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The father of the great Hollywood star system and the original movie mogul, Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Studios, was an influential figure indeed. He was born to a middle-class Jewish family, the 10th of 13 children in Laupheim, Germany. By age 13 he had become a bookkeeper and four years later he was an office manager. In search of new opportunities, he moved to the U.S. at age 17 and began working as a courier for a New York drug store in 1884. After holding down several odd-jobs in Chicago, Laemmle settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where he became the manager of a clothing store.
Following marriage to his employer's daughter, Laemmle moved back to the Windy City and spent his savings on one of the nickelodeons that had become so popular amongst the working class. It was a lucrative venture, and in early 1906, he was able to open another and two months later still another. Because he found the local film exchange an unreliable source of new film, the enterprising Laemmle launched his own Laemmle Film Service the following year. It too proved profitable and it wasn't long before he was among the biggest film distributors in North America. His largest competitor was the powerful, notoriously ruthless Motion Picture Patents Company. Unlike other small distributors, Laemmle refused to succumb to their pressure and would neither sell his business to them nor shut it down. Instead he founded the Independent Motion Picture Company of America (IMP), made Hiawatha, and launched an unprecedented publicity campaign designed to both promote the film and slander the Patents Company. In 1910, he stole the beloved "Biograph Girl," Florence Lawrence from them. | <urn:uuid:fbdc38d5-d933-4fd3-b85d-cf09f6d151e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spill.hollywood.com/Actor/ActorDetails.aspx?Name=Carl%20Laemmle,%20Sr.&PersonId=188031 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982825 | 358 | 3.1875 | 3 |
C heryl Hopwood, Douglas Carvell, Kenneth Elliott, and David Rogers applied for admission to the 1992 entering class at the University of Texas School of Law. All four were white residents of Texas and were rejected. They brought suit against the law school and other university officials claiming violations of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as other statutes all prohibiting discrimination based on race. Hopwood and others maintained that the law school discriminated against them by favoring less qualified black and Hispanic applicants through the use of a quota system. Their contention was that any preferential treatment of a group based on race violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
In August 1994, the federal district court ruled that the law school’s use of racial preferences was not unconstitutional per se. Instead the court examined the affirmative action plan used by the law school in its admissions procedures. The court applying the strict scrutiny standard required by the Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke held it did not pass constitutional muster. While recognizing that "the remedial nature of the admission process, in which racial classifications were used as a means of overcoming the present effects of past discrimination served a compelling state interest," the district court ultimately found that the law school’s use of separate admissions procedures for minorities and non-minorities was not narrowly tailored to achieve those compelling state interests "because the process prevented any meaningful comparative evaluation among applicants of different races." Thus, the court entered a declaratory judgement that the law school’s 1992 admission procedures violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court also permitted plaintiffs to reapply for admission to the 1995 entering class. Nominal damages of $1 were awarded to each plaintiff.
Despite its constitutional holding, the court nonetheless found the law school had legitimate, nondiscriminatory grounds for denying admission to the four plaintiffs. The court added that, in all likelihood, the plaintiffs would not have been offered admission even under an admission practice that was constitutionally permissible.
The rejected applicants appealed the district court’s decision to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. A divided opinion by a three-judge panel of the court reversed the lower court’s decision. The Fifth Circuit held:
1. The law school’s use of racial preferences served no compelling state interest under the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. The law school may not use race as a factor in admission.
The Fifth Circuit remanded the case back to the district court directing reconsideration of two issues. First, the district court was required to reevaluate whether any of the plaintiffs would have been admitted to the law school without admission procedures that take into account the applicant’s race. Second, the court was directed to "revisit" the issue of damages.
Upon petition for rehearing before the court of appeals, requesting en banc consideration by the entire court, the petition was denied without further comment. A strong dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc by the chief judge and six circuit judges was pub l ished. Because the three-judge panel directed the law school not to use race as a factor in the law school’s admissions process, the dissent criticized the panel as purporting to overrule the Supreme Court’s decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. The dissenting judges forcefully argued that the implications of the panel decision were so racial as to "change the face of public educational institutions throughout Texas." The dissent added, "A case of such monumental impact demands the attention of more than a divided panel."
The case was tried again in late March and early April 1997 and the district court found:
1. The law school proved none of the plaintiffs would have been admitted to the law school under a constitutional admission system.
2. But in the event any of the plaintiffs successfully appealed this finding, the court made several alternative factual findings regarding the issue of damages.
The federal district court entered the following judgment:
1. The plaintiffs have judgments against the University of Texas in the amount of $1 each; and
2. The University of Texas law school was permanently enjoined from taking into consideration racial preferences in the admission process.
The ABA Commission on Minorities, as well as the Commission on Women, the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, and the Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice, have joined forces in a working group to have the ABA’s voice heard as the case moves forward. The working group anticipates filing an amicus curiae brief in support of the University of Texas law school.
From the viewpoint of the ABA working group, the important issue presented for appeal arises from the final judgment of the federal district court. Federal Judge Sam Sparks of the Western District of Texas set the stage for this appeal—and ABA involvement—by enjoining the University of Texas School of Law from taking into consideration racial preferences in the selection of those individuals to be admitted to law school.
The Fifth Circuit’s decision in Hopwood departed with Supreme Court precedent by holding that the goal of achieving a diverse student body could not be a compelling government interest under the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover, issuing an injunction proscribing consideration of race in the admissions process appears to be a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.
The United States Supreme Court in Bakke reversed the decision of the lower courts enjoining the University of California at Davis from ever considering the race of any applicant. Justice Powell, joined by Justices Brennan, White, Marshall and Blackmun, said the lower courts failed to recognize that the state has a substantial interest that legitimately may be served by a properly devised admissions program involving the competitive consideration of race and ethnic origin. Bakke, 438 U.S. at 320. The use of race by the trial court in Hopwood is inconsistent with Bakke.
Surely, it is the position of the ABA working group that the Hopwood ruling prohibiting the use of race constitutes a radical departure from the Supreme Court ruling in Bakke and cannot be permitted to stand.
Mr. Jordan is a member of the ABA Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession.
Previous - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - Next | <urn:uuid:87f367b4-5ed6-47f3-aa52-1b3ed01845a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanbar.org/publications/goal_ix_newsletter_home/minorities_publications_g9_v5n4_goal94.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958931 | 1,312 | 2.65625 | 3 |
If you follow politics with even a passing interest, you know by now that support for gay marriage is surging — even as the Supreme Court prepares to take on two major cases dealing with the subject.
What has been less obvious from the scads of polling data on the movement toward legalizing gay marriage is the “why” behind that movement. As in, why, over the last decade, has public opinion changed so rapidly on the issue?
Thanks to Pew Research Center data, we have some answers to that question. The organization’s mid-March poll found that 14 percent of people now supportive of gay marriage said they had changed their minds on the subject. Pew followed up with those mind-changers to ask them why. Here’s a chart detailing what they said:
The most commonly cited reason for the change of heart — offered by one in three respondents — is that they know someone who is gay. Interestingly, that’s the reason Ohio Sen. Rob Portman gave for his decision to come out in support of gay marriage recently; Portman’s son, Will, told his parents two years ago that he is gay.
Other regularly-mentioned reasons for changing opinions on gay marriage include “grown more open/thought about it more” (25 percent), “it’s inevitable” (18 percent) and “everyone is free to choose” (18 percent).
Doc Sweitzer, a Democratic media consultant based in Philadelphia, offered another take on why attitudes on gay marriage have shifted. “Here’s the answer: Television,” Sweitzer wrote in an email to the Fix. “It’s the greatest socializing tool of all time. Archie Bunker changed attitudes about race and the generational divide. Gays are portrayed in all kinds of shows in a positive light, from ‘Law and Order’ to ‘CSI’. They are shown as people who just want to live their lives.”
Whatever the reason, sentiment is quite clearly shifting. And, as we have documented in this space, the fact that a) young people are far more supportive of gay marriage than older people and b) each generation gets more supportive of it as it ages suggests that the political debate over gay marriage is likely over. | <urn:uuid:37b42541-05a6-47ad-aabe-66dccded7508> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/21/support-for-gay-marriage-is-soaring-heres-why/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974613 | 475 | 2 | 2 |
STRANGE BUT TRUE- A one, and a... Dance to enhance your lovelife
DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK
Q. How is dancing one of those "cheap psychological tricks for lovers"? –A. Taylor
A. Cheap because it works, says Perry W. Buffington, in his book of the above title. As Arthur Murray well understood, it is possible to dance away the blues, strong exercise as mood enhancer, sharing primitive biology of pheromonal outpourings and sweat.
Plus you and your lover are "strengthening the bond that holds you together," locked in the same fun step, same act, same timing. Eyes meet, great because eye-to-eye gaze quickens amour, something couples often forget or ignore.
Lost in your thoughts, you feel worries drift away as a "flow state" engulfs you, like athletes on a performance high slipping "into the zone," time standing still. Maybe it's just a little two-step, but with luck, you'll both carry it over, "waltzing through life together."
Q. Dire things could befall you, they say, if you break a chain letter. On the other hand, imagine what might happen if nobody ever broke the chain? –A. Pontuso
A. The letter's request is usually quite simple, "Make 5 copies and mail them to 5 friends." Sounds harmless enough so you send out the 5 letters, then these 5 people send to 25, and these to 125, then 625, 3125, 15625, 78125, etc. The number would snowball until after just 15 cycles of the chain, the total would be 6,103,515,625! Soon the number would top the population of the world (ignoring the actual myriad duplications and overlaps), meaning everyone on the planet would receive countless never-ending letters in an astronomical, mind-boggling spiral, says Don Voorhees in The Book of Totally Useless Information. The world's postal system would collapse, leading to the end of civilization and eventually humankind. "So the next time you get one of these letters, toss it in the garbage. You may suffer some personal misfortune, but it will be a small price to pay to save civilization."
Q. Sharp-shooting basketballer Shaq outshoots Kobe 40 percent to 25 percent for the first half of the game, then 75 percent to 70 percent for the second. Did Shaq necessarily have the better game? –M. Albert
A. You might think so unless you know about Simpson's paradox. Here are their stats, as described by Jeffrey Bennett in Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life:
First half: Shaq 4 baskets in 10 attempts, for 40 percent
First half: Kobe 1 basket in 4 attempts, for 25 percent
Second half: Shaq 3 baskets in 4 attempts, for 75 percent
Second half: Kobe 7 baskets in 10 attempts, for 70 percent
You can see that in spite of Shaq's better shooting percentage for each half, Kobe's overall shooting was 8 of 14 for 57 percent compared to Shaq's 7 of 14 for 50 percent. So by the paradox (Edward Simpson, 1951) one player can be better for each part of a game (or season), but worse overall. It's similar for batting averages in baseball and in many other realms, such as pharmaceutical testing and voting results.
The moral: Statistics may not lie but can be deceiving unless handled with great care.
Q: Think mishap, blunder, ironic serendipity. Then think gunpowder, phosphorus, Kevlar, superglue, cellophane, Post-it notes, photographs, the phonograph, penicillin, Teflon, LSD, those microwave echoes of the creation of the universe. Can you guess the common denominator to all of these? –A. Kekule
A: All resulted from laboratory accidents, of a sort, says Sean Markey in Discover magazine. In the 9th century, a team of Chinese alchemists trying to synthesize an "elixir of immortality" from saltpeter, sulfur, realgar, and dried honey instead invented gunpowder. When in 1675 German scientist Hennig Brand stored 50 buckets of urine in his cellar for months, hoping it would turn into gold, a waxy glowing goo formed that spontaneously burst into flame; he had discovered the element now known as "phosphorus." Similar blunder tales go with all of the above, such as Alexander Fleming sneezing onto a lab bacterial sample and noticing that his snot kept the microbes in check (antibiotic enzyme in nasal mucus; discovery of penicillin).
Finally, when Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson scrubbed pigeon droppings off their radio antenna to get rid of an annoying hiss, they came to realize the birds had nothing to do with the noise– now known to be emanations of the 3- degree background radiation left over from the Big Bang creation of the universe some 14 billion years ago!
Q. What tool do eagles use to crack open tough tortoise shells to get at the choice meat? –A. L. Tennyson
A. Gravity. The birds fly high with a heavy victim and drop it onto a splattering boulder. Many species of birds use this foraging trick on hard-shelled prey or nuts, reports Behavioral Ecology journal, dropping repeatedly, flying higher for harder food or if the ground below is softer. Crows are famous for doing this with nuts, knowing enough to fly lower and lower after multiple drops as the shell grows presumably weaker.
Herring gulls will often drop clams onto parking lots along the seashore, so many in one case as to imperil the people and cars below, says Tom Erdman, curator of the Richter Museum in Wisconsin. "The remedy? Gull silhouettes painted on the pavement, making the airborne droppers think competing birds were already waiting below to cop the food."
Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at,firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:9cdc1b43-9ea1-430e-bb15-4d7accce0654> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readthehook.com/85707/strange-true-one-and-dance-enhance-your-lovelife?quicktabs_1=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935117 | 1,273 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This week, I’ve been getting a grasp on the Eigen BLAS library for C++ in order to convert Robert Hodgin’s Cinder flocking tutorial into a linear algebra operation. This is intended to be an intermediary step as I move towards flocking as a GPGPU calculation. My guess is that if I can nail down the order of operations as matrices, it will lend itself to multithreaded and highly parallel processing.
So far, I have rewritten the separation algorithm as well as the gravitational pull towards the origin. There’s an unexpected interaction between boids at close range which I cannot explain, even after comparing the matrix operations and the traditional code in calculations by hand, but they do seem to right themselves after a bit of a tango.
In addition to rewriting the flocking algorithm, I have attempted to fold in the OpenNI skeleton interaction and an OpenGL shader pipeline with limited success. The OpenGL shaders compile, but I haven’t gotten to getting anything interesting to work (not even basic lighting), mostly because I’ve spent several days squashing mathematical bugs in the flocking code. I did manage to hack in the OpenNI skeleton and use it as a repelling force to particles that are influenced by the separation code. This will probably look a lot more interesting when the rest of the flocking code is implemented, and I have some point lights attached to the skeleton joints.
To conjoin the behavior of the boids with the skeleton, I expanded the size of the position matrix to include 15 additional columns, which hold the positions of the joints. Before user tracking begins, these points are randomly distributed, but once the user is obtained, the positions are overridden and are controllable. There are all kinds of problems with the render: scaling being the most obvious, but also some tearing in the frames. I’m also concerned that by scaling down to a world of about 10 units, I’m running into floating point nonsense. I’m trying to negotiate another problem that I’m having understanding the aperture and focal length of my stereoization example code.
I’ll continue to work on it this weekend by first finishing the flocking code and then trying to render with some materials and lighting. Here are some notes on the matrices: | <urn:uuid:5d8812e3-07dd-4361-af1f-740ef53b5f71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://3dsav.blogspot.com/2011/03/flocking-as-series-of-matrix-operations.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943762 | 479 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Did you come across this science piece in the New York Times:
Two scientists, drawing on their own powers of observation and a creative reading of recent genetic findings, have published a sweeping theory of brain development that would change the way mental disorders like autism and schizophrenia are understood.
The theory emerged in part from thinking about events other than mutations that can change gene behavior. And it suggests entirely new avenues of research, which, even if they prove the theory to be flawed, are likely to provide new insights into the biology of mental disease.
At a time when the search for the genetic glitches behind brain disorders has become mired in uncertain and complex findings, the new idea provides psychiatry with perhaps its grandest working theory since Freud, and one that is grounded in work at the forefront of science. The two researchers — Bernard Crespi, a biologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Christopher Badcock, a sociologist at the London School of Economics, who are both outsiders to the field of behavior genetics — have spelled out their theory in a series of recent journal articles.
"The reality, and I think both of the authors would agree, is that many of the details of their theory are going to be wrong; and it is, at this point, just a theory," said Dr. Matthew Belmonte, a neuroscientist at Cornell University. "But the idea is plausible. And it gives researchers a great opportunity for hypothesis generation, which I think can shake up the field in good ways."
Their idea is, in broad outline, straightforward. Dr. Crespi and Dr. Badcock propose that an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father's sperm and the mother's egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways. A strong bias toward the father pushes a developing brain along the autistic spectrum, toward a fascination with objects, patterns, mechanical systems, at the expense of social development. A bias toward the mother moves the growing brain along what the researchers call the psychotic spectrum, toward hypersensitivity to mood, their own and others'. This, according to the theory, increases a child's risk of developing schizophrenia later on, as well as mood problems like bipolar disorder and depression.
What fun that outsiders can now make up theories about behavior genetics! I have one that has to do with the gender of all these researchers and the person who wrote the article as well as the kinds of terms selected here: "tug of war" between the sperm and the egg, indeed. I bet they are armed to their teeth, those eggs and sperm. Might it not be the case that these researchers started from their own gender war and worked inwards from that, hmh?
Then to the actual questions they pose which is really whether all these conditions are largely inherited from one parent (note that showing that for just autism doesn't prove their theory at all): There's a very simple way of getting some evidence on that. It's well known that the tendency towards schizophrenia has a genetic component. For instance, if both parents have it in their family lines the child is at a much higher risk. Now go back to those studies and find out if schizophrenia appears to be inheritable only in the female line or much more strongly through that. Then do the same for depression and bipolar disorder. Easy peasy.
But that's not what all this is about. It's about Simon Baron-Cohen's theory that people have male brains and female brains, the former being all systematic thinking and the latter being all emotions. Indeed, the article I link to specifically mentions his role as the starting-point of these theories. That Baron-Cohen is not an expert on genetics, either, doesn't matter for these boyz. That the test he offered for determining which kind of brain you might have is severely biased doesn't matter. That his book on all this ends with a fairly open scream of rage about the unfairness of this world to men doesn't matter. That he wrote two long chapters in it about his imaginations and dreams of the prehistoric society which created that systematizing male brain and that emotional female brain doesn't matter.
I'm not fighting against doing research of this kind or popularizing it, by the way. I'm fighting against the lower standards this kind of research is held to, and the language that is being used in the popularizations. Another example of that:
The theory leans heavily on the work of David Haig of Harvard. It was Dr. Haig who argued in the 1990s that pregnancy was in part a biological struggle for resources between the mother and unborn child. On one side, natural selection should favor mothers who limit the nutritional costs of pregnancy and have more offspring; on the other, it should also favor fathers whose offspring maximize the nutrients they receive during gestation, setting up a direct conflict.
The evidence that this struggle is being waged at the level of individual genes is accumulating, if mostly circumstantial. For example, the fetus inherits from both parents a gene called IGF2, which promotes growth. But too much growth taxes the mother, and in normal development her IGF2 gene is chemically marked, or "imprinted," and biologically silenced. If her gene is active, it causes a disorder of overgrowth, in which the fetus's birth weight swells, on average, to 50 percent above normal.
Here's the "struggle" again, between first the mother and the "unborn child" (hmmm), then between the mother and the father! The mother is all alone on one side. The fetus would love to grow humongous (except of course then it wouldn't get born at all and though it would win the war against its mother as she would die, so would the fetus)!
And this bit is very odd: " On one side, natural selection should favor mothers who limit the nutritional costs of pregnancy and have more offspring; on the other, it should also favor fathers whose offspring maximize the nutrients they receive during gestation, setting up a direct conflict." Why odd, you might ask? Because it assumes that once a baby is born it gets up and starts merrily procreating. A big and bouncy baby born out of a dead mother would have had a very tough time procreating, given that it might have died in the absence of breast milk and daily care. It's also odd because I usually read that argument in a slightly different format, that it's the men who want women to have pregnancy after pregnancy, to maximize the numbers of their own offspring, and that it's the women who want to limit the numbers of their pregnancies to stay alive a little longer.
In summary, note how this story is on the face of it a neutral discussion of some rather wild conjectures, but on the deeper level it sets women against men and mothers against both fathers and their own children.
So it's not really about autism and schizophrenia at all. But if we took the approach used in this popularization seriously we might then conclude that men seem to be doing well in this gender struggle as the rates of autism are rising.
While looking for those Baron-Cohen links on my blog, I came across a post about Desmond Morris' new book, all about male superiority. What was very odd is that he, too, links to Baron-Cohen's idea that it's only men who collect things (supposed to be because they are systematizing). Bad research really does have staying power. Soon we shall all agree that it's men who collect things even though every yard sale and every flea market and every antique shop I visit has more women than men in them. | <urn:uuid:9448d5fe-6f9c-4ac6-9e3c-4fc20f6bc31c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2008/11/oh-struggle-of-genes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976016 | 1,561 | 2.828125 | 3 |
“Chimeric mice and in vitro models complement each other in ADME/tox studies,” commented Claudia McGinnis, Ph.D., group head, NCS early and investigative toxicology at Roche. “In vitro models are essential for screening and valuable for early toxicity predictions. The key, however, is to reproduce the properties of human tissue in a complete environment to get meaningful results.”
Roche collaborates with a number of academic research centers and start-up companies to develop models closely resembling hepatic tissues and maintain the classical hepatocyte characteristics enabling in-depth mechanistic studies.
One such model Roche is using is from RegeneMed and contains three-dimensional interweaving nanofiber scaffolds for co-culturing liver-derived stromal cells and hepatocytes. Other 3-D systems developed by MIT and CellASIC add flow-through capabilities that may further aid hepatocyte functionality.
“Primary hepatic cells have limited survival, reduced functionality, and high donor-to-donor variability,” continued Dr. McGinnis. “Sometimes the donors of these cells had significant health issues. The assays with primary cells are hard to standardize. Therefore, many scientists believe that deriving hepatocytes and other tissues from embryonic or adult stem cells is the way of the future. In addition to being a more available, standardized resource, SC-derived hepatocytes can also be genetically customized or be patient-specific.”
Roche scientists have been successful in applying stem-cell based assays in the area of toxicology and developing customized strategies to aid this field. Roche has developed a stem-cell derived human cardiomyocyte assay that is highly predictive of arrhythmia.
In addition, Roche scientists have developed a specialized “hanging droplet” culture plate that allows for the generation of stem cell-derived 3-D spheroids compatible with standard laboratory robotics, which allows full automation of a previously labor intensive manual process. Roche plans to utilize the plate in high-throughput miniaturized assays to predict for teratogenicity liabilities and other endpoints. | <urn:uuid:cd8acb38-fdb1-447d-89f6-14bda1a24e04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/emerging-trends-for-predictive-toxicology/3933/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927698 | 442 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Conventional arms transfers are a crucial national security concern for the United States, and we have always supported effective action to control the international transfer of arms.
The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area by seizing the opportunity presented by the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty at the United Nations. As long as that Conference operates under the rule of consensus decision-making needed to ensure that all countries can be held to standards that will actually improve the global situation by denying arms to those who would abuse them, the United States will actively support the negotiations. Consensus is needed to ensure the widest possible support for the Treaty and to avoid loopholes in the Treaty that can be exploited by those wishing to export arms irresponsibly.
On a national basis, the United States has in place an extensive and rigorous system of controls that most agree is the “gold standard” of export controls for arms transfers. On a bilateral basis, the United States regularly engages other states to raise their standards and to prohibit the transfer or transshipment of capabilities to rogue states, terrorist groups, and groups seeking to unsettle regions. Multilaterally, we have consistently supported high international standards, and the Arms Trade Treaty initiative presents us with the opportunity to promote the same high standards for the entire international community that the United States and other responsible arms exporters already have in place to ensure that weaponry is transferred for legitimate purposes.
The United States is committed to actively pursuing a strong and robust treaty that contains the highest possible, legally binding standards for the international transfer of conventional weapons. We look forward to this negotiation as the continuation of the process that began in the UN with the 2008 UN Group of Governmental Experts on the ATT and continued with the 2009 UN Open-Ended Working Group on ATT. | <urn:uuid:064a6a5a-ce0e-420d-a452-2ee430f64385> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/10/130573.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940768 | 362 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Recent work in supervised learning has shown that a surprisingly simple Bayesian classifier with strong assumptions of independence among features, called naive Bayes, is competitive with state-of-the-art classifiers such as C4.5. This fact raises the question of whether a classifier with less restrictive assumptions can perform even better. In this paper we evaluate approaches for inducing classifiers from data, based on the theory of learning Bayesian networks. Bayesian networks are factored representations of probability distributions that generalize the naive Bayesian classifier and explicitly represent statements about independence. Among these approaches we single out a method we call Tree Augmented Naive Bayes (TAN), which outperforms naive Bayes, yet at the same time maintains the computational simplicity (no search involved) and robustness that are characteristic of naive Bayes. We experimentally tested these approaches, using benchmark problems from the University of California at Irvine repository, and compared them to C4.5, naive Bayes, and wrapper-based feature selection methods. | <urn:uuid:1dec7cf0-29a7-46e1-b0c5-dbf6a3d86859> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~nir/Abstracts/FrGG1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926383 | 208 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Reuben Ballou, of Rhode Island, and Mark Noble, of Massachusetts, both served
in the American Revolution in companies from the Colonies where they were born.
And both men left Revolutionary War records in Rhode Island. Genealogists
looking for evidence of military service or other participation during the
Revolutionary War should not overlook the possibility of resources in the
colonies where companies were stationed. A researcher might automatically check
Rhode Island records for Reuben Ballou but overlook resources available for
their Massachusetts ancestor, Mark Noble.
Many Revolutionary War companies, including non-Rhode Island-based military
units, stationed their men in the Colony of Rhode Island. It is fairly well
known that the British occupied Newport from 1776 to1780, but how many
genealogists are aware that soldiers from French and Hessian armies found
themselves stationed in Rhode Island? The Revolutionary War created a myriad of
records that survive at local and national repositories. Clues to military
service appear in vital records, cemetery inscriptions, court documents, and
CensusIn the spring of 1777, the General Assembly ordered an
enumeration of all resident males in the colony between the ages of 16 and 60.
Mildred M. Chamberlain transcribed the list in her volume, The Rhode Island
1777 Military Census (Baltimore: GPC, 1985). Soldiers stationed in the
Colony are not part of the census. Unfortunately, records for several towns
could not be located for publication specifically: Exeter, Little Compton,
Middletown, Newport, New Shoreham, and Portsmouth.
The 1840 federal census has a column that designates whether an individual
was receiving a federal pension for military service. It does not necessarily
refer to Revolutionary service but does indicate that military service records
might be available.
Compiled Service RecordsThere are several sources for manuscript
material relating to compiled service records for Rhode Island units. The
National Archives, the Rhode Island State Archives, and the Rhode Island Historical Society all
have relevant collections.
At the National Archives, the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War
Records (RG 93) contains pension roll lists, copies of commissions,
resignations, enlistment papers, orders and accounts, and papers transferred
from other agencies.
The Rhode Island Historical
Society (121 Hope St., Providence, RI 02908) has a large collection of
Revolutionary War Military Records relating to various regiments, both
Continental and militia, and their officers. Interested individuals should write
to the Manuscripts Curator of the Society for a copy of their Guide to
Revolutionary War Military Records (1997). Their holdings include:
The Rhode Island State Archives (337 Westminster St., Providence, RI
02903-3302) has muster rolls from the regiments of Crary, Topham, and Elliott.
They also own the Revolutionary War Names Card Index, 1770-1785. This file
indexes material in the U.S. Pension Office, U.S. War Department, the U.S.
Treasury Department (last payment of pension or date of death listed),
Congressional Library Record, Military Census of 1777, Military Returns at RISA
[Rhode Island State Archive], and Military Papers at the Rhode Island Historical
Society. Unfortunately, some of the locations mentioned in this catalog are no
longer accurate. (Many items originally kept in scrapbooks at the Rhode Island
Historical Society are now arranged chronologically.)
Published Compiled Service RecordsMost town histories mention the
Revolutionary War service of its citizens, but colony-wide lists exist in only a
few volumes. Bear in mind there is no comprehensive list of Revolutionary War
soldiers from Rhode Island. To locate additional publications on the
Revolutionary era in Rhode Island, search the catalogs of the Library of Congress and this site's
library, and consult the following
Hospital RecordsReturns of the Officers and Nurses (female) for
the General Hospital at Providence (1778), a military facility, are at the Rhode
Island Historical Society. Patient data includes date of admission, full name,
company, regiment, disorder, and the event that caused them to be hospitalized.
There is currently no index for this material.
Newspaper NoticesDuring the American Revolution three newspapers
published notices of military deserters: the American Journal and General
Advertiser, 1779-1781, the Newport Mercury, 1758-1800 (ceased publication with
the December 2, 1776 issue and resumed on January 5, 1780), and the Providence
Gazette. The advertisements included the name of the deserter, a physical
description, place of belonging, unit they served with, and the name of the
officer who placed the notice. For instance, Reuben Ballou placed several
advertisements for men that deserted his unit. Original copies of the newspapers
are available at the Rhode Island Historical Society and on microfilm at various
academic and research libraries. The notices from the Providence Gazette have
been published in myRunaways, Deserters and Notorious Villains (Picton,
Pension PapersLists of pensioners from 1820, 1835, and 1840 appear
in vol. 12 of Arnold's Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850. The published
1820 list includes the name of the soldier, rank, service and date of death. The
1835 list includes the name, rank, annual allowance, sum total of what was
received, description of service, when placed on the pension roll, the date the
pension commenced, age at the time of commencement, laws under which they were
placed on the rolls, remarks and date of death. The 1840 list is shorter and
includes just name, age and place of residence. If living in another's
household, the name of the head of that house is provided.
The Rhode Island State Archives also has the list of Invalid Pensioners
(1790) and Revolutionary Pension Correspondence (1850-58). The largest
collection of pension records is found at the National Archives. The records are
available on microfilm (M804) at branches of the National Archives and through
the mail. Their website has
additional information. Virgil D.White, in Genealogical Abstracts of
Revolutionary War Pension Files, 4 vols, (Waynesboro, TN: National Historical
Publishing, 1990-1992) abstracted these pensions.
Special IndexesIn addition to the card index at the Rhode Island
State Archives, the Rhode Island Historical Society has a card file that indexes
all the yearly volumes of the D.A.R. material compiled by local chapters. The
actual volumes are available in their library and at the Daughters of the
American Revolution Library in Washington, D.C.
Transient ExaminationsTown councils routinely interviewed
individuals that were not official town residents. While these examinations can
be difficult to locate, they can prove military service. Their value is clearly
illustrated by Mark Noble 's examination. It lists where he was born and
outlines his life history and military service. According to his testimony, he
"...enlisted into the Army of the United States and served as one of the
Hadley quota part of the time in Col. Patersons Regiment......He also
Further saith that after having been duly discharged from Col. Patersons
Regiment he enlisted into Col. Voses Regiment......then he enlisted as one
of the Quota of Cranston in Col. Olney's Regiment, three years till peace took
place when he had General Washingtons Discharge that he belonged to Capt.
William Allen's Company while in Col. Olneys Regement. Providence. 9/15/98
Some of these transient examinations are found in the minutes of town
meetings. Unfortunately no comprehensive list of these records currently exists.
OrganizationsOnce you've located that Revolutionary War ancestor,
you may want to contact one of the following organizations for membership | <urn:uuid:6f9f0eb2-fc41-4465-a516-0b8ae3a61925> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanancestors.org/finding-a-revolutionary-war-ancestor-in-rhode-Island/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910842 | 1,694 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Day in history for November 11, 2002
- 1852 -- 150 years ago
- The Chicago And Rock Island Railroad Company has bought the Bailey And Boyle boat yard land for $13,000. The location will be a satisfactory place for a depot.
- 1877 -- 125 years ago
- Employees of Buford Plow Works presented B.D. Buford with a desk and easy chair as he moved into his enlarged office.
- 1902 -- 100 years ago
- An explosion in the Hartz And Ullemeyer Drug Store fatally burned Julius Krell, 17, and caused a fire which damaged the stock of the firm.
- 1927 -- 75 years ago
- A body found in the Mississippi River was identified as that of a man sought since April for a Rock Island murder.
- 1952 -- 50 years ago
- A blaze in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, 31st St. and 5th Ave., Rock Island, brought city firemen to the scene at 4:06 o'clock this morning. The fire, which burned joists in the basement, was reportedly caused by defective wiring. Damage was nominal. Companies No. 1, 3 and 4 responded. Guests of the hotel were not disturbed.
- 1977 -- 25 years ago
- Sixteen dams in Rock Island, Henry and Whiteside Counties have not been inspected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or its agents as required by a 1972 law. The 16 dams along with over 900 dams in Illinois and over 45,000 across the nation were never inspected because the U.S. Congress which enacted the law following the Rapid City, S.D. flood disaster in 1972, never funded the project.
Back: Available days in November 2002 | <urn:uuid:802a0aa3-5293-4b21-a1ee-713b14dcc40c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qconline.com/history/day.php?year=2002&month=11&day=11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959762 | 355 | 1.5625 | 2 |
"Tax increases are highly contractionary…The large effect stems in considerable part from a powerful negative effect of tax increases on investment...[the finding is] strongly significant..highly robust."
Expiration of the Bush tax cutswill equate to $184 billion in reduced spending. If all of the Bush tax cutsexpire, taxpayers would have to pay $230 billion, economic growthcould be slower by five percentage points in the first half of next year, and consumers could cut as much as $184 billion out of spending, if they react quickly to the Bush tax cutsexpiring.
There’s a fiscal fundamentalism in DC when it comes to the economic impact of the regulatory vaporware coming out of DC, including the effect of financial reform, health reform, and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
Most Democrats, some Republicans even, as well as the Congressional Budget Office, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), and many in the business media do not understand or take into account the behavioral response to regulation and tax hikes.
For instance, there's widespread failure to question the static scoring method the government uses to assess tax changes. And that failure to question leads to a cemented hardening of the legislative arteries in DC.
At its most rudimentary, the government's static scoring method used to assess the impact of tax changes on federal revenues says a dollar tax hike equals a dollar more collected in federal revenue, or a dollar tax cutequals a dollar lost in fiscal revenue. Congressional tax analysts largely do not take into account how people and businesses react--whether they shift income into different, non-taxable investments, work more or less, or hide their income to lower their taxes.
Sort of like what the author Michael Lewis said once, that a conclusion is where the mind comes to rest.
This is habitual self deception at its worst.
Elected officials in the Obama Administration like to argue that increased government spendingon stimulus or on unemployment benefitswill loop back into the economyand create growth because taxpayers will spend that money.
But in their blinkered concretism, they refuse to acknowledge the flip side, that tax cutsput more money in people's wallets who will then spend it, which delivers a quicker, more immediate jolt to economic growth.
And isn't it contradictory for the White Houseor Congress to argue that expanded child care tax credits will increase economic growthbecause taxpayers will spend that money on consumption of, say, day care services? Isn't that acknowledging the behavioral impact of tax cuts?
We see this happen with capital gains taxes. When capital gains taxes go up, as they are set to next year when the Bush tax cutsexpire, economists note that this will lock up economic activity because many investors will sit on their capital gains to take advantage of the [hopefully] lower longer term rate.
Not much acknowledgement there from the fiscal fundamentalists on the federal revenue impact.
And what of the Clinton tax changes? Clinton raised income taxes dramatically in 1993. After the Republicans seized control of Congress, he then cut capital gains taxes in 1997, established a new child tax credit, increased the estate taxexemption, and launched Roth IRAs.
The economyaveraged 4.2% real growth per year from 1997 to 2000--a full percentage point higher than during the expansion following the 1993 Clinton tax hike, according to government data. The Cold Warhad ended, the Internet boom was beginning, Clinton-Gore moved to pare back government, and employment increased by another 11.5 million jobs, roughly equal to the job growthin the preceding four-year period. Real wages grew at 6.5%, which was much stronger than the 0.8% growth of the preceding period, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.
And the total market capitalization of the S&P 500 rose an astounding 95% versus its performance from 1993 to 1997, according to S&P.
But government analysts duffed it when it came to the federal revenues hauled in by Clinton's capital gain tax cut. When President Bill Clintonlowered the top capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20%, the Joint Committee, using static scoring, estimated that revenues would increase $7.8 billion from 1997 to 1999, then plunge another $28.8 billion over the ensuing seven years.
That didn’t happen. Far from it.
Instead, federal revenues from capital gains taxes in just the 1997 to 1999 time period was more than 10 times higher than the expected, $7.8 billion to $84 billion. And as for the projected $28.8 billion losses later on, federal revenues from capital gains soon grew to double their levels of 1996, just before the tax cut, says the American Shareholders Association, which studied the IRS data.
Look also at how unhinged the Joint Committee became when it assessed the impact of estate taxchanges in the mid ‘90s. Still using static scoring, Joint Committee estimated that total repeal would cost the federal government $70 billion a year--even though the death taxraised only $20 billion per year at that time. Huh?
The economic activity created by Clinton's curtailment of estate and capital gains taxes hauled in more federal tax revenues than his hike on the upper bracket in '93, IRS data show.
You can see how absurd it gets when you consider what happened in 1988, when Senator Robert Packwood, (Rep.-OR), then the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, asked the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to estimate the revenue impact if the government literally confiscated all income over $200,000, notes Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute (then at the Heritage Institute). JCT said doing so would raise $1.4 trillion over five years--utter nonsense, as Senator Packwood said, because it assumed "people will work forever and pay all of their money to the government, when clearly anyone in their right mind will not."
Watch what happened when President George W. Bushtried to cut estate taxes in 2001. In April, 2001, JCT estimated the cut would lower federal revenue about $186 billion over a ten-year period--but a month later, JCT said the amount lost was actually $306 billion--that whopping estimate, later proved to be wrong, is why Congress forced the estate taxcut to sunset in 2011. How far off was JCT on the overall, actual impact of President Bush's 2001 tax cuts? JCT overestimated the amount of federal revenue lost due to these cuts by $568 billion--more than enough to pay for the estate taxrepeal--because JCT did not take into account the behavioral response to tax cuts, IRS data show.
Congressional tax officials were also way off on the revenue impact of the Bush tax cuts. The paper says that during the period 2003 to 2007, The Wall Street Journalreports. “In each year total federal revenues came in substantially higher than Joint Tax predicted--$434 billion higher than forecast over the five years,” and not all of it was due to the housing bubble, the paper adds. The budget deficits under the Bush Administrationwas due to rampant spending, spending that arose due to two wars, a recession, and the expansion of the Medicareprogram to increase coverage for drugbenefits.
The Congressional Budget Office, launched in 1974, and the Joint Committee on Taxation have taken baby steps toward adopting some types of dynamic scoring which would take into behavior responses to tax changes. Both still remain to resistant to changing their standard methodology, because it takes a lot of elbow grease to figure it out.
“Sometimes, resistance to change is just an excuse to avoid doing real work,” Bruce Bartlett, Treasury official under President George H.W. Bushand domestic policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan, once wrote. “It is a lot easier just to assume that nothing changes in the economywhen a major tax change is enacted than to figure out all the ways in which it will…there is a systematic bias in the revenue-scoring process that encourages tax increases and discourages tax cuts."
Same is happening here — companies have gone on a spending freeze due to regulatory and tax hike fears, when ironically it’s the US Congress and the administration that needs to stop. In financial reformalone, some 350 new rules will need to be written, taking up 20,000 pages, estimates Barclays Capital. Rules written in pencil, not pen — and that doesn’t count health reform.
Likely why two-thirds of the drop in jobs comes from lack of job creation.
Even though economists Carmen Reinhartand Kenneth Rogoff says that government debt above 90% of GDPcuts a percentage point out of GDP growth, and we’re fast approaching that level. The fiscal antenna fell off the roof of the Capitol dome decades ago, and fiscally responsible politicians are an extinct species in D.C.
Moody’s Investors Service already says that interest on the federal debt will 14% of tax revenues by 2015 — its Maginot line before it downgrades.
Moody’s is saying the U.S. simply cannot be put on a hamster wheel of taxing and borrowing money to pay interest to the country’s debt holders — meaning China, the UK, and Japan — without a downgrade of its Triple A status, which it’s held since 1913. It would be sort of like paying your Visa bill by running up your Mastercardbill.
The US faces either a downgrade or a currency devaluation--the central printers will print our way out of a crisis, so the latter is in store, down the road as deflationis more the danger now.
Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes released last week show the Fedsaying it will take another five to six years to get back to full “convergence” in the economy, meaning, trend lines pre-crisis.
But economists uniformly say we need at minimum 3% GDP growthfor job growth. That’s what economists call the economy’s Mendoza line, nicknamed after Pittsburgh Pirate’s batter Mario Mendoza, who could never seem to crack his bat above the 200 average.
So the question is: Will the policies of this Administration and this Congress keep the US economysubmerged below the economic Mendoza line?
Listen to what business executives are saying:
"The interaction between government and business will change forever…. [T]he government will be… an industry policy champion; a financier; and a key partner."--Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, GE, GE’s 2008 annual report
“People are in a really bad mood [in the US]…we [the US] are a pathetic exporter...we have to become an industrial powerhouse again but you don’t do this when government and entrepreneursare not in synch,” also “expressing concern that over-regulation in response to the global financial crisiswould damp a ‘tepid’ US economic recovery.”--Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, GEto the Financial Times, July 1, 2010
“I fear that Americans have been provided a false choice between a little more and a lot more regulation and taxes. We keep hearing more ideas to create jobs and generate growth that almost exclusively require more government spending. Jobs can come from government, but those jobs get paid for by taking money from the private sector, reducing the private sector’s ability to provide jobs…there are many who believe that less regulation, less government interference, less arbitrary regulation when it does exist, and lower government spendingwill generate more growth and more jobs. I agree with those views."--Edward S. Lampert, CEOof Sears HoldingsCorp., 2009 annual report
"Today, manufacturing employment in the U.S. computerindustry is about 166,000, lower than it was when the first personal computer… was assembled in 1975…You could say, as many do, that shipping jobs overseasis no big deal because high-value work–and much of the profits–remain in the U.S. But what kind of society are we going to have if it consists of highly paid people doing high-value-added work, and masses of unemployed?"--Andy Grove, co-founder and past chairman of IntelCorp., Bloomberg News, July 1, 2010
"A new semiconductor factory built from scratch costs about $4.5 billion–in the United States. If I build that factory in almost any other country in the world, where they have significant incentive programs, I could save $1 billion [due to tax breaks]."--Paul Otellino, current CEOof Intel, recent speech
“The Obama administration has created an increasingly hostile environmentfor investment and job creation. The U.S. corporate tax structure is a major impediment to international competitiveness. The government should ‘stop trying to micromanage industries.’"--Ivan Seidenberg, CEOof Verizon, speech before the Economic Club of Washington, June 22, 2010 (president of the Business Roundtable)
Footnote: Farr, Lampert Grove, Otellino, Immelt quotes first reported by Frederick Sheehan, author of Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession(McGraw-Hill, 2009), blog at www.aucontrarian.com | <urn:uuid:2512faf2-fd1e-4c27-8020-828accd56522> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/07/22/autopilot-thinking-bush-tax-cuts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943434 | 2,769 | 2.09375 | 2 |
While recent studies have revealed that air pollution is the leading cause of heart attacks, it may be difficult to gauge just how small the particles are that can lead to bodily harm, or which environments affect us the worst.
According to the Daily Mail, spending time in traffic usually presents the largest risk factor, and it's generally recommended to find ways to spend less time on congested thoroughfares.
Meanwhile, there are measures you can take to control the indoor air quality of your home. Installing an air purifying system is the most effective line of defense against pollution, allergens and a range of other respiratory ailments.
Polluted air contains particles that are less than 10 microns wide, which is small enough to enter the lungs and cause inflammation, the news source reports. The IQAir HealthPro Plus, on other hand, comes with a HyperHEPA filter, the most advanced filter of its class, which is capable of tackling particulate matter as small as .003 microns in size. What's the advantage? You do the math. | <urn:uuid:ae3e81ba-3853-4629-8360-5e440699c096> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freshairpro.com/fresh-air-news/2011/03/pollutants-and-your-lungs-a-microscopic-breakdown/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956969 | 213 | 2.578125 | 3 |
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An African war criminal who joined in the slaughter of civilians has been allowed to stay in Britain under human rights law - because he admitted his crimes in a BBC interview.
The man was a fighter in the Janjaweed militia which killed an estimated 300 000 people during the war in Darfur, but he came to Britain after hearing it was “a good place to claim asylum”.
An immigration tribunal found he was guilty of crimes against humanity after he gave media interviews in which he described joining in the burning and looting of 30 villages and shooting countless victims.
But a judge has ruled that the 27-year-old must be allowed to stay in Britain because his life could be at risk if he returned to his home country.
She said that as a result of the media interviews he gave voluntarily in this country in which he criticised his former commanders and revealed embarrassing political information about the conflict, they might try to kill or hurt him if he was sent home.
In interviews with BBC Newsnight and The Times his identity remained secret and his face was hidden in pictures and footage. But the judge ruled that word had got around the Sudanese community in this country about who man was and as a result his life was at risk.
It follows other cases where individuals accused of committing horrendous violence have been granted refuge in Britain.
They include a Serbian war crime suspect and a former henchman of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.
This latest case involves a former goat shepherd who joined the Janjaweed militia in 2003. During the conflict in Sudan, Janjaweed forces attacked dozens of non-Arab tribes in a burning and killing spree now regarded as ethnic cleansing.
After more than two years as a paid fighter he deserted and came to the UK because he was told it was ‘a good place to claim asylum’.
The man, who is not being named by the Mail, arrived in 2006 and claimed asylum but his case was not decided by officials until last year. In 2008 he gave interviews to The Times and Newsnight. In one, he said: “You will not distinguish between children, the elderly or women. You just shoot and kill everybody.”
He also admitted seeing his fellow soldiers committing rape, but denied taking part.
He told the Times he lost count of the number of people he shot.
On BBC’s Newsnight he described “innocent people running out and being killed including children”.
Immigration officials, pointing to the interviews he gave, ruled that he was exempt from refugee status. The Geneva Convention allows war criminals to be refused asylum.
Officials said he could return to Sudan and live in another part of the country safely because his identity was not known. But the man appealed and in October last year an immigration judge granted him asylum and ruled his human rights under Articles 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act - the right to life and protection against torture - would be infringed if he returned.
Judge CJ Lloyd said she thought it was “fairer” to examine the evidence he gave to the tribunal in person in which he changed his story entirely and claimed he had “never killed anyone in his life but was careful to shoot in the air”.
She also concluded he would be at risk from the Sudanese Government if returned because his name would have leaked out. The Home Office appealed and in an Upper Tribunal ruling published last week Judge Hanson ruled the man did join in attacks against civilians and had ‘criminal responsibility”.
He overturned the decision to grant asylum on the grounds the man was a war criminal.
But he upheld the human rights ruling which found the man was at risk if returned to Sudan - as a result of the interviews he gave.
The war criminal will now be allowed to remain in this country indefinitely. He cannot claim benefits, work or study and the only controls that can be placed on him is a reporting requirement.
Tory MP Dominic Raab said: “Britain should be a safe haven for those fleeing torture and persecution, not a soft touch for those carrying it out.” - Daily Mail | <urn:uuid:57a54ca1-fc26-4e4d-84b2-62e18a13372d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/war-criminal-wins-right-to-stay-in-uk-1.1398656 | 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 | 0.987731 | 857 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The growing U.S. bioindustry is poised to convert domestic biomass resources into the full range of fuels and products needed to reduce U.S. oil imports and boost economic growth. Achieving the potential benefits of biofuels for the nation will require large quantities of domestic biomass. Feedstock production addresses all the steps required to sustainably produce lignocellulosic and algal biomass feedstocks to the point they are ready to be collected or harvested.
These steps include plant breeding and genomics, crop selection, crop development, and ultimately crop production. USDA and the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science are primarily leading federal research in these areas. DOE's Biomass Program focuses its sustainable feedstock production research and development (R&D) in three main areas:
Biomass Program feedstock resource assessment activities include identification of the geographic location, price, and environmental sustainability of accessing existing and potential future feedstock resource, as well as projecting future supply availability and prices. The first step in developing a sustainable supply of biomass feedstock for the growing bioindustry is to identify the current and potential resources available for use in energy production, taking into account factors such as environmental impacts, competing uses for feedstocks, cost, and end-use application. The 2011 DOE report, U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry, details biomass feedstock potential throughout the contiguous United States. The report examines U.S. capacity to produce one billion dry tons of biomass resources annually for bioenergy and bioproducts, while still meeting demands for food, feed, and fiber. The Billion-Ton Update estimates that the United States could potentially produce about 85 billion gallons of biofuels—enough to replace approximately 30% of the nation's current petroleum consumption. The Billion-Ton Update supports the conclusions of the original 2005 Billion-Ton Study and adds in-depth production and cost analyses, addresses sustainability issues like land-use changes and crop management practices, and provides county-level data. View the report and explore the data in the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (KDF). Related fact sheets can be found on the Biomass website.
After a sustainable biomass feedstock resource has been identified, the resource must be developed to its full potential in a manner that is sustainable and consistent with the requirements of the end user (i.e., conversion facility). The Biomass Program's resource development efforts include analysis of past and existing resource development efforts and establishment of new replicated field trials. Analysis of past and existing efforts will be used to determine the most successful crops and locations for field trials, as well as gaps that need to be addressed. They will also be used to develop an experimental design to serve as a protocol for the establishment of replicated field trials of dedicated energy crops. The field trials will be used to collect data on a variety of factors, including the impacts of agricultural residue removal from the field. Data and input for these efforts are partially collected through a series of Regional Feedstock Partnership workshops hosted in each Sun Grant Initiative region across the United States. The information gathered through the Feedstock Technology Area's Resource Development efforts are used to provide data for the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (KDF) and the BioEnergy Atlas.
In 2008, the Biomass Program, Sun Grant Initiative universities, and USDA selected—and in some cases established—the first round of replicated field trials of corn stover removal and dedicated herbaceous energy crops. The Field Trials Map on this page shows the selected locations and types of crops. Woody energy crop, forest residue removal, and cereal straw removal field trials are planned for future years. For more information on these crop trials, please see the Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership site.
Sustainability is incorporated into all of the Biomass Program's Feedstock Production efforts. For example, the KDF and Atlas—developed as part of the Technology Area's Resource Assessment—work include a number of data layers that address the sustainability of an available resource, including soil quality data (such as soil carbon levels or soil bulk density), annual climate data (such as average temperature and precipitation), and production input data (such as fertilizer rates and water availability). The dedicated energy crop field trials being conducted as part of the Technology Area's Resource Development work will provide valuable information on the sustainability of specific energy crops by allowing project performers to collect information such as water requirements of a specific feedstock, invasiveness of a specific feedstock, or a feedstock's ability to fix nitrogen. | <urn:uuid:6b504923-fe16-41dd-9919-4c3c9b1eba5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/m/feedstocks_sustainable_production.html | 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 | 0.918709 | 936 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Everyone wants to protect themselves and their loved ones. Everyone wants to be in good shape. If that’s true why aren’t more people in martial arts. That is because not every martial arts program is R.E.AL. Universal Combatives Alliance realizes that every person has a need to learn effective self-preservation, but there are many factors preventing people from doing so. Some people can’t afford the commitment of 3-4 times a week. Some cannot afford the cost of attending a regular school. Sure classes can be as low as $35 USD a month, but with belt test, uniform cost, equipment cost, contracts, sign up fees, and more the year cost can easily reach $3000-5000 USD with an average time of 2-5 years before you can attain an instructor level and begin to recoup your investment. There are still others that feel they cannot do these classes due to a physical limitation, be a bad back, shoulder knee, a physical handicap…etc. This is why the R.E.A.L. Program was invented.
What is the R.E.AL. Program? Why is it different than the other martial arts programs available at a local school? How can I be sure it works for me? All good questions and the answers are quite simple. RE.A.L. is a unique approach to a martial arts program. R.E.A.L. stands for Realistic Effective Alive Life-changing and is a 3 day program of intense personalized 1 on 1 training. When someone is interested in R.E.A.L. we set-up a tele-conference or online video conference where we sit down with you and discuss your goals, your strengths, and any conditions you may have such as physical limitations. We then sit down and design a program based on the information provided that will be unique to you. This guarantees that whether you are suffering severe asthma, a bad back, or even confined to a wheelchair we can and will design a program guaranteed to work for you. We have over 50+ years combined experience and worked with everyone from athletes and military to paralyzed and blind.
Next you pay your deposit and set dates to come out and train at one of our two locations. The cost of the deposit is 50% of the total cost and is due before we commit to the dates selected. This means if you select a date with us, but wait a few weeks before paying the deposit your date may be taken by someone else or a seminar. If this happens pay your deposit and we will work with you to find another date that works. “But what if I am unable to travel?” no problem At not extra charge to UCA members and a mere $500 extra for US residents and $1500 extra for overseas for non-members, we come to you. After the deposit is paid we will give you an online video class every 2 weeks until your date then you will train for 18-24 hrs over a 3 day period in person upon arrival. At the end of which you may be eligible for an instructorship certification.
This certification would be what we call an Instructor Trainee cert and would enable you teach small classes or one on one. Thus enabling you to instantly see a return on your investment with us. After 4-6 trips most are eligible to be an official Apprentice Instructor at which time you will be granted the right to open an official school. Membership in UCA is not optional at this point. You will be listed in our database and be given an instructors page at nolimitscombat.com the official homepage of Universal Combatives Alliance. Unlike most other associations we work with you in every step of setting up your classes and school. Please note you cannot certify anyone as an instructor until you receive Full Instructor. All of our levels are divided into four A.C.T.s until Senior Instructor. A.C.T. stands for Active Certified Trainer. The four levels are similar to the rank stripes found in Kenpo, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, and many other associations/systems.
Our program is for 1-12 people and the cost of the R.E.A.L. Training Program can be split among all the people coming. The cost is $3000 for non-UCA Memebers. UCA members refer to your discounts to see how much you save. Our program curriculum is always updated and every R.E.A.L. Training is unique. Do not miss out! set up yours’ today. | <urn:uuid:6313c887-752e-4db9-b4f7-e7ac0bd31cb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nolimitscombat.com/get-r-e-a-l | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953974 | 932 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Effective January 1, 2008, you may not pack spare lithium batteries in your checked baggage.
You may pack spare lithium batteries in your carry-on baggage. Please see the TSA's Spare Battery Tips and How-To sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely. If you pack a device containing batteries, secure it against activation by locking the activation switch in the "off" position, placing the device in a protective case, or by other appropriate measures.
While there is no explosion hazard associated with lithium batteries, the Federal Aviation Administration has studied fire hazards associated with both primary and lithium-ion cells, and their extensive research is publicly available. As a result of this research, the FAA no longer allows large, palletized shipments of these batteries to be transported as cargo on passenger aircraft.
The research also shows that an explosion will not result from shorting or damaging either lithium-ion or primary lithium batteries. Both are, however, extremely flammable. Primary lithium batteries cannot be extinguished with firefighting agents normally carried on aircraft, whereas lithium-ion batteries are easily extinguished by most common extinguishing agents, including those carried on board commercial aircraft.
The TSA has and will continue to work closely with the FAA on potential aviation safety and security issues, and TSA security officers are thoroughly and continually trained to find explosive threats. TSA does not have plans to change security regulations for electronic devices powered by lithium batteries.
The information we are providing may be changed by the TSA at any time without notice. So in order to have the latest information and updates on this restriction, please visit the TSA website. | <urn:uuid:95beb73e-b262-48a1-bf11-4dccb6c45863> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wengerna.com/tsa-regulations-concerning-lithium-batteries | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942743 | 325 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Multifarious varieties of fungi at our local Farmer’s market
Walking around my garden after the rain we had, I wasn’t at all surprised to see the multitude of mushrooms that had popped up virtually overnight. Would that blog posts sprout as quickly as fungi I’d be one prolific blogger. I always look at them and wonder who has the nerve to eat these fleshy morsels plucked straight from the earth, not really knowing if they’re poisonous or not? Pas moi. I’d rather trust the perfect stranger at the Farmer’s market to tell me they’re safe!
Recently I read a book called “The Wild Trees” by Richard Preston which is essentially about the Sequoia sempervirens in the Pacific Northwest and the
crazy daring botanists and amateur naturalists that climb them, but it was also here that I first learned of the giant Armillaria ostoyae in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. For those easily squeamish, this is a tad, well, eewwwy, but this humongous fungi, mercifully growing mostly beneath the ground, encompasses nearly 4 square miles (that’s 1,665 football fields People!) Discovered in 1998 it knocked the 200 ton Blue whale off its pedestal (or should I say out of the water ) as the record holder for The World’s Largest Known Organism. Based on it’s current growth rate, it is estimated to be somewhere between 2,400-8,650 years old. FYI, I know some humans that fudge their ages that much. This would also place the giant fungi as one of the oldest living organisms on the planet.
Think about that the next time you are filling your bag with cute little button mushrooms at Von’s (which, another FYI, you should never eat those button mushrooms raw-bad, bad for you)
And to think a Giant Fungus could be growing just beneath this idyllic woodland picnic scene…
But alas, once again I digress…let’s return to my favourite subject
Butter Roasted mushrooms super simple recipe HERE
Or perhaps you prefer your mushroom flavour on the sweet side?Chanterelle macaroons from Pierre Herme
Martha has this delicious sounding recipe for a “Mushroom Martini” HERE
Purists (and Martha) would likely kill me for saying this, but these gallon sized buckets of freeze dried(?) assorted mushrooms from Costco are surprisingly good, especially in a pinch for soups & sauces.
Caveat; If my counsel means anything to you-do not, I repeat DO NOT stick your nose inside and take a big smell.
There. I saved you.
One of my favourite ways to prepare mushrooms is to simply flash fry some of the fancier, frilly ones in a 50/50 combo of butter & olive oil until they get crispy, drain on paper towel then serve still hot; sprinkled with coarse sea salt and a generous squirt of fresh lemon juice. Like decadent, earthy potato chips-yum!
Do you think it’s easy working fashion into a post about mushrooms?!
ring via Boticca.com
I’ve had this image and recipe in my files for years thinking I would someday attempt it. I think it was also from Martha. It’s really the pastry that scares me, but this year might be the year. Rest assured I so will be sharing the photos if I ever make this.
Link for Morel mushroom Christmas ornaments below
I once had mushrooms growing in the trunk of my car when I lived in Vancouver. Not on purpose. It’s an embarrassing story involving a long wet winter and some disastrously forgotten paperwork…that never got ‘filed’. Ah…blessed youth…
Mushroomy coasters from Barney’s (I have these in violet-so pretty!)
I think Hermes
Toadstools in my friend’s garden in Greece
Brass stools via Remodelista.com
I’d love a couple of these in my garden
There’s really something quite magical and pure about mushrooms, don’t you think?
(excluding 4 mile ones and the ones that grew in my car)
Mushroom Christmas ornaments via MadAboutMushrooms
Uncredited photos via Tumblr or Pinterest | <urn:uuid:576f24d4-96ae-4b34-b5b8-e065695a6db7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://slimpaley.com/2012/12/10/you-say-shiitake/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931513 | 936 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Transportation in Florida
The State of Florida is served by a variety of transportation options, including Interstate Highways, United States and Florida State Roads, Amtrak and commuter rail services, scheduled passenger airline service and other airports, public transportation, and ports, in a number of the state's counties and regions.
Florida's interstates, U.S. Highways, and state highways are maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation, with the exception of a few highways in Miami, which are maintained by the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX).
Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles (2,371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles (15,987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as Florida state highways and U.S. Highways.
|Road name||South or west terminus||North or east terminus||Notes|
|I-4||Tampa||Daytona Beach||Has junctions with I-75 in Tampa and I-95 in Daytona Beach.|
|I-10||Alabama state line, near Pensacola||Jacksonville||Has junctions with I-75 near Lake City and I-95 in Jacksonville.|
|I-75||Georgia state line, near Lake City||Hialeah/Miami Lakes||Has junctions with I-10 in Lake City and I-4 in Tampa.|
|I-95||Georgia state line, near Jacksonville||Downtown Miami||Has junctions with I-10 in Jacksonville and I-4 in Daytona Beach.|
Secondary Interstates
|I-110||A spur from I-10 into downtown Pensacola.|
|I-175||Connects I-275 to southern downtown St. Petersburg.|
|I-195||An extension of Miami's Airport Expressway (SR 112); a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami Beach.|
|I-275||A 60 miles (97 km) westward half-loop from I-75 north of Ellenton, over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, through St. Petersburg, to Tampa International Airport and downtown Tampa, reconnecting with I-75 in Tampa's northern suburbs.|
|I-295||A beltway around Jacksonville.|
|I-375||Connects I-275 to northern downtown St. Petersburg.|
|I-395||An extension of Miami's Dolphin Expressway (SR 836); a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami Beach.|
|I-595||Connects I-75, I-95, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Port Everglades.|
Toll roads
Florida has several toll roads, totaling 515 miles (830 km) of the state highway system. Major toll roads include:
- I-75, as it passes through the Everglades between Naples and Fort Lauderdale has been grandfathered as a toll road from its original construction as S.R. 84
- Florida's Turnpike, which begins at US 1 in Florida City and continues north through the western suburbs of South Florida turning northwest at Fort Pierce and continuing through central Florida, passing west of Orlando and ending at I-75 near Wildwood, 23 miles (37 km) south of Ocala. Florida's Turnpike has the distinction of having the farthest distance between two exits of any limited-access highway in the United States. It is more than 47 miles (76 km) between exits 193 and 240; there is a service area with fuel at milepost 229.
- I-275 Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which connects Pinellas County with Manatee County
U.S. Routes
- U.S. Route 1
- U.S. Route 17
- U.S. Route 19
- U.S. Route 23
- U.S. Route 27
- U.S. Route 29
- U.S. Route 41
- U.S. Route 90
- U.S. Route 92
- U.S. Route 98
- U.S. Route 129
- U.S. Route 192
- U.S. Route 221
- U.S. Route 231
- U.S. Route 301
- U.S. Route 319
- U.S. Route 331
- U.S. Route 441
State routes
Intercity rail
Amtrak service exists in Florida: Sanford, in Greater Orlando, is the southern terminus of the Amtrak Auto Train, which originates at Lorton, Virginia, south of Washington, DC. Orlando is also the eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited, which travels across the southern United States via New Orleans, Houston, and San Antonio to its western terminus of Los Angeles. Florida is served by two additional Amtrak trains (the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor), which operate between New York City and Miami.
High Speed Intercity Rail
The Florida Department of Transportation was preparing to build a high speed rail between Tampa, Lakeland and Orlando. This is the first phase of the Florida High Speed Rail system. Soil work began in July 2010 with the federal government expecting full construction to begin in 2011. However, Governor Rick Scott declined the federal funding.
Major international airports in Florida which processed more than 15 million passengers each in 2005 are Orlando International Airport (34,128,048 est. 2006), Miami International Airport (32,533,974 est. 2006), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport(22,390,285 est. 2006) and Tampa International Airport (19,045,390 est. 2006).
Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic exceeding 5 million each in 2005, include Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers) (7,518,169 est. 2006), Palm Beach International Airport (West Palm Beach) (7,014,237 est. 2006), Jacksonville International Airport (5,741,652).
Regional Airports which processed over one million passengers each in 2005 are Pensacola (1,638,605), Sarasota-Bradenton (1,337,571), and Tallahassee (1,129,947) and Sanford (1,649,237) which is primarily served by international charter airlines.
Other smaller, regional airports with commercial service (with passengers served in 2005, where available) include those at Daytona Beach (615,841), Fort Walton Beach (520,000), Gainesville (345,788), Key West, Marathon Key, Melbourne (466,367), Naples, Panama City (382,551), and St. Petersburg-Clearwater (596,510).
Public transportation
Miami's public transportation is served by Miami-Dade Transit that runs Metrorail, a heavy rail rapid transit system, Metromover, a people mover train system in Downtown Miami, and Metrobus, Miami-Dade's bus system. Metrorail runs throughout Miami-Dade County and has 22 stations on a 22.4-mile (36.0 km) track connecting to Downtown Miami's Metromover and Tri-Rail. Metromover has three lines and 21 stations on a 4.4-mile (7.1 km) track connecting Uptown and the Brickell Financial District inside of Downtown Miami. Outside of Miami-Dade County, public transit in the South Florida metropolitan area is served by Broward County Transit and Palm Tran; intercounty heavy rail service is provided by Tri-Rail, with 18 stations including the region's three international airports.
Tampa and its surrounding area use the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority system, called "HARTLINE" or simply "HART" for short. In addition, downtown Tampa has continuous trolley services in the form of a heritage trolley powered by Tampa Electric Company. Pinellas County and St. Petersburg provide similar services through the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority or "PSTA". The beaches of Pinellas County also have a continuous trolley bus. Downtown St. Petersburg also has a trolley system, called the Looper.
Orlando utilizes the LYNX bus system as well as a free public transport downtown. A commuter rail service – SunRail – has been approved by all concerning counties and is in final planning stages.
Public transportation in Jacksonville is provided by Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), operating bus service, trolleys, paratransit, and a people mover. The people mover, known as the JTA Skyway is located in downtown Jacksonville, and operates 8 stations along a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) track. Bus service as well as paratransit service is provided around Duval County and partially in Clay County. JTA operates three trolley lines in three different neighborhoods: Downtown, Riverside, and Jacksonville Beach. The entire JTA system has a daily ridership of over 42,000.
In Polk County, the Citrus Connection and Winter Haven Area Transit (WHAT) provide regional transportation in the cities of Lakeland, Bartow, Winter Haven, Auburndale and smaller surrounding municipalities and unincorporated areas.
Florida voters approved a state constitutional amendment in 2000 for the construction of a high speed rail network. Due to public skepticism about the multi-billion dollar price, voters repealed this amendment. The first segment of this network, projected to have opened in 2009, would have connected Tampa and Orlando, in hopes of alleviating traffic on the busy Interstate 4 corridor. Later segments would have connected Miami, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Pensacola.
See also | <urn:uuid:ebb17ff9-e035-4ddc-a274-3dec1653aac6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_Florida | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921739 | 2,008 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Plan Ahead and Increase Productivity
You have heard the old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is “One bite at a time!”
Your mind, your ability to think, plan, and decide, is your most powerful tool for overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity. Your ability to set goals, make plans, and take action on them determines the course of your life. The very act of thinking and planning unlocks your mental powers, triggers your creativity, and increases your mental and physical energies.
Increase Your Return on Energy
One of your top goals at work should be for you to get the highest return on your investment of mental, emotional, and physical energy. The good news is that every minute spent in planning saves as many as ten minutes in execution. It takes only about 10 to 12 minutes for you to plan out your day, but this small investment of time will save you up to two hours (100 to 120 minutes) in wasted time and diffused effort through the day.
You may have heard of the Six-P Formula. It says, “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”
FREE REPORT: Goals! –by Brian Tracy
When you consider how helpful planning can be in increasing your productivity and performance, it is amazing how few people practice it every single day. And planning is really quite simple to do. All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. The most sophisticated iPhone, computer program, or time planner is based on the same principle. It is based on your sitting down and making a list of everything you have to do before you begin.
Two Extra Hours per Day
Always work from a list. When something new comes up, add it to the list before you do it. You can increase your productivity and output by 25 percent or more-about two hours a day-from the first day that you begin working consistently from a list.
Make your list the night before for the workday ahead. Move everything that you have to do the next day. When you make your life the night before, your subconscious mind will work on your list all night long while you sleep. Often you will wake up with great ideas and insights that you can use to get your job done faster and better than you had initially thought.
The more time you take to make a list of everything you have to do , in advance, the more effective and efficient you will be.
Different Lists for Different Purposes
You need different lists for different purposes. First, you should create a master list on which you write down everything you can think of that you want to do sometime in the future. This is the place where you capture every idea and every new task or responsibility that comes up. You can sort out the items later.
Second, you should have a monthly list that you can make at the end of the month for the month ahead. This may contain items transferred from your master list.
Third, you should have a weekly list where you plan your entire week in advance. This is the list that is under construction as you go through the current week.
This discipline of systematic time planning can be very helpful to you. Many people have told me that the habit of taking a couple of hours at the end of each week to plant the coming week has increased their productivity dramatically and changed their lives completely. This technique will work for you as well.
Planning a Project
When you have a project of any kind, begin by making a list of every step that you will have to complete to finish the project from beginning to end. Organize the steps by priority and sequence. Lay out the project in front of you on paper or on a computer so that you can see every step and task. Then go to work on one task at a time. You will be amazed at how much you get done in this way.
As you work through your lists, you will feel more and more effective and powerful. You will feel more in control of your life. You will be naturally motivated to do even more. You will think better and more creatively, and you will get more and better insights that enable you to do your work even faster.
As you work steadily through your lists, you will develop a sense of positive forward momentum that enables you to overcome procrastination. This feeling of progress gives you more energy and keeps you going throughout the day.
When you plan each day in advance, you will find it much easier to get going and to keep going. The work will go faster and smoother than ever before. You will feel more powerful and competent. You will get more done faster than you thought possible. Eventually, you will become unstoppable.
Topics included in this article include
How to Stop Procrastinating
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Tags: best goals, goals and objectives, how to be motivated, how to be positive, how to be productive, how to plan, how to plan a project, how to stop procrastinating, increasing your productivity, setting goals, take action, Time Management, to do list, what is goal setting | <urn:uuid:416c108b-cfe4-4300-9855-be5a4d4bbae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.briantracy.com/blog/general/plan-ahead-and-increase-productivity/?lid=more | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952899 | 1,100 | 2.234375 | 2 |
When Mr Katayama came back from America and visited my department. the words he said made me determined to follow my dream. He stated that we could go on making cheap economy cars forever, but by doing so, we would never be able to move forward in export markets. Nissan, and Japan as a whole, needed to build something stunning, something original that would make foreign manufacturers sit up and take notice of us.
Mr. Yoshihiko Matsuo.
Chief of Design, Nissan
I love the way people are letting go of the cliché of car culture. Japanese hero meets English classic. Wire wheels on a Datsun isn’t something that you could articulate, you need to see it. But it makes sense. The aesthetic relates to where most of us think the 240 really came from, the E Type Jag.
But it seems the inspiration for the Z was more Italian that British. Mr. Yoshihiko Matsuo was the man behind the car. But Fiat, Ferrari and Lamborghini where behind the inspiration. You can see the lines in his 1965 sketch below.
Matsuo created a classic that has more than stood the test of time. And car culture today has taken it to the next level.
Every cover I’ve ever done (about 50 of them) has started with the same conversation. “We’ve got nothing to put on the cover”
“How about this car and that car?”
“Who can shoot it?”
“How about a rig shot?”
“Let’s get Easton Chang to shoot it”
From there the discussions with editors, creative directors, publishers, writers and drivers begin. How many cars? What location? Moving? Static? Day? Night?? What angles? Normally I’ll start with some model cars set up on a table. Just to check angles. It’s a whole lot easier to move model cars around than real one.
I’ll do ten different versions and then run it past the editor and the creative director so we can narrow it down to two different shots to actually go ahead with.
I then write a massive brief about location and lighting and mood.
The next step is the shoot. Here is that actual shot of the cars that matched the mock-up.
Then we ad a bit more mood, fix the bits that need fixing. Then add some coverlines. This was supposed to be the Joy of Six issue. But ended up being the Turbo Jets after the publisher vetoed the coverlines.
Easton Chang is great shooter, one of my favourites (www.eastonchang.com). I was working at Speed Magazine about 8 years ago and we got Easton to shoot a modified Subaru Forester, it was green and he shot it at Sydney Olympic park. I’m pretty sure it was his first professional shoot.
He arrived on the scene at the birth of digital; so the rules started to change really fast. He upset a lot of the more established shooters and he pushed the boundaries of rig photography more than anyone in the world, and to top it off he was self-taught. Legend. | <urn:uuid:24035a69-1024-41c2-955c-87dbddc3742d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://robinsmultistorycarpark.tumblr.com/tagged/Datsun | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96516 | 665 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here's what we can now expect from the agencies, along with a description of each new requirement from the memo:
- New high-value datasets: "Within 45 days, each agency shall identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-value data sets ... and register those data sets via Data.gov. These must be data sets not previously available online or in a downloadable format."
- Senior official accountable for federal spending information: "Within 45 days, each agency, in consultation with OMB, shall designate a high-level senior official to be accountable for the quality and objectivity of, and internal controls over, the Federal spending information publicly disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar websites."
- Open Government Webpage: "Within 60 days, each agency shall create an Open Government Webpage located at http://www.[agency].gov/open to serve as the gateway for agency activities related to the Open Government Directive and shall maintain and update that webpage in a timely fashion."
- Open Government Dashboard: "Within 60 days, the Federal Chief Information Officer and the Federal Chief Technology Officer shall create an Open Government Dashboard on www.whitehouse.gov/open. The Open Government Dashboard will make available each agency’s Open Government Plan, together with aggregate statistics and visualizations designed to provide an assessment of the state of open government in the Executive Branch and progress over time toward meeting the deadlines for action outlined in this Directive."
- Open Government Plan: "Within 120 days, each agency shall develop and publish on its Open Government Webpage an Open Government Plan that will describe how it will improve transparency and integrate public participation and collaboration into its activities."
- FOIA Backlog Reduction: "Each agency with a significant pending backlog of outstanding Freedom of Information requests shall take steps to reduce any such backlog by ten percent each year."
The OGD also tasks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with developing strategy and innovations in openness. Specifically, OMB must do the following:
- Establish a working group to foster innovation and idea exchange: "This group, with senior level representation from program and management offices throughout the Government, will serve several critical functions, including: Providing a forum to share best practices on innovative ideas to promote transparency...; Coordinating efforts to implement existing mandates for Federal spending transparency...; and Providing a forum to share best practices on innovative ideas to promote participation and collaboration..."
- Issue a framework for quality of federal spending info: "Within 60 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, through separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management guidance, a framework for the quality of Federal spending information publicly disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar websites."
- Provide a framework for how agencies can use prizes, challenges to find new solutions: "Within 90 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, through separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management guidance, a framework for how agencies can use challenges, prizes, and other incentive-backed strategies to find innovative or cost-effective solutions to improving open government."
- Issue long term strategy for federal spending transparency: "Within 120 days, the Deputy Director for Management at OMB will issue, through separate guidance or as part of any planned comprehensive management guidance, a longer-term comprehensive strategy for Federal spending transparency, including the Federal Funding Accountability Transparency Act and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act."
All told, today is a good day for the good government movement. With the Justice Department's (DOJ) recent policies and procedures for asserting state secrets privilege and other measures DOJ has taken towards openness, the executive branch is now well on its way to establishing a culture of openness.
But the real challenge is still ahead: our task now is to implement, enforce, and ensure the long-term viability of a policy of openness. While DOJ's memo on state secrets was encouraging, subsequent implementation has proven to be discouraging — going to show that it will be up to our community to ensure all open government initiatives live up to their potential.
Only time will tell if the document will go down as the Magna Carta of government transparency, or just another memo for the archive. For now, it's worth commending the White House for taking this first step. | <urn:uuid:4162ca0e-b2aa-49a0-9f80-d09281fa8d46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pogo.org/about/press-room/releases/2009/gs-og-20091208.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91852 | 893 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Ernesto weakens, but new strength forecast
updated 8:18 PM EDT, Wed August 8, 2012
People take refuge from Hurricane Ernesto in a shelter Tuesday in the Mahahual community on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
- Ernesto continues to weaken but is expected to become a hurricane again
- The storm's intensity drops after making first landfall in Mexcio
- The storm is expected to enter the Bay of Campeche Wednesday afternoon
- Another landfall is predicted for Thursday
Are you preparing for Tropical Storm Ernesto? Share your story with CNN iReport.
(CNN) -- Despite weakening, Tropical Storm Ernesto poured heavy rains Wednesday on Mexico and portions of Central America, the National Hurricane Center said.
Ernesto, once a Category 1 hurricane, was moving into the Bay of Campeche where it is expected to become a hurricane again.
As of 8 p.m. ET, the storm was about 20 miles (35 kilometers) east-northeast of Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico, the center reported. Ernesto was moving west at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Officials in Ciudad del Carmen reported one gust of 58 mph.
The storm is expected to make landfall a second time on Mexico's coast on Thursday.
Mexico issued a hurricane watch along the coast from Barra de Nautla to Coatzacoalcos, an area that includes the coastal city of Veracruz.
Hurricane Ernesto is expected to weaken as it crosses the Yucatan before emerging in the Bay of Campeche.
Between 4 to 8 inches of rain are expected in some areas of the region, with as much as 12 inches in parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz.
Belize, the southern Yucatan Peninsula and northern Guatemala may see as much as 4 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.
Complete coverage of weather
Ernesto will cause a surge when it reaches the coast, increasing water levels by as much as 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels in the area near and north of where the storm makes landfall, the hurricane center said.
NASA scientist links climate change, extreme weather
Ernesto made initial landfall Tuesday night as a Category 1 hurricane in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the Yucatan Peninsula.
In Chetumal, the state capital, officials asked residents to remain indoors throughout the night as the storm hit.
Some areas were flooded or without electricity Wednesday morning.
Civil protection officials worked throughout the storm to evacuate some residents living in low-lying areas who had initially refused to leave, a local journalist, Carlos Perez, told CNN en Español.
Shelters were open throughout the area, providing food, he said.
In Honduras, classes were canceled in the northern part of the country, where the effects of the storm were felt. There was flooding in some areas, but no major damage.
Journalist Elvin Sandoval contributed to this report.
Part of complete coverage on
updated 8:17 AM EST, Mon November 5, 2012
A mother learns that her newborn is part of a hospital evacuation. Facebook posts from a member of the HMS Bounty turn ominous. A man worries about the wind and rain, but another force of nature hits home.
updated 2:53 PM EST, Thu November 29, 2012
Tourists become volunteer rescue workers. The connected provide power outlets and Wi-Fi. Performers lift spirits. Photographers preserve images. Doctors work overtime to keep hospitals running and patients alive.
Get to know the victims of Superstorm Sandy through our interactive feature.
updated 10:42 AM EST, Fri November 30, 2012
It has been in operation only since October 30, but the Facebook page for "Giving back to those affected by Sandy" has a longer timeline than most Facebook members.
updated 3:07 PM EST, Sun November 25, 2012
It's important to remember that even as the effect of Superstorm Sandy recedes from the news, there are still devastated areas that are without electricity, heat or hot water.
updated 11:46 AM EST, Sat November 24, 2012
The rapper 50 Cent brought a little holiday cheer and Thanksgiving food to New Yorkers hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.
updated 12:10 PM EST, Wed November 21, 2012
Our AmeriCares "Operation Muck-Out" team immediately got to work, ripping out the interior walls and removing the insulation until only wooden beams were standing.
updated 12:19 PM EST, Tue November 20, 2012
Ashley Murray became the first female president of Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding Supplies Inc. in Brooklyn. But now the family history Murray was charged with preserving is at risk of ending after Superstorm Sandy.
Truckloads of donations from across the country, carrying everything from bottled water to diapers, are arriving at places of worship.
updated 12:16 PM EST, Tue November 20, 2012
The adage says "a picture is worth a thousand words," but when Leeann Lewandowski happened upon a photograph of her late mother on Facebook after her home was destroyed in Superstorm Sandy, she was speechless.
updated 12:52 PM EDT, Fri November 2, 2012
Roots ripped out of the ground as a large oak tree fell toward Olga Raymond's front door. With it came a power line.
iReporters share their photos, videos and stories of living in the path of the superstorm. | <urn:uuid:fcd75d69-4e11-47a4-8ee1-98a8dd76bc60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/world/americas/tropical-weather/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953662 | 1,145 | 1.976563 | 2 |
A massive climate bill has taken its first step forward in the House, its path paved by the giveaway of allowances -- free greenhouse gas emission permits designed to mute the economic impact of a carbon cap-and-trade program.
Free allowances -- each conveying the right to pump a ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere -- were the glue that held the sprawling bill together for Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and fellow Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee last week.
The "cap" of cap and trade would impose steadily tightening limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Companies covered by the bill whose emissions exceeded their caps would have to purchase emission allowances, or buy offsets -- for example, by investing in rainforest preservation. Some allowances could be banked or borrowed to ease transitions. But the decisions would affect firms' choices of fuels, introduction of new technologies, and decisions to hire, fire, expand, shrink or move operations overseas.
The bill's allowances help lessen its economic impact on parts of the country with industries threatened by trade or heavily dependent on coal to generate electricity. Even so, the climate legislation will create major winners and losers. "Some will have zero costs, some will have extremely high costs," said Harvard University economist Robert Stavins. "It's very hard to estimate who will be the most burdened."
Washington state, with its plentiful hydroelectric power, emitted 0.15 ton of carbon dioxide per megawatt of power it produced in 2005. Indiana -- a center of coal-based power generation -- emitted nearly 1 ton of CO2 per megawatt, Stavins noted.
A computer model run by ClearView Energy Partners estimates that greenhouse gas limits will hit three times as hard in West Virginia, Kentucky and North Dakota, for example, as in Washington state, California or Oregon.
Oil refiners and manufacturers of chemicals, paper, cement and metals will be vulnerable. So will companies that face tough U.S. or foreign competition that makes it hard to pass on higher energy prices.
"The firm makes a choice," said Kevin Book, a ClearView partner. "You can adapt. You can accept lower profits to retain customers, or, if you can jack up prices, you will. We don't know what the industrial players will do." Electric power prices would still come under the eyes of public utility commissions.
The different regional burdens required Waxman to parcel out allowances to benefit coal states -- whose economies would feel more pain -- in order to get a majority of Democrats behind the bill. "You can leave it up to Congress to do what it does well, and that is to build a constituency for the program," Stavins said. | <urn:uuid:f03febca-f9b1-44e5-b329-ed9f00f179b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=right-to-emit-free-carbon-dioxide-climate-bill | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943888 | 555 | 2.28125 | 2 |
LST-824 was laid down on 28 September 1944 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 8 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Harry W. Groot; and commissioned on 30 November 1944, Lt. Jesse D. Jones, USNR, in command.
During World War II, LST-824 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto from April through June 1945. Following the war, she performed occupation duty in the Far East until late September 1945. The ship was decommissioned on 15 May 1946 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet. The tank landing ship was redesignated Henry County (LST-824) (q.v.) on 1 July 1955 after counties in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Recommissioned on 5 September 1959, Henry County performed extensive service with the Pacific Fleet and, commencing in 1965, participated in operations in the Vietnam theater. Later decommissioned again, Henry County was transferred to the Malaysian Navy where she served as Sri Banggi (A-1501).
LST-824 earned one battle star for World War II service and four for Vietnam service. | <urn:uuid:7dd60e68-c9a5-4147-aac9-7d786e1fcb78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l25/lst-824.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961385 | 266 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The Beatles' First U.S. Show to Screen in Theaters
The Beatles’ first show in the United States took place at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11, 1964. Beatlemania unveiled its fresh face on the packed crowd of 8,092 fans in attendance over the course of a 12-song set that included “She Loves You” and “Twist and Shout.”
Over 40 years the footage of the historical event was lost, found and has yet to be seen by audiences—until now.
On May 17, Screenvision, in partnership with Ace Arts and Iambic Media will present a 92-minute documentary which features The Beatles’ first-ever U.S. concert, titled The Beatles: The Lost Concert. The documentary will be shown in theaters across America between May 17-22. For information on theaters and ticket purchases check here.
Rolling Stone reports the documentary will feature interviews from Chuck Berry, Mark Ronson, Strokes members Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi as well as Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
Watch the trailer below. | <urn:uuid:bc0eda93-94c2-46ba-8bbe-daa6145b3953> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/awesome_of_the_day/2012/04/the-beatles-coming-to-theaters.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 | 0.927703 | 244 | 1.882813 | 2 |
MOUNT VERNON — The Wednesday, Nov. 7, meeting of the Knox County Historical Society will again honor area military veterans when students from St. Vincent de Paul School portray several of Knox County’s many Civil War veterans and tell about some of their experiences during that War.
Students from Beth Robinson’s seventh- and eighth-grade social studies classes have researched stories of Knox County’s involvement in the Civil War and then selected an individual whose story they wanted to share.
The Wednesday evening program will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the KCHS Museum, 875 Harcourt Road. Presentation of the colors will be given by the Knox County Career Center Air Force Jr. ROTC Unit, under the direction of instructor Lt. Col. Chris Salvucci.
Matt Brenneman will portray Col. Alexander Cassil, who served as Knox County Auditor, school board member, president of the Agricultural Society, and director of the Knox County Savings Bank. As Lt. Colonel of Company A of the 65th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he commanded his regiment at the Battle of Stone River (Murfreesborough), Tenn. His letter to W.C. Cooper of Mount Vernon recounts the courage of his soldiers, details of the battle, and the names of those killed and wounded.
Alex Drews will represent Mount Vernon’s Osborn Hamline Ingham Oldroyd (O.H.I.O.), who was present throughout the siege at Vicksburg, Miss., in the spring of 1863. His detailed diary, recently reprinted by the Raymond, Miss., Historical Society, recounts the events leading up to Vicksburg’s surrender after more than 60 days.
Keith Robinson will tell the story of Dr. Joseph Gordon, who also kept a detailed diary, relating both the extreme boredom and the sudden action in the life of an infantryman. Gordon returned to Mount Vernon after the war to study medicine and begin his medical practice, and he later helped organize Knox County’s first medical society.
Will Smith, himself badly injured in an automobile accident in Nebraska in 2011, will represent a soldier from Knox County’s Company B of the 4th O.V.I. who was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Will was especially chosen so that he could introduce President Abraham Lincoln, as he presents his famous “Gettysburg Address” to the gathering.
And St. Vincent teacher, Beth Robinson, will be portraying Knox County’s famous and beloved nurse, Mary Ann Ball “Mother Bickerdyke,” who established greatly improved medical facilities for wounded soldiers throughout the Civil War.
The museum will also have a new special exhibit honoring the veterans portrayed by the students and the battles in which they served. For more information, call the Knox County Historical Society Museum at 740-393-5247.
Published on November 2, 2012 | <urn:uuid:a6463215-428d-4a0f-ad06-afb6be4cc406> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/cal/show_event.php?id=8101&o=4&c=1&m=11&a=07&y=2012&w=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948977 | 602 | 1.828125 | 2 |
In the 2012 Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, meteor experts Margaret Campbell-Brown and Peter Brown, indicate that this year’s peak activity should occur on Saturday morning, Nov. 17, at about 3 a.m. ET (0800 GMT). This is the moment when the Earth will be passing closest to the orbit of the long-departed comet, and when our planet seemingly is most likely to encounter some residual comet material. This time is highly favorable for North Americans, especially those in the eastern United States and eastern Canada. [Top 10 Leonid Meteor Shower Facts]
But while Leonid rates are unpredictable, it is unlikely that more than 10 to 20 meteors per hour may be seen this year.
Other meteor researchers, however, such as Jeremie Vaubaillon of France, and Mikhail Maslovof Russia have examined Leonid prospects for this year and also suggest watching for some meteor activity three days later, on Tuesday morning, Nov. 20.
For example: Sometime around 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT), the Earth may interact with material that was shed by comet Tempel-Tuttle back in the year 1400. But at best, only about 15 to20 Leonids per hour may be seen. | <urn:uuid:7bc28d93-dc27-4060-8c5b-d85e3e1ccbde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/1116/Leonid-meteor-shower-When-and-where-to-watch/(page)/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904255 | 263 | 3.234375 | 3 |
|Antiques Digest||Browse Auctions||Appraisal||Antiques And Arts News||Home|
( Article orginally published September 1944 )
0ld Victorian furnishings are once again assuming importance in the decorating of our homes. Faced with the shortage of new furniture, many of us are recognizing a new value and usefulness in the products of the Victorian era. Down from the attics and out of storerooms the quaint, dusty old pieces have come, to be reupholstered and rejuvenated with polish and paint. With a little retouching here and there many dull and uninteresting pieces have emerged with a bright new personality and luster to enliven our surroundings.
With a little ingenuity an old Victorian urn is not just a useless period piece in the corner. Covered with a glass top, it can occupy quite a prominent place as a very unusual coffee table. Similarly, an old spice cabinet on an end table is a delightful and useful receptacle for cigarettes.
The student lamps of the period with their green and white shades can easily be wired to light up a desk. A particularly lovely type of Victorian table lamp is the white glass flower-decorated one which, electrified, radiates a rosy warmth that encourages one to dream and reflect.
In addition to the many practical uses of modern living to which Victorian pieces are admirably suited, they also appeal to us greatly for the many decorative qualities they possess. Old Staffordshire tea sets are very attractive when placed between book groupings. The old porcelain epergnes of our grandmothers make graceful table decorations, and if one desires a touch of quaintness, a bisque hen is not out of place on the mantel.
An exploration of the New York shops will prove very exciting, and will reveal how charming and attractive rejuvenated Victorian antiques can be and, if selected with taste, how readily they will blend with the most modern furnishings. They not only answer a real need at the present time but they are colorful and attractive, too. A little bit of Old Victorian will make your home more livable for the touch of elegance and humor it will add, and for the pleasant memories it will revive. | <urn:uuid:b5398e46-6462-4a71-811e-e3541a9aef3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles01/article936.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925293 | 457 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Kampong Glam is a rich historical Malay neighbourhood located at the east side of Bugis. It has many conserved historical pre-WW2 buildings found in Arab Street, Baghdad Street and Bussorah Street, the largest Muslim mosque in Singapore and the old palace of the Malay ruler (now the Malay Heritage Centre). There are also many restarants and coffee shops selling good Malay and Arabian food, it will be good to plan to have your lunch or dinner here after visiting this area.
A key building in Kampong Glam is Masjid Sultan (right picture ) at Bussorah Street, the largest mosque in Singapore built in 1928 and named after the first Sultan, the mosque features a massive golden dome and is one of Singapore’s most imposing religious buildings. In front of the mosque is Bussorah Mall, where the beautifully restored shophouses sell traditional clothes, artefacts, handicraft, furniture and jewelry. Admission is free but visitors are allowed to visit only during restricted hours.
The Malay Heritage Centre (left pictire) is the former palace of the ruler of Singapore (known as sultan) which showcase the rich history and culture of Singapore’s Malay community. The building and architecture has been meticulously restored to retain its flavour and authenticity. Admission is affordable S$4 (or roughly US$2.6) for adult. Click here for details on charges.
How to get there?
Take the MRT to Bugis station. Less than 5 minute walk to the East of the station.
View askmelah tourist map in a larger map
Last updated: Dec 2009 | <urn:uuid:8ec54704-4efe-42ae-870c-c91387257585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.askmelah.com/kampong-glam/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958605 | 336 | 1.835938 | 2 |
SAN FRANCISCO — California joined most of the nation’s other states Monday in reporting new cases of HIV infection, an effort officials hope will help identify which demographic groups are suffering most from the virus.
California’s system will differ from the 33 states that track HIV by reporting patients’ names. Instead, the system is similar to coding methods used in Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Vermont and Puerto Rico.
California’s system, authorized by the Legislature in 2000, requires doctors and labs to report the last four digits of the patient’s Social Security number, their gender and date of birth. That information will be combined with sexual history and ethnicity and added to the statistics compiled by state health officials.
Those tested anonymously at clinics will not be reported until they enter the health care system.
California had been reluctant to track HIV infections because of privacy issues. Until Monday, full-blown AIDS cases were the only numbers reported, and names are used in that tracking. | <urn:uuid:50052047-702e-4d5e-ae5a-4e7825945b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2002-07-02/article/13172?headline=State-reporting-new-cases-of-HIV---The-Associated-Press | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936989 | 205 | 2.265625 | 2 |
HASTINGS, Fla. -- Potato crops in Hastings and East Palatka took a hit when freezing temperatures moved through the area Sunday night and Monday morning.
That's made it a long couple of cold days for potato farmer Danny Johns of Blue Sky Farm in Hastings.
"Saturday night, we were on the tractor until 3 a.m. and last night we were on the tractor and got in about 2 o'clock," Johns recalled.
Johns and his crew worked to cover and protect his potatoes from the freeze. Some of the plants were covered with dirt
He also used covers that look like big blankets on some potatoes because freezing weather is fatal.
"We got in the low to mid 20s last night," Johns noted.
On Monday, Johns checked to see if his dirt-covered plants had been saved.
"Let's see ... I'm happy with the hand we were dealt at this point," Johns said as he pushed dirt off of some plants.
Many other potato farmers in the Hastings and East Palatka area did not fare as well, especially those with potato plants that were too big to safely cover.
Hundreds of acres of potato plants are frozen and flat. It's a real blow to the local economy.
While many farmers have insurance, it doesn't mean they will make any money from this crop.
Back at Johns' Blue Sky Farm, he continued to check his crop.
The plants under the blankets do have some damage but not a lot.
"That gives me some hope about what we're doing," Johns said.
However, it's too early to know if his crop is all good.
"We'll be able to tell more in a week and then in a month. That's when we can assess the full damage," Johns explained.
The freeze did affect nearly half of Johns' 700 acres, "but just because we had damage, it doesn't mean you'll pay more for food prices. That's because we'll be competing with Arizona and California."
Even with this freeze, the long hours, and some damaged plants, Johns -- like many farmers -- is upbeat.
"You just deal with the cards you're dealt. The good Lord looks out for us. That's part of the challenge of farming."
First Coast News | <urn:uuid:6315df7e-9631-4cc2-9966-1370a1a01f94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firstcoastnews.com/rss/article/298645/11/Freeze-smacks-Floridas-potato-crop-- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984688 | 471 | 1.71875 | 2 |
FICTION: Offshore banking can't be that well-behaved because they can't unusually requite the illustrious non-objective rates they offer. If they could indeed repay those rates then U.S. banks would vet to be competitive and hold the word-for-word absorb rates.
AFFAIR: Investigate closely the economic statements of any U.S. Bank. You wishes undergo that their "complete" profits against buyer deposits can group from 25% to 40% -- but -- they grasp laws written in stone to limit the interest amount they can pay unlikely customers on their deposits. The U.S. banks berth their earnings into unnecessary frills and wasteful expenditures like convoluted buildings etc., while offshore banking facilities don't do this and serving their profits with their customers.
FICTION: Offshore banking isn't regulated, so you are at hazard of losing all greenbacks deposited with them.
FACTORS: The incident is that every local fatherland in the free being has regulations, rules and laws governing pecuniary institutions and banks. Those regulations, rules, and laws, in any event, are much less restrictive than the "protectionist" U.S. banking regulations, rules, and laws and give leave the offshore banking industry preferably prospect to earn much greater profits as their investors and depositors.
FICTION: Offshore banking facilities are not insured via the F.D.I.C.
SURELY: Some of the banks are but not that many. If they are, they essential acceptance with the still protectionist banking regulations and rules as all the other F.D.I.C. insured banks. But, the maturity of offshore banking facilities are insured; unified break up or another.
Depositor indemnity programs similar to the F.D.I.C. program should lean to been established in some countries, so that the banks in those countries belt their deposits insured. Suitable safe keeping companies insure the deposits of offshore banking facilities in other countries AND discrepant from the F.D.I.C., insure 100% of the banks deposits; not just those less than $100,000. (About personality of the competence, some of the banks in the U.S. insure their deposits with self-sufficient guarantee companies and uncountable banks in the U.S. are not F.D.I.C. insured)
Offshore banking is "self-insured" looking pro the most cut which means those banks bear a liquidity sponsor similar to 100% (or more) of the deposits on the books. irs free company
Those banks give nativity to $1 (or more) in translucent assets after every $1 held on deposit. Consequence, there is no bank batter a inconsiderate retreat because they can concealment any depositor demand.
Self-insured offshore banking is actually more get further than F.D.I.C. insured U.S. banking. Why? Because the F.D.I.C. insured U.S. banks are permitted to nurture a liquidity component a kind to around 10 percent of their conspicuous deposits. (Is it any amazement why more U.S. banks fail each year than in any other country?)
Which well-disposed of bank would you sense more safe having your shin-plasters in? An offshore banking institution which as by any means humankind dollar in coin of the realm during every dollar on precipitate, or a U.S. bank which as ten cents in money for every dollar that shows up on the dregs utterance they barter their clients?
FICTION: Offshore banking isn't as whacking big or forceful as U.S. banking.
ACTUALLY: Of the strongest and largest ample banks in the the sphere at weighty (in assets), a yourself bank ONLY is located in the Of like wit States:
Here are the safest offshore banks in the coterie, according to a ranking done in 2007 after examining their whole assets in US dollars. This ranking is compiled from match folio import included on AllBanks.org
1 UBS AG Switzerland 2 Barclays UK 3 The Splendid Bank of Scotland Union UK 4 Deutsche Bank AG Germany 5 BNP Paribas SA France 6 The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd Japan 7 ABN AMRO Holding NV Netherlands 8 Societe Generale France 9 Ascription Agricole SA France 10 Bank of America NA USA
2008/2009 UPDATE AFTER THE COMMERCIAL RUN OUT OF STEAM OF 2008
Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, reported a fourth zone weakening of there $6.3 billion. A year earlier, the bank posted a profit of involving $1.3 billion (1 billion euros), Bloomberg reported.
Countess nobles Bank of Scotland is expected to mail losses of as weighty as £1.7 billion.
Bucking the form is a bank not equal-angled on the slate beyond and that bank is Beau id‚al Chartered bank which is in the club to post profits of 1.3 billion pounds. I pull someone's leg a contact who can balm you offer an account at this bank quest of your crush into if you organize an judgement to do so. The account would be in Hong Kong.
Another bank I know around is rated AAA in advance an in the face of rating secondment and if you are not from the U.S. or if you are from the U.S. and have a unfamiliar LLC or IBC to extend the account with then you can precipitate $15,000 and come entangled with in their appropriate low-lying and obstructed on a stumble program which has earned depositors as much as 100% per year on their deposit. It is adaptable to unencumbered an account there.
FICTION: Offshore banking should not be totally well-mannered, or more facilities would advertise their services in newspapers and magazines in the U.S.
POINTS: Offshore banking in across the board is restricted aside law from advertising in magazines, newspapers, ghetto-blaster and on T.V. unless they stumble upon covered by the aegis the in any experience protectionist rules and regulations that are placed upon U.S. banks. Effective that, you should be heedful inappropriate doing question with any offshore banking competency that publicly advertises in the U.S. media. Because you can be unequivocally steadfast that they partake of sold-out to the U.S. banking start and that inauguration mould require and testament conclusion up selling you ended to those who become the rules.
FICTION: Offshore banking is only in stand for of the wealthy.
THE POOP TRULY: Forth 25 years ago, that may command been true. But I identify of up three offshore banking facilities that discretion budget you to apparent an account for as microscopic as $500. Single of these is in the Asia, another in Europe, and another in Latin America.
FICTION: Opening an account at an offshore banking aptitude is too recalcitrant, and it is appease unmanageable to involve a withdrawal when you avoid it.
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|Home > UGA History|
The University of Georgia (UGA) has a great football history that began 120 years ago in 1892. Overall, the Bulldogs have played 1201 football games and have compiled an overall record of 747-400-54 (as of 04/15/2012).
The Bulldogs won the National Championship in 1980 after going 12-0 with a victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia has also won 14 Conference Championships, including the 2005 SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
For more University of Georgia Football History, click here.
The University of Georgia began playing basketball during the 1905-1906 season. Since that time, the Basketball Dawgs have played 2444 games and have compiled an overall record of 1261-1183 (as of 04/15/2012).
Georgia has yet to win a National Championship in basketball. The Bulldogs made it to the Final Four in 1983 but lost to eventual champion N.C. State. The Dawgs have won two Conference Championships, the last one in 1989-90. In 2008, the Bulldogs won the SEC Tournament Championship.
For more University of Georgia Basketball History, click here. | <urn:uuid:8987843a-cf21-4f91-a377-0667efde2f3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sicemdawgs.com/history.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962606 | 241 | 1.960938 | 2 |
What gives matter its mass? This is one of the questions being investigated by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich. They study the smallest building blocks of matter and how they interact with each other. The behaviour of these building blocks – the quarks, charged leptons and neutrinos – helps them to understand the origin of the universe and its present form. The Institute researchers conduct experiments at the largest particle physics laboratories around the world. These include CERN in Geneva, KEK in Tsukuba (Japan) and DESY in Hamburg. Moreover, they also perform experiments to investigate cosmic radiation on the Canary Island of La Palma and the neutrino experiment in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. Theoreticians not only team up with the experimenters to jointly interpret the results of the experiments, but also to develop new theories in order to better characterise our universe.
No job offers available | <urn:uuid:6aea442e-4030-4913-8b24-3e5e900de99a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mpg.de/151995/physik | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947186 | 187 | 3.125 | 3 |
Topic: Java and XML
The idea for this column came from a talk Nathan Torkington gave at YAPC, in which he described areas where Perl was weak, one of which is XML. Although there are many excellent Perl modules dealing with many aspects of XML (among which a good dozen offer various ways of transforming XML documents), the languages that seem to be favored by XML developers are Java, C/C++, and maybe even Python. For example, questions on the XML-DEV list mostly involve Java, C++, and XSLT. Sun, IBM, and Microsoft all push Java or C++ implementations. | <urn:uuid:b424e760-8940-4576-a6e6-a1e760ae908c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onjava.com/pub/d/337 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948633 | 127 | 2.015625 | 2 |
There were three demonstrations against the fascist Golden Dawn party in Athens on Saturday of last week, and more elsewhere in Greece.
Thirty Golden Dawn members tried to march in the Athens suburb of Elliniko. On previous marches they have gone into shops run by immigrants to tell them to leave and to terrorise everyone.
But members of the Socialist Workers Party (SEK), who have a paper sale in the area, raised the alarm. Within half an hour there were 150 anti-fascists, including the mayor who is a member of the radical left party Syriza. The fascist march couldn’t take place.
The fascists had also called a rally and march in the highly symbolic area of Kypseli—one of the first parts of Athens to have a large immigrant community. Golden Dawn had its headquarters there until clashes in the late 1990s forced it out.
The local committee of the anti-capitalist left organisation Antarsya called a counter-protest, which won the support of many other organisations. We got about 1,500 people. The fascists didn’t turn up, but police tried to keep the square empty, saying the anti-fascists were banned.
In the end police had to stay in the middle of the square while we marched around them. From there we took the route the fascists had planned to march into the next suburb.
It was a Saturday evening, and people were very happy to see us—both immigrants and Greeks. There had also been an anti-fascist demonstration in the centre of Athens that morning.
Golden Dawn MPs had planned a tour of Crete over the weekend. But their 70 supporters were outnumbered by hundreds of anti-fascists in the largest city, Heraklion, on Friday. On Saturday they were unable to leave their office in Hania, where 1,500 people protested.
It’s part of a growing mood of anti-fascism in Greece. Every week we see counter-demonstrations. Golden Dawn has tried to establish offices everywhere to find the people who voted for it. But wherever it goes it is being blocked by anti-fascists.
There were celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Athens polytechnic uprising last month. Golden Dawn said it would go into schools and slander the uprising. But its members didn’t get in—teachers organised against them.
In my area you can even see anti-fascist posters painted by the primary school children. Now a national demonstration has been called in Athens on
19 January, followed by a concert. It's already being supported by unions, immigrant organisations, actors and singers.
There’s a real mood against Golden Dawn, after the shock of its recent successes. Now we want to try and take things to the next level. | <urn:uuid:241edf1f-5a3b-429e-8080-70ab827023a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=30095 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985412 | 575 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Her small poster will be one of the many posters hung in the hallway of Lincoln Elementary School. The creations were made by the community members during Saturday's first-time "I Am Lincoln" community event organized by the school.
"We want to focus on the positive of the community," Principal Melanie Buck said. "The event is for the community. A school can really make a community, and the community can make a school. We are here to change the culture."
Children and their parents participated in many activities for a small fee, including face painting, bingo, quilt and poster making, and browsing through the book fair. Tickets for activities were sold at 25 cents each.
Parent volunteers, as well as volunteers from Touro University and Vallejo High School, helped out at the event.
"We received so much support," Buck said.
Local businesses donated raffle prizes, while parents brought food for the festival.
Torriana's family lives just a couple of blocks away from the school.
Her mother, Nicole Kimmons, said two of her children, including Torriana, attended the school.
"I love (the event)," Kimmons, who also volunteered on Saturday, said. "It needs to happen more often. Parents need to get involved with their children's schools."
Buck said the event was also organized in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Connecticut, last year.
Kimmons also said that parents' involvement is critical, especially after the Connecticut mass shooting.
"I think parents need to step up and find a solution and speak on behalf of their children," she said.
Tony Ubalde, Vallejo school board member, said he was proud of the school.
"I like Lincoln's approach," Ubalde said. "We need more dialogue like this between the school and the community."
Contact staff writer Irma Widjojo at (707) 553-6835 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @IrmaVTH. | <urn:uuid:b649d675-0182-461c-b059-73b0f797fd0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesheraldonline.com/business/ci_22708451/parents-students-get-involved-i-am-lincoln-event | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987016 | 427 | 1.828125 | 2 |
How are those airport grope downs, naked body scanners, thefts and humiliation working out for ya at your local airport? Well, now you can not only feel safer when you fly, but you have the comfort of knowing that those “security professionals” of the Transportation Security Administration are federalized, but now they are also unionized.
On November 9, 2012 the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) issued a press release indicating that “Workers at the Transportation Security Administration made history today when they voted to ratify the first-ever collective bargaining agreement at the agency. The agreement between the American Federation of Government Employees and TSA was ratified with a vote of 17,326-1,774.”
The AFGE represents over 650,000 employees of the federal government. It is the largest union for non-postal federal employees and the largest union for D.C. workers who report directly to the mayor.
ht/ conservative Cowgirl | <urn:uuid:64e3d7b1-22c0-4a00-b855-83dac672e9c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=157544 | 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 | 0.942883 | 197 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Editor’s Note: Individuals at the National Spinal Cord Injury Association had been watching and learning about Rafferty Laredo for many years. They knew of his passion to help people with spinal cord injuries, and they recognized a strong need for a Chapter in Houston, Texas. When the decision was made to try and develop a support system in Houston, this opportunity was presented to Laredo. Part 5 of a 5 part series.
“Living Hope is a group of about 75 to 100 individuals in the Houston area who all have spinal cord injuries,” Laredo explains. “They all have very limited or no financial resources. We respect and want to help this organization, because they have developed very creative ways to survive, with very little money. For instance, they’ve sold tacos and roses on the side of the road to raise enough money to buy the catheters necessary for them to drain their bladders and to survive. I’ve even heard stories of this group doing the unheard of – sharing catheters, which is a medical taboo. It may be the only means these people have to live because they don’t have the resources to get catheters with health insurance. NSCIA Houston has helped Living Hope by accessing donations to provide them with thousands of catheters for a better, safer and cleaner way for them to live. This was a beautiful expression of our community pulling together to serve those in need.”
Many people don’t realize how great the need is to help individuals with spinal cord injuries, not only in the Houston area, but throughout the country. Most people never understand how many individuals are in need of some type of support group within a community, unless you’re a medical professional or are in some way affected by or know people with spinal cord injuries. As Laredo explains, “What’s really great and amazing about the Living Hope organization, is that it functions like one big family. The members really help and take care of one another. My hope is that the entire city of Houston will function in much the same way.”
Laredo has big plans for the future for NSCIA Houston. Here are some of his ideas:
* Education – “We’d like to establish programs that provide education to employers and schools to adequately and enthusiastically welcome employees and students with spinal cord injuries. We also hope to bring to Houston advanced clinical education programs and seminars for healthcare professionals committed to spinal cord injury care.”
* Research – “We support efforts for advanced research to promote recovery, progress, and increased quality of life after spinal injury.”
* Arts – “We’re also actively developing and expandingHouston’s adaptive arts community. Houston has a very-strong sports program but not a strong arts program for our talented local artists with disabilities. We hope to establish programs with a focus on visual arts, creative writing, dance, and the performing arts. We want to encourage self-expression and public awareness through adaptive arts clinics and art exhibition.
* Community Re-Integration – “We’re identifying opportunities for a variety of community outings for the spinal cord injury community, sponsored by the organization and generous contributions from Houston donors. We also hope to partner with local hospitals to serve newly-injured patients and their caregivers. We envision trips to the symphony, to all the major Houston sports venues, museums, concerts, and more. These types of outings will help our members living with SCI know and feel comfortable engaging in the community freely, just as everyone else does.”
* Volunteer Activities – “We also want our members to invest in volunteerism and support with and for other charitable organizations. I really feel like our network functions much-stronger when multiple non-profits work together.”
* Accessible Travel – “We hope to establish greater accessibility and travel experiences for our Houston members living with spinal cord injury. We’re investigating possibilities for taking cruises out of Galveston, Texas, to enable our members to experience international travel.”
* Funding – “We’re actively seeking strong opportunities to increase the funding we have in order to continue to help the Houston SCI community. NSCIA Houston can only survive and sustain our initiatives through the generous support of foundation grants, corporate and individual sponsorship and donations. It is a critically important cause; spinal cord injury can happen to any of us at any time.”
Consider giving a donation here: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=88ab50
Laredo has a big vision for this flourishing non-profit organization. He has taken on the challenge of bettering the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries. Although he may not change the world, he is changing the world where he lives, and the world will be a better place for all of us due to his efforts.
About the Author: For the last 12 years, John E. Phillips of Vestavia, Alabama, has been a professional blogger for major companies, corporations and tourism associations throughout the nation. During his 24 years as Outdoor Editor for “The Birmingham Post-Herald” newspaper, he published more than 7,000 newspaper columns and sold more than 100,000 of his photos to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. He also hosted a radio show that was syndicated at 27 radio stations; created, wrote and sold a syndicated newspaper column that ran in 38 newspapers for more than a decade; and wrote and sold more than 30 books. Learn more at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com | <urn:uuid:f41aa58f-6f0f-4f48-bda4-9a38f24d475c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uromed.com/blog/author/uromed-catheters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964412 | 1,165 | 1.820313 | 2 |
As chief law officer devoted to protecting and serving the public, Leone shared personal stories of tragedy laced with humor to drive his point home. When bad decisions and bad choices are made, he said, there will be tragic consequences. In a nutshell, he emphasized, when bad decisions are made then death is an “erie, tragic, morbid inevitability.” In order for prom night to be safe and successful, students must purpose to make good decisions, not compound bad ones, he added.
According to Leone, car crashes are the number one killer for 15-20 year-olds with the number of accident related deaths increasing in the spring during prom and graduation season.
Leone discussed the use of marijuana, stating that it is “unsafe, unhealthy and illegal.”
The use of alcohol and other drugs, which are mind and mood altering substances, is abuse," he said. "The drug business is a cash and carry one."
Leone added that marijuana is nine times more potent today than it was thirty years ago when he was in high school.
The students were encouraged to thwart temptations to partake in drug abuse and to enjoy an excellent four years, and not have them cut short by tragedy. Leone encouraged the bleachers full of prom goers to show courage and leadership in their decisions. As high school comes to a close, it marks an ending as well as a new beginning, he said, adding that these will be happy occasions if good decisions are made.
Police Chief Leonard echoed much of Leone’s sentiments and challenged students to “make promises to yourself, your parents, your friends and your teachers.”
He encouraged them to be true their decisions and stick to them, even if they are unpopular. In a final note, Chief Leonard told the students that he did not “want to read their names in the police log or in the newspaper.”
As students prepare for prom night tonight, they do so with the knowledge that the decisions they make could save their life or someone else’s. Tragic consequences are preventable. | <urn:uuid:b0cc8885-0c33-4ba5-aae5-6db7948eed32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marlborough.patch.com/articles/video-da-and-police-chief-talk-to-students-in-advance-of-prom | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969701 | 428 | 1.65625 | 2 |
“That was one of the key experiences in my life, which showed me what the power of rhythm can do,” Hart says, recalling the incident, which occurred in the early 80s. “Rhythm was reconnecting her to the world that was fading away.”
Our lives, it turns out, depend deeply on rhythm. There’s the obvious lub-dub of the heart, where one lapse in essential time-keeping can be fatal; then there is the clear patterning of women’s monthly cycles. But less visible are the daily and nightly peaks and valleys of hormone levels, the critical rhythms that shape language and nonverbal communication and the ebb and flow of constantly thrumming and pulsing nerve activity in the brain.
“Brain activity fluctuates— it oscillates in rhythmic patterns and different rhythms are represented throughout the brain in terms of how its activity changes over time,” says Adam Gazzaley, director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at the University of California San Francisco.
Gazzaley and Hart have collaborated to try to understand the neuroscience of rhythm and to plumb these patterns for potentially therapeutic uses. This fall, they spoke together at the annual conference of the AARP, using the latest imaging technology to broadcast images of Hart’s brain rhythms live.
“It was very profound,” Hart says of seeing his brain rhythms displayed as he stood on stage, “It was me. That’s what really makes me, me. It’s also what makes us, us. It’s rhythm central, it is life itself.”
For Hart, however, the experience with his grandmother left a deeper impression unlike anything he had witnessed before, despite his thousands of intense encounters with the power of music to unify and heal. “When you have your grandmother sitting in front of you and you play a drum to her and no one else is around and it makes a reaction, kind of like a reverberation, this rhythm has allowed you to talk. Now, that’s something to be noted. I want to know why and how that happened.”
Hart’s experience with his grandmother isn’t unique: physicians and music therapists have long known that rhythmic music can reach into some primal place and sometimes temporarily restore functions thought to be lost in people with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, brain injury and other devastating disorders, as well as help ease anxiety and depression associated with life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
Rhythm’s role, it seems, starts at the very earliest stages of life. In the womb, for example, the fetal heartbeat often synchronizes with the maternal heart rate. “It’s wonderful and fascinating,” Gazzaley says.
Rhythms that mimic the maternal heartbeat are often very soothing to babies after they are born, but it’s not known exactly how heart rate synchrony— or lack of it— affects the developing brain. “Most people agree that for the brain to become rhythmically appropriate in how it responds to the environment may prove to be an important part of development,” Gazzaley says.
Later in life, this lack of synchrony may contribute to certain disorders of the brain that music, with its regular rhythms, may address. “I saw one very eminent man who had become quite demented become incredibly animated,” says neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, describing a response to Hart’s drumming that he witnessed. “[The man] was also quite lucid and funny and himself for some minutes afterwards. It was extraordinary to have this sort of lasting effect.”
Neither Sacks nor other neuroscientists can explain why or how this works— or how to best harness this potentially restorative power to reduce ongoing neural decline in a sustainable way.
Some experts believe that external rhythm temporarily helps to recalibrate some of the dysfunctional internal pacemakers that regulate nerve networks that govern major brain functions like language and movement. “Rhythm enforces participation. You have to synchronize with the rhythm,” says Sacks.
“Different rhythms in the brain are associated with different cognitive operations like perception, attention and memory,” Gazzaley says, “More data is accumulating to show that [these rhythms] are causally related to how we think.”
That view has precedent in neuroscience; changing brain rhythms have long been known to be associated with varied states of consciousness, for example: the EEG, or electroencephalogram, measures these patterns of electrical activity by placing electrodes on the head and scalp. Although people tend to think of EEG in relation to sleep and dream states, it can also offer insight on what the awake and alert brain is doing. Alpha rhythms are generally linked with tuning out the external world and focusing within, while theta rhythms generated from the middle of the brain’s frontal area are associated with paying attention and deliberate planning.
And when one brain region signals another, the message comes through with greater clarity if the two are in sync rhythmically. “If their rhythms are locked in time, then they seem to communicate with each other more efficiently, so it’s part of how the brain works in a fundamental way,” Gazzaley says.
Conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s may involve some level of asynchrony with certain regions of the brain, contributing to the disordered thinking and movement that are characteristic of these conditions. “With Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or [even] ADHD, there are different rhythmic patterns,” says Gazzaley. Or, as Hart puts it, “When it’s in rhythm, it’s functional. When it’s an arrhythmia or some chaos or something, then you fall into disease, you fall into ill health. Good rhythm, good health. Bad rhythm, bad health. I mean that’s the dumbed down version of what we’re after.”
Gazzaley and Hart are studying whether providing the right external source of rhythm might help a wounded brain enter a state of consciousness that it can no longer sustain on its own. The study of rhythm and music therapy, however, is still in its infancy. One challenge in conducting rigorous trials with reliable results centers around the fact that music stirs emotion, for example, and emotion alone can improve memory.
But neither Gazzaley nor Hart are deterred. While not all trials are properly controlled to asses the effect of just music alone, studies do hint that music therapy may improve gait following stroke and increase quality of life while cutting cancer pain and anxiety.
Gazzaley and Hart want to understand how it does so, with the ultimate goal of one day helping doctors to “prescribe” particular rhythms or patterns to alleviate particular conditions. “It’s not the art of music so much that we’re after but it’s the science of music,” Hart says, “That’s what will explain what we professionals already know but we don’t know how to repeat. What is the code? What’s the musical DNA? What’s the rhythm genome? That’s what Adam Gazzaley and I will hope to find.”
He adds, “We know that music makes us feel good. We know it makes us dance. We know it makes us happy and gives us pleasure. But what do we know about the healing qualities of it? Well, that’s the great frontier for music in this century.” | <urn:uuid:5b1f9e42-31ac-42b5-a6e1-da1aa3d84718> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/26/unlikely-partnersgrateful-dead-drummer-teams-with-scientist-to-study-how-rhythm-heals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954564 | 1,593 | 2.359375 | 2 |
My mother-in-law reached 19 on Angry Birds over the weekend, something that would fit in the “who cares” category except for the fact that she is 83 years old. And she was unsatisfied until she could play the game on both her iPhone and iPad.
My sister-in-law, who is in her mid-fifties, and her husband, who is about 10 years her senior, made purchases via smartphone and tablet for the first time on a Black Friday. What they bought is irrelevant. That they bought anything via wireless brings to life all the stats from IBM, PayPal, eBay, and others about the significance of the growth in mobile purchasing this beginning of the holiday season.
The numbers from these tracking organizations tell us plenty. But I’ll argue that we learn more from observing those around us.
First the Black Friday data:
PayPal saw a 193 percent increase in mobile payment volume on Black Friday 2012 than Black Friday 2011. Between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. PST was the busiest mobile shopping hour on Black Friday 2012. Shoppers in these cities made the most mobile purchases through PayPal on Black Friday: Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.
eBay experienced a 153 boost in mobile U.S. volume. That followed eBay a 133 percent increase in mobile U.S. volume transacted on Thanksgiving.
IBM said that mobile purchases soared with 24 percent of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 14.3 percent in 2011. Mobile sales exceeded 16 percent, up from 9.8 percent in 2011.
Additionally, the iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, reaching nearly 10 percent of online shopping. This was followed by iPhone at 8.7 percent and Android 5.5 percent. The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent.
Finally, according to IBM, consumers shopped in store, online and on mobile devices simultaneously to get the best bargains. Overall 58 percent of consumers used smartphones compared to 41 percent who used tablets to surf for bargains on Black Friday.
Let’s get back to the activities in my house.
We’re seemingly one of the few families left in America that gets a newspaper dropped on our driveway every morning. Thursday’s Seattle Times was, as my father-in-law was known to say, “plum-full” of ads and inserts. However, none drove any of us to retail locations. Instead they provided ideas into what others wanted as presents. Interestingly, there weren’t any QR codes in the ads, which wasn’t a miss in my home since neither my wife nor my in-laws have scanners on their phones, much less interest in interacting with brands that way.
Catalogues also made an appearance at the dining room table. No purchases were made. It was more like a homemade version of showrooming – lots of looking, but no one grabbed the car keys for a trip to the mall.
The initial holiday lists included an iPad Smart Cover for my brother in law and a Kate Spade protector for my mother-in-law’s iPhone. Other accessories for the new technology were discussed.
My takeaway from the weekend? Mobile’s early adopter phase has officially ended. | <urn:uuid:0d59307f-88c0-4ef4-8021-38c779f2821b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/11/26/angry-birds-on-mother-in-laws-iphone-signals-end-of-early-adopter-phase/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957147 | 721 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A senior black Anglican has said that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion should grasp the climate of change signalled by Barack Obama's ascendancy, using it to transform their own culture.
The comments came from the Rev Rose Hudson Wilkin, chair of the Church of England's Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, and a member of the General Synod, in a message yesterday concerning the impact of the inauguration of the new American president.
Ms Hudson Wilkin declared: "The election last November of Barack Obama ... was a truly redemptive moment and one of pride and aspiration for many people. It was a particularly redemptive moment in terms of the legacy that African Americans have endured for over two centuries - and this was not lost on the President elect, Barack Hussein Obama."
"It is totally right that there was joy inside the tears of many for the whole of the United States. But the moment also gave the world a new iconography - a first family that is not defined by any one ethnic group. This is a symbol of immense significance to millions of people, not just in America but across the world.
She went on: "The Church of England has a significant number of minority ethnic people among its regular worshippers, and of course among those within its pastoral care. As a Church we must decide on how we will respond in the light of this truly transformative moment. Despite the contentious issues around the world-wide Communion, the election of Obama is a prophetic pointer to the possibilities which open up if hearts and minds have the confidence to change by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Said Ms Hudson Wilkin: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has used the term 'Kairos Time.' This is truly a 'Kairos Time' [moment of significance and decision] when we urge the Church to begin to nurture a leadership that can engage and function at all levels within it - across all ethnicities - but this must be done intentionally. This affects us as individuals, locally, nationally and internationally through the Anglican Communion."
She concluded: "All could reflect on their key aspirations concerning Hope and Transformation in Christ but we call on the Church of England to renew its commitment tangibly to minority ethnic people. This is what Obama's Presidential Campaign was all about, but it is unfinished business in the Church. Can we ever have 'business as usual' in our Church again?" | <urn:uuid:09fe08de-57a3-45c9-a394-f457ba33fff7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/8412 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965163 | 493 | 1.8125 | 2 |
If you’ve read my About page, you know that I’ve not been very active here in the DEN, so I don’t have a lot to share about my DEN activities.
However, I do want to chat about Twitter for a few minutes.
I could post this on my own personal blog (aemacdougall.ca) but since numerous DEN Members are involved I decided to post it here.
Almost a year ago (March 21, 2012) we hosted a DE Day of Discovery here at our School Board Central Office. It was attended by close to 100 teachers from our district.
Prior to that day I had a Twitter account, but had really only created it to “see what it was all about.” Needless to say, I hadn’t seen anything to that point. I had tweeted once or twice and followed a couple of people.
On the day of the DOD I was standing outside the main presentation room as participants were arriving. Many had cell phones out checking calendars, emails, calls… and maybe Twitter. Someone standing next to me said, “They better put those phones away when this all starts up.” I agreed.
As part of the opening remarks and housekeeping points it was pointed out that Tweets were encouraged throughout the day and in fact there were Twitter feeds being displayed in the presentation room.
I was curious… I was also hooked!
I watched, I Tweeted a bit and I “Got it!”…
If you’re on Twitter and you think it’s just a bunch of people Tweeting about their every move throughout the day – then that’s your fault, not theirs. You follow the wrong people!
I follow one of those people and I do it consciously for a couple of reasons. I also follow:
- some news outlets (including weather and traffic)
- some arts sources (local theatres and symphony)
- very few commercial entities (@ipevo which makes a fantastic “document camera” and many other products)
- a few friends and acquaintances (for example, @jessedee, an amazing young man who is head of Social Media for Tourism Australia)
- some personalities from the entertainment industry who I think have something important to say – or I just enjoy (@janemarielynch, @yannick_bisson, @DebraMessing, @jianghomeshi, @strombo)
- many, many people and organizations related to education and educational technology (including lots of DEN members)
There are some suggestions for who and what people should follow, including percentages of news, fun, and work related. But I don’t think Twitter users should worry about such guidelines too much. My number one suggestion is to find someone interested in the things you’re interested in, follow them and then see who they follow… follow some of them and then you’re off!
This post has morphed from a “My Twitter Experience” into a “My Advice About Twitter” post. Perhaps in my next one (or two) I’ll sort that out and be a bit more focused!
Until then, Cheers! | <urn:uuid:8a90836e-3b88-4679-8fde-11c50a6b9b81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/sandymacdougall/ | 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 | 0.974678 | 672 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The Standard American Diet (SAD for short) has been linked to the explosion of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and even some forms of cancer. At the same time, many Americans are lacking in numerous critical nutrients including Vitamin D, Omega-3 and a wide range of minerals.
Heavily-processed foods are full of chemicals, salt, sugar and unhealthy fats and lacking in wholesome nourishment. We are slowly starving even as we become fatter. And more sick.
Recently, Michael Pollan (Food, Inc., Omnivore’s Dilemma) appeared on Oprah and discussed many of these same issues. We think that’s a fine place to start.
Please join with us in encouraging Oprah to continue the dialogue and effect real change. Be part of the Real Food Revolution! | <urn:uuid:ece0b69a-ddad-41f3-91a8-c36caee2eb56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ediblearia.com/2010/02/04/over-fed-and-malnourished/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942981 | 168 | 1.914063 | 2 |
I saw a comparison of how much ‘cost’ allowing the ‘Tax Cuts for the Wealthy’ would amount to over ten years versus the ones for those who are not so wealthy.
Over 250: the ‘cost’ is around 700 Billion over ten years, or around 70 Billion per year.
Under 250K: the ‘cost’ is around 3.1 TRILLION over ten years, or around 310 billion per year.
Total cost: about 380 Billion per year to the Federal Budget.
Another chart during the same newscast indicated that the agency that is looking at the budget has found a number of programs across every agency that have little to no effect that total about 180 Billion per year. Just cutting those alone will account for over half of the taxes that were cut.I’m sure we could find ways to get the other half.
Tax cuts are for the citizens of strong economies of countries that are being managed very well. The government can take a pay cut because it is not in debt and it has funded all the necessary programs.
I wonder where the idea could have come from that a tax cut is justified for Americans on large incomes.
What does that tell us?
Welcome! OmniNerd's content is generated by nerds like you. Learn more. | <urn:uuid:325964ea-be56-4fed-86d9-e3979e1721b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omninerd.com/comments/32105 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971164 | 272 | 2.421875 | 2 |
You’re bound to make more than five mistakes as a neo-entrepreneur (young and fresh entrepreneurs who are less experienced than their older, more established counterparts), especially during the startup years. Entrepreneurship means going through a lot of uncharted territory and interestingly enough, many of these mistakes stem from characteristics that make a person an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs who succeed tend to share the following traits:
- Flying solo – Many entrepreneurs like to work alone or be completely in charge. This sometimes conflicts with research showing that entrepreneurs are highly social people. A successful entrepreneur is one who learns to balance these factors well.
- Highly motivated – A good entrepreneur is highly self-motivated and passionate about his or her ideas. They must also be good at motivating others to push themselves in order to meet goals.
- Constantly creative – Successful entrepreneurs keep on coming up with new ideas and don’t rest on their laurels. Instead, they are constantly conducting market research, analyzing consumer reactions and coming up with new ways to improve the business.
- Eager to learn – Coming up with new ideas all the time means keeping on top of trends, industry developments and market shifts. To be successful, an entrepreneur needs to undergo continuing education, attend workshops and conferences, and have the self-confidence to admit mistakes and learn from others.
- Ethical – Entrepreneurs eschew get-rich-quick schemes, understand the value of regulations and adhere to ethical business practices.
- Resilient – They aren’t afraid to fail and understand that risks are part of starting a business. They’re willing to take the risk and if it doesn’t pan out, learn from the mistakes and start over again.
However, mistakes can and still happen. Here are 5 of the major ones that come up over and over in articles, studies and analyses of entrepreneurial activity. | <urn:uuid:b8162b25-a345-4894-87fb-07443118f4f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.mycorporation.com/tag/business-product/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960841 | 388 | 2.625 | 3 |
FLUTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD & FLUTE MAKING WORKSHOP
MICHAEL KANNER, SPECTRA ARTIST
While Mr. Kanner plays familiar songs on the flute, students participate in a sing-a-long activity. A variety of flutes are then displayed. While each flute is played, students are directed to listen to the different styles and speculate on the country of origin, (a geography question and answer period is conducted). The second part starts with an explanation of tools, general procedure and safety. Then each child will make a tuned flute with the guidance of the presenter. They have the option of decorating the flute. To conclude, Michael will lead a group lesson on playing the flute and give each child an instruction to take home.
Michael Kanner has been making and playing flutes since 1974. He is a student of Ethnomusicology, the study of world music. He has been a programmer of world music at KUSP FM Santa Cruz for over 30 years. For the last 15 years, he has been teaching flute making in schools, libraries, craft and cultural fairs, and First Night Santa Cruz. He is a member of the American Bamboo Society and a cultivator of bamboo. He is a performer of Shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flute) and has played in a Javanese gamelon orchestra.
K-8 $200 per classroom
(831)227-8394 / email@example.com
What the teachers say:
"I took part in every aspect of the lesson except the flute making (torch). Everyone was enthralled with Mr.Kanner‚s music and demonstrations of flutes from all over the world. Interest was high throughout the morning. Michael was positive and complimentary," Dianne Sherwood, Grade 2, Del MarElementary
"We learned a lot about different flutes and where they came from. Everyone loved it. Mr. Kanner made sure students‚ responses were validated. He arrived early to set-up. He was especially concerned for safety. Students loved making their own flute. Very nice transitions from intro-activity-closure," Mrs. Ray, Grade Kindergarden, Del Mar Elementary
"Students really enjoyed the 'hands-on' experience and seeing and hearing about different flutes. Michael encouraged lots of participation. What a great experience!" Kaylene Johnson, Grade 2, Del Mar Elementary
What the kids say:
Thank you Mr. Kanner,
"My favorite part was making the flutes and decorating them. I would really like it if I could do this next year, too. Oh, before I forget, the other thing I really liked is how you showed and played us all the different flutes, bamboo and the rest of the stuff." Your friend, Alex 3rd Grade, Del Mar Elementary
"Thank you for showing us how to make flutes. It was fun. I liked the part where we burned the holes, which was the main part, hope I can see you again in the 3rd grade." Sincerely, Kayla, 2nd grade, Capitola Elementary | <urn:uuid:df436546-0f8a-472e-ad6d-60822abd5e3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bambumariflutes.com/classes_alt.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971375 | 659 | 2.28125 | 2 |
For more than a century, the Utah Education Association has been dedicated to preserving and enhancing Utah public education. The UEA represents more than 18,000 active classroom teachers, retired educators, administrators, licensed educational support personnel and campus student organizations.
UEA is governed by a president, vice president and board of directors each elected by their peer member educators.
In the UEA, individuals elected by the membership determine the policies of the Association — and how to implement them. The UEA House of Delegates, which meets in the spring of each year, is the legislative body of the Association. The UEA Board of Directors manages the business of the Association and includes the UEA president, vice president, two NEA state directors for Utah, one director representing each of the 10 UniServ units, and one director representing ethnic minorities.
The UEA has local affiliates in each of the state’s 41 school districts, Applied Technology Colleges, and the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
The UEA is an affiliate of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, America’s oldest and largest organization committed to advancing the cause of public education. Founded in Philadelphia and now headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NEA has 50 state associations and more than 14,000 local association affiliates.
UEA was originally organized in 1860 as The Deseret School Teachers’ Association, with a stated purpose of “establishing a society for promoting the educational interests of the community.” In 1910 it was incorporated as the Utah Educational Association and by 1924 had adopted the current name.
In May 1964, at the climax of a battle with then-Utah governor George Clyde, the UEA led a two-day walkout—the nation’s first statewide teachers’ strike. From 1990 to 1996, the president of the UEA was Lily Eskelsen, now the vice-president of the NEA. In 2007, UEA, working within a coalition called Utahns for Public Schools, led a successful bid to repeal what would have been the nation's first statewide universal private-school voucher.
The UEA serves its educator members and promotes public education and the education profession in Utah. Here are a few examples of the UEA in action:
- The UEA Convention & Education Exposition
The annual UEA Convention & Education Exposition includes dozens of professional development workshops for K-12 educators, keynote speakers, hundreds of exhibitor booths, a New Educators’ Workshop and much more.
- New Educators’ Workshop
The free, one-day New Educators' Workshop, held during the UEA Convention, is for students in teacher preparation programs and educators in their early years of teaching. The event features professional development classes, classroom-tested lesson plans, and a keynote speaker to motivate and inspire educators.
- Advocating for Public Education
Despite educators’ best efforts in the classroom, much of what they want to accomplish is out of their control. Decisions about everything from curriculum and class size, to budgets for classroom supplies, to salaries and benefits, are made in large part by elected officials and appointed policymakers. That's why teachers band together, through their professional association, to advocate for legislation and policies that will benefit Utah public education. Members of the UEA staff represent the voice of teachers on numerous committees, as part of education coalitions and with individual legislators.
- Utah National Board Coalition
As a member of the UNBC coalition, the UEA helps to sponsor teacher summits, an annual celebration dinner to honor newly certified NBC teachers, and an Educator Day on the Hill to honor newly certified teachers at the Utah State Capitol.
- School Improvement Grants
As part of a national Priority Schools Campaign, the UEA provides intensive support to schools receiving School Improvement Grants. At Glendale Middle School, for example, the NEA, the UEA, the Salt Lake Teachers Association and the Salt Lake City School District are providing professional development opportunities on team-building, cultural competency, and community outreach and parent engagement.
- PTA ‘Golden Apple’ Awards
The UEA co-sponsors the annual "Golden Apple" teacher and school volunteer awards with KUED, the Utah PTA and other partners.
- ‘Excellence in Teaching’ Awards
The UEA annually presents “Excellence in Teaching” awards to 10 Utah educators. The awards are presented during a “Superstars in Education” celebration held in conjunction with the UEA Convention.
- The UEA Children At Risk Foundation
The non-profit Children At Risk Foundation distributes grants to teachers serving at-risk populations, provides tutoring services in schools that do not meet federal standards and delivers other services to students in need.
- ‘Prepared Not Scared’ / ‘Future Educators of America’
Hundreds of college seniors preparing to enter education receive assistance with resumes, mock interview training, Praxis test preparation, and other support each year as part of these student programs. The programs are conducted in conjunction with the college of education at several Utah universities.
- Member Benefits and Discounts
UEA and NEA member benefits programs provide exclusive access to discounts on a variety of products and services, often saving members more than the cost of member dues.
- Communications and Public Relations
The UEA maintains an active communications and public relations program to share information with its members and the community. This program includes the myUEA.org member website, member newsletters, an active campaign to support Utah public education, and the UtahsFuture.org public website.
- Teacher Representation
The UEA represents Utah teachers in a variety of ways:
- President is a member of the Governor’s Education Commission;
- President is a member of the National Commission on Effective Teaching;
- Represent Utah teachers on the Governor’s Literacy Commission;
- Representation on policy taskforces at the Utah State Office of Education;
- Participation in a variety of community committees, boards and taskforces;
- Legal representation for individual teachers; and
- Assist local affiliates with teacher contract negotiations in individual school districts.
In addition, local school district affiliates represent teachers on a variety of committees and task forces.
'About the UEA' print version (pdf)
- UEA Articles of Incorporation, Constitution and Bylaws
- UEA Resolutions
- UEA Legislative Platform, Support Positions and Priorities | <urn:uuid:479bb1f4-0b22-4523-ae52-a53a67006207> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myuea.org/about_uea/general_information.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94994 | 1,339 | 2.1875 | 2 |
"I call upon each of you to work together and with me in creating a culture within our Department that fosters and values diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity." - Secretary Steven Chu October 3, 2011
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment that ensures equality of opportunity for applicants and employees through Departmental diversity policy development, workforce analysis, outreach, retention, and education. We seek to capitalize on the diverse attributes of the nation today to build an inclusive Energy Department for tomorrow. The Energy Department strives to be the Federal government’s model employer by leveraging diversity and inclusion to deliver the best public service on behalf of the nation.
Diversity describes an environment where the talents and differences of all employees are respected and valued for professional and mission success. At the Energy Department, as a science and technology agency, we have unique diversity characteristics that must be addressed. This includes the broad spectrum of characteristics including, but not limited to, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, religion, culture, language, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, family structures, geographic differences, diversity of thought, technical expertise, and life experiences. Tapping into this broad spectrum of diversity will enable the Energy Department to reap the full performance potential and competitive advantages that diversity and inclusion offer. Inclusion is a process that cultivates a work environment that connects each employee to the organization; encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness; and leverages diversity throughout the organization so that all individuals are enabled to participate and contribute to their full potential.
Secretary Chu asked each Department of Energy senior leader, manager, and employee to join him in taking immediate and sustained action to better promote our Department as a positive model of equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion in October 2011. Read Secretary Chu's letter here. The steps we are taking toward promoting our Department as a positive role model of equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion are:
- Dialog and Feedback. The Department organized a series of focus groups to engage in a dialog on the diversity and inclusion climate at the Department and receive feedback. At the first-ever Department Diversity and Inclusion Town Hall, hosted by Secretary Chu and Associate Deputy Secretary Mel Williams, the Department discussed the results of focus groups, which engaged in a dialog on how diversity can be improved at DOE. You can download the Diversity and Inclusion Town Hall program booklet here, and view photos from the event here. Now, Diversity and Inclusion Town Halls are held across the complex on a regular basis to discuss issues on a site by site basis.
- Recruitment and Hiring. The Department reviewed our Human Capital policies and practices to (1) recommend appropriate changes to the Department’s recruitment and hiring practices and (2) ensure that all SES and supervisory level employees have an opportunity to participate in outreach efforts aimed at recruiting minorities and/or women.
- Retention, Development, and Promotions. We took action to ensure program leaders' efforts to redefine work and to restructure the workforce towards a more efficient and effective organization will not result in the unintended consequence of adversely affecting diversity and inclusion. Even in fiscally constrained periods, we must ensure that each individual has the opportunity for professional development and training towards enabling individuals to realize their full potential. We review each program’s practices, policies, and funding for professional development and training on an annual basis, and we support individual participation in training by affinity groups. The Department also reviewed our policies and practices regarding promotions for employees to ensure that they do not result in the unintended consequence of adversely affecting diversity and inclusion.
- Commitment and Understanding. We have developed an annual diversity events plan (internal observances and external outreach to communities and prospective hires) whereby senior leaders, managers, and employees may demonstrate their commitment to diversity via participation in diversity events, and receive the benefits of better understanding of our diverse workforce through personal involvement. We’ve also taken steps to upgrade our Continual Learning Program to include interactive case study discussions/training on how diversity and inclusion contribute to mission effectiveness, and ensure that all senior leaders participate in DOE diversity training programs at least once per fiscal year.
- Performance and Accountability. We have reviewed and changed (as needed) DOE performance appraisals and performance plans to ensure that all employees who have diversity responsibilities, and all senior leaders and managers are held accountable for performance results related to diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity. | <urn:uuid:2b096191-4184-49f2-a11c-7a30875106a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://energy.gov/diversity/services/diversity-and-inclusion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943959 | 907 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Evolving industry structure, technology, regulations and economics are profoundly changing the way power is likely to be generated and delivered to consumers. Advocates of distributed generation (DG) often present it as a solution to rising wholesale market prices, price volatility and transmission system constraints. DG has the potential to lower costs for both energy providers and consumers, improve reliability, reduce emissions, and improve customer choice.
DG manufacturers, distributors and packagers need to know how to position and market DG equipment in this volatile marketplace. How big is the potential market? Which countries and which U.S. regions are attractive? What are the best early adoption niche market applications? Are the best prospects large industrial, small industrial, commercial, or residential customers? What other products and services might be bundled with DG? What would consumers be willing to pay, either for purchase or as a service? What key variables and external drivers will influence sales? What are the primary barriers to market adoption? What are the best ways to bring DG equipment to market, i.e. is there an optimal value-chain for this type of product?
The Resource Dynamics Corporation (RDC), with more than two decades of providing advice on small-scale power production, can provide you with the information and credible data required to answer these questions and formulate a DG marketing strategy, whether you are selling power gensets, storage systems, control systems, or software. This data can be prepared at varying levels of detail, providing perspective on the international, U.S. and regional markets. RDC offers three services to equipment suppliers seeking a detailed understanding of the marketplace and wishing to fine-tune their marketing strategy.
Estimates indicate that the worldwide market for DG applications will grow significantly during the next few years. In this service, forecasts for U.S. and worldwide DG use are made, including:
Estimates are by country with more detailed assessments in high potential regions. DG applications considered include on-site generation/cogeneration (with and without grid backup), peak shaving, premium power, and niche applications such as green power and remote power.
These assessments are prepared specifically for the products you offer or seek to offer. As the market dynamics vary considerably by customer application, genset output, efficiency, thermal utilization, fuel use, fuel price, emission level, noise level, capital cost, operating costs, utility interconnection requirements and backup power policy, it is necessary to consider product specifics when assessing the market opportunities.
Analyses are performed using our DIstributed Power Economic Rationale SElection (DISPERSE) model. DISPERSE is the leading tool used to forecast the potential for DG technologies. Using DISPERSE, the costs and benefits of DG to energy users and the impacts of policy alternatives on DG can be estimated, while considering multiple parameter changes. DISPERSE was extensively vetted and peer-reviewed for the critical role it played in estimating DG impacts for the Administrationís Clean Energy Futures Study (April 2000).
The bottom line is an estimate of the potential size of a DG business in regions of interest, with a disaggregration by customer type, technology, size, and application. Revenue estimates are prepared by examining possible DG equipment pricing strategies. Based on these market assessments, we perform a preliminary identification of marketing and business strategies you can use to implement profitable DG business ventures. Business strategy recommendations highlight issues such as partnering and go-to-market strategies.
Similar to the first service, here we assess the U.S. market at the state level and in more detail. Varying state regulations for environmental parameters, utility interconnection requirements, and access to the retail electric market greatly affect the market potential of specific DG products. DG economics, regulations, and the technical capabilities of your products are assessed simultaneously. Six DG applications considered include:
This service will help manufacturers assess market size for each application, together with ways to reach potential customers by:
EasyDG, a DG site-specific economic evaluation software tool is available for use via license. This model packages the economics engine of our DISPERSE model in a user-friendly, flexible form that can be tailored to your individual needs. Pull-down menus, automated data entry, and familiar spreadsheet operation all facilitate ease-of-use. Either specific and detailed information can be entered for the most accurate results, or the user can elect to use defaults for quick answers or when not all information is available. The model includes default data on unit price and performance parameters, utility rate structures, electric and thermal load profiles for commercial and industrial facilities, fuel costs, financial parameters, and potential to provide system benefits. Users are able to calculate the financial impacts of projects ranging from residential fuel cell baseload power, to office building peak shaving, to industrial cogeneration. Advanced versions of the model also have an optimization routine which allows the model to select the best DG unit type, application, and unit size; for given site characteristics, fuel and electricity prices. We license this software to you, and provide training in its use, so that you can assess the market potential for both your current and future DG product offerings.
The cost of these services depends on the exact scope of the effort. Typical costs range from $60-120,000 for a global or U.S. market assessment, varying by the number of DG products considered and the level of regional detail desired. Our software models may be licensed from $30-60,000 depending on what information you desire and the level of training anticipated.
For More Information, Please Contact
N. Richard Friedman
Resource Dynamics Corporation
8605 Westwood Center Drive
Vienna, VA 22182
703-356-1300, ext. 203 (p)
Distributed-generation.com was last updated March 16, 2005 © 2005, Resource Dynamics Corporation | <urn:uuid:cc31202c-c56b-4e0f-b11c-ba02e2360f86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.distributed-generation.com/equip_studies.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916583 | 1,192 | 1.625 | 2 |
Our Treatment Process
The water we drink comes from the Red River. Surface water sources like the river can provide more water volume than localized groundwater wells, and most communities use them as their water source.
Surface water is a renewable resource when compared to groundwater. Surface water quality, however, is variable and highly dependent on weather and other environmental conditions. For this reason, more rigorous water treatment processes are required for surface water sources.
The City of Fargo maintains one of the most sophisticated water treatment facilities in the United States, and the treatment plant has undergone several security upgrades since the 9/11 attack. The chemical and physical processes used at the plant convert surface water with unknown quality into a consistently safe, soft and good-tasting drinking water.
Water from the Red River is hard, and the water treatment process centers around softening the water. The water softening process reduces hardness from an average of 17 grains per gallon to a target value of 7 grains per gallon. Some hardness in the finished water is good because it prevents the water from being too corrosive.
After softening, the water is disinfected with ozone gas and then filtered to remove fine particles, additional hardness and dissolved minerals like iron. Finally, chloramine is added before distribution to provide disinfection right up to the tap in Fargo homes.
The plant met all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for water clarity in 2009. | <urn:uuid:8ca2a240-ac86-41bb-88cf-52c59287ca05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ci.fargo.nd.us/CityInfo/Departments/WaterTreatment/TreatmentProcess/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939326 | 285 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The United States
Code of Federal Regulations for Toilet Facilities
OSHA's sanitation standard for general industry, 29 CFR 1910.141(c)(l)(i), requires employers to provide their employees with toilet facilities:
Except as otherwise indicated in this paragraph (c)(l)(i), toliet facilities, in toilet rooms separate for each sex shall be provided in all places of employment in accordance with Table J-1 of this section .... [emphasis added]
This memorandum explains OSHA's interpretation that this standard requires employers to make toilet facilities available so that employees can use them when they need to do so. The employer may not impose unreasonable restrictions on employee use of the facilities. OSHA believes this requirement is implicit in the language of the standard and has not previously seen a need to address it more explicitly. Recently, however, OSHA has received requests for clarification of this point and has decided to issue this memorandum to explain its position clearly.
The sanitation standard is intended to ensure that employers provide employees with sanitary and available toilet facilities, so that employees will not suffer the adverse health effects that can result if toilets are not available when employees need them. Individuals vary significantly in the frequency with which they need to urinate and defecate, with pregnant women, women with stress incontinence, and men with prostatic hypertrophy needing to urinate more frequently. Increased frequency of voiding may also be caused by various medications, by environmental factors such as cold, and by high fluid intake, which may be necessary for individuals working in a hot environment. Diet, medication use, and medical condition are among the factors that can affect the frequency of defecation.
Medical studies show the importance of regular urination, with women generally needing to void more frequently than men. Adverse health effects that may result from voluntary urinary retention include increased frequency of urinary tract infections (UTIs), which can lead to more serious infections and, in rare situations, renal damage (see, e.g., Nielsen, A. Waite, W., "Epidemiology of Infrequent Voiding and Associated Symptoms," Scand J Urol Nephrol Supplement 157). UTIs during pregnancy have been associated with low birthweight babies, who are at risk for additional health problems compared to normal weight infants (see, Naeye, R.L., "Causes of the Excess Rates of Perinatal Mortality and the Prematurity in Pregnancies Complicated by Maternity Urinary Tract Infections," New England J. Medicine 1979; 300(15); 819-823). Medical evidence also shows that health problems, including constipation, abdominal pain, diverticuli, and hemorrhoids, can result if individuals delay defecation (see National Institutes of Health (NIH) Publication No. 95-2754, July 1995).
OSHA's field sanitation standard for Agriculture, 29 CFR 1928.110, based its requirement that toilets for farmworkers be located no more than a quarter mile from the location where employees are working on similar findings. This is particularly significant because the field sanitation standard arose out of the only OSHA rulemaking to address explicitly the question of worker need for prompt access to toilet facilities.
The Sanitation Standard
The language and structure of the general industry sanitation standard reflect the Agency's intent that employees be able to use toilet facilities promptly. The standard requires that toilet facilities be "provided" in every workplace. The most basic meaning of "provide" is "make available." See Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, 1988, defining "provide" as "to make available; to supply (someone with something);" Borton Inc. V. OSHRC, 734 F.2d 508, 510 (l0th Cir. 1984) (usual meaning of provide is "to furnish, supply, or make available"); Usery v. Kennecott Copper Corp., 577 F.2d 1113, 1119 (10th Cir, 1978) (same); Secretary v. Baker Concrete Constr. Co., 17 OSH Cas. (BNA) 1236, 1239 (concurring opinion; collecting cases); Contractors Welding of Western New York, Inc., 15 OSH Cas. (BNA) 1249, 1250 (same).1 Toilets that employees are not allowed to use for extended periods cannot be said to be "available" to those employees. Similarly, a clear intent of the requirement in Table J-1 that adequate numbers of toilets be provided for the size of the workforce is to assure that employees will not have to wait in long lines to use those facilities. Timely access is the goal of the standard.
The quoted provision of the standard is followed immediately by a paragraph stating that the toilet provision does not apply to mobile work crews or to locations that are normally unattended, "provided the employees working at these locations have transportation immediately available to nearby toilet facilities which meet the other requirements" of the standard (29 CFR 1910.141(c)(1)(ii) (emphasis supplied). Thus employees who are members of mobile crews, or who work at normally unattended locations must be able to leave their work location "immediately" for a "nearby" toilet facility. This provision was obviously intended to provide these employees with protection equivalent to that the general provision provides to to employees at fixed worksites. Read together, the two provisions make clear that all employees must have prompt access to toilet facilities.
OSHA has also made this point clear in a number of letters it has issued since the standard was promulgated. For example, in March 1976, OSHA explained to Aeroil Products Company that it would not necessarily violate the standard by having a small single-story building with no toilet facilities separated by 90 feet of pavement from a building that had the required facilities, so long as the employees in the smaller building had "unobstructed free access to the toilet facilities." Later that year, it explained again, in response to a question about toilet facilities at a U-Haul site, "reasonableness in evaluating the availability of sanitary facilities will be the rule." Again in 1983, OSHA responded to a request for a clarification of the standard by stating, "([i]f an employer provides the required toilet facilities ... and provides unobstructed free access to them, it appears the intent of the standard would be met."
In light of the standard's purpose of protecting employees from the hazards created when toilets are not available, it is clear that the standard requires employers to allow employees prompt access to sanitary facilities. Restrictions on access must be reasonable, and may not cause extended delays. For example, a number of employers have instituted signal or relief worker systems for employees working on assembly lines or in other jobs where any employee's absence, even for the brief time it takes to go to the bathroom, would be disruptive. Under these systems, an employee who needs to use the bathroom gives some sort of a signal so that another employee may provide relief while the first employee is away from the work station. As long as there are sufficient relief workers to assure that employees need not wait an unreasonably long time to use the bathroom, OSHA believes that these systems comply with the standard.
Employee complaints of restrictions on toilet facility use should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the restrictions are reasonable. Careful consideration must be given to the nature of the restriction, including the length of time that employees are required to delay bathroom use, and the employer's explanation for the restriction. In addition, the investigation should examine whether restrictions are general policy or arise only in particular circumstances or with particular supervisors, whether the employer policy recognizes individual medical needs, whether employees have reported adverse health effects, and the frequency with which employees are denied permission to use the toilet facilities. Knowledge of these factors is important not only to determine whether a citation will be issued, but also to decide how any violation will be characterized.
It is important that a uniform approach be taken by all OSHA offices with respect to the interpretation of OSHA's general industry sanitation standard, specifically with regard to the issue of employee use of toilet facilities. Proposed citations for violations of this standard must be forwarded to the Directorate of Compliance Programs (DCP) for review and approval. DCP will consult with the Office of Occupational Medicine. DCP will approve citations if the employer's restrictions are clearly unreasonable, or otherwise not in compliance with the standard. (NOTE: See 08/11/00 Memorandum to RAs attached below.)---Added this note
State Plan States are not required to issue their own interpretation in response to this policy, however they must ensure that State standards and their interpretations remain "at least as effective" as the Federal standard. Regional Administrators shall offer assistance to the States on this issue, including consultation with the Directorate of Compliance programs, at the State's request.
If you have any questions, contact Helen Rogers in the Office of General Industry Compliance at (202) 219-8031/41 x106.
August 11, 2000---Added this memo
On April 6, 1998 we issued an interpretation of 1910.141(c)(1)(i), which requires employers to make toilet facilities available so that employees can use them when they need to do so. A copy of that memorandum is attached.
The 1998 memorandum states that proposed citations for violations of this standard are to be forwarded to the Directorate of Compliance Programs (DCP) for review and approval. Shortly after the interpretation was issued, it was decided that the review and approval was to be at the Regional Office level, but that copies of any citations issued based on the April 6, 1998 interpretation should still be sent to DCP.
This topic continues to generate interest from the public. Early this year we had a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for copies of citations issued. Therefore, please continue to send copies of any citations issued pursuant to the 1998 interpretation to the National Office. If you have any questions, please contact Helen Rogers at (202) 693-1850. The copies should be sent to the following address:
Richard E. Fairfax, Director
Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) Sanitation. - 1926.51
this page is for information only. It is not official and non-relevant
text has been removed
American Restroom Association
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER: The American Restroom Association (ARA) is formally incorporated in the State of Maryland and is a subsidiary of the International Paruresis Association ARA is not qualified to provide legal advice. This web site contains non-vetted information that is un-official and for education only. There are no formal or financial agreements with any persons or entities cited. Some material is from copyrighted sources. This material is for education only and it must be source referenced. | <urn:uuid:c716e46b-264c-4261-893f-7a0138d0f748> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americanrestroom.org/gov/ohsa/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939016 | 2,220 | 2.171875 | 2 |
| Click on image titles for larger views. || |
Reis Hall served as the College's library until the mid-1970s. In 1931, a three-level addition north of the original structure was built. This addition was architecturally sensitive, utilized the same exterior materials, and more than doubled the size of the library. The main reading room featured a large wood-burning Belgian pink marble fireplace as well as 12-foot-deep galleries at either end, with alcoves beneath. Reis Library also includes a Treasure Room built to house the original library of Allegheny College.
The funds for Reis Hall originally were given anonymously, and so the building was known for years simply by its function as "the library." Thanks to significant donations from the fine private libraries of Dr. William Bentley, Judge James Winthrop (for a time Harvard librarian), and Isaiah Thomas, Allegheny's early library collection stood as one of the finest held by any of the early colleges of the United States. It was second in value only to Harvard's among the 48 institutions of higher learning in the country in 1819. Thomas Jefferson wrote to express his envy at the size and quality of Allegheny's book collection, and to express his hope that one day the University of Virginia might be so fortunate. The College also owns the papers of Ida M. Tarbell, Class of 1880, whose work is commemorated in the Lincoln Room of Reis Hall.
In 1920, the original donor's name was revealed: William Edward Reis (class of 1869), president of Shenango Valley Steel Mill in New Castle, Pennsylvania. In 1929, Reis also contributed the funds for the building's expansion, which was finished in 1931 by the original architectural firm C. W. Bolton & Son.
Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, this stately building "crowned the campus" from its site on the highest hill. Italianate in style, its plan also featured a large, central octagonal reading room surmounted by a glass dome, evoking Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda at the University of Virginia, as well as others in a long heritage of domed buildings. It was the hub around which campus life, both intellectual and social, revolved. Handsome, dignified and comfortable, Reis Hall has contributed much to the welfare of the College. Today it serves Allegheny's students as the home of our national award-winning experiential learning programs, as well as other offices that provide the vibrant co-curricular enhancements central to the liberal arts experience. | <urn:uuid:dc8a101f-fcfe-435e-bd7c-58eb89533d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hcap.artstor.org/cgi-bin/library?a=d&d=p86 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973233 | 525 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Emergency Stroke Center
The Emergency Stroke Centers at Jewish Hospital and Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital are the region’s first centers dedicated to comprehensive stroke treatment. Our centers offer specialized stroke care that pairs our regional neurological leadership with the instant acute care a stroke requires. Research proves that patients treated in a dedicated stroke care facility often have enhanced quality of life, better overall outcomes and go home sooner. They are also less likely to require lengthy stays at nursing homes or rehab facilities.
Our Emergency Stroke Centers offer you:
- Joint Commission certified primary stroke center
- Immediate Emergency Department access
- Dedicated inpatient stroke unit with monitored beds
- Stroke fellowship-trained, vascular neurologists
- Fellowship-trained vascular neurosurgeons
- Interventional neuroradiologists
- "Day one" rehab services available on the Jewish Hospital Medical Campus through Frazier Rehab Institute
- Specialty-trained nurses, and facility-wide trained nurses and support staff on stroke recognition
- Rapid evaluation, with state-of-the-art equipment and CT testing to be completed within one hour of admission
- Carefully developed practice guidelines and clinical pathways for TIA and stroke, constantly revised based on current data
- Use of thrombolytic or "clot-busting" agents if indicated
- Timely communication from the Emergency Stroke Center to referring physicians for optimal continuity of care
- Comprehensive patient and family education
- Clinical research studies
- Stroke support groups
- Certified Primary Stroke Centers
The dedicated neurologists of Jewish Stroke Care not only provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week emergency coverage for stroke patients in Jewish Emergency Departments and those that call the stroke beeper, they also provide stroke call services for other hospitals throughout the state.
The telemedicine program allows a Jewish Stroke Care neurologist to utilize a laptop to access a robot in a patient’s room in a partner hospital. With nurse assistance, the physician can do a comprehensive exam, see the patient and monitors, look at test results and scans, and determine whether the patient needs further testing, thrombolytic drugs or to be flown to Jewish Hospital for intervention or surgery.
Teleneurology is one more way the most comprehensive program in the region is bringing fast, expert treatment closer to home.
Jewish Hospital Emergency Department
Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital Emergency Department | <urn:uuid:7c215f21-da00-4279-b25e-05e80a843d43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jhsmh.org/Health-Services/Neuroscience/Contact-Neuroscience.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917963 | 500 | 1.539063 | 2 |
PEMBROKE PINES -- About 120 people swayed to booming reggae beats and enjoyed West Indian culture on Sunday at C.B. Smith Park.
The music and culture were part of the Haitian Festival, which featured food, arts and crafts from the Caribbean nation.
``It`s always good to attend festivals that remind you of your home,`` said Raoul Alexis, of Sunrise. Alexis is an engineer who came to the United States from Haiti 13 years ago.
``I came to the festival because of the music, the food, and the chance to meet other Haitians who you didn`t know lived in Broward,`` Alexis said as he listened to the music with his wife, Carmen.
The festival was sponsored by Zin Productions, a 3-year-old music band from New York, and the Operation for Humanitarian Concern Inc., two organizations that aim to promote health care and literacy for Haitians and poor minorities in Broward and Dade County.
``Health care costs are getting unbearable,`` said Geneus Therilus, the group`s founder. ``Poor people can`t afford health care today. We think good health care is for everybody, not just for one group or income level.``
Therilus founded his organization seven years ago while he worked as a medical social worker with Dade County.
The group promotes health care in the Haitian community by sponsoring health fairs for immunizations and working to get a primary health care unit in Dade`s Little Haiti.
``But we don`t really have a (Dade) limit,`` Therilus said. ``Both Broward and Dade have a lot of poor people and Haitians who can`t afford health care.``
Organizers of Zin Productions heard about the group`s stance on Haitian literacy and health and decided to co-sponsor the festival to raise money.
``OHC has aims we like to pursue,`` said Carl Henry Vilfort, spokesman for Zin Productions. ``We decided to throw everything together to help our community.``
Vilfort said the festival will help raise awareness about Haitian concerns.
``Our community is beset by negativism from inside our own community and outside sources,`` he said.
Organizers expected between 1,000 and 2,000 revelers, but late morning heat in the 90s and a torrential downpour at about 2:30 p.m. may have kept many away.
Some braved the heat and dark clouds anyway.
``I just came to spend some time,`` said Roland Calixte, of Miami, who has lived in the United States for seven years. ``But of course this festival (supports) a good cause.`` | <urn:uuid:340061ce-a5bb-46bc-b74f-22818e8cce7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-08-12/news/9101300742_1_health-care-haitian-community-haitian-festival | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966074 | 563 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Yesterday reports emerged about a NATO airstrike in Logar province that, according to local officials, killed 18 civilians—the vast majority women and children.
Readers of the Washington Post could learn about this (6/7/12) by flipping to page 10 and looking for this headline:
Afghanistan Suicide Blasts Kill at Least 22 Civilians
A suicide attack gets top billing. Next comes word that "overall levels of violence have dropped" in the country. Following that, a helicopter crash that killed two NATO troops. Then finally:
Separately, there were conflicting accounts about the killing of civilians in a NATO-led airstrike overnight in Logar province, south of Kabul.
The New York Times was better (which would not be difficult). The front-page photo shows the aftermath of the airstrike, along with the caption "Confusion in the Rubble of a NATO Airstrike."
Like the Post, theTimes led with news of the suicide attack, followed by a passage noting the decline in civilian deaths. The paper's account then went on to offer more details about the NATO airstrike—before getting back to the apparently more newsworthy Taliban suicide attack.
Because an official enemy killing civilians is always more important than your own government killing civilians—right? | <urn:uuid:a33bd709-95fe-4dd4-bf5b-4ac040f26cd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stanvanhoucke.blogspot.com/2012/06/nato-terror.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944393 | 261 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Twenty-three students left the Chinese mainland for a year's study in Taiwan Wednesday, marking the start of a mainland government-funded project to send 200 students to study on the island.
The 23 students from Fujian Polytechnic of Information Technology and Fujian Commercial College embarked Wednesday morning on a ship from the province's capital of Fuzhou.
“It is the first time in Fujian and in the country as well that so many students are going to Taiwan on government scholarships,” said Wu Xingnan, an official of the province's education department.
The department plans to send 100 students from vocational schools and 100 others from universities to study in Taiwan institutes including the National Chunge Hsing University, Chienkuo Technology University and the Chung Chou Institute of Technology.
The students will enter courses in information engineering, machine design, software and agriculture in Taiwan.
The Fujian Education Department will provide each student with 5,000 yuan (732 U.S. dollars) as a living allowance during their stay in Taiwan, and some universities are to provide additional subsidies.
Keywords: Fujian Polytechnic of Information Technology, | <urn:uuid:53e4fc4b-c1d0-4487-b613-68c154de36b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/200-chinese-students-to-study-in-taiwan/article21232.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933697 | 237 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Decoupage is a French craft that originated in the eighteenth century. Literally translated, the word "decoupage" means "applied cutouts." It is a method of decorating a three-dimensional object with paper cutouts.
To begin a decoupage project start by first cutting out paper illustrations or designs from any paper source. For example, you can use greeting cards, wrapping paper, calendars, wallpaper, stamps, dried flowers or leaves.
The next step is to arrange these cutouts in any order that is pleasing to the eye on a base for your decoupage project such as a plate, tray, box, furniture or glass.
Italy - done on desks
Once cutouts have been arranged and glued to the surface, many coats of lacquer are applied to create a smooth, transparent finish. When completed, a simply painted piece of wood can turn into a fancy art piece. Creating a piece with decoupage can be a relaxing leisure activity.
A variety of faux, or "false" finishes can be used to create an interesting textured background onto which you can apply decoupage designs. Techniques that can be used include, antiquing, sponging, splattering, crackling, ragging or glazing.
Hopefully the inspiration to learn decoupage will lead you into a wonderful new craft project. Finding objects to use for decoupage can present an interesting challenge. However, once you begin your decoupage you will soon have the feeling of accomplishment and a lovely piece of art!
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff | <urn:uuid:26abcca1-f3a4-472e-9a00-83387e8a99fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slpl.org/slpl/interests/Article240113651.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90848 | 323 | 3.21875 | 3 |
FLORENCE — Grady Liles, the man responsible for bringing the NCAA Division II National Championship Game to the Shoals 27 years ago, died late Tuesday.
Liles, 81, also created the Harlon Hill Trophy, which honors the most valuable football player in Division II.
"He did so many things for so many people," said his wife, Shirley. "There were a lot of things no one knew about. He was the most unselfish person I've ever known."
In 1985, Liles helped organize a community effort to persuade NCAA officials to move the Division II game from McAllen, Texas, to the Shoals. The past 27 championship games have been played at Braly Municipal Stadium.
The presentation of the Harlon Hill Trophy on the Friday night preceding the game has become part of its tradition and has generated national attention to the Shoals. The trophy is named after former Florence State and NFL standout receiver Harlon Hill.
"He was a great man, that's for sure," said Steve Pierce, a member of the University of North Alabama Board of Trustees who worked closely with Liles on the Shoals National Championship Committee. "You see a lot people who have vision and don't carry through with it, but Grady had vision and worked hard to have it happen. He found sponsors and volunteers. It was 24/7 job for him. That just shows you how much he loved the community."
Dick Yoder was director of athletics at West Chester University and a member of the NCAA game committee when the first Division II championship game was played in the Shoals. He and Liles formed a friendship during that week in 1986, and it grew through the years.
"My heart is broken," said Yoder, a former mayor of West Chester, Pa. "I already miss him dearly. This is a great loss for me personally, and I know this is a huge loss for the community and everyone who knew him. This is such a sad day."
Yoder and Liles stayed in close contact with each other through the years.
Because of Liles, Yoder now calls Florence "my southern home."
He said Liles' work with the championship game made the event "more than a football game. It was a happening."
"The game became Florence, Alabama, as a result of Grady's ability to bring people together and create a special time for everyone involved," Yoder said. "He's going to be remembered for a long, long time."
Liles is a native of Florence and was a 1947 state Golden Gloves boxing champion. He earned the middleweight boxing champion title in 1950 in the U.S. Marines.
In 1957, he helped organize the Florence Rescue Squad, which was the first volunteer squad in north Alabama. Liles served as a firefighter for 13 years in Florence and was selected Alabama's Fireman of the Year in 1965.
He received a Distinguished Service Award for administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a 19-month-old child throughout a 21-mile ambulance ride to a hospital, saving the child's life.
In 1963, he successfully lobbied for approval of the State Fireman's Bill, which regulates and controls the maximum working hours for city firefighters. The bill was the first to help firefighters on a statewide basis.
He was named Outstanding Young Man by the Jaycees in 1965 and 1967 and was selected for Outstanding Personalities of the South in 1967.
In 1996, the community expressed its appreciation for Liles by hosting a special event called "A Tribute to Grady Liles." During the event, they surprised Liles with a new Jeep Cherokee. The city also renamed a street near Braly Stadium in his honor.
Liles, who was an insurance agent, also was involved in numerous charity events in Florence. He was chosen Shoals Citizen of the Year in 1987. He also was president of the UNA Sportsman's Club for more than 30 years.
His civic work also included membership in the Florence Civitan Club, Shoals Chamber of Commerce, American Legion, Knights of Pythias and Shrine Club.
Walter Ingle was a close friend of Liles' and member of a breakfast group that gathered every morning at a McDonald's restaurant.
"Grady was a great disciple for the city," Ingle said. "I visited with him last week. He knew me, and he was all smiles. He loved life and would do anything in the world for you. If you had any kind of problem, he was right there, Johnny on the spot, to help."
Another of Liles' close friends, Don McBrayer, said Liles was a father figure.
"He was one of the most generous, helpful people I've ever been around," McBrayer said. "He was always concerned about how everybody else was doing instead of his own comfort."
McBrayer, who often joined the McDonald's breakfast group, remembers Liles as a good-natured prankster who at the same time would go out of his way to help anyone.
"If he noticed somebody needed a refill on their coffee, Grady would get up, grab their cup and go get it," he said. "That was just Grady. He was just a great man, that's all I can say. He was a friend to everybody because he cared about everybody."
Former UNA head football coach Bill Hyde also is part of the McDonald's morning group. Hyde said it will be strange to see Liles' normal seat at the restaurant empty in the mornings.
"The Shoals National Championship Committee is going to miss him, our coffee group is going to miss him, that empty seat will be missed, and it will be a gap in our lives," he said.
Hyde said Liles put Florence and UNA ahead of everything.
"He was one of a kind, very easygoing and outgoing, but he could be tough when he needed to," Hyde said. "And he loved UNA. There was nothing that happened there that he wasn't there for. He was the most civic-minded man I have ever known."
Florence Mayor Mickey Haddock said Liles tirelessly raised money for the championship game throughout the years.
"He just continued to have the vision to grow that game and make it something the city and the whole Shoals area could really be proud of," Haddock said. "He taught a lot of us a valuable lesson about commitment and disciplining yourself and staying the course. He was passionate about anything he got involved with.
"In the end, Grady was a dear friend. We all lost a good friend. He was a giver."
Managing Editor Mike Goens contributed to this report
Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.
Bernie Delinski can be reached at 256-740-5739 or bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com.
|High School Sports||@DecaturPreps| | <urn:uuid:7d581469-6aa9-4278-baa1-2b45b5f4e4e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.decaturdaily.com/stories/We-all-lost-a-good-friend,114409 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982137 | 1,453 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Most people have seen solar tubes on TV. They enjoyed a popularity surge in the late eighties and early nineties. Solar tubes offer an inexpensive alternative to sky lights. In some cases, they can even offer more light, do to the technology that they use. In essence, the reflective material on the inside of the tube intensifies the light as it goes down the to a single lens surface protruding through the ceiling, and lighting up the room. Where a skylight is going to require a major remodel of your ceiling and a precision 2×4 square cut from your roofing a solar tube requires only a small hole between 18†and 24†inches and a similar hole inside in the ceiling.Get more information here. http://blog.smarthome.com/2012/08/12/led-light-fixture-uses-renewable-energy-dims-and-brightens-with-the-sun/
Where a skylight requires that the roof hole and the ceiling hole be exactly lined up. The solar tube allows you to put the roof hole and the ceiling hole offset of each other. This does not affect the functionality of the light. This allows you to move your light so as not to cut your trusses up when going through the roof cavity. It also gives you more options with centering your interior lens in the room so that it has maximum light benefit and maximum appeal. | <urn:uuid:f9ef019e-9a1a-4078-b9a7-e9ec1ff808ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenpieceblog.com/2012/09/12/installing-solar-tubes-for-day-time-lighting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933067 | 295 | 2.3125 | 2 |
I love books. I didn’t when I was was a teen or young adult. However, as I matured in age I came to realize they were a convenient escape from the harsh reality of this world which often had no just conclusion. In our world, karmic justice is fantasy. Mine enemy is despair, and my hero is hope.
Friends, I’m really hurting.
Give or take a day or two, it is exactly 13 years since my last suicide attempt. However, that’s not why I’m hurting.
Several years ago a psychiatrist that I trust diagnosed me with manic depression (also known as bipolar disorder). I made a half-hearted attempt at medical treatment, but the side effects were so bad that I quickly lost interest. Fast forward to 2008. My personal life had started to crumble once again and I found another psychiatrist. She agreed with the original diagnosis and I made a serious attempt at pharmaceutical treatment and counseling.
With bipolar disorder, most, if not all drug treatments are with anti-seizure and anti-psychotic medications. It’s believed that excessive electrical activity in the brain causes the mania and this can be regulated with these medications. However, generally, people with bipolar are not treated with anti-depressants because that actually induces mania. It is my experience these anti-seizure and anti-psychotic medications really do work. Unfortunately, finding the one that is most effective for the patient with the least harmful side effects is the key. Keep in mind, side effects aren’t necessarily the same for everyone.
Having tried Depakote years before and knowing it caused rapid weight gain and rapid hair loss, I wouldn’t use it again. We moved to trusty lithium. Lithium is dirt cheap. Lithium works GREAT! However, lithium is only effective at the threshold of a lethal dose. Because of this it is imperative that you not miss a dose and you get regular and frequent lab tests monitoring your lithium levels. Unfortunately, lithium caused cogwheeling and loss of motor functions in me at therapeutic levels. So while I was mentally in the best state I had ever been in my life, I was literally drooling, unable to speak clearly, I couldn’t walk unassisted at times, and I moved as if I had Parkinson’s Disease.
Next, we moved to Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine). It did not require the same blood monitoring. It was just as effective on my mental state. However, instead of $4 per month, like the lithium, it was $380 per month. Insurance (at least mine) does not cover drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder. In addition, it should be noted, no insurance company in the United States of America, will insure a person that has been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder – unless you lie or “Obama Care” (The Affordable Care Act) goes into full effect. After a few weeks on trileptal we noticed an even more troubling side effect. Every 90 minutes or so, my heart would stop for about 2 seconds and I would black out. This would happen while talking, walking, or even driving. Fortunately, I would immediately recover.
Before trying another drug, research was warranted. It was discovered that all current bipolar medications operated on the same underlying principle. At their most basic functionality, they displace sodium ions in the brain which normally act as conductors for electrical signals. They provide, instead, themselves as a poor substitute conductor thereby retarding the electrical signals. The conclusion was reached that it was not safe for me to take ANY sodium depressors.
So, over the last 5 years, because I could not take medication, with steady feedback and tolerance from Jaime, I’ve learned to cope with my depression and she has learned to cope with my mania. Finally, I knew that when I wanted to die and longed to put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger that it was an irrational thought. I knew that I had no real mental pain. I knew that my finances were okay. I knew that my job had always sucked and I’d never liked it so that couldn’t have been the problem. I knew that Jaime loved me and I loved her so that’s wasn’t making me want to take another shit ton of sleeping pills. I was able to rationalize myself back to a safe space. This deep depression may have lasted several days, but each day I knew I was one day closer to it going away. I knew it was fleeting.
Because Jaime was willing to stand with me and help me learn to maintain my focus, I was able to see that my pain wasn’t real. It was a hallucination.
Ever since my car accident six and a half months ago, I can no longer maintain that focus that keeps me on this side of sanity and lucidity. I know that I’m not rational, and yet, I no longer care. I’ve had worse pain in my life, but I’ve never had physical pain this bad that lasted this long. I can ignore physical pain. I can ignore mental pain. However, I cannot ignore both at the same time. I’m finding that I’m destroying all my personal relationships in favor of quelling this physical pain and to be honest, I don’t see any relief in sight.
I talk to Jaime like she is a piece of garbage. My fuse is shorter that George Bush’s IQ in millimeters. I’ve abandon everything that has previously brought me joy.
I cannot take antidepressants because that will most certainly push me into mania which will effectively cause grandiose behavior and/or hallucinations. I can’t take mood stabilizers because there’s a very good chance they will kill me. I also have to question the value of counseling when I know exactly what is going on and have adopted methods to overcome my bipolar disorder. I don’t see how someone can coach me into accepting physical pain and mental pain at the same time.
I came home tonight with the very real intention of making a suicide bag or hanging myself. After researching some very good technical plans on drop hang length vs body weight ratio and inert gas mixes, I read a letter I had written about my last suicide attempt. While doing so, I remember how much heartache I was going through at the time and how much physical pain I went through as I was dying. I remember my body thrashing about as I had seizure after seizure with dried caked vomit on the side of my face. I still remember how much it hurt each time my skull cracked as it hit a piece of furniture on the way to the floor. I still remember how painful and scary it was as my limp lifeless body tumbled down the stairs. I remember the horror of dragging myself through the house for hours to reach the phone on the kitchen wall to call 911 only to not be able to stand to reach it. Then later realize it was all a hallucination and that I was still lying in a twisted heap at the bottom of the stairs while my kidneys and liver shut down.
After writing all of that, re-hashing all of those memories, and crying a river once again, I actually feel pretty good. The only problem is I know that when the sun comes up, the cycle will start over once again. At least I made it through another day.
In closing, let me leave you with a trip back to (I think) June 14, 1999:
“I wanted to go to the 10 year reunion. I was very excited. I had accommodations arranged and was looking forward to the upcoming road trip. It was so strange that the Sunday before the reunion I was sitting in church with my family and thought to myself that my life was perfect and couldn’t get any better. I had a big house with a pool, a great job as a software engineer, money was okay, and the kids were both doing great in school. Unfortunately (and fortunately), that very week , a slew of things happened that changed my life forever: my daily commute car caught on fire and I found out my wife had been cheating on me with someone she had met online. The Wednesday before the reunion, the engine block cracked in my project car, and I had to walk home from where the car was sitting. I arrived to a house with a note on the door, “We’re gone and you’ll never see us again.” My dog was gone, my kids and their clothes were gone, and my wife and her belongings were gone.”
“I knew that her threat was real.”
“I’ve always known that I was transgender, I just felt the appropriate response was to conform – especially for my family’s sake. My honesty required me to tell my bride-to-be about my feelings when were dating. She accepted my shortcomings, but my part of the bargain was to be a husband and father. I thought I did very well. Just prior to her surprise departure, she had hinted that if we ever got divorced that she would use my gender identity issues against me and she would take everything. In the judicial climate of that day, I knew she would have her way. Again, what a crappy week.”
“I was at the lowest I had ever been. I dissolved 240 sleeping pills into a glass of KoolAde and drank it. You would think it would be a fairly painless and gentle way to leave this world. As I remember, I barely made it to the bedroom before I collapsed. At some point I awoke laying in my own vomit while having a seizure and horrible hallucinations. The pain was more than I could describe. I’m guessing that when your internal organs shut down, your body doesn’t like it very much.”
“In that moment, I begged God to let me live. I didn’t want to die. I tried to make it to a phone in my bedroom, but I could not stand. Each attempt brought on another seizure, all of which ended with an additional concussion from my head hitting a piece of furniture. There was no rationality in my head at that point. Something lead me to try the phone in the kitchen downstairs. I crawled to the stairs but ended up falling down them. When I did reach the kitchen, I couldn’t stand to reach the phone. I thought I would crawl out my front door onto the lawn for help, but I couldn’t reach the door knob. Laying, in the foyer, I gave up.”
“I had a great relationship with my immediate co-workers and at Philips Electronics. My boss, Chet, was concerned that I hadn’t shown up for work since I left at lunch on Wednesday. Friday afternoon, I’m told, he broke down my front door and found me lifeless. I was taken to the local hospital in Morristown via ambulance and then flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. I awoke four days later on a dialysis machine and my right leg flayed open on both sides. The sleeping pills took their toll on my kidneys and liver, the fall down the stairs caused a large hematoma in my leg and I apparently laid in such a was that no circulation could get to the leg. Necrosis had set in. I’m lucky I still have it.”
“As if it weren’t enough, one of my first visitors (outside of my parents and siblings) was a sheriff’s deputy. I thought I was in for it because of an attempted suicide. No. He just wanted to let me know that while I had been in the hospital, my home had been burglarized and everything I had of any value was gone.”
“After completing dialysis, the surgeries on my leg, and learning to walk again, I left to hospital with my only possessions: the vomit-stained t-shirt and jeans I was wearing when I was brought in. They didn’t even fit. While in the hospital I lost 65 lbs. (it wasn’t all bad I guess, but the food was horrible). I started my life completely over from scratch. I just threw that t-shirt away last weekend.”
“True to her word, I wasn’t allowed to see or speak with my children for five years. For this concession, my family was allowed to keep in contact with and visit the kids. I was fortunate enough to have them leave their Mom, who had moved to Oklahoma, to come live with me and Jaime when they entered high school. Oh, it was a transition for all of us, but I’m glad I got to finish what I started.”
“It is a testimony to my current antipathy for organized religion, that only one person from Manley Baptist Church of Morristown, TN where I had been a member for some time came to visit me in the hospital. It was only to tell me that it was a good thing I survived, otherwise I would be burning in hell. Such is the source of my cynicism.” | <urn:uuid:5f164c87-c419-48dc-a10b-857ac6f99fde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manicsquirrel.com/2012/06/17/what-would-a-last-post-look-like/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984547 | 2,756 | 1.695313 | 2 |
As the Daily Kos recently wrote, if 34,000 people can ask Obama for a Death Star, surely we can petition for climate action. The president repeatedly raised the issue of climate change during the campaigns, and Hurricane Sandy underscored the fact that many communities are tragically vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This is the time for action. Sign this petition, supported by 70 major environmental groups. If we gather 25,000 signatures by Feb 8, the White House will respond.
Want to join in? Save this to your To-dos or mark as Done. | <urn:uuid:ebb1afdf-e9ff-46a2-944d-0952b1de905a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.good.is/posts/tell-obama-you-want-a-green-term | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951101 | 114 | 1.617188 | 2 |
A model-driven approach to analyzing and capturing pharmaceutical research processes
A model-driven development approach to pharmaceutical research that is anticipated to streamline the research process and bring new drugs to market more quickly and cost-effectively.
Despite year-to-year increases in research and development budgets, the number of successful new chemical entities continues to decline. Drug companies are looking for new ways to make research processes more efficient, to manage information better and to improve collaboration among research groups. This shift from a traditional artisan approach to an organized, streamlined discovery process is often termed the “industrialization of discovery processes.”
IBM Research teamed with Bayer HealthCare Research, a leader in the health care and medical products industry, to develop an innovative approach to industrializing drug discovery. The collaboration involved formal modeling of research processes. Business operations models were defined in several joint exercises, formally describing specific research processes. These operations model were transformed into an abstract IT solution model, which was subsequently mapped into runtime components. A prototype system was built and validated, and researchers found that such modeling concepts are aligned with current thinking in pharmaceutical research.
What IBM did
IBM researchers focused on analyzing the assay development phase of the drug discovery process. Assay development is part of the early phases of drug discovery; its goal is to establish instructions and protocols for running costly high-throughput screening experiments. Using a model-driven approach, IBM researchers first built an operations model by identifying key business artifacts relevant to assay development and by modeling the artifacts' life cycles and interactions.
The team then developed a solution composition model, derived directly from the initial business operations model. The solution composition model contains IT-level abstractions for the business artifacts and their interactions with people, other artifacts and processes. The critical component of this solution composition model is the adaptive business object, a component model describing the integration of people, processes and information. The solution composition model was then included in an implementation using the IBM WebSphereŽ platform.
This prototype project used the strength of IBM’s research expertise and an innovative model-driven approach to help Bayer bridge the gap between business goals and IT capabilities – a key component of IBM’s strategic vision for On Demand Business. | <urn:uuid:7e6b12df-687c-4247-bb4d-56d440415a29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://domino.research.ibm.com/odis/odis.nsf/pages/case.23.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936944 | 451 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Every single year, Madrid council asks some of the most important designers, architects or courtiers to make designs for Madrid’s streets. This year Teresa Sapey was asked to conceive Serrano Street’s Christmas lighting. Placed in one of the most luxurious neighbourhoods in Madrid, Serrano Street is well known for the high fashion designer’s shops. It seemed to be a very difficult task, but Teresa thought this was a very good chance to lighten up the street using very colourful and geometric designs. Her aim was to the grey and cold Serrano into a warm place, filled with colour.
Her designs have a countless amount of colours combined with circle shapes. Each one is different from the others, forming a sequence of drawings that can be seen from both sides. This designs concerns as well about environmental conservation and ecology. Made by using LED technology, it is also sustainable and efficient, requiring less power and producing low energy consumption.
images courtesy of Teresa Sapey | <urn:uuid:57579538-9d9c-4af9-9cd4-0183ba9ceddc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urdesign.it/index.php/2012/12/04/serrano-streets-christmas-lighting-by-teresa-sapey/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963454 | 201 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Before your child faces the real world or even goes to school all by himself, there are some important things you can teach your child on your own. After all, education starts right at home. Teach your child these important things and you can be sure that they can face anything more positively and with much hope:
Creativity - Your kids are naturally curious and you should not take that for granted. They would observe you and note the little things that you do. You can teach your child to solve things more creatively, to create their own gifts, even decorate their own rooms if they want some things and it or they want it changed. Help stimulate their minds by coaxing them to do the good things that they actually like doing. Let them do fun activities inside the home.
Independence - One of the most important values you can teach your child is independence. You need to make them realize that they are free to make their own decisions and do whatever it is that they really like so long as it does not hurt other people or cause anything bad. When you teach your child how to be independent, you also help him build up his self-confidence. He begins to appreciate himself and realize that he has the power to create things and do things for himself.
Respect for the elders – Teach your child to respect people, especially his elders, even if they are not their relatives. This is the most basic of all good manners. You are the one who can make them realize that there is a fine line that separates them from friends and of course, their elders whom they should treat with respect. This also helps them understand the need to be obedient and to behave when their elders tell them so. You also need to teach them how not to butt in when their elders talk with each other.
Saving up – Money matters is an important thing to teach your child. At an early age they should be able to appreciate every penny spent. This is also a way for you to keep them from being spoiled by letting them understand that they can’t have everything they want. An important thing that this value also teaches your child is hard work and patience. You can let them have their very own coin bank which they can fill up with the excess of their allowance. You can also motivate them to save up for things that they like to have.
More than anybody else, you should teach your child all of these things and more because you are their first teacher. They model their behavior based from what you do and what you tell them as good and bad. This is why, aside from teaching them these things, you also need to be mindful of your own personality and behavior because your kids will think that whatever it is that you do must be the right thing. | <urn:uuid:7a41e075-b96b-4c2a-a214-725c3edbbcda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.preksmarties.com/preschoolers/things-you-can-teach-your-child.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986103 | 559 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Experts Say about Half of Australian Kids Have Tooth Decay
By Jim Greene
Published on March 10, 2010
Nearly half of Australian children have untreated tooth decay, according to the Australian Dental Association (ADA), largely due to the prevalence of sugary, acidic beverages and snacks in their diets. The Department of Health for New South Wales (NSW), the country's most populous state, says some children develop cavities by their first birthday, and some require crowns before they enter elementary school.
ADA president Dr. Neil Hewsen said parents must accept much of the blame, especially those who allow "prolonged and extensive use of nursing bottles containing sugary drinks." He suggested an aggressive campaign to promote public awareness, similar to tactics used to battle smoking.
Dr. Philippa Sawyer, ADA Oral Health Committee chairwoman, said that a recent study shows that about 48 percent of Australian children have untreated tooth decay by age four, but that only about 10 percent have been seen by a dentist. She said that such widespread occurrence of any other disease would be declared an epidemic.
NSW health officials said tooth decay in children is most common in communities without fluoridated water, among the socioeconomically disadvantaged, and in Aboriginal families. Part of the problem, they said, is that about 30 percent of NSW children between five and eight years old do not receive regular dental care. | <urn:uuid:cf63a08e-df01-4704-9eb0-6ac7cba399be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.docshop.com/2010/03/10/experts-say-about-half-of-australian-kids-have-tooth-decay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969143 | 279 | 2.828125 | 3 |
William Barksdale(1821 - 1863)
Home State: Mississippi
Command Billet: Brigade Commander
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: Barksdale's Brigade
see his Battle Report
Before the Antietam Campaign:
Pre-War: Editor and US Congressman (resigned Jan 61). He had served in the US Army in the Mexican War. In March 1861 he resigned his Congressional seat and was appointed Quartermaster General of Mississippi Army, then Col. of the 13th Mississippi Regiment. At First Manassas, Peninsula campaign, and Seven Days battles at their head. In August 1862 he was promoted to BGen.
In the Antietam Campaign:
Led Barksdale's Brigade in McLaws' Division which was moved up from Lee's reserve early in the morning of the 17th to reinforce Jackson near the Dunker Church. In the thick of the fighting there he led from the front.
The remainder of the War:
He contined in command of his Brigade at Fredericksburg Chancellorsville and Gettysburg where he was mortally wounded in the Second Day assault on the Federal left flank at the Devil's Den and Little Round Top. He died there on July 3 1863.
Death Date: 7/3/1863 Death Place: Gettysburg, PA Burial Place: Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi
« Search for Another Participant | <urn:uuid:ab3a4819-bc1f-4927-9774-ec5963f2cf74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=6&from=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958878 | 284 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Individual Baskets for Elementary School Desks
My teacher friend, who always has sharpened pencils ready for me to use with students, began using individual baskets for each student's desk. Instead of using Velcro to affix the baskets, she used a double-sided tape which, supposedly, will not leave any residue and should be easy to remove later on. I recall other teachers who used Velcro strips to attach baskets like these and the students eventually began using the sound of Velcro pulling apart as a fun way to amuse their friends. | <urn:uuid:2956d288-a14b-4836-9622-285a7a2a1979> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://otinpublicschools.blogspot.com/2011/09/individual-baskets-for-elementary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956953 | 118 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Some of you may have seen Dick Eastman and/or read his genealogy newsletter. Dick is particularly knowledgeable about gadgets and technology that may be useful to genealogists. However, he covers all kinds of genealogical issues. In his newsletter today he includes an article that is a timely reminder to all of us that we need to critically examine each source of information where we find potentially useful sources of information. I encourage you to read the article that is linked from his post today and then also read some to the thoughtful comments posted on Dick's site: "Mormon Web site handy, but be sure to examine details" by Sharon Tate Moody which was published in Sunday's Tampa Tribune.
Posted by Dr D at 7:21 AM | <urn:uuid:1cec6ceb-3ab7-4b88-905d-5d43cb965c84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ddowell.com/2010/04/be-intelligent-consumer-of-genealogical.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977331 | 156 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The first artificial source of light was nothing more than a burning stick--about a million years ago. About 5,000 years ago, a wick and some oil in a clay jar became the first lamp and replaced the wooden torch as the source of artificial illumination.
Lamps got a run for their money in the first century AD, when candles were invented. Although not as bright as an oil lamp, the candle, "the no-spill lamp," was convenient and challenged the oil lamp as the main source of light during the Middle Ages.
In the late 1700s, a tubular wick was developed for gas or oil that allowed air to circulate inside as well as outside. This substantially increased the luminance of the flame. A cheaper and brighter mantle was invented in 1885, but by that time, Thomas Edison's electric light (1879) was well on its way.
Although it was nearly 40 years before incandescent bulbs improved to the point where they worked well and were economical to use, more was yet to come. In 1938 the fluorescent lamp was invented and at first seemed condemned to use in kitchens and commercial buildings where its badly skewed spectrum produced headaches and irritability for decades.
But, as lighting technology has improved, so has fluorescent lighting. Stepping out of the rubble of lighting design and discovery, the compact fluorescent is taking the lead in the new "cost versus value" equation.
In fact, with all the concern about energy conservation, it's a wonder that fluorescent lighting isn't all that's available. Its energy efficiency and lasting quality are unmatched by anything incandescent. And, better yet, fluorescent lighting is softer than regular lighting. It's almost completely shadow-free. For folks who have to work inside all day, modern fluorescent lighting is easier on the eyes. And that means less eyestrain and fewer headaches.
Even with all of its advantages, a modern fluorescent light can still go haywire--not to mention that older fluorescent fixtures can make a lot of noise. It is not a big deal to change a compact fluorescent--unscrew the old one and reverse the process to install a new one. But the same doesn't hold true for the old-fashioned tubular fluorescent.
Pin-ended tubular fluorescent fixtures have really changed lately. Once this type of fixture was powered by a device called a mechanical ballast--a transformer that hummed like crazy. Today's ballast is electronic and quiet. And to top it all off, fluorescents with electronic ballasts don't need warm-up time. They illuminate the instant they are turned on.
Expect to pay about double the price for an electronic fixture than you would for the old-fashioned type with a mechanical ballast. But it's worth it. The old-fashioned-type fixture is all that you will find in the big box stores. For a good-quality electronic fluorescent, you will need to go to an electrical supply house or an electric-fixture retailer. Here's all you have to do once you have purchased the replacement fixture:
* Remove the cover from your old fixture. Don't forget to turn off the power first.
* Remove the bulb. Twist it in either direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) about 90 degrees.
* The fixture housing cover usually has a pair of twist latches (one at either end) that holds it in place. Remove the housing cover and set it aside. You might need the help of a pair of pliers.
* Finally, disconnect the two electric wire connections and dismount the housing from the ceiling (usually held in place with a couple of screws).
To install the new fixture, simply disassemble it in the same way that you disassembled the one that you had to remove. Even though the ballast and bulbs in the new fixture are more sophisticated, the fixture itself still looks just the same as the one being removed.
Reverse the disassembly procedure to mount the new fixture to the wall or ceiling. For the electrical connection, make sure to attach all the black wires to each other and then all the white ones. Reinstall the housing cover, install the new bulbs and, if included, mount the cover.
Readers can mail questions to On the House, APNewsfeatures, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 or e-mail Careybro@onthehouse.com. | <urn:uuid:bddd2173-762b-4f9e-94e2-fbcb9b034ddd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/11/realestate/re-2817 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968525 | 901 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Different Perspective (Spot the Differences)
How does your brain process an image? Do two people’s brains, looking at the same object, process the object differently at different times? Let’s experiment and find out. Two people looking at the same images; How different are their perspectives?
5 Fun Filled Levels
6 Achievements to Unlock | <urn:uuid:adf5ee4f-a68a-4d50-9577-a7358e84c02f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://outbreakgames.com/2011/07/different-perspective-spot-the-differences/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90793 | 72 | 2.375 | 2 |
China’s been busy in the solar power area, and a number of Distributed PV Power Generation policies have been announced over the past few months.
More Solar Panels Can’t Be A Bad Thing, Right?
The Chinese government has set a goal of 5 GW of distributed PV power generation per year, which it hopes to meet by 2016. Meeting this goal would accelerate market growth and reduce energy consumption and cost considerably. However, a number of factors stand in the way.
European investigations against Chinese PV manufacturers regarding dumping and subsidies are one factor. Another issue that has cropped up is a number of quality-related problems, and yet another is delays in starting construction of projects that have already been approved. In all cases, project developers are trying to start out as cheaply as possible.
But How To Get Them…
A potential solution — or at least a way to get the market on track for growth — is to offer performance-based rebates. Distributed PV-generated electricity is already cheaper in most areas of China than both industrial and commercial prices, and a performance rebate could increase that competitiveness.
Another way to tackle the issue of slow growth is to try to avoid some of the infamous Chinese bureaucratic red tape. The State Grid has a new “Welcome, Support and Service” idea that basically involves not charging for eligible Distributed PV projects. “According to new research to be featured within the forthcoming NPD Solarbuzz China Balance-Of-Systems Report, this would reduce system cost by 5%-10%,” SolarBuzz reports.
This is projected to boost distributed growth considerably. “The growth rate of distributed PV power generation in China during 2013 is projected to exceed 90% and to continue over the next few years. In fact, the pipeline of projects within the Golden Sun program and Solar Rooftop programs will contribute more than 2.5 GW during 2013. Under this forecast scenario, the market share for distributed PV power generation would exceed 35% during 2013.”
Overall, China’s PV market is poised for staggering growth — but whether or not it actually achieves that growth seems to depend on whether or not it can make a decent product and then not bury it in red tape.
Charis Michelsen spent 7 years living in Germany and Japan, studying both languages extensively, doing translation and education with companies like Bosch, Nissin, Fuji Heavy, and others. Charis has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. She also believes that Janeway was the best Star Trek Captain. | <urn:uuid:7ac84b1a-9e91-4e9f-9dba-ed7d1bb30626> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cleantechnica.com/2012/12/04/chinas-new-distributed-solar-pv-policies-to-boost-distributed-solar-to-35-market-share-report-finds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961752 | 528 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Like most Americans, I believe in civil rights for all, but I also believe in corresponding civil responsibilities that should accompany civil rights.
It was a denial of civil rights that brought on the American Revolution. It was a denial of civil rights that brought Martin Luther King to the fore. And all those actions were justified and very American.
What bothers me is how some people and some of our leaders promote civil rights and do not promote the civil responsibility that goes along with the rights, or at least should go along with the rights.
Every citizen is entitled to work when work is available and when he can do the job. If he corks off or fails to do the job properly, his employer has a right to fire him. This includes men and women of all colors. This does not place any responsibility on the government to create government jobs that are not needed. It does not mean that the government should take from the well-to-do and give it to those who are less well off. Our civil right is to have equal opportunity to do well. If we choose to fritter away our opportunity to get an education and/or training for the better paying jobs, we can be sure we will not get those jobs. It will not be the fault of society. It will be our own fault.
All our citizens have a right to vote when they get old enough. Our responsibility is to use our voting right responsibly. Should we vote for the politician who promises us the most? Certainly not! Should we vote for the politician who will do the most for our country and for the common good? Of course! So we prospective voters have a responsibility to vote and to do so for the best candidate, not for the ones that will promise us anything in order to get into office or in order to keep the office they hold.
The government has a right and a need to tax us to pay for services provided by the government. But those services should only be the ones that are needed and are not available through our own efforts. If you decide that the government should use its taxing power to more or less put everyone on the same financial level, or decide the government should look out for you from the cradle to the grave, or decide the purpose of government is to equalize income regardless of ability and work ethics you are a socialist.
Russia had the ultimate socialist government (Communism) and tried to impose it on the world. It collapsed because it is contrary to all those qualities that we hope our Americans have.
The nations of Western Europe have been socialist. They offer their citizens all kinds of benefits by taxing the wage earners at a fabulous rate. One of the Scandinavian countries is taxing its people at almost 75 percent. Even with high taxes, they have found that there is not enough money for a “nanny” government to do all it promises. So now they go into debt. Recently, their debts have resulted in financial ruin for them. When they tried to borrow more money and go further in debt, they discovered that lenders agreed to lend to them only if they cut spending drastically. When they did this, their spoiled citizens rioted, demonstrated, and got violent. They wanted all the benefits but none of the responsibility.
Unfortunately, we are headed in the same direction, thanks to a spendthrift administrator and voters who are too short-sighted to realize they are cutting their own throats.
So you can have the government you want, so long as you have the right to vote. But if the government you want is one that gives you everything and expects nothing from you, you will ruin our nation and your life as well. Rights carry responsibilities. If you claim the rights and ignore the responsibilities, you will pay a dear price for your actions.
But all is not lost. Tell those money grubbing politicians who represent you that they need to cut spending so taxes can be reasonable. Wake up! Be responsible citizens! Let’s hope there is still time! | <urn:uuid:5fc65e80-084c-46e8-8e1c-7702793ea433> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shelbystar.com/opinion/columns/column-rights-and-responsibilities-1.103355 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974093 | 811 | 2.375 | 2 |
A leader in the use of technology to enhance cruise shipping safety, Celebrity Cruise Lines' Demetrios Kaparis broke ground last year with his decision to implement gas turbine power on Celebrity's Millennium — a technology that he cites is "the future of marine power plants." The vessel class, which consists of Infinity
(scheduled to debut this month) and Millennium III and IV, debuting in April 2001 and 2002, respectively are touted by Kaparis as "The most environmentally sensitive cruise ships in the world."
Kaparis met recently with MR/EN to discuss what he considers are the most important safety issues in cruise shipping today.
By Regina P. Ciardiello, associate editor
Among the sketches of general arrangement drawings, and IMO and technical specifications, Celebrity's Demetrios Kaparis sums up his vision for a safe cruise ship fleet. He firmly holds the belief that that all of Celebrity's newbuilds, "will be built with the latest SOLAS 1974 Regulations in compliance also of the 1992, 1995 and 1996 amendments ensuring a great improvement of passenger ship safety by incorporating the latest fire safety and technology equipment.”
Kaparis has expressed that mandatory safety training for all officers and crew with firefighting and medical responsibilities must be also be reinforced. He feels that these individuals must be certified in these areas according to IMO recommendations and flag administrations and he will strive to ensure that special training rooms and facilities will be available onboard all Celebrity newbuilds - steadfast in his quest for eternal vigilance.
MR/EN: How would you improve upon the current evacuation procedures on cruise ships?
Demetrios Kaparis: I would add at least eight separate evacuation towers ensuring correct integrity of main bulkheads, escape routes, enclosures and sizing of stairways. Including also a life raft chute evacuation system to provide special means of quick and effective evacuation of handicapped and elderly passengers. In regards to the presence of smoke onboard if a fire occurs, I would work to improve this by installing smoke control extraction systems that would be activated during an emergency situation. Specifically designed for evacuation on stairways, the ventilation systems would limit the spread of fire and smoke.
MR/EN: Do you plan to restrict the volume of combustible materials?
DK: We will insist that our architects, sub-contractors and shipyards that work with us to introduce materials of higher fire-resistance and non-combustible low flame spreading materials, for all bulkheads, doors, decks, as well as furniture and fittings. I would like to attempt to re-implement a fire construction method as per SOLAS 1960 stating that only non-combustible materials be used on furniture and fittings when possible. I would also like to instill toxicity IMO resolutions in all combustible materials.
MR/EN: Do you plan to implement a new type of sprinkler system onboard all of Celebrity's newbuilds?
DK: There needs to be an adequacy of sprinklers in all fire zones onboard, with the overall fire load per each zone. Respective drainage systems for protecting open area equipment such as mooring decks and embarkation areas or by using the Hi-Fog system that I have developed, which was recently approved by IMO and most flag administration and classification societies.
Note: Furthering his mission for enhanced fire safety, Kaparis has already implemented the Hi-Fog sprinkler system onboard all Millennium class ships. The innovative system, which produces a light mist rather than the shower spray that is given off by a sprinkler system, is designed to cool down the fire quicker and is touted as being less damaging to interiors.
MR/EN: What needs to be done to ensure that all passengers (including infants) receive life jackets in case of an emergency situation?
DK: I would recommend the placement of additional life jackets (above and beyond SOLAS requirements) in the muster stations or on the embarkation deck, as well as adequate number of "infant survival cots."
Note: Kaparis developed the "infant survival cots" in response to the increase of infants onboard with their parents.
MR/EN: What will be done to allow for easy detection of fire when there is limited visibility?
DK: Thermal imaging devices will be installed in each fire zone to enhance the ability to locate fires when dense smoke or an obstruction is present due to ship compartmentalization.
MR/EN: Where else onboard a ship would you recommend additional fire safety measures
DK: I would recommend special fire safety measures be taken in the galley area, such as the installation of individual means of fire extinguishing systems. I have developed a new technology called a Steam-Smoothing system for cleaning air tanks in case of fire transmission with the fire exhaust air tanks. The system, which can be used in galleys, dining rooms and buffet areas, gives off a mist of steam that creates an automatic fog mist above cooking equipment that catches fire
I will also ensure a higher degree of insulation fitted in terms of emergency generators, control rooms, switchboards and battery rooms, which should be in excess of the present fire integrity of A-O as per current SOLAS requirements - to A-GS plus. Similarly, all emergency cables should be insulated accordingly to withstand excessive fire heat for at least three hours.
MR/EN: What would happen if a power failure occurred onboard a Celebrity ship?
DK: We have already introduced additional capacity of emergency power over and above current regulations, and we will ensure that emergency lights will be installed on every fire locker, storeroom and any additional spaces containing safety equipment. In addition, it is imperative that all passenger cabins and locker where lifejackets and life saving equipment are located should house emergency lighting. Adequate emergency power must also be provided for potable water/sewage systems and some galley equipment — specifically refrigerators, ranges and all accommodation pantries. | <urn:uuid:bfbda8ec-5b07-4187-b455-37a487256f1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinelink.com/news/article/kaparis-defines-safety-on-cruise-ships/319404.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945158 | 1,215 | 1.757813 | 2 |
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Ask Marilyn: Are Humans Evolving or Not?
William Lafleur of Sunderland, Vermont, writes:
Marilyn: In response to a reader's question about whether humans were still evolving, you answered, "Probably not. Our cultural practices have mostly arrested the kind of change that came from survival of the fittest." (December 12, 2012) In response to a question about bedbugs, you stated, "Living things evolve and disappear; environments are transformed. In short, nature is all about change." (January 13, 2013)
So, are humans an exception to the rule? I don't believe so. Evolution is inexorable. Our cultural practices may influence the direction and speed that evolution affects us (and other life on earth), but it does not stop the process itself. The principle driving forces behind evolution—mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift—are beyond our control. We may impact them to a small degree because we can, to some extent, modify our environment, but we cannot suppress or contain them.
Thank you for pointing this out! I shouldn't have replied so broadly about human evolution. That wasn't my intent. Evolution is undoubtedly inexorable, as you say. What I intended to convey was limited to the second sentence—that I believe the kind of change that comes from "survival of the fittest," meaning better equipped for life (not just reproductive success), is diminishing. | <urn:uuid:d72e9afa-931a-4155-b5c8-7e24a41173c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.messengernews.net/page/dataFeeds_parade.display/ID/554969/PID/2/.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948139 | 295 | 2.375 | 2 |
(We are growing - 10 year population increase of 189)
|New Resident Info||Map of City|
|Volunteer for Committee|
|Public Works Department||Water Project||
|Growing Ellis Parks||Job Opportunities|
The Kansas Pacific Railroad established a water station on the tracks at the site of present-day Ellis in 1867, and later purchased the site for $1200 through the Homestead Act. An officially recognized post office was established on June 27, 1870. The first church came to Ellis in 1874. The year 1873 saw the establishment of the first school. Beginning in 1875, Ellis became a shipping point for cattle herds, driven up from the south, for nearly five years. On January 10 1888, the City of Ellis was incorporated by law as a Third Class City. In 1896, the women's "Law and Order Committee" slate won the local election, and Ellis' all-woman council and a lady mayor became one of the first such groups in the United States.
In the late 1800's Wyatt Earp and Buffalo Bill Cody were seen often in town. John Henry, an UP train dispatcher in Ellis, invented the electric streetcar in 1882. Early Ellis residents Walter and Roy Cross developed the "Cross Process," a method of converting kerosene, natural gas, oil or fuel oil into gasoline that was used widely across the U.S. Walter P. Chrysler, who grew up in Ellis and learned about mechanical repair and machinery in the Ellis UP shop, used this knowledge to found the automotive giant, the Chrysler Corporation. Walt Disney, the late producer-animator and founder of the Walt Disney Studios, also had connections to Ellis.
Now a Second Class City, Ellis has several churches, a new post office, a new high school, a new library, new city hall, new sewer plant and new water treatment plant. There are three museums--Walter P. Chrysler Boyhood Home, Railroad Museum and Bukovina Museum. There is a nine-hole grass green golf course and clubhouse. A campground nestles along the banks of Big Creek Lake. Shady Parks, a large swimming pool, several fenced ball diamonds, sand volleyball pits, horseshoe pits, outdoor basketball courts, new tennis courts and a Frisbee golf course provide lots of recreation opportunities. Several fishing piers/boat docks dot the banks of Big Creek.
Please email comments to: email@example.com
Mail comments to City Clerk, 815 Jefferson, Ellis, KS 67637
Or phone (785)726-4812 or fax (785)726-4159
since June 15, 1999. | <urn:uuid:168032c5-9221-4e6b-bee0-bc23ffb69882> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ellis.ks.us/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950677 | 549 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Research on Brain Chemicals May Lead to Treatment of Alcoholism
Alcohol-related problems cost society in economic terms approximately $185 billion a year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The catastrophic costs in human terms cannot be determined. Addiction to alcohol results in human tragedy not only to the individual but also for families who love and support those caught in this grim illness.
Joanna Peris, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of pharmacodynamics in the College of Pharmacy, is conducting basic research that looks at the changes in neurochemistry in the brains of rats choosing to drink alcohol. This research may discover what chemicals cause the cravings for alcohol and lead to a breakthrough in how to control the urge to drink too much.
“My research will help us understand what goes on in the brain during excessive drinking,” Peris said. “This may lead us to come up with a therapy.” | <urn:uuid:af2ab7f5-1498-4b6a-b079-e5487b5de0aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pharmacy.ufl.edu/pd/news/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953648 | 196 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Not everyone can eat a pound of candy loose weight, with one caveat. If you starve the people to the point where it doesn't matter if they have no energy, and it's well below anything the body can compensate for by adjusting metabolism, then that works for everyone; but only in that extreme circumstance.
People also make the assumption that we know the cause/effect relationship with this. We don't. There is no evidence.
Eating a lot of sugar is kind of like smoking. It may cause severe health problems in a relatively short period of time, or you may die at 105 without a hint of a problem.
You also can't confuse the amount of food with the healthiness of it.
Grains of course aren't anywhere near as bad as sugar, but it does look like they cause some inflammation. That can be bad in higher quantities, but in smaller quantities it would have very little affect. If grains were less refined as they used to be, they would contain so much fiber you simply couldn't eat too much of it. It's kind of like fruit that way, where you simply can't eat enough of it for the sugar to be a problem. Not to mention you also have a couple very healthy options for starchy carbs when you need that. Yams and brown rice are pretty healthy, and I think turnips are too. If grains weren't being represented as this super-healthy thing that should be the bulk of your diet, they probably wouldn't be a problem. It's just that a large percentage of the recommended diet is that.
People probably feel better not eating as much grain and mistakenly think they are gluten intolerant, but it's just a faulty assumption as only a very small percentage of the population are.
People don't reach their goals because they're lazy and lack the willpower to get there - it's that simple.
Now this I think is just silly. It's a blanket statement, absolutist for one thing, but it's also demonstrably false. It's not very controversial that genetics is the biggest factor in bodybuilding. There is also the very different genes that are active in different people predisposing them to having this problem or that problem. Not every natural bodybuilder looks like Steve Reeves, and not every steroid user can compete in the Olympia contest. Hard work will only get you so far.
Now I certainly won't dispute that most overweight people I encounter don't have a willpower problem, because they most certainly do. I can tell someone how to lose weight, get them losing weight, but they can't stick to it. They know I'm right, they've tried it and seen that it works just like I said. They still can't do it. I'm just saying that isn't the case for everyone. | <urn:uuid:6485273e-2e56-465f-8992-50b821a14bd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exrx.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=86807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98795 | 570 | 1.976563 | 2 |
A cheap electric car, at least by American standards, that doesn’t feel and act like an over-glorified golf cart?
At the 2013 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, a trippy entry called Big Wood made waves and earned an Honorable Mention.
Researchers at the UAB's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), have analyzed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel.
As we previously discussed, the Toyota Camry Hybrid was slapped with a slight price hike for model year 2013 along with the Prius c hatchback and mid-size Highlander Hybrid SUV. So what, exactly, do we get for the extra $130?
Back in 2009 Volkswagen debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show what might someday be its first true electric production car for the consumer masses.
The University of Michigan solar car team – a perennial power in national and international design competitions – is facing a new challenge this year: It needs to get real.
While many green homes try to blend in seamlessly with the environment, a new type of structure being favored in some eco-tourism sectors is to do just the opposite.
VTOLs, or Vertical Take-Off and Landing crafts, are not new. The military utilizes them extensively in operations where aircraft need to get to locations quickly, but the destination either has no landing strip or is isolated, or both.
Life in a rural Africa isn’t easy. Remote villages lack access to electricity, clean water, and most importantly, healthcare.
Big solar was the biggest driver in the record-breaking U.S. solar gains made last year, with utility-scale plants accounting for more than half – 1,752 megawatts – of the 3,313 MW of newly installed capacity.
Remember when every movie about the 21st century had us driving flying cars and commanding household robots?
Following up on an idea raised in his State of the Union address in January, President Obama on Friday proposed that the U.S. spend $2 billion in federal revenues from oil and gas leases in the next 10 years on a wide range of research and development initiatives aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on petroleum for transportation.
With all the coverage in North America about the questionable practice of hydraulic fracking to dislodge trapped oil and gas deep underground, the idea of drilling down to precious aquifers to use cool groundwater as a method to control building temperatures can make many environmentalists squeamish.
The Infiniti JX crossover SUV debuted in 2012 as a 2013 model. Later that year, parent company Nissan changed the naming scheme of its lineup.
Car enthusiasts view Europe as the place to see the latest in future car design or trends, and the 2013 Geneva Motor Show is no exception to the rule.
Toyota, at the Geneva Auto Show, recently unveiled a rather unique new all-electric, three wheel "personal mobility device" which looks like something out of a futuristic movie.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image illustrating the blue bursts of hot young stars.
Back in mid-February, Mitsubishi Motors teased two concept vehicles based upon next generation advanced engine technologies.
Energy researchers at Humboldt State University, in California’s North Coast redwood country, describe their county as an "energy island."
Looking more like a giant sculpture than a working skyscraper, the Namaste Tower currently under construction in Mumbai, India, is expected to be as green as it is beautiful to behold. | <urn:uuid:6dd3545d-33d7-495a-9854-a2c5b983d47c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tgdaily.com/science/sustainability/sustainability-features?page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938519 | 736 | 1.75 | 2 |
On Thursday night the House, on a 277 to 148 margin, passed the the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. It's the same legislation that overwhelmingly passed the Senate earlier this week 81-19, so it is being sent to President Obama for his signature.
It was questionable if the House would complete it on Thursday, as they started then stopped debate.. Wednesday night the House Rules Committee had decided to allow a vote on changing the estate tax provision to the levels in the previously passed House bill. If approved, the changed bill would then go back to the Senate. If rejected, the House would then hold a separate vote on the Senate version, and with approval send the bill to the President.
Also on Thursday, the House Democratic leadership pulled the bill when it was unclear if enough of their caucus would agree to the rules. Republicans traditionally oppose any rules set by Democratic leaders, even on legislation that has GOP support, arguing they wanted more time to debate and possibly make changes.
Many House Democrats predict voted for the bill, making clear that their initial fury at the prospect of extending Bush-era tax rates even on the highest incomes had given way to acceptance that the White House had negotiated the best compromise it could. | <urn:uuid:7e561d39-bc82-4b18-9f78-49dbcf6f5306> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmprogress.com/story-tax-bill-sent-to-the-president-0-44837 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971493 | 254 | 1.875 | 2 |
Sadly, it appears the progress made in the 1990s and early 2000s in improving teen contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing has stalled.
This reversal in contraceptive use is consistent with increases in the teen birth rate in 2006 and 2007 as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and may well portend further increases in teen pregnancies and births in 2008.
Between 1991 and 2003, teens’ condom use increased while their use of no contraceptive method declined, leading to a decreased risk of pregnancy and to declines in teen pregnancy and childbearing.
The new findings, published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, paint a very different picture since 2003.
Using data from young women in grades 9 – 12 who participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the authors estimated teens’ risk of becoming pregnant based on their sexual activity, the contraceptive method they used and the effectiveness of that method in preventing pregnancy.
The authors found no change in teen sexual activity between 2003 and 2007, but did find a small decline in contraceptive use.
“After major improvements in teen contraceptive use in the 1990s and early 2000s, which led to significant declines in teen pregnancy, it is disheartening to see a reversal of such a positive trend,” says Dr. Santelli.
“Teens are still having sex, but it appears many are not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.”
Previous research by the Mailman School of Public Health and Guttmacher Institute showed that contraceptive use was a key factor in reducing teen pregnancy rates in the 1990s, despite little significant change in teen sexual activity.
The authors suggest that the recent decline in teen contraceptive use since 2003 could be the result of faltering HIV prevention efforts among youth, or of more than a decade of abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education that does not mention contraception unless it is to disparage its use and effectiveness.
The authors recommend reinvigorated efforts at both the state and national levels to promote contraceptive use among teens through medically accurate sex education and increased access to health services, to effectively address the problem of teen pregnancy.
The Western European experience in reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing—with rates that are far lower than in the United States—suggests that efforts to improve teen contraceptive use are warranted. | <urn:uuid:60c7300c-1b67-428d-9a70-51bf83325da7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/06/19/dangerous-teen-sex/6642.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946494 | 485 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Local schools plan to increase security
Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 7:21 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:18 p.m.
Local school officials want parents and students to know they have requested extra security for the coming week in light of the deadly shooting in Connecticut.
Margaret Smith, superintendent of Volusia County Schools, and Janet Valentine, superintendent of Flagler County Schools, said Saturday they and their respective staffs have had increased communications with law enforcement since Friday's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
School leaders nationwide are taking similar steps, trying to assure parents and children their schools are safe.
"Anytime there is an incident (like Friday's)," said Smith, "we certainly always see if there's anything we can learn to do differently or do better."
Valentine said it's not unusual for security to increase following national tragedies that have occurred in schools, even if concerns about a copycat shooting are not immediately present.
"We want to make parents feel their children are secure," Valentine said.
Smith agreed and cited student safety as the No. 1 priority.
"We work very hard to have a plan in place at every school," Smith said.
Though Volusia County schools and most Flagler County schools do not have automatic door locks like Sandy Hook, local schools have the presence of resource officers or deputies throughout the day. Buddy Taylor Middle School in Palm Coast received the automatic door lock system when it was renovated a couple of years ago.
With the emotional devastation the Connecticut shooting has caused nationwide, the local superintendents said counselors would be available this week for students who want to talk or have questions about Friday's tragedy.
Schools in Volusia and Flagler counties participate in two to three lockdown drills per year to prepare themselves for such situations.
"I think we're as prepared as we can be, but of course there are unknowns that can occur and we believe we'll respond in the best possible way that we can," Smith said.
Volusia County deputies receive training on how to handle an active shooter situation, an effort that was put in place shortly after the 1999 Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colo.
Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said deputies are put through 16 hours of active shooter training that includes taking deputies to a closed school and putting them through scenario-based training where they learn how to respond to and neutralize threats.
Valentine said Flagler officials will be meeting with the Sheriff's Office, most likely Wednesday, to discuss safety measures.
Smith said Volusia officials have not scheduled a specific meeting, but it is a possibility.
Neither superintendent believed absenteeism would increase following Friday's tragedy, but Valentine said that's something they typically see if an incident happens closer to home.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:c900bec7-2b66-4495-b92e-2fb24f1adfe0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20121215/NEWS/312159974/1040 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972898 | 619 | 1.859375 | 2 |
On the one hand, I agree with Ilya that bans on same-sex marriage could be described as sex discrimination. On the other hand, from opponents’ perspective, the point is that “marriage” has been defined for several thousand years in Judeo-Christian culture as between a man and a woman, and retaining that definition is not sex discrimination.
The opponents’ argument, however, in no way refutes mine. Many forms of sex discrimination have “several thousand years” of tradition behind them, often backed by religion. Consider such cases as the exclusion of women from many professions, unequal divorce laws, the treatment of wives and daughters as the property of their husbands and fathers, and so on. The fact that a form of sex discrimination has existed for a long time and enjoys religious backing does not make it any less discriminatory.
I am also unmoved by David’s analogy between a ban on same-sex marriage and a hypothetical Israeli law under which boys are entitled to a state-recognized “bar mitzvah,” while girls only get a “bat mitzvah,” which has the same legal status but is less prestigious. If the bar/bat mitvah were a government-endorsed legal status rather than a private cultural and religious tradition, it would still be sex discrimination for the state to allocate that status on the basis of gender – especially if one of the two labels were in fact more prestigious than the other. I would say much the same thing about David’s hypothetical of a female monarch who wishes to be labeled a “king” rather than a “queen.” These examples only have intuitive appeal because in modern liberal society, we generally regard bar and bat mitzvahs and kings and queens as essentially equal to each other (though I recognize that many Orthodox Jews disagree as to the bar and bat mitzvahs). It therefore seems pedantic to insist on one label or the other. By contrast, most people see “civil union” as a lower status than “marriage,” even if the legal rights are identical.
Consider a law under which men are classified as “first class citizens” and women as “second class citizens.” Although the distinction was originally enacted for the purpose of asserting male dominance, recent legislation has given second class citizens the same substantive legal rights as first class citizens. But first class status remains more prestigious than second class. Assume also that the idea that women cannot be first class citizens is endorsed by thousands of years of religious and secular tradition. If a woman files a lawsuit claiming that the denial of first class citizen status is sex discrimination, she should surely win – at least under a constitution that either bans sex discrimination outright or subjects it to some form of heightened scrutiny.
As I said in my original post on this subject, not all forms of sex discrimination are unconstitutional. Current Supreme Court jurisprudence subjects gender classifications to heightened “intermediate” scrutiny without banning them completely; and I think this is roughly the right approach. If, for example, opponents of same-sex marriage can prove that legalizing it would inflict serious harm on children, then laws such as California Proposition 8 should not be invalidated. But government-sponsored sex discrimination does not become constitutionally permissible merely because it is backed by religion or tradition or because the discriminatory law in question is mostly symbolic in nature.
UPDATE: I have modified this post slightly in order to eliminate a few stylistic problems.
UPDATE #2: David responds to this post in an update to his original one:
Ilya starts his response by misapprehending my point. It’s not that marriage is “traditionally” between a man and a woman, and therefore limiting marriage to such is not sex discrimination. It’s that the very definition of the word “marriage” has, for hundreds or even thousands of year, been limited to relationships between men and women. Therefore, the argument would be that it’s not sex discrimination to limit the scope of state-recognized marriage to what comes within that definition, just like, e.g., it’s not sex discrimination to limit the title of King to men.
I don’t see how calling this a “definition” adds anything to the debate. Once the “definition” becomes a legal status assigned by the state, there is still sex discrimination if the status is awarded on the basis of gender. If the definition of marriage had, for many years been that it is a relationship between members of the same race, a law embodying that definition would still be an example of racial discrimination.
David also writes that “I want to reiterate that I agree that limiting marriage to opposite sex couples can accurately be described as sex discrimination; the question is whether it can also be accurately described in a different way, and if so, whether courts should stick their collective noses in the controversy by choosing which description they prefer.” As I said in the original post, the “different” description in no way undercuts the fact that the state is engaging in sex discrimination. There is no contradiction between the statement that laws against same-sex marriage discriminate on the basis of gender and the statement that they embody a long-standing definition of marriage. These claims are not mutually exclusive in any way, and both are in fact true.
Finally, David states that “if I’m following Ilya’s logic correctly, it would have been sex discrimination to limit the title of King to men, say, fifty years ago, when the title of Queen may have been considered relatively less important, but it’s not sex discrimination today. I don’t buy it. It was, by the logic of Ilya’s original post, sex discrimination then and it is discrimination now to limit the title King to men, but it also was just what the word ‘King’ meant then and now, and therefore not sex discrimination.”
As in the case of marriage, once “king” becomes a legal status as opposed to a mere word, it is sex discrimination if the state restricts that status on the basis of gender. In a society where there is no meaningful difference between the status of “king” and that of “queen,” however, it would not be sex discrimination if one word describes men who hold the position of monarch and the other women. Whether or not such a difference exists depends on various factors, including social context. Therefore, it is perfectly possible that limiting the title of “king” to men was an example of sex discrimination 50 years ago, but not today. In any event, whatever might be said of kings and queens, few today believe that marriages and civil unions are essentially the same thing, except for quirks of linguistic usage. Certainly not the supporters of Proposition 8, who devoted an enormous of effort to trying to pass a law ensuring that same-sex relationships cannot be legally considered marriages.
UPDATE #3: David has another update to his original post where he states:
The underlying purpose and therefore definition of marriage from thousands of years had nothing to do with race. So I agree that if, say, in the 17th century, instead of simply banning interracial marriage, a statute had simply defined marriage as not including interracial pairings that would be clear racial discrimination, even if “traditional”. By contrast, marriage was an existing form of male-female relationship that the state came to recognize.... so it wasn’t the state creating a sex distinction, it was the state recognizing a preexisting institution.
The state did not merely “recognize” a preexisting institution. It enshrined that institution into law and attached various legal privileges to it. The fact that the state’s official definition of marriage codified a preexisting understanding does not make that definition any less discriminatory. Let’s say that the definition of marriage as confined to same-race relationships had also existed “for thousands of years,” and was just as well-established as the definition of marriage as confined to opposite-sex relationships. Would that mean that a statute incorporating that definition into law is not race-discriminatory? Clearly, such a law would qualify as race discrimination, no matter how much people previously thought that marriage is, by definition, intraracial, or how long such a belief had persisted. The same logic applies to legal definitions of marriage that discriminate on the basis of sex rather than race. | <urn:uuid:5fbad4cd-7c1d-4a07-a6a8-95b6e5e4c17d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.volokh.com/2012/02/10/sex-discrimination-and-tradition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964651 | 1,779 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Wednesday 04 July 2012
Drop those cherries, you're under arrest.
Crops and cops are converging along Spain's journey through economic crisis: People enduring hardship are stealing the earth's bounty from farmers to help get by from day to
Police have added the patrolling of farmland — sometimes on horseback — to their list of daily tasks.
Farmers in some areas are teaming up to carry out nighttime patrols on their own.
In villages near farming areas, several thousand paramilitary Civil Guards, regional and local police are even setting up checkpoints to sniff out not drugs or drunken drivers but stolen fruit or farming equipment, like copper wire used in irrigation systems.
The Civil Guard says sometimes its officers mount "cage operations" — sealing off whole villages to check cars and trucks for, say, pilfered pears.
Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
Back to News Headlines | <urn:uuid:b3c91fa1-f2ac-4627-972c-44438751fa30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farmingnewsdaily.co.uk/news/040712/fruit_farming_.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94878 | 184 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Disability politics is strewn with pratfalls, as I know to my cost. One writer's heartwarming story is another's patronising pat on the head. Someone's tale of triumph over adversity is for others just more inappropriate schmaltz. So, if you thought that the Paralympics, that four-yearly festival of disability sport was fireproof, well, think again.
Yes, I know, it's always greeted by whoops of amazement: this groundbreaking discovery that disabled people do play sport, and that some do it very well and even excitingly. It's a sporting equivalent of groundhog day, in which everyone discovers, yet again, wheelchair basketball and Tanni Grey-Thompson – or her latest equivalent – only to forget them all again until the next time.
Nonetheless, by the end of the games, we're all congratulating ourselves on living in a country that gives sport like this such excellent coverage, and declaring that we'll be looking anxiously for the results of games such as "goalball" and Boccia, invented for, respectively, blind and severely disabled people, which two weeks earlier we'd never heard of. So: the Paralympics is fireproof, is it? Not a bit of it: And especially not from disabled people themselves.
The games regularly face two criticisms in particular: first, that they are irrelevant to the everyday concerns of disabled people and that, worse, it often gives the impression everything in the garden is lovely; and second, that staging them as a separate event, far from being a celebration of disability, merely serves to emphasise its separation from the mainstream. The latest salvo to this effect has just come from the disability organisation Scope, which has produced a survey suggesting that two-thirds of the 500 mainly disabled people whose opinions were sought believe that the Paralympics and the Olympics should be combined. (At the moment, and for the past 30 years or so, the Paralympics have taken place a couple of weeks after the Olympics; before that, they often didn't even happen in the same country.)
On the face of it the complaints sound justified and press all the correct liberal buttons. It's integrated, it's inclusive; it's, well, just right!
Wrong! It would be an unmitigated disaster. I shall have coals of fire heaped on my head for saying it, so here are my reasons. First, the Paralympics wouldn't be combined with the Olympics, it would be swamped by it. Smothered. The Olympics is already the largest sporting event in the world (the Paralympics the second largest). It already sprawls all over our television screens and newspapers, threatening to take over the world (and I'm a sports-lover).
Ask the aficionados of judo, curling and hammer-throwing just how much coverage they get, compared with the likes of Usain Bolt and Rebecca Adlington. So can you imagine what, with the best will in the world, would happen to the Paralympics? It would be plucked from its lone and privileged status as a separate event after the Olympics is safely done and dusted, supported by the bastions of broadcasting diversity and equality, and forced to go slumming it with all the other Olympic events. Faced with the choice of the finish of the Olympic marathon or the final of the goalball event for blind athletes, where are sports editors most likely to send their reporters, and where are TV directors going to train their cameras?
But something far more insidious would happen, which would do even more harm to disability sport than lack of coverage. The reason the Paralympics is the second largest sporting occasion in the world is that, to achieve fairness, like has to compete with like. Therefore, many competitions have multiple versions of each event, to take account of physical differences; the amount of movement in the arms, degree of eyesight loss, etc. I think there are some 14 swimming categories, for example.
If the games were combined, there would be an inevitable compromise. The Paralympics would be asked to cut the number of categories for each event. The range of disability in each event would be wider, thus excluding more severely disabled people, if not from the competition itself, then at least from any realistic chance of success. This is what happened when disability events were included in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. The games were highly successful, and indeed those disabled athletes who participated thought it a good experience; but what about those who didn't get the chance, because their category had been broadened to a point which put them out of contention? The ultimate irony, surely; too disabled to be part of the Paralympic games.
Well, you might argue, that's sport. It's about being the best, and there can be only so many winners. The parallel, though, is those mainstream sports that make a distinction between certain body types. After all, a flyweight boxer might as well give up if he has to go into the ring with heavyweights such as the Klitschko brothers.
The truth of the matter is, huge strides have been made over the past 20 years in getting the Paralympics taken seriously. When I went to cover my first games only 15 years ago in Atlanta, there were four of us expected to do the whole of the BBC radio coverage (I managed to fit in a bit of television news as well, although we had to fly a director out from London to get the pieces onscreen). The day-to-day TV coverage was all done by an independent company, with less than an hour of highlights each day. (Not long before that, all the coverage the Paralympics got was a Christmas special, the basic theme of which was "isn't it marvellous that they even bother to get out of bed in the morning?")
So the fact that last time, in Beijing, I was one of a full journalistic team from BBC sport, complete with both disabled and non-disabled pundits providing at least six hours of coverage a day, was little short of a miracle. This is now topped by the fact that for the 2012 games, Channel 4 has thought it worth its while to outbid the Beeb to get the gig.
I'm convinced that if it had to fight for coverage with the rest of the Olympics, not only would the Paralympics lose its coverage and its privileged slot, but what visibility it did attract would revert to exactly the kind of patronising attitudes that a fifth of those the Scope survey said they hated.
So, what about that other argument that the games are irrelevant to the daily concerns of disabled people? Well, there are certainly enough concerns at the moment: potential loss of benefits; pressure to find jobs that don't exist; an insidious press campaign, fuelled from goodness knows where, suggesting most disabled people are on the scrounge: these are all very legitimate worries.
What's puzzling to me, though, is the idea that in some way the Paralympics deflect attention from those issues, and that paralympic athletes should be concentrating on solving them, rather than hurtling down the track in a wheelchair.
As far as I know, no one is suggesting Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis should give up the 10,000 metres and the heptathlon to solve the banking crisis, or tackle youth unemployment. No. Leave the Paralympics alone, where most of you will discover it for the first time in 2012, and then discover it for the first time all over again in 2016. | <urn:uuid:66aa4df0-fa8f-4bf7-a7d9-a136c2ad7404> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/09/peter-white-paralympics-separate-olympics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976443 | 1,560 | 2 | 2 |
Fracking: State Oversight Helps But Many Questions Remain
Submitted by Elizabeth Mooney on Thu, 2012-05-17 11:06.
A new study by the University at Buffalo Shale Resources and Society Institute concludes that state oversight of gas drilling has been effective at reducing environmental problems in Pennsylvania and will prevent major problems here if New York allows hydraulic fracturing.
The study examined almost 3,000 violations from nearly 4,000 gas wells in Pennsylvania since 2008. It found that 62 percent of the violations were administrative and 38 percent were environmental. The environmental violations stemmed from 845 events -- 25 of them classified as "major," defined as site restoration failures, serious contamination of water supplies, major land spills, blowouts, and venting and gas migration.
The authors found the overall number of violations tripled from 99 in 2008 to 331 in the first eight months of 2011 as the number of wells drilled in each period rose from 170 to more than 1,200. But the percentage of environmental violations compared to the number of wells fell from 58.2 percent in 2008 to 30.5 percent in 2010.
"This study presents a compelling case that state oversight of oil and gas regulation has been effective," said lead author Dr.. Timothy Considine. "While prior research has anecdotally reviewed state regulations, now we have comprehensive data that demonstrates, without ambiguity, that state regulation coupled with improvements in industry practices results in a low risk of an environmental event occurring in shale development, and the risks continue to diminish year after year."
But there are still many questions about hydrofracking, not the least about the wastewater it produces. New York Water Rangers released a statement saying the report fails to consider problems related to wastewater treatment and disposal, public health impacts, degraded air quality and industrialization of communities. Just last week, the Water Rangers released a report concluding that New York is not ready to deal with toxic fracking wastewater.
Eliminating a loophole on fracking waste is one of NYLCV's top legislative priorities of the year.
All three of the report's lead authors have ties to the energy industry as well as being academicians, but Institute Director John Martin said the study was funded entirely by the University at Buffalo with no industry support.
Sign up for email alerts: | <urn:uuid:570d383d-d84e-4dcd-80b1-71e15f0a818c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nylcv.org/ecopoliticsdaily/20120517_report_state_oversight_will_help_reduce_fracking_issues | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956243 | 460 | 2.1875 | 2 |
A transcript of the videotaped message claiming that Al Qaeda carried out the Madrid bombings. The tape was translated from Arabic into Spanish by the Spanish government:
"We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid exactly 2 1/2 years after the attacks on New York and Washington. It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies.
"This is a response to the crimes that you have caused in the world, and specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there will be more, if God wills it.
"You love life and we love death, which gives an example of what the Prophet Muhammad said. If you don't stop your injustices, more and more blood will flow and these attacks will seem very small compared to what can occur in what you call terrorism.
"This is a statement by the military spokesman for Al Qaeda in Europe, Abu Dujan al Afghani." | <urn:uuid:15079c3a-3599-4c0a-bd39-50f7d353aa4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2004/03/14/you_love_life_and_we_love_death/?camp=pm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958667 | 183 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Who Are These Guys? The Online Challenge to the Notion of Journalistic Professionalism
The people who claim membership in a profession and delineate its attributes do so at least in part to justify inequality of status, as well as to limit and control access to that status. The key role of the professional can be fulfilled only by people with particular training, skills and judgement, and it is crucial that the distinction between practitioner and layperson be clearly recognized by all parties. This article suggests that online news workers fundamentally challenge the already-disputed concept of journalists as professionals. It identifies and explores key aspects of that challenge across the cognitive, normative and evaluative dimensions of the sociological construct of professionalism, with the goal of laying the groundwork for empirical investigation into the issues raised.
Jane B. Singer. "Who Are These Guys? The Online Challenge to the Notion of Journalistic Professionalism" Journalism 4.2 (2003): 139-163.
This document is currently not available here. | <urn:uuid:4b929318-1b5c-41a8-86cb-8113e26240fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://works.bepress.com/jane_singer/17/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929104 | 201 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Free access to the scientific literature has the greatest effect on the poor — but not poorest — countries, a new study finds.
A short article, “Open Access and Global Participation in Science,” was published in today’s issue of the journal Science. It was authored by sociologist James Evans and graduate student Jacob Reimer, both from the University of Chicago. The journal also hosts a podcast interview.
You’ll recall that Evans was responsible for another controversial article published last summer claiming that online access to the scientific literature results in a narrowing of citations.
Today’s article measured the effect of commercial and free access to the scientific literature on article citations. It focuses on differences across rich and poor countries based on their per capita gross national income.
Evans and Reimer report that the influence of free access on citations was much smaller than other have proposed, about 8% for recently published research. It was more than twice as large, however, for the developing world, although the effect diminished for the poorest countries. They write:
our work provides clear support for its ability to widen the global circle of those who can participate in science and benefit from it
Advocates for open access will see this article as supporting their cause. But those who spend time reading the methodology will notice that message is not as clear as the article implies.
The researchers are not comparing open access journals with subscription-access journals, as reported in the recent article by Tove Faber Frandsen. Evans and Reimer are comparing the effect of freely available articles to subscription-access articles. But this is still an oversimplification.
Due to the size of the study (26 million articles published between 1998 and 2005 in over 8,000 journals), the researchers were unable to code individual articles as being OA or not, so they coded entire volumes. For example, articles from the journal Science are OA when they are older than one year. Articles from PNAS are all subscription-access in the first six months (in spite of the fact that about one-third are author-pays OA), after which they are all coded OA. Because of the macro-level of the study, no attempt was made to find other sources of free copies. In other words, this study focuses entirely on open access publishing. Some freely available articles will be coded as subscription-access articles, and the result is an overly conservative estimate of the open access effect.
The important detail that may be missed is that the source of the vast majority of OA articles in this study were published by non-profit scientific societies who use the subscription model in tandem with a delayed-access model. If anyone should be claiming victory, it should be them.
(In next week’s post, I’ll explore the debate over Open Access from a framing standpoint and why non-profit scientific publishers have been grouped with commercial publishers as villains and impediments to the dissemination of science. ) | <urn:uuid:ca3f4fab-2697-400a-beb7-472a1c5bf5e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2009/02/19/oa-global-participation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95726 | 608 | 2.640625 | 3 |
So, with having a blog we’re obviously big into technology. The one thing we don’t have is a tablet but we all might be getting one soon…yay!
We’re all psyched! Our mom especially likes how there’s so many educational apps, books, etc. Plus, tablets are way more portable than laptops and bigger and easier to read from then cell phones. So, We’re proud to share an article that goes deep into this topic, “Using Your Tablet PC as a Teaching Tool for Your Kids”. It’s obviously written to the parents but it still shares lots of awesome information!
Kids, want to make your parents happy and have fun? And, parents, want to have your kids have fun while learning and not wasting their time? Then this article is for both of you!
Using Your Tablet PC as a Teaching Tool for Your Kids
So you’ve finally broken down and purchased yourself a tablet PC like an iPad or Galaxy pad. You made a good decision.
According to Harris Interactive, one in five U.S. Consumers will own a tablet PC by 2014. Kids especially want tablets – a recent survey by the Nielsen Company showed that many kids 6 to 12 would rather own a tablet PC than a Nintendo DS. Many experts believe that tablet PCs will eventually replace textbooks in America’s schools. Tablets are small, light, portable, and often have brilliant screen resolution. Purchasing a new tablet gives your family a powerful tool to aid in the consumption of media and information.
Children love tablets because they function almost like a non-electronic toy – that is, they respond to physical touch. The sensation that you are physically controlling a computer, along with a simple, intuitive interface makes tablets a favorite amongst kids.
Tablets are great for reading books, watching movies, and surfing the web. You can use tablets as an educational tool for your children. Here are some ways to get started learning with your tablet.
Read on your tablet. A tablet PC is a great way to read to your kids while introducing them to technology.
We know how important it is to read to kids. You can use your tablet to read educational children’s books to your kids in a fun way using built-in apps like iBooks for iPad. If you already have an Amazon Kindle account, you can download the Kindle app onto your tablet and read most of the books that you have already purchased for your Kindle device. Though not all books that work on a Kindle will work on an iPad, many of them will.
Download fun apps. Apps are the key to maximizing the value of your tablet, and there are many great educational apps for kids.
Tablets have tons of great apps, many of them educational. Some apps are games, and some are more practical tools. Take some time to look at the educational apps in the app store of your tablet, take time to read the reviews, and find the apps that are right for your family. All types of apps are available for tablets – from animal apps for kids to piano lessons – and the option are endless to keep kids entertained. Many apps are available for free.
Surf the web with your kids. It is absolutely essential to your kids’ success that they learn how to use the internet the right way.
Tablets are a great and intuitive interface for using the web. Search engines, social media, and other web tools become more important every year. With a tablet PC, you and your children can literally touch the internet. Surfing the web with your fingers is a good way to introduce your kids to the internet and teach them how to best use it to their advantage.
There are a variety of ways to use your tablet with your kids for fun and educational purposes. Your tablet PC serves a number of purposes, and it’s an excellent way to remember that you and your kids can have fun learning.
So, do you have a tablet? Did you try these tips? What did you think? What educational tips do you have to share? Please comment below! | <urn:uuid:9529b79b-36a5-42c6-aaf9-ee6c23499307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stemologist.com/using-your-tablet-pc-teaching-tool/ | 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 | 0.951855 | 847 | 2.453125 | 2 |
JULIE CHAUVEAU LES ECHOS
Finished the big Wow on green growth, live "controlled growth" of the photovoltaic industry. Such might be summarized the new policy of the Government in the wake of the announcement of a decline in rate of redemption of solar energy to 12. Individuals who are still in the ear the speeches of the Grenelle of the environment have no reason to panic. They retain the possibility to resell their electricity EDF high price (58 cents per kilowatt hour) if they chose the so-called "integrated" solar panels, replacing the tiles and not not simply superimposed on their roof.
But, for more than a year, the authorities saw with concern climb the number of requests for connection to the network by owners of commercial buildings, or of farmers willing to constitute a source of additional revenue by installing solar panels on their sheds. They had even encouraged by the agricultural unions to do so and the Ministry of Agriculture had multiplied statements on energy independence of farms.
The threat of creating a bubble stated in effect: analysis performed by the services of the Department of Ecology had identified 20,000 requests for installation of large representative 3.800 potential megawatts. At the time, the Government had attempted to cool the machine at the beginning of the year. Redemption rates had been reduced by 17 to 30, and it was decided to limit their indexing to inflation in the long term. But this measure had not prevented the installers to continue to solicit potential clients, and the forecast for the year 2010 all show that 850 megawatts should be installed, either a multiplication by 5 of the Park in a year.
In the greatest secrecy, last April, Bercy and the Department of ecology were then commissioned the former Director General of Insee Jean-Michel Charpin to identify the public aid granted to the sector, to analyse their profitability and assess the impact on the finances of the State. It is from this report that the Government announced Monday its decision to lower rates of 12 and fixed at 500 megawatts per year the maximum power that can benefit from the tariff benefits.
Good report Charpin leaves travelling show that some have argued for a ceiling at 300 megawatts by year 2020, but this would have represented a retreat from the promise of the Grenelle of the environment. The report stresses the fact that the panels manufacturing costs declined by 30 in one year, the Germany decided for the second time this year to reduce its rates, and that the Spain has selected each quarter to determine the number of potential projects to avoid being overwhelmed. And in a time of budgetary rigour, the arguments showing that photovoltaic electricity is the most expensive renewable energy have also weighed. A ground facility costs more than 200 euros per MWh, against 60 for hydropower or wind 70 land. "Escalations loads on consumer electricity bill could exceed EUR 1.5 billion per year by 2012, or approximately 60 euros per year for household heating to electricity", insisted on last night in Bercy prior to specify that the highest scenario "17 gigawatts by 2020", could have a burden of EUR 4.5 billion on public service of electricity by 2020. Some observers however noted that the France decides to stop while she is very caught up with her behind the Germany, which has installed more than power 10 times. They also recall that the France made a commitment to dispose of 21 renewable energy by 2020.
Will the new Government strategy definitively address the speculative risk without breaking the connection "To avoid the" runaways "and detrimental to the industrial sector stops, it will be necessary to implement a system of purchase rates AutoSize on volumes of projects", says the report. The Government has already warned professionals further annual decline of 10 of the rates is provided from January 1, 2012. And it has well quickly start negotiations on how to manage the annual quota of permissions available. | <urn:uuid:501b8f55-b3bf-4f40-bab4-20cb5c9b4498> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.magnafortis.com/stethoscopes/billion-public-service-electricity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962598 | 788 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Nobody ever plans to intentionally catch something in their eye. Whether it’s a bug, a finger, debris from a carpentry project or an object someone else threw at you thinking you were looking; we’ve all encountered potential situations placing our eyes at risk.
A corneal abrasion is often the result of trauma to the open eye. Usually individuals with such trauma arrive at their optometrist with some or all of the following symptoms: pain, light sensitivity, watery eyes, foreign body sensation, inability to open the affected eye, blurry vision and a history of contact lens wear or being struck in the eye.
It’s important to get medical attention promptly to rule out an eye penetrating injury or the development of an eye infection. Your optometrist is highly trained to diagnose, manage and treat corneal abrasions.
More than likely, your optometrist will apply a numbing agent and yellow dye to the front surface of your eye to evaluate the extent of injury and use that information to come up with a detailed treatment plan. Sometimes an embedded foreign body causing the abrasion needs to be removed.
Some treatment options include:
· A bandage contact lens
· Antibiotic eye drops
· Combination antibiotic/steroid eye drops
· A dilating eye drop to help reduce eye pain
· Over-the-counter analgesics (ex. ibuprofen)
So keep in mind that no matter what kind of trauma you experience, trauma to the eye always has the potential to be ‘more than a poke.’ Consult your optometrist for evaluation any time you are concerned with your vision or the health of your eyes.
By Dr. Nicholas Reid
Eye Doctor | Morehead City
Doctors Vision Center | <urn:uuid:48a07a8d-01d1-4e2e-93c8-ee2ed685ebbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doctorsvisioncenter.com/more-than-a-poke-eye-health/ | 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 | 0.904885 | 366 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Theft Is Not the Only Threat Militants Pose to Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons
Extremist Islamist militants also sow confusion about the intentions of the Pakistani state and military.
Earlier this month the Stimson Center issued a report by George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace titled The Non-Unitary Model and Deterrence Stability in South Asia. The daunting title notwithstanding, the paper is not only readable for the general reader, but spellbinding for nuclear-weapons specialists. Hint: "non-unitary" in this context means a nation which fails to demonstrate a "tight, coherent line of authority" over hostilities emanating from that state -- in this instance, Pakistan. Though I haven't quite finished reading the 22-page report, the excitement it generates has spurred me to get a jump start on posting about it.
To being with, it's doubtful that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are at serious risk of being purloined by Islamist extremist militants. At this time, the greater nuclear risk to which it's subject, as Perkovich sees it, is the confusion that India experiences when, for example, its parliament was attacked in New Delhi in 2001 and during the Mumbai 2008 assault. Thus the nuclear deterrence model, which, according to conventional thinking [this author, for one, has his reservations], worked for the United States and Russia may not be universally applicable. Why not? Perkovich writes:
… when it comes to functions as portentous and centrally controlled as initiating and managing warfare between nuclear-armed states, it is generally assumed that a tight, coherent line of authority operates approximately in ways consistent with the unitary model. If a state is not functioning as a unitary actor, or claims not to be when it is convenient, or is not perceived to be by those who seek to deter it, the implications for deterrence stability are profound.
When India is attacked by actors [Islamic extremists militants] emanating from Pakistan and with ties to Pakistani intelligence services, it naturally infers that such actions represent the intentions and policies of Pakistani authorities.
The projection of violence from Pakistan [by non-state actors] into India means that deterrence (through non-nuclear means as well as nuclear) has failed to prevent aggression. The task then remains for India to threaten or undertake punishment to compel Pakistan to redress the offense and to deter Pakistan from repeating it and from escalating the conflict. If Pakistan does not [seek] to detain and prosecute the perpetrators … pressure mounts for India to demonstrate through force that it will not be deterred from escalating the conflict in self-defense.
Perkovich then provides an example of the confusion that can ensue from attacks by Pakistani non-state actors on India.
For example, while India could perceive that the terrorist attacks it attributes to Pakistan signal Pakistani aggressiveness, Pakistani leaders (and the public) [Subtle point alert! -- RW] could perceive the initial terrorist attacks as a signal that the Pakistani state does not seek a wider conflict but is merely signaling resolve to press India to make political accommodations, in Kashmir or more broadly.
Trickier still …
This signaling process becomes all the more difficult and precarious if the Pakistani leaders who are presumed to be the authors of Pakistan’s signals and actions deny that the perpetrators of the conflict-triggering violence actually do manifest the policies of the state.
Why? Because …
Indian leaders then face a highly unstable dilemma. They could act as if the initial violence reflects the intentions of Pakistan’s chain of command, and send countervailing signals of retaliatory action according to normal models of deterrence, in which greater credibility and righteousness tend to reside with the defender.
This might only confuse Pakistan though. Perkovich explains.
But if Pakistani leaders [themselves] believe or claim that the perpetrators were not carrying out state policies, and India does escalate, Pakistani leaders will feel that India is the aggressor, significantly changing the dynamics of crisis and deterrence stability. “Normal” models of deterrence do not hold in such a situation.
In the end …
… disunity produces dangerous confusion and ambiguity that interfere in the management of deterrence. Who is sending signals through violence that is perceived to be emanating from the state and/or its territory? What is being signaled? … how does one manage deterrence and escalation processes in such a situation? In this latter scenario, disunity erodes the rationality on which deterrence is predicated. | <urn:uuid:e35ec3c7-2936-4d9f-9125-5833d1f6a43b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fpif.org/blog/theft_is_not_the_only_threat_militants_pose_to_pakistans_nuclear_weapons?q=Tag%3ACommunism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939461 | 904 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Tech firms and regulators meet at UN patent pow-wow
Leading tech firms, patent officers, regulators and academics are meeting in Geneva to address whether action is needed to prevent intellectual property disputes "stifling" innovation.
The event follows a flurry of lawsuits involving smartphone makers.
It is focusing on how to ensure licence rights to critical technologies are offered on "reasonable" terms.
Companies are split over whether they should be allowed to ban rivals' devices if they do not agree a fee.
The talks were organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency responsible for ensuring phone-makers agree standards so that their devices can interact with each other.
"We are seeing an unwelcome trend in today's marketplace to use standard- essential patents to block markets," said the ITU secretary general Hamadoun Toure when the event was announced.
The discussions occur at a time when the EU is pursuing official probes into Samsung and Google's Motorola unit to assess whether the two businesses have abused some of their patents in order to "distort competition".'Reasonable' rates
The talks are centring on what are known as fair, resasonable and non-discriminatory-type patents (FRAND) for innovations that are recognised as being critical to an industry standard.
Examples include technologies without which it would be impossible to access Jpeg photos or connect a phone to a 3G network. Once a patent is registered as being standard-essential, the licence holder must allow any third-party to use the innovation and agree to a fee that is not excessive.
The aim is to prevent gadgets becoming prohibitively expensive because a single device may make use of tens of thousands of patented inventions.
In some cases firms owning standard-essential rights join together to form a "patent pool".
This has been done with thousands of the patents involved in the H.264 video encoding format, so that operating system makers wishing to make use of the codec pay a 20 cent (13p) charge per sale to cover the rights-holders claims without having to negotiate with each one.
But some cases in which one-on-one deals are necessary have given rise to lawsuits where the parties involved have failed to agree on a "reasonable rate".
The licence-holders have then sought to impose import and sales bans when the gadget-makers have implemented their FRAND-type innovations without agreeing to make payments.
Infringers have sometimes argued that the licensors had deliberately demanded exorbitant rates in order to create a dispute - potentially as a bargaining chip to settle patent lawsuits involving non-FRAND-type technologies.Banned bans?
Apple, Microsoft and Cisco - which are all attending the talks - have called for a change to the rules so that products cannot be blocked on the basis of standard-essential patent disputes.
"Industry standards are vitally important to the development of the internet and to interoperability among mobile devices and other computers." wrote Microsoft in evidence submitted to the ITU.
"The international standards system works well because firms that contribute to standards promise to make their essential patents available to others on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Consumers and the entire industry will suffer if, in disregard of this promise, firms seek to block others from shipping products on the basis of such standard essential patents."
However, others object to this idea.
"There are situations were injunctions against unwilling licensees are a necessary remedy for intellectual property rights holders, such as a total refusal to negotiate a licence, or refusal to pay compensation determined by a competent court," argued Nokia.
Chip-maker Qualcomm also suggests that altering the rules could give rise to more, not less, litigation as it would encourage firms to resist their inventions being classed as standard-essential.
And, despite several recent high-profile cases, it dismisses talk of a patent "crisis".
"The so-called 'patent wars' should be seen for what they are: a small number of participants in a highly competitive industry in which change and innovation occur at lightening speed are locked in a ferocious battle to establish market positions for competing operating systems, with litigation being a marginal aspect of this contest," Qualcomm said in its pre-event statement.
"Once these cases settle, as they inevitably will, the current fervour will subside and 'business as usual' will resume."
Samsung, Google, Research in Motion, Google, Apple, Intel, Philips, Huawei, Sony and Hewlett-Packard are among firms which did not release statements in advance, but had registered to attend the event.On the record
Following a request by the BBC, the ITU decided to allow journalists a chance to listen to the morning's talks during which businesses and patent officers were given six minutes to put forward their cases.
However, an afternoon session - during which the parties are supposed to discuss a possible compromise - was restricted to the participants.
Insiders suggest the event is unlikely to result in any consensus about what - if any - change to the rules should be made.
However, they say the aim is to at least agree a "mechanism" by which the issue might be resolved. | <urn:uuid:ba8fb09f-e445-4f69-8de3-a06283c68236> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19887318 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956134 | 1,062 | 1.8125 | 2 |
A papyrus fragment from the fourth century contains a phrase in which Jesus refers to "My wife," which a U.S. scholar says is the first evidence supporting the belief among early Christians that he was married, The New York Times reports.
The fragment consists of eight lines of black ink, written in Coptic, which include the phrase. "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...' " Below it is what the Times calls "a second provocative clause" that reportedly says, "she will be able to be my disciple."
Karen King, a Christian scholar at the Harvard Divinity School, presented the finding today in Rome at the International Congress of Coptic Studies. She said in a statement that the earliest claim that Jesus did not marry is from 200 A.D. Early Christians did not always agree on whether they should marry or be celibate.
The fragment does not prove that Jesus was married or that if he was that it was to Mary Magdalene, according to the draft paper.
Based on the faded papyrus and handwriting, the fragment is likely authentic, Roger Bagnell, director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York, said in a statement from Harvard, Bloomberg reports.
King did not identify the owner of the fragment, which is about the size of a business card.
King showed the fragment, enclosed in glass, to the Times,The Boston Globe and Harvard Magazine on Thursday.
In an interview, the Times writes, King "repeatedly cautioned that this fragment should not be taken as proof that Jesus, the historical person, was actually married. The text was probably written centuries after Jesus lived, and all other early, historically reliable Christian literature is silent on the question," she said.
"This fragment suggests that some early Christians had a tradition that Jesus was married," King told the Times. "There was, we already know, a controversy in the second century over whether Jesus was married, caught up with a debate about whether Christians should marry and have sex."
The Times adds:
The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous. Until Tuesday, Dr. King had shown the fragment to only a small circle of experts in papyrology and Coptic linguistics, who concluded that it is most likely not a forgery. But she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions.
Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage.
Princeton University religion professor AnneMarie Luijendijk, who co-authored the paper with King, said the fragment's poor condition suggests it was found in a garbage heap, Bloomberg writes.
The Smithsonian Channel will air a special on the discovery Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. | <urn:uuid:d6970e25-14f2-456f-8f3e-40464747b386> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/09/18/jesus-wife-papyrus-fragment/70000625/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976093 | 773 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Fri September 7, 2012
Jerusalem, Bethsaida Exhibits Open UNO Art Gallery for Fall 2012
UNO’s Art Gallery is hosting two exhibits this fall, one focusing on Jerusalem and one on the Bethsaida Excavations Project.
Dr. Rami Arav is a professor of religion and philosophy at UNO. He says Artifacts from the Dig features high quality photographs taken by Bethsaida Excavation Project photographer, Hanan Shafir.
He says the other exhibit, documents the notes and marks left in and in and around The Western Wall in Jerusalem. Dr. Arav says the city of Bethsaida is now an archeological excavation site. Located in Israel, Bethsaida has historical significance in the bible.
"Historically, the city of Bethsaida was the most frequently mentioned site in the gospels after Jerusalem and Capernaum. And the location of it was a mystery for about 2,000 years until we discovered it.”
Dr. Arav discovered the site and identified it as Bethsaida in 1987. Both exhibitions close on September 27th at 3:00 p.m. Details are available online at unomaha.edu/Bethsaida. | <urn:uuid:99fafcc2-a088-4856-bb40-c381c85cb2ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kios.org/post/jerusalem-bethsaida-exhibits-open-uno-art-gallery-fall-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936187 | 255 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Collaborating with Users to Design Learning Spaces: Playing Nicely in the Sandbox
- Keeping an open mind on how to redesign unused spaces — including theaters and swimming pools — can help a campus obtain additional classroom space.
- Collaborating across campus can help generate funding and implementation of experimental classroom designs like the Clemson sandbox.
- Building flexibility into a classroom design allows incorporation of new technologies as they come along.
What should a campus do when it needs more learning spaces but can’t construct new buildings? Dr. Benjamin Sill’s first task when he became the director of Clemson University’s general engineering program was to find space for classrooms and for the advising program. His search ended in the old YMCA building (Holtzendorff Hall), where space was available — but all of it in serious need of renovation. By tightening the general engineering budget and with help of the dean of the College of Engineering and Science, the old movie theater was converted into a classroom, the old basketball gym into an engineering project lab, and the old ballroom into a SCALE-UP classroom (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs; for more information, see http://www.ncsu.edu/PER/scaleup.html and http://www.clemson.edu/academics/scaleup.html). Needing additional space, Sill focused on the abandoned swimming pool that first opened in 1918, which was full not of water but of broken furniture. While some just shook their heads, Sill began to envision a new life for this space.
How We Imagined It, with Technology in Mind
While Sill, who had become chair of the Department of Engineering and Science Education, and Dr. Elizabeth Stephan, who had become director of the general engineering program, talked with facilities and the Provost’s Office about design and budgets to renovate the swimming pool, a multidisciplinary group was meeting on the other side of campus. This group, called the Teaching with Technology Community (TwTC), began meeting for an hour each week in fall 2002, starting with only three people representing computer science, mathematical sciences, and experimental statistics, and one person in a dual role representing English and CCIT (Clemson Computing and Information Technology). The group’s original purpose was to explore pedagogically sound ways to integrate laptops into the classroom. Since then, TwTC has grown to more than 80 faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students representing nearly 30 academic disciplines, several deans’ offices, the Rutland Center for Ethics, the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, the libraries, student disabilities services, and additional CCIT areas. The scope has evolved as technology and interests have changed over the years. Often spin-off groups form around a specific technology; for example, a spin-off group now focuses on Second Life.
At the TwTC’s first meeting each fall, members brainstorm on where they want to focus their attention that year. In fall 2006, everyone rallied around the idea of designing and installing a teaching with technology experimental classroom that would be available to faculty from all disciplines. Although Stephan was not at the meeting, as a member of TwTC she received the minutes and noted the TwTC’s need for a shared classroom space that could be renovated. This article tells the story of how the old swimming pool became the Holtzendorff Teaching with Technology Experimental Classroom, or what most of us call “the sandbox classroom.”
How We Did It, Thanks to Collaboration
Finding the necessary funding to renovate space is always a challenge, but especially during these hard economic times. As I have talked to colleagues around the country about Clemson University’s renovation of an abandoned swimming pool, I’ve learned that a surprising number of colleges and universities have abandoned swimming pools that could be renovated into usable space. While many people have good ideas about new uses for their old pools (or some other now unusable space), everyone asks how we funded our project. Cost seems to be the one issue that stops people before they get started.
Our experience at Clemson leads me to suggest that colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to benefit from collaboration of their own faculty, staff, and students, who bring to the table many areas of expertise — a huge knowledge base, in fact. They also represent different disciplines and organizations, all with potential sources for funding. Together, they provide a collective voice that can carry more weight than their single voices with those who control university-level funding or external funding.
Of course, we all dream of projects where we simply describe what we want and someone else goes and makes it happen. The truth is that renovations to any space take a lot of people, a lot of talent, a lot of time, and a lot of money. The good news is that on all of our campuses we already have a lot of talented people willing to give their time to a project that will meet their needs and to use their influence to find portions of the necessary money.
In our case, the generosity of Sill and Stephan, as well as others associated with the general engineering program, was instrumental. They had the vision, they scrimped and saved as a department to contribute financially to the project, they had conversations with Provost Doris Helms and facilities staff, and then they did the most remarkable thing — they offered to share that space with other disciplines and invited the TwTC to become part of the design team. Some of our early design sessions were a lot of fun because we had no constraints in the beginning; we were visioning.
A time came when we had to deal with the less exciting details of renovations. One thing we realized right away was the advantage of adapting our vision to the space rather than the other way around. For example:
- We wanted a raised floor, but instead, we did not entirely fill the pool with gravel and concrete, which gave us the same effect.
- We wanted three projection screens, but because of the high ceiling and the large expanse of two walls, we decided that we could project on those two walls and only have the expense of one screen.
- We wanted adequate storage space, but because we had men’s and women’s locker rooms close by, we did not need to build storage space in the room.
Those and several more adaptations allowed us to optimize the existing features of the space and lower the renovation cost.
Even with those cost-saving decisions, we had to seek additional funding. By coming together around a shared vision, we could approach the provost and other sources of funding with a stronger voice than any individual. I distinctly remember meeting with the provost’s accountant, who said, “I know she’ll ask if you have a representative from the School of Ed.” I didn’t even have to think about it before answering with a clear, “Yes, several people from the School of Ed are active with our group, including the college’s associate dean of research.” Much of the TwTC’s success derives from collaboration; everyone enjoys sharing ideas, learning from others, and sharing credit for a good idea or a job well done.
While ideas, expertise, and influence came from many disciplines and organizations, funding came from four: general engineering, the Provost’s Office, facilities, and CCIT. Four people representing general engineering, mathematical sciences, computer science, and CCIT submitted a proposal for and were awarded the HP Technology for Teaching Award, which provided two carts of HP tablet PCs. We achieved much of what we originally designed, in fact, failing only to find funding for the ceiling grid (which can be added later). The Holtzendorff Teaching with Technology Experimental Classroom, better known on campus as “the sandbox classroom,” was dedicated in December 2007 in the celebratory atmosphere of the TwTC’s end-of-the-semester symposium.
Often people ask for the total cost of the sandbox classroom. We don’t know, and we will never know because we will never be finished. We will always be looking for funding for the next technology we think might offer a solution to our latest pedagogical vision. However, we can say that at the time of the dedication, the renovation cost was about $260,000. Technology added to the renovated space was valued at about $200,000.
What We Did, with an Eye to the Future
With classroom space at a premium and funding for renovation projects limited, designing appropriate classrooms with an eye on the future is critical. When the TwTC began developing a vision for an experimental classroom, our primary goal was flexibility. We wanted to create a space that was essentially “plug and play” so that, when new technology is available or a different configuration of the space is desirable, we don’t have to start from scratch again. For example, we wanted to make sure we had enough power to accommodate additional technology in the future. We wanted to build in as much flexibility as possible.
From Swimming Pool to Sandbox
As we progressed through the design process for the abandoned swimming pool with Sill and Stephan, we realized we needed to find ways to take advantage of having a swimming pool, not another type of space, to renovate. We decided not to fill the pool entirely with gravel and concrete. That way we were able to house cables on whips under the floor, giving us the flexibility to reconfigure the layout of the space and still maintain the network, sound, video, and power connections at students’ tables as well as at the instructor’s station. The high ceiling of the pool area inspired us to design a metal grid with power and network connections for the three projectors and other equipment we might add later — maybe data collection instruments such as thermometers and motion sensors that would allow students to analyze live data in class. The grid would be motorized so we could lower it to easily add technology or service the projectors while standing on the floor of the classroom.
We wanted to begin with SCALE-UP furniture (10 round tables that seat 9 students each) and to control the window shades, projection, lights, and sound from anywhere in the room where we might wander while coaching students working on an in-class assignment. We wanted this wireless touch-control panel to simplify displaying a student’s work with projector one, another student’s work with projector two, and possibly a third student’s work or the instructor’s assignment with projector three — or any combination of projection options.
We also wanted to coordinate the exploration and formal research that takes place in the classroom. We wanted the faculty who teach in the sandbox classroom to use the available technology and to share their experiences with the larger Clemson community, not just other faculty but facilities and CCIT, so we could apply the lessons learned to other spaces around campus. We agreed that our first exploration and research would focus on how digital ink might be used in teaching and learning, as well as use of the increased projection options.
The generosity of the general engineering program made possible a wide range of classes in the sandbox classroom. Faculty from the following disciplines have taught courses in the sandbox: engineering, computer science, mathematical science, nursing, horticulture, and English. As planned, those faculty and their students have experimented with inking and with innovative ways to use the projection capabilities in the classroom.
To our delight, the generous spirit demonstrated by general engineering is contagious. Other disciplines have come forward to offer other classrooms that can be renovated into teaching with technology experimental classrooms and then shared.
Students use grids to experiment with inking and work in teams on projects.
Students created a video about using tablet PCs and inking in academics at Clemson.
Cyberinfrastructure as a Driver
Clemson University administrators recognize that cyberinfrastructure (CI) is, as Provost Helms explains, the backbone of the university, enabling the university’s missions in teaching, research, and service. In May 2008, CIO James R. Bottum hosted CI Days at Clemson University. The two-day event included a poster session, presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions. About 350 faculty, CCIT staff, and students attended the event. To maintain the high momentum that CI Days generated, Bottum established a CI Implementation Committee with members representing research and teaching from the five colleges and service from Public Service Activities (Clemson’s extension organization). By mid-fall 2008, the committee had established three subcommittees charged with developing CI project proposals for Clemson’s Board of Trustees. One of those subcommittees is developing the design and installation plan for grid-enhanced classrooms that will allow students in-class access to data, computing, and collaboration tools. The proposal is due to Bottum in mid-March. The subcommittee will propose a phased approach to renovate three classrooms:
- M305 Martin Hall, offered by the math department
- 135 Lehotsky Hall, offered by the College of Health, Education, and Human Development (led by nursing faculty)
- One of two possible rooms offered by the University Center at Greenville
For M305 Martin, the proposal calls for five digital displays and seating for 12 to 15 students. One proposed use of the room is graduate-level number theory seminars offered jointly with other universities.
The Lehotsky classroom has a seating capacity of 48 and a low ceiling, so multiple flat-panel digital displays will work better than the typical projection onto screens or walls. The proposal also calls for keeping the round tables already in the classroom, which can be used to create a modified SCALE-UP environment. Subcommittee members also want to investigate using the walls, perhaps with one of several possible technologies that allow writing on them, and designing an instructor’s station that better meets the needs of faculty than anything currently on the market. Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management faculty at Clemson are active in the development of the Open Parks Grid. Having access to that grid in the Lehotsky classroom will allow students to collaborate with national park managers and beyond.
The University Center at Greenville (UCG) is the location for many Clemson University classes, and faculty and student interest in classes there is continually growing. While it is only about an hour away from the main campus, that distance coupled with limited technology at the UCG constrains what faculty and students can do in class. The UCG classroom renovation is proposed to gain easier collaboration with the main campus as well as other locations that will enhance teaching and learning. Subcommittee members are currently finalizing the specifications and budget as part of the proposal.
Much of what we learned in the design, development, and use of the Holtzendorff Teaching with Technology Experimental Classroom we are applying to the design of those three proposed classroom renovation projects. Probably one of the most important lessons we’ve learned is to take advantage of what we already have, including the features of the room; this helped us meet our goal of flexibility in the Holtzendorff sandbox classroom.
Other critical aspects are lighting and sound design. The lighting in the sandbox provides spotlights over each table, fluorescent lights when a lot of light is needed, lights under and over the balcony, and blackout shades on the windows. With a touch of a button or two on the wireless touch panel, faculty can completely change the lighting configuration to match our specific needs. We wish we had added a microphone at student tables, but we do have a wireless microphone that we can let soft-spoken students use during discussions. Later, when we add the ceiling grid, we can add microphones over the tables.
Spotlights focus light directly on the students’ tables, while fluorescent lights illuminate the entire sandbox classroom.
Everyone likes the wireless touch panel, especially the ability it gives to control the projection options without dashing back to the instructor’s station. Some users wish we had more than one video connection at each student table, but all of us make good use of the options we have to project up to three students’ laptops on one, two, or all three of the display surfaces.
We also learned that having a storage area is important. We have Ethernet cables, VGA-sound cables, dongles for Macs, lost and found items, and the two carts of HP tablet PCs to keep safe when classes are not in session. With the pool space, we were fortunate to have the men’s and women’s locker-shower rooms to convert into appropriate storage space.
A waiting list now exists for teaching in the sandbox classroom, so we have developed a process for deciding who will teach in the room. Faculty with funded grants that depend on the technology in the sandbox receive priority. A second waiting list already exists for a similar classroom designed for smaller classes. We hope to accommodate those faculty with the renovations to 135 Lehotsky.
With one year’s experience in the Holtzendorff Teaching with Technology Experimental Classroom, faculty and staff are now sharing their lessons learned. They report their research and experience in a variety of ways: at meetings in their disciplines; in formal presentations at local, national, and international conferences; and in publications intended for a wide range of audiences. Soon we will be ready to explore some new technology in our classes in the sandbox — something we can immediately plug in and begin to play because our design planned for that.
Thanks to imaginative renovations of unused spaces, collaboration across campus, and planning for flexibility, Clemson can take advantage of the sandbox classroom’s technology features and extend that model into future classrooms.
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touch in base? shed some light? play by ear?
I have heard these terms but not sure their EXACT meanings and spellings.
Any suggestion will be appreciated.
Re: touch in base? shed some light? play by ear?
1. touch base: to make contact, to check in with someone
Originally Posted by ski
I want to touch base with Jack before we decide.
2. shed light on: to illuminate, to explain
Hopefully, this new manual will shed some light on our problem.
3. play by ear: literal -- to play a musical instrument without reading music.
figurative -- to perform any task without the needed practice or preparation
My daughter can play the sonata by ear.
I haven't finished the report for the meeting so we'll play it by ear.
touch base? - to contact someone - usually for a specific reason - many times, though not always in a business context
shed some light? - to explain something - make something clear - to make something more understandable
play by ear? - to do something without a specific plan or idea of what you are going to do - or how you are going to do it
By infinikyte in forum General Language Discussions
Last Post: 28-Dec-2003, 17:15
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