK, I guess I finally know what I’m doing.’ It was cool,” he said.
Korup’s coffee can ukuleles sell for $165, while standard wood and banjo ukuleles start at $700. Specialized electric and banjo ukuleles with intricate inlay detailing can go for more than $1,000.
Most of the instruments he designs come from requests.
Korup recently made an electric ukulele with an orange body that was painted by a motorcycle painter in Oshkosh.
“I did one for a friend of mine where the entire neck was inlaid with a palm tree scene and a canoe that wound up the neck,” he said.
A birthday gift for a teenage girl featured a striking blue ukulele inlaid with koi fish swimming up the fret board and around the sound hole.
“That one I had put in almost 20 hours on just the inlay work,” Korup said.
The first ukulele he made was for his daughter Mackenzie, 14, and had a heart-shaped sound hole on the front. Mackenzie and her siblings Max, 12, and Molly, 9, have all picked up a ukulele at one point, but Molly has stuck with it the longest.
“I like music a lot, so it’s really fun to play the Ukulele,” Molly said.
Korup said he’s better at building the instruments than playing them, but he does enjoy performing in ukulele music shows in Milwaukee.
One of the things Korup likes about the instrument is that there is no limit to the music that can be performed.
“It’s a legit instrument. It’s a serious instrument, and you can play anything on it,” Korup said. “I think the coolest thing about it is that it’s much more obtainable and less intimidating and daunting than a guitar,”
“You can do a lot on a guitar, but I think you can get there quicker on a uke.
“I could sit someone down and in probably in five minutes have them strumming a song.”
Korup especially enjoys the creativity and expression that comes from ukuleles long after he has assembled them.
“I can enjoy building it and being creative while doing it, but when you’re done it’s not just a piece of art,” he said. “Every time you pick it up, you can play it. It‘s that continuation of it every time you handle it.
“Then I go and watch people play it and it’s even cooler because they’re playing the thing that I made. That just kind of blows my mind.”
Image Information: TODD KORUP OF Port Washington played a banjo ukulele alongside his daughter Molly, 9, who held an acoustic ukulele. Korup made the instruments by hand in his basement workshop. Photo by Sam Arendt | <urn:uuid:6d1aef33-6dc1-4fe1-931b-d3d9201f2976> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ozaukeepress.com/good-living?start=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974562 | 1,905 | 1.820313 | 2 |
A resident walks through flood water and past a stalled ambulance in the aftermath of Sandy in Hoboken, N.J. / By Charles Sykes, AP
Hoboken, N.J. -- On the third day, they got cold and tired and began to get angry.
Forty-eight hours after Hurricane Sandy forced the Hudson River over its banks and into this town of 50,000, right by the water and the center of the New Jersey Gold Coast that grew up in the shadows of Wall Street's boom, people like Greg Bottitta are almost done pumping out parts of the city.
But the prospect of a long stretch without heat, and a colder nighttime forecast, were making suitcases almost as common a sight as the improvised plastic-bag knee-high boots that some of Hoboken's young and hip wore almost as stylishly as a pair of Uggs.
"Yesterday we got together with all the alcohol and food and grilled it up," said Bottitta, a sales executive at a financial-technology firm in New York. "But there's stuff to do today."
There was much less water in the street than on Tuesday, to be sure, but officials estimated that nearly 20% of Hoboken was still underwater Wednesday. An estimated 20,000 people were still stranded in their homes, encouraged by city officials to stay there and wait for supplies to reach them.
On Tuesday, getting out of town was like negotiating a maze, making false move after false move until stumbling onto a passable route. A day later, the problem was mostly just good old Jersey traffic.
The drier parts of town here are to the north and east. On Washington Street, one of the main drags, Mamoun's Falafel was doing a lively business from a table in front of the blacked-out store. The stove worked, and they were cooking in the dark.
But move a few blocks in the wrong direction, and it's easy to find wrecked businesses, homes where the water was still being pumped from basements, and puddles whose rainbow tint came not from sunshine but from the gasoline contaminating them.
At Zin Home, a slick home-furnishings store, Adam Seker was looking at six figures' worth of ruined Oriental rugs and contemporary-looking furniture, to the degree its erstwhile style was still visible under the muck. Everything, including a hefty teak bench, had been thrown against the back wall, and the floor had been pulled up by the wave Monday night.
"We're ready to close this location and move out of Hoboken," Seker said. "I have insurance but I don't know the technicalities. â?¦ My friend with the barbershop across the street, he opened two months ago, spent his life savings, and he was under 6 feet of water."
In a city where corruption is familiar -- Mayor Dawn Zimmer's predecessor was indicted three weeks after he took office -- there was plenty of grumbling about the pace of the municipal response. On Willow Street, about 10 blocks from the water, Pasquale Caporrino complained that the alarm at the convenience store down the street from his apartment building rang all Monday night. And Bob Dethier, who maintains a group of apartment buildings on Monroe Street, said the city had done a poor job of clearing storm drains of leaves before Sandy.
"You have to know somebody for your catch basin to be cleared in this town,'' he said. ``We were out there 20 minutes before the tsunami trying to clean up.''
City officials defended their response.
"The dimension and scope of this situation is enormous," Public Safety Director Jon Tooke said. "You have emergency operations at all levels, from local to federal, spread too thin across the city and the state, but we're working on it."
Hoboken is used to flooding, but this flood is much worse than after Hurricane Irene last year. There's more water, it's slower to recede, and it showed up later in the year.
The power is expected to be out at least until Monday, and Wednesday night's forecast called for temperatures in the 40s.
"I'm going to a friend's house," said Sean Clayton, a Department of Homeland Security employee who was walking with pals carrying duffel bags. He lives on Grand Street, in the heart of the flood zone. `
"I had thought we'd have power at some point. After Irene, it was back on in a couple of hours."
How fast the water came on Monday night was just another blow, Dethier said.
"You stood in the middle of the street and cried," he said, "because no matter what you did, it didn't work."
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Hoboken is used to flooding, but this is much worse | <urn:uuid:d3389f60-085c-418a-a6f6-0ef7f7610e5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marionstar.com/usatoday/article/1672499?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981278 | 1,010 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The world’s first operation and anesthesia done by an all robot team was conducted at Canada’s McGill University Health Centre. The operation being one of extreme delicateness, a prostatectomy, was handled by two robots: DaVinci, a surgical robot, and McSleepy, an anesthetic robot. Both of whom were controlled by a team of surgeons from a workstation with 3D HD video control.
The robots allowed the team of surgeons to work with a precision not capable of by humans alone, allowing for a more precise and safe operation. The surgical team is planning to use this project to test more all-robotic surgery and anesthesia routines on more patients in different surgical situations. We are assured that the robots will not replace the doctors, but will only augment the surgical team to perform to their highest capabilities.
Read More | TG Daily
What you see here is a video from the Robo-One humanoid robot competition in Japan, with a real-life transformer. The Omnizero.9, designed by Takeshi Maeda at Vstone, is a 3.5 foot tall, 55 pound . As you can see from the above video, it can transform into a rolling vehicle, and can even hold a person’s weight on their shoulders. We’ve got another video of the robot after the jump, where you can watch it beat down another robot. 3.5 foot tall, 55 pound robot beating up another robot. That’s one bad Deceptacon.
If you are going to buy toys for your little nippers anyway, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about batteries? The UK based Ecotronic has developed a linethat you shake or wind up to create its own energy by dynamo technology. The company has a myriad of products, including eco flashlights, microphone, a robot, radios and a rocket. The toys range in price from $9.99 to $29.99 at International Playthings.
Read More | Ecotronic
Trek into the mountains of Vermont this summer, and you may see an actual Giant Robot. Jaimie Mantzel has been working on his creation for a while now, and says that he is hoping for a springtime debut. When completed, the aluminum bot will be 12 ft. tall, 18 ft. across and Jaimie will pilot it via cockpit. Take a look at his site that is filled with video of the project and many of his other ones. By the way, if you like what you see and can’t wait for the time when Giant Robots dominate the planet, a donation would probably be graciously appreciated.
Read More | Jaimie Mantzel
If you already have a Pleo but, for some reason, the robotic dinosaur bites the proverbial dust, send it back to its place of birth. If they cannot fix him/her, the UGOBE team will extract its “soul” and load it into a new one for a reduced price. We call that an incredible offer for those whose Pleo is more than just a robot. By the way, if you haven’t yet purchased one of your own, in honor of their 1 year anniversary, PleoWorld selling them for $235.00 off until July 11.
Read More | PleoWorld
How could we not pay homage to our newest and favest bot? Wall-E debuted today and although we couldn’t make the premiere, we did notice that there are already a truckload of toys and other tie-ins, like this Interaction Wall-E. The little guy’s eyes light up, he moves his head and arms, and has the original movie voice and sound effects. If that isn’t enough, when you talk to him, he responds and, if you are too busy, can communicate with Interaction Eve. At a size of 6.5 x 10.5 x 8.5-inches and a weight of 2.1 pounds, we found one on Amazon for $43.99.
Read More | Amazon
ASIMO eat your heart out. Flame is now the most advanced walking robot to date. Created by Dutch PhD student Daan Hobbelen of TU Delft, his bot is both stable and energy efficient. To accomplish his objective, he studied how people walked for the first time. He then gave Flame seven motors and a balance mechanism created with stability algorithms. Daan is hoping that the technology will be used to help treat those with walking disabilities.
Read More | Physorg
WowWee has finally moved on from their inane Chatterbots to bring us all the Tribot, which we first introduced you to in February from the CES. Obviously named for its three-wheeled base, the bot can move in 8 directions (including diagonal.)The kewl tilt trigger button allows you to move him in directions by just moving the remote around. He will also tell jokes and stories and refers to himself as “the most rad robot in the galaxy.”
Wait, there’s more. Use Tribot as a guard against alien bots or dogs, as an alarm that needs a tap on the head to shut him up, challenge him to a game of hide and seek, or play one of three driving games. We would have been happy if he just cleaned up our room.
Read More | Tribot Product Page
You’ve got your elite with their fancy Swedish Automowers that they adore so much they give them names, and then there are others who take a more ordinary approach by having a robot slave do the work for them, despite the rudeness of the family dog. The video of the Tynamizer is fairly amusing to watch but we were wondering a couple of things. Doesn’t the grass already look fairly short? And what happens when the extension cord runs out?
Read More | Robots-Dreams
Although the movie won’t be out until June 27, Disney is already promoting it with two toys. The Ultimate WALL-E has 10 motors, a programmable remote with touch programming, and sensors to detect obstacles and sound direction. It is also MP3 compatible with built-in speakers, USB cables, and rechargeable batteries (included.) The robot will be at ToysRUs and Disney Shopping this fall for $189.99.
The iDance WALL-E, with animated eyes, talks and dances. The audio in-jack makes it compatible with iPods or MP3 players. Sound activated, it will be at various retailers this summer for $24.99.
Read More | Bot Junkie | <urn:uuid:cfc5a537-8e76-4058-bae9-c3b270277f2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gearlive.com/news/tag/robot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957249 | 1,374 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Molly Williams was the first recorded woman firefighter in the country. Williams worked as a cook in the Oceanus Engine Company firehouse in 1815. She was a slave owned by a New York merchant and was known for years as Volunteer Number 11 at the firehouse. She did back breaking work, showing as much strength and dedication of the men in the bucket brigades.
Williams left a legacy during the blizzard of 1818. When most of the men were down with influenza, Williams the cook was using her own weight to pull the pumper to the fires through the heavy blizzard then filling it with water by the bucket. She would be seen putting out fires in her calico dress and checked apron.
The story of Molly Williams is told in a children’s book called “Molly, By Golly!” by Dianne Ochiltree. Her heroics are also mentioned at the African American Firefighters Museum in Los Angeles. | <urn:uuid:0a6fa252-cf46-4670-83fb-63cfbdaa7851> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackamericaweb.com/50242/little-known-black-history-fact-molly-williams/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983411 | 196 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Paleobetic Diet: Control Diabetes and Prediabetes With Paleolithic Eating (Bare-Bones Version) by Steve Parker, M.D.
Price: $2.99 USD. 9120 words.
Language: English. Published on May 22, 2013. Nonfiction » Health, wellbeing, & medicine » Diseases / diabetes.
Steve Parker, M.D., presents the world's first paleo diet program designed for those with diabetes (types 1 and 2) and prediabetes. Included are sections on diabetes drug adjustments, exercise, hypoglycemia, treatment goals, and three days of meals. Recommended foods include vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, meat, fish, and eggs. All measurements are given both in U.S. customary and metric units. | <urn:uuid:946df49f-8794-4c25-9f51-a05bdb8e31c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smashwords.com/books/category/510/unitssold/0/2.99/short | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900853 | 161 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Threat of Reputation-Based Attacks
CastleCops.com is accustomed to being attacked by online crooks: The volunteer-led cybercrime-fighting group has endured nearly a month long siege by thousands of criminally-controlled PCs aimed at crippling its Web site. So when the latest attack failed to prevent legitimate users from visiting the site, the bad guys unveiled an unlikely secret weapon: bogus donations.
The unauthorized contributions all came in via PayPal, the online payment service owned by eBay. Some were sent via PayPal accounts that attackers had hijacked in phishing scams; others were submitted through PayPal's e-check option using compromised checking account numbers. A few donations were for as little as $1, while other fake donations ranged as high as $2,800.
To the victims of the stolen PayPal accounts, it looks as if CastleCops is the one stealing their money, when in reality, it's the attackers. Also, the fraudulent activity seeks to ruin their relationship with PayPal.
This attempt to smear the good name of a legitimate organization by tainting them with the stain of illegal activity - known as a "reputation attack" - came after more than three weeks of sustained distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against CastleCops.com. So-called DDoS attacks direct the Web traffic of thousands of "bots - compromised PCs that when grouped together are called "botnets" -- at a targeted site, with the aim of rendering it unreachable.
CastleCops is working with PayPal and the FBI to try to stem the fraudulent donations. So far, the organization has refunded 37 unauthorized contributions, but many more are still pending. Meanwhile, even more unwanted gifts keep rolling in.
CastleCops has been under fairly consistent DDoS attacks since early this year. The group's volunteers work with Internet service providers and other industry partners to combat a variety of criminal enterprises, from phishing schemes to spam to malicious software hosted on hacked Web sites or home computers. Many of those same partners have also stepped forward to help the group fend off the DDoS attacks.
When it became clear to attackers that this most recent frontal assault was no longer working, they changed their tactics, said CastleCops co-founder Paul Laudanski.
"Clearly someone's got it in for us and has been paying someone to try and take us out, but we're bringing discredit on the botnet masters because they're not succeeding," Laudanski said.
You know you've succeeded in angering some deep-pocketed criminals when they start burning stolen PayPal accounts by the dozen after botnet-for-hire attacks fail to work. One criminal organization that CastleCops has been particularly effective against - known as the Rock Group - stole more than $150 million worth of consumer data last year in phishing attacks, according to security giant Verisign.
CastleCops may have weathered the attack expertly so far, but not every group that accepts donations has the same kind of strong connections with the people at eBay's fraud department. My suspicion is that this same assault against any other organization might have succeeded, at least temporarily. I say that because eBay often places a hold on PayPal accounts that are involved in fraud disputes, and many volunteer organizations probably are more attuned to counting their donations and making ends meet than looking for patterns of suspicious activity.
"The only reason I noticed these fraudulent donations was because [the receipts for PayPal donations] get sent to an e-mail address that we regularly use," said Robin Laudanski, the other co-founder of CastleCops.
The group received a number of nasty e-mails from people whose accounts and financial information were used in the reputation attack. One irate victim threatened Paul in an e-mail, calling him "a marked man."
"He said 'I hope you end up in the pokey getting poked a lot'," Paul said.
Still, at least one guy whose PayPal account was used to fraudulently donate to CastleCops was ultimately thankful for the refund. Only, his account had been used to donate just one dollar. No word yet on whether he's grateful enough to respond with a real donation.
September 18, 2007; 10:00 AM ET
Categories: Fraud , From the Bunker
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The comments to this entry are closed. | <urn:uuid:4fe652c4-891e-4aed-ae35-96c95688fb97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/09/the_danger_of_reputation_attac.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958936 | 1,290 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Most first gen-social games still seem to depend mainly on content pushed from the servers out. Here I’m going to look at a few examples of games that work the user-generated content into the game system.
In the game “Famous”, you can add your own fashion items. They’re checked before going public. Somehow, they charge you for the privilege of creating items, which seems in reverse from what you would want – this will de-motivate users to upload items.
Interestingly you can create both tasks and items; I guess they basically opened up their internal tools, allowing other users to create content just as the game’s authors were doing…
Pictograph has a whole editor built in that allows you to upload images and then draw on top of them. Super-cool. The items you create have a deeper meaning than the images – they are little word-puzzles. You can then challenge your friends to solve your puzzle, so the graphic material you uploaded becomes an intelligent game script to tease your friends with.
It’s a shame this mechanic doesn’t work in japanese!
Shufflebrain’s PhotoGrab allows you to turn any photo into a game by placing “hotspots” for your friends to find. It re-uses your existing facebook photo-albums.
their tools all have really nice clear tutorials to walk you through what to do.
What other games are out there that include user-media inside the game system? | <urn:uuid:34cd728d-6d25-4d5b-ba94-f786ae7065a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.pikkle.com/?cat=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950324 | 317 | 1.828125 | 2 |
There are people out there who don't want you to enjoy eating. You know who they are -- the carb-averse, all fat-fearing folks consumed with diets and detox. Maria Speck, author of the beautiful new cookbook, Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, is not of them.
In her introduction, Speck, in her refreshingly direct tone says, "Almost every conversation about my passion for whole grains evoked this well-meaning remark: 'Your diet must be very healthy.' This comment always leaves me speechless, because health is the last thing on my mind when I eat."
What is on her mind is cooking with unprocessed, real foods -- fruits, vegetables, meats, and whole grains -- that are full of flavor and which happen to be healthy. Speck began eating whole grains while growing up in Greece and Germany. As a kid, she noshed on oats, wheat berries, and bulgur and as an adult has committed herself to exploring their delicious potential.
In the first section of Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, Speck describes a wide variety of whole grains from prosaic grits and rice to more exotic kamut and farro. She tells you how to buy, store, and cook with whole grains, and even provides a helpful table with measurements and cooking times.
Chapters are divided into standard meal types with a special chapter called "Modern Mains," in which Speck encourages you to "explore these ancient grains in your twenty-first-century kitchen." Recipes include Spelt Crust Pizza with Fennel, Prosciutto, and Apples and Saffron Risotto with White-Wine Clams and Peas. I am especially impressed with the "Breakfast, Brunch, and Breads" chapter which includes innovative and even sexy recipes. Consider these: Dark Chocolate Muesli with Hazelnuts, Apricot-Lemon Bars with Cherries, and Fig Muffins with Creamy Goat Cheese Filling.
Recipes are clearly written and include tips such as how to "get a head start" or how "to vary it." Interspersed throughout the book are engaging stories from Speck's worldly travels as well as call-outs boxes with cooking tips and food history. Sara Remington's photography is luscious. My only disappointment is that there weren't more photos.
So if you're looking to incorporate more whole grains into your diet (and feel and look better too), then make room on your bookshelf for Ancient Grains for Modern Meals.
I have made Speck's recipe for Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Trout and Lime Mayonnaise twice already. A third will no doubt be soon to follow. These are like a healthier, trendier alternative to clam cakes. The savory smoked trout is enhanced with aromatic fresh cilantro and nutty quinoa, and the lime mayonnaise is delightfully zippy. I will note that I had to add 1 more egg to the batch in order for the cakes to adhere. If that happens to you, just be patient. They're worth it.
Please click here for a printable version of the Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Trout and Lime Mayonnaise recipe.
Give-away time! Tell me why you'd like to win this book, and I'll announce a winner (chosen randomly) on Monday, May 30th. Good luck! | <urn:uuid:c9613f43-980d-44bd-9c98-4ae02a9517f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2011/05/cookbook-review-maria-specks-ancient.html?showComment=1306407709507 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961502 | 710 | 1.640625 | 2 |
- Breadless Chicken
- Breaded Chicken
- Breaded Fish
- Mini Pizzas
- Health & Nutrition
- About Organic
- Our Programs
- Contact Us
For the body:
By eating organic and natural foods you limit your exposure and thereby reduce the Artificial Impact these may have on your body:
- Synthetic and man-made insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides used in mainstream crop production.
- Growth hormones and antibiotics used in mainstream livestock and dairy production.
- Genetically modified foods (animal, plant, and hybrid) used throughout.
Organic and Natural food is food the way it was meant to be: free of artificial chemicals and tampering – cared for by Mother Nature!
For the planet and environment:
Without question organic and natural farming is better for the environment. It helps provide a safer, healthier environment for everyone by:
- Keeping groundwater, rivers, lakes, and oceans free of pesticide and chemical fertilizer pollution.
Reducing soil erosion.
- Improving soil quality.
- Increasing the diversity of wildlife on and near farms.
- Providing safer working conditions for farm labourers (via no exposure to dangerous pesticides).
OMEGA – 3 FATTY ACID
Omega – 3 Fatty Acid is a healthy, poly-unsaturated, essential fatty acid. There are 3 types: ALA (α-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (decosahexanoic acid). EPA and DHA are both most prevalently found in fish oil, while ALA is found in plant sources such as flax seed.
Research has shown that a diet high in n-3 Fatty Acids has many significant health benefits. Studies have shown that diets containing n-3 Fatty Acids may significantly decrease risk of Cardiovascular Disease, decrease risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, decrease blood pressure and decrease blood triglyceride levels. They have also been found to be beneficial in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis.
There is currently no RDA (Recommended Daily Amount) for Omega-3. Canada’s Food Guide does, however recommend eating a meal with fish twice a week (and limiting exposure to mercury from certain types of fish –see http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/chem-chim/mercur/index_e.html ), using unsaturated oils when cooking and limiting intake of foods with trans and saturated fats.
Diets high in fibre have been found to tote many health benefits. Fibre is widely known as a digestive aid which increases stool movement and eliminations and helps to relieve the discomfort of constipation. Studies have unanimously shown high fibre diets to have an effect in lessening the risk of heart disease, contributing to lower cholesterol levels and decreasing risk of heart attack and stroke. Additionally, there is increasing evidence that a high fibre diet has the ability to help control blood sugar. This effect in particular has proven to be very helpful for those living with Diabetes.
Dietary fibre exists in two forms; insoluble and soluble. Both forms have proven health benefits. Insoluble fibre is found in wheat bran and whole grains, the skins of many fruits and vegetables and seeds. Unlike soluble fibre, the insoluble form is a poor absorber of cholesterol, but has an important function as a stool softener because it is able to absorb many times its weight in water.
Soluble fibre is found in foods such as oats, legumes, fruits, barley, brown rice and some green vegetables. Soluble fibre works by breaking down as it passes through the digestive tract and forming a gel that acts to trap substances that are related to high cholesterol. Bound in this gel-like substance, these compounds are no longer able to be absorbed by the body, and are thus carried out of the body through the intestinal tract. Studies have found that people on high fibre diets have lower total cholesterol levels than those who are not.
It is suggested that a healthy adult should consume 26 – 35g of fibre daily (The Canadian Diabetes Association). It is important to include a wide variety of both soluble and insoluble fibres in your diet to incur the maximum benefits.
Calcium is an essential mineral for living organisms. In humans, it is essential for the maintenance of strong and healthy bones and teeth. It also plays a vital role in the function of our musculoskeletal and nervous system. Additionally, calcium helps to manage weight and blood pressure. Vitamin D is useful in aiding in the absorption of calcium.
For the daily calcium requirement please visit Osteoporosis Canada (http://www.osteoporosis.ca/english/About%20Osteoporosis/Nutrition/Calcium%20Requirements/default.asp?s=1) for a table of these values.
Calcium is found in a wide variety of foods. Dairy foods are an excellent source of calcium as in these forms it is easily absorbed by the body. Dairy foods are also often supplemented with vitamin D to help maximize this absorption. Other sources of calcium include vegetables, such as broccoli and kale, meat alternatives such as beans and lentils, boney fish such as salmon and sardines and calcium fortified drinks such as soy beverages and fortified orange juice.
Iron is a mineral that is found in your bloodstream as part of the haemoglobin molecule and is important for good health. People with low iron often easily become tired and/or sick.
The amount of iron recommended in your diet is dependent upon age and gender. For a table of these values please go to http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile68c.stm. Some people may require more than the Recommended Dietary Allowance; vegetarians, pregnant women, frequent blood donors, endurance athletes and women in post-menopause who take hormone replacement therapy and continue to menstruate.
There are many dietary forms of iron from which to choose. Animal forms of iron (heme iron) offer the most bioavailability, but plant forms (non-heme iron) should not be disregarded, as they too can be a vital source of dietary iron for your body’s needs. Additionally, non-heme forms of iron are better absorbed when eaten along with heme iron.
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient and plays a vital role in vision and bone growth, in addition to being a powerful antioxidant.
Vitamin A can be found in a wide variety of plant and animal sources. In plants with high amounts of this vitamin it is responsible for their yellow-orange colour. The plant form of vitamin A is referred to as Beta-Carotene, and it is converted into Vitamin A once absorbed into the body. | <urn:uuid:fc14271c-59b5-4db6-a7fe-97568a331b1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://livingrightfoods.com/health-nutrition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935068 | 1,408 | 3 | 3 |
The objective of a firm is to find assets that have more value to the firm than cost. The objective of a project is an investment in either something new or to improve something old in a process to realize more value than the combined project and continued operational cost.
How do projects present a business case for a go/no-go decision? Projects answer the following:
- What will it cost?
- What return will it realize?
- When will it realize that return?
The objective of a firm is to find assets that have more value to the firm than the cost to acquire. That is a rather vanilla statement, but important when discussing if mergers and acquisitions project classification.
The time value of money helps evaluate options and the time value of money is standard evaluator in corporate finance. In project management any one of the 3 project constraints of scope, time, and budget can not be modified without direct affect to the other 2.
In corporate finance the time value of money accounts for 2 of those 3 project constraints: time and budget (value). Both time and value are at the earliest stage of investment evaluation decisions.
When You Get Around
Without the time value of money in play an investment payoff is arbitrary and success evaluation impossible: a firm invests $1 in a project expected to pay $1.50 at a later date, without a set date for that return, how do we know if $1.50 is worth the $1 risk?
Let me borrow $100 from you. If you tell me, “no problem, but you have to give me $10 to borrow $100″. I may make that deal, happily. What would move my decision from “yay, here’s my off-shore account” to “nay, I reject your onerous usury fee? Time.
If I don’t have to worry about when I need to pay you back, I’m a very happy borrower. If I have to pay it back tomorrow perhaps I move along to another source.
When You Come AroundA merger or acquisition fails if it does not return the expected cash flows, above principle invested, within the time set for the investment decision.
A project fails if any 1 of the original project success measures of time, budget, and scope fails.
Original objectives have little to factor value without an element of time.
I expect a private equity firm, venture capitalist, or investment bank is rational, functional, and logical. In our example above, the time value of money offers a simple evaluation of failure as a pure financial decision without having to introduce any squishy or esoteric human capital factors.
However, if you thought human resources (HR) was squishy wait until the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) proves more squishy than human capital. With one word, I bring the M&A pixie dust known as: synergy.
Synergy is neither rational, functional, nor logical.
If HR used the word synergy in an accounting meeting? Laughed out of the room.
If HR or human capital used the word synergy in a corporate finance discussion? Sorry, only room for two at the table.
Ben McLure of Investopedia.com writes, “Synergy is the magic force that allows for enhanced cost efficiencies of the new business“.
Yikes! Circle the wagons.
Mr. McLure goes on further to describe this fickle temptress: synergy.
Synergy takes the form of revenue enhancement and cost savings. By merging, the companies hope to benefit from the following:
- Staff reductions – As every employee knows, mergers tend to mean job losses. Consider all the money saved from reducing the number of staff members from accounting, marketing and other departments. Job cuts will also include the former CEO, who typically leaves with a compensation package.
- Economies of scale - Yes, size matters. Whether it’s purchasing stationery or a new corporate IT system, a bigger company placing the orders can save more on costs. Mergers also translate into improved purchasing power to buy equipment or office supplies – when placing larger orders, companies have a greater ability to negotiate prices with their suppliers.
- Acquiring new technology – To stay competitive, companies need to stay on top of technological developments and their business applications. By buying a smaller company with unique technologies, a large company can maintain or develop a competitive edge.
- Improved market reach and industry visibility – Companies buy companies to reach new markets and grow revenues and earnings. A merge may expand two companies’ marketing and distribution, giving them new sales opportunities. A merger can also improve a company’s standing in the investment community: bigger firms often have an easier time raising capital than smaller ones.
Synergy takes a final course off the rails of sanity when value continues to languish unrealized and finally the CEO and all the bankers involved in the riches of the original transaction use even more magic to create an image of enhanced value.
It is time to move from synergy and back to reality. | <urn:uuid:affaeb57-1650-4d54-897c-6ed5de9c8beb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tobyelwin.com/times-up-for-merger-and-acquisition-synergy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927038 | 1,044 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Delta Native Christopher Kinder Interviews 5th Infantry Division World War II Veterans, Preserves Historic Home
Department of History
Southeast Missouri State University graduate student Christopher Kinder was invited by the president of the U.S. Army’s 5th Infantry Division to attend their national reunion this fall in St. Louis and interview surviving World War II veterans.
When the interviews are complete, the video files and transcripts will be submitted to the Special Collections and Archives in Kent Library, where they will be accessible to the general public for research and education, as well as to other archives and libraries across the nation. “We hope that our efforts will allow these veterans stories to live on long after they have passed so that we can continue to learn about our past,” Christopher says.
Christopher, along with two other graduate students, started a World War II Veteran Oral History Project this past semester after Christopher read a news story that told of the death of the last surviving World War I veteran.
“I realized that we had allowed so many veterans to pass without capturing their stories and memories,” he says. “I also realized that within my lifetime we will lose all the remaining World War II veterans, and that if we don't act, we'll lose their stories, too. . . . We felt it was necessary to get as many of their stories on tape as possible.”
He says they have been surprised by the reception they have received from veterans and family members.
“We had expected to only have the chance to interview a small number of local veterans, but currently we have 30 willing participants and have been invited to attend the national reunion,” he says.
Christopher, who is a native of Delta, Mo., and who currently lives in Chaffee, Mo., graduated in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Historic Preservation from Southeast. He is on track to graduate with a Master of Arts in Public History in May 2014.
“I have always loved history, especially American history,” he says. “History helps to reveal who we are and how we've gotten to where we are as a people. Preserving the objects from our past is a way to connect with people who are long gone but still have a story to tell. Working in this field allows me to live my passion. I love what I study and what I do . . . and that's something I wish everyone could achieve.”
Recently, Christopher was asked to write the nomination for the National Register of Historic Places for the Henry Miller house in Bloomfield, Mo. The home was built in the late 1840s by a prominent business owner and railroad executive. It has fallen into general disrepair but still contains much of its original building material, including some original 1850s, hand-stenciled wallpaper and hand-written notes on the upstairs walls, which were put there by the builder's children. There is a great deal of history to this home.
As a member of the Bloomfield Historic Bi-Way Committee, which oversees the fundraising and restoration of the Miller house, Christopher connects other historic preservation students to the home and leads small work days and day projects.
In the summer of 2011, Christopher completed the Summer Research Internship with the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program at Southeast, which consisted of a two-week long research method seminar followed by a research paper on Henry Miller and his efforts to clear the swampland and build railroads prior to the American Civil War. Christopher’s paper was then presented at McNair Scholar conferences throughout the 2011-2012 academic year as well as at the Missouri Conference of History in Columbia, Mo.
Being part of the McNair Scholars Program has allowed for numerous travel opportunities to conferences for Christopher, both to observe and to present research, including in Washington, D.C., College Park, Md., Kansas City, Mo., and Philadelphia, Pa., and Newark, Del. He was selected to take part in the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program, which helps promising first-generation or minority students to prepare for graduate studies. He also received two awards at the 2012 Student Life and Leadership Banquet, the Civic Engagement Award for the College of Liberal Arts for his involvement in Bloomfield, and the Provost Award for Academic Excellence for the College of Liberal Arts.
As part of his undergraduate major, Christopher also completed an internship at the Felix Valle State Historic Site in Ste. Geneviève, Mo., where he gave tours of the site to visitors and completed an extensive building condition assessment of the Beauvais-Amoureux House, a 1790s structure owned by the state historic site.
Also as an undergraduate, Christopher worked for several semesters in Special Collections and Archives in Kent Library. His final semester as an undergraduate, he tutored students in U.S. history and political science in Learning Assistance Programs. He also served as vice president and president of the Historic Preservation Association.
Currently, Christopher works as a graduate assistant in the Department of History, where he assists with HP200, “Introduction to the Techniques of Local History.” He has also served as a member of the executive board of directors at the Stars & Stripes Military Library & Museum in Bloomfield over the past year. After graduation, Christopher says he plans to continue his education at the doctoral level.
“My experiences here have helped me to realize how much I want to teach,” he says. “While as a public historian I would be teaching the general public, I would really like to teach at the college level.”
Christopher has a wife, Jodi, and a 5-year-old son, Aiden.
“They are my life,” Christopher says. “They are my reason for being and my primary inspiration for pursuing my degrees. I want to show my son that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, as long as you work hard. I also hope to teach him that it's OK and necessary to enjoy what you do in life. My wife, Jodi, has been an amazing support and inspiration throughout my time in school. I could not possibly be where I am without her.”
A non-traditional student, Christopher says he was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support he received from the faculty at Southeast.
“I am first and foremost a husband and a father, and I did not expect to have the experiences I did or become as involved as I eventually became. Thankfully, my professors understood my situation and went way beyond what they needed to do to help me succeed.”
Christopher advises future, and especially non-traditional, students to get involved. Southeast provides so many opportunities for all students, so it's important to get involved in organizations that are in your field and to get to know your classmates, even if they’re much younger,” he says. “I count many of my classmates to be some of my very best friends, and many of them are 10 years younger than I. These are friendships that will last a lifetime, but each of these relationships also helps to develop professional networks that will only benefit you in the future.” | <urn:uuid:7285022a-6a36-4b25-be9e-c330f53fe321> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.semo.edu/spotlights/45224.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978834 | 1,490 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Eugenia Etkina, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will present "Physics on Rollerblades" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in 102 Benton Hall. Etkina's talk is the annual Arfken Physics Scholar-in-Residence public lecture sponsored by Miami's physics department.
She also will present a seminar, "Can Students Develop Scientific Habits of Mind in an Introductory Physics Course?," at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, in 46 Culler Hall.
Etkina began teaching physics in 1982 in the former Soviet Union, when all Soviet students had to take physics for 5 years (from seventh through 11th grade). She received a doctorate in physics education from Moscow State Pedagogical University and has taught physics and astronomy at the middle school, high school and university levels.
She currently teaches pre- and in-service teachers how to teach physics and works collaboratively with Rutgers' department of physics and astronomy to reform introductory physics courses. Her main research interest is in how students develop and transfer scientific abilities. She also co-directs the Rutgers Astrophysics Institute.
Etkina's talk is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. For more information contact Jennifer Blue, email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:6ac0ebde-6ff2-4723-9790-878246059af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miami.muohio.edu/news/article/view/10705 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951289 | 287 | 1.75 | 2 |
Last modified: 2012-08-09 by rob raeside
Keywords: numerals: 40 | york university |
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York University is located in Downsview, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Although the university per se does not have an actual flag, a special banner was issued in 1999 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the university's founding; a color photo of this banner can be seen at the university website.
The university also has a very modernistic logo in salmon pink and white which closely resembles the symbol for a chemical element as indicated on the Periodic Table of Elements.
Finally, there is a b&w line drawing of the university crest or coat of arms on Wikipedia.
It consists of a standard shield with a center base, and surnounted by
a crest consisting of what is apparently a maple tree anchored on a
bar divided diagonally. The shield itself is divided, with two lions
rampant side by side in the chief. The lower portion of the shield
depicts a rose proper; since the drawing is in b& w I am unable to
determine the actual color of the rose, altghough the stem and leaves
are almost certainly green. However, given the name of the institution
I am almost certain that the rose is actually the White Rose of York.
Beneath the shield is a ribbon folded into three parts; the folds at
each end are curled very elaborately, while the university motto is
written on the face of the central fold; the motto, written in sans
serif block lettering, is TENTANDA VIA (Trying the Way).
Ron Lahav, 4 December 2006
It is a simple white flag with a red freehand "40" and a line of black
writing above and below it.
Eugene Ipavec, 4 December 2006
Here is teh 1999
text on various college flags: i.e. Founders, Vanier, McLaughlin, Glendon, Bethune, Stong, Winters,
and Atkinson. Calumet has a vexilloid.
Jan Mertens, 23 November 2008
York University, being a member of the Association of Commonwealth
Universities, is perhaps more entitled to follow the Oxbridge pattern of
residential colleges, with with its own flag, than is the case with those IS
institutions which have attempted to follow this model. Also, York has the
example of the University of Toronto, which has several such colleges, most of
which are based upon a religious foundation. Where York differs is that instead
of adopting conventional heraldic Banners of Arms for their college flags, the
colleges have commissioned contemporary Canadian artists to design flags which
embody the image which the particular college wishes to project.
Ron Lahav, 24 November 2008
Anything below the following line isnt part of the Flags of the World Website and was added by the hoster of this mirror. | <urn:uuid:4bc2fb94-7935-4f38-b7fa-5ff9689690d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fahnenversand.de/fotw/flags/ca_yorku.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943576 | 636 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Pashto poet Pir Gohar passes away
MARDAN, Jan 4: Famous Pashto poet Pir Gohar died of cardiac arrest here on Friday. He was 81.
A large number of people, including those from literary, civil society and political circles, attended his funeral prayers held at Pirano Park in Piranudaga area here.
Popularly known as Shaer-i-Aman, Mr Gohar had started his literary career after completing his higher secondary school education in Mardan city.
Former president General (retired) Ziaul Haq had awarded him the title of ‘Shaer-i-Aman’ in 1985 when he wrote the poem titled “Aman”.
Mr Gohar had written eight books covering literature, poetry, fiction and comic stories. Besides, he would write articles and essays on different topics with the pen name of Shilmani and Silani.
His family members and friends said that the poet also took part in the freedom movement of Pakistan.
He had written several poems on freedom movement and used to say these poems in rallies and public meetings of Quaid-i-Azam, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar and other leaders.
All those present at the funeral expressed sorrow over the death of Mr Gohar and demanded of the government to announce Hilal-i-Imtiaz for him in recognition of his literary services. | <urn:uuid:6f96792c-ef6a-4a1c-929c-f0c869c0ef1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dawn.com/2013/01/05/pashto-poet-pir-gohar-passes-away/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989304 | 299 | 1.71875 | 2 |
OTTAWA, June 14 (UPI) -- More Canadians are drinking daily, though fewer are binge drinkers, and more are smoking marijuana, while fewer are puffing cigarettes, a survey indicates.
A survey of Ontario adults by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health using data from 2009 indicates adults who say they drink daily increased from 5.3 percent in 2002 to more than 9 percent in 2009, and the average number of drinks consumed weekly among drinkers increased from 3 drinks to 4.6 drinks.
However, there has been a steep decline in binge drinking from 12.6 percent in 2006 to 7.1 percent in 2009.
Driving after drinking posted a significant increase among those age 18-29 from 7.7 percent in 2005 to 12.8 percent in 2009, but for all age groups, driving within an hour of consuming two or more drinks dropped from 13.1 percent in 1996 to 6.9 percent in 2009.
Dr. Robert Mann, senior scientist at CAMB, says those who say they smoke marijuana rose from 8.7 percent in 1996 to 13.3 percent in 2009, but for those age 18-29 it rose from 18.3 percent to 35.8 percent.
Adults in Ontario, who report smoking cigarettes declined from 19.7 percent in 2008 to 18.6 percent in 2009.
In addition, 14.7 percent of adults -- about 1.4 million people -- report symptoms of elevated psychological distress and almost 6 percent report their overall mental health was poor, the survey says.
No margin of error was provided.
|Additional Health News Stories|
LONDON, May 25 (UPI) --Michael Adebolajo, a suspect in the hacking death of a soldier, had been offered a job by a British intelligence service six months before, a friend says.
ANAHEIM, Calif., May 25 (UPI) --Disneyland and California Adventure Park in Anaheim kicked off its summer season by staying open for 24 hours straight, park officials said.
LOS ANGELES, May 25 (UPI) --A hamburger brand known for its size and its status among celebrities, Fatburger, is about to go national, said the company, which was started in California. | <urn:uuid:8a25b15e-5b52-4820-993a-ac642d0e2fe7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/06/14/Canadians-drinking-smoking-pot-more/UPI-57251308103985/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955182 | 456 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The University of Hawaii’s Library and Information Science Program has received a National Leadership grant of $249,918 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a project entitled, “Pathways to Excellence and Achievement in Research and Learning (PEARL).” Violet Harada, LIS professor, is the principal investigator. Co-investigators are Margit Watts, College of Education; Michael Brian Ogawa, College of Natural Sciences-Department of Information and Computer Sciences; Jodie Mattos, University of Hawaii Libraries; and Randy Hensley, Baruch College, New York.
The PEARL team will design and implement a training program for high school teachers and librarians to address “expectation gaps” between high school and post-high school pursuits. A training guide will be produced that focuses on the mastery of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, interpreting information, and analytic reasoning. The project will be cooperatively developed with the Hawaii Department of Education as part of the DOE’s Senior Project initiative.
IMLS is the primary source of federal funds for the nation’s museums and libraries. The National Leadership grant is considered the capstone program for IMLS, providing the agency’s highest level of support for innovative projects with national impact that create important research, tools, and models for library and museum programs across the country. For more information on the grant, visit http://www.imls.gov/news/2009/092409b.shtm
In observance of Banned Books Week you are cordially invited to attend a Special Event in Second Life on Thursday, October 1, 2009, 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. HST (4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. SLT). The event is produced by UH MLIS students of the Library and Information Science Student Union in SL, and hosted by the American Library Association on ALA Island in Banned Books Village Square <http://slurl.com/secondlife/
The event features a talk by Dr. Rebecca Knuth, Professor of Library and Information Science at UHM, and author of Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century, and Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction. Dr. Knuth will speak in front of a symbolic bonfire. There will also be a DJ with great music and dancing, a hunt, photo contest and other activities. Attend in costume representing a banned/challenged book or author if you like; but this is not required. Free costumes available on site.
On October 26 at 12 pm in POST-318B, Brendan Luyt will be presenting a talk entitled “Developing a Public Library System for Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s.”
Brendan Luyt is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication & Information at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
See the poster for more details.
Joe Murphy, a 2006 LIS Program graduate, has been named to Library Journal’s 2009 list of innovators in the library world: Movers and Shakers. This list, published by LJ since 2002, identifies librarians and others who are “shaping the future of libraries.”
Joe Murphy was named for his work in developing a text messaging reference service at Yale, as well as integrating the service into 2.0 technologies such as Twitter and Facebook. He is currently the Science Librarian, Coordinator of Instruction and Technology, of Kline Science Library at Yale University.
Read the full article at
Three LIS students taking courses from Maui have received scholarships from the Maui Friends of the Library (MFOL). One thousand dollar scholarships have been awarded to Veronica Farrell, Dean Louie, and Elizabeth (Betsy) Knight. They are each taking classes to pursue careers in public and school libraries. Two of this year’s scholarship recipients, Louie and Knight, also received scholarships from MFOL last year.
The MFOL scholarships are offered to Maui County residents pursuing a career in library and information science through distance education. The courses are offered by instructors in the University of Hawaii’s Library and Information Science Program on the Manoa campus and televised to neighbor island sites.
MFOL is a non-profit organization that supports public libraries and the wide variety of services they offer to Maui community residents. MFOL operates a used bookstore behind the Puunene School and several book sale tables located in Maui County Public Libraries. It uses the proceeds to support the provision of materials and services to public libraries. | <urn:uuid:427ce4d4-d894-4e71-b0cd-73be63a618ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hawaii.edu/lis/lisnews/?m=200909 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943729 | 972 | 1.71875 | 2 |
What we believe
Imagine a church that is both evangelical—proclaiming the free forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ—and sacramental, centering its spiritual life in the regenerating waters of baptism and the real presence of Christ in Holy Communion. Imagine further a church that is strongly grounded on Scripture, but yet avoids the solipsism of individual interpretation in favor of a comprehensive, intellectually rigorous and imminently orthodox theological system. Imagine a worship service that features both strong preaching and the historic liturgy. Imagine that this is a historical church with a rich spiritual tradition, but without legalism. Imagine, in short, a church that has some of the best parts of Protestantism and the best parts of Catholicism. Finally, imagine that this church body is not some little made-up sect, but one of the largest bodies of Christians in the world. Such a church might seem like what many Christians, disaffected by both the vacuity of liberal theology and the shallowness of American evangelicalism, are dreaming of. Such a church exists. It goes by the admittedly inadequate name 'Lutheran.' [Gene Edward Veith, Jr., The Spirituality of the Cross: the Way of the First Evangelicals (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 114.]
Above all, the Christian Lutheran faith desires to be faithfully centered in Jesus Christ and strives to let the Gospel of His life, teachings, death, and resurrection from the dead be the center of all we profess and do. The name “Lutheran” indicates a confession within the one holy, Christian church, rather than a denomination. However, the name Lutheran is also used in the title of many denominations across the globe (e.g. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod).
To learn what we believe, teach, and confess we encourage you to take an Adult Confirmation Class with our pastors. Doing so does not obligate you to join our church.
Our church is a member of the The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a Synod formed by Saxon Germans who immigrated to the United States in the mid 1800s and founded our Synod in AD 1847. It intends to remain a member of the Synod as long as the confessions and constitution of the Synod are in accord with the confessions and consititution of our congregation as laid down in Article II:
This congregation accepts and aknowleges all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God, and all the Symbolic Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord as a true and sound exposition of Christian doctrine taken from and in full agreement with the Holy Scriptures; and in this congregation no doctrine shall be taught or tolerated which is at variance with these Symbols of the Evangelical Lutheran Church:
1) The Three Ecumencial Creeds: Apostolic, Nicene, and Athanasian,
2) The Unaltered Augsburg Confession,
3) The Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
4) The Smalcald Articles [editor's note: when our congregation wrote this article, they did not list separately, but understood the "Treatise on the Primacy of the Pope" as an addendum to the Smalcald Articles],
5) Luther's Large Catechism,
6) Luther's Small Catechism,
7) The Formula of Concord.
According to this form of doctrine, all doctrinal controversies which may arise in this congregation shall be decided and adjudicated.
In a nutshell, here's what we believe about:
We believe Jesus is God. The Scriptures teach that Jesus is both fully God, begotten of the Father (He is the Son in the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and is fully man, born of the virgin Mary. He died on the cross for us on a Friday in (or about) AD 33 to make peace between God and the entire world through faith in Jesus' incarnation and atonement. Jesus also physically rose from the dead for us on Easter to show His victory over death and to give us assurance and hope for eternal life with Him in paradise. We believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus is the only way to heaven, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and of His Kingdom there will be no end.
We believe and confess "the one holy Christian and apostolic church," which consists of all those who hear the Gospel of Jesus and so have been called to believe and confess Him as Lord by the Spirit who works true faith through the Word and the Sacraments.
First, it should be noted that Lutherans do not worship Luther. We worship none other than the Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have access to the Father by the Spirit. Christ alone saves us and is worthy of our adoration and praise. Luther is someone God set apart as sort of our "patron saint" of Christ-centered, cross-focused theology (study of God). He's an interesting fellow if you'd ever give him a chance to speak to you through his writings. We believe God used him in his day to help reform the Western church, that is, to help restore the church's teachings and practices to orthodoxy (agreement with the Scriptures—God's Word, rather than the wavering and or faulty opinions of councils or individuals).
Dr. Luther lived from AD 1483 to 1546. He was a pastor and professor in Wittenberg, Germany, a former monk of the Augustinian order, a hero in the eyes of many German people of his day because of his teachings and convictions, and an enemy and heretic to those who took offense at the things Luther said and did.
Luther wrote many things we love (only 35 volumes have been translated into English), including but not limited to: The Small Catechism, The Large Catechism, The Freedom of a Christian, and his Galatians Commentary. His work and influence also appears in the documents written to defend the faith Lutherans boldly believe, teach, and confess. These writings are contained in The Book of Concord of 1580.
He also wrote some things that he regretted, as do we. Luther was but a man, not God—a man who readily admitted fallibility and was sure of his great need of Christ Jesus and the forgiveness He brings. But when Luther spoke the things of God, the truth rings loud and clear—the sheep hear Jesus' voice. Praise God for raising up men like Luther to declare boldly and give out the mysteries of God according to His Word. We continue to love the best from Luther, to promote His Christ-centered and cross-focused teachings, and to reject the things he and the reformers rejected for the sake of the one Christian faith.
Our liturgy and hymns are shaped and formed by the Scriptures. They often echo God’s Word, word for word. We use only those Christian practices through the centuries that are faithful to the Gospel and agree with Scripture’s central teaching that we are saved by grace, through faith, on account of Christ Jesus alone. The musical settings are varied, but we strive to use music that is set apart—different than the music that sounds familiar to our culture. In God’s House, we are reminded that we belong to a unique and more majestic Kingdom than our own.
We realize the service may be unfamiliar to you at first and that some parts of the service are recited from memory, like the Lord’s Prayer. If you don’t know something by heart, you’ll probably find it in the very back of our hymnal. Otherwise, please ask a neighbor if you need help finding your place. The good news is that if you keep coming back and if you take a class to learn about our liturgy, you’ll come to love and appreciate the liturgy just as we do.
Services at First Lutheran are found in Lutheran Service Book. Our Synod's latest hymnal is a wonderful treasure for weekly worship at church and for daily worship in the home. Visit http://lsb.cph.org/ for more information.
The lectionary we use for worship can be found here: Church Calendar of the LCMS (Note: We use the three year lectionary calendar, Series A, B, or C).
Closed communion means not everyone who worships at First Lutheran receives the bread and wine, Christ’s Body and Blood, during the Lord’s Supper. Not, that is, until they’ve been faithfully instructed and confirmed in the very same faith that is taught here. God desires us all to have the same mind concerning His teaching (1 Cor. 1) before recieving His gifts at the table (1 Cor. 10-11). Closed communion is a reflection of our unity in doctrine and common confession and witness before the world.
Our concern and practice of closed communion is rooted in the Scriptures and has been reflected in the history of the church in her early days (see for example Werner Elert's Eucharist and Fellowship in the First Four Centuries), though we sadly acknowledge that many churches today have dropped the practice for various...but unsatisfactory...reasons. Given the opportunity, our pastors will gladly and lovingly explain our practice further, the reasons from the Bible, the demonstration from church history, and invite you to take a class to learn more and become a member. We believe that when Christians agree in the confession of Jesus and the truth of God’s Word, God is pleased and that He blesses us.
Everyone is welcome to come forward for a blessing, but if you have not yet been confirmed in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or have joined a church not in fellowship with our church, or have not been active in the church for some time, then please cross your arms to indicate your desire to receive a blessing. We encourage you to speak to our pastors before the service (if you have never visited) and afterward if you are interested in learning more or reviewing what we believe, teach, and confess.
Please also pray for the unity of the church that we may one day commune together in perfect union and all divisions cease.
The questions and answers were adapted from “Questions and Answers on Christian Giving” by the Rev. Prof. Kurt Marquart.
The only correct view of giving is that our offerings are part of our worship, our service to God. God saved us by His Gospel, not simply that we might sit and wait for eternity, but that we might be a “holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices” (1 Pet. 2:5). The whole life of Christians as priests of God is a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). And since much of our life has to do with money, it must be included in our life of sacrifice. To be sure, it is a small part of our worship compared to such other spiritual sacrifices as faith itself, patience, and forgiveness toward others, for Christ’s sake, the incense of public and private devotion to God, and so on. But just because money is small compared to the really great things in the Christian life, let no one imagine that money doesn’t matter.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Lk 16:10-11).
How much should I give?
Answer: A thoughtful and orderly amount.
In the Old Testament, the faithful were commanded by God to give the tithe (10%) of their net income to the church. Consider Malachi 3:8-12:
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ... In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse. Bring the full tithe … [Then see] if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. … Then all nations will call you blessed ... says the LORD of hosts.”
Note especially the promise of blessing for compliance and the threat of divine curse for non-compliance. In the New Testament, we are not bound by the ceremonial law. But shall we, who have greater gifts from God, serve Him less zealously than His Old Testament people? The tithe is a good starting point, and many Christians tithe and find joy and blessing in the practice, even material blessing. But we must remember that material gain must never be a purpose in our giving—else it is mockery—though it may please God to give it to us as a result.
In determining how much we shall allot to God through His church, we must not think of “our fair share” because that is a form of merely “meeting the budget.” In our giving we must forget about others, how much they are or should be doing. We must not think, for example, that if the budget is $100, and there are 100 members, “our fair share” is $1. If I am a poor widow living with others and without any income, even $1 is too much. But if I am a prosperous farmer or business professional and earn thousands per year, even $100 is too little under some circumstances. It all depends. We shall not make any laws for one another. Whatever our situation, St. Paul writes: “On the first day of every week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper…” (1 Cor. 16:2). In other words, we are to give in proportion to our income. In every case it should be a sacrifice; and giving away what we don’t need anyway is not a sacrifice.
What is percentage giving?
Answer: It simply means selecting and giving a percentage of your income as part of your worship.
First, select a percentage that you are blessed to be able to give cheerfully in grateful response to God’s love. There are no rules or laws here. If you desire and can give 50%, then give 50%. If only 5%, then 5%. If at anytime in the year, blessings increase or decrease, you would adjust your giving proportionally.
It helps to have a budget and to know your monthly expenses in case you need to adjust them in order to make your gift. To be sure, you may be prompted to make life changes to reduce your expenses (indeed, making sacrifices) so that you are able to give a thoughtful and orderly amount. If you can no longer afford certain activities you were enjoying, perhaps this is an opportunity to dedicate time to study, prayer, and service to others.
A family of three with a annual income of $40,000 prayerfully determined they would start giving 5%. This equates to $2000 (roughly $40/week). An individual with a $60,000 salary prayerfully determined that she could give 15% of her income. This equates to $9000 (roughly $175/week). A family earning $200,000 prayerfully determined that they could give 25%. This equates to $50,000 (roughly $1000/week).
Can I really do this?
After reading this information, some may conclude that their giving has been far too haphazard and, out of gratitude to God, begin giving a thoughtful and orderly amount. Praise be to God! Others may desire to give more but seriously struggle each month and feel overwhelmed with the thought of giving a percentage. To you we humbly suggest speaking to one of the pastors and/or to review your giving again in a few months after prayer and meditation.
Above all, remember this: “Fear not...it is your Father’s pleasure to give you the Kingdom!” (Luke 12:32). And: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). | <urn:uuid:3562e03b-8a71-4bd5-8dd3-d0777b5d012e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firstknoxville.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959306 | 3,363 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Whenever a bullish article on Ford Motor Company (F) is written on Seeking Alpha, those that are bearish on the company always bring up the argument that "if the market sees Ford as being worth below $10, it must be worth below $10."
Many Ford bears seem to see the market as a 100% accurate measure of the "true valuation" of a company. They believe that there is no way market might be wrong about Ford's value, and if one happens to disagree with them, they tend to say "so you know the value of Ford better than millions of investors and experts?"
Before I get into this argument, I would like to present my past arguments regarding Ford. On February 14, 2012, I wrote an article saying that Ford was fairly valued. Back then, Ford was trading for $12.53 and many of the authors thought that Ford was well on its way to $17 to $20 per share. Back then I said that the company was fairly valued and the upside was limited.
Then on April 27th, I wrote another article about Ford and it wasn't completely bullish either. In that article, I mentioned how Ford's stock price was tightly tied to expectations regarding the overall market, and how Ford wouldn't see $15 per share until S&P 500 Index sees 1,500 points. Later on, I wrote another article saying that the patient investors of Ford would get rewarded, however it would take a long time before this happens.
And now, I believe that Ford is grossly undervalued. As Ford kept losing value in the market, I moved from having mixed feelings to being cautiously optimistic and now to fully optimistic. Even if the company posts no growth in the next year or two, it should still have some upside as the company is undervalued at the moment.
Now going back to the argument, I don't believe that market is always right about valuation of companies. I can give tens, if not hundreds of examples supporting this argument. For example, market thought that Facebook (FB) was worth $81 billion on May 17th. Only a couple weeks later, the same market started to "think" that Facebook should be only worth $55 billion. Today, the market thinks Facebook is worth $67 billion. If the market was always right about valuations of companies, we would have very little volatility in the market. Yet, we have plenty of volatility most of the time.
There are also examples like Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) where the market can't seem to make up its mind about how much a company is worth. I would think that millions of investors and experts would have decided on value of these companies already, right? Speaking of experts and investors, analysts have an average target price of $15 for Ford; the target prices range from $12 to $17, indicating a potential upside of 25% and 75%.
In my previous article about Ford, I mentioned how Warren Buffet said that when investors are buying stocks of a company, they should look at it as if they are buying the whole company. Now let's say we have $37 billion, just enough to buy Ford. Would we buy it?
Ford has cash holdings of $15.24 billion at the moment. In addition to this, the company has net account receivables of $69.89 billion. Furthermore, the company's current inventory is worth another $7 billion. Ford's total long-term investments and other liquid assets are worth a total of $37.22 billion, whereas the company's assets are worth $182 billion.
Of course, the company is not free of debt; however, the debt is long term and the company has absolutely no trouble of paying the debt off. In fact, the company is able to reduce its interest rates by refinancing due to its improved credit score. Buying a company with cash holdings of $15 billion and liquid assets of $37 billion, excluding inventory and account receivables, for a total of $37 billion definitely implies a deep discount.
Now, let's look at Ford's earnings potential. The 15 analysts covering the stock believe that Ford will earn between 98 cents and $1.65 per share this year. The analysts also believe that Ford will earn between 97 cents and $1.88 per share next year, and between $1.58 and $2.05 in the following year.
In the worst-case scenario, the company will earn $3.53 and in the best case scenario, it will earn $5.58 in the next three years. So basically, if we invested $37 billion to buy this company, not only would we get assets worth way more than $37 billion, but we would also rake-in profits between $13.48 billion and $21.32 billion in the next three years alone. I don't know what Mr. Market thinks, but I think it's a great investment. Not many investments would result in such a great return on investment.
Of course, not many of us can actually afford to buy Ford Motor Company as a whole. I was just applying Mr. Buffet's principle to Ford to see if it's a buy or not. At its current valuation, Ford is a screaming buy. In fact I am really surprised that the company isn't using its cash reserves to buy some shares back, as it could easily buy nearly half of the outstanding shares at the moment.
Disclosure: I am long F. | <urn:uuid:a9926ad9-d621-4a34-a0bb-e700345e1af7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/701391-is-the-market-correct-on-ford-s-value | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980362 | 1,121 | 1.546875 | 2 |
jwboyer at gmail.com
Fri Sep 22 20:08:59 EDT 2006
On 9/22/06, Nikhil Bansal (nikbansa) <nikbansa at cisco.com> wrote:
> >From what I understand you need to provide the partitioning details of
> MTD devices at the compile time. I was wondering if there is any way to
> partition a flash device at runtime based on the sectors. For Example:
> partition 1 from sector 1 to sector 10, partition 2 from sector 11 to
> sector 20.
> The thing is that we have a board with a flash chip on it and
> configuration of this chip may vary based on several factors. I don't
> have the luxury of compiling the kernel for each such requirement :( I
> think I read somewhere that at this point, partitioning can be done at
> compile time only but just wanted to confirm.
> By the way, we can keep the number of partitions fixed but size needs to
> be varied. Please let me know if it can be done.
You might want to take a look at UBI. It can do much of what you are
looking for, depending on how complex things are. It's still a work
in progress, but it's usable.
More information about the linux-mtd | <urn:uuid:fbbe8231-ed28-42c9-9cd9-51201757b971> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/linux-mtd/2006-September/016471.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92299 | 288 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Palm leaf manuscripts (Tamil: ஓலைச் சுவடி, Oriya: ତାଳପତ୍ର ପୋଥି, Kannada: ತಾಳೆಗರಿ, Sinhala: පුස්කොළ ලෙඛන, Javanese: rontal, Indonesian: lontar) are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. They served as the paper of the ancient world in parts of Asia as far back as the 5th century BCE. and possibly much earlier. They were used to record actual and mythical narratives in South Asia and in South East Asia. Initially knowledge was passed down orally, but after the invention of alphabets and their diffusion throughout South Asia, people eventually began to write it down in dried and smoke treated palm leaves of Palmyra palm or talipot palm.
Once written down, each document had a limited time before which the document had to be copied onto new sets of dried palm leaves.[why?] With the spreading of Indian culture to South East Asian countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines,these nations became home to collections of documents in palm leaf.
In Indonesia the palm-leaf manuscript is called lontar. The Indonesian word 'lontar' was a misspelling of Old Javanese rontal. It is composed of two Old Javanese words, namely 'ron' (leaf) and 'tal' (rontal tree). The word 'rontal' therefore means 'leaf of the tal tree'. The rontal tree belongs to the family of palm trees (Borassus flabellifer). Due to the shape of its leaves, which are spread like a fan, these trees are also known as 'fan trees'. The leaves of the rontal tree have always been used for many purposes, such as for the making of plaited mats, palm sugar wrappers, water scoops, ornaments, ritual tools, and writing material. Today, the art of writing in rontal still survive in Bali, performed by Balinese Brahmin as sacred duty to rewrite Hindu sacred texts.
With the introduction of printing presses in the early 19th century this cycle of copying from palm leaves came to an end. Many governments are making efforts to preserve what is left of their palm leaf documents.
The rounded or diagonal shapes of the letters of many of the scripts of southern India and Southeast Asia, such as Lontara, Javanese, Balinese, Oriya and Tamil are believed to have developed as an adaptation to writing on palm leaves, as angular letters tend to split the leaf.
Palm leaf manuscripts of Odisha have both text of scriptures, pictures of Devadasi and various mudras of Kamasutra. Some of the early discoveries of the Oriya palm leaf manuscripts include writings like Smaradipika, Ratimanjari, Pancasayaka and Anangaranga in both Oriya and Sanskrit.
In 1997 The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised the Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection as part of the Memory of the World Register. A very good example of usage of palm leaf manuscripts to store the history is a Tamil grammar book named Tolkāppiyam which was written c. 4th century. A global digitalization project led by the Tamil Heritage Foundation collects, preserves, digitizes and makes ancient palm-leaf manuscript documents available to users via the internet.
Javanese and Balinese
Many old manuscripts dated from ancient Java were written on rontal palm-leaf manuscript. Manuscripts dated from 14th to 15th century Majapahit period, or even earlier, such as Nagarakretagama, Sutasoma, are discovered in neighboring island of Bali and Lombok. This suggested that the tradition to preserving, copying and rewriting palm-leaf manuscript still continues for centuries. Other palm-leaf manuscripts such as Sundanese Carita Parahyangan, Sanghyang Siksakanda ng Karesian, and Bujangga Manik.
- IAS Memory of Asia palm-leaf manuscript preservation
- Conservation and Digitisation of Rolled Palm Leaf Manuscripts in Nepal
- Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts
- Sanford Steever, 'Tamil Writing'; Kuipers & McDermott, 'Insular Southeast Asian Scripts', in Daniels & Bright, The World's Writing Systems, 1996, p. 426, 480
- Nāgārjuna Siddha (2002). Conjugal Love in India: Ratiśāstra and Ratiramaṇa : Text, Translation, and Notes. BRILL. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-90-04-12598-8. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- Interview: Digitalizing heritage for the coming generation. Bhasha India. Microsoft. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
Media related to Palm-leaf manuscripts at Wikimedia Commons
|This article about a manuscript is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:d05a4f25-fd5b-479c-9656-6d13c137209c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm-leaf_manuscript | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916379 | 1,130 | 4 | 4 |
WACO, Tx. — Most who see the name Baylor University in print think about the basketball program scandal in which one player murdered another and the coach scrambled to cover up improprieties as the media spotlight focused in on the school. Those who observe the intersection of worldview and higher education have been paying attention to what’s happening at Baylor for a different reason. The university nestled in at the corner of I-35 and the Brazos River has embarked upon an ambitious quest to advance the Christian mind.
Back in 1951, William Buckley began his career as a conservative superstar with the publication of God and Man at Yale. The thesis was that the great university had abandoned its traditionally Christian roots and was actively employing the sort of faculty who would lead impressionable young people astray, that is to say, away from love of God, country, and family. The young Catholic with the million dollar vocabulary and the truckload of savoir faire had put his finger on an issue that became a staple of the conservative complaint against modernity. Buckley helped raise awareness that America’s great universities, spurred on by the success of Darwinian theory and the apparent ascendancy of so-called “scientific” forms of government like communism and socialism, now embraced an account of knowledge that ignored or actively discredited the combination of Christianity and Classics that had once been dominant building blocks of the West.
Since that time, a number of small schools like Hillsdale, Grove City, Calvin College, Wheaton, and a few others have provided an alternative to the assumptions of secular liberalism embraced by most institutions of higher education. Among major universities, Notre Dame has been alone in simultaneously claiming a position as a top tier research institution while retaining at least part of its religious identity in teaching and research.
Eyeing Notre Dame’s success and hoping to buck a trend toward secularization that had long overtaken schools like Duke, Emory, and Wake Forest, a group of intellectual entrepreneurs at Baylor University, a Big Twelve school and the largest Baptist university in the world, set out to accomplish a unique goal. Baylor President Robert Sloan, former Provost Donald Schmeltekopf, current Provost David Jeffrey, and several others on a Board of Regents that includes Houston Astros owner Drayton McClane, decided to drive Baylor toward a greater acknowledgment of its Christian identity while also pushing for top tier research university status.
Although the plan called for massive upgrades to Baylor facilities and the expansion of degree programs, the key change in policy has been to explicitly seek to hire Christian scholars capable of integrating their faith with scholarship. Examples of the type of faculty attracted by the new emphasis on the integration of faith and learning include well-known philosophers like Boston College’s Thomas Hibbs and recent Princeton University Visiting Fellow Francis Beckwith, eminent sociologist Rodney Stark from the University of Washington, and literary scholar Ralph Wood from Wake Forest. Instead of diminishing the quality of Baylor’s faculty, the search for explicitly Christian thinkers seems to have attracted scholars who share a passion for the idea of a great Christian university.
While Baylor can point to its share of successes during the nearly decade-long presidency of Robert Sloan, the ambitious expansion into graduate education, new emphasis on faculty research, and focus on aggressively seeking out faculty who can integrate their faith with their scholarship has stirred up a great deal of opposition from the school’s older faculty and retired administrators. Thanks to the broad scope of the change and occasional indelicacy in making the transition, President Sloan has suffered two “no confidence” votes from the old-line dominated faculty senate. After the first vote last fall, the Board of Regents backed Sloan with an overwhelming affirmation. In the wake of the second vote in May, the Regents retained Sloan with a simple one vote margin.
SLOAN IS FIGHTING ON at least three fronts. The first is intellectual. Many academicians have been trained to believe that faith and reason are either irreconcilable or irrelevant to each other. As an example, some older faculty complain that the only Christian way to teach a subject like political science is to teach it well. They ignore the reality that faith influences the questions one asks and the solutions one may consider. The second is spiritual. Moderate Baptists are incredibly dedicated to freewill and tend to see the Sloan administration’s careful interview process as overly searching. The third is a simple human dynamic. Sloan is the type of leader who drives his agenda forward with hopes of soothing hurt feelings after the tough sledding is finished. Among moderate Texas Baptists with ruffled feathers remaining from the loss of the Southern Baptist Convention to their “fundamentalist” cousins, grudges of every kind have been quick to harden.
To some extent, what Sloan has set in motion is irreversible. He has presided over the hiring of approximately half of the 800-plus faculty at the school. Youth is on the side of change as well. Most of the opposition professors are older than Sloan’s prized recruits. Whether the change continues in slow motion due to inertia or with dispatch thanks to the continued presence of guiding vision is what’s at stake now. It is possible that Sloan’s administration has absorbed as much punishment as the opposition can muster. On the other hand, the slender margin by which he has been retained may cripple him.
Regardless of what happens next at Baylor, the school has taken a major stride forward in offering a new vision for education and research at a major university. The idea that faith and reason can’t coexist or are “non-overlapping magisteria” is beginning to encounter resistance. The challenge Baylor has taken up was issued long ago by giants like Carl F.H. Henry and Elton Trueblood. It has since been re-issued persuasively by Christian historians like George Marsden and Mark Noll. Initially, expectations were modest. Perhaps an endowed chair here or a special institute there at a large school. But with Baylor, the idea of a university simultaneously reaching for research excellence and Christian identity at the same time has begun to become a reality. Let’s hope the same Board of Regents that once strongly approved this great vision will have the courage and fortitude to see it through. May God grant them favor in so doing. | <urn:uuid:00126b6a-e967-423b-bfba-ca475874df5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectator.org/archives/2004/06/01/god-and-man-at-baylor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963397 | 1,296 | 1.648438 | 2 |
How did the author of Ecclesiastes understand life after death and man's relationship to eternity? What passages in the book address or allude to this topic?
Inspired by a reading of Ecclesiastes 3:19-22.
There does seem to be some confusion early on:
Later, though, we see that the author of Ecclesiastes believes in the place called "Sheol"
He describes this in 9:5-6:
Sheol is often translated as "the grave", but that translation is questionable.
Professors James Tabor believe that Sheol is a place of nothingness that occurs after death, where both the righteous and unrighteous go.
One of the themes of Ecclesiastes is the ignorance of the 'Preacher' and his intended audience, especially when it comes to the future, eg in chapter 2:
and chapter 11:
And it seems clear that while the author understands that we have an eternal home (at least by chapter 12), the nature of that home is something he knows very little about:
He does, however, understand that God will judge all, and concludes God is to be feared regardless. In the context of the rest of the book, which refers overwhelmingly to a lack of justice in this life, he must be referring to justice after death:
Quotations are Copyright The Lockman Foundation | <urn:uuid:0c22ec93-0719-42fb-8d0a-2748df8187ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/169/life-after-death-in-ecclesiastes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965827 | 284 | 2.734375 | 3 |
College search: finding your best school
Before you choose: Review retention and graduation ratesIf you were not accepted to a highly selective school, you may find a diamond among the less selective or non-selective schools by examining the institution's retention and graduation rates. In general, the higher these numbers are the better. They're often an indication the institution has programs in place to keep students in college and on the path to graduation. The numbers don't guarantee you'll stay at that schools, but, Tom Weede, vice president of enrollment management at Butler University in Indianapolis, says, "If the school has really low retention and graduation rates, a reasonable question to ask is, 'What's going on there?'"
If the school meets all your other criteria but falls short on one or both of these numbers, ask the admissions office to explain why, advises Carol DelPropost, assistant vice president of admission and financial aid at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.
Recap: The problems
School selectivity issues
-- An ACT survey shows 72 percent of students in "highly selective" schools -- those with the majority of freshmen in the top 10 percent of their high school class -- graduated within four years, as compared with 49 percent at "selective" schools; 31 percent at "traditional" schools and only 30 percent at "open enrollment" schools.
Solution: What to consider before you choose » | <urn:uuid:d07e2fda-4e58-4377-845b-4b6b63d7c90a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/college-search-finding-your-best-school-9.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966887 | 286 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Indonesia Public Transportation: A Small Guidance for You
When you have a leisure time to visit my country, or maybe you have some business at my place, this small guidance maybe useful for you.
Welcome to Indonesia
When you go abroad, one question that may arise in your mind is about the public transportation that you can use from one place to another place during your trip. Maybe you need a map to show your route and a guidance hand-book to guide you everywhere you go. You may also be wondering about the price of each public transportation that you will use. It is commonly a problem when you do not have any idea about it.
When you have a leisure time to visit my country, or maybe you have some business to do at my place, this small guidance maybe useful for you.
Angkot: The Common Local Transportation
Indonesia have various public transportation which you can find in every regions throughout Indonesia area. The most common local transportation is what we call "Angkutan Umum" (or in abbreviation "Angkot" or Public Transportation). This Angkot can be found in each big cities and districts in Indonesia. They usually are mini-buses made from Japan. The rate is not more than 5,000 rupiahs only. If the driver ask you for more rupiahs, it means the driver cheat you. The Angkot's route is always from one terminal to other terminal. You have to read the route on the Angkot's front body.
It is three wheels vehicles with no machine. A driver usually paddle the becak at the back side and the passenger sit at the front side of the becak. This local transportation can only be found at small cities or towns in Indonesia. For you who want to go by becak should first ask and bid for the rate. For further information, the rate in general is around 5,000 to 20,000 rupiahs based upon distance to be traveled. The becak is relatively more flexible because you can rent it daily with the driver.
Ojek is a motorcycle with its driver that can be found in big and small cities or towns in Indonesia. The Ojek can take you everywhere with relatively cheap price based on the distance of your travel. Usually, the rate is around 5,000 to 30,000 rupiahs.
Cart only can be found in tourism area in Indonesia. Not every region has this kind of public transportation. Cart can be found in Yogyakarta, for example. The rate is not too expensive. The driver will charge you only 5,000 to 10,000 rupiahs.
Kalimantan, because almost half of their area are rivers. There are two kind of boats in these areas: speed boat and "jukung" (boat with no machine). The rate is always depend on the distance of the traveled. Speed boat surely is more expensive than the jukung rate.
Finally, off course you can travel with domestic airplane, buses or trains. But, the above are the most common you find in every cities or towns in Indonesia. Welcome to Indonesia, my friends ! | <urn:uuid:d27b0761-c1ec-4b10-af05-f6b12aeaf4a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travel.wikinut.com/Indonesia-Public-Transportation%3A-A-Small-Guidance-for-You/3n3204mh/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954592 | 653 | 2.21875 | 2 |
HAZARD – Motorists driving past the Hazard Police Department lately may have noticed something different in the parking lot across from the station, namely a flat-black Humvee with a “Hazard Police” decal on the side. That’s because the department recently acquired two of the military vehicles through a surplus program, at no cost to the city.
Deputy Chief Joe Engle noted that when the U.S. military no longer uses certain equipment, they allow local governments a chance to use that surplus property. This past year, the department took the opportunity to add two Humvees to its fleet of cruisers.
The Humvee came to widespread military use in the 1980s, seeing action in several countries, most notably in the Middle East. The vehicles acquired by the Hazard Police Department, which were driven to Hazard from North Carolina last year, will be used mostly for inclement weather situations and in instances of servicing warrants, Engle noted.
“We’re going to use them for, of course, winter time, inclement weather, but mostly we plan on using them for search warrants and things like that,” he said. “You can carry eight men in that, four in the cab, and four can ride in the back.”
Engle added that there may be some instances where the vehicles can be used in public relations situations, such as parades or at schools.
These are the first Humvees in use at the department. While acquiring them was at no cost, there was some cost in getting the first vehicle ready for civilian police duty, though very little of that work was done by personnel outside of the department. Det. Adam Baker is proficient in auto body work, Engle noted, and worked to paint the vehicle and get it ready for the road.
The only work not completed by the department was decals and other markings to identify it as a Hazard Police vehicle. Chief Minor Allen noted that in all, it took roughly $3,000 to get the vehicle ready for duty. Work on the second Humvee has not yet been completed.
Obtaining these Humvees is part of an effort to ensure the department can respond to any number of issues, Allen said, adding that officers in the department are also undergoing additional training in that regard.
“I just want to be prepared for any situation that could come down the pike, that we would be able to handle that,” Allen said. “That vehicle is just part of that so far.” | <urn:uuid:4d87eb09-4764-45eb-bd57-fb4f55684d1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hazard-herald.com/pages/home/push?per_page=3&class=next_page&rel=next&x_page=177 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980494 | 528 | 1.742188 | 2 |
- Special Report: Syria's Islamists seize control as moderates dither
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U.S. McDonald's to put calorie counts in lights
(Reuters) - A Big Mac and large fries? They'll cost you 1,050 calories, and beginning next week, McDonald's will tell its customers that in bright lights on its fast-food menus.
The world's No. 1 hamburger chain said on Wednesday it is going to start listing calorie information on menus in some 14,000 U.S. restaurants and drive-throughs - ahead of a national rule that will require larger restaurant chains to make such disclosures.
McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) is a trend setter for restaurants and its move in this arena - while prompted by regulations and pressure from public health activists - is likely to force other restaurant operators to follow quickly.
The state of California and cities like New York already require that calories be clearly listed on menus. Under the new U.S. healthcare law, restaurants across the country must soon put calorie counts and other nutrition details on menus.
The national rules target restaurants with 20 or more locations, as well as other retail food outlets. Most major chains have resisted posting such information, without legislation and the threat of fines.
The date for national compliance has been delayed and is not expected to be set until after the U.S. presidential election.
McDonald's was slow to warm to calorie labeling.
When labeling proposals were gaining steam several years ago, McDonald's representatives publicly opposed them. A common complaint was that rules from one jurisdiction to another were inconsistent. Some officials also said calorie disclosures would violate customer privacy.
Cindy Goody, senior director of nutrition for McDonald's USA, described the company's latest move as a way to help its customers understand their food choices.
The company, which is in nearly every U.S. community and serves 25 million U.S. customers daily, is casting the nutrition disclosures as a business opportunity.
"It's a new reason to visit more often," Goody said.
Calorie and other nutrition information already is available on the company's website. Listing calories on menu boards allows customers to use that information when they are making a decision about what to eat.
Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, thinks the national calorie labeling deadline will probably be around the end of 2013 - so customers at McDonald's will be getting the information about a year earlier than what will be required.
Disclosure rules already have helped convince many restaurants, including Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), to cut calories from their food and to highlight healthy options, she said.
Those moves matter because Americans get about one-third of their calories from eating out, Wootan said.
Amid demands from parents and health activists, McDonald's also has taken steps to make menu items healthier.
It tweaked its popular Happy Meals for children - reducing the french fries portion by more than half and adding apples to every order.
This past summer, it rolled out a "Favorites Under 400" menu that highlights products in that calorie range.
McDonald's also plans to add more fresh fruits and vegetables to its menu and has set a goal of decreasing calories, saturated fat and added sugars across its U.S. menu by 2020.
Corporate Accountability International has been pressing McDonald's to make bolder changes to its menus and to stop advertising to children.
"To truly address its health impact ... the burger giant (needs) to make more fundamental, far-reaching changes," said Juliana Shulman, senior organizer for the group's Value the Meal campaign.
More than two years ago, Panera Bread Co (PNRA.O) became the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily post calories at company-owned stores. Sandwich chain Subway has used calorie disclosures to position itself as a healthier alternative to rivals like McDonald's and Burger King Worldwide Inc (BKW.N).
McDonald's shares were down $0.30 at $90.90 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting By Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)
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A new Arizona footbridge doubles as a walkway and a solar calendar.
Lunch at noon? Yes, but when is that, precisely? True noon—solar noon to be exact—is the moment when the sun reaches the highest point in its daily trip across the sky. Paolo Soleri, the visionary Italian-born architect, seized on the sun’s diurnal and seasonal cycles and built them into Soleri Bridge, a stylish span in Scottsdale, Ariz., that’s both a footbridge and a solar calendar.
At solar noon each day, a sliver of sunlight breaks through a six-inch gap between two 64-foot brushed-steel pylons at the bridge’s south end, piercing the shadows cast by the towers. The shadows lengthen day by day as winter deepens, then shorten toward summer and disappear altogether on the year’s longest day, the summer solstice.
The 91-year-old Soleri is renowned for his concept of “arcology,” which melds architecture and ecology, and for Arcosanti, his utopia in progress in the Arizona desert. Of dozens of bridges he has designed, the Scottsdale span is the first built. (480) 889-2711, scottsdalepublicart.org .
Photography by Bill Timmerman
This article was first published in March 2011. Some facts may have aged gracelessly. Please call ahead to verify information. | <urn:uuid:94827fe9-9862-4ee2-98e8-be649c692633> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.viamagazine.com/print/attractions/scottsdales-soleri-bridge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945864 | 313 | 2.484375 | 2 |
An initiative to make use of old rubber trees by a Canadian renewable energy firm in Liberia is reaping rich dividends to the country’s economy. The project is reported to have helped the farmers to get cleared of the old trees and re-planted at no cost with guarantee of money for the tree trunks.
Buchanan Renewables Power (BRP) began commercial operations in Liberia two years ago with a complete rejuvenation package for the non-producing rubber tree estates. The deal for the farmers includes $2 per tonne of tree trunks, free of cost re-plantation and for self-use or sale tree remnants which do not go into the production of wood chips.
Liberia is estimated to have more than 600,000ha of overgrown and moribund rubber farms. The new model of rubber re-plantation rids of farmers’ laborious task of re-claiming their estates by cutting down trees and re-planting them spending money without revenues for a long period. After planting, the trees take nearly seven years to start producing rubber.
Usually rubber trees need to be replaced once they are over 25 years old, and most of them in Liberia are between 30 and 60 years old. While helping farmers, the new project will also provide electricity to communities in the vicinity as well as has opened up exports to the woodchip markets of Europe.
BRP uses massive diggers to uproot trees and a giant mincer to produce rubber wood chips out of the trunks. The company has exported 45,000MT of chips last year with contracts of about 90,000MT for this year; and plans to clear 10,000ha annually.
The Buchanan claims that it has the capacity to produce 400,000 tonnes of woodchips per annum. Besides, on many farms, it has been able to plant two trees for every one that has been harvested.
For Liberia it means that many of its citizens will be re-injected to the market with jobs and businesses, a dire need of the country that promises opportunities and improved living standards after the end of seven years of civil war. BRP says its vision is to achieve success in Liberia and repeat this model in other countries in Africa and, to the extent possible, worldwide.
The firm which emphasizes on cheap, environment-friendly and sustainable energy production with a social commitment to Liberia is putting back some of its revenues for power generation using the locally sourced wood chips. However, the proposed 35MW power generation plant at Monrovia which is supposed to provide electricity for half the price has not been installed yet even two years after its approval.
Toboc Trade News | <urn:uuid:db4c5d52-5caa-40a1-a324-ef7860c917da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cosmizen.com/2010/06/unproductive-rubber-tree-rejuvenation-a-success-in-liberia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958945 | 544 | 2.515625 | 3 |
MG-141. JOHN D. BLACK PAPERS, 1815-1923 (bulk 1861-1923)
John D. Black (d. 1923) was a member of the Erie Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1861, and of the 145th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1862-65; assistant superintendent of elections, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in North Carolina, 1868; captain in the Dakota National Guard beginning in 1886; and chief commissary of subsistence, U.S. volunteers, 1898-99. His papers include the following letter and news articles referring to African Americans:
• Letter, dated July 10, 1898, to "Friend Johnson: . . . arrived in the city of magnificent distances on the 16the of June and after a bath and lunch, went up to Army Headquarters where I found Colonel Huggins, formerly attached to General Miles staff, but now a newly appointed Colonel of the First Regiment of colored Immunes."
• An undated news clipping concerning an African American witness to a murder in 1905.
• An article subtitled "First Mixed Negro-White Panel was Drawn in '65." The article, which appeared in the November 25, 1865 issue of The Minneapolis Tribune, referred to the treason trial of Jefferson Davis. | <urn:uuid:6283e0c2-fb80-472a-b4bd-d23bde21ec88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/aaGuide/AA-MG-141.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953422 | 263 | 2.265625 | 2 |
For the dough:
Combine the yeast, sugar, and milk in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer
fitted with a dough hook. Add 1/2 cup of the flour. Stir well, cover with a towel, and let rest in a warm place for 25 minutes.
Mix in the olive oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour, until well incorporated. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough adheres to the hook. It should remain soft and slightly sticky. Continue mixing for about 6 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Remove from the bowl, shape the dough into a ball, flatten slightly, and put into an oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Cover the bowl with a towel and put in a warm place for about 1 hour, to let the dough rise until doubled.
For the topping:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook slowly until very crisp
. Remove to paper towels to drain
. Reserve the pancetta and fat separately.
Put the potatoes in cold salted water, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook about 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and place in a bowl.
Pour the pancetta fat over the warm potatoes, add the crisped pancetta, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and the lemon zest. Toss well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Oil a baking sheet.
Lightly flour the dough
it down. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead
lightly until smooth. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12 by 10 inches. Brush off any excess flour and transfer to the oiled baking sheet. Brush the dough with olive oil and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the potato mixture onto the dough and press it in with the flat of your hand. Press your fingers into the dough to make evenly spaced indentations all over the surface, being careful not to puncture or tear the dough. Scatter the remaining rosemary over the dough.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and the bread is crisp on the bottom. Let cool in the pan to room temperature. Cut into squares, "fingers," or triangles to serve. | <urn:uuid:ea26aff1-ba1d-457a-97e1-b818b9ef414d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/potato-focaccia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930275 | 488 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Physician to speak on future of public health, Dec. 3
Posted December 2, 2004; 09:59 a.m.
Paul Farmer, renowned medical anthropologist and physician, will present a lecture titled "Global Equity and the Future of Public Health" at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, in 101 Friend Center.
Farmer is the founding director of Partners in Health, an international charitable organization providing medical care, research and advocacy initiatives to underdeveloped populations. Recognized for his clinical research, treatment and advocacy work in HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, he has devoted much of his adult life to providing infectious disease medical care to some of the world's most impoverished communities.
Farmer is an attending physician in infectious disease and chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequities at the Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston. He also is a Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.
Following the lecture, there will be a reception featuring the exhibition "Will to Live" by Danish photographer Torben Eskerod and Princeton anthropologist Joao Biehl in the Bernstein Gallery in Robertson Hall. This visual and anthropological work depicts the struggles of AIDS patients from a northeastern community of Brazil.
The event is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs , the Department of Anthropology, the Program in Latin American Studies, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, the Princeton AIDS Initiative, the Center for Human Values, the Student Global AIDS Campaign, the Princeton Justice Project and the Woodrow Wilson School Gender and Policy Network.
Contact: Ruth Stevens (609) 258-3601 | <urn:uuid:369d59b4-6573-4df7-8a62-3c37c96cda31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S07/30/37M80/index.xml?section=&path=/main/news/archive/S07/30/37M80/index.xml&next=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939049 | 338 | 1.875 | 2 |
attractions | kids | facts | events | overview | Hotels | City List
Williamsburg VA - Overview
Colonial Williamsburg is the
nation's largest and oldest outdoor living history museum. It portrays
18th-century Williamsburg in all its beauty and grandeur, just as it appeared on
the eve of the American Revolution.
Williamsburg is located in southeastern Virginia on a peninsula between the James and York Rivers, which run into Chesapeake Bay. Settled in 1632, it was Virginia's capital from 1699 to 1779. After that time, the city unfortunately declined, and it was not until the 1920's that people again took a real interest in Williamsburg. It was in 1926 that the idea of excavating and restoring the colonial site of Williamsburg took root. Williamsburg then underwent a complete transformation from an industrial town to what is now known as Colonial Williamsburg.
Colonial Williamsburg bridges Virginia's past and present, with remnants of the past preserved amid the cultural and commercial bustle of the modern day. Throughout the city, an engaging mix of sights, sounds and activities helps visitors reconnect with America's past and become active participants in 18th-century
life. Not only can visitors enjoy the restored buildings, but also actors recreate the everyday lives of early settlers. On Colonial Williamsburg's 173 acres, 88 original 18th- and early 19th-century structures, such as the courthouse, have been meticulously restored. The site curators are dedicated to maintaining the period's integrity in every detail from pieces of furniture, pottery, china, glass, silver, pewter, textiles, tools, and carpeting, to landscaping.
All year round, visitors can observe hundreds of costumed interpreters wearing bonnets or three-cornered hats and speaking in character. Many residents of the settlement demonstrate their trades in venues open to the public. Historic trade demonstrations, dramatic vignettes, interactive programs and encounters with "People of the Past" take place in 28 exhibition sites and historic trade shops throughout the Historic Area. Visitors can enjoy 18th-century style dining in authentic colonial surroundings at any one of Colonial Williamsburg's four operating taverns.
For a vacation with the grandchildren, for a holiday celebration with the family, or for a time of personal reflection: treat yourself to the opportunity to become part of our nation's living history in Colonial Williamsburg! | <urn:uuid:042fdd20-a560-46f6-ba9a-b2bca284c865> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.segetaway.com/hotel/CityGuides/VA/Williamsburg/products/employment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952507 | 491 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Tue, 26 Aug 2008
Domestic energy customers will have another chance to find the best deal for them when experts from UEA's Centre for Competition Policy return to the Forum in Norwich next week.
Following the success of its first event in March, CCP is again inviting people to take along their household bills on Thursday August 28, from 11am-3pm, when a team of experts will provide independent information on how they can save money on their electricity and gas spending.
In March 80 people were helped over two days and CCP, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), found average savings of £180 a year. The events have been prompted by research from CCP which found that many consumers do not make the best decisions when switching energy supplier. Choices can also be increasingly confusing as energy companies offer more options.
The team will be led by CCP director Prof Catherine Waddams, who said: “We hope to help people become less confused about the energy market. Raising awareness amongst consumers, urging companies to employ transparency in their tariff data, and perhaps even regulating switching facilities like price comparison websites, are all areas which need improvement if consumers are to fully achieve their potential savings.”
The BBC’s Money Programme will also be filming during next week’s event, as it is interested in people’s switching experiences using comparison websites.
Send this page to your mobile phone by scanning this code using a 2D barcode (QR Code) reader. These can be installed on most modern Smart Phones. | <urn:uuid:498e5aa5-1f55-4d5a-b2ae-09e102cc5325> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2008/aug/Choosing+the+best+energy+deal+for+you | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966174 | 320 | 1.625 | 2 |
Market Solutions To Climate Change; Rising Poverty Rates
09/14/11 12:00PM By Jane Lindholm Download MP3
Fossil fuels remain central to our energy portfolio, despite agreement that reducing reliance on fossil fuels is critical to addressing climate change. On Thursday, UVM presents its annual Aiken Lecture on the topic of energy futures with an address by Lynn Scarlett, who argues that market-based incentives are the most realistic path to changing our patterns of energy consumption, rather than government-led incentives and subsidies. Scarlett served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior Department from 2005-2009 and chaired the department's Climate Change Task Force. Scarlett's talk is entitled, "Smart Energy: Science, Technology and Politics."
And, Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders has been trying to get attention on the rising problem on poverty, and the repercussions it has in families and community. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau emphasizes the problem, and Sanders chaired a hearing on Tuesday asking the question, "Is Poverty a Death Sentence?" We talk with Senator Sanders about poverty rates, and also get an update on a bill in the U.S. Senate that will that will provide funding to FEMA for Hurricane Irene recovery.
Post questions and comments for both interviews in the forum below, or email firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:7d3da1bf-d50a-41e8-9754-4462f1ad5287> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vpr.net/episode/52018/market-solutions-to-climate-change-rising-poverty/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930022 | 273 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Chapter XXXVIII - Conclusion of the Britannic conquest (146 - 49 BC)
A. Conquest of England (146 - 81 BC)
After the end of the Silurian Campaign in the year 146 BC, Rome controlled southeast and central England as well as Wales. During the next three decades, the Republic maintained the status quo, since it was occupied with the events in Gaul and Iberia. Nevertheless we may assume, that the local Governor established stable relations with the neighboring tribes via a more or less substantial trade.(192)
In the late 2nd Century BC, Rome finally began its further expansion and the establishment of Colonies. The Dumnonii, a tribe in the southwest of England around their capital Isca Dumnoniorum(193), let themselves incorporate in to the Republic without opposition around the year 102 BC.
But the Republic experienced more resistance to the east and north. The Iceni, who populated today`s Norfolk with their capital Venta Icenorum(194), tried to stop the roman expansion by force. In a long and exhausting campaign, Rome finally succeeded and seized the territory of the Iceni in 107 BC. The Iceni were supported by the Corieltauvi, who settled around today`s Leicester and posed a constant threat for the young roman colonies. It took more than twenty years, before Rome could break the last resistance in the year 81 BC.
B. Expansion to the north (81 - 49 BC)
For the next fifteen years, Rome seemed to have consolidated its power in southern Britannia and maybe thought about the future strategy of its colonization. Reasons for a further expansion were probably the restless tribes in Hibernia (Ireland) and Caledonia (Scotland). While the Irish tribes crossed the North Channel to raid southern Britannia, the tribe of the Pictii(195) had established a stable realm in the Highlands. Both were reasonable threats to the newly established roman colonies.
In the mid 60s BC, Rome advanced north into the territory of the Brigantes, who were subdued without nameable resistance. Simultaneously with the founding of the new regional capital of Eboracum(196), Rome began to secure the northern border of this province with a limes, known today as "Tuditan`s wall"(197), of about 80 miles length from today`s Newcastle to Solway Firth.
Although the building of this wall indicated the end of its expansion, Rome crossed this border shortly after its completion and established a new province in the territory of the Damnonii, probably to control the Damnonii themselves and the other tribes of the Lowlands. Shortly after their arrival they began to build another limes, the "Valerian Wall"(198), of about 40 miles length between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, thus establishing a border toward the territory of the Pictii.
With the building of the "Valerian Wall", the expansion of the Roman Republic in Britannia finally came to an end.
Fig. 42: Britannia during the Roman conquest 146 - 49 BC
(Dark Red: Rome`s holdings in 146 BC)
Whatever the reasons may have been to give up the "Tuditan Wall" and march north, they caused more problems than they solved. During the next 200 years, the Province had no long period of peace and the Republic had to maintain a considerable large Garrison to secure the area.
Around 180 AD, Rome finally gave up the Lowlands and retreated to the repaired "Tuditan Wall" that marked the northern border of the Roman Empire for another 200 years, before Rome`s forces completely retreated from Britannia during the usurpations in the late imperial era around 400 AD.
It is an often discussed topic, why Rome stopped and didn`t completely conquer the British Isles, or at least Britannia itself. The most common theories state, that Britannia and Hibernia, similar to Germania, were too remote and poor to justify any further conquests. Others, like Hawthorne, point out, that already in the late Republican era first symptoms of overexpansion developed(199).
From the end of the roman expansion in 49 BC to the beginning of the Usurpations by roman Commanders in Britannia in the 3rd Century AD, the country remained remarkably stable and peaceful. Although there are no vast roman remains, the "Tuditan Wall" is still an impressive remnant of roman presence and source of academic insight(200).
(192) Findings of coins and amphorae especially in Norfolk and Devon indicate trade routes at least to the Celtic capitals.
(193) Today Exeter
(194) Today Caistor St. Edward near Norwich
(195) The word Pictii is of Latin origin and derives from "to paint", so the Pictii were "the painted", maybe a reference, that tattoos were common. The Picts self-designation is unknown.
(196) Today York. The origin of this name is not certain, but maybe a native language. Although there are findings of Mesolithic settlements, it is unknown, if these were permanent or not.
(197) Named after Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus, Consul 65 - 63 BC
(198) Named after Titus Valerius Falto, Consul 49 - 47 BC
(199) But Hawthorne admits, that the political unrest during the transition from the Republican to the Imperial era contributed to the fact, that Rome`s focus shifted to the Roman heartland for decades and thus prevented the pursuit of a consistent Britannic strategy.
(200) Special attention should be paid to the Vindolanda Tablets, found in the year 1973 in a former fort along the Tuditan Wall, that provide insight into military as well as personal correspondence of the 1st and 2nd Century AD. | <urn:uuid:78b34a44-c7de-432c-9197-492578582b59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?516588-The-Rise-and-Fall-of-the-Roman-Republic/page11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956451 | 1,210 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The round-up here.
Today, January 6, is National Bean Day. I have this on good authority, although based on my research thus far, no one can quite explain how this decidedly un-Hallmark holiday came to be. No matter. I’ve had beans on the brain for quite some time now. After the bacchanalian food feasts of December, a return, however briefly, to a healthier and more economical repast seems an appropriate way to fulfill an unspoken New Year’s resolution without the trauma and guilt of falling off a full-fledged commitment.
Legumes are consumed and revered in every culture that has the arable land to cultivate them on. Chock full of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, they are one of the natural wonders of the plant kingdom and a staple where meat, fish or dairy are scarce. They are also the banner diet of many a staunch vegetarian and vegan, offering myriad options in flavor, shape, color and texture, fending off the notion that alternative lifestyles need be boring. While many are familiar with the virtues of chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, black-eyed peas and limas, there are countless other varieties just ripe for the picking, many relatively easy to find on your grocer’s shelves, and all lending themselves to a wide range of dishes, savory to sweet, covering any meal or course.
Here are the guidelines for your participation:
Prepare a legume recipe and post about it between now and February 9, including in your post a link to this event announcement. Upon posting, please send the following to thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com:
- Your name
- The name of your blog and its URL
- The URL to your post
- Your location
- A photo – optional (I will resize them with non-distorting dimensions. No worries.)
- Non bloggers: You are welcome to submit a recipe. Please send your name, location, recipe and an optional photo. I will include you in the round-up.
- PLEASE NOTE: Meat, fish and diary ARE all permissible as long as your chosen legume is the predominant ingredient in your dish. Any course is welcome (salads, starters, sandwiches, soups, entrées, AND desserts), prepared any way you like.
- While I can run a page translation program covering some languages for submissions by non-English participants, please at minimum offer an introduction to your recipe in English so that I can showcase it to the best advantage to the widest readership.
Any questions, please contact me at the address above. So spill ‘em…the beans, that is! I look forward to your recipes. You can expect the round-up to be posted during the week of February 10. Latecomers will be accepted if time and workflow allow. Use of the logo is entirely optional. Many thanks for joining in!
UPDATED January 28: Please note that this event is not a contest, but a gathering of many wonderful recipes from around the world. I would find it impossible to choose any one, or three, or ten recipes as the best when they are all genuinely first rate to me. | <urn:uuid:0f77b478-59f1-48da-8808-b531811648b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-legume-love-affair-event.html?showComment=1199663100000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948153 | 661 | 1.632813 | 2 |
I met a neurosurgeon originally from Hungary recently. He is mainly working at the Hôpital Foch near Paris, but since he speaks English, he gives presentations at conferences throughout the world.
He said that he actually began his medical education at age 16, after his test scores were reviewed by the national ministry of education or something. He was accepted into a medical training program, and by the time he was 20, he was already doing specialty work in neuroscience and neurosurgery.
Basically, by the time he was 22, he was conducting operations alongside an older mentor. At age 22, the average American medical student is barely starting year one of medical school.
Why are there so few combined “medical-undergraduate” courses in the US? Why make people wait until they take their MCATs at age 21 or so to find out where they will even BEGIN medical school?
No related posts. | <urn:uuid:aa85e9ef-2213-4259-8c34-72494a5d546c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbchow.com/?p=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991961 | 190 | 2 | 2 |
Rarely do architects in Vienna, Austria get the opportunity that Lakonis Architekten did with the renovation of the top floors of this historic building. They were able to build a modern loft space in an original building without compromising the historical aspects of what the location brings. At first glance you see a classic four-story corner building; then looking up you spot a modern roof structure that is made of steel, wood, and concrete.
In the hallway, a wall of books becomes a library making sure no space is wasted.
The walls, floors, and ceilings are made of concrete to make for a cooler summer and rows of angled windows provide cross-ventilation.
The double height kitchen is cube-like with windows and skylights towards the ceiling. The staircase leads to the spacious upper roof terrace.
The limestone bathrooms are lit with artificial light ceiling panels giving the feel of skylights.
Photos by Hertha Hurnaus. | <urn:uuid:506e49f5-85ec-415b-8c3e-7677ee1d3af7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://design-milk.com/loft-renovation-by-lakonis-architekten/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930127 | 194 | 1.664063 | 2 |
JACKSON - Mourning doves can be found in open grain fields and roosting trees near water. They are fast-flying, graceful, wing-whistling birds that feed on small seeds and grains. A species that is similar but larger and is not a native of our area is the Eurasian collared dove. They are seen around residential areas and have known to visit bird feeders.
A part of the Denman Wildlife Area is closed through October due to habitat restructuring of Little Butte Creek back to its original river channel. The closed portion is the trail along the creek north of Touvelle Road through to Agate Road and over to the Quonset huts. Heavy equipment will be operating in this area, with some truck traffic on Touvelle Road. Construction will continue until the end of October.
With hunting seasons open on the wildlife area, hikers are advised to wear blaze-orange and stay on trails.
DOUGLAS - Vaux Swifts can be seen at Fir Grove Park in downtown Roseburg and other areas gathering for their annual fall migration. At dusk, look for the awesome aerial displays the last hour of daylight, with congregating swifts flying in concentrations forming large vortex's before dropping into the top of their night roosting site.
COOS - Waterfowl are beginning to move south from the northern parts of the Pacific Flyway. Large numbers of ducks will congregate in Coos Bay, Winchester Bay and Coquille Bay. Those interested in seeing these birds will have good viewing opportunities along Highway 38 east of Reedsport, East Bay Road and Cape Arago Highway in Coos Bay and Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge near Bandon. | <urn:uuid:1450d787-8209-4ab6-8e18-b64134b15a95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110930/LIFE/110929959/-1/OREGONOUTDOORS01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955831 | 349 | 2.046875 | 2 |
NASA’s final Space Shuttle mission countdown is underway and the handwringing over a manned flight hiatus is picking up. The big question: Does the last Shuttle mission signal weakness or a necessary transition to a better way?
The Atlantis is scheduled to lift off for a final mission on Friday, but weather may delay the launch time. The last mission is essentially a final supply run to the International Space Station. After that, NASA—and the U.S. space program—is in a manned flight limbo of sorts as private sector picks up the space travel baton.
A sampling of recent press coverage highlights some of the reality behind the final Shuttle mission.
- An Associated Press account rounds up how NASA legends Neil Armstrong and John Glenn are leading a group of critics who say that the U.S. space program is ignoring a long-held belief that there should be a backup plan. Indeed, the end of the Shuttle program leaves a manned flight vacuum.
- The Wall Street Journal notes that the International Space Station now depends solely on Russia, the historic rival to the U.S. in the space race. The U.S. and European Space Agency will depend on Russia’s Soyuz for a lift. In other words, Russia has a monopoly on manned space flight. Jean-Jacques Dordain, director of the European Space Agency, is quoted as saying that the situation is “uncomfortable” and a “collective mistake.”
- The end of the Shuttle means the loss of jobs and specialized expertise in space, CBS News notes.
So where is NASA headed? President Obama said on his Twitter town hall that NASA needs a new frontier. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden defended NASA, its plan to move forward and shot down critics over a backup plan. Bolden said:
As a former astronaut and the current NASA Administrator, I’m here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success – and for NASA failure is not an option. Once again, we have the opportunity to raise the bar, to demonstrate what human beings can do if we are challenged and inspired to reach for something just out of our grasp but not out of our sights.
In many respects, Bolden noted that the U.S. needs to outsource low-orbit to the private sector.
When I hear people say – or listen to media reports – that the final Shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human spaceflight, I have to say . . . these folks must be living on another planet. We are not ending human space flight, we are recommitting ourselves to it and taking the necessary – and difficult – steps today to ensure America’s pre-eminence in human space exploration for years to come.
But we have to do things differently. For one, we have to get out of the business of owning and operating low Earth orbit transportation systems and hand that off to the private sector, exercising sufficient oversight to ensure the safety of our astronauts.
We need to focus on deep space exploration, while empowering today’s innovators and entrepreneurs to carry out the rest. This new approach to getting our crews and cargo into orbit will create good jobs and expand opportunities for the American economy.
And let me be crystal clear about this: I believe that American companies and their spacecraft should send our astronauts to the International Space Station, rather than continuing to outsource this work to foreign governments. That is what this Administration is committed to, and that is what we are going to do.
Along with supporting the ISS and commercial crew transportation, NASA will pursue two critical building blocks for our deep space exploration future — a deep space crew vehicle and an evolvable heavy-lift rocket. And we will make the technology investments required to begin the era of deep space exploration today.
In other words, the future of manned flight will depend on companies like SpaceX, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
If the U.S. can go through the transition to private low-orbit vehicles, maintain leadership and keep focused on going to Mars and deep space perhaps this three-year hiatus is worth it. In the meantime, many folks will wonder if that Atlantis lift-off is a time to celebrate or mourn.
- Track the final space shuttle with this app
- NASA picks Lockheed Martin for new space capsule
- NASA awards next round of Commercial Crew Development funding
- What happens to retired Space Shuttles?
- NASA: Atlantis launch live
- CBS News: Space program’s end leaves astronauts jobless
- CBS News: After Atlantis launch, what’s next for NASA?
- CNET News: Shuttle Atlantis poised for final mission
- ZDNet: Does end of the Space Shuttle mean NASA lost its mojo?
- ZDNet: The IT behind Alan Shepard’s space flight | <urn:uuid:651e82b4-08f9-46be-8446-71aac202e87f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/nasa-preps-last-shuttle-flight-can-the-us-really-endure-a-manned-space-hiatus/17470 | 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 | 0.912418 | 1,010 | 2.5 | 2 |
The name chickenpox has been around for centuries, and there are a number of theories as to how it got its name. One is that it's from the blisters that are seen with the illness. These red spots — which are about 1/5 inch to 2/5 inch (5mm to 10mm) wide — were once thought to look like chickpeas (garbanzo beans).
Another theory is that the rash of chickenpox looks like the peck marks caused by a chicken. But, in case you were wondering, chickenpox can't be caught from a chicken! | <urn:uuid:583877ba-a000-4fa6-aaa1-39ec40363f1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=GirlsHealthDotGov&lic=175&cat_id=20250&article_set=33654&ps=104 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990165 | 120 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Asiatic Black Bear Classification and Evolution
The Asiatic Black Bear is a medium to large sized species of bear that is found inhabiting the deciduous tropical forest throughout Asia. Known to be closely related to the American Black Bear, the two species exhibit a number of similarities including their size, appearance and behaviour and are thought to have actually shared a common ancestor some 4 million years ago. Unlike the American Black Bear however, that is showing increases in population numbers particularly in certain areas, the Asiatic Black Bear is considered to be an endangered species throughout it's native range today as populations have declined drastically due to both loss of their natural habitats to deforestation and the fact they are the most prized of all bear species that are hunted for their body parts (mainly the gall bladder) that are used in traditional medicines and also as a culinary delicacy in some areas.
Asiatic Black Bear Anatomy and Appearance
Like the other seven bear species found around the world, the Asiatic Black Bear has a strong and sturdy body with a large head and thick-set legs which are strong enough to enable the Asiatic Black Bear to both stand and walk on, using bipedal movement in order to make themselves appear even bigger when they feel threatened or are competing for territory with other individuals. Asiatic Black Bears have a black coat of fur (sometimes brown or even blonde depending on the subspecies) with a distinctive whitish v-shaped marking on their chest and a ruff of longer fur around their necks which again is thought to help to make them appear larger in size than they actually are. As with other bear species, Asiatic Black Bears have a keen sense of smell that is vital in helping them to find food and is reflected in their impressively long snout. However, despite the fact that their ears are larger than those of their relatives, they share the same bad sight and hearing and so rely heavily on their sense of smell to figure out their surroundings.
Asiatic Black Bear Distribution and Habitat
Asiatic Black Bears would have once been found throughout both Europe and Asia with fossil records having been uncovered from as far west as France and Germany, but have more recently been confined to regions in Central and Southern Asia from Afghanistan to Japan and south to Thailand with a handful of populations also found as far north as Russia. Although they have a relatively wide distribution throughout South-East Asia as well including Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand they are today absent from Malaysia, possibly due to the overlap of these territories with that of the Sun Bear. Their exact habitats depend on the geographical region where they are found although Asiatic Black Bears prefer deciduous forests and brushland at lower altitudes. Despite this though, the encroachment of human activity on these lowland regions from increasing levels of agriculture and growing human settlements has resulted in the remaining populations of Asiatic Black Bears being pushed into small and isolated pockets of vegetation at higher altitudes.
Asiatic Black Bear Behaviour and Lifestyle
As with other bear species (and indeed many large carnivores), Asiatic Black Bears are solitary animals that only come together to mate or when competing for more desirable territories. Despite their relatively small claws, Asiatic Black Bears are highly efficient climbers and spend most of their time foraging high in the trees where they inadvertently build nests from the folding of branches caused by them reaching for fruits and hunting small animals. In colder climates in the more northern regions of the natural range, Asiatic Black Bears also hibernate through the winter months and so spend the autumn months consuming foods such as acorns, beechnuts and walnuts that have a high fat content in order to build up a good layer of fat to keep them sustained throughout the winter. Although they tend to hibernate from November right through until April, in parts of Russia particularly where the weather is more hostile than further south, some populations are known to enter their winter dens as early as October and do not emerge until late May.
Asiatic Black Bear Reproduction and Life Cycles
Asiatic Black Bears are able to breed when they are between 4 and 5 years old and do so during the warmer summer months of June and July. After a gestation period that lasts from between 6 to 8 months, 1 to 4 cubs (although usually 2) are born between March and April in the safety and warmth of the female Asiatic Black Bear's winter den. Depending on the region, these dens can be found in river beds or in rocky outcrops with even those individuals that do not hibernate in the warmer, southern regions, seeking out the shelter of a den in which to give birth to her young cubs. Asiatic Black Bear cubs are born hairless and rely heavily on the warmth of their mother and her winter home to keep them both safe and warm. Asiatic Black Bear cubs are weaned when they are six months old and so begin to only eat solid foods rather than relying on the nutrition from their mother's milk, but often remain with her until they are three years of age. Although Asiatic Black Bears often live to be 30 years old or more in captivity, they rarely exceed the age of 25 in the wild.
Asiatic Black Bear Diet and Prey
Despite being classed as carnivores, like other bear species Asiatic Black Bears have a widely varied omnivorous diet meaning that they eat both small animals and plants throughout their natural range. Due to the fact that the fruits, plants and seeds that they consume do not contain as much nutrition as larger animals would, Asiatic Black Bears spend vast portions of their waking hours foraging in the trees for food. Acorns, beechnuts, walnuts and other nuts and seeds, along with fruits such as cherries, bamboo shoots and leaves, grasses, herbs, grubs and insects including termites and ants make up the majority of their diet, supplemented by the occasional bird or rodent when other foods are in short supply. Due to the fact that Asiatic Black Bears eat such little meat, their large molar teeth are flat for grinding up vegetation more easily. In areas where human settlements have encroached heavily on the Asiatic Black Bear's natural habitats, they are sometimes known to raid agricultural plantations along with taking occasional livestock from farms.
Asiatic Black Bear Predators and Threats
The large size and ferocious nature of the Asiatic Black Bear has ensured that they have very few (if any) natural predators throughout their historically vast natural range. Tigers are the main predators of Asiatic Black Bears throughout Asia with the small cubs being particularly vulnerable to predation despite the fierce-some protection provided by the mother. Asiatic Black Bears are also more vulnerable in areas where their natural range overlaps those of other bears including Brown Bears in Russia and they are also threatened by packs of Wolves in some parts of their natural range. People however, have been and still remain, the biggest threat to the world's Asiatic Black Bear population as they are severely affected by the loss of their natural habitats to deforestation to either clear land for agriculture or increase the size of growing human settlements. They are also severely threatened by the hunting of them for their body parts that are highly prized in traditional medicines and despite the ban of their hunting in all countries with the exception of Japan, the trade still continues throughout their natural range today.
Asiatic Black Bear Interesting Facts and Features
The Asiatic Black Bear is known by a number of other names in Asia including both the Asian Black Bear, the Himalayan Black Bear and the Tibetan Black Bear which is where their scientific name originates from. The whitish v-shaped marking on their chest has also led to them being known as the "Moon Bear" in many regions and led to them being thought to have been most closely related to Sloth Bears and Sun Bears until very recently. Unlike the majority of other bear species. Asiatic Black Bears are largely nocturnal animals that spend most of the day time hours sleeping in nests or hollow trees or caves during the day, only coming out under the cover of night to forage for food. Asiatic Black Bears are known to feed on a wide variety of small animals and plant matter throughout their natural range with their exact diet being heavily dependant on their location on the time of year. A recent study conducted in Thailand however has revealed that Asiatic Black Bears there are known to feed on 160 species of tree-borne fruits alone.
Asiatic Black Bear Relationship with Humans
For 3,000 years people have hunted Asiatic Black Bears mainly for their paws and gall bladders as dried bile is used in traditional Chinese medicines and believed to contain numerous healing properties. This has led to them being captured and kept in bile farms particularity in China and Vietnam where their living conditions are often a great cause for concern for environmental activists and conservationists. This industry alone has contributed heavily to the severe decline in population numbers and coupled more recently with habitat loss could see Asiatic Black Bears disappearing completely from certain areas. Although cases are rare, they have been known to cause human fatalities in areas where settlements encroach heavily on their dwindling natural habitats and so many are often hunted as pests or threats, despite the killing of them being illegal. Asiatic Black Bears are often captured and kept as pets and captured in Pakistan to fight dogs, in a process known as bear baiting. Not only is this sport morally horrendously wrong but the teeth and claws of the Asiatic Black Bears are also removed before the fighting begins so they have no chance to defend themselves against the onslaught of the Bull Terriers.
Asiatic Black Bear Conservation Status and Life Today
Today, Asiatic Black Bears are listed by the IUCN's Red List as a species that is Endangered in it's natural environment and could become extinct in the near future if the situation continues without change. It is thought that populations could have declined by as much as 49% over the past 30 years alone and although no official estimates have been produced, it is widely believed that there are fewer than 50,000 left in the wild today. Despite the ban of their hunting throughout their natural range with the exception of Japan where numbers are thought to actually be increasing, Asiatic Black Bears remain heavily threatened by both hunting and habitat loss, along with the capture of them as pets, for sport or to spend the rest of their days in the misery of a bile farm. | <urn:uuid:fd9afec8-65d9-4898-82ae-9a2fcf4a0244> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://a-z-animals.com/animals/asian-black-bear/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97596 | 2,151 | 3.703125 | 4 |
|Council of Europe Convention|
|Committee of the Parties|
|GRETA Restricted access|
|Committee of the Parties Restricted access|
Adoption of the Rules on the election procedure of the members of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
On 11 June, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Resolution establishing the election procedure of the members of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). This is an important first step in the setting up of an effective and independent mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
The procedure aims at guaranteeing the election of 10 to 15 experts in the fields covered by the Convention who will be independent and impartial in their evaluation of the implementation of the Convention by the states parties. Moreover, the election procedure aims at guaranteeing multidisciplinary expertise and a gender and geographical balance in GRETA, as well as representation of the main legal systems.
The governments of the states parties to the Convention (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia) have the right to nominate candidates for GRETA membership. The governments may submit to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the names and the curricula vitae, using the model set out in the appendix to the Resolution, of at least two candidates.
Each state party shall ensure that the national selection procedure leading to the nomination of candidates for GRETA is in accordance with published national guidelines or otherwise transparent and designed to lead to the nomination of the most qualified candidates.
Only candidates whose names and curricula vitae have been received by the Secretary General from a government of a state party by 1 October 2008 shall be allowed to stand for election for the first composition of GRETA.
The Committee of the Parties shall elect the members of GRETA by 1 February 2009 at the latest.
Rules on the election procedure of the members of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).. | <urn:uuid:59511f32-52ba-463a-bdd4-78e7a96dbf93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/docs/news/gretarules_en.asp?toPrint=yes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920105 | 453 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Abstract: span>A 79-year-old man
was referred for CT colonoscopy (CTC) following optical
colonoscopy. Unusually, the request was not due to an incomplete
optical colonoscopy. The patient was referred because the
gastroenterologist had identified a large polyp for resection but
was unable to identify its exact location and secure it for
resection during the optical procedure.
What abnormality accounts for the gastroenterologist's difficulty
in identifying the polyp's location?
Case Study Link: | <urn:uuid:5e9c4068-5da8-49f4-95c0-407ccf40599d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.appliedradiology.com/print.aspx?id=21110 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967323 | 117 | 1.59375 | 2 |
What do you do when Super Grover loses his super powers? When Sesame Street is left without its hero?
Experience the educational adventures of Sesame Street Live at the Budweiser Events Center from Dec. 7 to Dec. 9 and find out what Elmo and his super pals do to get the superness back into Grover.
"The show is about Super Grover who loses his superness and Elmo and his friends work together to help Sesame Street because Grover is not around," said Joy Carlson, performance director.
"Elmo's Super Heroes"
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9.
Where: Budweiser Events Center, 5290 Arena Circle, Loveland.
Tickets: $15 Friday, $18-$55 Saturday and Sunday.
Info: Call call 1-877-544-8499 or visit comcasttix.com.
The show aims to teach children what to do to maintain their super-qualities, like exercise and proper sleeping habits. Old McDonald himself offers the advice on healthy eating, and the gang learns about proper hygiene -- something Oscar the Grouch could really learn a thing or three about.
"It's just a good lesson that helps kids learn that eating healthy and getting enough sleep, exercise and having proper hygiene all makes you super," Carlson said. "It's a good fun-filled way to get that message through."
But the kids can't get to the show by themselves, and the creators have put in special content to entertain the adults as well. There's something for everyone on Sesame Street.
"The best part about all of our Sesame Street Live shows is that there is always something for the adults," Carlson said. "There's a lot of different quirky things that the adults totally get, while their kids are just having a good time singing and dancing along. So it really is fun for all ages."
The box office is offering Sunny Seats, special tickets which will allow the kids to sit closer to the stage and have a meet-and-greet with Elmo and one of his buddies before the show.
Sesame Street Live always hires locals to help with maintenance and set work to help create a Broadway-quality show for its audiences. Not only is it a fun, educational experience for children, but also some valuable exposure to the world of theater.
"Not everybody gets to make it to Broadway to see this type of show," Carlson said. "And for some kids, it may be the only Broadway-style show they see, so it's a good introduction for them to the musical theater world at a young age." | <urn:uuid:d12528ba-ec66-4ced-96fa-b2c6033537f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reporterherald.com/news/loveland-local-news/ci_22116930/loveland-will-host-super-elmo-and-sesame-street | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959932 | 579 | 1.5 | 2 |
USDA Grants Support Marketing Innovation for American Farmers and Ranchers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2012 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA will award matching grants for 22 projects under the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program to help create economic opportunities for American farmers and ranchers.
USDA will match nearly $1.2 million in grants for state departments of agriculture and state universities in 18 states and the District of Columbia. The projects will enable states to research new opportunities, and spark innovation in the marketing, transportation and distribution of U.S. agricultural products.
"The agricultural economy is resilient and remains strong and these investments will help increase economic opportunity for producers and increase access to healthy food for consumers," said Vilsack. "By partnering with states and universities on these projects, we hope to generate new ideas and create new marketing channels that will help our farmers and ranchers and create an even stronger rural America."
More than half of the 22 projects focus on increasing sales of value added meat products, aquaculture products, and fresh and processed produce in local and regional food systems. Other research topics include forestry, bioenergy and horticulture.
In New Mexico, the state university and the department of agriculture will work with the cattle growers' association and others to survey ranchers about their marketing practices. The project will examine marketing barriers and challenges created by the ongoing drought. Researchers will use the information to identify marketing best practices.
Expanding vegetable options in the United States is an emphasis for projects from the universities of District of Columbia (UDC) and Hawaii. The UDC will measure the demand for traditional African vegetables grown by local farmers to determine the economic viability of producing those crops on a regular basis. In Hawaii, the university will work with West coast retailers to develop a strategy for marketing three varieties of local vegetables to consumers. The project will also identify the best packing methods for preserving quality and nutritional content over long distances.
Farm to school is the focus for grants awarded in New Jersey and Montana. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will continue its work with Rutgers University to develop affordable food products tailored for the state's school lunch program that will provide a new and sustainable market for New Jersey growers. The Montana Department of Agriculture and its partners will explore ways to ensure K-12 schools have access to fruits and vegetables year-round.
Since 1976, USDA's Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program has partnered with states across the country to support 925 projects that exemplify marketing innovation. Visit www.ams.usda.gov/FSMIP for a list of this year's projects. The program is part of USDA's integrated approach to programs and policies that stimulate food- and agriculturally-based community economic development.
In 2009, USDA launched the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative to strengthen the critical connection between farmers and consumers and support local and regional food systems. During the past three years, Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food has been successful in fostering new opportunities for farmers and ranchers; cultivating healthy eating habits; and expanding access to fresh, affordable local food.
An interactive view of USDA programs that support local and regional foods, including Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program awards, is available at the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass. The KYF Compass is a digital guide to USDA resources related to local and regional food systems. The Compass consists of an interactive U.S. map USDA-supported local and regional food projects and an accompanying narrative documenting the results of this work through case studies, photos and video content.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users). | <urn:uuid:e22614fe-d5ba-4ae1-861d-d74b75f74d44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2012/10/0317.xml&navid=NEWS_RELEASE&navtype=RT&parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&edeployment_action=retrievecontent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906651 | 818 | 1.875 | 2 |
Polling data has long suggested that Americans are increasingly accepting and supporting same-sex marriage and the latest data from the General Social Survey — a respected survey from the University of Chicago — is no exception. As CAP’s Ruy Teixeira points out, in just-released data from their 2010 survey, the survey finds that “46 percent of Americans now say that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, compared to 40 percent who are opposed. That compares to 12 percent in favor and 73 percent opposed in 1988 when the question was first asked”:
So why the drastic drop in opposition between 1988 and 2004? Aside from the higher visibility of out-gay people (42 percent of Americans now live in states that recognize some form of gay and lesbian union) a 2010 study by Brian Powell of Indiana University suggests that the GOP’s own fixation on anti-LGBT initiatives — especially President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign — may actually be expanding support for same-sex marriage by increasing the visibility of LGBT issues and making “a topic that seemed taboo a little bit less taboo.” “One of the fascinating things is that with all this discussion out there whether positive or negative, being able to say the words, just made people more comfortable,” he told me during an interview in September. “With all this discussion about same sex marriage…I think it made people more attuned to who there friends and relatives [are].”
An article in today’s Boston Globe suggests that Republicans may be slowly waking up to this realization. It notes that “the first reaction of House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, to the president’s announcement was a bland critique of the timing — not the substance — of Obama’s decision” and points out that even though Republicans have decided to defend the law, the party bypassed “the opportunity to hold a floor debate and a vote before the public.”
Joe Sudbay correctly observes that we’ll still “see lots of hate and homophobia spewed during the GOP presidential nomination process” — particularly since conservatives in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire are hoping to repeal same-sex marriage. But these polls indicate that candidates who make a big deal out of these issues will have a difficult time appealing to Independent voters during the general election. | <urn:uuid:7d046e51-1049-4d4f-aa97-dd1a8568b078> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/03/28/177312/ssm-poll-gss/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956971 | 487 | 2.109375 | 2 |
The University of Harderwijk (1648–1811), also named the Guelders Academy (Latin: Academia Gelro-Zutphanica), was located in the town of Harderwijk, in the Republic of the United Provinces (now: the Netherlands). It was founded by the province of Guelders (Gelre).
The university of Harderwijk didn't have a good reputation, because of its low standards. Nevertheless, it attracted many students with its low fees. Many students went to Harderwijk to graduate. In Samuel Johnson's Life of Herman Boerhaave, it says:
The title of this Latin disputation in English is "On the usefulness of examination of excrement as a sign of disease".
The most famous foreign graduate, Linnaeus, stayed only a week, much of which time was spent printing his dissertation. The saying was that rich students could afford Leiden University and the poorer ones had to make do with Harderwijk. In many European cities, it was not possible to get a doctor's degree, and the Netherlands had a reputation for producing very good doctors. David de Gorter is a great example of such a doctor. He was a professor at the University of Harderwijk and friends with Linaeus. He also was a royal physician to Empress Elizabeth of Russia | <urn:uuid:7edbabf7-82a7-4158-a4e9-73c533690f7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zeably.com/University_of_Harderwijk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981411 | 285 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The point of signage is to get attention and attract new customers to your business. Why, then, do so many businesses create boring, generic ads that have no “hook”? Some are afraid to be bold, whereas others just don’t know what to do to be unique. Have a look at these great ads that weren’t afraid to push some boundaries.
Ford—This ad is bold for several reasons. 1) The actual product takes up very little of the design. 2) The visuals are very powerful. 3) It takes a few seconds (or even minutes, depending on the reader) for the meaning to register. An ad that catches the reader’s eye and then keeps their interest long enough to figure out the meaning is an ad that will be very successful, but use it for signs that are viewed for awhile, like a store window decal.
3M—It’s hard to get more bold than an ad full of nails shooting toward the viewer. This one leaves even more up to the reader to determine than the Ford ad. However, the nails catch the eye, which makes you want to discover the purpose of the ad (for Scotch adhesive). Signs don’t always have to focus on a product or service to be effective.
WD-40—This WD-40 ad (and the others in this campaign) is a bit polarizing, but that’s what makes it so bold, and so successful. WD-40 knew its target and narrowed in on it with an ad that hits home. In the process, some viewers won’t appreciate it, but they’re not WD-40’s target customer anyway. This is a great strategy for businesses that serve a specific niche.
Utah Department of Public Safety—Scare tactics have been proven to be successful over the years, and this ad delivers on that strategy. Bold signs can be used for businesses, campaigns, non-profits—anyone with a message to deliver. In this case, both car drivers and bikers take notice. Use this strategy for highly-visible signs like vinyl banners.
Mercedes-Benz—This series of ads shows is incredibly-bold. Mercedes actually went far enough to create ads using the logos of its competition! The idea, or at least the way I see it, is that the SLS is so fast it leaves the competition in the dust, and this is the view from the rear view mirror of the Benz. Some would criticize this ad for being vague or promoting the competitors, but at the very least it gets you wondering.
So by now you should be ready to create an eye-popping design that gets people talking, right? A bold design can be the key to making custom signs work for you, so take a risk to stand out from the crowd! | <urn:uuid:926f3b73-78b7-46c0-9ae7-ea5d17b231fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.signazon.com/blog/design-tips/the-bold-and-the-beautiful-5-sign-designs-that-stand-out/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958527 | 583 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A new chapter in local history begins Saturday.
At 11 a.m. Sept. 17 a formal ceremony will mark the start of a $27 million, three-year demolition effort to bring down the Elwha River dams. It is the largest dam removal project in U.S. history and plays a key role in a much larger undertaking: the restoration of the Elwha River.
Once a river of legendary fish runs, the construction of the Elwha Dam in 1913 and Glines Canyon Dam in 1927 cut off salmon spawning to all but the lowest five miles of river. A 1996 impact statement by the National Park Service estimated the number of native salmon spawning in the river dropped from 380,000 before the dams to 3,000 by the 1990s.
The loss of robust salmon runs, a source of food and income, hurt the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
Thomas Aldwell was an entrepreneur who saw the Elwha River for its potential to generate massive amounts of hydroelectricity at a time when the growing Port Angeles economy provided a huge demand.
Aldwell formed the Olympic Power Company and began constructing the Elwha Dam five miles from the mouth of the river in 1910. The foundation of the dam was faulty, though, and in October 1912 it failed and washed out to the valley below.
After acquiring more financing, Aldwell began reconstruction in 1913 and the final product was a 108-foot dam capable of supplying electricity to the pulp mills of Port Angeles. The dam created the Lake Aldwell 2.5-mile-long reservoir.
Though state law required fish ladders be constructed with dams, Aldwell bypassed the requirement by building a hatchery, which closed in 1922 after operating only seven years.
Demand for more power led to the 1925-1927 construction of the Glines Canyon Dam by the Northwestern Power and Light Company eight miles upstream from the first dam. The Glines Canyon Dam is 210 feet high and, like the Elwha Dam, does not have fish-passage facilities.
Though the dams provided power to cities as far as 60 miles away, the negative effects on the salmon population along with impacts on land in the Olympic National Park, such as erosion of the river bank, began to change perspectives by the 1980s.
By the late 1990s, the dams no longer were a major source of power. According to a 1994 report, the dams provided just 38 percent of power for one Port Angeles mill by the mid-1990s. The 1992 Elwha Restoration act stayed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license applications for the dams, which set the groundwork for what is now a $327 million ecosystem restoration project.
The figure includes the cost of purchasing both dams and hydroelectric plants in 2000, tearing them down, constructing two water treatment plants and other facilities to protect water users, and constructing a fish hatchery completed in May 2011, flood protection facilities and a greenhouse to cultivate native plants for revegetation.
The dams were cut off from the Bonneville Power Administration on June 1 and the enormous turbines came to a halt. The Lake Mills and Lake Aldwell reservoirs were lowered 18 feet over the summer.
Diversion channels, cofferdams and other measures are in place to allow further drainage of the water.
Next, Barnard Construction Company of Bozeman, Mont., will dismantle the dams over a period of up to three years under a $26.9 million contract with the National Park Service. Once the dams are down, the river can return to its original channel and the site will be recontoured and revegetated to resemble what it looked like before the dams.
Wednesday, Sept. 14
• 1-3 p.m. Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe fish hatchery naming ceremony, 700 Stratton Road, Port Angeles.
• 3:30-5:30 p.m. Elwha storytelling with Jamie Valadez and Roger Fernandes, Heritage Center, 401 E. First St., Port Angeles.
• 6-8 p.m. Elwha open mic sharing thoughts on dam removal through poetry, songs and storytelling, Heritage Center, 401 E. First St., Port Angeles.
• 7-9 p.m. Elwha River stories, John Gussman, photographer and documentary filmmaker, Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes, and U.S. Geological Survey scientist Jon Warrick, Holiday Inn Express, 1441 E. Washington St., Sequim.
• 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Elwha River Science Symposium, scientists give presentations on the ongoing research of the Elwha River. At Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles. Register at www.celebrateelwha.com.
• 5-7 p.m. Elwha storytelling with Elaine Grinnell and Ben Charles, Heritage Center, 401 E. First St., Port Angeles.
• 5-7 p.m. Presentation by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, on dam removal. At the Peninsula College gymnasium, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles. Register at www.celebrate
• 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Elwha River Science Symposium at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Sunset Cruise with Expeditions Northwest, tickets are $40, call 452-6210 or visit www.expeditionsnw.com.
• 5-9 p.m. Tribal Gala Fundraising Dinner, Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. Tickets are $150 and $300. Purchase at the Heritage Center or www.brownpapertickets.com.
• 5:30-8:30 p.m. Coastal jam session at the Heritage Center.
• 7:30-9 p.m. Dana Lyons concert, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
• Music with Linda Dowdell and Craig Buhler, Wine on the Waterfront, 115 E. Railroad Ave., Port Angeles.
• 8:30-9:15 p.m. Hear and See Poetry with poet Seán Mac Falls, Bar N9ne, 229 W. First St., Port Angeles.
• 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Elwha Central, live music and river restoration demonstrations at City Pier, Port Angeles.
• 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dam removal ceremony, Elwha Dam (invitation only).
• 3-5 p.m., VIP reception, Lake Crescent (invitation only).
• 5 p.m. Potlatch dinner, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Center, 2851 Lower Elwha Road.
• 6-9 p.m. Brats, Brew and Wine, Too harbor tour. Tickets are $25. Call 452-6210 or go to www.expeditionsnw.com.
• 7:30-9:30 p.m. “eTown” recording with musical guests Cake, Danny Barnes and Eliza Gilkyson, Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave. Tickets are $20 at www.artsnw.org and www.brownpapertickets.com.
• 9 p.m.-midnight After-hours music with The Girdle Scouts and SuperTrees, Bar N9ne, 229 W. First St., Port Angeles.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Guided hike to Elwha Dam viewpoint, Elwha Dam RV Park, 47 Lower Dam Road.
• 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-4:30 p.m. Guided hike to Hurricane Hill, take Hurricane Ridge Road past the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center.
• 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Explore Elwha with NatureBridge, a series of educational events throughout the watershed. Free shuttles from City Pier.
Reach Amanda Winters at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:069636f2-a8bd-40ab-afc8-5daa6b0c7105> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sequimgazette.com/news/article.exm/2011-09-14_down_with_the_dams | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906071 | 1,715 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Alongside Vice President Joe Biden and a group of children who had written in support, President Barack Obama signed a proposal to Congress Wednesday to strengthen United States gun laws, including universal background checks, limiting the number of bullets in a clip, and renewing a ban on military-grade assault rifles.
"If America worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one that occurred in Newtown," Obama said.
He listed some specific measures, including a 10-round limit on magazines for firearms, and asked congress to confirm Todd Jones to fill the long-dormant role of chief for the Bureau of Alchol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) — and briefly mentioned other measures, including helping schools hire more resource offices and making sure mental health professionals have the tools they need. He suggested Congress should fund research into the link between gun violence and violent video games.
Assault rifle bans and universal background checks made up the core of his proposal.
"The type of assault rifle used in [the movie theater shooting in Aurora] has one purpose ... to pump out as many rounds as possible," he said. "Weapons designed for the theatre of war have no place in a movie theater."
The law already requires gun owners to run background checks, but federal authorities have struggled to enforce that law.
Obama said he believes Americans are ready, and that he has majority support — including 70% of the National Rifle Association, according to one poll — but that lobbyists and pundits have held laws back.
"There will be lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty," he said. "Not because that's true, but because they want to generate fear, revenues or higher ratings for themselves. The only way we'll be able to change is if their audience, their constituents, their membership says this time must be different."
Last month Obama asked Biden to come up with "concrete steps" to prevent mass shootings and the broader epidemic of gun violence. Biden's task force met with some Sandy Hook parents, including those of who was one of 20 students and six educators killed at the elementary school in the Dec. 14 shooting.
Other parents of children lost in the shooting have actively petitioned the White House to act.
"We recognize that no single law or reform will prevent targeted school shootings," said the parents of 6-year-old Noah Pozner in a letter provided to the Hartford Courant. "However, by enacting a wide range of reforms, federal, state and local governments can make our children much safer in schools."
Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe, one of the first on the scene of the shooting, also asked the President to consider new legislation -- specifically, limiting access to the kind of heavy weaponry used by the shooter.
"We never like to think we're outgunned in any situation we're dealing with," he said in an interview with NBC News.
Sandy Hook parents and other Newtown community members have asked for changes in attitudes at the community level across the United States. The advocacy group Sandy Hook Promise launched a nationwide campaign Monday to enact "positive change" to prevent future shootings. While they have taken no official position on gun control — and Sandy Hook Promise representatives were not immediately available for comment on Obama's speech — members have listed policy change as one possible avenue.
“There are steps government can take. There are laws Congress can make,” said co-founder Tom Bittman Monday. "But we have to fundamentally change our approach." | <urn:uuid:8479060e-e932-4725-b9dc-d61d24adb47d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://milford.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/obama-asks-congress-for-sweeping-new-gun-laws-a8452a0c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97023 | 727 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The Music Box
|The Music Box|
|Directed by||James Parrott|
|Produced by||Hal Roach|
|Written by||H.M. Walker|
|Music by||Harry Graham
|Editing by||Richard C. Currier|
|Release date(s)||April 16, 1932|
The Music Box is a Laurel and Hardy short film comedy released in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, which depicts the pair attempting to move a piano up a large flight of steps, won the first Academy Award for Live Action Short Film (Comedy) in 1932. In 1997, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In a music store, Mrs. Theodore von Schwartzenhoffen orders a player piano as a surprise birthday gift for her husband, Professor Theodore von Schwartzenhoffen. She tells the manager her address — 1127 Walnut Avenue — and he hires the Laurel and Hardy Transfer Company to deliver the piano in their freight wagon.
The duo soon realize that the home is at the top of a very long stairway. Their attempts to carry the piano up the stairs result in it rolling and crashing into the street below several times, often with Ollie in tow. During their first attempt, they encounter a lady with a baby carriage trying to go down the steps; in trying to let her pass, they knock the piano back down the stairs. After the lady laughs at them, Stan kicks her in her backside, causing her to punch him back and hit Ollie over the head with a milk bottle. Stan and Ollie then heft the piano back up the stairs. The angry lady tells a policeman on the corner, who kicks Ollie twice and hits Stan with his truncheon after the latter suggests the officer is "bounding over his steps" (i.e. "overstepping his bounds"). Meanwhile, the piano has rolled down the steps again. Yet the two doggedly persist in carrying the piano up the stairs for a third time. Halfway up, they encounter the short-tempered and pompous Professor von Schwartzenhoffen, who in a fit of German rage screams at Stan and Ollie. Stan knocks the Professor's top hat down the stairs and into the street, where it is crushed by a passing lorry. The outraged professor goes off, threatening to have the two arrested.
Finally, Stan and Ollie get the piano to the top, where Ollie falls into a fountain. As they ring the house's bell, the box rolls back down to the street again. They wearily drag the piano back up the stairs, and meet the postman by the house, who informs them they did not have to lift the piano up the stairs, but only had to drive up the hill and stop in front of the house. Stan and Ollie promptly carry the piano back down the stairs, put it back in their wagon and drive it up the hill to the house.
Finding no one home, they finally succeed in getting the piano in the house, making shambles of the living room while unpacking it. Meanwhile, the owner of 1127 Walnut Avenue — Professor von Schwartzenhoffen — returns and is outraged at what he finds, as he hates pianos. He attacks the piano with an axe, destroying it, but regrets his actions when Mrs. Von Schwartzenhoffen returns home and tearfully tells her husband it had been a surprise birthday present. To apologize for his actions, the Professor signs the check, but the pen Stan and Ollie give him happens to be a prank pen that squirts ink on the target (as a means of getting revenge). Furious, Schwartzenhoffen blows his temper again and makes the duo run away.
- Stan Laurel as Stan
- Oliver Hardy as Ollie
- Billy Gilbert as Professor Theodore Von Schwarzenhoffen
- Charlie Hall as postman
- Lilyan Irene as nursemaid
- Sam Lufkinas police officer
- William Gillespie as piano salesman
- Hazel Howell as Mrs. von Schwarzenhoffen
The steps which were the focal point of The Music Box still exist in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, near the Laurel and Hardy Park. The steps are a public staircase, and connect Vendome Street (at the base of the hill) with Descanso Drive (at the top of the hill), and are located at 923-935 Vendome Street near the intersection of Del Monte Street. A plaque commemorating the film was set into one of the lower steps between in the 1990s at .
Contrary to popular belief, the long staircase is not the same one used by The Three Stooges in their 1941 film An Ache in Every Stake. Those stairs (147 steps in length) are approximately two miles northeast, located at 2212 Edendale Place in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles.
The film is a partial remake of their silent short Hats Off (1927), which was filmed at the same location and is today considered a lost film. Hats Off was itself remade by Edgar Kennedy in 1945 as It's Your Move, utilizing the same set of steps.
Hal Roach Studios colorized The Music Box in 1986 with a remastered stereo soundtrack featuring the Hal Roach Studios incidental stock music score conducted by Ronnie Hazelhurst. The film was later released on VHS along with a colorized version of Helpmates.
In popular culture
- A series of TV ads for Aamco windshield wipers featured character actors Jim McGeorge and Chuck McCann as Laurel & Hardy. One of the ads in question referred to this film by portraying them trying to safely deliver a piano.
- Ray Bradbury's short story The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair from the collection The Toynbee Convector features the stairs prominently as the catalyst for the beginning of a love affair between a couple who affectionately refer to each other as 'Stan' and 'Ollie'. His short story Another Fine Mess from the collection Quicker Than the Eye features the ghosts of Laurel and Hardy haunting the staircase by replaying the scene.
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Music Box|
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Music Box Steps|
- The Music Box at the Internet Movie Database
- The Music Box at Rotten Tomatoes
- The music steps in OpenStreetMap | <urn:uuid:37940f2b-f2b5-4cd7-9e5e-8a63b96b08b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Music_Box | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945375 | 1,376 | 1.875 | 2 |
Keynotes & Workshops
Saturday • 9AM - 10AM • Keynote: TIMOTHY YOUNG
Timothy Fitzgerald Young is founder, President and Chef of Food For Thought, Inc., an organic and wild-harvested gourmet specialty foods company with the mission of creating and raising awareness around just and sustainable food systems and to serve as a model to counter the global industrial food system. In addition to creating exciting products from the farms and forest of northern Michigan, Young has a long history of humanitarian activism on a range of issues. Timothy was a founding board member of the Domestic Fair Trade Association. He is currently President of the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce, board member of the Northwestern Michigan College Foundation and On The Ground. Food For Thought is located on an organic farm in northern Michigan and housed in a green building built by Timothy in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where he lives with his wife, Kathy, 9 year-old daughter Stella and 5 year-old son Connor.
Sunday • 9AM - 10AM • Keynote: JACKIE VICTOR
Jackie Victor is the co-founder of Avalon International Breads, a socially responsible artisan bakery in Detroit founded in 1997. She moved to Detroit after graduating from University of Michigan in 1988 to be part of the economic, cultural and spiritual revival of Detroit. Jackie’s three decades of activism and co-creation have been inspired by a wide range of individuals and movements, including the Neahtawanta Center on Old Mission Peninsula and the Boggs Center on the east side of Detroit. Jackie raises her children, Rafi (12) and Ari (7) in the Lafayette Park neighborhood of Detroit. She is on the boards of Greening of Detroit, the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, and SheTroit.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS • 2:00PM to 3:30PM
Take An Observational Walk
The public rights of way are the most obvious, daily expression of the commons. We will visit Munson Ave and reflect on how the design of the built environment reflects cultural values - or doesn’t - down to the smallest details. Julie Clark, Executive Director of TART Trails, and Gary Howe, geography instructor, photojournalist and owner of MyWheelsareTurning.com, will lead the discussion of how design influences behavior and vice versa.
Tune In . . . and Become Aware
Fast paced, hectic and stressful are words that too often describe our daily lives. 'Awareness' is the doorway to deep connection with nature, self and community. In this experiential workshop, participants - through breathing, movement, meditation, and group discussion - will to tune in to their 'being' and form a deep relationship with the wilderness that is both within and outside of the self. Led by Lena Maude Wilson, yoga instructor and Matt Miller, Kriya Townsend and John Michael Musselman, who run the Human Nature School.
SATURDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS • 10:15 AM to 11:45AM
A Council of All Beings: High School Students
A Council of All Beings is a powerful teaching ritual to create empathy, compassion and the desire for action. Mary Ellen Newport PhD, teacher and administrator, Jenna Scheub MA, botanist and Interlochen instructor and Gulshirin Dubash MFA, Interlochen theater instructor will present powerful work done with high school students coming to grips with the anthropocene extinctions through research, mask-making and prepared monologues.
ALAP: Connecting Money and Entrepreneurs In Our Own Backyard
The As Local As Possible (ALAP) Investing Group went “live” following last year’s Bioneers conference and we have much to share! In this interactive workshop join the ALAP organizers, Zach Liggett, Co-founder of Goldeneye Asset Management, LLC, and Bruce Odom, Owner of Odom RE-USE Co., to discuss bringing together triple-bottom-line-focused businesses with local investors and how this group might get better and have even more impact.
Ayurveda, the Science of Life and Self-Healing
Ayurveda principles are universally applicable to each individual's search for physical well-being, harmony, and longevity. When we heal, the earth heals. Participants will learn their particular body/mind type, the chemistry of food as both sustenance and medicine and many common sense principles for preventing and halting illness and disease. Libby and Michael Robold have been teaching yoga for decades, Libby is a trained Ayurveda Yoga therapist.
We are connecting to an ancient ally. Practicing with our honey bee teacher is an earth based model that reveres the honeybee and all of her gifts as sacred & magical, healing & nutritious while grounded in practical technique. This is an introductory workshop for anyone interested in learning more about ‘natural BeeKeeping’ and how honeybees promote biodiversity. Beekeeping predates the Greeks and hives hold biomimicry metaphors. Sharon Jones, Bee Misstress for over 30 years, and Meg Louwsma, Wise Woman Herbalist, will help you listen to the bees and learn honeycomb technique.
Better Buildings for Michigan - Residential Energy Efficiency as Clean Energy Source
Have you ever thought of your home as a source of clean, cheap, and renewable energy? Energy efficiency offers huge untapped energy resources clean like wind and solar but less expensive and easier to access. Ann Erhardt, Programs Manager, and Anne Hertle, Energy Optimization Coordinator for Western Michigan Environmental Action Council will offer the environmental, economic, and social case for home energy efficiency. Leave the workshop with connections to the resources you need to make your home more comfortable and affordable.
A Commons Lab: Co-Creative Community Solutions
We will look at why reclaiming the commons invites a different understanding of what ‘belongs’ to us, who else shares in it, why we value it and how we can take care of it. People everywhere are discovering the excitement, creativity and sense of power that comes with reclaiming and reinventing their commons. From urban land reclamation and food sovereignty work to public space, seeds and our Great Lakes, people are experimenting with ways of claiming shared resources. Join Alexa Bradley, Program Director, and Julie Ristau, Co-director at On The Commons for this interactive, strategy-building workshop for revitalizing the commons in our communities.
Lessons Learned Connecting the Local and Global
Join Chris Treter, owner of Higher Grounds Trading Company and founder of the linked nonprofit organization called On the Ground (OTG), to gain a global perspective on going local. Learn about OTG’s work in Ethiopia, Palestine and Mexico and the farmers that they partner with. See the tangible connections one community can form with another community, even when they are thousands of miles apart.
Health and Well-Being: Back to the Basics
Join Flora Biancalana MD, Laura Franseen MD, and Anne Hughes FNP to explore the Precautionary Principle and get rooted in self-reliance, our communities, and Earth. We’ll holistically explore health literacy, nutrition, movement, first aid, natural medicines, emotional well-being and how our relationships influence our health.
Preserving the harvest is a great way to eat locally all year round. How do you figure out how much and what to put by? If your power were cut off for a winter week, what should you have on hand to be prepared? Amanda Kik, co-founder of ISLAND and co-chair of the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference will use Sharon Astyk's book Independence Days as a guide to help you leave the workshop with a plan that will fulfill your family's unique tastes and needs.
Organic Gardening for Any Scale
Building soil organic matter, increasing biodiversity, using rain water, cycling nutrients from yard and kitchen residue by composting, growing vegetables and herbs are all good steps on the path to cultivating a healthy community -- and can be done in your backyard! Vickie Morrone, with the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance, will explain a variety of organic techniques appropriate for any scale.
Shifting Mosaics: Permaculture with or without Livestock
The May Farm, owned by Paul and Sharron May, will explain in story and song how they went from raising food for their family to raising food for a community using permaculture ethics and principles. The Mays will explain the value of perennial grasses and grazing animals in restoring marginal land and how a complimentary blend of permaculture techniques both with and without livestock provides fertility, labor, recycling of nutrients and wastes and closes the loop on farm activities.
The Laughing Qigong Sisters Present Healing with Fun
Instigating positive change begins at "Zone 00", your inner world. Qigong translates as ‘life energy cultivation’ and helps align your breath with gentle movement, sound and visualization for self-healing. Experience the Inner Smile Meditation, the Six Healing Sounds and more. Learn easy ways to feel refreshed, resilient and ready for whatever changes the world may bring. No previous experience necessary! Presented by Joan D'Argo, owner of TC Shiatsu and Qigong and Nance Belton, owner of Bleu Haven Healing Arts Center.
Water, Food, Energy - The Global Nexus
A recent Mckinsey & Co study found that the collective human demand for water will exceed supply by about 40% within the next 20 years. In a presentation including on-the-ground reports from around the world, this workshop will explore the water-food-energy nexus and provide a window into how peoples, cultures, governments and businesses are responding to this global challenge. J. Carl Ganter is director and co-founder of Circle of Blue, the leading news and science organization that reports on freshwater issues globally.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS • 2:00PM to 3:30PM
Body Ecology: Getting Grounded
What does it mean to be ‘grounded' and feel the Earth as support? Participants will slow down, drop into their senses and discover new ways to be embodied. Join Kima Kraimer, a Rolf Structural Integration Practitioner and Somatic Movement Educator, in a discovery of our body architecture and inner eco-systems by using sound and micro/macro movement. Walk away with techniques that can be integrated into daily life.
Cold Frames and Compost Bins!
In this DIY (do-it-yourself) workshop, Ken and Franny Bluhm, an architect and an educator, will demonstrate how to build a cold frame so that you can grow food year round out your back door. Dave Warren, a retired builder and organic gardener, will demonstrate how to build a compost bin from repurposed pallets and discuss various composting methods, including worms. This workshop will be outdoors, weather permitting.
Reuse Art with SCRAP TC
This workshop will inspire and motivate you to look differently at creativity. Create your own art from items diverted from the waste stream with Kristin Anton and Liz Lancashire who operate SCRAP TC, a non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainable behavior and creative reuse based on the SCRAP Portland model.
- General PowerPoint presentation - 30-45 minutes
- Creative Craft Challenge in small groups- 30-45 minutes
- Reuse craft project 1.5-2 hrs
SUNDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS • 10:15 AM to 11:45AM
Build Your Shelter, Rebuild Your Life
Bring together your ideals, your health and the health of the earth in creating your own handmade shelter. This class will walk you through the steps and considerations and help you find a path around the obstacles to right-sizing your shelter, your life, and living more lightly on the earth. Rolf and Mari von Walthausen live debt free in a 242 square foot, non-toxic cabin they built by hand (no power tools!) and have a 240 square foot guest house as well. This has changed their life and their relationship to work.
Climate Change 2012: Becoming a Climate Activist
For the last four years Peter Sinclair has been accumulating data from the world's leading climate scientists, and translating it into words that the average person can understand. In this workshop, Peter will clarify the information (and disinformation) about climate change and how it is changing the planet and our lives. Participants will also hear from climate activists, and learn what efforts are underway, on a local, state and national level, to solve the climate crisis, and how you can get involved. This workshop is for anyone who wants a better understanding of the most important environmental and policy issue of this century. Joined by Maura Brennan.
Creating Sacred Ceremony
Many people desire to have a method to expand their spiritual life within the framework of their own values, beliefs and traditions. Karen Cline, a social worker and shamanic healer, will provide steps for designing spiritual ceremonies that reflect your unique symbology and traditions that you can practice in solitude or with others. Please feel free to bring a drum, rattle or other musical instrument and objects of personal meaning.
Manifesting Energy Solutions
Help the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council plan a participatory November summit to define a path toward a sustainable regional energy supply. This workshop will be a dress rehearsal to solicit input and “work out the kinks”. Presented by Kate Madigan, Ken Smith and other members of the NMEAC Board.
Envisioning the Future of Food in Michigan
Do you envision a future where you know all the people who grow your food? Where everyone has access to food that nourishes and sustains? There is a lot of great work going on around food and a compelling vision of the future helps guide action today. Sherwood Smith, President of Avenue ISR and former Oryana board member, and Chris Dilley, General Manager of People's Food Co-op of Kalamazoo and founding board member of Fair Food Matters, will facilitate a look into the future of food in Michigan and the Good Food Charter. Participants will leave with a clear 20-year vision and a 12-month action plan.
Guilds, Groups and Granges: Mutual Support for Skill Building
Beekeepers, fruit tree growers, tech geeks, canners, fungiphiles and more: learn about guilds, clubs, groups, associations, granges, unions, transition towns and other systems for mutual support. This workshop will cover the history and the basics of organizing a guild in your community. Explore building guilds that work in the Great Lakes bioregion with Brad Kik and Yvonne Stephens of ISLAND, the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art and Natural Design.
Looking Beyond the Landscape: How our Landscapes Impact Birds, Butterflies, and Other Wild Creatures
Learn how landscapes interact with ecosystems, with special emphasis on indicator bird and butterfly populations. Matthew Bertrand, with the Grand Traverse Conservation District and Coordinator of the Invasive Species Network, will guide an exploration of historical plant communities and current regional best practices - natural shorelines, low-impact design (for stormwater management, for non-point source pollution mitigation, for habitat expansion), habitat corridors, home-scale habitats and permaculture.
The Nature of Children’s Literature
Depictions of animals and nature are declining in children's books. Children also spend far less time playing outdoors and far more time plugged in to electronic media. These trends only continue -- and intensify -- in adulthood. What does this mean for our collective connection to the natural world? Come share stories, grapple with hard questions, and get inspired to take action in your family and community. Kate Hofmann is a writer/editor for the National Wildlife Federation and has been writing for the children’s wildlife magazine Ranger Rick for over six years.
Seasonal Health with Chinese Medicine
This workshop will explore how to maintain and improve health using the principles of chinese medicine. We will discuss how organs like the lungs and kidneys are impacted by each season. Learn Qi Gong practices for each season as well as seasonally appropriate dietary suggestions and recipes. Elon Cameron MSTOM Dipl. OM, is nationally board certified (NCCAOM) in Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, and Oriental Medicine.
Modern Media for Environmental Education and Advocacy
This workshop has everything you need to know about modern media but were afraid to ask. This interactive class, hosted by West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) Communications Director, Daniel Schoonmaker, and Activism Director, Nicholas Occhipinti, will demonstrate proven and emerging tactics that drive grassroots awareness. Learn about low-cost tools and strategies for partnering with existing media, increasing public engagement and using a variety of online social media for your cause or campaign.
What Each of Us Must Do to Save the Great Lakes
Flow for Water is a non-profit coalition whose mission is to save the great lakes forever. Attorney, Jim Olson who brings extensive experience in public trusts, environmental and water law, will empower attendees with your water rights and review the associated responsibilities. Though threats such as pollution, water diversion and climate change are growing, each one of us can help save the Great Lakes for future generations. | <urn:uuid:20637336-d1a0-45ce-8de7-51ee521567c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://glbconference.org/content/keynotes-workshops | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920295 | 3,591 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Iran is further ahead on nuclear bomb
The question about Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which Iran denies it’s pursuing, remains urgent despite an undeniable tedium to the seemingly endless and repetitive discussions in the media about what can be done to stop it.
Attention was refocused on this subject recently when talks between Iran and the “P5+1” – the five permanent UN Security Council members: the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany – ended after two days in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Feb. 27.
Iran came away from the negotiations pleased that the P5+1 members softened their previous demands, requiring that Iran only suspend, not shut down, operations at its deeply buried Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment site. In addition, Iran would be allowed to keep some stockpiles of 20 per cent enriched uranium – enough, that is, to be used to produce “medical isotopes.”
Apparently, the idea behind the P5+1 concessions is to give Iran some face-saving measures that will allow it to compromise in turn, though no deadline was set, only a schedule for further talks over the next two months.
It would be a mild understatement to say that Israel remains skeptical about Iran’s willingness to compromise in any meaningful way. Israel is convinced that Iran is simply stalling as it races ahead to develop capacity to build nuclear weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “there are no measures that will make Iran heed the demands of the international community aside from military sanctions against it.”
Even that might be insufficient.
Netanyahu’s skepticism is well founded. While Kazakhstan talks were underway, Britain’s Telegraph disclosed “details of activity at a heavily guarded Iranian facility [at Arak] from which international inspectors have been barred for 18 months. [Satellite] images, taken earlier this month, show that Iran has activated the Arak heavy-water production plant.” Heavy water is needed to operate a nuclear reactor that can produce enough plutonium for a bomb.
Having two options for making a bomb (uranium and plutonium) is critical, as Mitch Ginsburg explained in a fascinating story last summer in the Times of Israel. Ginsburg interviewed Uzi Even, a founder of Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona. Currently a chemistry professor at Tel Aviv University, Even “has a history of being correct about foreign countries’ nuclear capacities” according to Ginsburg.
Although a political dove, Even has no doubt whatsoever about Iran’s determination to acquire a nuclear arsenal. He does not, however, favour an Israeli attack on Iran’s facilities at this time. Still, his assessment of what Iran has already achieved is sobering. As Ginsburg reported: “Even believes that [Iran] has already, covertly, created the 20 to 25 kilograms of highly enriched uranium necessary to conduct a successful underground test. In other words, he believes Iran is already a nuclear power.”
Even explained that moving from 20 per cent enriched nuclear to weapons-grade fuel “can be done underground [as at Fordo], in something the size of a storage room, and no one would know.” This is what Iran has already accomplished, Even believes.
Nonetheless, it’s one thing to have sufficient enriched fuel for a nuclear test and quite another to be able to deploy it as a weapon. That could take several more years.
The problem is one of weight. Ginsburg summarized Even thus: “A uranium warhead is at least five times heavier than a plutonium one. Creating a nuclear warhead and winnowing down the complex infrastructure necessary to detonate it effectively — to, say, the one-ton maximum payload of Iran’s best ballistic missile, the Shahab-3” is currently beyond Iran’s capability.
It’s because of this problem that Iran is pursuing the plutonium option. Even explained that producing the plutonium needed for a single bomb would take one year from the time the plutonium-based reactor (in Arak) was operational. Last year, the IAEA knew that Iran planned to begin operating a plutonium-based reactor at Arak in the third quarter of 2013.
But if the information disclosed by the Telegraph is accurate, Iran has greatly accelerated its timetable.
While this should send alarm signals to the West, it appears that the West instead is playing into Iran’s hands.
Paul Michaels is director of research and senior media relations for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. | <urn:uuid:f143c580-b803-408a-9dfc-25c4a1d70957> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cjnews.com/node/98532?q=node/103148 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953658 | 943 | 1.96875 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) --Four years ago, President Barack Obama and his staff spent the first day in the White House learning the basics. Not just the basics of governing, but also figuring out how to get cleared into their offices by the Secret Service, log on to their computers and find keys to unlock office drawers.
They solved those problems long ago. Also in the rearview mirror are the recession, the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
But plenty of fresh challenges lie ahead as the president begins the first working day of his second term.
Obama will quickly confront three fiscal deadlines that demand cooperation with Congress, including raising the debt ceiling. The deaths of three Americans in Algeria have renewed fears about terrorism in North Africa.
The looming question over Obama's entire second term is whether he can find a way to quell his confrontations with a divided Congress. Seeking to start off on a better foot, the president invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the White House ahead of his inaugural address Monday, including the Republican leaders with whom he has frequently been at odds: House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.
Speaking to the throngs gathered on the National Mall Monday, Obama implored Washington to find common ground when it can.
"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said.
Seeking to build on the wave of public support that catapulted him to two terms in the White House, the president pressed for the public to get help him "set this country's course." Tellingly, Obama sent an email shortly after his speech asking supporters to send their contact information to Organizing for Action. That's the outside group formed by several top Obama campaign officials with the goal of supporting his legislative agenda.
We'll likely hear more talk about cooperation at Tuesday's National Prayer Service. President Obama knows since Republicans still control the House, he can't get anything mayor done without help from some Republicans.
Republicans know they came out of the November elections needing to change their image. Opposing the president on just about everything may please the base of their party, but it turns off the people in the middle who usually decide national elections.
The president also made a point yesterday of saying it's time to dial back the rhetoric a bit. Some of the biggest applause came when Obama said, "We cannot treat name-calling as reasoned debate." All the polls show most Americans are really sick of that talk, but some of the language that turns off people in the middle helps both parties when it come to raising money. So it's unlikely all the name-calling will go away.
One area on which both parties could find common ground is immigration reform. Republicans know they've lost ground with Hispanic voters and can't win elections without them. So, expect to see some in the GOP try to work with the president. The ones who favor reform are frustrated because they realize if they'd okayed President Bush's immigration plan a few years ago, their party would have gotten credit for trying to straighten it out.
Associated Press contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:b51b7226-181a-428a-a858-f5db25b956d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wvec.com/news/politics/National-Prayer-Service-expected-to-focus-on-cooperation-187851101.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973295 | 652 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Internet Crimes Against Children
How to Report Trouble
Contact your local Police Department. If you live in West Fargo, call (701) 433-5500.
Also, some other national advocacy groups are helpful, such as Cyber Tip Line, run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Call Cyber Tip Line at 1-800-843-5678 or visit their web site at National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Advice for Parents
Common sense and vigilance on the part of parents will go a long way toward ensuring that your child does not fall prey to an abuser on the Internet.
First, parents need to know which children are most likely to be at risk. Adolescents in general are more vulnerable than younger children because, in their typical quest for identity and independence, they are less apt to accept parental oversight. In addition, children with few friends or relatively little involvement in sports or other extracurricular activities are more likely to be vulnerable.
Beyond these, there are some specific guidelines for parents that may be helpful in reducing the risks:
- Come to a clear agreement with your child about computer use. This should include a clearly stated limit on the hours of use, a well-understood restriction on access to chat lines (the most common venues for offenders), and a strict rule against revealing personal or family information (addresses, phone numbers, etc.) or especially any photographs of the child. Check your local school's Web pages to make certain your child's photo is not published there without your permission; as such photos have been abused by offenders in the past.
- Do not rely on computer software (like the commonly used Norton Parental Control or Net Nanny) designed to filter out offensive material. These systems are not adequate to keep up with the proliferation of new sites and can often be disabled by a computer-savvy child.
- Make it clear to your child that reporting unwanted or suspicious solicitations will not lead to further restrictions on computer use.
- Be aware that restricting your child's e-mail correspondents to a prescribed list of friends and schoolmates is no guarantee against abuse. There is no sure way of knowing, at any given time, who may be sitting behind the keyboard at the other end.
- Be aware of, and do your best to monitor, the restrictions that apply at locations other than your home where your child may have computer access: school, the library, a friends home.
- Take note of the warning signs that an offender may be manipulating your child. These include secretive use of the computer, any evidence that computer histories are being deleted, unexplained telephone charges, hang-up calls, unexpected mail, and any signs that your home may be under surveillance by an offender.
- Finally, if you are not computer-savvy, you may want to take an introductory course so you'll know enough to monitor your child's Internet use.
What to do if child is harassed:
- Inform your local police or District Attorney's Office of the offense.
- Contact your internet provider;
- Contact child protection organizations such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.ncmec.org), and Pedowatch (www.pedowatch.org).
Three rules for kids to keep it safe
- Never reveal your name, address, or Social Security number or any other personal information online.
- Never forget that people you met online are strangers.
- Never hesitate you ask your parents for help in an uncomfortable situation.
Nine steps to internet safety and protecting our children
- In order to protect our children parents must learn how to use the computer
- Don't use the computer as a babysitter.
- Set and discuss rules for using the household computer.
- Inform children of the dangers of the internet and explain that these rules are for their protection.
- Parents should show interest in the activities that their participating in online.
- Check the browser history of your computer
- Check downloaded files on your computer.
- Teens are targets.
- Report any offenses to your local police department.
Internet Crimes - Identity Fraud & Scams
Email Spam and Scam
Spam: Email that is unsolicited advertisment
Scam: Email that is intended to defraud you
What can you do about all those emails you receive daily advertising everything you don't want? The Federal Trade Commission has information at their web site to help you.
- Meanwhile, what can you do with the spam in your in-box? Report it, making sure that you include the full email header. The information in the header makes it possible to follow up on your complaint. Send your spam to: The Federal Trade Commission, at email@example.com. The FTC uses the emails in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive spam.
- Your ISP's abuse desk. Often the email address is firstname.lastname@example.org or email@example.com. Forwarding your spam to your ISP lets them know about the spam problem on their system and helps them to stop it. Include a copy of the spam, along with the full email header, and at the top of the message, state that you're complaining about being spammed.
- The sender's ISP. Most ISPs want to cut off spammers who abuse their system. Include a copy of the message and header information and state that you're complaining about spam. | <urn:uuid:4316110d-fab8-407c-bf16-7a0d2644a942> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westfargopolice.com/CrimePrevention/InternetCrimeandSafety/tabid/118/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931263 | 1,126 | 2.21875 | 2 |
OK, so we’re in June and summer’s here (sort of). I know I shouldn’t be making a cake using tinned peaches and serving it warm with custard but what can I say? I’m a contrarian baker!
This recipe is on the lines of a pineapple upside down cake, but made with peaches. I used the blueberries as they provided a lovely colour contrast but also because I love the flavour and texture of a cooked blueberry.
This cake is a whopper! The tin only just contained it, hence my comment in the method that if you have a bigger tin you might want to use it! Here it is from the oven, so upside down to how it’s served:
Is there a more pleasing piece of fruit than a tinned peach half? It’s so perfectly smooth and round and such a beautiful colour. It made me forget that you only get a measly 6 halves per tin!
Mr CC is well trained in baking matters now. He found himself in Norfolk this week for work and came back with a rather special gift:
This is flour is from Letheringsett Mill, Norfolk’s only flour producing water mill. There has been a water mill at Letheringsett as far back as the Domesday book...that’s 1086! The flour was beautiful – incredibly fine and soft, almost like talc.
We had the cake warm, with custard, on the day of baking. The next day it was equally delicious eaten at room temperature with thick cream:
For the topping:
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour
small punnet of blueberries
3 cans (400g each) of peach halves, drained
For the sponge:
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
280g self raising flour
250g golden caster sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
150ml natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blueberries left over from the punnet listed in the topping ingredients
To serve: ice cream, cream or custard (depending on whether you serve hot or cold)
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/ fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/Gas mark 4.
Line a 20cm x 30cm roasting/baking tin with baking paper - make sure it’s a deep tin, although if you wish, you can use a slightly bigger tin.
Sprinkle the tin with the sugar and flour.
Place a blueberry into each peach half and then place the peaches, cut side down, in the tin.
Now make the sponge: place all the ingredients into a bowl and beat together until smooth and lump free.
Spoon the batter over the peaches, taking care not to dislodge the peaches.
Level the surface then gently push any leftover blueberries into the batter.
Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes then turn the cake out. If you leave it too long, the caramelised peaches may stick to the paper.
Serve either warm with ice cream or custard, or at room temperature with cream.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created. | <urn:uuid:ef1500f6-0508-406c-8e97-cf0aa0bb6396> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecakedcrusader.blogspot.com/2011/06/upside-down-peach-and-blueberry-sponge.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916234 | 694 | 1.578125 | 2 |
|The Green Roof Pavilion at the Earth Ways Home for the Missouri Botanical Garden was finished on June 17, 2004. The 12? x 14? pavilion showcases Green Roof Blocks, from Saint Louis Metalworks, used to ballast the EPDM single ply membrane roofing system. The pavilion is a collaboration of area businesses and the Missouri Botanical Garden to increase public awareness of the green roofing concept and to educate the public about the many benefits of green roofing.|
Saint Louis Metalworks Company spearheaded this project with the cooperation of Lowe's, Home Depot, Handyman Hardware, Roofer?s Mart, and Crown C Supply who donated materials needed for the construction of the pavilion. Blue prints and site plan were a joint effort of The Manske Corp. Architects and Ralph Waffer Arctitectural and Planning. The Korte Company, Lakeside Roofing, Shay Roofing, Sheet Metal Workers Local 36, and the Rental Service Center donated the necessary labor and equipment to construct the project. Saint Louis Metalworks Company and Jost Greenhouse provided the Green Roof Blocks tm to cover the pavilion rooftop with a variety of sedum plants.
The Earth Ways Home will add green roofs to their educational tours that teach visitors about the many environmentally beneficial materials and systems employed by the Home. The Earth Way Home has ground source heating and cooling, solar panels, water saving fixtures, a variety of materials manufactured from recycled materials, and natural grass landscaping and composting areas, just to name a few of the attractions. Area students will be invited to join in experiments that will show how the green roof functions to clean and reduce storm water runoff and to lower the rooftop temperature, helping to ease the urban heat island.
|The 12 foot by 14 foot pavilion was constructed to closely resemble a historic structure at the facility. This basically meant copying the decorative corbels and the trim accents. Concerns of super cooling effects due to the opened sided nature of the pavilion prompted the installation of 3.5 inch nail base insulation (-/+ R26). The .045 mil EPDM was installed over the insulation and turned down the sides of the fascia boards. Pre-finished Kynar Green Roof Edge matching the color scheme of the architectural elements present on the project, was used to conceal the sides of the Green Roof Blocks and to help direct the storm water to the gutter. The modular Green Roof Blocks were then set in place using a crane to hoist four Blocks at one time to the rooftop, 42 in all.|
There are six rows of seven Blocks; two rows of Kamschaticum, two rows of Spurium, and two rows of Sexangulare. This combination provides plenty of winter interest while still having breath taking seasonal blooming. This project displays how a simple modular concept can solve a multitude of roof greening challenges including the price.
Additional thumbnail photos:
|Learn about Green Paks and Green Roof Blocks in The Greenroof Directory here, and for more info, please visit their website.|
|The Greenroof Projects Database is published, designed, and maintained by|
Greenroofs.com, LLC, Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d6844366-d31c-4d69-97a1-8e01e1a76a2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=53 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913688 | 660 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Sue Kedgley congratulates the Manukau City Council for their tough stand on unhygienic food outlets, saying that the public have a right to make informed choices about where they eat.
Ms Kedgley is calling for councils around the country to implement a name and shame policy for outlets which fail to meet the hygiene standards that are required of them.
“Consumers have a right to know which food outlets are practicing in a healthy and safe way, and which are profiting from shabby and unhygienic conditions.
“No one in New Zealand would find it acceptable if they knew that the food they were taking home and feeding to their children had been exposed to rodents and cockroaches first.
“It’s wonderful to see Manukau City Council, through their new hygiene grading system, putting consumers’ health first, and giving people the ability to identify which outlets are serious about customer satisfaction, and which ones aren’t.
“A publicly accessible rating for all food outlets would go a long way to addressing substandard conditions which no doubt exist all around the country and not just in Manukau, as well as recognising those outlets which make the effort to provide excellent hygiene standards.
“I congratulate Manukau City Council on their tough stance, and encourage other councils to look at what they can do to better protect consumer health.” | <urn:uuid:16050c1c-4b11-4584-b651-68fc18216a62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=9860 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964436 | 295 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Comprehension the significance of Armed service payday loans
Stay well informed and you should not fall into the lure of credit card issuers Credit card providers are real corporations and they are here for making gains from us. The tiger traps and hints they prefer in making profits are smothered in fine paper prints. Flourishing using a individuals incapacity to repay his month to month bills by the due date, the creditors fill their coffers. Remaining well informed and utilizing the invitation prudently is your best option which can help credit cards case survive this start. Here we glance at few points credit card banks use to get compensated out of your bank account. Dollars WithdrawalCash drawback through the use of bank cards lures in substantial APR's plus a funds drawback cost.
What a terrific great loss that's going to be! If you have now a present daily life or handicap insurance policy, this will likely improve your odds in discovering a good mortgage regardless of whether online or offline. The explanation for it is that car lenders are usually more self-confident on your fiscal total capacity - in case anything should happen to you, the insurance policy will remove the car loan financial debt very easily.
personal loans You are able to reimburse the money quantity together with the monthly interest in between intervals of one to ten several years. You wouldn't have any overdue payment cost when you join with Loans for the Unemployed Persons. You would need to refill the usual facts inside the on line request and send it in. Your requested amount of money could be authorized in hrs. The essential facts are pursuing conditions which you need to supply via on the web sort:a) Genuine citizenship of British isles. Publish the internet application form with standard facts and it would reach the anchored web site of your mortgage lender.
What you should want for is to get the best bargain in your home inside shortest possible period of time with absolutely no emotionally charged worry or intellectual anxiety. To get the best offer probable it is very important evaluate your premises on their own. This can be achieved without having to spend a lot about the review. Search close to town and look for residences with the exact same conveniences and composition. In truth the afternoon you pay for the house you should start investigating the alteration in importance and increase in fairness over time. This will help you to make a very good income choice when it's your consider remove off of your residence. It will need 5-10 nights for the good business to seek out an buyer happy to purchase residence. Normally organizations who component in quick house income have a very good customer data source and like to give excellent expense the possiblility to their clients. Consequently your customer buys your home probably wants to keep it for choice to lengthy-period and will want to let it back.
It may become that consumer credit card debt is to get a little too hot too fast and requires a shot of money to relieve it. Awkward, the belief that confirmed approval of loans with bad credit virtually prevails may come as anything of a aid when like tight conditions is was adamant on by a few loan companies. The two major types of personal loans: secured and credit card. The real difference together is the fact properly secured loans are tried for with assets available in the software, as you move the alternate offers no like stability. With regards to getting personal loans for those with bad credit, there's no question that this secured model is preferred, either from the lender and the applicant. This is because the extra protection provided by the assets provides a reduced monthly interest. | <urn:uuid:e4054411-d7d9-4074-aa33-b7f61b745ae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.resetsanfrancisco.org/better-government/discussion/comprehension-significance-armed-service-payday-loans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959707 | 719 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Home Instead Senior Care is locally owned and operated. We are passionate about superior in-home care and created this blog in order to provide you with up-to-date, current topics and the latest senior initiatives as you and your family begin to learn exactly what it means to Age in Place. We will bring you outstanding content in regards to many aspects of senior care, including Senior Home Care, Family Relationships, Health and Safety for Seniors, Caregiving, Alzheimer's and Legal and Financial information. Visit us often as we will be updating our content frequently with new relevant senior care information.
June 29th, 2010
Question: My 85-year-old mother loves candles and is always burning them, especially on chilly winter nights. She also often falls asleep with a candle burning. Since she lives alone, I’m worried about her safety.
Your mother could be vulnerable to a very real safety threat. The U.S. Fire Administration says people over the age of 65 have a home fire death rate nearly twice the national average. For those over 75, that risk nearly triples. Older adults account for 32 percent of fire deaths and 12 percent of estimated fire injuries, according to the National Fire Data Center (NFDC) of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA).
June 25th, 2010
My 76-year-old widowed father has always enjoyed socializing and that means parties where alcohol is served. It seems that he is drinking more and I am concerned. I’m worried about his drinking, especially this holiday season when there will be more opportunities. Should I be?
As a matter of fact, older adults who have alcohol dependence problems drink significantly more than do younger adults who have similar problems, a new study from Ohio State University has revealed. Those over age 60 drink more alcohol per drinking session and have more binge episodes than younger Americans.
June 24th, 2010
Question: My 78-year-old widowed mother spends her days on the computer and I’m worried about her lack of companionship. Should I be?
Here’s an interesting study: Spending time online reduces depression by 20 percent for senior citizens, the Phoenix Center reports in a new Policy Paper released recently. In addition to the quality of life benefits, reducing the cases of depression through widespread Internet use among older Americans could trim the nation’s health care bill.
June 22nd, 2010
Question: My 82-year-old mother’s doctor put her on anti-depressants and I’m worried about leaving her alone. Do you have any suggestion?
Your concern may be justified. According to an analysis of previous studies reported in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, older adults who take several types of psychotropic medications such as antidepressants or sedatives appear more likely to experience falls.
Falls are consistently among the leading causes of death and injury for older adults. Each year, 85 percent of all injury-related hospital admissions and more than 40 percent of nursing home admissions are related to falls, and the annual costs associated with falls and their complications are estimated to be in the billions of dollars worldwide.
June 16th, 2010
Question: The last time my 80-year-old father was at his doctor’s office his blood pressure was elevated. The doctor wants to put him on medication, but he doesn’t want any part of that. He just doesn’t seem as interested about his health since mom died. How can I convince him?
You can tell your dad about a recent review of nearly 15 studies over the past nearly 40 years. Those studies show that older people – those 60 and older – seeking treatment for hypertension will live longer, healthier lives.
June 14th, 2010
Helpful Service Provided by Home Instead By Theresa Baethke Home Instead Senior Care in the Greater Phoenix area offers many services to its clients. By allowing us to bill the client’s Long Term Care insurance, many clients and their families are able to focus on more important things. We take the worry and hassle out [...]
June 9th, 2010
It appears that staying home could be the best, with the right resources, that is. A study that was published in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, found that at-home care may be a practical alternative for some patients with suddenly worsening chronic heart failure.
June 8th, 2010
Question: My mother, who is diabetic, takes so many pills that she sometimes gets confused. I worry about her since she lives alone. What are the risks and do you have any suggestions?
An estimated one-third to one-half of all patients in the U.S. don’t take their medications as prescribed by their doctors, according to the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI). Chronic disease patients who do not consistently take their medications often experience preventable worsening of disease, becoming vulnerable to serious medical risks.
June 3rd, 2010
I love coffee, but my daughter is always after me to quit drinking it at my age (86). In fact she thinks my diet isn’t so great, either, since my wife died. I do the best I can and feel pretty good for an old codger.
As it turns out, the evidence continues to grow showing the benefits of caffeine in fighting Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide and a particular favorite for senior citizens who thrive on coffee, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Here’s some interesting findings you can share with your daughter from the report “Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases”:
June 2nd, 2010
While clutter is not a problem unique to seniors, conditions of aging including arthritis can lead to disorder and chaos. June is Home Safety Month, a great time to focus on cleaning up your home.
After all, too much clutter is a safety risk such as slipping on loose papers, threat of fire or the health effects of mold and mildew. Clutter might also make you uncomfortable to have guests in your home. | <urn:uuid:23bfc780-397b-498d-8601-2a18d431345a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homecareinphoenix.com/2010/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968266 | 1,297 | 1.679688 | 2 |
“Sayle, in his dream of unbounded liberty, renamed it Eleutheria or freedom.”
Henry C. Wilkinson
(Page 1 of 3)
Along with the island of Eleuthera, Preacher's Cave was discovered in the 1600s by Captain William Sayles. The placard at the entrance of the cave says “William Sayle shipwrecked at Devil Backbone found refuge here. Sermons held 100 years.” The cave is located approximately 10 miles from North Eleuthera Airport and is on the north shores of Eleuthera adjoining a long and broad sweeping beach called Tay Bay Beach.
We can visualize the first discovery of Preacher's Cave from Everild Young's book Eleuthera: “One can imagine the two tiny ships feeling their way southward with their cargoes of hopes and aspirations, the sea bright, sparkling in the sunshine, and then all of a sudden producing one of those appalling storms that the islanders today call “a rage”. They must have sailed too close to the reefs bounding the northern tip of Eleuthera on the Atlantic side of the island, and been caught by a sudden change of weather.”
Whether the quarrelling on board had an effect in disturbing the navigation of the ships, we do not know, nor is it certain where, exactly, the wreck took place. But it cannot have been far from the northernmost point, now called Ridley's Head , as the castaways are said to have sheltered in a large cave in a bluff near the shore, a little way down the coast, known as Preacher's Cave.”
Next: Preachers Cave - Page 2 >>> | <urn:uuid:07b62606-e9fb-4dda-bc81-737601623d07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eleuthera-map.com/preachers-cave.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95857 | 349 | 3.078125 | 3 |
As fighting between the insurgents of the March 23 Movement (M23) and the military approaches Goma, the capital of the Congolese province of North Kivu, villagers are taking to the roads to avoid getting caught in the crossfire and prevent their children from being kidnapped. The refugees establish makeshift camps, which relief agencies are trying to provide with basic supplies.
The relative calm in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) only lasted for two weeks. On July 24, insurgents from M23 (who joined the Congolese army in 2009 but who defected in March) once again attacked
the Congolese Armed Forces around Rugari and Kimumba, two towns located 30 kilometres to the north of Goma. These towns are seen as the last barriers on the rebels’ road to the provincial capital, according to the country’s diplomats.
Since the start of their offensive three months ago, it seems that the rebels have easily advanced into strategic towns in the region. Their progression has led to authorities fearing an attack on Goma, where the region’s United Nations Peacekeeping Force (MONUSCO) has decided to strengthen its presence by placing tanks around the town
Fleeing the attacks, villagers are abandoning their homes to find refuge in other towns, where national and international aid agencies, working closely together, are trying to distribute water, tents and food supplies. They have to adapt quickly in order to help people where the violence goes, as Simplice Kpandji, information officer at the UN Refugee Agency for the DRC, explains: “As well as the 31 refugee camps in North Kivu which we supervise, there are spontaneous campsites which are set up and then abandoned, according to what is happening in the area. At these sites, there is no organised structure in place to receive refugees. Sometimes they even stay in churches and in schools. In an emergency situation like this, it’s better than nothing. But we still encourage people to go to the official camps because of hygiene concerns in the long-term.
The difference between the “official” and the spontaneous refugee camps is that the former have health centres and are built for humanitarian purposes. At the Goma Mugunga 3 camp, for example, authorities have just provided the UN Refugee Agency with a piece of land to enlarge the camp which, in three months, has gone from housing 2,000 to 10,000 refugees.
Just this week, fighting between the army and the rebels led to 2,000 people hitting the road. They have flooded into Kanyaruchainya camp, a new spontaneous campsite less than 10 kilometres from Goma. In total, more than 220,000 people were displaced by fighting in this region between April and June.
These photos were all taken on Wednesday July 26 at Kanyaruchainya camp by our Observer Alain Wandimoyi. He allowed us to speak to a refugee via telephone. | <urn:uuid:fc3ef6f7-c537-4413-8a0a-62b5405531fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://observers.france24.com/content/20120727-fighting-dr-congo-rebels-children-village-front-line-kidnapped-forced-recruitment-refugee-camp-north-kivu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968506 | 612 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Outdoor Alabama Launches Mobile App
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) has debuted it first official mobile app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The app, Outdoor Alabama, can be downloaded for free from the Apple iTunes store and features a variety of useful tools and information for outdoor enthusiasts.
Features of the Outdoor Alabama app include:
• The ability to purchase an Alabama hunting/fishing license
• The ability to report your harvest through the ADCNR website
• Useful information on hunting and fishing regulations
• Fish identification
• “Near Me” mapping for locating Wildlife Management Areas
• A personalized trophy case for logging and sharing your harvest with friends
“The Outdoor Alabama app was developed with hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts in mind,” said N. Gunter Guy, Jr., ADCNR Commissioner. “This app gives them access to the state’s best outdoor adventures via their smartphone. We encourage everyone to explore this app and share their outdoor experiences with other users.”
Currently there is no Android version of the Outdoor Alabama app. Version 1.0 can be found by searching for “Outdoor Alabama” in the Apple iTunes app store.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and enjoyment of Alabama’s natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Lands, State Parks, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR, visit www.outdooralabama.com. | <urn:uuid:d0227215-79e4-465f-805e-0acbe1a1aac1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alapark.com/press/PrintNews.cfm?ID=1081 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904456 | 318 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Bill West at West in New England gave a challenge in his posting 49 Genealogy Uses for a Flutaphone on Parade,
It’s the Genealogist’s Parade and you have a float in it. It can be on anything or anyone in your family tree or it can reflect your heritage. It can be serious or humorous.
I don't think my relatives would be on a float; they would be marching with Grandpa as Bandmaster and he'd be playing the cornet.
Why would he be bandmaster?
William began playing cornet as a boy of 14 in England and he soon joined a Salvation Army Band. When he came to Canada, he reorganized the Salvation Army Band in Owen Sound. He was its leader for over 20 years. In the 6 August 1988 and 3 February 1990 issues of the War Cry (a Salvation Army newspaper), Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Wood ( R ) shared his memories of William Iles as the band leader in 1914.
In World War I, William enlisted with the 76 battalion and went overseas in March 1916. He was a bandsman and a stretcher bearer. He arrived home on 24 April 1919. When he returned home at the train station, he was met by his friends and relatives and the Salvation Army Band. In 1924, he took over leadership of the Canadian Legion Band. The band was later taken over by the municipality and it became the Owen Sound City Band. He led it for many years and was later deputy bandmaster. He played until he was 76 years old.
Now who else would be in this band? Through the magic of time and space, I would not limit the band members to those of his generation. Of course, his brothers Emmanuel and Harold would be marching along playing their trombones. His six sons along with his nephews. grand-nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren along with a few in-laws who would be playing their chosen instrument -- a partial list would include, Wilf on sousaphone, Cliff on alto horns, Don on drums, Dave on mellaphone, Bob on alto saxophone, Bob and Merv and Harold on baritone saxophones, Greg, Don, Ray and Ken on trumpets, Heather on cornet, Dennis and Clarence on euphoniums, Frank and Jack on trombones, Corrine on flute, Christine on clarinet, with Ann on E flat alto horn. | <urn:uuid:d1400863-9768-4e04-894d-a795c112f01e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://researchergal.blogspot.com/2008/01/genealogists-parade-bill-west-at-west_20.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985894 | 505 | 1.96875 | 2 |
"The secret of happiness lies not in events, but in our response to them." - Barry Kaufman
As the pace of change increases in the 21st century, the ability to adapt quickly is becoming one of life's vital skills. Not adapting can result in feelings of anxiety, depression and victimization.
William Bridges helps us understand the natural response to change with his four stages of transition: denial, endings, neutral zone and new beginnings. The denial stage is when we minimize or ignore the change. In the ending phase we realize what is really over and it's when we can experience depression, anger and helplessness.
The neutral phase is when we find ourselves somewhere in between the old way and the new way. This is the time when everything appears to be falling apart or disintegrating and we experience feelings of frustration and anxiety. But the good news is that near the end of the neutral phrase is when discoveries can be made about the new beginning. This is the time when new insights and ideas move us into new beginnings and we regain a sense of confidence and stability-until the next change occurs!
Recognizing our movement through these stages and not getting stuck is the critical skill of change management. We can thrive in change when we are quick to observe the personal discoveries that accompany every change.
Problem Solving Quick Tips
Managing Transitions – by William Bridges
Making the Most of Change. From one of the most trusted voices on transition, a thoroughly updated and expanded edition of the classic guide to dealing with the human side of organizational change. (Perseus Books Group, 2003)
Thriving in Transition – by Marcia Perkins-Reed
Effective Living in Times of Change. A practical guide to making the changes in your life work for you. (Simon & Schuster, 1996)
Additional Web Resources | <urn:uuid:ba729f32-5697-470d-b1e2-8564238fa393> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/eap/problem-solving/change/Pages/home.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922661 | 371 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Flu season remains mild in Oklahoma
Oklahoma hasn't yet seen a peak in the number of flu cases reported. Public health officials recommend getting your flu shot to help keep that number low.
Flu season remains mild
Oklahoma continues to see a light flu season so far, state health officials said.
Two new cases were reported at the state Health Department last week, bringing the total to 11 cases since Sept. 30, the first day of flu season in Oklahoma. Oklahoma didn't see a peak in its last flu season until late February and early March.
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, Alaska is the only state with widespread cases of the flu, according to the CDC. Oklahoma is among several states that have reported sporadic cases of the flu.
Public health officials continue to recommend that residents get their flu vaccine, for it can impact the number of people who contract the flu. Many pharmacies and primary care physicians offer the flu vaccine.
Also, county health departments have the flu vaccine available in multiple forms, including as a shot and also as a nasal spray. Children and adults at a certain income level can get the flu shot for free or at a discounted price.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
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- 11468How to help tornado victims | <urn:uuid:556cef92-8118-45a6-92d8-1e6b0ebcc101> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsok.com/flu-season-remains-mild-in-oklahoma/article/3733172?custom_click=pod_headline_health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951485 | 385 | 2.21875 | 2 |
September 23, 2008
From pro basketball to urban farming… only in America!
One of Wisconsin’s few African-American farmers, Allen, a former professional basketball player in the ABA, founded Growing Power in 1993 in Milwaukee to help teach inner-city kids about the origins of their food. It has expanded to include satellite-training sites in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Mississippi.
The group’s high-quality produce and grass-fed meats are sold through farmer’s markets that target inner city neighborhoods in Chicago and Milwaukee, where access to fresh food is often difficult and expensive.
Here’s the link to the Growing Power website.
May 23, 2008
The New York Times this week has a story about Greensgrow Farms in North Philadelphia, producing hydroponically-grown greens and also connecting urban consumers with regional producers of meats, cheeses, and other vegetables. I’m intrigued by the financial information that the article contains:
The farm earned about $10,000 on revenue of $450,000 in 2007, and hopes to make a profit of 5 percent on $650,000 in revenue in this, its 10th year, so it can open another operation elsewhere in Philadelphia.
Although no one at Greensgrow is getting rich from the operation – after 10 years’ work, Ms. Corboy is making an annual salary of $65,000 – there is a sense that their time has come.
This is all on one acre of land. And I really like the idea of combining the working farm with other operations, such as honeybees and seedlings. | <urn:uuid:c5cdcd8a-8e80-4fbf-b932-de6c9afaca6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kaleforce.wordpress.com/category/urban-farming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959113 | 334 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Assuming two different trips - one with a current and one without, what is a reasonable speed to assume for a journey?
First - Norfolk, VA to Bermuda to the Azores to Liverpool
Second - Liverpool to the Azores to Bermuda to Norfolk, VA. (funny how I did that, no?)
I'm trying to get an understanding of how fast a regular sailboat, not using power, traverses a wide body of ocean, both with and against a current. A rough order of magnitude for a lesiurely rate of speed is what I'm after here.
As far as size goes, consider a private craft, again, under sail, not engine, maybe 30' - 40'. The idea would be a boat two people could crew and afford :). Feel free to make other assumptions- the idea is to understand if I'm talking days, weeks, or months. | <urn:uuid:ad21149f-c4c9-419f-a561-84afcb8e065f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/11518/how-fast-can-one-expect-to-travel-in-an-ocean-going-sailboat/11525 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955905 | 182 | 2.171875 | 2 |
|Core: noun, the most important part of a thing, the essence; from the Latin cor, meaning heart.|
|Needless Commentary from Small-Town America|
The Weblog at The View from the Core - Friday, October 29, 2004
A poem by Russ Vaughn.
Our favorite Screaming Eagle Poet writes to The Blog from the Core again.
The question you must ask yourself,
See also these.
Apparently, Sheik Osama bin Laden is alive and channeling Michael Moore:
.... Bin Laden suggested Bush was slow to react to the Sept. 11 attacks, giving the hijackers more time than they expected. At the time of the attacks, the president was listening to schoolchildren in Florida reading a book.
"It never occurred to us that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone," he said, referring to the number of people who worked at the World Trade Center.
"It appeared to him (Bush) that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God," he said.
In planning the attacks, bin Laden said he told Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers, that the strikes had to be carried out "within 20 minutes before Bush and his administration noticed." ....
That, Faithful Reader, does not surprise me at all.
Indeed, seeing as how Fahrenheit 9/11 was reported to be very popular in the Middle East, would it be too much to speculate that bin Laden is, indeed, taking his cues from Michael Moore?
One is tempted to make fun. But I think that would be unwise. It occurs to me that Osama's sudden reappearance may be a signal to his cohorts.
Kedwards vs. Kerry
Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCCXCIII
I saw Pat Caddell who used to be a pollster for Jimmy Carter on Hannity & Colmes the other night. He said that he couldn't believe the Kerry campaign was jumping on the "missing" Iraqi explosives "story". If I were advising the Kerry campaign, he said (though I don't remember his exact words), I would not be telling them to do this. Though I don't always think Dick Morris is on target, he explains why Caddell said that, at NYP today (ellipses in original).
+ + + + +
Here's a two-part test to determine who will win on Tuesday:
a) Ask yourself: What is the issue we are talking about these days? Are we focused on terrorism and Iraq, or on health care and jobs? The answer is obvious: terrorism and Iraq.
b) Now look at the polls. Not the page that shows who they're voting for. That changes every hour. Look at the page that asks, "Which candidate do you think would do the best job of handling the war in Iraq?"
The answer is always President Bush, usually by 10 points. And right below that, on "Which candidate do you think would do the best job of handling the War on Terror?" Bush leads again, usually by 20 points.
If the issue is terrorism and Iraq, and Bush wins those issues by double digits, then the winner will be... voila, Bush!
John Kerry was on the verge of moving out to a victory after the third debate. Taking advantage of its pre-ordained focus on domestic issues, he had finally, finally swung the debate back to the issues on which he has — and has always had — a lead: domestic policy. Next he got a short-term bounce from Bill Clinton's presence on the campaign trail and seemed on his way to closing the Bush lead.
Then came the "disappearing explosives" story. Kerry's handlers, tacticians to the last, disregarded the needs of basic strategy and hopped on the issue with all four feet, running a TV ad lambasting Bush for losing the weapons after the invasion.
Strategically, this flawed decision assured that the final week of the campaign would focus on the areas of Bush's strength and Kerry's weakness: Iraq and terrorism. Tactically, it tied the electorate's confidence in John Kerry to the mystery of what actually happened in an ammo dump in the desert 18 months ago.
Then it began to explode in Kerry's face. Soon we heard that there were only three tons of explosives... and they weren't there when we occupied the dump... and they were removed by the Russians before we got there... and, perhaps, there are satellite photos to prove it.
All of a sudden, Kerry seems just not ready for prime time.
The backfire is amplified by the involvement of CBS and The New York Times. The plans of "60 Minutes" and Dan Rather to break the story on the Sunday before the election reflect overt partisan bias — an overt conspiracy of these leading outlets to stack the deck in favor of Kerry.
This controversy unraveling in front of us all, replete with conspiracy theories and denouement of media bias, is enough to occupy our attention and rivet our focus as Election Day approaches. It will drive all other stories off the front pages and will make the war in Iraq the key element in the election.
At this writing, the possibility that the alleged al Qaeda tape virtually endorsing Kerry will hit the airwaves makes one even more confident of a Bush victory. A threat to let blood run in the streets of America if Bush wins won't intimidate voters, but rather remind them of the importance of sending a warrior to fight the terrorists — and seal Bush's victory.
+ + + + +
The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.
Now, as I understand things today, there's still a great deal of confusion about what happened to the "missing" explosives. It may very well be that they were there when our forces reached al-Qaqqa. Or, maybe not. And the Russians got them out. Or maybe not. Whatever.
Still, it was a strategic blunder for Kedwards to take the focus away from where they could claim (emphasis on claim) some strength domestic policy and put it where Bush's real strength lies.
To All Politicians
A hearty welcome to the 21st century.
That would be Core's Law of New Media There Is No Such Thing As Local News Anymore: In the Internet Age, anything anybody has said anywhere, anytime, can sooner or later become known everywhere else in action.
"The Power of the Will"
VDH writes at NRO today:
.... Because of our astounding weaponry and superb military, the terrorists in Fallujah count on the help of such postmodern Western guilt and internecine blame to supply constraints on the American military every bit as effective as the old Soviet nuclear deterrent. Again, a Michael Moore — or so they believe — is worth an entire jihadist cell. Our parents were terrified that, should America resort to military force abroad, they would be nuked; we are even more scared that our lethality will earn us the parlor disdain of the French and Germans. The terrorists are assured that the Western press is obsessed with Abu Ghraib, but not at all with Saddam's necropolis or their own slaughter of innocents. They suspect that those who endured Omaha and Utah or scaled Suribachi are long sleeping in their graves, and that a few thousand creeps in Fallujah scare us more than a quarter million in the Bulge did our parents.
So yes, it is a strange war. Jihadists are amused that a few American soldiers, worried over their safety, can refuse orders, call 7,000 miles home in anguish, and expect that their complaints, handed over by Mom to the local TV station, will turn up on national cable news before their own commanders in the field even know what is up. A teenaged terrorist with a RPG, being filmed as he is killed, is every bit as an effective soldier through his globally broadcast death than had he lived on to hit his target Humvee with his rocket in the first place. We don't ask, "Which school-builder or power-restorer was he trying to obliterate?" but rather "Why did we have to kill him?"
When the Islamists behead a tearful Englishman or American, it is more likely that his surviving dad or sibling back home will be on television all over the Middle East within minutes damning Tony Blair or George Bush, without a word of censure for the Dark-Age head-loppers. After all, we are not Nepalese who storm the local mosque and put the fear of God into Islamists when they butcher our own. We are more likely to be frightened, turn on ourselves, and condemn some American somewhere who cannot stop "this."
But cannot our self-induced forbearance vanish as soon as we decide enough is enough? Should the American government ignore the EU hysteria, tell Kofi Annan to worry about his son's crooked shenanigans and not Americans' killing terrorists, and simply take Fallujah — as part of a larger effort to correct the laxity of the past and finish the war — then we would surely win. The fallout would be as salutary as our present restraint is disastrous. Like the murderous Pakistani madrassa zealots who flocked to Tora Bora only to be incinerated, Fallujah would not stand as a mecca for the jihadists, but an Armageddon better to watch on television than die in....
"Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder: Old Abe's Cure"
I got this in an e-mail yesterday:
Not sure exactly how this works, but it is amazingly accurate.
Read the full description before looking at the picture below.
The following photo has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress level at St. Mary's Hospital. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical.
A closely monitored, scientific study of a group revealed that in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins. If there are many differences found between both dolphins, it means that the person is experiencing a high level of stress.
Look at the photograph. If you find more than one or two differences, you badly need a vacation.
"A Time for Counting"
A poem by John Hearn, inspired by Autumnal Miniatures.
A Time for Counting
Aged by the swift season of the sun,
See also these.
Re: Something Wicked This Way Comes
A reader writes:
I agree with you and cannot believe that we have come to this pass in our beloved country. When asked if there would be violence after the election, Elizabeth Edwards answered, "Not if we win." How come the news media did not go ballistic at this threat?
That nearly half the electorate is willing to vote for a traitor to our country, a man who suddenly talks religion with a "wink, wink" to his partisans, a man who chose as his running mate an ambulance chaser Edwards sued a vaccine maker and dares to blame Bush for the shortage of flu vaccine.
That we have gone from acknowledging that homosexuals should not be persecuted to homosexual marriage in about two weeks time tells you something sick about our prevailing culture if the offerings of TV shows did not already do that.
Finally, most of our free press is owned and operated by people who hate all that our country is and stands for; now they openly shill for Kerry and create bogus news stories to sway the electorate.
We are in serious trouble when an honorable and brilliant man, Alan Keyes, is derided as a lunatic and/or "would-be-Pope" by the Illinois press for arguing that we are making moral choices when we vote.
Election Day Novena VI
Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.
In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.
Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.
Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.
The ubiquitous Earl Appleby has added his own petition:
And, dear Lord, we pray that in the next presidential election we might have a candidate whom we could support wholeheartedly, without moral or mental reservation, rather than one whom we feel duty bound to vote against in defense of every scrap of moral decency that yet remains in our once Christian nation.
Another novena continues at Knitting a Conundrum.
.... St. Thomas More,
And Veritas has also blogged the novena.
|The Blog from the Core © 2002-2008 E. L. Core. All rights reserved.|
|Needless Commentary from Small-Town America|
|The View from the Core, and all original material, © 2002-2004 E. L. Core. All rights reserved.|
|Cor ad cor loquitur J. H. Newman Heart speaks to heart| | <urn:uuid:994dc529-973d-4c6c-ab6e-f3fe023f5201> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblog.theviewfromthecore.com/2004_10/day_29.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967653 | 2,841 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A growing number of petitions in various states are popping up online in support of seceding from the nation.
Alabama is one of them.
Allen Carter talked with the man behind the petition drive in Mobile.
FOR DERRICK BELCHER THE RE-ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA WAS THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK.
I don't think the federal government is being fair to the American people.
I think they are being overbearing.
They are taxing us to death and they are taking away our freedoms at a breakneck speed.
BUT BELCHER SAYS HE WANTS TO GET THOSE FREEDOM'S BACK.
AN ONLINE PETITION.
This is a petition asking the government to let Alabama secede from the union.
YES YOU HEARD IT RIGHT.
STRAIGHT OUT OF THE DAYS OF LINCOLN, BELCHER WANTS ALABAMA TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE UNITED STATES.
It says we petition the state of Alabama to peacefully grant the state of Alabama to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.
IT'S A TALL ORDER AND MAY BE FAIR FETCHED AND UNREALISTIC PLAN.
I don't think it will amount to much more than a hill of beans, but I get where the guy is coming from.
BUT BELCHER CERTAINLY ISN'T ALONE IN HIS FEELINGS.
HE'S SHOOTING FOR 25-THOUSAND SIGNATURES, BUT HE'S ALREADY HE'S GOTTEN MORE THAN 11-THOUSAND, WHICH IRONICALLY IS HOSTED ON THE WHITE HOUSE WEB SITE.
I do think that it is something that can happen here and I do think that they will have to take it seriously because when 25-thousand people speak up and say this is what we want, they are making some noise.
AND PEOPLE FROM AT LEAST 20-OTHER STATES HAVE SIMILAR PETITIONS UP.
AND, DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK, THEY'LL ALL HAVE A SIMILAR FATE.
I'm not sure the right idea is to say down with big government.
I believe one day we will need that big government and it is here to stay.
It is part of our world.
I would be disappointed, but it is still worth doing.
At least we have the opportunity and we are not going to have the opportunity if we don't start somewhere and this is the place that we need to start.
According to the White House website, if a petition gets 25-thousand signatures in a month, it will be reviewed by White House staffers.
They will then officially respond to it.
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Classic Pacman, Frogger, Asteroids and more.
Sell almost anything locally. | <urn:uuid:93ec1a31-56b3-472a-8cef-03c2ccfb0628> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtvy.com/news/headlines/AL-Petition-to-Secede-179222431.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918593 | 646 | 1.585938 | 2 |
WEDNESDAY, November 10 (Health.com) — Controlling your cholesterol in middle age is good for your heart and blood vessels, but according to a new study, it may not lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease, as some research has suggested.
High cholesterol levels have been linked to the buildup of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s. However, studies exploring the relationship between cholesterol levels in midlife and dementia down the road have had mixed results. The new study, which appears in the journal Neurology, is the latest to question the long-term link between cholesterol and dementia.
Researchers in Sweden and the U.S. followed 1,462 Swedish women between the ages of 38 and 60 for more than three decades. All of the women were dementia-free when the study began; by the end, 11% had developed Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
The women who had higher-than-average cholesterol levels at the start of the study did not appear to be at greater risk for dementia than women with low cholesterol, the study found. “On neither an individual nor population level can we determine whether a person will develop dementia based on a midlife cholesterol level,” the authors concluded.
By contrast, women whose cholesterol levels declined over the course of the study did appear to be at greater risk. More than 17% of the women whose cholesterol dropped the most went on to develop dementia, compared to just 9% of the women whose cholesterol levels held steady, the study found.
Drops in cholesterol aren’t thought to cause dementia. Instead, the appetite changes and weight loss that often accompany the onset of dementia can cause cholesterol levels to fall, says Mary Haan, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“That’s why a low cholesterol level is associated with a lower risk when you would expect that to be the other way around,” says Haan, who wrote an editorial on the study but wasn’t involved in the research.
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs did not play a significant role in the results, since the vast majority of the study, which ended in 2000, took place before statins became widely used.
Haan cautions that the relationship between cholesterol levels and dementia risk could be different in men, who tend to have higher cholesterol for a longer period of time in middle age than women. “Midlife cholesterol may have a stronger effect on dementia in men than in women, and late-life cholesterol might affect dementia in women more than men,” she says.
And it’s possible that the study underestimated the link between cholesterol and dementia, Haan adds. Long-term studies in older people are often inexact because of the high proportion of participants who die or drop out, she explains.
The study results do not give middle-aged people license to let their cholesterol levels run wild, of course. The authors, led by Michelle Mielke, PhD, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Md., emphasize that people should continue to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and, if necessary, take medication to control their cholesterol levels and minimize their risk of heart disease. | <urn:uuid:2d2ccf83-fbd6-47ad-a0b6-908b68373cf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.health.com/2010/11/10/cholesterol-dementia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951127 | 668 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Impact Wrench features ergonomic design.
July 18, 2005 -
Covered in soft elastomer compound that absorbs vibration and provides slip-resistant grip, ½ in. WR16SA is constructed with aluminum housing intertwined with injection molded inner nylon core. Armature bearing is seated in aluminum to withstand heat and stress resulting from extreme use. Weighing 6.17 lb, this 10.15 in. long tool uses 4.2 A, 480 W motor to produce up to 3,190 lb-in. torque and generate up to 1,900 rpm for impact rate of 2,100 ipm.
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
|Original Press release |
Hitachi Power Tools
3950 Steve Reynolds Blvd.
Norcross, GA, 30093
Hitachi's New Impact Wrench, the WR16SA Offers Class Leading Torque and Ergonomic 'Inspire' Design
NORCROSS, GA., July 8, 2005 - Hitachi Power Tools today announced its new ½" Impact Wrench, the WR16SA, that offers a class leading torque of 3,190 in/lbs and features Hitachi's new Inspire Design incorporating ergonomic features that improve comfort and adds durability. Designed for extreme use, the WR16SA offers the ultimate in power to accomplish the most demanding fastening applications with ease.
With its powerful 4.2 Amp, 480 Watt motor, the WR16SA produces class-leading torque. It generates 1,900 RPM and an impact rate of 2,100 IPM making it more than capable to overcome stubborn fasteners. The wrench is ideal for tightening and loosening nuts and bolts in the automobile, ship building, agricultural and construction industry. It is also useful when assembling scaffolding, installing electrical equipment, plumbing, HVAC installation and other various fastening applications.
The armature bearing on the WR16SA is seated in aluminum, not plastic, to withstand the high heat and stress resulting from extreme use. It is constructed using Hitachi's patented IDI technology that enables the aluminum housing to be intertwined with an injection molded inner nylon core. This technology combines the durability of an all metal body tool with the double insulation advantages of today's tools with plastic housings. This improves tool reliability and greatly extends tool life.
The WR16SA impact wrench is covered in a soft, yet durable elastomer compound, which absorbs vibration. The elastomer coating also provides a comfortable and slip-resistant grip and prevents the tool from sliding off a surface when not in use. The handle is angled outward in order to ergonomically conform to the way a hand grips the tool during repetitive use. The large nose bumper protects the tool's gear cover and additionally protects the user from heat if touched during continuous operation. A large forward/reverse rocker switch is designed for convenience to quickly change the fastening direction. At only 6.17lbs and 10.15" in length, the WR16SA is the lightest and most compact impact wrench in its class reducing end user fatigue and allowing for flexible maneuvering in tight situations.
This ½" impact wrench reflects the ergonomic "Inspire Design" being implemented by Hitachi Power Tools. Hitachi is pioneering yet another new trend in the industry- tools that incorporate the latest technology with ergonomic design- a look that will modernize the traditional shop or jobsite.
For more information including the full line of Hitachi products and support, please contact Hitachi Power Tools at 1-800-829-4752 or visit www.hitachipowertools.com
HITACHI POWER TOOLS U.S.A.
Hitachi Power Tools carries an extensive line of professional grade tools and accessories for: woodworking, metalworking, concrete drilling and cutting, as well as a complete line of pneumatic nailers, staplers, compressors and collated fasteners. During the 1980s Hitachi Power Tools U.S.A. built its reputation for quality on the success of its pneumatic framing nailer and sliding compound miter saws. In 1995 Hitachi Power Tools U.S.A. was renamed Hitachi Koki U.S.A. to denote the addition of manufacturing to the United States.
From headquarters in Atlanta, GA, and satellite offices in Chatsworth CA and Toronto ONT, Hitachi Koki U.S.A. supports nearly 2000 retail locations carrying Hitachi tools and over 1000 authorized service centers. The field sales force and service technicians constantly provide information to engineers to refine and upgrade the product selection. Many tools in the line are designed and offered for use only in North America. With dozens of new models already in development, Hitachi Power Tools enters the 21st century with Hitachi Koki U.S.A. continuing to offer the highest level of professional power tools available. | <urn:uuid:ae003b39-a3e9-458b-9176-efc9103673fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/Impact-Wrench-features-ergonomic-design-465394 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910105 | 1,013 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Date: August 2009
Creator: Godfrey, David Wayne
Description: Many are beginning to see the promise that the quantum world has offered those who manage and lead organizations (Wheatley, 1992; Zohar, 1997). The Newtonian world is one in which all "things" are reduced to their smallest parts, separated, divided, and analyzed with predictability, with complete control being the ultimate goal. The quantum world is one of infinite possibilities, infinite fields of influence, and infinite relationships. The hallmark characteristics found in a manager who has been schooled in the quantum sciences are flexibility, responsiveness, synchronicity, serendipity, creativity, innovation, participation, and motivation. In a quantum organization there is the constant awareness of the whole system, but there is also diversity (wave or particle), which allows for self-organization that is based on the environment and its requirements. In the quantum world many paths lead from A to Z, and depending on the path chosen, numerous realities wait to unfold. It was the goal of this research to explore the changing of leader behaviors through exposure to the models and theories found in quantum physics. From a quantum perspective this behavior change is possible; the only question is the readiness, willingness, and ability of the leaders to allow their behaviors to be surfaced ...
Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries | <urn:uuid:fa31bab2-74fa-4c66-b699-9f8abc9e030d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTETD/browse/?fq=str_degree_discipline%3AApplied+Technology+and+Performance+Improvement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948366 | 275 | 2.609375 | 3 |
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for students across the globe. Learn about our global history and the presidential movement that formed our company. | <urn:uuid:4b02f90e-9e22-47b6-9eb9-e28690f2101d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://peopletopeople.com/our-programs/leadership-ambassadors | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906424 | 200 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Check out my new piece up at On This Deity.
It happened in a quarry behind a prison camp on the outskirts of Châteaubriand. In three groups of nine, twenty-seven men were lined up. Behind them a pit to fall into. Before them a row of German guns. It was the 22nd of October 1941 and terrible scenes such as this were happening throughout Europe. For one reason or another, some of those events have echoed louder in the pages of history than others. And the brutal slayings that took place in that quarry near Nantes have echoed as loudly as any. For it was there that Guy Môquet’s short life was ended. He stood defiantly with his 26 comrades and faced the guns, refusing a blindfold so he could look his killers in the eye. He cried out Vive la France! as the fascists opened fire. | <urn:uuid:ae4d949a-a666-49f0-adef-6a06b5150cdd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://numero57.net/tag/guy-moquet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992851 | 181 | 1.507813 | 2 |
OpenCL: What You Need to Know
Apple was stingy with details about Snow Leopard when it briefly previewed the next version of OS X at this summer's Worldwide Developers Conference. But based on the company's public statements about the OS X update, we know that Snow Leopard features some new technology that promises to more thoroughly utilize the potential processing capability of the powerful graphics processors included with many Macs. Apple is promoting the technology, OpenCL, as a new open standard for graphics.
But what is OpenCL exactly?
According to the information put out by Apple at WWDC, OpenCL--or Open Computing Language--"lets any application tap into the vast gigaflops of GPU computing power previously available only to graphics applications." The technology is based on the C programming language, according to Apple.
But beyond the short description contained in a Snow Leopard press release, Apple hasn't had much to say publicly about OpenCL. However, the company is promoting it as a new standard through the Khronos Group --an industry consortium that manages open standards including OpenGL and OpenGL ES. Mac users will recognize those as the graphics technology used by Mac OS X and iPhone OS X, respectively.
OpenCL is the latest manifestation of a processing technique that's been around for a while known as General-Purpose Computing on Graphics Processing Units. GPGPU helps to offload a personal computer's computationally intensive processes to its graphics chip, such as those that might be found on a Mac equipped with an ATI or Nvidia graphics card or processor.
Such chips are designed to be high-performance parallel-processing engines, which makes them ideally suited for certain types of computing tasks--physics modeling in 3-D CAD software and games, for instance--or image processing technology, as might be used by film and video editing and compositing software.
For a very long time, GPUs were locked away from the rest of the computer, available only for graphics tasks through the drivers developed by Nvidia and ATI and tweaked by their manufacturing partners. With the advent of programmable vertex and fragment shading technology, graphics chip makers have gradually loosened the reins on graphics processing units.
In recent years, Nvidia and AMD have both rolled out competing technologies to accomplish this: Nvidia calls its technology Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) and AMD, through its ATI subsidiary, calls its technology Close To Metal (CTM). Both accomplish the same thing: They let programmers write code that enables them to send data to the GPU to be processed, rather than having to rely on the CPU.
Not content to yield the performance graphics market to competitor AMD, Intel is preparing its "Larabee" microprocessor for release in 2009. It will be the first chip design that puts Intel on a level playing field with AMD and Nvidia for graphics performance. Unfortunately, it's yet another code path that developers will need to master before they can reap the benefits of high-performance code.
With no end in sight to the constant escalation of competing graphics technologies from AMD and Nvidia--and with Intel now acting as a wildcard--all bets are off at this point. So developing platform-neutral GPGPU technology only makes sense. And that seems to be where Apple's focus is with OpenCL.
To develop OpenCL as a standard, the Khronos Group has created a new "Compute Working Group" and has recruited a number of participants, inclduing ATI parent company AMD, Nvidia, Apple, and others. The Compute Working Group was announced earlier this year, just a week after Apple introduced Snow Leopard. Khronos' hope in introducing the Compute Working Group is to develop OpenCL as a standard around the C programming language--something that would be accessible to just about any software developer.
Siggraph, the gathering of graphics technology industry leaders and professionals, happens in Los Angeles later this month. Khronos and the Compute Working Group are expected to make an appearance. As for Snow Leopard, Apple said in June that the next major update to Mac OS X would ship in about a year. | <urn:uuid:63bf3729-0adc-4093-a0c7-d7d37f5e914a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcworld.com/article/149500/article.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9447 | 831 | 2.921875 | 3 |
With the new part of speech functionality, OmegaWiki sees a lot of activity of another kind. For the first languages some of the parts of speech have been indentified. The system is by necessity laborious; all the parts of speech have to be identified for all languages because we do not assume that a particular part of speech exists in a language.
Siebrand did a lot of work on identifying the parts of speech for the Dutch language. As a consequence we do not only have the "verb" but also the "copula". The idea is that when people know how to identify a verb as a verb, they can and may. When someone is able to identify more precisely, they can. In the mean time, when we get functionality for inflecting verbs, it should work on both.
Having functionality come on-line in small bytes, is in line with the motto of Open Source/Free Software; publish often. It really helps. I can imagine the many refinements and expansions on what we have at the moment. It is relevant to realize that our software is still very much pre-alpha. It is not complete, but it demonstrates how the functionality is growing making our dream a reality. | <urn:uuid:ea65d313-97b5-4839-9ae4-a8692b098e67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://omegawiki.blogspot.com/2006/12/flurry-of-activities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957626 | 246 | 2.453125 | 2 |
I think the church has been given a gift in Andy Crouch’s Culture Making. Before I say anything else, I need to offer a command: read this book.
As Christian people we are called to create and offer culture to the world. As human beings we are created in God’s image. When we create, we reflect our Creator. As Crouch illustrates in his book, this motif is evident in the Genesis account, but is not confined there. Culture making takes place throughout the biblical narrative. The biblical story, being our story, invites us to a life of faithfulness that includes creating spaces in our communities where the life of the Kingdom is found manifest. This can be in a group as small as a family or tightly knit group of friends, but can grow to be larger.
In the third part of his book, Crouch illustrates how we can go about creating culture. The task begins very small. The context for culture making is named as The 3, The 12, and The 120. The principle is simple. Crouch cites examples from movies, books (writer, editor, publisher), and forms of government that focus centrally on about three people, widens to around 12, and reaches to approximately 120. The numbers aren’t always exact, but they fall near that range. Christians will immediately think of Jesus, his inner circle, the twelve, and then other disciples (the 70, for example) that Jesus commissioned during his ministry.
When we think of creating culture, whether we are lay leaders, ordained clergy, or other church staff, we never go about creating culture by ourselves. We need others. Crouch states:
Absolutely no one makes culture alone. There may be periods of solitude where we work alone to shape our contribution to our own cultural sphere and scale. But for our work alone to bear any fruit at all, we will need to join with a 3. So one of the most important questions for our calling is, Who are your 3? Who are the few people you trust enough to risk creating something together? What is the cultural sphere and scale where you could imagine successfully proposing a cultural good? Who might be members of your 12? Who might be drawn into the circle of the 120 who will eventually lend their effort and energy to moving the horizons of possibility with you?
These are all great questions. So, who are your 3? Who are your 12? And who are your 120? And what are you creatively discerning and formulating together for the good? What will you invite others to take part in?
Surround yourself with friends, dream big, and get to work. May God bless your labors. | <urn:uuid:21937cc6-c719-4bad-b17e-a8abf51dd121> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://epiteleo.wordpress.com/tag/culture-making/ | 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 | 0.968994 | 546 | 1.90625 | 2 |
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Today's Top News
Disorderly or Not, America Should Withdraw
Foreign policy is normally formulated in terms of interests and threats. Since the dramatization of the terrorist threat by the al-Qaida attacks on the United States in 2001, the order has been reversed and analyses emphasize threats over interest. Yet threats are many, and interests -- vital interests that concern the security of a nation -- are by nature limited. When the two are confused, it is easy to fail to discriminate among necessity, prudence and advantage in making policy -- and beyond that, to risk losing your grasp on what is feasible.
The New York Times published an editorial last week demanding that the American presidential candidates debate what they intend to do about "a swift and orderly withdrawal from Iraq." Such a withdrawal surely is desirable, and is what Barack Obama has promised, but is it feasible?
What about a disorderly withdrawal? What if that is the only available withdrawal? In that case, is it the larger American interest to stay indefinitely in Iraq, fighting on for the sake of staying, or to leave in disorder?
What if the Iraq government tells the United States to leave, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has threatened in his negotiations with Washington on what terms the United States would be allowed to stay beyond the U.N. mandate that ends Dec. 31. He has refused the U.S. demands originally made -- for total extraterritoriality and sovereign freedom of action, together with authority to seize and imprison Iraqi individuals.
The Defense Department and this administration are ferociously committed to staying in Iraq, in order to hold onto the huge military bases constructed there, and for Iraq's oil. They will pay a lot for that, but if Maliki should stick to his demand for Iraqi sovereignty over the U.S. military, they would look for an alternative. Perhaps a new Iraqi government? Maliki himself might gamble on a new government-a new one in Washington.
But actually how important are the U.S. bases? Edward Luttwak, an astute and unsentimental commentator, recently wrote in Britain's Prospect magazine that the Middle East is no longer important enough to fight over. He said the Arab-Israel conflict has been largely irrelevant strategically since the Cold War ended, and "global dependence on Middle Eastern oil is declining" -- which despite the speculation-driven run-up in the oil price is still true.
In any case, oil's availability does not, and never has, depended on military domination of the region. Oil sells on an international market to those who can buy it, and no significant producer can afford to boycott the biggest purchasers, the U.S., Japan and Western Europe. As Charles Glass (a former prisoner of Hezbollah in Lebanon) comments, Luttwak's conclusion logically should be that the U.S. stop giving $5.5 billion in aid annually to Israel and selling billions of dollars worth of jet aircraft, heavy armor and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, a country that has never fought a war.
It should also get out of Iraq, whether in orderly or disorderly fashion, since what happens afterward is surely the business of the Iraqis, who in the past -- before the 2003 invasion -- have always managed in one way or another to settle their own affairs. What happens to Iraq now can pose no serious threat to the United States.
"It could become a terrorist training ground" is the witless objection usually heard regarding a departure in disorder. But surely the terrorists have no need of even more "training grounds" than they already have. An isolated farm or ranch in Utah could serve just as well as a training ground, and the training comes without cost via the Internet.
A very senior figure in the Washington policy community, Simon Safarty of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently listed what are "increasingly agreed" to be the "non-traditional" threats Europeans and Americans should worry about, in addition to the threat of "terrorist groups of global reach and potential access to weapons of mass destruction." These other threats are: "WMD diversification and proliferation, failed states, organized crime, access to energy, climate change, pandemics, and more."
Well, yes. But suppose this is a list of life's problems that neither the Americans nor the Europeans are likely to solve, even using the "complex mixture of military and civilian capabilities along with a combination of institutional tools, both national and multilateral," that he recommends. Maybe we have to live with them. Or maybe, like Luttwak's Middle East, some of them are just not very important.
The New York Times editorial congratulated Obama on his intention to have the U.S. "withdraw from Iraq so it can finish the fight in Afghanistan," where the Allies' situation is deteriorating and more U.S soldiers are being killed than in Iraq. But just how will President Obama (or President McCain) "finish off" the Taliban?
Early in the election campaign, Obama suggested doing it by invading Pakistan, an American ally, where al-Qaida and the Taliban take refuge. Then the United States could simultaneously fight the Pakistan army, the Taliban, al-Qaida and the tribal warriors of Waziristan. Where's the vital American interest in that?
Visit William Pfaff's Web site at www.williampfaff.com.
© 2008 Tribune Media Services, Inc. | <urn:uuid:f0accf85-83f6-4ae0-811d-1bd537aa5164> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/11/10291 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953114 | 1,198 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday killed a bull moose that had lingered in the Wilmington Notch and drawn much public attention over the past few days.
DEC spokesman Dave Winchell told the Enterprise that his agency assessed the moose and determined it had significant injuries to both of its hind legs and that its condition was deteriorating. It has essentially been in the same spot of the West Branch of the AuSable River since Saturday.
"It is unlikely the moose would have been able to remove itself from the ravine and the animal most likely would have died there," Winchell told the Enterprise in an email. "Removal of the moose while it was alive was unsafe for both the moose and people involved in that activity.
A bull moose stands in the West Branch of the AuSable River Tuesday morning. An orange mark by its eye is from state wildlife officials shooting it with paintballs to try to get it to move to a place with fewer people passing by.
(Photo — Richard Gonyea)
"In addition, the moose created a public safety concern with people and vehicles traveling the narrow road through the Wilmington Notch. The mix of cars stopping in the road, people on foot on the road and moving vehicles with people looking for the moose and not watching the road created unsafe conditions. A number of near collisions have occurred."
Winchell said euthanizing wildlife is always the last resort.
The DEC's decision to kill the animal immediately drew sharp criticism from people making comments on the Enterprise's Facebook page. One woman was so upset by the situation that she is attempting to organize a protest on Saturday at the site where the moose was killed.
The moose's carcass has been transported to the DEC Pathology Laboratory in Delmar, near Albany, for evaluation. | <urn:uuid:f05d244d-3f05-4ae3-90eb-724c687ff0d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/533076/DEC-kills-injured-moose-in-Wilmington-Notch--update-.html?nav=5046 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981208 | 374 | 1.875 | 2 |
Many American hospitals and Obstetricians have put a “hard stop” on elective labor inductions. As a result many hospitals and physicians are seeing a significant drop in still births, NICU admissions, cesarean sections and post partum hemorrhage. Data presenting the effects of such hospital practice policies was presented at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) 61st Annual Clinical Meeting.
The United States has long been noted to have adverse birth outcomes that, in some instances, rival those of developing nations with far fewer resources. With the world’s eye upon us, many hospitals adopted a no elective labor before 39 weeks gestation policy. This means that under no circumstances is a mama to be induced before 39 weeks gestation unless it is absolutely medically necessary; there is danger to the life of mama or baby. Otherwise, Mamas and babies have to “tough it out” to term. Additionally, many hospitals are adopting strict policies against obstetricians who perform elective inductions in an effort to deter the practice.
The results of the policy has shown the following results according to researchers Nathaniel DeNicola, MD, from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Andrew Healy, MD, medical director of obstetrics at Baystate Medical Center, in Springfield, Massachusetts and Angela Silber, MD, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Summa Akron City Hospital, in Ohio:
Dr. DeNicola’s Study (A Survey Study)
- Many hospitals have adopted specific policies against elective induction
- Nearly two thirds of more than 2600 hospitals have “no elective induction” policies in place.
- 67% of hospitals have a formal policy against non-medically indicated labor induction, and among those without a formal policy, just over half said it was against their standard of care.
- 69% of formal hospital policies were hard-stop, meaning strictly enforced, as opposed to soft-stop or strongly discouraged.
Dr. Healy’s study
- Compared 9515 singleton births before the policy and 2641 singletons after the policy found a significant decrease of 5.9 hours in the median time to delivery (P = .002).
- The cesarean section rate for elective inductions also decreased from 16% before the policy to 7% after (P = .05).
- NICU admission rates decreased by a third. Before the policy, 3% of term babies got admitted to the NICU and after the policy that went down to 2%” (P = .02).
- No increase in the stillbirth rate
Dr. Silber’s pre- and post policy comparison
- Decrease in stillbirths and NICU admissions
- Comparing 9806 singleton deliveries before the policy and 6041 singletons after, the number of stillbirths decreased significantly from 16 to 3 ( P = .023), with a trend toward significance in the reduction of NICU admissions (from 867 to 587; P = .06).
- There was no significant difference in macrosomia (Large for gestational age) rates (P = .718)
Other data not fully analyzed shows a decrease in cesarean sections as well as postpartum hemorrhage.
As a result of these studies, many obstetricians and hospitals are really questioning the practice of induction and no longer performing inductions unless absolutely medically necessary. According to these researchers, this data may be what makes elective inductions history!
Summarized from MedScape News, OB/GYN & Women’s Health by Kate Johnson, May 23, 2013
Effective communication is important in all aspects of life, but it is critical for women on bed rest and those caring for them. As so vividly illustrated by former Mama on Bedrest Rebecca Buscemi, Mamas on Bedrest often “hide” their true feelings and that can have catastrophic consequences! Mamas, ask for what you really need! You’re not being a bother and you’re not whining. It’s really okay to say that you feel completely out of control and don’t know how to handle those feelings.
Likewise, providers have to ask leading questions, questions that will require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. It’s not enough to ask, “Is everything okay?” Ask, “How are you and your partner faring?” Ask, “Who is taking care of your children and how is that going?” Ask, “Are you crying at all during the day?” These probing questions will yield much more pertinent information and enable providers to intervene and help Mamas on Bedrest should assistance be required.
In this podcast, we hear from former Mama on Bedrest, Rebecca Buscemi. Rebecca has a remarkable story of incidental injury that lead to 10 weeks of bed rest, depression, manic spending, bankruptcy and now a successful business. Rebecca shares with us her “cover ups” and how deeply she hurt while on bed rest and yet no one suspected and she never divulged the truth. She shares the pain of depression so deep that she has no recollection of the early months of her daughter’s life. Her pain and “spending to soothe” resulted in bankruptcy for her family and $47,000 in debt that extended to her parents. Rebecca pulled herself back from the brink, started a business and now, nearly 5 years later, is once again financially solvent. | <urn:uuid:e449022f-a14c-44ad-a4cc-2ca051fdad0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mamasonbedrest.com/category/provider-care/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950666 | 1,163 | 1.6875 | 2 |
|Fourth Judicial District|
Judge Thom was born in Correctionville, Iowa, December 30, 1883. After graduating from high school, he went on to the University of Iowa where he received his law degree in 1907. He was admitted to the Iowa State Bar, on June 12, 1907; North Dakota State Bar, December 7, 1907. He was in private practice in Denhoff and Goodrich, North Dakota, where he served as State's Attorney of Sheridan County. He moved to McClusky where he continued his practice until he was appointed Judge of the Fourth Judicial District by Governor Fred Aandahl on September 1, 1947, he served in that capacity until his retirement in 1962. Judge Thom died February 7, 1973.
Biographical Sketches of the North Dakota District Court Judges | <urn:uuid:ba2104dc-9e58-4871-a206-75793097f817> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ndcourts.gov/court/bios/thom.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 | 0.994212 | 160 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Gov. Lynch reunites with young pumpkin lobbyists
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HARRISVILLE, N.H. (AP) — Gov. John Lynch is reuniting with a group of students who were the driving force behind making the pumpkin New Hampshire’s official state fruit.
Lynch is heading to Harrisville on Wednesday to meet with Wells Memorial School students who lobbied for the law in 2006. Now high school students, they were third and fourth graders back when they wore orange t-shirts and passed out pumpkin lollipops and handmade felt pumpkins in the Statehouse.
The campaign started as a class civics project after students learned that New Hampshire had, among other things, an official state bird, insect, animal and flower, but no fruit.
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I suggest it is time to change the semantics about hydraulic fracturing for the extraction of natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shales in this part of the country. The word "fracking" is hardly specific and not inclusive of the entire process of hydraulic fracturing. Industry spokespersons and proponents usually refer to the actual fracturing process at the well (extraction), where risks are minimal and no evidence of pollution of aquifers exists.
What should be discussed is the entire range of "operational hazards," associated with hydraulic fracturing, and the overall drilling, completion, and production operations. This includes the transport of the hazardous chemicals that are ultimately mixed with water, transport of vast quantities of sand, disposal of flow back from the fracturing process. It appears that Washington County will not be the site of many natural gas wells using this process, but our county will be affected by the transport of chemicals, building of disposal sites, and, as already evidenced, transport of large quantities of sand.
George E. King of the Apache Corp., writing as a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, raises the issue of the proper transport of chemicals for hydraulic fracturing in collision-proof totes and double-walled containers. Are Ohio EPA and transportation officials monitoring this kind of protection of transported materials and are local communities protected by these controls of transporting hazardous materials? Another question is the impact of all this transport on our state, county, and township roads.
When flow-back materials are transported to disposal wells, are they taken in these kinds of protected vehicles and are disposal wells themselves protected from polluting land and water?
A question raised in a recent New York Times article involved the lack of restrictions on hours spent on the road by drivers of vehicles who are employed by oil and gas companies. In that story a serious accident involving fatalities occurred when a truck going from Ohio to West Virginia was being driven by workers who had spent 10-hour-plus days working then drove back to the home base miles away. Why aren't the requirements for rest between hauling trips that are applied to commercial truck drivers applied to drivers employed by oil and gas companies?
All of these questions also imply the need for base-line data before hydraulic fracturing begins so that we can assess the impact of all the operational hazards on our county's roads, lands, and water. | <urn:uuid:ddfd1903-b16b-46b9-a36d-1d80fa79d1ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/562610/Other-concerns-of-fracking.html?nav=5059 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957666 | 474 | 2.34375 | 2 |
From Huffington Post
If you want to be happy, focus on health, relationships, simple pleasures and achieving a sense of control of your well-being, according to a survey of more than 4,000 adults age 35 released today by the AARP. The study looks at how happiness changes over time and how age impacts the factors that are most important to well-being.
The survey confirmed two decades of research suggesting that happiness is U-shaped over the life cycle: It peaks in one's 20s and begins to decline, bottoming out in the mid-to-late 40s and rising again in old age.
A study by David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald, leading researchers in the field of subjective well-being, found that after controlling for factors such as income, education and marital status, "happiness bottoms at age 49 for American males and 45 for American females, and ages 44 and 43 respectively for male and female Europeans." Read the entire article.
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On Sale Now * Women * Men * Children * Essential Oils * Cleansing * Weight Loss | <urn:uuid:7e54863f-f267-4ffe-abd9-ff6b749abc3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenatureinus.com/2012/11/survey-reveals-keys-to-happiness.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947406 | 233 | 2.171875 | 2 |
My kids are on to me. I ask a simple question, like, “Where do you guys learn the most about nutrition?” And my youngest daughter raises her eyebrows and says, “You’re writing one of your columns, aren’t you?”
Well, she’s right. But I bet I’m not the only one who wants to know. Is it school? Is it home? Is it the media? The answer appears to be yes.
My daughters can’t pinpoint the exact source of their nutrition intelligence, but they know the importance of a balanced diet. My older daughter keeps a record of what she eats and her physical activity for a health class, and my younger daughter says some first graders at her school are tracking the number of fruits and vegetables brought in as snacks with the goal of reaching 1,000 by June.
Meanwhile, shows like “The Biggest Loser,” to which they are addicted, emphasize the life-changing power of healthful eating and exercise. And at the table, they know that each plate should be brimming with different colors, peanut butter should be used in moderation, and sweets are OK, but not every day.
That’s important to note. Outspoken advocates are not the only ones keeping an eye on nutrition, nowadays; your future paying customers are being taught to be vigilant, as well.
For their part, a growing number of restaurant operators are tuning in to the numerous messages directed at the nation’s youths and adding a few of their own. Earlier this month, McDonald’s, the fast-food behemoth long targeted by consumer advocates for its offerings, launched its updated Happy Meal, featuring apple slices and kid-sized fries, as well as new ads promoting the change.
“For the first time, 100 percent of our national marketing efforts to kids will include nutrition or active-lifestyle messages, a significant move in our ongoing commitment to children’s well-being,” Neil Golden, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s USA, said.
And, as you’ll see in a story that begins on page 1 and continues in the Business Intel section, other operators also are rethinking their kids’ offerings, reducing calories and sodium, and increasing the number of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Sure, first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign and the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program may be providing some impetus, but it’s getting harder to ignore the business case fueling those efforts.
On the subject of fuel, it’s getting expensive again and threatening to throw a wrench into an economic recovery that is finally gathering momentum. An informal canvas of our editors, who live in different cities across the nation, found a range of gas prices. The folks in California were paying about $4.35 per gallon at press time, while those living outside of New York were at about $3.99, and the prevailing wisdom is that prices will only go up as Memorial Day turns into driving season.
We decided to check in with restaurateurs across the country to see how higher gas prices might change their business strategies. Those responses can be found in the Community section.
In Operations we look into the recent rash of racial slurs allegedly directed at restaurant customers by the very people who are supposed to be delivering excellent service. Just what would prompt an employee to use a derogatory term to describe a patron on a sales receipt, and, more important, how can you avoid such situations?
Ironically, these incidents have occurred just as marketing efforts aimed at the country’s growing Hispanic population have moved from niche to national. We look at those campaigns and best practices for reaching that audience in the Marketing section.
And in the Food & Beverage section we explore the resurgence of “ancient grains” such as farro, amaranth and quinoa as a tasty and nutritious ingredient in modern salads, breads and even pancakes. I make a quinoa salad that my family loves, and I’m sure they would order it when dining out, especially when they hear that it’s nutritious, too. For menu writers, it’s a whole new world. | <urn:uuid:7659fd33-8a68-41f5-a0a5-bb9092bc5cd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nrn.com/print/corporate/editors-letter-nourishing-business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955547 | 882 | 2.03125 | 2 |
For Immediate Release, July 31, 2012
Karen Schambach, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, (530) 333-1113
Sarah Uhlemann, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 327-2344
Court Finds Sierra Nevada Off-road Vehicle Plan Illegal, Closes 89 Miles
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— A federal court today ordered the U.S. Forest Service to close 89 miles of off-road vehicle routes in the Eldorado National Forest that cut through and damage fragile Sierra Nevada meadow habitats. The court-imposed remedy implements a May 2011 court decision that found the Forest Service’s “travel-management plan” violated legal protections for meadows as well as threatened California red-legged frogs. In response to the May decision, the Forest reconsidered impacts to the frog and its habitat.
Meadows occur over only 10,416 acres, or 1.7 percent, of the 596,724-acre Eldorado National Forest. These scarce, fragile, wet habitats are heavily used by wildlife.
“Meadows are among the rarest, most important and sensitive habitats in the Sierra Nevada,” said Karen Schambach, president of the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation. “They are too important for wildlife and for clean water to allow their destruction by vehicle use.”
The court-imposed remedy resolves a legal challenge brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation and Forest Issues Group in 2009. The court’s 2011 decision found the plan violated the National Forest Management Act and the Endangered Species Act by favoring off-road vehicle use over protection of sensitive forest resources, including endangered species and meadow habitats. The Eldorado National Forest contains key recovery habitat for red-legged frogs and many other rare and imperiled species as well as clean-water resources critical to the state.
"We hope that other national forests in Region V will take this opportunity to review and revise their travel-management plans that unlawfully allow motorized travel across sensitive meadows, damaging water quality, plants and wildlife,” said Don Rivenes, executive director of Forest Issues Group.
“Closing 89 miles of ORV routes that unnecessarily cut through important meadow habitats and already-damaged riverside conservation areas is a big step in the right direction,” said Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The court fashioned a reasonable solution to the Forest Service’s failure to protect Californians’ wildlife and lands on the Eldorado National Forest — such a critical home for California red-legged frogs and other endangered species.”
The Eldorado is likely to prepare a “supplemental environmental impact statement” and new decision to address the issue of meadow protection. Some of the closed miles of road may be rerouted, some designated for nonmotorized recreation, and some possibly decommissioned to protect the meadows.
Plaintiffs were represented by Dave Bahr of Bahr Law Offices, Erik Schlenker-Goodrich of Western Environmental Law Center and Lisa Belenky of the Center for Biological Diversity.
More information on the California red-legged frog and other imperiled species can be found here.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 375,000 members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild places. www.biologicaldiversity.org
Since 1986 the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation has been a tireless voice for sound management of our public lands and wise government land use policies. www.sierranevadaconservation.org | <urn:uuid:cdff53f2-afab-4181-9271-716a2a504029> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2012/sierra-nevada-roads-07-31-2012.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90732 | 762 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Youth Service America has created a list of 25 young people (ages 5 – 25) around the world who have made significant, large-scale change in five categories – Health, Education, Human Service, Human Rights, and the Environment.
Teaching and inspiring opportunity youth to improve their socioeconomic and educational outcomes is a noble cause as well as an investment in the economic well-being of our country.
According to Henry M. Levin (William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University) opportunity youth are young people that are not accumulating human capital in school or college nor accumulating labor market skills by working.
Remember…January is National Mentoring Month so, step up and deliver exceptional service by being a mentor. This year’s national theme is “Invest in the future. Mentor a child.”
Be sure to sure to say “thank you” to your mentor.
One of the most talked about components of success is: finding a great mentor. Well…while you’re looking for one be careful because all mentors are not created equal. Some are garbage. Believe me. I’ve had a few who were absolutely clueless. Thankfully, I realized that early, before any catastrophes occurred.
Is having a mentor a necessity?
Yes, IF you can find a great one. Gaining the experience, wisdom, and expertise of other successful people is a must and having a credible, knowledgeable mentor is one of the best ways to do that.
If you don’t have one and if you don’t know anyone personally who would be a great mentor for you, you are about to learn a 5 step process that will help you out. Before we get into the five steps, know this:
My son, Mekhi, is fascinated with dinosaurs. Recently, he and I were watching a documentary on the possible causes for the extinction of the dinosaurs. The show talked the devastating impact of the meteor that created the Chicxulub (CHEEK-sha-loob) crater. Which is 110mi. (180ki.) in diameter. The impact was 2 million times greater than the most explosive man made device. That’s mind boggling.
This made me wonder: Can a human generate that type of impact? Of course not. Nevertheless, your ideas and actions can still have a timeless impact on the world.
The impact you have on the lives of others is the true measuring stick for what you do with your life. It could be positive impact, a negative impact, or no impact.
positive impact on the lives of other people?
Here’s an excerpt from a news release I just read on Operation HOPE. This is a staggering accomplishment.
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In continuing its mission to help under-resourced individuals build wealth globally, financial literacy and economic empowerment, nonprofit Operation HOPE, Inc. (HOPE) celebrated its 19th anniversary, announcing that it has cumulatively raised and directed nearly $1 billion in support of low-income communities in the U.S. and worldwide…
You can read the entire news release here.
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Fill out the form here or feel free to contact us directly at: | <urn:uuid:2eb41bd0-ae4f-45fe-8362-09661417c010> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://duncannuggets.com/category/social-responsibility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944181 | 695 | 2.453125 | 2 |
The retail industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world with transactions worth millions of dollars taking place every day. The ease of paying by credit card has made it the preferred mode of payment over the years; however, certain unscrupulous elements in the society have made sure that credit card fraud worth billions of dollars takes place every year. According to data collected by the United States Government, every year the amount of credit card fraud runs to more than 50 billion dollars. This loss can be easily controlled by implementing a biometric based signature verification protocol that captures the behavioural as well as the physical aspects of signature and comparing it with pre-recorded data.
The current system of credit payment is based on a perfunctory signature verification biometric systems as the retail sector does not want to scare off potential customers by insisting on a stringent signature verification system. Generally the card payment practices leans towards giving the customers the benefit of the doubt as minor credit frauds are preferable to lost sales opportunities and an unhappy clientele. So, once the card is issued it is the card owner’s responsibility to see that his card is not misused.
To prevent frauds in the retail industry the issuing banks runs sophisticated programs that notifies the card user if unusual purchases are made. However, these algorithms are not foolproof as high value purchases in the interval leading up to the festival season have been known to throw it haywire. The credit card companies blocks the card when there is a hint of credit card fraud which leads to lost business for the retail industry and inconvenience for the customer.
Credit card transactions have been using signature verification for ages; however, the system continues to remain very weak. The sales clerk may or may not check the signature against the database. The signature is normally collected as a proof of the transaction: a copy is given to the customer and another is retained by the sales clerk if the card user raises any question about the sale having taken place in the past.
Many of the larger retail stores have taken steps to check instances of credit card fraud by installing electronic signature software that captures signatures. The Federal Trade Commission has commented that credit card frauds cost the customers more than 5 billion dollars in out of pocket expenses. In many cases the losses were limited because the credit card owner was alerted in time by the bank. The dynamic signature verification system based on proven technology captures behavioural components of a signature. This will not deter thief hell bent on perpetrating credit cards; however, by detecting abrupt changes in the signature it can reduce chances of credit card fraud.
The electronic signature pad uses a digitizer to capture essential data sets including position point’s velocity, acceleration and other dynamic features that can be compared against data taken at the time of enrolment. However, in order to get a proper set of data the signature recording device should by ergonomically designed to ensure proper data capture. | <urn:uuid:e1eff04a-0de4-4f64-a230-f2186b478650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bayometric.com/blog/index.php/2010/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965201 | 583 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Town goes back in time with no internet, phones
For almost a week now, several communities in south-western Victoria have been left in a communications black hole.
Sixty-thousand customers lost their landline, mobile internet and eftpos service after fire knocked out the Telstra telephone exchange at Warrnambool last Thursday.
At Dunkeld, in the picturesque Grampians, some residents are enjoying life without the distraction of phones and the internet.
Alison Brumley works in a local cafe and she says locals have resorted to slipping notes under the door of the local tavern to make a booking or place an order.
It is as if the town had gone back in time.
"It really has shut the Western District down. And we often wonder what Melbourne would be like if the same thing happened there," she said.
She says doing business is tough without telephones, the internet and especially eftpos.
"It's cash only at the moment. And people don't carry it. And they're just not used to it, especially... tourists."
Andrew Nairn, of Sydney, says it has been hard to book accommodation in the Grampians.
"We've been on a bit of a road trip around Victoria and Cape Otway and we were trying to phone up the hotel here in Dunkeld but no-one was answering and emailing wasn't working," he said.
"It was as if they'd dropped off the planet."
At the general store, Britenee Sanford, 19, misses the internet.
"We still have TV and stuff like that but it's just weird not having that internet, because you go on it every five minutes if you have nothing to do," she said.
"There's just no surfing or checking your emails really, so that sucks."
Ms Brumley is hoping her three teenagers will learn something from the experience about the good old days.
"They're not coming home anymore, because they're staying with their friends," she said.
"Wipe Facebook out and you've got to stay with your friends and catch up. How bizarre. Isn't that old fashioned." | <urn:uuid:98fa8da5-a65b-4193-b51c-8e4fcdaa9a9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-28/town-goes-back-in-time-with-no-internet2c-phones/4396832 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975874 | 451 | 1.617188 | 2 |