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FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — A Middle Tennessee school district is changing how it assigns students to schools so that populations will be more diverse.
Because housing patterns have changed, 40 percent of the students who receive free or reduced-price lunches in the Franklin Special School District go to two elementary schools.
School board member Kent McNish told The Tennessean that the decision this month to begin rezoning students was an effort to enable more students to have a better shot at success (http://tnne.ws/z1kQFe).
"We felt this was a much needed step to enable our lower socioeconomic students to have a better shot at academic achievements," he said. "... Our feeling is they would have more of a challenge as they are mixed in with a different population, because a lot of the learning that goes on anywhere in this country is peer learning."
Those who supported the new plan said children who attend schools that are balanced racially and economically make stronger learning gains.
Amelia Patterson is one of hundreds of parents trying to figure out what the changes will mean for her children, who now attend Franklin Elementary.
"I don't know if they are trying to make things better or worse," Patterson said.
Parent Liz Ferguson said she's waiting to see how her daughter will be affected by the change.
"Most parents are not behind the rezoning at all. We move to an area, and that's where you expect your school zone to be," she said.
A growing number of school systems across the county are using different factors in determining how students are assigned to schools after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that districts can't rely solely on race when determining assignment plans.
Some, including Rutherford County schools, use income factors to spread students more evenly across schools.
In Franklin Special School District, the school most affected by the change will be Franklin Elementary, which has a 65 percent low-income student population. The school didn't meet its testing goals last year in reading and math.
District leaders are aiming to have all their schools look like Freedom Intermediate, a school that serves a diverse mix of fifth- and sixth-graders. On a recent day, black, white and Hispanic students were palling around together, playing soccer and hanging out near lockers. Students from all groups met testing goals.
"We don't know any different," Principal Hank Staggs said. "Diversity has always been a blessing."
Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com | <urn:uuid:a1d25f36-e13c-4953-ae3b-20fea61915cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jan/28/franklin-trying-to-make-schools-more-diverse/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976136 | 527 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Letters of Finding are issued as the result of investigation, analysis, and determination of complaints received by the FTA Office of Civil Rights. These documents are administratively determined and are not precedential in nature. Generally, Letters of Finding, which are normally addressed to a specific individual or entity, set forth the agency’s determination regarding an issue involving a specific factual situation. Such letters may be helpful to others when dealing with the same issue involving similar facts. Previously, this webpage contained the regulatory sections of 49 CFR Part 37 with Letters of Findings listed in the applicable section. Those letters were issued between October 2000 and April 2001.
While we are now posting letters in an alternate structure, those letters posted previously are still available here: October 2000–April 2001 Letters of Finding http://www.fta.dot.gov/civilrights/ada/civil_rights_3903.html
In July 2007 the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), sponsored by FTA, issued Legal Research Digest 23, "The Americans with Disabilities Act: The Federal Transit Administration's Letters of Findings and Compliance Assessments." This project indexed by subject and issue Letters of Finding between June 1996 and June 2005, inclusive of those previously available on this webpage. The full index can be ordered, or downloaded for free as a PDF or .ISO CD-ROM Image, The Americans with Disabilities Act: The Federal Transit Administration’s Letters of Findings and Compliance Assessments [http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=8128]
Going forward from the timeframe covered by the TCRP Digest, we will post relevant Letters of Finding here, using a subject and issue index similar to that of the Digest for consistency and user ease. Letters containing multiple issues are listed in each section and may appear more than once.
Go To Letters of Finding | <urn:uuid:b43d045d-6f70-40b8-9421-b1b0b6b2406b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fta.dot.gov/printer_friendly/12875_3900.html | 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 | 0.940556 | 384 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Federal, state, and utility incentives have spurred impressive growth in the U.S. solar hot water (SHW) industry in the last few years—and this demand has attracted many imports from Europe and China. While the basic systems haven’t changed, imported and domestic innovations have altered traditional systems, and have even simplified installations in some instances.
The residential federal tax credits, and most state and utility incentive programs, require that SHW equipment be certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC), a private nonprofit organization that certifies solar hot water collectors and systems. Two protocols are specified: Operating Guideline (OG)-100 for collectors, and OG-300 for systems. Even if a collector or system is very simple, as some are, it must carry the SRCC certification to be eligible for those incentives. The SRCC certifications also give relatively new and somewhat longer names to all the systems—for instance, a batch water heater system is now referred to as an integral collector and storage system (ICS). These names are becoming the standard.
On a sunny day, and when sized correctly, all of the collector types and systems can easily heat a storage tank to domestic hot water (DHW) temperatures. In Hawaii, where it never freezes, the open-loop, direct, forced circulation systems are the most popular. ICS and thermosyphon systems are popular in mild climates in the very southern parts of the United States. Most of the rest of the country uses drainback and antifreeze systems with preferences depending on regions and individual installers.
A quick method of sizing that works well for most residential systems is to have 1 square foot of collector surface area to every 11/2 gallons of water in the storage tank. In the Southwest, due to the increased solar resource, collector area is decreased to 1 square foot of collector area to every 2 gallons of storage water.
Batch water heaters have been heating water in the lower tier of states for more than a century. Take a cylindrical tank, paint it black, put it in an insulated box with glass on the top and you have a batch water heater.
To provide some insulation on the glass side of the collector, most manufactured batch water heaters use double glazing. Operation is simple—sunlight shines through the glass, hits the black tank, and heats it and the water it contains.
ICS systems are considered “passive” heaters since they don’t require any electro-mechanical devices, such as pumps, to operate. Batch water heaters have high overnight winter heat loss because only the glass protects it from cold nighttime temperatures, though some hands-on owners place insulation over the glass at night. ICS units are typically only installed for year-round use in warmer climes like Hawaii, or states that border Mexico or the Gulf of Mexico.
Thermosyphon systems are also considered passive systems, since they don’t require a pump or control. These systems can have either integrated or separate collectors and tanks, which can be more effective in retaining heat overnight, since the tank can be well-insulated. However, thermosyphon systems are usually more susceptible to freezing than batch water heaters because of the small riser tubes in the collector. | <urn:uuid:b1719d9f-b618-48cb-bcc8-16df4c358579> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homepower.com/articles/solar-water-heating/domestic-hot-water/solar-hot-water-system-types-applications | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940482 | 677 | 2.421875 | 2 |
The question piqued my interest, but after hunting through the literature for a bit, I hadn't found any direct answers. Then I went back and read the mouse study you cited a bit more carefully. The mouse study only made a reference to mice being affected at 4 lux, ~100x more sensitive than humans. However, for that number it cited a paper in Science that has a direct answer.
Melatonin concentrations decreased 10 to 20 minutes after the subjects were exposed to 2500-lux incandescent light and reached near-daytime levels within 1 hour (Fig. 1). After the subjects resumed sleeping in the dark, the melatonin concentrations increased immediately and within 40 minutes were at the levels measured before exposure. The fluorescent light (500 lux) did not reduce melatonin, and there was no change after the return to darkness. In the two subjects who were exposed to 1500-lux incandescent light, melatonin concentrations decreased to levels intermediate between those measured during exposure to 500 and 2500 lux (Fig. 2). The return to normal nighttime concentrations after subjects were exposed to 1500 lux was similar to that occurring after their exposure to 2500 lux. The concentration of melatonin in subjects awakened and exposed to 500-lux fluorescent light did not differ significantly from that measured while they were asleep in the dark.
Since that was the granddaddy study of the subject, I just checked the recent citation list on that page for modern articles.
Using pure blue LED lights at 446-477 nm wavelengths, West et al. measured light intensities necessary to induce melatonin suppression. Table 1 of that study converts LED irradiance/lux into retinal irradiance (uW/cm2) based on mean pupil size. Figure 2 shows plasma melatonin falling (p<0.05) at 20 uW/cm2 of corneal irradiance (then curve fit to 14.19 uW/cm2). It's at least twice as powerful as white light, which didn't show significant suppression at 40 uW/cm2, but was "numerically similar" to 10 uW/cm2 exposure. If I've got the conversions right, 20 uW/cm2 is about 136 lux, which is about the brightness of an overcast day or half the brightness of typical office lighting.
As for the discrepancy between the two studies (1500 lux vs. 136 lux), I would blame it mostly on technological advances since 1980. The original study used gas chromatography. You can see the huge error bars and noisy data in the Figure. The modern study uses a radioimmuno assay using antiserum, and is presumably far more sensitive.
I was also going to mention a nice review paper that summarizes more findings, but apparently I can only post 2 links as a new user. So I'll just paste the abstract and citation.
Light is a potent stimulus for regulating the pineal gland's production of melatonin and the broader circadian system in humans. It initially was thought that only very bright photic stimuli (≥ 2500 lux) could suppress nocturnal melatonin secretion and induce other circadian responses. It is now known that markedly lower illuminances (≤ 200 lux) can acutely suppress melatonin or entrain and phase shift melatonin rhythms when exposure conditions are optimized. The elements for physical/biological stimulus processing that regulate photic influences on melatonin secretion include the physics of the light source, gaze behavior relative to the light source, and the transduction of light energy through the pupil and ocular media. Elements for sensory/neural signal processing become involved as photons are absorbed by retinal photopigments and neural signals are generated in the retinohypothalamic tract. Aspects of this physiology include the ability of the circadian system to integrate photic stimuli spatially and temporally as well as the wavelength sensitivity of the operative photoreceptors. Acute, light-induced suppression of melatonin is proving to be a powerful tool for clarifying how these elements of ocular and neural physiology influence the interaction between light and the secretion of melatonin from the human pineal gland.
Photic Regulation of Melatonin in Humans: Ocular and Neural Signal Transduction
Brainard, Rollag, and Hanifin
J Biol Rhythms December 1997 vol. 12 no. 6 537-546
If you need more information, I'd start by checking the papers cited by the second paper. Alternately, there's probably more historical information available by looking at papers which have cited the first one. | <urn:uuid:6e18c364-5df6-4385-9fbd-d5770de5832c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/5503/what-light-intensity-starts-melatonin-release-in-humans?answertab=votes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943676 | 928 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Hottest Summer Ever
Texas marks 69 straight days of triple digit temperatures.
The summer of 1980 is no longer the hottest on record in north Texas.
After a run of more than 30 years, the legacy of the "Summer of '80" died just before 1 p.m. Tuesday when the temperature reached 100 degrees at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for the 70th time this season.
The previous record of 69 days, set in 1980 of course, was tied on Monday.
A high of 100 is forecast for Wednesday, so we may set a heat record again tomorrow.
To further solidify the position of the hottest summer on record, the summer of 2011 beat the average temperature of 1980 by more than a degree when the average temperature was 89.2 degrees; in 2011 it was 90.5.
Wednesday evening a cold front is expected to bring a little relief while dropping the highs into the high-80s and low-90s for the remainder of the week.
With the last day of summer on September 23, that may be it for triple-digit days this year.
After such a brutally hot summer, it's nice to set a new record for something after our string of consecutive days over 100 was cut short at 40 -- just two days short of setting a new record -- and leaving many north Texans feeling as if suffering through all of the heat were for naught. | <urn:uuid:e29a69b7-7408-46ed-bf7f-908ee6f69405> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveo.com/news/hottest-summer-ever | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951601 | 286 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Location of events unknown.
Brief shot of crowd. Panning shot of colliery (upside down on tape *PM0494*).
Note: for more shots of General Strike, please see records for GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 1, GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 2 and GENERAL STRIKE NUMBER 3. Please see also IDLE PITS EVERYWHERE...
General Degoutte inspects new French troops in Dusseldorf.
Crowds of Mexicans turn out to elect a new president.
The U.S. Ambassador to Britain, General Dawes, receives the Freedom of Sudbury, the birthplace of his ancestors. Suffolk.
Chilean troops are reviewed by General Pershing on his visit to Santiago.
Shots of deserted collieries abandoned by miners taking part in General Strike.
General Messe meeting with officers.
Two US Generals interviewed in French town of Bastogne.
American and French General meet. | <urn:uuid:8d8ed784-d67c-4005-8a3e-6ba61d6cb63e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britishpathe.com/video/idle-pits-everywhere-short-version/query/General | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904661 | 201 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Women’s health in prison: urgent need for improvement in gender equity and social justice
Brenda J van den Bergh a, Alex Gatherer a & Lars F Møller a
a. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, 8 Scherfigsvej, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Correspondence to Brenda J van den Bergh (email@example.com).
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2009;87:406-406. doi: 10.2471/BLT.09.066928
The needs of women held in detention have received little attention and continue to be neglected by health systems and prison authorities. One reason for this, too readily accepted until now, is that women prisoners are a clear minority group within prisons all over the world. It is only recently that attention has been drawn to the fact that a minority status does not justify the widespread ignorance of women’s basic rights and the considerable gender insensitivity still dominating criminal justice systems.
In Europe alone, there are about 100 000 women and girls in prison.1 Although representing a small proportion of the prison population, at a median level of 4.4% in Europe,2 the female prison population is increasing, often at a much greater rate than that for male prisoners.3 Many women in prison serve a short sentence and are imprisoned for non-violent, property or drug-related offences.4 They frequently come from deprived backgrounds and experience problems related to alcohol and drug dependencies, infectious diseases, reproductive diseases and histories of physical and sexual abuse. Alarmingly high rates of mental health problems are reported, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and a tendency to self-harm and suicide. For instance in England and Wales, it was noted that 90% of the women prisoners have a diagnosable mental disorder, substance use or both.5
In addition, many imprisoned women are mothers and are usually the primary or sole carer for their children.4 When a mother is imprisoned, frequently the father does not continue to care for his children, resulting in large numbers of children being institutionalized.1 In many countries, very young children can stay with their mother in prison, sometimes in special facilities like mother and baby units. Both options, allowing children to live with their mothers in prison and separating them, create difficult dilemmas. Separation of mother and child can cause long-term developmental and emotional harm for the child and can affect the mother’s physical and mental health, while at the same time the prison environment is a far from ideal environment for a child to be raised. It is rare that decisions are clearly made in the best interests of the child.
Recognizing that the public health importance of prison health was being neglected, the WHO Regional Office for Europe established in 1995 the Health in Prisons Project (HIPP).6 This continuously expanding network of 38 Member States in Europe is committed to reducing the public health hazards associated with prisons along with protecting and promoting health in prisons. Published reports of the HIPP during recent years, including the widely used WHO guide to the essentials in prison health5 in 2007 and the Trenčin Statement on Prisons and Mental Health7 in 2008, have combined the latest research and analysis from experts throughout the world and have clearly raised the profile of prison health issues.
Member States of HIPP have recently drawn attention to the real need for authoritative guidance on the topic of women’s health in prison. Building on WHO’s gender policy,8 the Regional Office in 2008 reviewed recent research and collaborated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Quaker offices in Geneva and Brussels to develop evidence-based guidance on the major aspects of women’s health in prisons and, indeed, the criminal justice system as a whole. This work has been recorded in a background paper which is included with a joint WHO/UNODC Declaration (Kyiv Declaration) on Women’s health in prison,9 published in April 2009.
Although there are major differences in the methods that countries use to address the special needs of women in their criminal justice system, the evidence is clear and consistent. Current arrangements for dealing with women offenders fail to meet their basic needs and are far short of what is required by human rights, by accepted international recommendations and by social justice. Health is after all a fundamental human right, for women in detention as well as for those in the community.
Yet, if prisons are made into settings in which useful protection and promotion work can occur, much can be achieved in the time period that women are under the responsibility of national prison services. Prisons can provide disease prevention and educational programmes as well as offer treatment focusing on mental health and substance use problems, and can be used to provide help to this group of women who are among the most disadvantaged and hard to reach people in any society.
The necessary changes will require political awareness and support, considerable gender-sensitivity training of all staff and policy-makers working in the criminal justice system and a real commitment to equity and social justice. ■
- UNODC handbook for prison managers and policymakers on women and imprisonment. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; 2008.
- Walmsley R. World female imprisonment list. London: International Centre for Prison Studies; 2006.
- Bastick M, Townhead L. Women in prison: a commentary on the UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. Geneva: Quaker United Nations Office; 2008.
- Women in prison: a review of the conditions in Member States of the Council of Europe. Brussels: Quaker Council for European Affairs; 2007.
- Health in prisons. a WHO guide to the essentials in prison health. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe; 2007.
- Health in Prisons Project [home page]. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/prisons [accessed on 4 May 2009].
- Trencin statement on prisons and mental health. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe; 2008.
- WHO gender policy. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available from: http://www.who.int/gender/documents/policy/en/ [accessed on 4 May 2009].
- Declaration on women’s health in prison: correcting gender inequity in prison health. Copenhagen & Vienna: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe & United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; 2009. | <urn:uuid:5aa7be9b-9cbe-4f55-b91c-3a3818942012> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/6/09-066928/en/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937027 | 1,346 | 2.6875 | 3 |
NIWOT, Colo. (AP) -- Earth Balance is voluntarily recalling its 16 oz. jars of almond butter because of a possible health risk.
In a statement Tuesday, the company says its Earth Balance Almond Butter was manufactured by New Mexico-based Sunland Inc. Sunland manufactured the Trader Joes Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked to 29 salmonella illnesses in 18 states.
Sunland has recalled a total of 76 types of peanut butter and almond butter that were manufactured with the same equipment as the Trader Joes' product.
Earth Balance says its voluntary recall involves its Earth Balance Almond Butter product with "best by" dates between May 2013 and September 2013. No other Earth Balance products are included in the voluntary recall. | <urn:uuid:3761a6ca-06a5-40e7-b7c0-f528a32e662b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbc11news.com/localnews/headlines/Earth-Balance-almond-butter-included-in-recall-171181191.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963155 | 163 | 1.648438 | 2 |
(US-pa) Program offers alternative to dissecting in classroom
[from Souderton Independent]
Souderton's James Gill doesn't want to cut up frogs or earthworms in
his classroom anymore.
He became one of two life science teachers in the North Penn School
District to embrace cruelty-free dissection alternatives for the
seventh grade last year, and next month both teachers will be rewarded
for that choice.
It was Nancy Giudotti, the seventh grade life science teacher at
Penndale Middle School, who turned Gill on to the free dissection
alternatives through Animalearn in Jenkintown. She discovered the
classroom resource loan service last school year while attending the
Montgomery County Science Conference and immediately called her
coworker to tell him about it.
"It's not the actual animal, but it does serve the basic purpose of
helping students understand anatomy and physiology and comparing one
animal to another," he said.
In Gill's gifted level class of about 15, groups of three students run
the program on five laptops in place of the traditional dissection
lab. Gill has been so pleased with the alternatives that he plans to
use them again next year.
The pair picked a good time to try the service, as this school year is
the 10-year anniversary of Animalearn's loan program, called the
Science Bank. To celebrate, the non-profit organization plans to give
away $1,500 worth of dissection alternatives to Gill and Guidotti this
Animalearn is the education wing of the American Antivivisection
Society, the country's oldest animal rights group, which is also based
in Jenkintown. According to Nicole Green, assistant director of
education at Animalearn, the organization regularly loans resources to
at least 50 classrooms across the country and internationally each
year, but what it really wants is a deeper cruelty-free commitment | <urn:uuid:a2c0718b-cc84-4812-9f37-ac9ed342b13f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://animalliberationfront.com/Philosophy/Animal%20Testing/School_Lab/DissectingAlts.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937734 | 407 | 2.46875 | 2 |
COMPANY: American Basketball League (ABL)
HEADQUARTERS: Palo Alto, Calif.
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Women's basketball league
FOUNDERS: Gary Cavalli, sports promoter; Anne Cribbs, Olympic gold medalist; Steve Hams, former General Magic executive; Bobby Johnson, Atlanta entrepreneur
CAPITAL: $3 million in seed money; additional $6 million from two private investors
KEY COMPETITION: Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), owned by the National Basketball Association
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY: One-brand focus; grassroots marketing; worker solidarity
The American Basketball League's line of business--women's professional hoops--isn't quite your standard Silicon Valley fare, but CEO Gary Cavalli insists he comes "from the Silicon Valley mentality." That's good, for the ABL will need every play in the entrepreneurial book to avoid getting stuffed by the towering NBA, whose rival league tips off this month.
Created last year by four women's sports zealots, the Palo Altobased ABL bears closer resemblance to its neighboring high-tech start-ups than to a traditional league. To keep salaries in check, it wholly owns each of its eight teams.
Marketing is grassroots. You'll find ABL players stumping for their employer at malls and church leagues. "Not having the big war chest," says Cavalli, "we take the product to the consumer."
And like any scrappy upstart, the league strives to make its employees feel united in a common purpose. There's worker empowerment--brainstorming sessions for player input "on everything from the size of the ball to the league's business plan," says Cavalli--and a profit-sharing plan. "This is a cause, a movement."
All the talk of sisterhood serves a purpose: retaining employees. Talent in the two leagues is fairly even (the ABL boasts Olympic starters Dawn Staley and Nikki McCray; the WNBA, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes), but there's always the specter of the NBA's turning on its money spigot to attract players--it has already done so to lure foreign stars.
Another Silicon Valley trick: ABL contracts, which average $70,000, include noncompete clauses. "If your stars are playing in both leagues," reasons Cavalli, "their brand value is diluted."
The ABL also embraces the management buzzword focus. The league puts the women's game squarely at center court, whereas WNBA clubs are owned and operated by the men's franchises. "The WNBA is a product-extension strategy," says ABL cofounder Steve Hams. "It clearly doesn't measure up."
Still, it's the ABL that's on the short end of the size mismatch, confronting what WNBA president Valerie Ackerman calls "the organizational firepower" of the NBA's marketing juggernaut. The ABL has yet to land a network-TV contract, and though it has Reebok's backing, it hardly matches the WNBA's sponsorship roster (which includes Nike, Spaulding, and Sears). Its average attendance of 3,500 beat projections, but its Atlanta and Richmond teams were loss leaders. Cavalli hopes revved-up licensing will help the league halve its $4-million loss next season.
Some think the two rivals can find a peaceful coexistence as they play in different markets and different seasons. Then again, mercenary interests could prevail. Sisterhood is powerful, but it may also prove fleeting.
AMERICAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE, 1900 Embarcadero Rd., Suite 110, Palo Alto, CA 94303; 415-856-3225; www.ableague.com 23
WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION, 645 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10022; 212-688-9622; www.wnba.com 23 | <urn:uuid:806cdc4e-b625-4b4d-8c6f-081c34a18aae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inc.com/magazine/19970601/1244_Printer_Friendly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939008 | 817 | 1.632813 | 2 |
(PhysOrg.com) -- A George Washington University expedition to the Gobi Desert of China has enabled researchers to solve the puzzle of how one group of dinosaurs came to look like birds independent of birds. The discovery extends the fossil record of the family Alvarezsauridae - a bizarre group of bird-like dinosaurs with a large claw on the hand and very short, powerful arms - back 63 million years, further distancing the group from birds on the evolutionary tree.
Until now, there was no direct evidence that dinosaurs of this type lived during the Late Jurassic, approximately 160 million years ago. George Washington University doctoral candidate Jonah Choiniere named the newly discovered species of dinosaur, Haplocheirus sollers (meaning simple, skillful hand). Mr. Choiniere's research is featured in the Jan. 29 issue of the journal Science.
"Haplocheirus is a transitional fossil, because it shows an early evolutionary step in how the bizarre hands of later alvarezsaurs evolved from earlier predatory dinosaurs," said Mr. Choiniere. "The fossil also confirms our predictions that Alvarezsauridae should have been evolving in the Late Jurassic time period."
The fossil of the new species contains several distinguishing features that link it to Alvarezsauridae, the family of dinosaurs that includes species such as Mononykus (meaning one claw) and that was previously thought to be a flightless offshoot of ancient birds due to skeletal similarities. Despite the similarity between the skeletons, Mr. Choiniere's research demonstrates that the family Alvarezsauridae evolved in parallel to birds and did not descend from them. The new species shows some of the earliest evolutionary stages in the development of a short, powerful arm with a single functional claw that may have been used for digging termites.
The Late Jurassic is an important time period for bird evolution, as evidence suggests that birds first evolved from theropod, or bird-footed, dinosaurs at that time. Paradoxically, fossils of dinosaurs closely related to birds from this time period are extremely rare, furthering the importance of Mr. Choiniere's work.
The ten-foot long, nearly complete skeleton of Haplocheirus sollers specimen was found preserved in river-lain rock in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of northwestern China, a region well-known for its Late Jurassic fossils. It was collected in 2004 during a series of expeditions to Xinjiang co-led by Dr. James Clark of GW and Dr. Xu Xing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, co-authors on the report. These expeditions were extremely successful, resulting in the discovery of a small, agile relative of crocodilians (Junggarsuchus sloani); the oldest horned dinosaur (Yinlong downsi); one of the oldest tyrannosaurs (Guanlong wucaii); and several skeletons of an unusual, toothless new ceratosaurian dinosaur (Limusaurus inextricabilis) that were buried while stuck in mud pits. These discoveries were described in a TV documentary by National Geographic ("Dino Death Trap") and a June 2009 article in National Geographic Magazine.
"The primary goal of our expeditions was to find evidence of the theropod dinosaurs closest to birds, and the discovery of Haplocheirus is one of our major discoveries," said Dr. Clark. "This spectacular skeleton shows how the strange arms of Mononykus and other alvarezsaurs evolved from a more typically theropod grasping hand."
Theropod dinosaurs include charismatic, meat-eaters like Tyrannosaurus rex but also modern birds. Alvarezsaurs are one of several groups of theropods closely related to birds, including well-known species like Velociraptor.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, the National Geographic Society, the Chinese National Science Foundation and The George Washington University.
"This NSF-supported research sheds light on the poorly understood early evolution of birds in the Late Jurassic in China by eliminating alvarezsaurids as ancestors of the birds," said H. Richard Lane, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Earth Sciences.
Mr. Choiniere is a student of James Clark, the Ronald B. Weintraub Professor of Biology in The George Washington University's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, and first accompanied Dr. Clark on his excavations in China in 2005.
"Faculty/student collaboration to advance science and foster a better understanding of the world around us is a cornerstone of our mission," said Peg Barratt, dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. "I applaud the work of Dr. Clark and Mr. Choiniere for this truly significant evolutionary finding."
Explore further: Actor Johnny Depp immortalized in ancient fossil find
More information: The article, "A Basal Alvarezsauroid Theropod from the Early Late Jurassic of Xinjiang, China," appears in the Jan. 29 edition of Science. | <urn:uuid:d14cb9fd-205e-48c2-ab71-a74684d763e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news183909269.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932698 | 1,043 | 3.625 | 4 |
Dr. Boos studies the processes responsible for variations in tropical climate over a broad range of time scales, using theory, numerical models, and observational analyses. He has worked most extensively in monsoon dynamics, attempting to improve the understanding and prediction of these tropical circulations that deliver water to billions of people. Such planetary-scale circulations in the tropical atmosphere are poorly understood because they depend strongly on the heat released when water vapor condenses and falls out as precipitation, a process that occurs on short length scales that are extremely difficult to resolve in global models of climate. To address this problem, Dr. Boos uses high resolution computer models of the atmosphere in limited domains to represent the transfer of energy between moist convective scales and idealized planetary-scale circulations. He employs these models, together with data from satellites and in-situ measurements, to verify and guide development of theories for the variability of the tropical atmosphere. | <urn:uuid:47952bc0-256f-40ba-b2ce-eb1e97a507b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climate.yale.edu/people/william-boos | 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 | 0.921104 | 185 | 2.5 | 2 |
Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Heidelberg Infections Linked to Turkey
August 4, 2011
Case Count Map
CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections that is likely caused by eating ground turkey. Public health investigators are using DNA “fingerprints” of Salmonella bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE, to identify cases of illness that may be part of this outbreak. They are using data from PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics; this antibiotic resistance can increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals.
A total of 78 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported from 26 states between March 1 and August 3, 2011. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: AL (1), AZ (2), CA (6), GA (2), IA (1), IL (7), IN (1), KY (2), LA (1), MA (1), MI (10), MN (1), MO (2), MS (1), NC (1), NE (2), NV (1), NY (2), OH (10), OK (1), OR (1), PA (5), SD (3), TN (2), TX (9), and WI (3).
Among persons for whom information is available, illnesses began on or after March 9, 2011. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 88 years old, with a median age of 23 years old. Fifty-two percent are male. Among the 60 ill persons with available information, 22 (37%) have been hospitalized. One death has been reported.
The outbreak can be visually described with a chart showing the number of people who became ill each day. This chart is called an epi curve. PulseNet first received reports of a small number of cases with the outbreak strain beginning in March 2011, and reported cases increased in mid-May and late June. Illnesses that occurred after July 8, 2011, might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks. Please see the Timeline for Reporting of Salmonella Cases for more details.
Investigation of the Outbreak
Collaborative investigative efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicate that eating ground turkey is the likely source of this outbreak. Among the 54 ill persons with available information, 28 (52%) reported consuming ground turkey. This proportion is significantly higher than results from a survey of healthy persons in which 11% of persons interviewed reported consuming ground turkey in the 7 days before they were interviewed. Product information (such as date and location of purchase of ground turkey) is also being collected from ill persons and is being used by local, state, and federal public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies to further the investigation.
Cultures of four ground turkey samples purchased from four retail locations between March 7 and June 27, 2011, yielded Salmonella Heidelberg with the outbreak strain. PFGE patterns from these Salmonella that matched the outbreak strain were added to the PulseNet database between April 11 and July 12, approximately a month after each sample was collected. Preliminary information indicates that all of these products originated from a common production establishment. These were obtained as part of routine sampling in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), and are not linked to illnesses.
This is a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. As of August 4, 2011, we have information on isolates from one sample of ground turkey collected at retail and nine ill persons with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. The isolate from the ground turkey sample is resistant to antibiotics, including ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and gentamicin. The sensitivity testing results to date indicate that isolates from humans are also resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline, and some are resistant to aminoglygosides, such as gentamicin; however, the testing is not complete for all isolates. All human isolates are sensitive to several common antibiotics that are used in clinical practice, such as ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Antibiotic resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals.
A sample of leftover unlabeled frozen ground turkey was collected by a public health agency from the home of a case-patient in Ohio who had been confirmed to have the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. Culture of the ground turkey sample yielded the outbreak strain on July 29, 2011.
On July 29, 2011, USDA-FSIS released a public health alert for frozen or fresh ground turkey products. This alert reminds consumers of the critical importance of following package cooking instructions for frozen or fresh ground turkey products and general food safety guidelines when handling and preparing any raw meat or poultry. The alert advises that, in particular, while cooking instructions may give a specific number of minutes of cooking for each side of the patty in order to attain 165°F internal temperature, consumers should be aware that actual time may vary depending on the cooking method (broiling, frying, or grilling) and the temperature of the product (chilled versus frozen); therefore, it is important that the final temperature of 165 °F must be reached for safety. The alert recommends that consumers not rely on the cooking time for each side of the patty, but use a food thermometer. For more information on this public health alert, please see FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Frozen, Fresh Ground Turkey Products.
Clinical Features/Signs and Symptoms
Most persons infected with Salmonella bacteria develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. Older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness from Salmonella infection. More general information about Salmonella can be found here.
On August 3, 2011, Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, a Springdale, Arkansas, establishment, recalled approximately 36 million pounds of ground turkey products that may be contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg. The products subject to recall bear the establishment number "P-963" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
Advice to Consumers, Retailers, and Others
- Consumers should check their homes for recalled ground turkey products [PDF - 1.24 MB] and not eat them; restaurant and food service operators should not serve it. Consumers with questions about recalled ground turkey products may contact Cargill’s consumer relations toll free telephone number (1-888-812-1646).
- Wash hands, kitchen work surfaces, and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry including frozen, fresh ground turkey. Then, disinfect the food contact surfaces using a freshly prepared solution of 1 tablespoon unscented liquid chlorine bleach to 1 gallon of water.
- Cook poultry thoroughly. Ground turkey and ground turkey dishes should always be cooked to 165 °F internal temperature as measured with a food thermometer; leftovers also should be reheated to 165 °F. The color of cooked poultry is not always a sure sign of its safety. Only by using a food thermometer can one accurately determine that poultry has reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout the product. Turkey can remain pink even after cooking to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink. Be particularly careful with foods prepared for infants, older adults, and persons with impaired immune systems. For more information, please visit FoodSafety.gov.
- If served undercooked poultry in a restaurant, send it back to the kitchen for further cooking.
- Avoid cross-contaminating other foods. Uncooked meats should be kept separate from produce, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods. Hands, cutting boards, counters, knives, and other utensils should be washed thoroughly after touching uncooked foods. Hands should be washed before handling food, and between handling different food items.
- Refrigerate raw and cooked meat and poultry within 2 hours after purchase (one hour if temperatures exceed 90° F). Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking. Refrigerators should be set to maintain a temperature of 40 °F or below.
- Persons who think they might have become ill from eating possibly contaminated ground turkey should consult their health care providers. Infants, older adults, and persons with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.
CDC's Role in Food Safety
CDC leads federal efforts to gather data on foodborne illnesses, investigate foodborne illnesses and outbreaks, and monitor the effectiveness of prevention and control efforts. CDC is not a food safety regulatory agency but works closely with the food safety regulatory agencies, in particular, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA-FSIS. CDC also plays a key role in building state and local health department epidemiology, laboratory, and environmental health capacity to support foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response. Notably, CDC data can be used to help document the effectiveness of regulatory interventions.
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- Contact CDC–INFO | <urn:uuid:561dd0a2-3495-4e2d-a256-e9ac0dd4176c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/heidelberg/080411/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940105 | 2,146 | 2.265625 | 2 |
This information sheet sets out the general principles of
disinfection of water supplies. Disinfection is a regulatory
requirement and is essential for the protection of public health
from waterborne disease.
Disinfection is always carried out on public water supplies in
the UK to protect public health, by killing or inactivating harmful
microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, which may be
present in drinking water. Worldwide, many thousands of people
continue to die each year from waterborne diseases. Sickness
and diarrhoea and diseases including cholera and typhoid are spread
by drinking water which is contaminated with human excrement.
Disinfection of surface water is carried out by a two stage
process of physical removal of pathogens followed by inactivation
with an oxidising agent. For water stored in underground aquifers
the first stage is carried out by filtering through the ground.
There are several ways of disinfecting water supplies, and the main
methods are listed below.
- Physical removal of bacteria and viruses in conjunction
- Ultraviolet light
Chlorination is commonly used in the UK because it is very
effective at disinfecting the water, is harmless to humans at the
concentrations used and is relatively cheap. It also provides
protection for the water after it leaves the treatment works and as
it travels through the network of pipes and reservoir into people's
homes. Chlorine gas or liquid sodium hypochlorite is injected into
the water during treatment and allowed contact time for the
disinfection process to work. In some areas chloramine is the
preferred agent to provide a residual disinfection in the network.
Dissolved organic matter can react with chlorine to form harmful by
products, and therefore organic matter may need removing before
disinfection with chlorine.
Other disinfection methods have different advantages, and can be
used in conjunction with chlorine or as a substitute, depending on
the specific circumstances. In rural locations for
private water supplies the most effective option may be
disinfection with a small ultraviolet light unit.
1) Water sources vary greatly in the amount of microorganisms
present, and the risks of pollution. For example groundwater can be
completely free of microorganisms, whereas a river may contain many
thousands of bacteria and viruses in every 100 millilitres. A risk
assessment of the water quality is carried out to determine the
type of treatment and disinfection required, both under normal
conditions and in the event of deterioration in quality due to
events such as extreme weather or pollution.
2) The risk assessment should consider the potential for harmful
bacteria and viruses in the untreated water. In practice this will
usually involve identifying sources of pathogens within the
catchment and measuring the raw water loading of coliform and
Escherichia coli bacteria. Coliform and Escherichia
coli bacteria are indicators of environmental and faecal
contamination. The risk assessment must also consider the presence
of Cryptosporidium which can cause the disease
cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium is widely present in
the environment particularly in agricultural catchments.
3) The risk assessment will inform the level and type of
treatment required, and the best method of disinfection.
4) Surface water (rivers and reservoirs) must be prepared for
disinfection. This can be a number of stages including
clarification and filtration, plus sometimes secondary filtration.
These processes must be closely controlled to ensure that they are
removing the required amount of microorganisms, and other
5) Turbidity is measured through the treatment process.
Turbidity is the cloudiness of the water caused by the amount of
small particles present. Clear water is very important for the
pleasing appearance of drinking water, but turbidity monitoring
also fulfils another important function. Turbidity is used in water
treatment as a 'surrogate' for measuring microbiological loading,
because it can give an instant measurement of the amount of
particles being removed by the water treatment.
6) Disinfection needs to be monitored to ensure it is effective.
Samples of water are taken from the outlet of treatment works, the
service reservoirs and customer taps and analysed for coliforms and
Escherichia coli. Cryptosporidium should be
monitored at sites where there is a risk.
7) There is no regulatory standard for the amount of chlorine in
the water supply. A residual concentration of around 0.2
milligrammes per litre of free chlorine provides an effective
disinfectant at the tap. In practice there is a balance between
maintaining a chlorine residual effective enough to protect the
water and providing water which is aesthetically acceptable in
terms of taste and odour. People may notice a slight taste or
smell of chlorine. Water can be stood in a jug in the fridge for a
few hours to remove the chlorine taste. The chlorine is not harmful
at the concentrations used and it is not associated with
8) There are other forms of disinfectant which can be used
instead or alongside chlorine; the choice of disinfectant will
depend on the local circumstances and the risk assessment.
9) Cryptosporidium is not killed by chlorine at the
concentrations at which it is used. Physical removal by treatment
processes aimed at particle removal, plus an alternative
disinfection agent such as ultraviolet light where required provide
effective cryptosporidium control.
10) Disinfectants including chlorine and ozone can react with
dissolved organic matter to form disinfection by-products. Organic
matter can affect the UV transmission and hence the efficacy of UV
disinfection. Many private supplies have coloured water, and
effective removal of organic matter is important. By-product
formation is a consideration in the choice of disinfection
11) It may be necessary to issue public health advice if there
is a problem with the disinfection process, or any other indication
that the water supply may be contaminated or unfit to drink. Such
decisions are usually taken after discussion with local health
authorities. This may result in the customers being given advice to
boil the water before drinking or brushing teeth. Boiling is an
effective way of killing harmful microorganisms including bacteria,
viruses and Cryptosporidium.
More specific guidance is given in the CIWEM Policy Position
Papers: "Chlorine Disinfection of Water Supplies in the UK" and
"Ultraviolet Disinfection of Drinking Water Supplies".
A good reference for all aspects of drinking water quality is
the World Health Organisation "Guidelines for Drinking Water
Quality" 4th Edition.
The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental
Management (CIWEM) is the leading professional body for the people
who plan, protect and care for the environment and its resources,
providing educational opportunities, independent information to the
public and advice to government. Members in 98 countries include
scientists, engineers, ecologists and students.
Water Supply (Water Quality) (England and Wales) Regulations
2000. SI 3184.
UKWIR, 2005. UK Water Industry Research Report 05-DW02-37
'A review of Ct in water disinfection.'
UKWIR, 2010. UK Water Industry Research Report 10-DW-02-59
'Removal of micro-organisms during water treatment'. | <urn:uuid:d998e9c0-b7f6-4787-a4c9-1312473a3224> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ciwem.org/policy-and-international/policy-position-statements/disinfection-of-water-supplies.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905982 | 1,566 | 3.9375 | 4 |
The tear gas grenades being used to quell protestors in Egypt are actually made right here in the USA. They're intended to cause "tearing of the eyes" and "irritation of respiratory tract and mucous membranes". What's inside the tear gas?
Ars Technica took a look at some of the tear gas canisters, which are made by Combined Tactical Systems in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, and found that the grenades and canisters are "largely filled with a fuel mixture that burns to disperse the tearing agent." One grenade, the Model 5220 CN Smoke Grenade, has a starter mixture of potassium nitrate, silicon, and charcoal which is used to light CN smoke (a form of tear gas):
The CN smoke is 71 percent fuel, made up of potassium chlorate, magnesium carbonate, nitrocellulose, and… sucrose. The other 29 percent of the smoke is the tearing agent, chloroacetophenone, which has been around for nearly a century and causes severe irritation of the mucous membranes.
That's a lot of stinky stuff and yep, the tear gas lists itself as having a "pungent odor", which one protestor can attest to. He told ABC, "Your eyes tear up a lot so you can't see, and you feel like you're suffocating. You can actually breathe but you feel like you are suffocating so you try to run, but when you run you inhale more." [Ars Technica]
Image Credit: The Atlantic | <urn:uuid:589bf80e-3348-4609-a001-163fd9485a3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5746733/whats-actually-inside-the-tear-gas-being-used-in-egypt?tag=grenades | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939999 | 314 | 2.625 | 3 |
10. Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
Move over, Winchester rifle. The West was won by … barbed wire? The brains behind this facility walk us through how this fencing, introduced in the 1870s, transformed the West from great expanses of prairie to divided territories. Cows and bison no longer ran free as farmers and ranchers delineated their property. Yes, settlers tamed this wild land. If ever in the central Kansas town of La Crosse (pop: 1,342), you’ll learn more about the 2,000 varieties of barbed wire and its role in shaping the development of the plains than you ever imagined.
9. Museum Of Bad Art
Just one look at the nudes with pets, the plethora of portraits depicting a blue-faced race, and the demented, giant orange cat with a man in its mouth (really), and you quickly understand what the creators behind MOBA mean by works boasting that special quality which sets them apart from the “merely incompetent.” The Louvre, this ain’t — or is it? We have “talented artists” whose works somehow went “awry” to blame for the head-scratching paintings, drawings and sculpture found in MOBA’s online collection or at its three brick-and-mortar galleries in Boston. Of course, there are also amateurs to blame for these unfortunate errors on canvas, who MOBA staff contend are “barely in control of the brush.” See for yourself at MuseumofBadArt.org.
8. Burlesque Hall of Fame
It’s probably best if you leave Grandma (unless she’s the one dragging you here!) at home when visiting this homage to a bawdy art form, located inside a creative co-op in, of course, downtown Vegas. The museum was the dream of the late burlesque legend and exotic dancer activist, Jennie Lee, whose other legacy was to create affordable housing options for retired dancers. Many items from her personal collection continue to be housed inside of the Emergency Arts facility. Artifacts recently featured on its website include Lee’s scandalous personal holiday cards, a colorized photo of exotic dancer/spy Mata Hari and burlesque legend Tempest Storm’s G-string.
7. Willow Creek-China Flat Museum
Whether you think of Bigfoot as fairy tale or fact, this museum boasts an entire building dedicated to Northern California’s most mysterious, hirsute resident. The lower floor of the Bigfoot building has a lot of, well, big feet — cast after cast of alleged footprints from the elusive creature — as well as famous photos and other written and visual “evidence” that the legend really lives. The upper floor is set aside for research into this behemoth, which is said to range from 350 to 800 pounds and towering over eight feet. If you’re inclined to make the six-hour drive from San Francisco, you might as well check out Bigfoot’s alleged stomping grounds in the heart of picturesque Six Rivers National Forest.
6. Trash Museum
Other states, take note: The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority has established a museum in Hartford dedicated to the history of how we dispose of our trash. It’s one thing for kids to be given statistics on “why” they should recycle, but it’s quite another to walk through a towering “Temple of Trash,” fashioned from all the stuff once loved but now discarded — tennis rackets and Cheerios boxes, Butterfinger wrappers and fuzzy dice. From this visual depiction of how much we waste, visitors gets a bird’s-eye view, courtesy of its mezzanine gallery, of how a recycling facility works as glass, plastic and metals from dozens of towns are sorted. Many other interactive exhibits are to be had, solidifying the concept that, “One man’s trash is another man’s [educational] treasure.”
5. International UFO Museum
There really is no other place for a museum devoted to alien beings than this city of some 40,000 in southeast New Mexico, near the ranch where that strange object crashed in 1947. More than 150,000 annual visitors check out the museum started by UFO researchers in the early 1990s. The facility definitely plays up the alien angle of that 1947 incident, leaving little room to wonder if that crashed craft might have been a weather balloon (the official government story) or a military experiment. If you go, you’ll see an exhibit about the “great cover-up,” displays about where the greys came from and information about crop circles and ancient aliens.
4. National Museum of Funeral History
Nothing quite says “fun vacation” like the country’s (and possibly the world’s) largest collection of funereal artifacts and exhibits related to the death customs of various cultures. If you can suspend that cultural fear of death long enough, interesting exhibits cover everything from Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration and the history of embalming, to coffins and caskets of the past. One of the more colorful exhibits explores the fantasy coffins of the West African country of Ghana. Unlike anything you’ll likely see at a service in the States, it’s not uncommon for the dearly departed in that country to have a royal send-off in coffins shaped like a Mercedes Benz or KLM airliner, or resembling a tiger or eagle. Still other exhibits look at the farewells of influential people, including presidents. In fact, the space set aside for the lives and deaths of popes required close collaboration with the Vatican and a 10,500-square-foot expansion to accommodate the likes of the popemobile, and create a real sense that visitors were at Pope John Paul II’s funeral.
3. House on the Rock
This resort/tourist destination located in the scenic Wisconsin Dells is so much more than a mere “museum” that it turns any idea of what it means to be a museum completely on its head. The House on the Rock’s history is shrouded in myth, but at the heart of the story is an early 20th century meeting between architect Alex Jordan Sr. and the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in which Wright allegedly said he wouldn’t hire Jordan to design a chicken coop. On the drive home, Jordan supposedly pointed to a 60-foot rock outcropping and vowed to build a house on top to show Wright. Alex Jordan Jr. took control of the project in 1940, finished the Japanese-style house and opened it to the public in 1960. More than 50 years later, the attraction is a complex of rooms, exhibits, gardens and shops housing collections of seemingly anything a human can collect. This experience in a dizzying array of rooms is like walking inside of a manic genius’ brain; you start with a strange house, then walk your way through a series of themed rooms. By the close of this tour, none of the rooms seems to have any rhyme or reason — there is a Main Street modeled after the towns of yesteryear and a procession of carousels here, with a 200-foot sea monster model and collection of teddy bears there. Not to mention the famous Infinity Room, a room that seems to defy the laws of engineering and physics and stretch on for eternity.
2. Creation Museum
From death to theories about the creation of all things, this museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (near the Cincinnati airport) is committed to “bringing the Bible to life.” That said, you’ll see the likes of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. You’ll even see dinosaurs and read about the 50 different species, to be exact, traveling on the Ark with all the other pairs of animals. What you won’t see are any depictions of an asteroid hitting the earth and wiping out these giants, or the earliest humans emerging millions of years later. The more than 160 exhibits all staunchly uphold the young earth creationist perspective — meaning the earth was created 6,000 years ago over a six-day period, as reported in the Book of Genesis. As reported by scientists, the earth was created 4,499,994,000 years before that, and the dinosaurs went extinct 65.5 million years before Creationists believe these enormous creatures appeared in the first place.
1. Medical Oddities
There are an inordinate number of strange yet fascinating museums devoted to the medicine and medical knowledge of yesteryear. The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (aka the Museum of Quackery), now housed at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, touts all the items that give the term “quack” a bad name. There’s a phrenology machine said to determine your character traits by measuring the bumps on your head, weight-reduction glasses, and a foot-powered breast enlarger. The collection formerly belonged to a mental health activist, the late Bob McCoy, who famously demonstrated the questionable devices to Johnny Carson and David Letterman through the years. Located just outside D.C. in Silver Spring, Maryland, the National Museum of Health and Medicine got its start during the Civil War as an army medical museum. This legacy lives on in the form of artifacts like the bullet that took Abraham Lincoln’s life, and even fragments of bone and hair collected from the former president during his autopsy. You’ve probably heard about the Mütter Museum and its ghoulish galleries, showcasing medical curiosities that have been known to make even medical professionals queasy. Located in the birthplace of American medicine, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the museum is home to a colon so distended it resembles a long, leather sack, wax models of people boasting unicorn-like horns in the center of their heads and the 19th century “soap lady” whose body is encased in a waxy substance, believed to be her corpse’s reaction to chemical properties in the soil. | <urn:uuid:089f9cda-9b89-4902-b327-b2eac3d07377> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://listosaur.com/bizarre-stuff/10-strange-museums-in-the-united-states.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 | 0.945966 | 2,098 | 2.09375 | 2 |
From: The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future, by Vali Nasr (W. W. Norton, 2006), pp. 88-90:
Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was an Ismaili by birth and a Twelver Shia by confession, though not a religiously observant man. He had studied at the Inns of Court in London and was better versed in English law than in Shia jurisprudence, was never seen at an Ashoura procession, and favored a wardrobe that often smacked as much of Savile Row as of South Asia. Yet insofar as he was Muslim and a spokesman for Muslim nationalism, it was as a Shia. His coreligionists played an important role in his movement, and over the years many of Pakistan’s leaders were Shias, including one the country’s first governor-generals, three of its first prime ministers, two of its military leaders (Generals Iskandar Mirza and Yahya Khan), and many other of its leading public officials, landowners, industrialists, artists, and intellectuals. Two later prime ministers, the ill-fated Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his Radcliffe-educated, currently exiled daughter, Benazir Bhutto, were also Shia. Feeling the wind shift in the 1990s, Benazir styled herself a Sunni, but her Iranian mother, her husband from a big Shia landowning family, and her father’s name, the name of Ali’s twin-bladed sword, make her Shia roots quite visible. In a way, Benazir’s self-reinvention as a Sunni tells the tale of how secular nationalism’s once solid-seeming promise has given way like a rotten plank beneath the feet of contemporary Pakistan’s beleaguered Shia minority.
Benazir’s father came from a family of large Shia landowners who could afford to send him for schooling to the University of California at Berkeley and to Oxford. He cut a dashing figure. Ambitious, intelligent, and secular, he was a brilliant speaker, with the ability, it is said, to make a crowd of a million people dance and then cry. His oratory manipulated public emotion as the best of Shia preachers could, and his call for social justice resonated with Shia values. His party’s flag conveniently displayed the colors of Shiism: black, red, and green. Although he never openly flaunted his Shia background, he commanded the loyalty of Pakistan’s Shia multitudes, around a fifth of the population. What he lacked in the area of regular religious observance he made up for with his zeal for Sufi saints and shrines, especially that of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, the widely popular Sufi saint of Shia extraction whose tomb is a major shrine in southern Pakistan.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s years in power (1971–77) marked the pinnacle of Shia power in Pakistan and the high point of the promise of an inclusive Muslim nationalism. But the country that Jinnah built and Bhutto ruled had over time become increasingly Sunni in its self-perception. The Sunni identity that was sweeping Pakistan was not of the irenic Sufi kind, moreover, but of a strident and intolerant brand. Bhutto’s Shia-supported mix of secularism and populism—sullied by corruption and his ruthless authoritarianism—fell to a military coup led by pious Sunni generals under the influence of hard-eyed Sunni fundamentalists. In April 1979, the state hanged Bhutto on questionable murder charges. A Sunni general, Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, strongly backed by Sunni fundamentalist parties, personally ordered that the death sentence be carried out, even after Pakistan’s highest court recommended commutation to life imprisonment.
The coup of 1977 ended the Pakistani experiment with inclusive Muslim nationalism. Shia politicians, generals, and business leaders remained on the scene, but a steadily “Islamizing” (read “Sunnifying”) Pakistan came to look more and more like the Arab world, with Sunnis on top and Shias gradually pushed out. Pakistan in many regards captures the essence of the political challenge that the Shia have faced. The promise of the modern state has eluded them as secular nationalism has been colonized from within by Sunni hegemony.
UPDATE, 31 December 2009: Comments are now closed on this blogpost. | <urn:uuid:34b1c5d4-221c-4538-972e-6096a438409b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://faroutliers.wordpress.com/2006/10/13/pakistans-transition-from-shia-to-sunni-leadership/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969596 | 930 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA), a division of the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP), generates, collates and distributes geoscientific information in order to support mineral exploration in the State. Geochemical data, resulting from the analysis of rocks and soils, form a key part of its activities, with these data used by both GSWA staff and the private sector.
This Request aims to identify laboratories that can provide suitable analytical services to GSWA for the analysis of rocks and soils. Laboratories that satisfy the designated criteria will be appointed to a panel. The DMP reserves the right to accept more than one response concurrently for the provision of this service. The DMP also reserves the right to have any analysis undertaken by a Government organisation outside of the established panel at its own discretion. | <urn:uuid:13dca865-08aa-49b3-806d-884aa4463cd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.constructionsite.com.au/geochemical-services_Tend63030.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934086 | 163 | 1.757813 | 2 |
In the early days of radio, my father bought one of the first Atwater Kents. On Sunday afternoons, we listened to some very dramatic presentations of Biblical stories, usually serialized. They were so well done that I can still see some of them in my mind.
After a very impressive dramatization of the Cain and Abel sacrifices, where Abel's was accepted and Cain's was not, Cain invited Abel to go out into the fields with him. They were walking along in the fields, when, with buildup of ominous music, the announcer's voice broke in: "Will Cain kill Abel? Tune in again next week at this same time ... ."
Fortunately, we have the book, we have read the story, and we know how it came out. Or do we? Yes, Cain did kill Abel, but I'm not sure we know the whole story. When the Lord asked Cain where Abel was, he answered, "How should I know? Am I my brother's keeper?" Is it possible, however, that it was Abel who first asked this question?
Look at the story again. God did not say, "I don't like the fruits and vegetables you brought me."
He said: "If you do well, you can hold up your head - but if not, sin will master you." The offering, as usual, was symbolic of something else, and evidently, Cain was not measuring up in his life.
Is it not possible that Abel, seeing this, and knowing what was acceptable to God, had said to himself, "I'm not my brother's keeper," when he might have tried to help his brother to know and understand as he understood?
What, then, might this say to us? For 2,000 years we have had the word of Jesus that all people are neighbors. We have Jesus' commandment that we love one another, even our enemies. We continue to observe Human Relations Sunday and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Sunday in our churches. But we continue to also have prejudice, discrimination and misunderstandings.
Now I have myself in a spot. Here I am, trying to prove that I am my brother's keeper, and that's not what I meant to do.
Sometimes the way we go about it is wrong. Unfortunately, brotherly love is sometimes hard to take. I believe it has been amply demonstrated that you can love your neighbor in such a way as to make him hate you. Have you ever experienced love that was a little hard to bear? ("I'm doing this because I love you?")
Believe it or not: our brothers don't want keepers! They want brothers - and sisters. That brings me to my punch line: I am not my brother's keeper. I am my brother's brother - or sister.
I do believe that we have made great strides toward the goal of brotherhood. But always there is room for more understanding, more commitment, more love.
More Christian love. Toyohiko Kagawa, who experienced all this - and more - living as a Christian in Tokyo's slums most of his life, said: "Such a religion as is merely preached by mouth and heard by outer ears will soon be denied. The genuine gospel is the religion which is preached by love." "Love," he said, "has the fusing power of the sun beaming upon ice."
Kagawa said that he had started a movement which could be joined by anyone. He called it the Love-Your-Neighbor-Movement. "If we commit ourselves to living in this spirit, our lives will be fruitful. All that is required of us is to help our neighbors whosoever they be."
I think one of the best things each one of us can do, is to start our own love-your-neighbor movement, and to say often to ourselves: "I am not my brother's keeper, but by the love and grace of God, and whether he wants it or not, I am my brother's brother or sister."
You are my brother! You are my sister! I hope you like it! I know I do.
Bea Shepard is a lay speker in the United Methodist Church and a member of the Douglas Community United Methodist Church.
Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:f389b5ed-6f7c-49b9-ad24-2a7dac931b22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://juneauempire.com/stories/100308/nei_339923771.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984875 | 889 | 1.976563 | 2 |
WASHINGTION - The White House wants all new cars and trucks to go farther per gallon of gas while polluting less.
Everyone from evironmentalists to the automakers appear to be on board. But the changes will come at a cost.
Even as car sales fall - and Detroit ditches thousands of hometown dealers - the automakers are preparing for a makeover, one that both cuts emissions and increases mileage standards at the same time.
Click play for John Jessup's report, followed by analysis from Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com.
"This decision means that we will guzzle less gas, save money at the pump, pollute a lot less. And that the automakers in the United States will be forced to finally compete with the Japanese manufacturers," said Dan Becker with the Safe Climate Campaign.
President Obama will unveil the first ever national standard limiting greenhouse gasses at the White House - alongside the industry's top brass and leaders who are often on opposing sides.
"You'll see people that normally are at odds with each other in agreement with each other," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
The plan would put new fuel economy standards in the fast lane, requiring an average of 35.5 miles a gallon by 2016 -- four years earlier than previously planned.
And new vehicles coming off the assembly line would be about 30 percent cleaner.
The White House says the standards would not only reduce pollution but save about 1.8 billion barrels of oil through 2016 - roughly the equivalent of taking 177 million cars off the road.
It would also end some of the confusion between different state regulations.
"If you take a look at the marketplace today, we have different fuel economy and environmental standards in California versus the federal government, and if you're a car company, that makes it hugely complicated," said Jeremy Anwyl with Edmonds.com, a Web site that provides car reviews.
Critics see this as more government intrusion.
"U.S. automakers used to be U.S. automakers. Now, they really are because they're owned, in part, by the government. So the government can tell them pretty much what they want to produce," said Patrick Michaels with the Cato Institute.
The changes come with a cost.
These new requirements, along with others Congress already approved, will cost consumers an extra $1,300 per car. The changes still must get the green light from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department and would begin in 2012. | <urn:uuid:5888ac96-99b0-49b4-bbd7-a56331cad8b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2009/May/Automakers-Obama-Mileage-Pollution-Plan-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956445 | 507 | 2.21875 | 2 |
I remember the excitement of Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative’s party election in 1979. Britain had just elected someone that talked about Friedrich von Hayek.
I remember excitedly following the election returns in 1980 as the Reagan landslide became clear. America too was going to dump the welfare state.
While Thatcher and Reagan did bring some changes to their respective countries, both revolutions essentially fizzled. We had lower tax rates and slightly smaller bureaucracies but the bulk of the welfare state was impressively intact (the resilience of the warfare state was never in doubt).
In 1989, it was hard not be excited as the people took heed of Reagan’s admonition to “tear down this wall.” The end of the cold war meant that the right could concentrate on the home front. The fight with the Russian commies, we were told, was business; the fight with homegrown lefties was personal. Freed from the cold war need to compromise we could get to work on the home front. What we actually got was George Bush Senior; a thousand points of light; the Americans with Disabilities; the Immigration Act of 1990; and despite reading his lips, a tax increase. We also got a war in the Middle East, but were at least spared the “nation building.”
Then, in November of 1994, we awoke to the howls of anguish from our news reporters (NPR seemed particularly shell shocked). It seems that the country had “thrown a temper tantrum” and passed control of congress to the Republicans. Now, at last, real change was possible. What we got was impeachment, a second Clinton term and (perhaps even worse) the Compassionate Conservative George W. Bush.
Now we have the Tea Party. Maybe things will be different this time, or maybe not. Thanks to 24 news the revolution will be televised, I just don’t expect it to make compelling viewing. | <urn:uuid:770e350f-ca52-46d5-86f9-1029553a656f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://defaultuserblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/after-the-revolution/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979462 | 396 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Indiana: Clinton's next big test
Obama and Clinton are in a tight race heading into the May 6 contest.
South Bend and Terre Haute, Ind.
In Indiana – a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are logging dizzying itineraries as they attempt to convince Hoosiers that they have the solutions to the problems on everyone's minds: gasoline prices and jobs.Skip to next paragraph
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The latest controversy with Senator Obama's former pastor registered among some voters, and issues of race and class are an important backdrop, but mostly, this is a pocketbook election, say analysts.
"We've been hit very hard here in Indiana in terms of manufacturing jobs and traditional blue-collar jobs," says Tom New, a Democratic strategist in the state. He notes that while Indiana shares many economic problems with other Rust Belt states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, it may turn out to be a more even match between Senator Clinton and Obama. "There's a lot of economic unrest in Indiana, and I think that plays to Senator Clinton's advantage, but I do think people are hungry for change, and that's been Obama's theme."
So far, most polls have given Clinton a slight edge, though a few recent ones have the two Democrats in a virtual tie.
Both candidates have been stressing middle-class concerns, including outsourced jobs, soaring prices at the pump, home foreclosures, and college debt. Clinton, however, has focused more on specific, detailed proposals, while Obama emphasizes bigger-picture concerns and long-term fixes.
That may be one reason, say experts, Clinton's message seems to resonate more with working-class voters.
"He needs to make a more compelling case to blue-collar workers of what he can do for them," says Darrell West, a political scientist at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "He gives a good speech about hope and idealism, but they want to know what he's going to do in terms of bread and butter issues that will help them."
In Indiana, where about one-third of the voters come from small towns and rural areas, Obama sometimes struggles against a perception of elitism from voters unmoved by his soaring rhetoric. "I couldn't warm up to Obama. I felt like he was talking over my head instead of to me," says Shirley Goodman, a loan officer from Terre Haute, at a Clinton rally. "She can reach the average person better than he can."
"She's willing to go the extra yard to stop jobs from going overseas," agrees Debbie Phelps, an educational assistant in Terre Haute, noting that her husband was laid off from his tool-and-dye job of 23 years when the company went to another country, and then laid off again when Pfizer left town. He gets half the pay at his current job. "At our age, it's like starting all over," she says.
Obama has been working to combat that perception of elitism and has also sought to counter Clinton's argument that he can't connect with the white working-class voters who will be crucial in November. Last week he moved away from his famous huge rallies and big speeches, in favor of smaller, invitation-only events where he tried a conversational approach.
"I want to spend more time listening than talking," he told about 75 farmers and rural families at an event at the Dairy Beef Club at South Bend's fairgrounds, where he emphasized his own Midwestern roots. | <urn:uuid:c5b8923c-a970-4a24-ade8-8068129f7a5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2008/0505/p01s05-uspo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977811 | 733 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Historic time period: 1945–early 1970's
Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolence
Have you ever heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington? What was his dream for America, who was the man behind those famous words, and why do we celebrate his story every January?
Martin's Big Words is an illustrated biography that traces Dr. King's life from his childhood and includes quotes from his writings and speeches. Explore Dr. King's story by reading together and then try some of these fun activities to learn more about him and other brave Americans who worked on the civil rights movement
The National Museum of American History has a rich collection of objects from the civil rights movement, including a portion of the lunch counter from the sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, and a handbill from the 1963 March on Washington.
Read This Book
You can learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and nonviolence during the civil rights movement by reading these books. Click on the book titles below for more information, or visit our complete bibliography.
More Recommended Books
- Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles
- Through My Eyes: Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Separate But Not Equal: The Dream and the Struggle by Jim Haskins
- I Am Rosa Parks by Jim Haskins and Rosa Parks
- I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Remember: A Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
- When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
Read Martin's Big Words
Meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and explore the story of his life through reading together.Download the PDF »
Comic Book Hero
Learn from Objects
By looking closely at a comic book, learn about how nonviolence worked in the past and make your own pocket card with tips to use nonviolence today. Image courtesy of Fellowship of ReconciliationDownload the PDF »
Word Art with Martin's Words
Make word art on the computer using the words of Dr. King's speeches and letters.Download the PDF »
Visit Your Government
Take A Trip
Have you ever been to a place where laws are made or enforced? Visit a seat of government in your community and think of some ways you could influence the government through nonviolence.Download the PDF »
Play and Create
Create a window decoration inspired by Dr. King and the ideas he shared with others.Download the PDF »
To March or Not to March?
Study in School
Take on the role of a fictional American in the mid-1900s and use a primary source to decide whether or not to join Dr. King at the March on Washington.Download the PDF »
Download the PowerPoint file (right-click to save) » Presentation requires either Microsoft® PowerPoint® (Windows and Mac), or Microsoft's PowerPoint Viewer (Windows only). Mac users without PowerPoint can download and install the Open Office® Suite. | <urn:uuid:17e89d59-0e2e-44cd-9061-31bfc11df602> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amhistory.si.edu/ourstory/activities/mlk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917348 | 625 | 3.65625 | 4 |
When looking at a map, many people may often use their own country as a standard by comparing it with the geographic features and locations of other countries. The Japanese, however, have gone an extra step and created a map that uses their own country as a standard for the world itself.
The Japan archipelago is composed of the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, as well as thousands of smaller islands, including Okinawa. The map you see above was made by rearranging the location of the various islands and adjusting their sizes to look like a map of the world.
This transforms Honshu into the Americas, Kyushu into Eurasia, Hokkaido into Africa and Shikoku into Australia. Okinawa assumes the role of New Zealand, and Sado Island fills the position of the British Isles.
The pieces fit together well enough that one could make a rather convincing WWII propaganda poster. Indeed, even more startling than the degree of ingenuity undoubtedly used to piece together this map is the fact that the world’s authorities on geography have gone oblivious to this revelation for so long.
Incidentally, according to this map, the RocketNews 24 editorial staff ends up somewhere in Northern Quebec, while this translator finds himself somewhere in the Southeast of the United States, near the land-bridge that seems to have formed in the unseemly fusion of Florida and Brazil.
So, where did you fall in the formation of this Japangaea? | <urn:uuid:0ca39333-0a7a-4411-b26e-7c15359ad5bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.rocketnews24.com/2011/03/08/world-replaced-by-japan-on-map-renamed-japangaea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959977 | 307 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Guest Post by Zach Bunting
It’s certainly not an issue that Mormons alone have to confront. Any person of faith encounters questions to which there appear no adequate answers in religion. Some might say that to question or search is to open a Pandora ’s box since you could find startling or troubling answers. After all, maybe it is more comfortable to blindly accept something that you want to be true. Tennyson saw things differently: “There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds,” he penned in his poem In Memoriam A.H.H.
For Latter-day Saints, the greatest witness we can receive is personal revelation, communicated to our minds and hearts by the Holy Ghost. It is personal experience that no one can refute but us. The very nature of our faith requires constant nourishment, and the Holy Ghost bears witness of truth, so it follows that as we investigate we can receive the same assurance that initially sprouted our faith. Perhaps that is why one of our Church’s leaders recently said, “As good as our previous experience may be, if we stop asking questions, stop thinking, stop pondering, we can thwart the revelations of the Spirit,” (Acting on the Truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ).
Recently I was involved in a discussion that started with the Curiosity rover and morphed into science versus religion. Those tending toward the atheistic end of the spectrum fueled their argument with scientific evidence in contradiction with biblical accounts. Some of the Christians responded by questioning the validity of science. However, there were a couple of believers that work closely with science who described their personal journeys to reconcile science with religion and maintain their intellectual honesty while fortifying their faith. What distinguished these believers was that they had actively asked questions that they knew had caused others to extinguish the flame of their own faith, but in so doing sought Heaven’s aid. When they arrived at conclusions that were satisfactory to them, they found peace and that familiar assurance that at first had converted them to Christ’s gospel. I felt challenged to venture out and discover where I feel the two intersect. I cannot discard my faith that has been fortified by numerous unforgettable experiences, nor can I pretend that science is faulty and changes with the wind. Both evolve: one as God sees fit to endow us with additional understanding, and the other as man’s efforts and ability enable us to understand. But I can allow both to heavily influence how I see the world. For me, especially when life plays out contrary to my expectations (for better or worse), I can look back and see the scientific explanation for how something happened, but I look through the lens of faith to understand why.
This recent journey was one that I knew came with risks. I have seen friends cast away their faith when they dug below the surface of this issue or others. Why is it that I advocate the search for truth? Is it because modern scripture instructs us to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith”? Is it because I fear to appear ignorant? For me, it is because I recognize that my faith will illuminate my understanding only inasmuch as I allow it to grow, even into the mysterious darkness. In the same poem, Tennyson also wrote:
We have but faith: we cannot know
For knowledge is of things we see
And yet we trust it comes from thee
A beam in darkness: let it grow.
As an explorer hungers to discover what lies beyond the horizon, I too find satisfaction and joy in expanding my understanding. And when I get there, I am not alone. The same familiar Spirit that at first testified to me of the truth of the Book of Mormon welcomes me to a new summit.
Learning is a magnificent process. It inspires the mind and enriches the soul. I love that Church leaders and scripture exhort us to learn constantly, because instead of shattering my faith, the process has solidified mine. | <urn:uuid:82dcafbb-b687-48d3-b2eb-b3171607d6ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reallifeanswers.org/tag/science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969957 | 822 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A Spare the Air advisory has been issued in the Bay Area for Thursday as sweltering temperatures brew unhealthy smog levels in ground level air.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District asks residents to minimize driving and other polluting activities and advises them to restrict outdoor exercise to the morning when smog concentrations are lowest.
Weather forecasters predict high temperatures in the upper 90s in some inland valleys and a high of 101 Thursday in Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin. Thursday will mark the fifth Spare the Air advisory of the Bay Area summer season, and Friday could become the sixth.
Ozone, the active ingredient in smog, can irritate eyes, throats and the lining of lungs, and worsen asthma and emphysema.
Air pollution in seven Bay Area counties and parts of southern Solano and Sonoma counties is regulated by the air district. Visit sparetheair.org for more information.
Contact Erin Ivie at 925-847-2122. Follow her at Twitter.com/erin_ivie. | <urn:uuid:77a9ecd0-63db-45cb-aa23-05efce55f16f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.contracostatimes.com/san-joaquin-county/ci_21265502/spare-air-alert-issued-thursday-bay-area | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921538 | 215 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Bubs fed bugs to treat bowel disease
Cutting-edge research by Girish Deshpande at Nepean Hospital has led the way to probiotic supplementation for premature babies at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Dr Deshpande, staff neonatologist and researcher, says probiotics can halve the risk of inflammatory bowel disease in premature babies, but the treatment is not common in Australia.
"Nepean Hospital is one of the first in Australia to offer probiotics as a standard therapy for premature babies," Dr Deshpande said.
Probiotics, friendly bacteria in the digestive tract, are found in yoghurt and cheese.
In March this year, the Department of Neonatal Intensive Care at Nepean Hospital conducted a workshop in Sydney to present developments in the field of probiotics.
But Dr Deshpande said that finding a probiotic product which was safe for use in premature babies was a challenge.
"After a year, Nepean Hospital's clinical pharmacist, Jing Xiao, found a product from overseas which is now offered to families for the treatment of their premature babies admitted to the NICU," Dr Deshpande said.
In Australia eight in 100 babies are born more than eight weeks premature and 6 per cent to 8 per cent of them develop necrotising enterocolitis (bowel disease). | <urn:uuid:00e7d2d5-8c9b-4a34-a158-4e2245dc2d6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.penrithstar.com.au/story/250053/bubs-fed-bugs-to-treat-bowel-disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957666 | 282 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Improved Performance of the VQ-580 Airborne Laser Scanner
The RIEGL VQ-580 is now capable of measurement ranges of up to 2350 m. First introduced at Intergeo 2010, the scanner was presented as a unique solution for surveying applications in glacier and snowfield as well as moist grassland mapping.
Equipped with a state-of-the art laser source emitting laser pulses of a wavelength especially suitable for measurements on snow and ice, the VQ-580 now offers pulse repetition rates up to 380 kHz resulting in an effective measurement rate of up to 190 000 measurements / sec.
The VQ-580 provides 6 measurement programs with pulse repetition rates of 50kHz, 100kHz, 150kHz, 200 kHz, 300 kHz and 380kHz to be ideally adapted to the requirements of the application in question. Depending on the chosen measurement program a maximum measurement range of up to 2350 m for natural targets at 60% target reflectivity and an operating flight altitude up to 3950 ft can be achieved. A high scan rate of up to 200 lines/sec. and a constant 60° field of view are the basis for an evenly distributed point pattern of highest resolution.
The scanner design provides a stable mounting base block on the rear side of the instrument for comfortable installation in hanging position. Further mounting threads on top and bottom offer additional mounting possibilities. All three sides are further designed for installation of an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
An overview of the sum of technical data is to be found in the RIEGL VQ-580 datasheet and in the airborne scanner overview. | <urn:uuid:23b94205-ba0c-4113-bfb2-5390925f80fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.riegl.co.at/media-events/single-news/article/improved-performance-of-the-vq-580-airborne-laser-scanner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917144 | 327 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Governor Schwarzenegger just gave solar power a boost in California, especially for relatively small-scale solar generators.
Taking notes from Europe, perhaps, Schwarzenegger signed legislation for a “feed-in tariff” earlier this week that requires Calfornia utilities buy solar power from relatively small generators and at higher than market-value prices.
In particular, the new requirement is that California utilities “buy power from solar-panel generators of 1.5-3.0 megawatts in size” and with a pricing scheme that looks to create a tariff of about 15-17 cents per kilowatt-hour.
This should give a boost to some existing solar generators and one perceived benefit is that it will create a sub-market for low-cost projects which don’t really fit into any existing portion of the energy market. However, a handful of solar companies also believe this is not a strong enough incentive and the 15-17 cents per kw-hour wouldn’t stimulate much investment.
Big solar companies such as Suntech Power Holdings, SunPower Corp, and Applied Materials Inc. would prefer to see a similar feed-in tariff program from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) instead.
Schwarzenegger encouraged the CPUC to go ahead and create a similar program, but said he was signing this bill now because California “will need to use all of the tools available” to achieve its goal to have 33% of electricity sold by utilities coming from renewable energy sources by 2020.
According to supporters, the tariff looks like it is good enough for schools, local governments, farms, and others on a similar scale to take advantage of. Looks like it could be a great thing for 1BOG neighborhood groups, too!
This is a major new incentive for smaller scale solar generators and hopefully it will stimulate investment in this more dormant area of the solar marketplace! Thank you Governor Schwarzenegger for this new solar boost.
Image Credit: Thomas Hawk via flickr under a Creative Commons license
I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below. | <urn:uuid:cf42117b-cc05-4590-8ab2-6b2b837069e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/14/new-california-bill-gives-more-money-to-small-scale-solar-projects/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930282 | 545 | 2.21875 | 2 |
In the Dec 15th Feature Article “How Many Weeks Before Your Marathon Should You Run Your Last Long Run”, we concluded that it is best to conduct your last long run four weeks prior to your marathon.
Without a long run during the last four weeks, won’t you lose fitness, compromising your ability to run the marathon at your true potential?
Don’t worry! These four weeks provide the opportunity to continue high quality training. As you recover from your last long run, incorporate a variety of speed workouts (assuming they were part of your training program) that will result in improving other factors that will affect marathon performance, e.g. running economy, speed and VO2max (maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and use oxygen during exercise). | <urn:uuid:eb188b67-ae0f-472f-8b66-79efb52f389a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iawr-connect.com/category/marathons/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929092 | 162 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Recently, George Mason University surveyed over 500 broadcast TV members of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, looking to discover their views about global warming. While 87% of the weathercasters said they had discussed global warming, 63% of those surveyed said that reported global warming is caused mostly by natural changes in
the environment. 25% indicated it isn’t happening at all. And 23% said they agreed with the statement "global warming is a scam."
In this segment, live from Norman, Oklahoma, we'll talk about TV weathercasters and climate change. What's their role in communicating the science to the public?
Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Associate Senior Producer | <urn:uuid:a2c15e63-57af-42c6-8cc3-fa5c6397dc5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencefriday.com/topics/art-history-culture/segment/04/09/2010/weathercasters-and-climate-change.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955158 | 142 | 2.34375 | 2 |
An Egyptian friend of mine once described the rapport between Cairo, its people and Egypt, saying: ‘The whole personality is interwoven… As a child I believed that if I laughed in the morning, the laughter would travel up and down the Nile and reach everyone by evening.’ There is a sense of belonging and entitlement to which no Cairene, however disenchanted, is entirely indifferent; but I would add that tears and anger travel swiftly too. As the year crosses the finishing line, Cairenes would agree with the rest of Egypt, and probably the world, that 2008 was not great. The city bears the scars of its passage, including the recent collapse of a massive cliff-face, burying alive hundreds of sleeping occupants of multi-storey slum dwellings.
Had the catastrophe occurred in a middle- or upper-class neighbourhood, the rescue efforts would have been more rigorous. Under the circumstances, one family trapped beneath the rubble reportedly begged for assistance for two excruciating weeks by cellphone, only to die, one by one, an unthinkable death. Housing for Egypt’s poor is not a state priority; more than half of the capital is composed of shanty towns, impromptu brick boxes piled haphazardly atop and beside one another. When the ones beneath the Muqattam cliffs were crushed, the state’s belated and meagre rescue operation, alongside the suppression of information regarding the number of victims and their identities, sent a familiar message – that those people shouldn’t have been there, and their lives were not worth saving.
For those born in so-called ‘informal’ neighbourhoods, a shoddy approximation of a home, a school, a job, is the closest they’ll get to the ‘formal’ thing. But people content themselves, working hard for years to acquire the necessities (four walls, a bed, a refrigerator and stove) that will allow them to marry and have children. In order to optimize scant earnings, everyone joins savings pools (gama’iyya) with their colleagues or neighbours, whereby members of the pool contribute a portion of their monthly salary and have the right to take turns at the kitty every few months. This gives access to relatively large sums once or twice a year for important purchases.
People prefer to save with each other because it’s the only way they can lay their hands on small loans, but also because they don’t trust the banks. Of course, they’ll never own their homes – less than 10 per cent of all Egyptians hold the deeds to their property – but legal ownership is less important to the poor than a place to lay their heads.
Denied the expression of citizenship via property, or a voice of any sort in politics, excluded from these essentially symbolic institutions, Cairenes invest more interest and attention in each other, in real life, so to speak. A premium is placed on character, which translates as the ability to shoulder one’s burden lightly. Cairenes are stalwart at the prospects of poverty, sickness, death and even apocalypse, yet tenderly hopeful in a collective future. The 14th-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun described the concept of asabiyya, meaning solidarity or group feeling. African culture has something similar, ubuntu – what Desmond Tutu calls ‘the essence of being human… my humanity is caught up, bound up and inextricable in yours’.
I have lived in many cities, and observed the pride of place that people feel for them; but nowhere else have I experienced Cairo’s peculiar brand of camaraderie. It runs strong at times like these, around the New Year, or at religious feasts like the celebration of group survival that follows Ramadan’s month of fasting.
TV and radio broadcast feast-themed programming, and quiz shows are popular, especially the one that currently offers contestants the chance to win a brand new flat. On the radio, callers that correctly answer quiz questions sometimes earn no more than a chance to dedicate a song to a loved one. But the winners rarely single out a lover or parent, and even if they do, given the opportunity publicly to express a desire heard up and down the Nile, they nearly always say: ‘This one goes out to all Cairenes and all Egyptians – god protect us, give us peace and good health.’
This first appeared in our award-winning magazine - to read more, subscribe from just £7 | <urn:uuid:f2d0619c-186f-4935-baaf-36769c7de2e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newint.org/columns/letters-from/2009/01/01/no-place/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955177 | 933 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Combining literary and philosophical analysis, this study defends an utterly innovative reading of the early history of poetics. It is the first to argue that there is a distinctively Socratic view of poetry and the first to connect the Socratic view of poetry with earlier literary tradition.
Literary theory is usually said to begin with Plato's famous critique of poetry in the Republic. Grace Ledbetter challenges this entrenched assumption by arguing that Plato's earlier dialogues Ion, Protagoras, and Apology introduce a distinctively Socratic theory of poetry that responds polemically to traditional poets as rival theorists. Ledbetter tracks the sources of this Socratic response by introducing separate readings of the poetics implicit in the poetry of Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar. Examining these poets' theories from a new angle that uncovers their literary, rhetorical, and political aims, she demonstrates their decisive influence on Socratic thinking about poetry.
The Socratic poetics Ledbetter elucidates focuses not on censorship, but on the interpretation of poetry as a source of moral wisdom. This philosophical approach to interpreting poetry stands at odds with the poets' own theories--and with the Sophists' treatment of poetry. Unlike the Republic's focus on exposing and banishing poetry's irrational and unavoidably corrupting influence, Socrates' theory includes poetry as subject matter for philosophical inquiry within an examined life.
Reaching back into what has too long been considered literary theory's prehistory, Ledbetter advances arguments that will redefine how classicists, philosophers, and literary theorists think about Plato's poetics. | <urn:uuid:eba16590-ac8c-48c2-9f25-0eed7ce18356> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/poetics-before-plato/grace-m-ledbetter/9780691096094 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938128 | 319 | 2.75 | 3 |
Regulators in Oregon and California have quietly directed some health insurance companies to stop denying coverage for transgender patients because of their gender identity.
The states aren't requiring coverage of specific medical treatments. But they told some private insurance companies they must pay for a transgender person's hormone therapy, breast reduction, cancer screening or any other procedure deemed medically necessary if they cover it for patients who aren't transgender.
The changes apply to companies insuring about a third of Oregonians and about 7 percent of Californians, but not to people on Medicare and Medicaid or to the majority of Californians who are insured through a health management organization, or HMO.
Advocacy groups said the action is a major step forward in their long battle to win better health care coverage for transgender Americans.
"It's just a matter of fairness," said Ray Crider, a 28-year-old transgender man from Portland. "I just never felt that I was like anybody else. I see everybody else being taken care of without having to fight the system."
Officials in both states said the new regulations aren't new policies but merely a clarification of anti-discrimination laws passed in California in 2005 and in Oregon two years later.
Many health insurance policies broadly exclude coverage of gender identity disorder or classify it as a pre-existing condition. Transgender patients are often denied coverage for medical procedures unrelated to a gender transition, advocacy groups said, because insurance companies deem the condition to be related to their sex reassignment.
Some transgender patients also have trouble getting access to gender-specific care. A person who identifies as a man might be denied coverage for ovarian cancer screening or a hysterectomy. A transgender woman might be denied a prostate screening.
The state insurance regulators said those procedures, if covered for anybody, must be covered for all patients regardless of their gender.
Masen Davis, director of the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, said he's unaware of insurance regulators in any other state taking similar action.
The California regulations took effect in September and apply only to insurance products regulated by the California Department of Insurance. The agency primarily regulates preferred provider plans, or PPOs, that covered about 7 percent of the population in 2010, according to data from the California Health Care Foundation.
The agency that regulates California HMOs has discussed transgender care with consumer groups and health plans, "but no regulations have yet been proposed or adopted," said Marta Bortner Green, a spokeswoman for the Department of Managed Health Care.
The Oregon Insurance Division issued its guidance last month in the form of a bulletin to insurers. It applies to commercial insurance companies that cover about a third of the state's population; the rest are uninsured, on Medicare or Medicaid, or work for a large employer that's self-insured.
"This is a very historic bulletin, and it really indicates that the tide is turning on this issue," said Tash Shatz, transgender justice program manager at Basic Rights Oregon, an advocacy group.
Transgender advocates say gender reassignment, through hormone treatment or surgery, is medically necessary, and they've long fought insurance companies that argue the procedures are cosmetic. They hope the new state regulations will mean fewer procedures are refused and make it easier to appeal a denial. | <urn:uuid:f0c7ba7c-2620-4b51-85e1-74c598ee2937> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/11/ore-calif-require-transgender-health-coverage/?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954603 | 661 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Producing for Screen and Society in the 21st Century
In this 10-week course Lord David Puttnam sets out the challenges facing screen producers in the 21st Century.
To establish the agenda, David Puttnam reflects on the experiences and lessons of a career which, as well as screen producing, has included advertising, being an agent for the celebrated photographer, David Bailey, serving in the House of Lords and chairing the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill.
Puttnam spent thirty years as an independent producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Memphis Belle. His films have won ten Oscars, 25 Baftas and the Palme D’Or at Cannes. He is the present Chancellor of the Open University in the UK and has been Vice President and Chair of Trustees at the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA). In recent years, his work has focused on public policy as it relates to education, the environment, and the ‘creative and communications’ industries.
This seminar series canvasses the themes of connecting with the audience, the importance of identifying your markets, the social responsibility of the screen producer and the changing nature of screen production and distribution in the digital era. The course asks just what is involved in producing for screen and society in the 21st Century.
Read more about the seminar series,. breakdown of seminars, pricing, dates, times and further enquiries on the Griffith Film School website: | <urn:uuid:05a6f227-8c2d-4078-98c5-f697a24b1a33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qcagriffith.com/2012/08/producing-for-screen-and-society-in-the-21st-century/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95043 | 320 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Age-related hearing loss is the most common type of hearing impairment. A number of factors may contribute to hearing loss due to aging. Some observational studies have suggested that there may be a connection between low levels of folic acid (a B vitamin) and hearing loss .
A study in the January 2, 2007 Annals of Internal Medicine found that older adults who took a daily folic acid supplement experienced less hearing loss than those who took a placebo. This study took place in the Netherlands, however, so its results may apply less to older adults living in countries such as the United States, where the food supply is fortified with folic acid.
About the Study
This study included 728 Dutch men and women ages 50-70 years who had high homocysteine levels (homocysteine levels increase as folic acid levels decrease). The researchers randomly assigned the participants to take either an 800-microgram folic acid supplement or a placebo pill daily for three years. The participants had hearing tests before the study began and after three years, and the researchers compared hearing changes between the folic acid and placebo groups.
After three years, hearing thresholds increased significantly—indicating hearing loss—in both groups of participants. But in the folic acid group, low-frequency thresholds increased by 1.0 decibel (dB), compared to a 1.7-dB increase in the placebo group. Folic acid supplementation did not affect the decline in high-frequency hearing.
Folic acid fortification of foods is prohibited in the Netherlands. As expected, therefore, the folic acid levels of the participants in this study were about half of those found in the United States population, where fortification of flour with folic acid is mandatory.
How Does This Affect You?
This study suggests that folic acid supplementation may help reduce hearing loss in older adults, at least in a country where foods are not fortified with folic acid. Although the 0.7 dB decrease in hearing loss observed in this study was small and probably would not be noticed, it is possible that longer term supplementation could have a larger impact on preventing or slowing age-related hearing loss.
While taking extra folic acid is likely to benefit older adults whose folic acid levels are low, it is not clear from this study that such supplementation would benefit populations with higher levels of folic acid in the diet. More studies are needed to determine if there are hearing-related benefits of folic acid supplementation in these countries. But this study may help justify folic acid fortification of foods in countries that currently do not mandate it.
- Reviewer: Richard Glickman-Simon, MD
- Review Date: 02/2007 - | <urn:uuid:110cf400-33a0-4ee9-937c-bfa3a649ce27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kendallmed.com/your-health/?/2010817024/Folic-Acid-Supplements-May-Help-Reduce-Age-related-Hearing-Loss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963314 | 549 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Here is the paper where I wrote up my Ph.D. work (PDF file). And here is how it starts.
"This is a revised and more "user-friendly" version of [Seel, 90] which wrote up my Ph.D. work for publication. The latter has more pictures, and its slightly greater austerity may please the formalist. Still all the math is still here, it's just more clearly explained!
The problem we're looking at is simply stated. Take an example: we can look at intelligent robots operating in trial-and-error mode in a local environment, and accurately describe their behaviour using sentences like "look, it didn't know there was a hole there, that's why it fell over", and "now it knows where the power supply is, it will find a direct route."
In the jargon, this use of words like "knows", along with words like "believes", "wants" to describe and predict the behaviour of agents is called intentional description. It's so natural that it's not even obvious why it should be problematic. But the designers and engineers who constructed the robot have a different story as to how it behaves. They understand the causal mechanisms underpinning its perceptual, information-storage and problem-solving abilities. They can also predict (and alter and fix) the robot's behaviour.
Engineers normally have little time for intentional descriptions, considering them as so much sentimentality and anthropomorphism. Also, they don't see how intentional descriptions could work - the casual observer doesn't, after all, know the engineering. Still, intentional descriptions do work - we use them all the time and not just for robots.
To see how it all fits together, we need to use mathematical models: both for robots and their environments (for which we use automata-type formalisms) and for intentional language (for which we use logic, namely the special modal logics of knowledge, belief and goals).
It then turns out that the relationship between the two kinds of description, intentional and engineering, comes out in the maths as a semantic relationship between formulae in the logic and the appropriate automata-structured model spaces of the logic.
To properly get the details of what follows, you need to know basic propositional modal logic as taught in introductory AI or logic courses. Despite the jargon, the paper is more interested in conceptual clarity than the use of deep or intricate mathematical techniques (in fact I don't use any). If you read the words and avoid the formulae, you still get the gist of what's going on.
A shorter alternative to reading the rest of this paper is to look at (Seel, 1991) at http://interweave-consulting.blogspot.com/2010/05/logical-omniscience-of-reactive-systems.html.
Seel, N. R. (1990). Intentional Description of Reactive Systems. In Y. Demazeau & J-P. Muller (Eds.), Proceedings of the Second European Workshop on Modelling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V./North-Holland.
This is the main technical presentation of my Ph.D work in an accessible form. " | <urn:uuid:149c6539-f7aa-4dda-8063-96711c8c451c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://interweave-consulting.blogspot.com/2010/05/intentional-description-of-reactive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941548 | 680 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The WindSmith Academy, is a wind energy / wind turbine educational facility of the American Wind Power Center located in Lubbock, Texas. WindSmith Academy's Spring 2012 class is full. The dates for additional classes have not yet been set.
This comprehensive two day school will cover the basic tenets of wind power generation and give students the opportunity to climb the Center's 50 meter Vestas wind turbine tower.
Completion of these courses will provide a learning experience for those interested in continuing their education in more formal wind power classes at area universities or colleges.
After this school, anyone interested in working in the wind fields will have the experience to determine if this exciting field of employment is best for them. Others who need or just want to learn about this new field of energy can learn how wind turbines work, what land areas are best for their use and what wind is needed to make wind turbines perform best.
View comments from previous students.
Other topics of interest covered in the school include the history and transition of wind turbines, wind turbine erection, electrical transmission and how utilities interface with wind farms.
The Wind Smith Academy is sponsored in part by: Xcel Energy | <urn:uuid:03551250-1eb8-4f25-b813-3fc755fe7cc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://windsmithacademy.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942804 | 236 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Banking was highly controversial in 19th-century Illinois. Modernizers stressed the need for adequate venture capital and money supplies, but traditionalist farmers feared they would be impoverished by an artificial "money monster." Efforts to create a state bank floundered in confusion, while the dubious character of most private banknotes inspired the state to ban private banks altogether. The major breakthrough came during the Civil War, when federal laws encouraged the establishment of strong national banks in all the larger cities, and Chicago quickly became the financial center of the Midwest. Apart from the 1920s and early 1930s, when numerous neighborhood and small-town banks folded, the banking system has flourished. The Bureau of Banks and Trust Companies at the Office of Banks and Real Estate regulates state chartered banks and trust companies.
Illinois had the greatest number of banks in the nation in 2002. There were 791 insured banks in Illinois, 502 of them state-chartered, an unusually large number attributable to regulations restricting branch banking. From 1870 until the 1970, even the largest banks were allowed only one office. Branching without limitation was available in 1993. As of September 2002, insured banks held $535.7 billion in assets. By 1995, the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) had assisted 49 Illinois institutions out of insolvency, at a cost of $1.5 billion.
As of the end of 2002, Illinois' largest banks were experiencing an increase in profitability, as median annualized return on assets (ROA) ratio (the measure of earnings in relation to all resources) rose due to lower funding costs. Net interest margins (NIMs) (the difference between the lower rates offered to savers and the higher rates charged on loans) for Illinois' community banks (less than $1 billion in assets) increased. | <urn:uuid:0f702cbb-b676-4815-9f8f-e10621bda911> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.city-data.com/states/Illinois-Banking.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966672 | 366 | 3.03125 | 3 |
In recent days we’ve heard a variety of rationales for military intervention in Libya. One is the simple humanitarian impulse to save lives in imminent danger, which Obama officials insist is paramount. Beneath that are other unstated, or less-emphasized, motivations. One, as Massimo has explained, is the assertion of humanitarian intervention as an ideal in itself. Another is the principle of enforceable norms dictated by international bodies like the U.N. and the Arab League, as the president himself seemed to say yesterday. And there are some less noble theories, including the idea that the White House feared losing face if Ghaddafi were to survive after Obama called for his ouster, or the notion that once Sarkozy took the political lead (perhaps motivated by domestic political pressures), Obama couldn’t afford not to participate.
Today The Wall Street Journal‘s Jay Solomon throws another ingredient into the mix: Iran.
White House concerns that Iran’s hand is being strengthened by recent events in the Middle East is central to its response to the turmoil, say U.S., European, and Arab officials.
President Barack Obama’s decision last week to use military force against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces was made in part by his administration’s fear that Western inaction could further embolden Tehran, these officials say.
It’s not entirely clear from Solomon’s story how Obama’s Libyan intervention represents a challenge to Iran. But the idea seems to be that the U.S. is demonstrating that the world won’t tolerate repressive tyrants like Ghaddfi (or, if you will, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). It certainly complicates matters that the U.S. is are not more vigorously opposing the anti-democratic crackdowns in Yemen and Bahrain. But the explanation in those cases also comes back to Iran: Obama officials say they believe that Tehran is meddling in both those countries, coloring the popular movements there in Washington’s view, and suggesting that the great Arab revolution of 2011 may be turning into something of a proxy struggle between the U.S. and Iran. | <urn:uuid:a5b1f3fd-2b14-4cc9-9db6-249a18c7de76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://swampland.time.com/2011/03/22/is-libya-really-about-iran/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959163 | 441 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Significant sums of money have been invested in developing automated systems aimed at boosting the throughput, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of sample screening. Investments made in this area are wasted, however, if the quality of the sample in a well plate is not accurate. Empty wells, or wells with the wrong concentration, result in wasted reagents, repeat screens, increased costs, and potentially false negatives.
The integrity of samples within an automated storage system has a significant impact on the quality of the delivered plate wells and the resulting screening process. Knowing the volume of sample within the source tubes and whether any sample has precipitated out of solution, resulting in a different concentration, are key requirements for compound management and high-throughput screening groups.
Current automated techniques for checking the volume of a sample in a tube are both time consuming and inaccurate, while manual methods are simply impractical when dealing with HTS or large compound libraries due to the numbers of samples that must be audited. Manual visual checks at a pharmaceutical company, which handles millions of sample tubes, would be difficult and expensive to perform on a regular basis.
Finding Volume in a Tube
Traditionally, the sample volume in a tube is found by knowing the tare weight of the tube, which is then subtracted from the gross weight of the tube, i.e., tube plus solubilized sample contents. This process is not only time consuming to perform manually, but also requires software that links the resulting data back to the sample inventory.
Technological advances have resulted in the introduction of instruments designed to assist with this method of volume determination. Typically, such instruments process a rack of tubes by selecting a single tube and scanning its bar code before then weighing it. The data is stored on file and linked back to the sample inventory. While these devices can also be used to pretare tubes, there are a number of limitations. Caps or septa, used to seal the tubes, can sometimes vary in weight by as much as 50 mg; this means that even with automated solutions, the weighing of a sample tube may not ensure that the volume information is accurate.
Another automated approach intended to address this issue utilizes acoustic sensor technology. Sensors, placed above the open necks of the tubes, allow the calculation of the distance to the upper surface of the liquid (and hence the volume in the tube) by measuring the time for the acoustic signal to reflect back from the meniscus.
While acoustic methods allow relatively high-speed volume auditing, there are again limitations when using this technique. For example, the signal from an acoustic sensor can be affected by several environmental factors that may lead to false information being returned. In addition, a calibration data set must be generated from previously measured sample volumes. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, this method only works with un-capped tubes, which may have significant implications for sample quality. Determining precipitates is also not possible using this technique.
Perhaps the simplest approach to tracking sample volume is to just maintain a calculated value in an inventory database, and decrement that value in line with the sample volume removed from the tubes during liquid-handling operations. This approach, which has been adopted by many groups, relies on the liquid handling being performed exactly as intended. However, blocked tips, or double aspirate/dispense cycles are not unknown, both of which will result in the tracked volume soon becoming inaccurate. The benefit of a closed-loop measurement process is thus clear. | <urn:uuid:068fea06-0a36-480e-8476-99f7696de168> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/high-speed-sample-volume-measurement/2908/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954326 | 704 | 2.5 | 2 |
Should preschool be compulsory?
Jane Silloway Smith: No. Better parenting helps kids’ lives, not preschool
The Government’s announcement last week that all beneficiary parents will be required to send their children to early childhood education (ECE) for at least 15 hours a week from age three was signalled as a way to ensure children of beneficiaries “get the best possible start in life”. Despite good intentions, making preschool compulsory could ultimately do more harm than good by undermining instead of strengthening children’s most critical relationships.
The case for compulsory preschooling seems, on the surface, to be a compelling one. Evidence from many reputable sources indicates that attendance at high-quality ECE can enable children from disadvantaged backgrounds to narrow the achievement gaps with their more advantaged peers in terms of school readiness. So, children of beneficiaries go to ECE; they get better prepared for school; their life chances improve; and the Government avoids the social and financial costs of future negative outcomes for these children. A win-win for all, right?
Not quite. ECE has been shown to benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds because these children often lack what their more advantaged peers have: a nurturing home environment. Educational researchers regularly report that a nurturing home environment will have a more profound impact on a child’s educational achievement than preschool programmes – a reason often stated for why more advantaged children are not often found to gain much, if anything, educationally from ECE.
So making preschooling compulsory for the children of beneficiaries actually dodges the most critical factor for a child’s future – their home environment. Most child development experts will tell you children need a good home in which they are able to form an attachment to their parents for proper development. For that to occur, parents need to be nurturing and interacting with their children: talking to them, cuddling them, and generally taking an interest in their lives.
Many parents on a benefit are doing a good job with all that, despite the financial and employment obstacles they may be facing. It would be a mistake, then, to force them to put their children in ECE when other options may be more suitable.
Though good parents abound, we must face the reality that some are not properly nurturing and interacting with their children. Yet taking decision-making away from parents in dysfunctional situations, as compulsory preschooling would do, absolves them of their responsibility for their children and does nothing to correct the most pressing problem: poor parenting. No amount of high-quality ECE will ever make up for this lack…
In the end, what’s best for children is to grow up in a stable family with parents who are nurturing and interested in their development. Compulsory preschool won’t ensure this; indeed, it may undermine it.
* Dr Jane Silloway Smith is research manager for the Maxim Institute, an independent research and public policy think tank, incorporated as a charitable trust. For more details, see www.maxim.org.nz
From the Smiths:
Updated 23 September 2012: Life for Those Left Behind (Craig Smith’s Health) page 6 click here
Needing help for your home schooling journey:
Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:
This link is motivational: | <urn:uuid:efd513e0-4869-4d2b-8097-f0208952eb8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hef.org.nz/2012/should-preschool-be-compulsory/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948971 | 679 | 2.703125 | 3 |
USDA wants your input
USDA wants your input
Help them target key issues when conducting the NAHMS Dairy 2014 study.
By Amanda Smith, Hoard’s Dairyman Associate Editor
It’s a study that is cited in almost every issue of Hoard’s Dairyman. Those who author herd health, milk quality and facilities-related articles frequently use the NAHMS Dairy 2007 study as a reference. One of the more recent occurrences was Al Kertz’s article in our September 25, 2012, issue, on page 603 titled “Transition periods aren’t just for your dry cows.”
It’s your turn now to provide input on what needs to be studied in 2014.
The USDA would like to hear from stakeholders of the U.S. dairy industry to help develop objectives for the Dairy 2014 study to be conducted by USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) in collaboration with the National Agricultural Statistics Service. “Input is essential if we are to address specific needs and information gaps of those involved in dairy production and research,” noted Jason Lombard, D.V.M., with the USDA.
NAHMS provides stakeholders in private and public sectors with valuable information on disease occurrence, exposure to disease agents, management practices, productivity, knowledge gaps and other important topics of concern to U.S. livestock industries.
In our November 2012 issue we noted in a Hoard’s Has Heard on page 739, noted that input had to be received by December 14, 2012. This date has been amended and the deadline for providing input is now December 31, 2012. Click here for the survey.
As with previous NAHMS dairy studies, NAHMS Dairy 2014 will be national in scope, collaborative in nature and voluntary. Data collected during the study will be strictly confidential and used to generate scientifically based and statistically valid national estimates, which will be used for education, research and policy development. Results from previous NAHMS national dairy studies are available at: http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov/dairy
The site contains results from the NAHMS dairy studies done in 1996, 2002, 2007 and their most recent work, the NAHMS Dairy Heifer Raiser 2011. In addition to the study results, there are technical briefs, info sheets and comparisons of the industry from 1996 to 2007. The info sheets cover topicsranging from passive transfer in calves, changes in health and management practices, as well as milking procedures and reproduction practices.
Click the icon to subscribe to HD Notebook and get the blog sent to you. | <urn:uuid:75fef1b8-fd9a-4393-adb5-0906acab39eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hoards.com/blog_USDA-wants-input?mini=calendar%2F2013-01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937132 | 548 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Haiti slides deeper into misery
Storms wipe out farms, flow of aid slows, and fears of cholera rise
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US & World
Janelia Point Dujour sits outside her home damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Petit-Goave, Haiti. The storm killed 54 people in the country and delivered the biggest blow yet to reconstruction from the January 2010 earthquake.
FAUCHE, Haiti — A woman who lost just about everything now gives her children coffee for meals because it quiets their stomachs a bit.Another despondent mother relives the moment when her 18-month-old baby was swept from her arms by a flash food.The bodies of a family of five killed in a mudslide still lie in a morgue, unclaimed.
Haitians suffered mightily when Hurricane Sandy bashed the country’s rural areas and killed at least 54 people.
Three weeks after the storm, Haiti, still struggling to recover from an earthquake in January 2010, has endured its biggest blow to reconstruction and is slipping deeper into crisis. United Nations and Haitian government officials say hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of hunger or malnutrition.
All around Fauche and other hamlets nearby, those who farmed bananas, plantains, sugar cane, beans and breadfruit stare at fields swept of trees, still flooded or coated with river muck that probably will kill off whatever plants are left. Hardened by past disasters, they still fear the days and weeks ahead.
“I do not know where we will find money for food and school now,” said Olibrun Hilaire, 61, surveying his wrecked plantain and sugar-cane farm in Petit-Goave that supported his family of 10 children and grandchildren.
This year’s storms and drought have imperiled Haiti’s food supply, caused $254 million in agricultural losses and thrown 1.6 million people — 16 percent of the population — into dire straits.
Tropical Storm Isaac in August destroyed farms in the north, and a spring drought had devastated farms there.Although Hurricane Sandy passed west of Hispaniola — the island that includes Haiti — and over Jamaica, it was large enough to send 20 inches of rain over southern Haiti.
Last week, the government and the U.N. took stock of the storm’s effects and grappled with flooding in the north from a new cloudburst that left 10 people dead. They also issued an emergency appeal for $39 million in humanitarian aid to a world weary of Haiti’s recurrent disasters. U.N. officials said they had received pledges for about $8 million, and the Haitian government said it is in talks with donors to raise at least half the requested amount.“This is a major blow to Haiti’s reconstruction efforts, making life for most vulnerable Haitians even more precarious,” said the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, Nigel Fisher. “International partners’ ability to respond has been reduced by dwindling donor support,” he added.
The recent storms have damaged or destroyed 61 cholera-treatment centers, leading to fears that there might be outbreaks of an epidemic that has killed more than 7,500 people since 2010.
Although government officials have blamed unfulfilled aid pledges, international donors blame political uncertainty for the lack of progress since the quake.President Michel Martelly has his second prime minister in a year and a half in office, amid squabbles with Parliament.
“Donors don’t contribute if there is no government,” said Myrta Kaulard, the country director of the U.N. World Food Program, one of the agencies rallying aid to help 20,000 families make it through the winter.
The government estimates it will take $1.5 billion to modernize domestic agriculture and reverse decades of ill-conceived policies that have left Haiti importing more than half its food. | <urn:uuid:efd574b8-2211-4b1e-bb67-d749654fbb7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/11/18/haiti-slides-deeper-into-misery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949888 | 974 | 1.953125 | 2 |
I finally got around to seeing “The Social Network,” and after two hours of being captivated by the film, all I can say is: That Mark Zuckerberg, he sure could have used a timeout from his parents. Or maybe just had his computer privileges taken away.
Or, at the very least, mom and dad could have given their son some sage advice. Like if you only have one friend in the world, and this friend lends you $19,000, don’t screw him over. Of course, someone should have told said friend, Eduardo, lending large amounts of money to your BFF, especially one as self-absorbed as Mark, has turned many a genuine friendship sour.
Now I know there’s some fictionalizing in this film in order to tell a better story. The movie was based on a book called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, and I’m going to assume it was written from the perspective of Eduardo, who comes off in the movie looking like a victim and a saint. But for the sake of my blog, I’m going to process it as 100% real, as in, this is what really happened. To me, this movie is gospel and I’m sure every conversation happened exactly as it was written in the script, down to the very smart and insightful associate lawyer, played by Rashida Jones.
In the film, Rashida represents us, the audience, who like us, listens during the depositions to the fascinating story of the making of Facebook as it unfolds through a series of flashbacks. At the end of the film, Rashida speaks for us, when she says what we’ve been thinking all along: Mark Zuckerberg is not a nice guy. I am paraphrasing, so don’t take my words as gospel.
The lesson here is, if you’re a college student, especially one from Harvard, and you want to start up something new but you need financial backing from a friend, make sure you put it in writing. Detail what the expectations are from each partner. I’m talking a contract, not a gentlemen’s agreement. When it comes to making money, there are no gentlemen, only ruthless capitalists. Didn’t these boys see Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street?” Greed isn’t so good when it’s at the expense of your friends or, in this case, a friend who also happens to be a saint.
As for the twins, I don’t have much sympathy for them, handsome and athletic as they are. In my estimation, which I base on the movie as my sole source, they didn’t give Mark the idea of Facebook, or The Facebook, as it’s originally called. They only met with Mark once and exchanged a few emails. Plus, there idea wasn’t as grandiose. They were thinking small, so if you ask me, they were lucky to settle out of court and make millions in the process. Frankly, I think they were just jealous of Mark, the boy wonder.
So if Mark’s parents had intervened, they could have disciplined their son several times, like when he trashed the rental in California. His dad also could have advised Mark not to befriend a guy like Sean, the founder of Napster. Sean was trouble from day one and Saint Eduardo knew it. Plus, Mark’s mom could have made her son write a nice thank you note to his friend, for believing in him and for loaning him all that start-up money. While she was at it, she could have made her son clean up all those broken beer bottles on the kitchen floor. That was disgusting.
To think, if it weren’t for Mark’s girlfriend dumping him (and you have to give her some credit for dating him in the first place), Facebook might not be what it is today. Maybe it wouldn’t even exist. Powerful stuff and certainly, food for thought. True love for Zuckerberg was out of reach and I attribute this to one thing and one thing only: Mark lacked empathy—compassion for his fellow man or in this case, his girlfriend and his BFF.
Poor, rich billionaire lad. If you ask me, the only thing missing in this film, was for “Citizen Zuckerberg,” alone in his Facebook world, to utter the words, “Rosebud.” Cameras would then pan to his childhood sled. That would’ve been perfect.
- Who Is Eduardo Saverin? Early Facebook Investor Peter Thiel Opens Up (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com) | <urn:uuid:5fcda837-bbf4-4b57-86a8-7a545702f6a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://monicastangledweb.com/2010/11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980516 | 982 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Career Services Presents- Steps to be a Financial Superstar: Money Management Tips
According to a 2008 national survey, college students feel unprepared and uneducated on how to manage their finances. The reality is you are going to graduate from college, move out of Mom and Dad's and get a Job. However, to be a successful adult you need to be literate and confident at managing your finances and meeting your long term goals.
The aim of this workshop is to introduce you to such topics including retirement savings, creating a budget, managing credit cards and paying off student debt. These seem challenging but having the conversation now and learning best practices will help to secure your success. Come to the session and learn how to get an A in managing your finances after college.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 12:00 noon in Career Services (101 Muller Center)
Please sign up in advance in eRecruiting to save your seat!
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Career Services at firstname.lastname@example.org or (607) 274-3365. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
Originally published in Intercom: Career Services Presents- Steps to be a Financial Superstar: Money Management Tips. | <urn:uuid:cf1a3493-e299-4e47-851a-ae6104d59b50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ithaca.edu/sacl/news/career-services-presents--steps-to-be-a-financial-superstar:-moneymanagement-tips-34149/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947922 | 253 | 1.945313 | 2 |
"There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance." -- Goethe
"The search for truth is never wrong. The only sin is to lack the courage to follow where truth leads." -- Duke
Our precious Heritage is under attack. Slowly, over the course of time, our Heritage has been stolen, abused, laughed at and shamed into obscurity. Once, long ago, our forefathers were proud, noble and at peace with who they were. Men such as Martin Luther, William Wallace, Christopher Columbus, Leif Ericson, Nathaniel Morton, William Bradford, Patrick Henry, Robert E. Lee and George Washington would never have been ashamed of their Heritage. These great men, and millions just like them, never suffered from "White guilt" or made apologies for the heroic deeds and noble sacrifices of their ancestors. These great men, and millions just like them, boldly and courageously fought for the rights of their people to live freely in the lands of their ancestors or in new lands that they knew God gave to them.
Today, the Heritage that these noble men passed to their posterity is under attack. White Heritage is considered "racist," "bigoted," "hateful" among other negative connotations. Today, there are those who would destroy our Heritage, just because it's White. Today, our White Heritage is attacked by Hollywood in movies and TV. The news constantly bombards us with how horrible it is to be White, non-White groups are constantly assailing the negative consequences of living in a "White" society. Add the word "Christian" with the word "White" and the hatred for our culture and Heritage gets almost maniacal. Christianity is mocked, laughed at, and disregarded as something for weirdoes or extremists. Today, the word "Christian" is considered a four-letter, dirty word. The phrase "White Christian" is even worse.
To be White in the land that our courageous Mayflower Pilgrims so stoically suffered, some of them dying so that their children and grandchildren could have a better life, is to be constantly bombarded with shame and guilt. To be White in the land of George Washington, the father of our country, and Thomas Jefferson, one of the authors of our Constitution, is to be constantly reminded that being White equals racism and hate. To be White in the land of Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, James Madison and a host of our other founding fathers is to be ridiculed and blasted as imperialists and thugs.
Today, the descendants of those courageous men and women are not allowed to stand and be proud White men and women. White people in all White nations of the world today have given up their Heritage without a fight. White birth rates are below replacement levels for a people and culture that made this world vital, strong and livable for all people, not just Whites. If something drastic isn't done, before long White people will cease to exist.
White Heritage is a four letter word in the world today
We love our Heritage
We love our people
We love our country
We want all White People to love their Heritage, culture and people
We want our Heritage to survive in the lands our ancestors provided for us through great sacrifice
It is our right as White Americans
It is our right as White people everywhere!
Truth is not Racist
Facts are not Hate
We are committed to preserving, enlightening, educating and empowering our People, the White, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Celtic, Scandinavian peoples of the world
Our Beautiful Heritage!
In no way should the information on this web site be used as an excuse for hatred, violence or to commit any illegal act against any person of color
This site is about information and education of White people and the preservation of our unique Heritage
Be Respectful, Be Polite, Be Christian at all times
Remember -- Truth is not Racist, Facts are not Hate! | <urn:uuid:0a6c5506-c7db-46e7-b2e6-f163d3ac9d31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.saveyourheritage.com/about_us.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950668 | 800 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Now that Samsung has announced its Galaxy S III muscle phone, one big question is how its core technology stacks up against that of its main Android rival, the HTC One X. So let's take a look under the hood and see.
The S III packs a 1.4GHz quad-core chip, as the company indicated last week. Samsung obviously believes that kind of horsepower is necessary to drive a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1,280 x 720 resolution, among other things.
The One X, with a 4.7-inch screen and an identical 1,280 x 720 resolution, also sports a quad-core chip in its European variant -- but opts for dual-core in the U.S. More on that in a moment.
Samsung has gone into some detail to explain why it has gone quad-core for the first time in the Galaxy S series.
Samsung Galaxy S III (European variant) with Exynos 4 Quad highlights:
- Full-speed video: Uses HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for 1080p video recording and play-back. Also includes an embedded image signal processor interface for a high-quality camera and an HDMI 1.4 interface.
- Speed jump: Owing to its 32-nanometer tech, the Exynos 4 Quad has "two times the processing capability over the 45-[nanometer] process based Exynos dual-core while consuming 20-percent less power," Samsung said.
- Ready to plug into new phones: Exynos 4 Quad is "pin-to-pin compatible" with the Exynos 4 Dual, allowing smartphone and tablet suppliers to adopt the new solution without additional engineering or design efforts.
- Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Based on the current Cortex A9 tech from ARM. The latest and greatest ARM tech is called Cortex A15 but those chips won't emerge as commercial products for a while yet.
Because the Galaxy S III is so new, more in-depth reviews about performance are on the way. (See Galaxy S III performance preview here.) But the HTC One X is a known quantity. Let's look at performance and the processor internals of the European/International variant.
HTC One X (European variant) with quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3:
- Needless to say, fast: "Blazingly fast -- you won't feel any
Android 'lag' when using this phone," said CNET Reviews. "HTC also claims a fast camera startup of 0.7 second and 0.2 second autofocus," CNET said.
- "Five" cores: Nvidia calls it "Super 4-PLUS-1" Quad Core. The fifth processor core is much more power efficient than the others and is used -- when performance is not required -- to boost battery life. "The single battery-saver core... handles low-power tasks like active standby, music," says Nvidia.
- DirectTouch tech: Nvidia DirectTouch is a patent-pending technology that improves touch responsiveness and reduces power consumption by offloading a portion of the touch processing onto the Tegra 3 chip.
- Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Like the Samsung quad-core, the Nvidia also uses a Cortex A9 design. But Nvidia is undoubtedly working on a next-gen Cortex A15 chip; Nvidia is very quick at getting next-gen chips out the door. The Tegra 3 is manufactured with a 40 nanometer fabrication process, a slightly older technology than the 32 nanometer process used to make the Exynos 4.
- Battery life: "Top-shelf components and a massive 4.7-inch screen take a toll on this pricey superphone's battery life," said CNET Reviews.
In the U.S. market, HTC chose to go with a dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor paired with LTE in the One X. It's not clear yet what Samsung will opt to do in the U.S., although the specs of the HTC One X may be instructive.
LTE and dual-core seem to be a good fit because the Qualcomm S4 squeezes LTE and the processor onto one piece of silicon. (That's just not possible with quad-core and LTE at the moment.) That's quite a feat and something that Qualcomm has done first. That level of integration not only allows for more compact designs but it doesn't compromise on performance, as many reviews attest to.
"I know many HTC fans are disappointed that the U.S. version of the One X has a dual-core CPU instead of the much-hyped quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3," said CNET's Brian Bennett. "Well, I'm here to wash that bitter taste of sour grapes away. Equipped with a powerful 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor... this phone seriously hums," he wrote.
Bennett continues. "It flies through Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC's Sense overlay with oomph and agility."
And battery life? In anecdotal use both over LTE and Wi-Fi, the handset got through an 11-hour workday of running tests, opening apps, and playing music, CNET said.
The upshot is that U.S.-based consumers that opt for Qualcomm's LTE and dual-core in the HTC One X don't have to sacrifice much. And may be able to expect better battery life than quad-core.
That said, quad-core is inevitable for more high-end smartphones. And Qualcomm will be going quad-core, too -- when it's ready. | <urn:uuid:34781c03-207a-4f34-97ff-d325de4770e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57427300-92/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-vs-htc-one-x-quad-core-faceoff/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92773 | 1,158 | 1.507813 | 2 |
"In the Shadow of Hiroshima: Childrens Visions of Life" is an exhibit that evokes war, horror, and devastationwith hardly a trace of any of these depicted in the works themselves.
Hiroshima is a city whose name is inextricably linked with the moment in August 1945 when it became the victim of the first atomic bomb attack. While the images of its destruction are widely known, less familiar is the tale of its survival and resilience.
Drawn within a couple of years of the bombing by children in Hiroshima, aged 7 to 12, the colorful pictures in this exhibition depict merriment and good cheer: schoolyard games, excursions into beautiful countrysides, flowers, city streets devoid of desolation. Only two children chose to depict the iconic dome at ground zero that caps the skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the dome has become known world-wide as the symbol of Hiroshima and the atomic bombing. In the picture at right, the dome crowds the extreme left of the composition, just barely included and jostling with the other structural elements of the bustling city along the dominant blue swath of the river. In the picture at left, done by a boy then only recently arrived in the city from the U.S., the dome is the full focus of the composition. For the rest, the young artists chose to depict the things that matter to them: a dress, a doll, a car, a capthings that might catch the interest of a child anywhere.
The pictures were sent to All Souls Church, Unitarian, in Washington, D.C. in the late 1940s by one of the two surviving schools in Hiroshima as a thank-you gift for aid they had received. A selection of fifteen of the pictures, and three picture facsimiles for originals too fragile to travel, comprise this exhibit. The entire collection held by All Souls Church can be viewed at http://www.hiroshimaschoolyard.com/index.html.
In 2010, the pictures returned to Hiroshima for the first time, as part of a project seeking out those who had made them over sixty years before. The survivors were invited to attend an exhibit and ceremony at the annual August 6 atomic bombing anniversary observance in Hiroshima. A representative of All Souls Church has provided an account of the visit on one of the information panels. A documentary filmmaker covered the event and interviewed the survivors about their pictures, their lives, and their experiences as children growing up in Hiroshima. The film, "Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard," will be screened on August 10 (see Public Programs, below).
Layers of uncertainty cloud our understanding of these pictures. The pictures were later given titles; these are not included here as they were not titles given to the works by the children themselves. Even the names of the children, written in English on each picture not by the children but by other hands, may be erroneously translated. For some of the artists, we have, thanks to the filmed interviews, the words of the adults they have now become as they look back over the decades at the children they once were, and sift through their memories of that time and place. For others, who could not be located or who have passed away, we can know little of their thoughts or intentions. Rather than pursuit of definitive answers, what this exhibit inspires is the quest for greater understanding of the larger picture of twentieth-century history, the dark context of the devastated city, and the confrontation with the realities of atomic power that have haunted society since that fateful day in August 1945.
The Institute of East Asian Studies gratefully acknowledges All Souls Church, Unitarian, in Washington D.C. for the generous loan of these pictures.
August 10, 4:30 p.m.
145 Dwinelle Hall
Documentary Screening: "Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard"
(Shizumi Shigeto Manale and Bryan Reichhardt, Producers)
Observance of the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Sneak Preview of the film and discussion with writer-director Bryan Reichhardt
Moderated by Steven Vogel, Political Science, and Chair, Center for Japanese Studies,
September 11, 4:00 p.m.
IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor
Lecture: "Hiroshima Maidens, Bikini Islanders, and Lucky Dragons: Contesting War Memories and Promoting Peace in Cold War Japan and the US"
Speaker: Elyssa Faison, History, University of Oklahoma
Moderated by Junko Habu, Anthropology, UC Berkeley
Closing Reception follows.
Sponsored by the Institute of East Asian Studies and the Center for Japanese Studies. | <urn:uuid:52570e12-3223-4baf-8e28-7300c6032c83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/ias.html?event_ID=55883&date=2012-06-25&filter=Secondary%20Event%20Type&filtersel= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956315 | 987 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Oil rig on fire after explosion off Louisiana
Richard Fausset and Kim Geiger – Los Angeles Times September 2, 2010
Another offshore oil facility caught fire Thursday morning in the Gulf of Mexico, sending 13 workers into the water to be rescued by boat, and sending enough petroleum into the water to create a mile-long by 100 foot wide sheen, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known and is under investigation. It comes a little more than four months after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig blowout, which killed 11 workers and resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The government and BP are still working on completely sealing that well, which has not leaked since mid-July.
Among environmentalists and liberal lawmakers, reaction was swift.
"In the wake of the BP catastrophe, this is an extremely disturbing event," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has led a congressional investigation into the BP spill. "I call on the administration to immediately redouble safety reviews of all offshore drilling and platform operations in the gulf and take all appropriate action to ensure safety and protection of the environment."
In a news conference Thursday afternoon, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said that the oil platform's operator, Mariner Energy reported that all of the site's seven active wells had been "shut in," meaning they were not leaking oil. Though a fire was still burning on the platform, Jindal said the company had told officials that it was being fed by an oil product stored on the platform.
"That's a very important point," Jindal said — and one that may differentiate this disaster from the BP fire, which was fed by an uncontrollable gush of oil from the well below.
Thursday's incident occurred farther west than the BP blowout, about 102 miles off the Louisiana shore, on a shallow-water oil and gas platform south of Terrebonne Bay, said Eileen Angelico, a spokesperson with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
The Coast Guard received the fire report at 9:20 am, according to Petty Officer Casey Ranel. Workers on a nearby oil facility reported that an explosion occurred on the platform, Ranel said.
The rig's 13 workers, wearing floatation suits, apparently jumped in the water, which is about 340 feet deep. They were evacuated by boat, said Patrick Cassidy, a Mariner spokesman, in an interview with CNN.
Cassidy said he didn't know the circumstances that led the workers to jump overboard.
"The expectation is that they shut-in production and then evacuated the facility," he said. "They were picked up from a life raft, picked up by a boat, and are on their way to facilities onshore."
A Coast Guard e-mail to Congressional offices said that the platform workers reported beginning emergency shutdown procedures before abandoning it, but that the success of those procedures was "unknown."
According to the e-mail, the company told the Coast Guard that the platform does not have a "standard" blowout preventer, the device of last resort used to shut off the flow of oil and gas from a wild well.
Jindal said it was possible, though not confirmed, that some type of "nonstandard" blowout preventer may have been used on the platform.
Jindal and the Coast Guard reported that that one worker was injured, but Mariner Energy, in a news release, said that there were no injuries. Jindal said all 13 workers would soon be flown by helicopter to a Louisiana hospital to be checked for injuries.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Matthew Masaschi said Mariner Energy had sent three vessels to combat the fire, which was contained but still burning as of Thursday afternoon.
The Mariner Energy news release said that in the last week of August, production on the facility, which is technically in a federal lease area called Vermillion block 380, averaged about 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate.
Mariner Energy focuses on oil and natural gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. Among all operators in the U.S. outer-continental shelf, it ranks the eighth-largest in natural gas production and 24th in oil production.
By the end of 2009, Mariner Energy had interests in nearly 350 federal offshore leases, with more than 110 of those in development. The company currently has ties to more than 80 deep-water wells.
The firm has been aggressively ramping up its expansion in the Gulf of Mexico since 1996. Some of those exploration and development projects had been in deeper waters, ranging from 1,300 feet up to 7,100 feet. But the one area the business has been particularly active in the Permian basin oil field, off the coast of Texas. As of Dec. 31, 2009, Mariner Energy's net acreage in the Permian Basin was nearly 150,000 acres.
Apache, another petroleum company based in Houston, announced plans to buy Mariner Energy one week prior to the BP oil spill. The $3.9 billion cash-and-stock deal is still pending. It had expected to be finalized by next month.
It was the company's wide swath of drilling acreage and off-shore leases in the Gulf of Mexico, both closer to shore and further out in the deep water, that attracted Apache Corp.'s attention, said Apache spokesman Robert Dye.
"We're monitoring the situation closely," Dye said. "We're still trying to see what sort of damage has happened out there, and if there were any hydrocarbons that were spilled.
As of 2008, the Vermilion 380 site was Mariner Energy's "largest field in the Gulf of Mexico Shelf by reserves," according to the company's 2008 annual report. The field, which consisted of 50% oil and 50% natural gas, was large enough and robust enough to convince Mariner Energy to drive several wells into it.
The rig had been active and in production prior to the explosion, Dye said.
Activists and Democrats said Thursday that the fire demonstrated the need for more stringent regulation of the offshore oil industry.
Jacqueline Savitz, senior campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, said that the Obama administration should maintain a recent moratorium on oil and gas drilling that has been strongly opposed by both the oil industry and Louisiana politicians.
"We cannot afford to lose any more human lives, nor can we tolerate further damage to the gulf and its irreplaceable ocean ecosystems," Savitz said.
The administration has said it plans to keep the moratorium in place until Nov. 30 at the latest.
Fausset reported from Atlanta and Geiger from Washington. Times staff writer P.J. Huffstutter contributed to this report.
Last updated 04/09/2010 | <urn:uuid:9b313baf-05b8-4ecf-979c-0151391278ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/oldsite/print.asp?ID=13348 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975541 | 1,429 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Russians are reportedly paying $1,000 per ticket to attend a Doomsday party inside an old nuclear bunker, according to Reuters.
The makeshift club will be held in Bunker No. 42, which is located beneath the streets near the Kremlin. Party organizers say they can stuff around 300 people into the confined space. If you want to attend, then you’ll have to pony up $970.
The bunker has served as a museum since 2006. Tour guide Alexei Pavlovsky said people have expressed interest in attending the expensive end of the world shindig.
“Many people would feel much calmer if they could spend this critical day enjoying maximum comfort and safety,” he explained. “There’ll be a children’s room with cartoons, for adults there’ll be movies, talks dedicated to the end of the world and tours of the museum. There’ll be live broadcasts from other bunkers in other countries.”
The Times of India explains that Russian isn’t the only country offering up Doomsday parties for those in search of companionship for the supposed apocalypse.
In western Turkey, the village of is said to be impervious to effects of Doomsday since it is the place where the Virgin Mary ascended into Heaven. Not surprisingly, all 400 hotels in the region are completely booked up.
In France, an old World War II fort will reportedly open its doors to the public. If you don’t mind paying around 1,500 euros for a room, hotels near the Pic de Bugarach will gladly offer you a place to stay for what could be the rest of your life.
According to Travelers Todays, New York City will also host a large numbers of parities dedicated to the end of days. In addition to the Bowery Hotel’s End of the World Party, Doomsday revelers can wile away the hours at the Gansevoort Park Hotel or the Hudson Terrace.
Would you pay $1,000 to attend a Doomsday party inside an old Russian bunker? | <urn:uuid:24687e2b-6959-4891-af5d-2cf3e09e727e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inquisitr.com/446504/doomsday-party-in-bunker-russians-pay-1000-for-end-of-the-world-shindig/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93976 | 425 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Gen. James Cartwright chaired a recently released report by the nuclear disarmament group Global Zero on "Modernizing U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Force Structure and Posture." General Cartwright is a retired vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and former commander of the US Strategic Command. In the latter capacity, he was in charge of all US nuclear weapons.
The Cartwright report argues for reducing the number of US nuclear weapons, taking deployed weapons off high alert and eliminating all land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The report proposes an illustrative nuclear force of 900 total nuclear weapons, half deployed and half in reserve. The report recommends that, of the 450 deployed weapons, 360 be submarine-based and 90 carried on bombers. The deployed weapons would be de-alerted so that they would require 24 to 72 hours to be made launch-ready.
This is a proposal based upon a thorough review of current US nuclear strategy and posture. It calls for reducing the number of deployed nuclear weapons to 450 by 2022 and reinforces the belief that current US nuclear policy, which the report critiques, remains stuck in the cold war era despite the world having moved on in the 21st century.
The report finds that, "ICBMs in fixed silos are inherently targetable and depend heavily upon launch on warning for survival under some scenarios of enemy attack." It goes on to state that the current ICBM rapid reaction posture, "runs a real risk of accidental or mistaken launch." Thus, the report calls for elimination of the US ICBM force and for reliance for deterrence upon the invulnerable submarine and bomber forces instead.
The report's call for eliminating the US ICBM force elicited a bizarre response from the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, who said that the plan "introduces the likelihood of instability in the deterrence equation, which is not healthy." Schwartz continued: "Here's the reality: Why do we have a land-based deterrent force? It's so that an adversary has to strike the homeland."
Why would any country need or want to maintain such land-based weapons, which provide an attractive target for an adversary in a time of high tension? It would make far more sense for US military leaders to be thinking about how to prevent potential adversaries from striking the US with nuclear weapons.
The dangers of General Schwartz's convoluted concept of deterrence can best be understood by reference to the reflections of former commander of the US Strategic Command, Gen. George Lee Butler. In 1999, General Butler wrote, "Nuclear deterrence was and remains a slippery intellectual construct that translates very poorly into the real world of spontaneous crises, inexplicable motivations, incomplete intelligence and fragile human relationships." In other words, the heavily flawed theory of nuclear deterrence is subject to failure in the real world. General Schwartz's concept of deterrence "so that an adversary has to strike the homeland" shows how deterrence itself can be more focused on strategy than on people and can undermine security.
The Cartwright report gives backing to President Obama's call for US leadership to achieve "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." It should be noted, though, that atmospheric scientists have modeled a "small" nuclear war between India and Pakistan, in which each side uses 50 Hiroshima-size nuclear weapons on the other side's cities. As a consequence of such a war, soot from the burning cities would rise into the stratosphere, where it would remain for a decade, blocking warming sunlight, shortening growing seasons and causing crop failures, leading to global famine and potentially 1 billion deaths from starvation worldwide.
This "nuclear famine" study suggests that even a reduction to 450 deployed nuclear weapons by both the United States and Russia would still leave too many nuclear weapons. Since these 450 thermonuclear weapons would be far more powerful than the Hiroshima-size nuclear weapons modeled in the nuclear-famine study, they could potentially do far more damage than a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, as terrible as that would be.
The Cartwright report provides a fresh look at US nuclear policy and is a valuable contribution to the debate on necessary next steps in moving toward the urgent goal of achieving zero nuclear weapons on the planet. | <urn:uuid:f0cc200b-b675-4877-aa64-656c6758c2a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://truth-out.org/news/item/9441-cartwright-report-calls-for-nuclear-reductions-and-elimination-of-us-land-based-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-force | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947702 | 850 | 2.171875 | 2 |
A PAIR of "ghost gum" trees in Australia's outback made famous in watercolours by Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira have been destroyed in a suspected arson attack, shortly before they were due to be placed on a national heritage register.
Namatjira is credited with bringing ghost gums, native trees featured in Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and named for their white bark that glows in moonlight, to wider public consciousness as a symbol of Australian identity.
Northern Territory Indigenous Advancement Minister Alison Anderson said the pair of ghost gums that frame the West MacDonnell Ranges and feature in many of the late Namatjira's works were found burnt to the ground a few days ago.
"In his watercolours brought the beauty of the Central Australian landscape to the world and helped make it a symbol of Australian identity," Anderson said.
Authorities believe the fire was likely deliberately lit.
Susan McCulloch, author of McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper the destruction of the ghost gums was "appalling and a tragic act of cultural vandalism".
Born in the Northern Territory in 1902, Namatjira held his first exhibition in 1938 and painted for the next two decades, earning international acclaim before his death in 1959.
Aboriginal Dreamtime stories have been passed down through generations to recount indigenous beliefs about the creation of the world and its creatures by totemic spirits in an era known as Dreamtime. | <urn:uuid:21869854-4e98-4865-8802-724cbbfdb567> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/arsonists-destroy-famous-australian-trees-immortalised-in-paintings-28954187.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969612 | 301 | 2.875 | 3 |
Philadelphia Timeline, 1818
- In November, 1815, the county Commissioners proposed a plan of education to the City Councils, which led, in January, 1816, to the appointment of a committee to consult with the commissioners of Southwark and of the Northern Liberties. But it was not until 1818 that the details were sanctioned by the Legislature, when an act was passed providing for the education of poor children at the public expense in the city and county of Philadelphia, forming the "first School District of Pennsylvania." The School Controllers established two schools in Southwark, two in Moyamensing, two in Northern Liberties and two in Penn Township. A model school was erected on the side of Chester Street, above Race. The first Superintendent of schools was Joseph Lancaster.
- The team boat Peacock ran from Market Street Ferry to the mineral Springs on the Rancocas. The team boat Phoenix ran between Greenwich Point and Gloucester, propelled by the action of eight horses.
- The legislature passed an act dividing the Northern Liberties into seven wards. The boundaries were as follows: First Ward, Vine Street to Willow, from the Delaware River to Third Street; the second Ward, from Third Street to Sixth, and from Vine to Willow; Third Ward, from Third Street to Delaware, between Willow and Green streets, and Wells Alley, commonly called Whitehall Street; the Forth Ward, from Third Street to Sixth, between Willow and Green, Fifth Ward, from Third Street to the Delaware River, between Green Street and Poplar Lane, and that part of Cohocksink Creek called the Canal; Sixth Ward, from Third Street to Sixth, between Green street and Poplar Lane; Seventh Ward bounded by Cohocksink Creek on the North and east, Poplar Street to the South, and Sixth Street on the west. "There are now in the city and liberties thirty-four engines and fifteen thousand feet of hose, under the direction of forty-nine companies. These companies are all willing to receive new members."
- In order to prevent danger as much as possible it was directed that the manner in which power should be transported from vessels in the Delaware River to the magazine on the Grays Ferry Road should be by landing at Conoroe & Co.'s Wharf, in the village of Richmond; thence up Ann Street west to Frankford Road; down that road to the Black Horse and Mud Lane (Montgomery Avenue); thence to Sixth Street; down the latter to Hickory Lane (Coates Street, now Fairmont Avenue); thence west crossing the Ridge Road, to Broad Street, and to the Callowhill turnpike road; thence west to Schuylkill Front Street (Twenty- Second); down the same, and by way of the Grays Ferry Road to the destination. The intention was that the powder should be carried at a distance from the built-up portions of the city.
Excerpted from "Happenings in ye Olde Philadelphia 1680-1900" by Rudolph J. Walther, 1925, Walther Printing House, Philadelphia, PA | <urn:uuid:25dc21f7-35e1-46aa-8738-362d8da42240> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ushistory.org/Philadelphia/timeline/1818.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963002 | 625 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Welcome to Pandora's Aquarium, a rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse survivor message board and chat room.
If you've been a victim of any type of sexual violence, you belong here. What you see below represents just a fraction of the resources and survivor support available. Register now to join our community and take full advantage of what this online support group has to offer you as you heal and recover, or sign in to remove this message.
You are not alone, we can support you as you heal, and you've made an important step toward recovery by reaching out. If you are unable to register or have any questions, please contact the staff or view our home page.
Feeling Guilty about Wanting Sex
Posted 03 June 2008 - 10:29 AM
© 2008 Pandora’s Aquarium
It is very common for survivors of sexual violence experience feelings of guilt about wanting or engaging in consensual sex. Examples of these feelings may include:
It is wrong to want something that was used to hurt me in the past.
It must not have been that bad if I can still have sex.
If I enjoy sex, that must mean I enjoyed the rape.
If I enjoy sex, people won’t believe I was raped.
If I am able to have sex, people will expect me to be over it.
Although these feelings are very common, they could not be further from the truth. If you find yourself experiencing similar feelings, try to challenge those thoughts. Remind yourself that you have as much right to a healthy sex life as anyone else. The fact that you are a survivor of sexual violence in no way means that you are not entitled to have a good sex life.
Separating rape/abuse and sex
It is important to learn to separate rape/abuse and sex. Healthy sex is nothing like the violation you experienced, and in working on your sexual healing and rediscovering your likes and dislikes, you can learn to differentiate the two. The actual acts may be the same, but that is where the similarities end.
This task can become complicated, as many non-survivors connect rape and sex, so their perceptions become skewed. Survivors may worry that others are judging them for wanting to become sexually active, or that the assault must not have been “that bad” if they are able to enjoy sex again. Some people may even openly question a survivor’s desire to engage in sex after rape or abuse. As difficult and wounding as these types of comments can be, it is important not to let them interfere with your own views and desires. You are entitled to healthy sex, and no one can tell you how to feel.
An added problem may arise when a survivor is the one to initiate sex. A caring partner may worry about triggering you, and leave it to you to initiate sex when you are ready. This can make the survivor uncomfortable if they constantly feel as though they are asking for sex. If this is the case, try talking to your partner. It is likely that they are struggling with feelings of their own, or are trying to let you take the lead. You may also find that you hold back from asking for certain things, because you are worried about how it will be perceived. Once again, it is important to remember that sharing something willingly with a partner is much different from rape. It is perfectly natural for you to want something you enjoy.
Another reason survivors may have difficulties initiating or enjoying sex is because of comments that were made by their perpetrator during the assault/abuse. Survivors talk about being called a “slut” or a “whore”, or being told that they “wanted it” or “liked it”. You may feel as though your choosing to have sex, even consensually, makes those comments true. The reality is that you are the only one who can label your own experiences. These words were used to degrade or humiliate you; they cannot define who you are. Remember that you are not alone in this. If you struggle with knowing how to deal with such feelings, consider speaking to a therapist to learn how to separate these negative comments from reality.
Engaging in unhealthy sex
Survivors may feel guilt because they are unsure of their true motives or reasons for wanting sex, and so they struggle with knowing whether or not they are truly engaging in healthy sex. It is common for survivors of sexual violence to use sex to distract themselves, punish themselves, or even as a way to re-live their assault. These types of reactions are normal, and you are not alone. If you are unsure of whether you are using unhealthy ways to cope, consider asking yourself the following questions:
How do I feel before sex?
How do I feel after sex?
Why am I choosing to have sex?
Do I enjoy myself when I am having sex?
Would I change anything about my sexual encounters?
Take the time to look at your reasons for wanting sex, what you enjoy about it and what you hope to get out of it. Evaluate how you feel before and after, and how that makes you feel about yourself. Sex is meant to be a fun and enjoyable experience for both people involved. It is completely possible to use sex as a positive way to move forward in your healing. | <urn:uuid:469b7f5b-b5c8-4bf7-b078-b55fe2d97813> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pandys.org/forums/index.php?s=b472b3b9160f9f2ed659718cd788ce98&showtopic=87601&st=0&p=726661&forceDownload=1&_k=880ea6a14ea49e853634fbdc5015a024 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975471 | 1,095 | 1.664063 | 2 |
After Sept. 11, we’ve been told repeatedly, “Everything changed.” When it comes to the legal balance between liberty and security, however, the truism is at least partly true.
There’s no question that the legal dynamics of privacy and security were transformed by a series of laws and technologies that, in some cases, made us less free but no more safe. Many of these legal responses — the PATRIOT Act, for example — had been proposed years, even decades, earlier but passed only in the wave of fear after the terrorist attacks.
In particular, three of the post-Sept. 11 legal reactions — involving terrorist detentions, domestic surveillance and airport security — have made us a different nation than we could have imagined 10 years ago.
Two administrations, Republican and Democratic, have now asserted the right to detain indefinitely suspected terrorists without trial, to seize the private information of any citizen on the government’s say-so and to subject innocent citizens to virtual strip searches at the airport even when less invasive security technologies are available.
It’s far too extreme to say that, with these legal changes, America has morphed into something unrecognizable — becoming, say, Chile as a result. In fact, things could have been worse — and many of our European allies made similarly unfortunate decisions. But with more leadership, from both the president and Congress, we could have been freer without becoming less safe.
The most dramatic assault on due process after Sept. 11 was the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Both the president and Congress were swept up in national anxiety — and it was the Supreme Court that reined them in.
Nonetheless, even a president who campaigned on rolling back the most extreme powers asserted by his predecessor ended up extending them.
In 2001, after the invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. captured about 650 prisoners whom the Bush administration transported to Cuba to avoid oversight by U.S. courts. The administration claimed that it could detain these prisoners indefinitely without granting them access to independent judges or any protections of the Geneva Conventions or that it could try them in military commissions that lacked protections granted by U.S. military law.
The Supreme Court responded with a series of landmark decisions, which rejected the Bush administration’s unilateral claims — on the grounds that the military commissions lacked congressional approval. Then Congress endorsed much of what the Bush administration had proposed — leaving a legal quagmire for the Obama administration to resolve.
Candidate Barack Obama had promised to close Guantanamo and restore the writ of habeas corpus. But once in office, he reneged on these promises as soon as he faced political opposition.
It’s another truism that power, once asserted, is hard to relinquish — and Obama proved it here. Though he signed executive orders during his first days in office ordering the CIA to end torture and close secret prisons, he backed away from his plans to try Guantanamo detainees in criminal courts.
Instead, Obama reaffirmed the most troubling aspect of the Bush policy — making clear that he intended to hold almost 50 Guantanamo detainees without trial.
An Obama administration report of May 2010 explained why: “Either there is presently insufficient admissible evidence to establish the detainee’s guilty beyond reasonable doubt … or the detainee’s conduct does not constitute a chargeable offense.”
This explanation turned the presumption of innocence on its head. Suddenly, the lack of admissible evidence that a detainee was dangerous became a justification for locking him up indefinitely, rather than a reason to release him.
In addition to reaffirming the worst aspects of the Bush detention policy, Obama has also failed to reverse the most troubling new legal authorities involving domestic surveillance. Here, Obama’s about-face may reflect the same political pressures that led 99 senators to vote for the PATRIOT Act: Politicians risk being attacked as soft on terror if they attempt to protect liberty and security at the same time.
It’s true that not all of the PATRIOT Act’s authorities represented extreme expansions of executive power; but two provisions were indeed radical. Sections 215 and 505 allow the government to seize any data — whether emails, diaries or private computer files — merely by asserting that they’re relevant to a terrorism investigation.
Before the PATRIOT Act, the government could seize information without a warrant only if it could establish that the data belonged to a suspected spy or terrorist.
Section 505, which expands the use of national security letters, is especially troubling. The Justice Department inspector general reported in 2007 that he found “widespread and serious abuse” of national security letters between 2003 and 2005. The FBI issued more than 140,000 letters, many involving people with no clear connection to terrorism.
As a senator, Obama had called the PATRIOT Act “shoddy” and endorsed a fix that would cure its most obvious abuses: restoring the requirement that only the data of suspected terrorists can be seized without a warrant. But as president, Obama endorsed and signed a reauthorization that extended the provisions he had formerly opposed.
Obama’s endorsement of Bush-era policies that he had once denounced may be understandable in political terms. Yet it’s disappointing that the former constitutional law professor failed to fulfill his promises to defend civil liberties.
What’s even more disappointing, however, is that Obama also refused to demand laws and technologies that might have protected privacy and security at the same time — technologies that the public ultimately demanded.
The most vivid example of this failure of leadership on post-Sept. 11 issues is Obama’s passive approach to airport security.
Consider the case of body scanners. Soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, government researchers offered the White House a choice between two models of body scanning technology: a so-called naked machine that reveals graphic images of the naked body or a so-called blob machine that identifies any suspicious contraband using a sexless, bloblike avatar.
Both models offered the same amount of security, so any government with even the slightest interest in civil liberties would have selected the blob machine — as European authorities did. The Bush administration chose the naked machine.
Obama, remarkably, did nothing to reverse this choice — allowing his Homeland Security Department privacy officers to endorse the naked machine without considering the alternative and then order its deployment at airports across the country.
In the face of nationwide civil disobedience — including the passenger who memorably declared, “Don’t touch my junk” — Obama punted the decision to the Transportation Security Administration. He said that he had told security officials to explore whether there were less intrusive ways of searching, but TSA officials had assured him that the naked machines were the only machines “they consider to be effective against the kind of threat we saw in the Christmas Day bombing.” In fact, the British government’s tests revealed that naked machines would not have detected the low-density powder used by the Christmas bomber.
Finally, stung by the political protests, the TSA decided to go back to the drawing board — and then professed surprise when it rediscovered the blob machinelike design that it had rejected nearly seven years before.
At the end of July, TSA Administrator John Pistole said the agency would retrofit all the millimeter-wave machines in U.S. airports with blob machinelike technology. Throughout this debate, Obama was a disengaged bystander.
Obama’s disengagement shows that, without presidential leadership, even silver-bullet technologies that protect both privacy and security may never be adopted.
President George W. Bush was so aggressively unilateralist that he mistakenly viewed persuading the public as a sign of weakness. By contrast, Obama seems averse to all conflict. He appears reluctant to fight for unpopular positions or to persuade the public to accept them.
Despite the lack of leadership from the president and Congress, the American demand for liberty and privacy — expressed by a bipartisan coalition that includes libertarian conservatives and civil-libertarian liberals — ensured that things weren’t even worse. But we could surely have been freer without becoming less safe.
We may not have morphed into Chile, but a decade after Sept. 11, American liberties have been unnecessarily diminished by fear.
Jeffrey Rosen, a law professor at George Washington University and the legal affairs editor of The New Republic, is the author of “The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age.” He is the co-editor of his newest book, “Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change,” due out soon. | <urn:uuid:9f320953-e886-4731-ae2c-b9b37a99a1ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=0C72A29B-0342-4F3F-B3CF-6BE8A841A2C5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958104 | 1,773 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Bookmarks in Sublime Text are similar to Markers in BBEdit. They are as the name implies, marks that refer to specific text in a document. BBEdit Markers are more advanced since they can be titled and browsed as a list. However, Sublime Text 2 provides a sufficiently powerful system that's it is worth trying out.
While I am writing, I may decide to revisit some text later. I know I'm not happy with the current material but I don't want to get bogged down in editing when I could be writing. Bookmarks are a way to mark the text and move on.
To create a bookmark, I select the text and choose "Toggle bookmark" from the "Goto" menu.
A caret is added along the left margin of the line.
I continue to write or edit until I want another bookmark. I then repeat the process with the new selection. When I am done, the document will have several markers along the left margin indicating the lines that contain bookmarks.
When I want to review, I have a couple of options. I can use the "Next Bookmark" command to jump between marks or use the "Select All Bookmarks" to see every piece of text I marked at once.
To remove a bookmark, just select the text and toggle the bookmark again. There is also an option to clear all bookmarks.
While Sublime bookmarks are not as powerful as BBEdit markers, they are a nice option in an incredibly powerful text editor. I use the bookmarks while I write and while I edit and I am happy that they are there. Debating between using BBEdit and Sublime Text is a great position to be in.
Bookmarks are available in the default installation of Sublime Text 2. They are configured to use the F2 key. I changed mine to use the F3 key instead. If you want to use the F-keys, make sure you change or turn-off the OS X keyboard shortcuts that are using them.
The bookmarks only persist for the current session. As soon as the document is closed, the bookmarks go away.
Well, at least from the perspective of a charlatan pretending to be a writer. That's all I have experience with. ↩ | <urn:uuid:006d567b-b2c7-4980-8c65-e54fe147c251> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macdrifter.com/2012/07/sublime-text-bookmarks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939596 | 474 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Valley Public Radio Staff
Mon October 8, 2012
Early Switch to Winter Blend Fuel Unlikely To Harm Air Quality
The California Air Resources Board says refineries can begin producing and selling winter-blend gasoline.
The blend is usually not sold until October 31st because it’s a more volatile compound and its quick evaporation can harm air quality during hot weather.
But Governor Jerry Brown requested the early switch because of the recent gas price spikes.
The Board’s Dave Cleggern says with the cooler weather he doubts it will have any negative environmental effect.
"We don’t believe there will be any impact on the federal standards that we have to meet for air quality and we’re fairly sure that the impact on state requirements will be small."
Cleggern says the early switch has only happened a few times before; once after Hurricane Katrina and another time after a refinery fire.
He says the early transition could increase fuel supply by 8 to 10 percent, which could lower fuel prices. | <urn:uuid:6e1829bc-d8a0-49f4-936f-ceb36d8dffdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kvpr.org/post/early-switch-winter-blend-fuel-unlikely-harm-air-quality | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935515 | 216 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Summary: Assessing individual and community needs for health education, planning effective health education programs, and evaluating their effectiveness, are at the core of health education and promotion. Assessment and Planning in Health Programs, Second Edition provides a grounding in assessment and evaluation. Written in an accessible manner, this comprehensive text addresses the importance and use of theories, data collection strategies, and key terminology in the field of health educatio ...show moren and health promotion. Assessment and Planning in Health Programs provides an overview of needs assessment, program planning, and program evaluation, and explains several goals and strategies for each. ...show lessEdition/Copyright: 2ND 10
More prices and sellers below. | <urn:uuid:1d0d58a8-db0d-43b2-83f5-5620df47d8d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.textbooks.com/Assessment-and-Planning-in-Health-Programs-2nd-Edition/9780763790097/Bonni-Hodges.php?mpcond=VeryGood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910632 | 136 | 3 | 3 |
Background information about dementia and home care services
According to the Swiss Health Survey carried out in 2004, there are 78,000 people aged 65 to 79 and 120,000 people over 80 years of age requiring home care. This represents 29% and 45% respectively of all those receiving home care.
25,700 people receiving home care are considered by their carers to have dementia (results of a national survey carried out by the Association Alzheimer Switzerland in 2004, published in “Vivre avec la maladie d’Alzheimer en Suisse, Les chiffres-clés 2”).
28,000 people, equivalent to 10,000 full time posts, work in the home care services domain. Over 90% are directly involved in providing care services. They mostly consist of qualified nursing staff, health care auxiliaries, home aids, care assistants and trained household aids.
Since the Federal Law on Health Insurance came into force in January 1996, health insurances have been obliged to refund part of the costs of prescribed care. At the same time, providers have found themselves obliged to reduce costs and increase efficacy. This has led to a wave of mergers which is still continuing. The number of care organisations (including those covering home care) has been reduced by about 50% since 1995. This has entailed a reduction in costs e.g. regrouping offices and vehicles. Most of the 700 state-approved local organisations of aid and home care are attached to one of the 26 cantonal associations of aid and home care which in turn are members of the Swiss Association of aid and home care services.
Legislation relating to the provision of home care services
In Switzerland, legislation exists at federal, cantonal and communal level.
The legal basis of Spitex organisations can be found in the federal law on health insurance (LaMal), (art. 35).
A definition of care is provided in article 7 of the federal law “RS 832.112.31 ordonnance du DFI sur les prestations dans l’assurance obligatoire des soins en cas de maladie”. Such care is divided into categories, i.e. instructions and advice, examinations and care, and basic care.
The organisation of care and home care is determined by the federal law “RS 832.102 ordonnance sur l’assurance-maladie”.
Organisation and financing of home care services
Irrespective of age, any person, who is in need of care due to illness/disease, accident, disability, limitations due to age or maternity, can request the organisation of aid and home care within their home region. The necessity for the care and a needs assessment are required conditions for access. From the beginning of 2006 at the latest, there will be a standard assessment tool for carrying out needs assessments known as the RAI-Home-Care (Resident Assessment Instrument – Home Care).
Home care services are organised on an ad hoc basis in the cantons. There is no obligation at federal level to provide such services, although there may be within a canton. Patients are free to decide whether to be cared for at home or in an establishment. However, the insurance companies will no longer pay if a person remains in hospital when it is no longer necessary.
The costs for care services are fixed by federal law. Home care services are recognised and financed through an obligatory care insurance according to conditions determined by federal law. Access to care services is also determined by cantonal law.
The tariffs requested from clients for home care services do not generally cover the costs. The difference is covered by federal, cantonal or communal grants. Some people take out supplementary insurances to cover the part that they have to pay.
Home care services are divided into two categories - those that are refundable and those that are not. Those that are refundable cover care which has been prescribed and for which an assessment has been carried out. For these services, the “ordonnance sur les prestations de l’assurance des soins” (OPAS) has the following hourly prices:
- Basic care for simple and stable conditions (FR 30 to Fr 47)
- Basic care for unstable and complex situations as well as for examination and care (Fr 45 to Fr 68)
- Assessment of needs and advice on medical prescription (Fr 50 to Fr 73)
The amount refunded by the insurance companies is determined by a price convention which is negotiated every year by the insurance companies and the cantonal aid/home care associations.
Generally speaking, carers and relatives are not legally responsible for the healthcare of their parents. With regard to the financing of care, there are exceptions in certain cantons or communes where close relatives, who are well off, may be required to financially contribute towards care.
Kinds of home care services available
A wide variety of services are available within the domain of home care services. Basic services include care and health care services, family support, household help and social accompaniment. Other services vary according to the local aid and home care organisations.
- Assessment and advice - services financed by the health insurances in accordance with the federal law (LAMal)
Additional relevant services:
- Rental of auxiliary aids
- Home meals service
- Meal at midday/day care centre
- Transport service
- Holidays in homes for the elderly
- Advice in case of respiratory problems
- Advice on nutrition and diabetes
- Home pedicure
- Home hair dressing
- Home ergotherapy
- Social advice
- Accompanying the dying and their relatives/friends
- Help switchboard
- Cleaning service
- Gardening service
The various branches of the Association Alzheimer Switzerland also offer different services e.g. support at home (in the Canon of Geneva, in collaboration with the Red Cross and Pro Senectute), the Alz’Amis (in the canton of Vaud) etc. To be precise, these are psycho-social support services and not nursing care services. They are financed by the beneficiaries of the Association and through a grant from the Federal Office of Social Insurance.
Palliative care is quite well developed in Switzerland. In addition to specialised hospitals and units, there are also Mobile Palliative Care Teams which provide palliative care at home (Stuckelberger and Wanner, 2005).
Consultation with people with dementia and carers
There are no legal obligations or formalities concerning consultation with people with dementia.
The Association Alzheimer Switzerland is currently organising, in collaboration with the Association Suisse des Services d’Aide et de Soins à Domicile, a series of regional conferences/debates on the theme: Living with Alzheimer’s disease at home – yes, but how?
- Enquête nationale, Vivre avec la maladie d’Alzheimer en Suisse, Les chiffres-clés 2, La prise en charge actuelle.
- Information provided by Marianne Wolfensberger
- Statistique de l’aide et des soins à domicile (Spitex) 2004 de l’Office fédérales des assurances sociales ( www.bsv.admin.ch )
- Stuckelberger, A.and Wanner, P. (2005), National Background Report for Switzerland, EUROFAMCARE: ( http://www.uke.uni-hamburg.de/extern/eurofamcare/documents/nabare_switzerland_rc2_a4.pdf )
Last Updated: mercredi 15 juillet 2009 | <urn:uuid:f1c5b7fa-294f-484f-88e1-262366570d5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/FR%D1%8F%D0%9F%D0%9D%20%20%D0%B1%20%D1%8F%D0%9F%D0%9D%D0%B0%20%D1%8F%D0%9F%D0%9D%20%20%D1%8F%D0%9F%D0%9D%D0%A2%C2%A0%20%D0%B1%20%D1%8F%D0%9F%D0%9D%D0%B0%20/Policy-in-Practice2/Country-comparisons/Home-care/Switzerland | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921476 | 1,597 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Conscious experience is a bell jar shaped by historical and environmental forces. What we call ‘ordinary experience’ is fashioned by exposure during early childhood and a sensory-network that has evolved over eons of earthly habitation. Recent findings published in the journal Proceeding of the Academy of Sciences
help support my bell jar theory. They show that the sensory world is tuned by exposure early in life. Children growing up in cultures where their diets don’t offer much in the way of sugar, eventually lose the taste-receptor for it [ link
]. In the same way, children growing up in cultures where their language doesn’t include sounds found in other cultures eventually lose the receptor sites for them [ link
]. The neuro-pathways for discerning phonemes that are not available in the child’s early environment get ‘pruned away’. For example, children in Asian cultures that don’t have phonemes for the English ‘L’ and ‘R’ lose the ability to hear any difference between them. | <urn:uuid:a34c7839-dbe2-4673-bee6-3e846cebcdea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theneuronetwork.com/profiles/blogs/the-bell-jar?xg_source=activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953868 | 220 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Toyota Recalls Made No Dent On Their Brand
A study from North Carolina State University shows that Toyota’s safety-related recalls that began in 2009 made little to no impact on how consumers perceived the brand.
“These findings highlight the importance of establishing and maintaining a reputation for quality,” says Dr. Robert Hammond, an assistant professor of economics at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the study. “Not only will it help you sell cars in the first place, but it will help you weather public scrutiny in the event of a recall.”
Hammond launched the study because he wanted to see how consumers respond to recalls. “I wanted to look at how a product recall for safety would affect what a consumer is willing to pay for that product,” Hammond says. He looked at Toyota models that were subject to recall in 2009-2010 as a result of highly publicized concerns over “sudden unintended acceleration.” Those recalls applied to over 9 million vehicles worldwide.
In order to focus on consumer perception of the brand, Hammond looked at used-car markets. Sales of new vehicles can make it difficult to assess the impact of a recall, because there are multiple confounding variables – such as promotions, marketing campaigns and new models that weren’t subject to the relevant recall.
But by looking at the average prices for specific models in the used-car market, researchers can determine how much Toyota owners were willing to accept when selling their vehicles – and how much used-car buyers were willing to pay for them.
Hammond found that, despite the high-profile media coverage of the Toyota recalls, there was very little effect on what consumers were willing to pay for a Toyota. Specifically, Hammond found that the average price of affected vehicles declined by approximately 2 percent relative to comparable, unaffected vehicles (such as similar Honda models). That 2 percent decline is within the statistical margin-of-error for the study.
And the effect did not last long. The first Toyota recall was in November 2009, and the apparent decline in vehicle price had leveled out by January 2010.
Hammond did a similar analysis of Audi vehicles that were recalled due to similar acceleration concerns in 1986. The impact there was more significant. Audi showed an average price slide of over 16 percent relative to similar, unaffected vehicles over the course of six months. “Comparing the Toyota and Audi experiences highlights the value of a well-established reputation,” Hammond says.
The paper, “Sudden Unintended Used-Price Deceleration? The 2009-2010 Toyota Recalls,” is forthcoming from the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy.
On the Net: | <urn:uuid:57d398a5-c0cc-4c20-976a-842add4273e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112476016/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96721 | 550 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Introductionpsychoanalysis, name given by Sigmund Freud to a system of interpretation and therapeutic treatment of psychological disorders. Psychoanalysis began after Freud studied (1885–86) with the French neurologist J. M. Charcot in Paris and became convinced that hysteria was caused not by organic symptoms in the nervous system but by emotional disturbance. Later, in collaboration with Viennese physician Josef Breuer, Freud wrote two papers on hysteria (1893, 1895) that were the precursors of his vast body of psychoanalytic theory. Freud used his psychoanalytic method primarily to treat clients suffering from a variety of mild mental disorders classified until recently as neuroses (see neurosis). Freud was joined by an increasing number of students and physicians, among whom were C. G. Jung and Alfred Adler. Both made significant contributions, but by 1913 ceased to be identified with the main body of psychoanalysts because of theoretical disagreements with Freud's strong emphasis on sexual motivation. Other analysts, including Melanie Klein and Jacques Lacan, also have contributed greatly to the field. Psychoanalysis and its theoretical underpinnings have had an enormous influence on modern psychology and psychiatry and in fields as diverse as literary theory, anthropology, and film criticism.
Sections in this article:
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Psychology and Psychiatry | <urn:uuid:563bd8c1-86ec-4b7a-af0e-a721d55496fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/science/psychoanalysis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961405 | 295 | 4.0625 | 4 |
Princeton University chose a longtime insider as president, following Yale, as universities prepare for new challenges ranging from greater cost scrutiny to international expansion to the advent of online education.
Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman said she worried she wasn’t qualified 11 years ago when the search committee urged her to apply for the post. A renowned molecular biologist, Tilghman sought the advice of then Princeton President Harold T. Shapiro, who was retiring.
Many U.S. states lack laws to protect people from harmful use of their whole DNA transcripts, or genomes, and should work with the federal government to provide consistent protection, presidential advisers said.
Charlie Rose, Nov. 7: A discussion on the outlook for America with University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann, New York Times columnists David Brooks and Tom Friedman, Random House executive vice president Jon Meacham, and Tom Brokaw of NBC News.
The male-only membership at Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters Tournament, has drawn the ire of female college presidents, who are leading increasing numbers of prestigious schools in the U.S. | <urn:uuid:1b2b3570-2a3d-42ea-bbf1-030831ed87f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.bloomberg.com/amy-gutmann/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924095 | 226 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Recover Properly for Long-Term Results
Plan recovery cycles to improve performance.
Half a century ago, American marathoner Buddy Edelen snuck out for a 40-minute run on his rest day. Edelen was the first man to break 2:15, yet he suffered the same crisis of confidence about taking days off that plague most competitive runners. "This is a manifestation of uncertainty," scolded Edelen's coach, according to the Edelen biography, A Cold Clear Day. "There is a time to train and a time to rest--not halfway rest."
As Edelen no doubt felt, it's tempting to focus your training on building toward harder workouts, and schedule rest when your body "needs" it. Studies have found that inexperienced athletes make exactly this mistake, steadily increasing training until fatigue or injury forces them to back off--then repeating the cycle. Experienced athletes deliberately plan their recovery. By taking a rest before it's necessary, they end up accumulating more training overall. Since fatigue accumulates on different time scales--for example, a long run may deplete your glycogen stores for the following day, while joint, tendon, and muscle problems may emerge after many weeks--start off the New Year by "periodizing" your recovery using the following cycles as your guide.
MICROCYCLE Length: Seven days
The classic approach is to take one day of complete rest every week. But you may need to add rest days or alter their intensity. Logging less than 30 miles per week? Take two rest days. If you're at 60+ miles, schedule a full day off every other week but do one day of jogging or light cross-training during the "on" week.
MESOCYCLE Length: Two to four weeks
Periodically reduce your mileage by 20 percent for one week to consolidate gains. If you're building up after a break, increase mileage by up to 10 percent for three weeks before taking a down week. Once you're back to prebreak mileage or at a mileage you've comfortably handled in the recent past, alternate two up weeks with one down week. If you're pushing into new territory, alternate one up and one down. When resuming mileage after the cut-back week, pick up where you left off.
MACROCYCLE Length: Four to six months
Runners often race throughout the year without taking any significant breaks, leaving them vulnerable to injuries and burnout. Break the year into two or three macrocycles, each ending with a goal race followed by a week-long break. During that seven-day period, cross-train, rest, and/or do light jogging (limit light jogs to four). Take one 14-day break every year: one week of no running followed by a week of cross-training or easy jogging. | <urn:uuid:52a0762b-c7bc-4d53-858f-b1dd6bb8f7b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/recover-properly-long-term-results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952136 | 587 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Rapid Assessment of Drug-Related HIV Risk Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Three South African Cities
June 5, 2008
The researchers designed the current study to assess the association between drug use and risky sexual behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM) in locations known to have high prevalence rates of drug use and sexual risk behavior in three South African cities: Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.
The men's views about drug and HIV treatment and preventive services and their efficacy were mixed. The results highlighted various barriers to accessing services, including stigma associated with homosexuality and the availability of drugs in treatment facilities.
In conclusion, the authors offered several recommendations, including: addressing the gap between HIV-risk knowledge and practice; extending [voluntary counseling and testing] services for MSM; increasing the visibility of drug abuse services within communities; addressing concerns about drug availability in treatment centers as well as re-integration issues and the need for after-care services; reducing stigma in drug and HIV services for MSM; and "strengthening the link between drug treatment services and HIV prevention by integrating HIV/drug-related risks into HIV prevention efforts and HIV risks into drug use prevention efforts."
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
05.08.2008; Vol. 95; No. 1-2: P. 45-53; Charles Parry, Petal Petersen, Sarah Dewing, Tara Carney, Richard Needle, Karen Kroeger, Latasha Treger
This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services. | <urn:uuid:3726926b-cbe6-4c3b-9ea3-54ca17adb2b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art47003.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947792 | 354 | 1.851563 | 2 |
- Places to Explore
- Travel Tips
- Fodor's Choice
Known for its magnificent cathedral, Ely is the "capital" of the fens, the center of what used to be a separate county called the Isle of Ely (literally "island of eels"). Until the land was drained in the 17th century, Ely was surrounded by treacherous marshland, which inhabitants crossed wearing stilts. Today Wicken Fen, a nature reserve 9 mi southeast of town (off A1123), preserves the sole remaining example of fenland in an undrained state.
Enveloped by fields of wheat, sugar beets, and carrots, Ely is a small, dense town that fails to live up to the high expectations created by its big attraction, its cathedral. The shopping area and market square lie to the north and lead down to the riverside, and the medieval buildings of the cathedral grounds and the King's School (which trains cathedral choristers) spread out to the south and west. Ely's most famous resident was Oliver Cromwell, whose house is now a museum.
Ely at a Glance
Elsewhere in East Anglia
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- Starting Fr $83: Great Cambridge Price — $83 Hotels.com | <urn:uuid:360866f7-30bd-4021-bed6-f4fb37bba5a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fodors.com/world/europe/england/east-anglia/ely/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90159 | 482 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Home Healing & Spirituality
Dalai Lama's theme: 'science of emotions'
By Jeff Diamant and Maura McDermott, The Mercury News, October 31, 2005
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (USA) -- Sharing the spiritual lessons that have become his calling card, the Dalai Lama drew the largest crowd for a non-athletic event in Rutgers University history last month with a wide-ranging speech on what he called the ``science of emotions.''
From a massive stage in the Rutgers Stadium, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism -- who speaks Friday at Stanford Memorial Church during a two-day visit to the university -- focused on inner peace and world peace and the connection between them.
With occasional help from a translator, the man regarded as the 14th incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion joked with the crowd of nearly 36,000 and answered questions on morality submitted earlier via e-mail.
At Stanford, tickets are already gone for the three public events involving the Dalai Lama, but the Memorial Church presentation (2:30-4:30 p.m. Friday) and the other programs will be broadcast live on the university station, KZSU-FM (90.1), and also Webcast via the Internet (check http://dalailama.stanford.edu for details, which were not available before publication).
The Rutgers turnout -- people began arriving hours before the speech -- exemplified the popularity of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner among Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jews. Little in the speech was specific to Buddhism, and the Dalai Lama urged listeners to think of his message not as religious but rather as ``a science of emotions, the science of mind.''
The chief themes in the talk, titled ``Peace, War and Reconciliation,'' were the importance of being compassionate and of controlling negative emotions, because doing so helps improve the world. Compassion, he said, drives peace, and true compassion ``is not just a mere feeling'' of pity but a sense of concern for others that stems from feelings of equality with them. That feeling, he said, contributes to an ``inner disarmament'' that can help people get along and eventually lead to world peace. Negative emotions such as anger and hatred, he said, can cloud one's vision and judgment.
The Dalai Lama, known as ``His Holiness'' to followers, made his points with stories of two Tibetan Buddhist monks. The first monk, he said, had spent nearly 20 years in a Chinese prison and when released to speak with the Dalai Lama in the 1980s, told the spiritual leader he had been in danger on a ``few occasions.'' Asked to elaborate, the monk responded that he had been in danger of losing compassion for the Chinese: ``He considered forgetting compassion as very serious and dangerous,'' the Dalai Lama said.
The second monk, by contrast, was so angry at Chinese rulers for their actions in Tibet that ``his face became red'' when talking about them. ``This kind of hatred brings more suffering to yourself,'' the Dalai Lama said.
It was a message that held special significance for people in the crowd such as Lara Brewche, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident at age 16. ``I knew enough to let the anger go, and I made a wonderful life for myself,'' said Brewche, 34, who grew up Roman Catholic and embraced Buddhism a year ago.
Urging Americans to help narrow the worldwide gap between rich and poor, the Dalai Lama asked his young listeners to grow into adults willing to help people outside U.S. borders. ``You must look from wider perspective, not just talk America, America, America, like that.''
He also made the crowd laugh repeatedly. Overall, the Dalai Lama was a hit.
``You felt you were talking to a friend and listening to a friend,'' said Rajul Shah, 58. ``What he preached here wasn't religion; it was very spiritual.'' | <urn:uuid:773a08db-ca87-43a8-8bbe-31582d429aa4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,1879,0,0,1,0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969741 | 810 | 2.484375 | 2 |
I'm not sure about anyone else but when I come across something that is boring and repetitive I usually get around to doing some tool that minimizes the amount of time I spend doing it. In this case the task that is boring me is writing the repetitive C# code to call BizUnit to make it run your tests. I'm sure there are lots of different ways you could do this but one day when I was stuck waiting for a while at the airport I got bored and decided to do something to stop me having to do this.
The aim of the tool was as follows:
- Don't write anymore C# code to call BizUnit tests, I want to generate it
- Maintain a simple list of tests which can be easily updated
- Include the tool in the build process so that any newly added tests have the appropriate C# code created
I made the following decisions about the tool I would create:
- I decided to make an MsBuild task so it would easily plug into the build process and also regenerate the C# each time
- I decided to use an xml list of the tests. I could have looked for files which were BizUnit tests but this would probably need to have some kind of file naming convention.
- I wanted to wrap the call to BizUnit with a try/catch block so I could log the error to the event log. This is particularly useful when you run the tests from the command line and you don't see all of the failure details.
- The task would be easily configurable so it could use Nunit or MsTest to run the tests.
Using the Task
Before I get into how I built the task I think if I explain how it is used it should seem simple and easily usable. We have used this task on a couple of projects and it has been quite handy.
To begin with we have the below image from the sample project. In this picture you can see the following things:
- A folder containing 3 BizUnit definition files
- The BizUnitTestDefinitions.xml file which describes the tests within the project and determines the code that will be generated.
- The OverrideBuild.targets file which is imported by the project file and contains overrides for some of the build events (more on this later)
- The BizUnitTests.cs file which is the code file which gets generated
As I mentioned this file is the one that describes the tests within the project. The below picture shows an example of this xml.
The key points of the xml are as follows:
- The TestGroup element allows you to group related tests. Each TestGroup will produce a class containing tests. The Name attribute will become the name of the test class.
- Each Test element will become a method which will run a test. It will be contained within the class from its associated TestGroup. The Name attribute will become the name of the test
- The BizUnitTestCasePath element will point to the file containing the details of the BizUnit test. In this case because the example project uses MsTest I have copied the BizUnit tests to the test results directory using the TestRunConfig so I dont need to worry about the path.
This file is imported by the project file allowing me to specify MsBuild targets to customise the projects build process. The contents of this file are below:
In this file I have a target which overrides the BeforeBuild target. This is because I want to generate the class containing my tests before the project is compiled. The key points of this file are:
- The UsingTask element imports my custom MsBuild task so I can use it
- The use of my task in this case is set to use MsTest, but you could easily use Nunit instead by specifying the appropriate values for the TestAssemblyName, TestFixtureAttributeName and TestMethodAttributeName.
This task will basically take these parameters and inspect the xml definition of the tests then produce the output file containing the C# code.
This file contains the code which is generated. An example of some generated code is in the picture below:
The couple of key points to note are:
If there is any interesting feedback on this post I will probably do a follow up describing how the MsBuild task is build. In the meantime the code for the task, and also the sample project are available at the below location so you should be able to see this for yourself. | <urn:uuid:f031382d-7814-437b-a044-821d9c91c2de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogdoc.biztalk247.com/article.aspx?page=4badc4ba-8092-4d28-8670-ced8c9384e46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934519 | 923 | 1.601563 | 2 |
It’s too simplistic to think of psychopaths as being murderers or law-breakers, says Oxford psychologist Kevin Dutton.
In his new book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths, Dutton examines what we can learn from those who lack conscience but are also bold and highly resilient to stress.
What exactly is a psychopath?
No sooner is the word out of someone’s mouth than images of [serial killers] like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer come to mind. It doesn’t automatically mean that you’re a criminal or serial killer. When psychologists talk about psychopaths, what we refer to are people with a distinct set of personality characteristics including ruthlessness, fearlessness, mental toughness, a charismatic personality and lack of conscience and empathy.
You write that you think your father was a psychopath…
It sounds like a crazy thing to say, but there’s no doubt at all about it. He was a nailed down psychopath. He wasn’t violent. He was a market trader [in the U.K., a person who sells things at an open-air street market]. One of the central messages of the book is that you don’t need to be violent to be a psychopath. My dad was ruthless, fearless and also extremely charming. He could have sold shaving cream to the Taliban.
So what would be an example of his psychopathic behavior?
When I was a kid, probably about 9 or 10 [years old], we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Just as my dad was about to pay, he suddenly tinked his spoon against his glass and stood up. The whole restaurant went silent. My dad said, “I’d just like to thank you all for coming; some from just round the corner, some from much further afield. You’re all most welcome to join us for a little drinks reception across the road.’
And so an entire restaurant of strangers who had never seen us before were all applauding wildly because they didn’t want to be seen as gatecrashers. We just took off. He [told me] we’re not going to the pub really and [explained that his] old friend Malcolm had [just opened a new pub across the street].
If you think about the front you need to do that: it’s a whole different kind of personality. On a personal level, I guess I wrote the book to figure out my old man.
Were you afraid you might have gotten some of those genes?
I have some psychopathic characteristics. I’m not so ruthless. I’m pretty fearless. Not much phases me. I’ve got mental toughness; people say I’m quite persistent. But what lets me down in the psychopath stakes is that I do have a heck of a conscience and am rather empathetic. I’m high on some characteristics and low on others.
Psychopaths don’t have the caring part of empathy, but they are better than average at the “mind reading” part where they can predict other people’s behavior in order to manipulate it.
It’s a real paradox. Some years ago, I interviewed a psychopath — and I can’t work out for the life of me whether he being manipulative or telling the truth — it was probably a bit of both, but he said, ‘If you had a deaf guy standing watching a building burn down and had a child in the building screaming in pain and the deaf guy didn’t go in, you wouldn’t hold him to blame. Imagine if you’re emotionally deaf. You can hear the sound, but it doesn’t do anything for you. You don’t feel that emotional kick in the backside to go in and do something.’
That means psychopaths must miss out on some of life’s greatest pleasures, too. If the happiest moments of our lives tend to involve sharing joy with others—falling in love, having fun with people we care about— they don’t have any of that.
In a sense, they never had that so they’re not going to miss it. We think, because we have empathy, ‘Gosh how terrible it must be to not have it.’ But if you never had it to start with, you don’t miss it. I agree as an empathetic person, I find it horrendous to imagine [living a life] where you couldn’t take pleasure from others and didn’t feel love and compassion.
What do you think makes one psychopath a serial killer while the other winds up on Wall Street?
Let’s say you are a psychopath and you get a poor start in life. You’re low in intelligence and also dispositionally violent. Just due to natural biology, some people are more aggressive than others from the word go. Your prospects, to be perfectly honest, are not great. You’re going to end up as a low level thug or enforcer in a criminal gang and either way, you will wind up in prison.
Now, remove violence from the equation. You are a psychopath who is nonviolent but you don’t get a good start. Your prospects are a little better, you end up as a small time con artist or drug dealer. You’re also going to wind up in prison very quickly.
Then [consider] a psychopath who is not dispositionally violent. You get a good start in life and are intelligent. Now, it’s a different story. Now, you’re more likely to kill in the market than anywhere else. If you’re an intelligent psychopath and violent [and get a good start], there are any number of exciting occupations, anything from special forces operative to head of a criminal syndicate.
What other factors are important?
One difference tends to emerge between functional and criminal psychopaths. The successful functioning ones are able to delay gratification a bit more. They are less impulsive than the criminal ones. Recently, a study looked at the difference between criminal psychopaths in a maximum security prison and business executives.
There was a range of psychopathic traits that were more common among business executives. The charming personality, fearlessness and lack of empathy and conscience were more common in executives. The difference was when it came to more overtly antisocial behavior. Here, the criminals were higher— on criminal behavior and physical aggression and lower on discipline and self control.
What makes the difference between functioning successfully [or not] isn’t just the level of traits, it’s how they interact with [tendencies towards] violence and intelligence and also with other characteristics like sexual stuff that may be going on. You may get a kick out of inflicting pain on women if you’ve been humiliated by a woman early on. There’s a myriad of different triggers that can tip the balance one way or another.
Child abuse must surely be one of them…
Here we come onto how genes and environment interact. There’s a very famous case involving a guy called Bradley Waldroup in Utah. He committed a terrible murder in which he shot and beat to death one of his wife’s best friends whom he suspected of having an affair with her.
[At that time, researchers] had uncovered what the media described as a ‘warrior gene.’ If you got the short version of the gene you are very likely to become a violent criminal or killer— but only if you are abused as a child. That’s the trigger that sets off that gene. If you get the long version of the gene and are abused or have a violent childhood, you will not stand that much risk of become violent criminal
When Waldroup was brought to trial, his defense attorney got on [an expert on] the stand and asked whether [the defendant] had the short variant, the warrior gene and it turned out that he did. The next question was, ‘Was he abused as a child?’ and the answer was yes, he was.
Basically, the attorney made the case that could we not argue that Waldroup’s free will was in some way compromised? Maybe, if our behavior is a byproduct of the interplay between genetics and the environment and we are not free to choose either, to what extent are we free to choose at all?
Bradley Waldrop’s sentence was commuted from death to life in prison. My feeling is that this is the start of a raft of similar cases.
MORE: My Brain Made Me Do It: Psychopaths and Free Will
But should psychopaths get longer or shorter sentences when we aren’t talking about death vs. life in prison? You could argue they should be in prison longer because they are clearly dangerous— or you could make the reverse argument for shorter sentences because it’s not really their fault?
If they are wired differently, then maybe we should rethink it: it’s not their fault that they are wired like that. But we cannot allow people to murder and rape so there is an argument for locking them up for longer.
Would you agree that without psychopathic traits, we might lose a lot of leaders and heroes?
There’s always been a need for risk-takers in society and a need for ruthlessness, charm, charisma and a need for mental toughness and emotional detachment.
All of these traits are on a spectrum, just as there exists no official division between someone who plays the piano well and a concert pianist. One individual might be ruthless and fearless, but not have a lack of conscience.
If you’ve got loads of these traits all turned up to max, you’re going to overload the circuits [and be a dangerous psychopath].
But you wouldn’t be anywhere near dangerous if some were high and some low. Depending on context, you’re talking different proportions that might be quite functionally adapted to whatever professional field of endeavor you might be working in. [At extremely high levels], you might have problems but if turn those down, you might find people who are better than normal in certain aspects. | <urn:uuid:1bd0bea9-f179-4d13-b00e-a79d074d4617> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/19/learning-from-psychopaths-qa-with-psychologist-kevin-dutton/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962605 | 2,126 | 2.125 | 2 |
The St. Johns River and Area Lakes
The speckled perch bite has been generally disappointing, if you’re looking for spawning females bedding in the lily pads. That didn’t seem to happen on the new moon.
But most speck anglers have been able to pick up a dozen or so by fishing the edges of the pads where the bottom drops off into deeper water. The females stage up here prior to the spawn. Most of the reports of fish being caught indicate that the females are carrying roe, but it’s still loose — which means the spawn won’t be immediate.
Those fishing jigs on structure are also finding some specks, and some anglers are drifting deeper water and covering a lot of water to catch their supper.
What has been very good most of the week has been the bluegill and shellcracker bite. The bluegills — and some whoppers — have been caught in the lily pads by those fishing worms or shrimp on the bottom. Others are floating crickets off the edges of shoreline vegetation or pitching under and around docks and boathouses.
The commercial catfish guys are still loading up on channel cats in deeper water that drops off from the sandbars. The shellcracker and some redbellies are on top of the bars.
The bass fishing has been very good. The fish are on the beds all over Lake George. An 11.7-pounder was weighed this week. But anglers are catching lots of fish in the 2 to 5 pound range slow-trolling shiners along the edges of the weeds. They, like the speckled perch, stage up there prior to a spawn.
The nippy weather forecast for the next several days should slow things down; probably pushing females back off the beds. That might, however, put more fish on the drops waiting to try again.
If you’re land-locked, there were some bluegills caught off the Shands Bridge and some catfish and speckled perch caught under the spillway at the Rodman Dam.
The Intracoastal Waterway
It’s been a good week for fishing in general all over the ICW. Folks were catching a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything. The sheepshead bite remains the best bet, mainly because it’s easier to find them because they haunt similar structure – and there’s not a whole lot of it that’s easy to fish.
Flounder are scattered and small. The trout bite is good on higher cleaner water. And the redfish are moving with the tides in and out of the creeks from Pine Island all the way down to Bing’s Landing.
The whiting bite has been consistent on the Vilano Pier. Those targeting sheepshead are catching a few. The bluefish should keep things moving for you there.
The Atlantic Ocean
We had some nice days early in the week, but there were almost no reports from the deep water.
The exception was from charter boat Jodie-Lynn. It limited out on mutton snapper on a trip out over the weekend. The word is that the fish were found in around 140 feet of water.
A few reports came in from the local reefs and wrecks. Most of the boats caught loads of “endangered” black sea bass which are covering up most of the bottom spots and making it tough to target flounder or sheepshead. The jumbo redfish spawners are showing up as well. You’ll know when you hook one.
The St. Augustine Beach Pier had a consistent bite of whiting most of the week. They run for a while then stop. Tides don’t seem to be much of a consideration. It is true however that the night bite of whiting has been the best. The pier is open all night if you’re interested in trying it. The bait shop closes at 10 p.m.
Otherwise, surf fishing has been hit-and-miss with an emphasis on miss. You hear of isolated catches of whiting both north and south, but I haven’t seen anything to prove it. A few black drum were caught with whiting on the beach at Porpoise Point on Vilano Beach.
Weekend weather looks a little tough. Northwest winds are forecast for Saturday with seas 2 to 4 feet. Sunday it swings from the west at 10 knots with 2 to 3 foot seas.
The Ancient City Game Fish Association holds a special meeting Feb. 19. It’s the kickoff party for the Kingfish Challenge event in July. The meeting is hosted by Bozard Ford at their relatively new digs at the Outlet Mall. There will be food, door prizes and an “I Spy” hayride for the kids. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.
*You can submit fishing reports and photos to Jim Sutton at email@example.com or call 460-9309. | <urn:uuid:6d12aff4-87be-4082-a73d-ce5215775272> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://staugustine.com/sports/outdoors/2013-02-13/fishing-bass-bite-has-been-good-cooler-weather-could-change | 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 | 0.9634 | 1,053 | 1.507813 | 2 |
CBS News) A recently passed bill will require all cars to come equipped with “black boxes” that record vehicle data. These Event Data Recorders (EDR), similar to their airplane counterparts, will record data such as speed, brake force and electrical systems monitoring. The days of a car crash being one driver’s word against another look to be history.
Senate Bill 1813 (known as Map-21) mandates that automakers install EDRs in all new vehicles starting in 2015. The bill was recently passed and is expected to be approved by the House.
The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration has been studying and mulling over EDRs in vehicles for several years, but has stopped short of requiring manufacturers to implement them, CNET reports. However, many auto manufacturers already use these devices to help engineers and mechanics perform diagnostics tests and identify malfunctioning parts.
Black boxes like these were instrumental in clearing Toyota of responsibility for the “unintended acceleration” accidents of 2009. They are also used in assistance systems such as GM’s OnStar to alert emergency response services in the event of a crash.
MAP-21 will standardize which events the black boxes can record and require their installation in all vehicles sold in 2015 and beyond.
Source: CBS News – Bailey Johnson | <urn:uuid:2612f48d-5b71-4476-b26d-e4cf1db74a12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prometheanpost.com/2012/05/new-law-mandates-black-boxes-in-all-cars-by-2015.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960048 | 268 | 2.453125 | 2 |
When a ranking Chinese government official slammed the U.S. embassy and consulates in China earlier this month for measuring local air pollution data, calling it “violating diplomatic conventions,” Chinese web users snapped back. “Can’t you see the bad pollution yourself?” asked one typical comment.
China’s censors have tremendous power in print, online, and even in public spaces such as Tiananmen Square. But when it comes to air pollution, even the Chinese government can’t obscure the facts. People see and breathe it every day. | <urn:uuid:933e49ac-0640-4c65-9ad1-b5b763088b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idroolinmysleep.tumblr.com/tagged/China-Air-Daily | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906783 | 120 | 2.140625 | 2 |
A friend on facebook, David Sorrell, posted an article he found online regarding the creation of new punctuation marks. The article is whimsical, but honestly, the point the author is making is very true. Our need to be brief has created the need for new kinds of punctuation. Not the silly emoticons people use — :) ;( ;p — but there are a number of marks that once defined and added to our keyboard could make typing-communication much easier to understand.
I’m not suggesting we add them for traditional writing forms like novels or reports or news, but for texting and emails it would be wonderful to be able to add tone and/or reduce six typed characters down to one in a message.
Check out the article and see what you think. | <urn:uuid:b668d334-832a-44c6-916c-acef37c0d562> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://semo.net/i-agree-we-need-more-punctuation-marks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921358 | 159 | 2.125 | 2 |
|Language:||Dutch, French, German|
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Belgium is a small country between, clockwise from the North, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. It is a member state of the European Union as well as the Schengen Agreement. The country is divided into a Dutch speaking part in the North (Flanders), and a French speaking part in the South (Wallonie) and a tiny German speaking part in the East. Brussels, the country and European capital, has a bilingual status. In Flanders most people will be able to help you out easily in English. In French speaking Belgium English is quite a bit less commonly spoken, but on the whole people will be able to help you out (especially younger people).
Hitch-hiking in the country is in general fairly easy, and, due to the high number of foreigners working in the country, getting a ride out of the country is usually just as easy. The country has one of the most dense road and motorway networks in Europe which can make it slightly complex when trying to find a direct route to a destination. Still, hitching out of a city or moving from on-ramp to on-ramp is usually fairly simple.
Belgium has a very high density of petrol stations and service areas on the motorways. This makes it easier to find one, but also leads to less traffic on a single service area. Because of its bilingual status, it could be helpful to approach drivers in their native language. Although there is no specific way to be sure of telling what language a driver speaks, some solutions are:
- quickly say 'Hi' in both Dutch (dag) or French (bonjour)
- check up the sticker of the car retailer to notice in what part of the country it has been bought
- introduce yourself as a foreigner
Useful tip: Free use of Internet PC's in many city libraries. Useful tip: Most petrol stations in Belgium are open 24/7, the staff is friendly and you can have a nap during the night, if you end up on the road. However, be careful since the traffic is high all night long, many people stop and some can be drunk.
It is common practice to use the E-numbers for motorways, instead of A-numbers like in most countries. Even on road signs you will only find E-numbers.
- Brussels (French: Bruxelles, Dutch: Brussel, German: Brüssel)
- Antwerpen (French: Anvers, Dutch: Antwerpen, German: Anwerpen)
- Brugge (French: Bruges, Dutch: Brugge, German: Brügge)
- Gent (French: Gand, Dutch: Gent, German: Gent)
- Hasselt (idem)
- Leuven (French: Louvain, Dutch: Leuven, German: Löwen)
- Oostende (French: Ostende, Dutch: Oostende, German: Ostende)
- Liège (French: Liège, Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich)
- Charleroi (idem)
- Namur (French: Namur, Dutch: Namen, German: Namur)
- Mons (French: Mons, Dutch: Bergen, German: Mons)
- Arlon (French: Arlon, Dutch: Aarlen, German: Arlon)
- Louvain-la-Neuve (idem)
Belgian license plates do not contain information about where the car comes from. A Belgian license plate is assigned for life to the owner of a car. Usually the plates are white with red text. Cars owned by employees of institutes of the European Union in Brussels and Diplomatic Technical and Administrative Staff have a white plate with blue letters. Diplomatic license plates start with "CD". When Belgians replace their cars, they will keep the same license plate number. Often the name and the city of the garage where the car was bought is indicated just under or at the left side of the license plate on the backside of the car. A license plate of an old timer starts with "O".
European Carpooling (Taxi Stop - Eurostop)
Taxi Stop is an agency that offers carpooling possibilities to drivers in destination or from European countries as well as passengers looking for a destination. The website is available in English (as opposed to its German equivalent) but requires to create a free subscription account in matter to contact a driver or a passenger. Although the availability and destination listing does not require to log in. This service is called eurostop and has a set rule regarding the fees which is pretty simple: registration to the service is free of charge, a passenger is simply asked to pay 3€/100km to the driver once at destination. The concept of carpooling is so popular that people might come to you when you hitchhike and offer you a lift. Always clearly say in the beginning that you don't want to pay (assuming you don't) so that there are no misunderstandings.
Public transport is extensive and affordable to a certain point.
The Belgian train (SNCB/NMBS Company reaches all major cities with a regular service. On weekends (from Friday after 19h until Sunday evening), the return ticket is reduced by 50% which is good option for a weekend evasion within the country. The Go-Pass/Rail-Pass is a 10 journeys ticket that allows you to go everywhere in the country (borders excluded). The Go-Pass cost €50 (so 5€/journey) and is for the -26, although if you don't look too old you probably won't be asked to prove your age. A Go-Pass 1 costs €6.50 for a single journey between 2 Belgian station (only online purchase). The Rail-Pass, for those over 26, costs €76. The Go-Pass is a good option to go from one side of the country to another. The pass is valid for a year from the date of purchase.
- In Flanders (north), the public transport company is DeLijn which completes the train services into the rural towns and inside the urbanised areas. It is possible to buy a 'LijnKaart' which saves you on the cost of local transport. Ticket from ticketmachine or in shops give you 25% discount.
- In Brussels, public transport are provided by the STIB/MIVB. There again you can buy a 5 or 10 journeys ticket. Note that buying your ticket inside the bus/tram costs you more. More details will be added regarding Public Transport in Brussels on the city page itself.
- In Wallonia (south), the regional bus company is TEC
Food & Toilets
The price of food on motorway services is relatively high, so try to stock up before leaving and note that very few motorway services have free toilets. The price (usually between €0.30 and 0.70) sometimes includes a voucher that can be used in the restaurant. However, it is easy to jump over the barrier and use the toilet for free. The cheapest supermarkets in the country are Lidl, Aldi and Colruyt, and food bought in them will be significantly cheaper than on motorway services. Carrefour and Delhaize are more expensive options, but are extensively located downtown with longer opening hours (Often 20:00, but not all of them!) which will offer better prices than the night stores. Note that in Belgium most shops close at 18:00 and very few shops are open on Sundays.
There are few free public toilets around, and you might even be charged in places like McDonald's. It is best to avoid the touristic areas when looking for a free toilet and aim at the less obvious places such as big chain hotels (Radisson...), public buildings (libraries and schools) and some cafes where you can use the toilet without being spot by the staff who might request you to pay a fee up to 50 cents, although many will allow you to use the toilet if you ask them in English!
Belgium is famous for its frietkoten. These are small restaurants or shacks, that sell French fries (a Belgian dish mind you! Protip: Make sure you don't call them French fries, but just fries. Because some will lecture lecture you about fries not being french.) and all sorts of snacks for relatively low prices. It's not very healthy, but for €5 you can have quite a big meal which is bigger & cheaper then McDonald's. Every village has a frietkot, and every city has at least one in every neighborhood.
Also make sure you try out the beer. Belgians have the most and best types of beer in the world, and often it'll be cheaper then water or soda.
- Liftpunt, discussion forum about hitchhiking in Dutch, also for Flandres!
Albania | Andorra | Austria | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Ireland | Italy | Kosovo | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Macedonia | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro | Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | United Kingdom | Ukraine | Vatican | <urn:uuid:1b096796-c38f-47f9-a2ae-65743c5c004c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hitchwiki.org/en/Belgium | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94792 | 1,985 | 2.046875 | 2 |
- Resolution among major placental mammal interordinal relationships with genome data imply that speciation influenced their earliest radiations (2008)
- Background: A number of the deeper divergences in the placental mammal tree are still inconclusively resolved despite extensive phylogenomic analyses. A recent analysis of 200 kbp of protein coding sequences yielded only limited support for the relationships among Laurasiatheria (cow, dog, bat and shrew), probably because the divergences occurred only within a few million years from each other. It is generally expected that increasing the amount of data and improving the taxon sampling enhance the resolution of narrow divergences. Therefore these and other difficult splits were examined by phylogenomic analysis of the hitherto largest sequence alignment. The increasingly complete genome data of placental mammals also allowed developing a novel and stringent data search method. Results: The rigorous data handling, recursive BLAST, successfully removed the sequences from gene families, including those from well-known families hemoglobin, olfactory, myosin and HOX genes, thus avoiding alignment of possibly paralogous sequences. The current phylogenomic analysis of 3,012 genes (2,844,615 nucleotides) from a total of 22 species yielded statistically significant support for most relationships. While some major clades were confirmed using genomic sequence data, the placement of the treeshrew, bat and the relationship between Boreoeutheria, Xenarthra and Afrotheria remained problematic to resolve despite the size of the alignment. Phylogenomic analysis of divergence times dated the basal placental mammal splits at 95–100 million years ago. Many of the following divergences occurred only a few (2–4) million years later. Relationships with narrow divergence time intervals received unexpectedly limited support even from the phylogenomic analyses. Conclusion: The narrow temporal window within which some placental divergences took place suggests that inconsistencies and limited resolution of the mammalian tree may have their natural explanation in speciation processes such as lineage sorting, introgression from species hybridization or hybrid speciation. These processes obscure phylogenetic analysis, making some parts of the tree difficult to resolve even with genome data.
- Mammalian evolution may not be strictly bifurcating (2010)
- The massive amount of genomic sequence data that is now available for analyzing evolutionary relationships among 31 placental mammals reduces the stochastic error in phylogenetic analyses to virtually zero. One would expect that this would make it possible to finally resolve controversial branches in the placental mammalian tree. We analyzed a 2,863,797 nucleotide-long alignment (3,364 genes) from 31 placental mammals for reconstructing their evolution. Most placental mammalian relationships were resolved, and a consensus of their evolution is emerging. However, certain branches remain difficult or virtually impossible to resolve. These branches are characterized by short divergence times in the order of 1-4 million years. Computer simulations based on parameters from the real data show that as little as about 12,500 amino acid sites could be sufficient to confidently resolve short branches as old as about 90 million years ago. Thus, the amount of sequence data should no longer be a limiting factor in resolving the relationships among placental mammals. The timing of the early radiation of placental mammals coincides with a period of climate warming some 100 - 80 million years ago and with continental fragmentation. These global processes may have triggered the rapid diversification of placental mammals. However, the rapid radiations of certain mammalian groups complicate phylogenetic analyses, possibly due to incomplete lineage sorting and introgression. These speciation-related processes led to a mosaic genome and conflicting phylogenetic signals. Split network methods are ideal for visualizing these problematic branches and can therefore depict data conflict and possibly the true evolutionary history better than strictly bifurcating trees. Given the timing of tectonics, of placental mammalian divergences, and the fossil record, a Laurasian rather than Gondwanan origin of placental mammals seems the most parsimonious explanation. Key words: continental drift , Cretaceous warming , genome analysis , hybridization , phylogenomics , split decomposition
- A genomic approach to examine the complex evolution of laurasiatherian mammals (2011)
- Recent phylogenomic studies have failed to conclusively resolve certain branches of the placental mammalian tree, despite the evolutionary analysis of genomic data from 32 species. Previous analyses of single genes and retroposon insertion data yielded support for different phylogenetic scenarios for the most basal divergences. The results indicated that some mammalian divergences were best interpreted not as a single bifurcating tree, but as an evolutionary network. In these studies the relationships among some orders of the super-clade Laurasiatheria were poorly supported, albeit not studied in detail. Therefore, 4775 protein-coding genes (6,196,263 nucleotides) were collected and aligned in order to analyze the evolution of this clade. Additionally, over 200,000 introns were screened in silico, resulting in 32 phylogenetically informative long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE) insertion events. The present study shows that the genome evolution of Laurasiatheria may best be understood as an evolutionary network. Thus, contrary to the common expectation to resolve major evolutionary events as a bifurcating tree, genome analyses unveil complex speciation processes even in deep mammalian divergences. We exemplify this on a subset of 1159 suitable genes that have individual histories, most likely due to incomplete lineage sorting or introgression, processes that can make the genealogy of mammalian genomes complex. These unexpected results have major implications for the understanding of evolution in general, because the evolution of even some higher level taxa such as mammalian orders may sometimes not be interpreted as a simple bifurcating pattern.
- Impact of carnivory on human development and evolution revealed by a new unifying model of weaning in mammals (2012)
- Our large brain, long life span and high fertility are key elements of human evolutionary success and are often thought to have evolved in interplay with tool use, carnivory and hunting. However, the specific impact of carnivory on human evolution, life history and development remains controversial. Here we show in quantitative terms that dietary profile is a key factor influencing time to weaning across a wide taxonomic range of mammals, including humans. In a model encompassing a total of 67 species and genera from 12 mammalian orders, adult brain mass and two dichotomous variables reflecting species differences regarding limb biomechanics and dietary profile, accounted for 75.5%, 10.3% and 3.4% of variance in time to weaning, respectively, together capturing 89.2% of total variance. Crucially, carnivory predicted the time point of early weaning in humans with remarkable precision, yielding a prediction error of less than 5% with a sample of forty-six human natural fertility societies as reference. Hence, carnivory appears to provide both a necessary and sufficient explanation as to why humans wean so much earlier than the great apes. While early weaning is regarded as essentially differentiating the genus Homo from the great apes, its timing seems to be determined by the same limited set of factors in humans as in mammals in general, despite some 90 million years of evolution. Our analysis emphasizes the high degree of similarity of relative time scales in mammalian development and life history across 67 genera from 12 mammalian orders and shows that the impact of carnivory on time to weaning in humans is quantifiable, and critical. Since early weaning yields shorter interbirth intervals and higher rates of reproduction, with profound effects on population dynamics, our findings highlight the emergence of carnivory as a process fundamentally determining human evolution.
- Expansion of CORE-SINEs in the genome of the Tasmanian devil (2012)
- Background: The genome of the carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii, Order: Dasyuromorphia), was sequenced in the hopes of finding a cure for or gaining a better understanding of the contagious devil facial tumor disease that is threatening the species’ survival. To better understand the Tasmanian devil genome, we screened it for transposable elements and investigated the dynamics of short interspersed element (SINE) retroposons. Results: The temporal history of Tasmanian devil SINEs, elucidated using a transposition in transposition analysis, indicates that WSINE1, a CORE-SINE present in around 200,000 copies, is the most recently active element. Moreover, we discovered a new subtype of WSINE1 (WSINE1b) that comprises at least 90% of all Tasmanian devil WSINE1s. The frequencies of WSINE1 subtypes differ in the genomes of two of the other Australian marsupial orders. A co-segregation analysis indicated that at least 66 subfamilies of WSINE1 evolved during the evolution of Dasyuromorphia. Using a substitution rate derived from WSINE1 insertions, the ages of the subfamilies were estimated and correlated with a newly established phylogeny of Dasyuromorphia. Phylogenetic analyses and divergence time estimates of mitochondrial genome data indicate a rapid radiation of the Tasmanian devil and the closest relative the quolls (Dasyurus) around 14 million years ago. Conclusions: The radiation and abundance of CORE-SINEs in marsupial genomes indicates that they may be a major player in the evolution of marsupials. It is evident that the early phases of evolution of the carnivorous marsupial order Dasyuromorphia was characterized by a burst of SINE activity. A correlation between a speciation event and a major burst of retroposon activity is for the first time shown in a marsupial genome.
- Coalescent-based genome analyses resolve the early branches of the euarchontoglires (2013)
- Despite numerous large-scale phylogenomic studies, certain parts of the mammalian tree are extraordinarily difficult to resolve. We used the coding regions from 19 completely sequenced genomes to study the relationships within the super-clade Euarchontoglires (Primates, Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Dermoptera and Scandentia) because the placement of Scandentia within this clade is controversial. The difficulty in resolving this issue is due to the short time spans between the early divergences of Euarchontoglires, which may cause incongruent gene trees. The conflict in the data can be depicted by network analyses and the contentious relationships are best reconstructed by coalescent-based analyses. This method is expected to be superior to analyses of concatenated data in reconstructing a species tree from numerous gene trees. The total concatenated dataset used to study the relationships in this group comprises 5,875 protein-coding genes (9,799,170 nucleotides) from all orders except Dermoptera (flying lemurs). Reconstruction of the species tree from 1,006 gene trees using coalescent models placed Scandentia as sister group to the primates, which is in agreement with maximum likelihood analyses of concatenated nucleotide sequence data. Additionally, both analytical approaches favoured the Tarsier to be sister taxon to Anthropoidea, thus belonging to the Haplorrhine clade. When divergence times are short such as in radiations over periods of a few million years, even genome scale analyses struggle to resolve phylogenetic relationships. On these short branches processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and possibly hybridization occur and make it preferable to base phylogenomic analyses on coalescent methods. | <urn:uuid:2e8c3ee8-38bf-4851-80d2-4f0fbbc6afcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/solrsearch/index/search/searchtype/authorsearch/author/%22Axel+Janke%22/start/0/rows/10/sortfield/year/sortorder/asc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913428 | 2,386 | 2.75 | 3 |
The New Student's Reference Work/New Stars
|←New South Wales||The New Student's Reference Work (1914)
|New Year's Day→|
|See also Nova on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.|
New Stars, sometimes called temporary stars, are bodies which suddenly make their appearance in the heavens, rise rapidly to their full brightness, and soon begin to diminish until they can be seen only with a telescope or, perhaps, not at all. The earliest one of which we have any account is that of 1572, generally known as the Star of Tycho Brahe. But it is only since the invention of the spectroscope that this class of stars has come to be of especial interest. The new star in the constellation of Corona Borealis, discovered by Birmingham on May 12, 1866, was examined spectroscopically by Huggins and Miller. They found that it possessed both a dark line spectrum and a bright line spectrum, differing in this respect from nearly all the other stars. The next new star was that in the constellation of the Swan, known as Nova Cygni, discovered on Nov. 24, 1876, a red star of the third magnitude. Two years later it was fainter than the 11th magnitude. Nova Andromedæ was discovered in August, 1885; and Nova Orionis in December of the same year. But the star which Anderson at Edinburgh discovered on Jan. 24, 1892, far exceeded all previous new stars in interest, because the power of the spectroscope had been increased in many ways since the previous stars were observed. For a full account of this star, called Nova Aurigæ, the reader is referred to Scheiner’s Astronomical Spectroscopy, where its interesting spectrum is described in detail. The next and only other important new star was also discovered by Anderson, this time in the constellation of Perseus, Feb. 22, 1901. Many theories have been advanced to explain this curious phenomenon; but the one which at present seems most probable is that advanced by Seeliger: The new star is produced by some dark body rushing into a meteor swarm or a nebula, the impact of small particles being sufficient to bring the dark body to incandescence. | <urn:uuid:17ed41c5-9483-4eb7-bdbd-2b5294a43963> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_Student's_Reference_Work/New_Stars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966933 | 465 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Date of this Version
We used information from an angler recognition program to assess the relationship between lake-record weights of freshwater fishes captured by Texas anglers and two predictors of fish production and growth: reservoir surface area and growing-season length. The lake-record weights of two species, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and flathead catfish Pylodictis olivaris, were directly related to the logarithm of surface area. The record weights of all species studied were unrelated to growing-season length. Regardless of the statistical significance of individual correlations, there was a significant excess of positive correlations across all species between lake-record weights of fish and log surface area. This indicates the presence of a general relationship between the record weights of fish and reservoir area. Our results suggest that record weights of fish may be constrained by reservoir surface area. | <urn:uuid:1bf5f9f8-381b-4375-a9a4-1cf523bec938> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ncfwrustaff/87/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953815 | 177 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Landless Movement in Brazil
Brazilian Government versus Brazilian Citizens
The Guardian, best of the newspapers in the United Kingdom, recently published this article.
by Jan Rocha
British charities are being warned that the Brazilian landless movement they help fund is dangerous and illegal. Jan Rocha meets one of its leaders
They grow and sell organic produce, they are replanting mahogany in the Amazon, they even make jam - but the police treat them like criminals. This is MST, the Movement of Landless Rural Workers, Brazil's largest and most dynamic social movement, whose direct action tactics see them hoisting their red flag over farms, ranches, banks and government offices, demanding land, credits, schools, justice and a share of the wealth they help to create.
For peasant movements and small farmers round the world who believe that agriculture is not just a question of trade, but a political and social issue, and that food sovereignty is more important than food security, the MST has become a reference point, superseding Cuba as a training ground for militants. Its links with like-minded groups now stretch to the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, China, Mexico, and throughout Asia. It is the most quoted group by political and environmental activists in Europe and America and is at the forefront of forging an ideol ogy for the poor in many countries. But what exactly is the Movimento Sem Terra?
MST grew out of the despair of small farmers deprived of land in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul just 20 years ago and has spread to nearly all of Brazil's 27 states. Its red flag flies over hundreds of small rural settlements all over Brazil, pockets of defiance located in the heart of soybean country in the south, lost in the sea of sugar cane in the north-east, or in the midst of miles of cattle grass on the giant ranches in the Amazon basin. Pock ets of family agriculture in a sea of chemically-induced cash crops.
Life in the settlements is hard, but it is still much better than it would be outside for the 600,000 families who live there. Before they joined the MST, most were illiterate rural labourers, poor small farmers, or unemployed shantytown dwellers.
In the settlements, none more than 15 years old, they grow staples such as maize, beans, rice and mandioca (cassava), rear pigs and poultry, and keep milk cows. But they have also set up farm cooperatives to process milk, fruit, flour and other products for sale. They sell to commercial food companies, to farmers' markets, or through their first shop in So Paulo.
Brazil is one of the world's biggest markets for pesticides and chemical fertilizers - Monsanto is building a huge factory there - and most of the settlements still use them, but an increasing number are going over to organic methods, encouraged by the agronomists trained by the MST. Initially, it was a question of cost: they could not afford the pesticides and fertilizers. But increasingly it is because of awareness about the damage caused by the chemicals and the advantages to health and the environment of green farming.
An MST settlement in Baje now produces and markets organic seeds. In So Paulo, MST settlers are planting thousands of saplings produced by a local state forest reserve to counteract the erosion produced by the years of deforestation practised by the ranchers who illegally occupied the land before them.
In the Amazon, where slash and burn agriculture is still the main method of small farmers, the Palmares settlement has begun replanting mahogany and native species such as the jaborandi.
One of the biggest problems remains the government's failure to finance organic farming. Credits are for conventional farming only. MST demands to get funding, for long-term regional fruit production like the Amazon fruits cupuacu or graviola have so far been ignored.
In the south, the MST has organised protests against the GM soya illegally planted by large farmers. The growing environmental awareness of the movement is fostered in the schools found in every settlement. In MST schools, the children are taught with the methods of Paulo Freire, Brazil's internationally-famed educationalist, who was exiled as a subversive by the military regime.
They learn to ask questions. The education process begins in the temporary squatters' camps where families often spend years before winning their plot of land in a settlement. Here the school might be only a rustic shelter thatched with banana leaves and where the children sit on tree trunks.
Many men and women, for whom Brazil's harshly unjust society had no other place than poverty and marginalisation, are now directors of farm or credit cooperatives, managers of meat packing plants, or schoolteachers, because of the MST.
One of them is Jorge Neri, the illiterate son of a maid, now a member of MST's coordinating committee, who has just made a marathon tour of 10 European countries at the invitation of organisations eager to know more about the MST. On the way to meet him in London, I happened to be reading EP Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class, and when we talked I was struck by the similarities between what happened 200 years ago here and what is happening now in Brazil, as Neri described what the MST see as the government's attempt to criminalise them.
"What we're doing is not new - we've been carrying out occupations for 15 years now," he says. "We don't torture, or kill or kidnap. What worries the government is our capacity to organise nationally. They see the MST as a bad example to other social movements because we question government policy, we question the economic model, we propose alternatives. We want society to question the fact that they have no say in government spending, in how their money is spent."
For Neri, it is the government which practises violence, because "they are destroying labour rights, selling off nationalised industries, increasing poverty and unemployment. They want to isolate MST, not because we want land reform, but because it is showing society that it cannot remain quiet, it must react. We've waited 500 years already; we can't wait any longer. What is clear is that this model we have is no use - the country is poorer, there is less education, less health, the people see no future."
The MST, together with other social movements, wants to organise a plebiscite on Brazil's staggering foreign debt, which is now over US$200bn, even though $125bn was repaid between 1995-98 - money that MST says could have gone on education, health and land reform. For Veja, Brazil's mass circulation news magazine, MST uses the pretext of agrarian reform to preach "socialist revolution".
MST has discovered that direct action brings results - three-quarters of today's settlements originated as land occupations - but they are an unarmed movement, unlike the ranchers, hired guns and police who oppose them. The latest MST victim was a middle-aged father of five children, shot dead by police when they intercepted busloads of unarmed protesters near Curitiba in May. Their killers often go unpunished: four years after 19 MST protesters were shot dead in Eldorado do Carajas, 155 policemen accused of their murders still await trial.
Jorge Neri found evidence during his trip to Europe that the Brazilian authorities have also launched a discreet battle to undermine overseas solidarity with the movement. Charities which fund MST activities, including some in the UK, are being warned by their governments that the MST is an organisation that resorts to illegal methods to secure land.
For the Brazilian government, there is no need for the MST, because President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has already given land to more families - 370,000 - than any other government. MST claims that most of these families already occupied their land, that the government merely gave them titles.
For Neri, there is a real danger that conservative forces in Brazil want to destroy the MST - and, besides violence, the weapon being used is an agricultural policy that favours the large agribusiness company, and has led to small farmers abandoning their land. Some MST leaders think MST settlements run as cooperatives could survive by becoming completely self-sufficient, and because they also have their own schools and, sometimes, pharmacies. Others are more pessimistic: they remember that in Brazil peasant movements have a history of being massacred.
Neri is philosophic about the future: "I think we're in for a struggle over a long period. It's not just a fight for land, but for a better form of democracy where people participate, debate, discuss what sort of policies they want. Maybe what we are proposing is an illusion?"
This article was distributed by the Grassroots Media Network.
What is your suggestion for the Brazilian people? Tell your ideas to your fellow readers at The Progress Report:
Page One Page Two Archive Discussion Room Letters What's Geoism? | <urn:uuid:e98144b7-40b1-48fb-a6e8-50c79f9877f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.progress.org/archive/land20.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968388 | 1,869 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Last month, the global average temperature climbed to the second highest for May on record since 1880, according to U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) records.
Much of the world, including nearly all of Europe, Asia, northern Africa, most of North America and southern Greenland experienced above average May temperatures. In fact, last month wrapped up the warmest spring on record for the continental U.S., NOAA records show.
The global May record included the combined global land and ocean average surface temperatures for the month, which 1.19 degrees Fahrenheit (0.66 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average of 58.5 F (14.8 C). This record was beat only in 2010, when the global average was 1.24 F (0.69 C) above the 20th-century average.
The Northern Hemisphere saw its warmest May on record — 1.53 F, or 0.85 C above average — while the Southern Hemisphere's May ranked ninth warmest among all Mays on record, at 0.85 F (0.47 C) above average.
Of course, it wasn't unusually warm everywhere. Australia, Alaska and parts of the western U.S.-Canadian border were notably cooler than average.
Snow cover on the Northern Hemisphere was significantly below average in May, according to NOAA records.
Globally, this spring ranked as the fourth warmest. Meanwhile, May brought a slew of temperature records to the continental U.S. after an unusually warm spring and mild winter. [10 Weird Weather Events]
Because of natural fluctuations in weather, climate scientists are loath to connect events that occur over a short-time frame, from a strong storm to an unusual warm spring, to climate change. However, the warming effect of humans' greenhouse gas emissions forms a backdrop for the weather the world is experiencing and shows up as a longer-term trend. It is not a coincidence that the first decade of this century was the warmest on record, according to NOAA's State of Climate in 2010 report.
- The World's Weirdest Weather
- 50 Amazing Facts About Earth
- Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming
Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:428a15aa-370f-4dec-8774-402658a97054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/may-weather-2012-noaa-records_n_1597723.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922182 | 478 | 3.390625 | 3 |
You have a unique medical history. Therefore, it is essential to talk with your doctor about your personal risk factors and/or experience with scleroderma. By talking openly and regularly with your doctor, you can take an active role in your care.
General Tips for Gathering Information
Here are some tips that will make it easier for you to talk to your doctor:
- Bring someone else with you. It helps to have another person hear what is said and think of questions to ask.
- Write out your questions ahead of time, so you don't forget them.
- Write down the answers you get, and make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask for clarification, if necessary.
- Don't be afraid to ask your questions or ask where you can find more information about what you are discussing. You have a right to know.
Specific Questions to Ask Your Doctor
- Is it possible to determine which type of scleroderma I have?
- What kind of symptoms should I immediately call you about ?
- Are there any new treatments for scleroderma?
- Are there any clinical trials from which I might benefit?
- Do you recommend that I participate in a clinical trial?
- How long will the medications you’ve prescribed take to work?
- How much improvement should I expect?
- What kinds of side effect should I expect?
- When should I call you about a side effect?
- Are there interactions between my medicines?
- Are there any herbal supplements or complementary or alternative therapies that can help me?
- Are there any activities that I should change?
- Can you recommend an appropriate exercise program?
- Should I make any changes to my diet?
- Can you recommend a program to help me stop smoking?
- What can I do to continue my usual activities and protect my hands and feet?
- What can I do to continue my usual activities and protect my skin?
- Are there local support groups I can join?
- Is it possible to predict the course my condition will follow?
- Reviewer: Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD
- Review Date: 12/2011 -
- Update Date: 12/30/2011 - | <urn:uuid:9deb2f4a-b960-4ec3-a315-54e830566be3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://westfloridahospital.com/your-health/?/20126/Talking-to-Your-Doctor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930905 | 463 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
Did you ever sit on a hot sand beach and dig your hand down into the sand? You don’t have to dig very far before you get to cool sand … but even though it’s nice and cool a few handwidths down, the fact that it is cool doesn’t matter at all to either the temperature of your feet or to the temperature of the air. The beach air is hot, and your feet can still get burnt, regardless of the proximity of cool sand. I’ll return to this thought in a bit.
I’ve been mulling over the various time lags in the earth’s system For example, the peak temperature during the day doesn’t occur until about three hours after noon, and the hottest months of the summer are about a month and a half after the summer solstice. This is because it takes time for the heat to warm the earth, and that heat comes back out of the earth during the times in the temperature cycles when there is less forcing. I looked at that, and I thought, hmmm … a three-hour lag in a 24 hour daily temperature cycle is about an eighth of the cycle. And a month and a half lag in the annual temperature fluctuations is about and eighth of a cycle … hmmm. I wondered if they were connected.
So I pulled out my bible, Rudolph Geiger’s much-updated 1927 classic, “The Climate Near The Ground” (Amazon, ninety bucks, yikes!). [UPDATE The commenter ShrNfr notes in the comments that there are used versions of The Climate Near the Ground at Abe Books for prices under $10 ... many thanks.] It is a marvelous book, from a time when people actually measured things and thought about them. I have a hard copy, it’s my main climate squeeze. However, while writing this I just noticed that an older edition is available as a FREE DOWNLOAD! (Warning: 23 Mb file, lots of pages of good stuff.) The first edition was in 1927 in German, then a second edition updated in 1941 and translated into English. Harvard University Press published the third edition in 1950, followed by a fourth edition in 1960. All of these were updated by the author. A fifth edition was published in 1995, updated by Aron and Todhunter in honor of the 100th anniversary of Geiger’s birth. The hard copy I have is the sixth edition, 2003. I see the online copy is the 1950 Harvard University version. Get it, either in hardcopy or for free. Read it. Every page is packed with actual experimental results and measurements, real science.
In both the 1950 and the modern versions there is a lovely graph showing what are called “tautochrones” of temperature in the ground. Tautochrones are lines connecting observations done at the same time of day. Figure 1, from page 34 of Geiger’s online version (PDF page 60) or page 52 of the Sixth Edition, shows a set of tautochrones.
In my hardcopy version it says regarding this Figure:
“Figure shows the diurnal variations of soil temperature on a clear summer day in the form of tautochrones. These observations by L. Herr were taken on 10 and 11 July 1934 for ten different depths in the ground; the temperature variation with depth shown here is for the odd hours of the day. The tautochrones vary between two extremes, roughly defined by the 15 [3:00 PM] and 5 [5:00 AM] tautochrones. …
During the course of the day, the pattern appears to be complicated by the fact that, in the intervening time. the heat a various depths in the ground may flow in different direction. For example, at 2100 hours, the highest temperature is recorded at a depth of 5 cm. …”
Note that as the temperature wave moves deeper into the ground, a couple of things are happening. First, at deeper levels, the fluctuations are getting smaller and smaller. Second, there is an increasing time lag for the temperature wave to reach greater and greater depths.
Geiger provides the following equation that gives the relative size of the fluctuation at a given depth.
where z is the depth in meters, s1 is the size of the fluctuations at the surface, s2 is the (smaller) size of the fluctuations at the given depth “z“, t is the total time to complete one cycle in seconds, and a is the diffusivity of the ground in square metres per second. Diffusivity is a measure of how fast the heat moves in a given substance. Solving Equation 1 for z gives:
where log is the natural log to the base e.
OK, so the depth at which the size of the temperature fluctuations drop to some fraction s2/s1 of the initial surface swing is given by that equation. Now, what is the time it takes for the temperature wave to get down to that depth? That is to say, what is the lag in the system at depth z? Geiger gives the equation for that as well, which is
where t1 is the lag time for the temperature wave from the surface to reach the depth z. Now, here comes the interesting part. Substituting the value for z from Equation 2 into Equation 3, we get the following
There are some very curious and useful things about this result.
First, as I had suspected, the lag is indeed a fixed fraction of the length of the cycle. For example, the lag time for the fluctuations of a temperature wave in the ground to drop to half its initial value is 0.11 of the cycle length. If the temperature cycle is 24 hours, the lag time is 0.11 times 24 hours = 2.6 hours. And if the temperature cycle is 12 months, the lag time is 0.11 times 12 months = 1.4 months. Both of these are quite close to the observed lags in the climate system.
Next, note that both the depth z and the diffusivity of the ground a have cancelled out of the equation. This means it doesn’t matter if the temperature wave is moving in stone or sand, or even in some mixture of layers of the two, the lag time for a given loss of fluctuation is the same. I definitely didn’t expect that.
Next, because there is a direct link between the time lag and the size of the reduction in fluctuations, we can calculate the size of the response if there were no lag. In the case of the climate system, the lag implies a reduction in size of about 50%. This would seem to mean that if there were no lag in the system, the full temperature response would be about twice the response that we currently observe with the lags.
Next, this would also imply that for e.g. a 60-year temperature cycle, the lag in the peaks of the cycle would be on the order of 0.11 * 60 years, which is about 7 years. Now, that would seem to imply that if there were a sudden temperature jump we’d see a long lag, since it is akin to a very long cycle. But there’s an oddity in this, which brings me back to the beach and the sand. The oddity is, it doesn’t matter what the ground is doing a meter down. We’re never in contact with the deeper levels. So if there is a sudden temperature jump, the surface of the ground warms quite quickly—and as the example of the sandy beach shows, it is only the top layer of the ground that concerns us. It is only in cyclical fluctuations, where heat is moving both into and out of the ground, that we see a lag. A steady slow increase, on the other hand, wouldn’t show such a lag. At least, that’s my current thinking …
In any case, that’s what I’ve learned over the weekend. Sadly, it’s Monday, so I’m heading back to pounding nails. My next investigation will be to use the marvelous CERES dataset to get a better grip on this question. I can look for example at the lags in the land versus the ocean, which is likely what is giving the “fat-tailed” response. Note that my analysis above is only valid for solids. The ocean is different in two regards. First, it is free to circulate thermally, allowing it to lose energy faster than the land. Second, it is not heated just at the surface, but down deeper. However, I suspect that these two differences somewhat counteract each other, so overall it is following the same type of path as the land, but with somewhat different parameters. But that’s just a guess at this point.
Finally, I make no overarching claims for this lovely result. I’m still struggling to understand the implications of it myself. As always, I’m just reporting my findings as I come across them.
Man, I do love settled science … there are so many unanswered questions. For example … is it just a coincidence that the time lags in the climate system are about equal to the lag time for the fluctuations to reach half of their original value? I suspect that it is not a coincidence, that it is true for any cyclical system in thermal balance. This is because in thermal equilibrium, the amount of heat coming out of the earth has to equal the amount going in, which I suspect relates to the fluctuations falling to exactly half their initial value … but so far I don’t see a way to demonstrate that.
PS—To return one final time to the sandy beach, my natural habitat, the diffusivity of dry sand is on the order of a = 1.3E-7 m^2 per second, with t = 86400 seconds for the cycle length (one day). Using those variables in Equation 2, we find that the depth z required to get only half the temperature swing of the surface sand is only 4 centimeters, or about an inch and a half …
PPS—And yes, I’m sure that there are folks out there who knew this all along … but I didn’t, which is why I’m discussing it. | <urn:uuid:1890d72a-dd6b-496c-b4e8-8d1d773eabfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/06/18/time-lags-in-the-climate-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950072 | 2,157 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Submitted by Soma Hunter
Where have the roots gone in our modern culture for integrating
and understanding (literally and figuratively”standing under”) the
purpose inherent in life transitions and rites of passage? Recently
several of us had a wondeerful experience with a friend who, at age 61
was being called to a new stage in life. Since Alice is decended from
Native Americans (she is 1/4 Shoshone), when given the opportunity to
honor and to witness this threshold in her life journey, I naturally
chose some Native American ceremonial tools to facilitate this among
us. The four elements of water, air, earth, and fire correspond with
the four sacred directions: west, east, north, and south.
Beginning with water is like going to the source of life itself:
transparent,flexible, nourishing, and cleansing. It opens the way by
its inherent quality of being to our sacred origins and nourishes the
seed there while all else is released. Even our 4 and 7 year-old
participants withstood the cold, shocking stream of gentle water
flowing from a hose held overhead. One-by-one, we stood in a 4 foot diameter
wading pool surrounded by witnesses. Each shuddered his or her
releasing embrace of the water while sending and receiving forgiveness
to all and sundry in each of the four directions.
Air symbolizes the ubiquitous nature of spirit which is and
sustains all life in form. Our agreement, our unity, is known when
spirit is known and its truth spoken or revealed. With Alice before
us, we spoke powerful words of honor and blessing to her from our
There is something about earth which truly grounds and connects
the blessings known and intended in our minds, hearts, and spirits.
We shared a delicious feast next that rivalled Alice’s Restaurant! You
can give anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant and we
did…delectable treats from mango and avocado slices to brownies and
muffins were lovingly placed as precious morsels in each others’
mouths and consumed with great pleasure.
With fire comes passionate praise! I chose the sacred pipe of
red pipestone wonderfully carved for this culminating act of honor and
respect. While some continued sharing the delicious food, others
stood in a respectful circle of silence as the pipe was smoked before
each one as a cleansing and honoring smudge around the circle. We
were done and it was done…the honoring and blessing of a good friend
at a stopping-off place on life’s sacred journey. | <urn:uuid:faa17fdc-fc32-454f-91bd-ed40edfacdad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sunriseranch.org/journal/2012/07/elemental-understanding/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93378 | 554 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Tag: "mouse" at biology news
Existence of muscle-building stem cells points to regenerative therapies for muscular disease
...olecular profiles of satellite cells isolated from mouse
muscle. They showed that the satellite cells consist of two classes defined by the activity or inactivity of a gene called Myf-5. Moreover, that genetic difference gave rise to an important distinction in the satellite cells behavior. Cells without...
News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...nd fear share some common elements and pathways in mouse
and humans. 4. The Limits of Neuronal Grafts in Parkinsonian Rats Nathalie Breysse, Thomas Carlsson, Christian Winkler, Anders Bjrklund, and Deniz Kirik Transplantation of embryonic dopaminergic (DA) neurons has provided at least the makings of ...
Adult stem cells from human cord umbilical cord blood successfully engineered to make insulin
...in which complex signals produced by the embryonic mouse
pancreas were used to direct adult stem cells to begin developing, or "differentiating," into islet-like cells. As they grew these adult stem cells in the laboratory, the researchers conducted other tests in which the cells to be engineered showed...
New mouse model closely mimics human cancers
...stitute scientists has developed a more human-like mouse
model of cancer they say will aid the search for c... than those of conventional genetically engineered mouse
models of cancer. To characterize these mouse
tumors, DePinho collaborated with Lynda Chin, MD, also...
A first -- Hebrew University scientist observes brain cell development in 'real time'
...te of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University, used mouse
models to study how neurons, or nerve cells, develop from an undifferentiated cellular sphere into a rich and complex cell. This has great significance for the future of brain research, said Dr. Mizrahi, since "the structural and functional complexit...
JCI table of contents: May 24, 2007
...in mice have shown that resistin is present in the mouse
hypothalamus and that it is capable of activating specific neurons. These and other studies have highlighted the importance of a brain-liver circuit in controlling glucose and insulin handling in the body. In a study appearing online on May 24 in a...
A nurse makes the decision on who will live
... results were obtained using a genetically altered mouse
system created to study this selection process, which is called MHC restriction. During MHC restriction, all potentially harmful thymocytes must be weeded out (a process called negative selection). The remaining normal subset of thymocytes is induc...
Vaccine hope for malaria
...ribe how they got around the problem by creating a mouse
model of the human malaria infection. They took a closely related mouse
parasite and genetically modified it to produce an antigen that the human immune system recognises. ...
Tiny genes may increase cancer susceptibility, Jefferson scientists find
...well Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo compared the mouse
chromosome locations of genes known to affect canc...ight different types of tumors to the locations of mouse
miRNAs. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team showed ...
Jefferson scientists use gene therapy to reverse heart failure in animals
...rease in the heart cell's ability to contract. The mouse
hearts worked better and had stronger beats. In subsequent work, he and co-workers used gene therapy to restore S100A1 levels and heart function to normal in failing animal hearts. These results have significant implications for the future thera...
News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...this weeks Journal , Meikle et al. describe a new mouse
model of TSC based on conditional deletion of Tsc1... apparent by postnatal day 5 and, unlike other TSC mouse
models, the mice developed spontaneous seizures. Pathological features of TSC, such as enlarged, abe...
UVa researcher studying disease that cripples newborns
...(ribonucleic acid), his team created a new kind of mouse
model. It attached many added CTG repeats to the D...amaged hearts did not recover. We showed in our mouse
model that when you make this poisonous RNA, the mice get various aspects of myotonic dystrophy, Dr....
Study identifying alteration in gene associated with uterine cancer
...ory. Future studies include testing these drugs in mouse
models of endometrial cancer before being tested in humans. "We are planning to investigate FGFR2 in tumors from a much larger group of patients to determine whether mutations in the gene lead to aggressive cancers and poor outcome. Given how fr...
Mice, men make livers differently
...ising difference. In a study of gene regulation in mouse
and human liver cells, they found that master regu...s of the same language. By exploring the human and mouse
versions, we hope to find an underlying grammar," said Fraenkel. Every cell in the human (or mouse...
UF researchers awaken vision cells in blind mice
...therapy injection into the subretinal space of the mouse
eyes, scientists measured the electrical activity in the retinas, finding that 19 of the 21 treated eyes positively responded to therapy, and 17 of those 19 had electrical readings from their retinas on par with those taken in normal mice. When the...
Repair of DNA by Brca2 gene prevents medulloblastoma
...bnormal cells. These findings showed that the mouse
model closely copied the human characteristics of ...m demonstrated the role of Brca2 in the developing mouse
nervous system using a laboratory technique called conditional gene inactivation. This process elimi...
Antibody-based therapies effective at controlling malaria
...falciparum antigens in mice and humans. An in vivo mouse
model has significant advantage over the use of new world primates, the only other model for human malaria, which are labor-intensive and difficult to reproduce. These novel human reagents cured mice of an otherwise lethal malaria infection, and pr...
Natural immune-control system may aid treatment of autoimmune disease and tissue rejection
...uthors indicate. Although the research was done in mouse
cells, it is likely to apply to humans because of strong similarities between mouse
and human immune cells. "We found that when we block a key interaction between two types of immune...
Herpes infection may be symbiotic, help beat back some bacteria
...ew research, Virgin's group worked with strains of mouse
herpes virus closely related to human Epstein-Barr...s virus and cytomegalovirus. During studies of how mouse
herpes viruses transition from acute to latent infections, Virgin made a discovery that piqued his i...
First demonstration of new hair follicle generation in an animal model
...s study, researchers found that wound healing in a mouse
model created an embryonic window of opportunity. Dormant embryonic molecular pathways were awakened, sending stem cells to the area of injury. Unexpectedly, the regenerated hair follicles originated from non-hair-follicle stem cells. Weve found th...
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | <urn:uuid:1443ac3a-d7ab-4aff-be26-be7bc2df9410> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/tag-2/mouse/5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926565 | 1,501 | 2.375 | 2 |
The past few days I've been grading Living Environment (aka biology) exams for NY state graduation requirements. It has been quite the experience as I never realized how subjective grading can be even though the purpose of sending the tests out of house for other school teachers to grade is supposed to eliminate subjectivity.
I personally think there are a lot of things to consider when setting up expectations for grading, like the context the students are coming from. Now since the tests are sent out of house to be graded we have no idea of the background of the students we are grading, which is fine, BUT also created numerous problems for setting expectations. For instance, at the site I was grading we had a mix of teachers from many different types of schools ranging from science teachers at gifted and talented schools to international schools, to struggling high schools - and every single one of those people bring different expectations.
I felt it was my role to consider every single possible scenario that students may be coming from to keep the integrity of the test consistent, however, me thinking this way may indirectly make me an 'easier' grader. Let me explain, the first thing we did when we arrived at the grading site was take the test and then discussed possible answers to 'normalize' the test. This is where we ran into troubles. I can't give exact examples because then I'd have to post the direct question which is not allowed, so I'll do my best to describe the process of sorting issues like this out. As we began normalizing the test, teachers different expectations became very clear. Almost all the issues we ran into were a matter of vocabulary/language for example like whether "color" would be an acceptable answer in addition to "pigment."
What I noticed was that the teachers who have gifted and talented students had much higher expectations (as they should for their kids), but were unwilling to budge on matters of language. They seemed to come from the mentality of "no, there is only one right answer with this specific vocabulary." To an extent I agree with them that yes the best answer would involve more advanced biology vocabulary; however, not every student in NYC will use the best vocabulary to describe biological processes - especially if they have only been learning English for 2ish years. It was getting pretty ridiculous some of the things we were arguing about while normalizing the test because at the end we were all supposed to agree on how to grade the tests in order to be consistent. When things become that difficult over what I consider petty things, I have a really hard time not checking out and I usually end up making my own decisions about what I think is right/fair.
In any case, that was an experience, but it has left me thinking about all sorts of things related to justice in education. For instance, there is this myth you are expected to believe in the education world that every child has the same ability to rise to the same standards. Now, maybe I'm going to sound really harsh as an educator, but I don't believe this is true. Let me explain before I get thrown off the bus as not having high enough expectations, I think in an ideal perfect world were children are cared for in every home, that have begun developing good skills from an early age, where no one has a disability, infinite time, and the motivation then yes every student will be able to rise to whatever standard. However, that is not the world we live in - there are way too many variables.
That being said, I do think there are certain skills children need to have to graduate high school. So, I don't really know how one balances it all. I'm really not a big fan of tracking (an education word where they track students on a high, middle, or low track and set the expectations accordingly), because I do believe that every student can rise to higher expectations, but maybe not the same high expectations as others at least in the same amount of time. Unfortunately there is inequality and I don't understand why we can't say that in the education world and have to pretend that everyone is equal or say things like no one is going to be left behind, because it's lies. All of it! Maybe if we could actually start talking about the inequality in education and what to do about it we might actually get somewhere.
Students should be able to discover for themselves what they are capable of and take responsibility for their learning with the guidance of a teacher who pushes them just a little bit more then the student themselves thinks they are capable of. But perhaps that's just me wanting to treat them too much like adults (I have been accused of this before.) Maybe we should teach students what having high expectations for themselves looks and feels like (because they have no idea.) I guess I'd rather the conversation in standards be "what can I, as a student, accomplish so there is a sense of pride when I succeed which makes me love school" instead of the current "I must accomplish this or I will be punished by failing out of school which makes me hate school."
There really are no answers and I really don't think it is as black and white as we like to think it is sometimes.
What do you think?
Leave a comment! | <urn:uuid:6d8a03dc-8646-4cea-890d-69df971cde23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ahochstatter.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-subjective-is-our-grading.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98421 | 1,064 | 1.65625 | 2 |
This week in our Festival News, we cover The Sun‘s report on the new printed programs coming to New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Why is the Met changing their format and approach? Under the new leadership of Peter Gelb, this largest of performing arts institutions in America has discovered that audiences enjoy having easily accessible context for a performance.
Along with the other constituent theaters at Lincoln Center, management knows that audiences do not have a lot of time to read lengthy essays. Everyone is sitting there waiting for the performance to begin. So, short writings — on the work’s history, author/composer background, significance of the work, current production approach, performers, and creative team — provide a context to enhance the enjoyment and understanding of the work.
Need less to say, this is a most welcome addition to the audience experience. It is, in fact, fertilized by the same soil that we have at KadmusArts: the more you know about a work of art, the more directly you can navigate its heart and soul.
In the article, the model cited for the Met’s new endeavor is a magazine. Isn’t that a bit, well, old-fashioned? Surely, the collection of material appears to be closer to the web: here are quick sources for detailed background; here is a place to go if you want to know more; if you are interested in x, then we think you might be interested in y; and, if you want to add to our information and point of view, here is how to become a participant.
An audience participates in a performing arts event by being in the same room. (As a very wise man once said, there are only two absolute essentials to theatre: an actor and an audience.) All arts institutions want to make their audiences participants – and then stakeholders – in the event. This kind of connection to an event builds audiences and engenders loyalty to the institution itself.
Providing rich context extends this growth opportunity and institutional service. The next step is for arts institutions to provide platforms for interaction: to break down the barriers between the professional (artist) and the amateur (audience) for a genuine mutuality of experience and exchange.
So, bravo to the Met, and throw flowers on the stage for encouragement to the next round.
- Bill Reichblum | <urn:uuid:37eb3499-7f41-42e9-9c87-9d844bcfcba9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kadmusarts.com/blog/?p=93 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94142 | 482 | 1.695313 | 2 |
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‘Pick-up’ is one of those informal but evocative terms people use to refer to a number of ways of easing into a phrase: one part coming in before the others, or an anticipatory propellant in the bass, or a melodic anacrusis. It’s the last of these I’m particularly thinking about here – as in the example above – and particularly in the context of ballads, where their role is much more about melodic and lyrical shape than rhythm.
So, the options with a melodic anacruses are:
- Give it to the lead alone, with the harmony parts coming in on the downbeat
- Harmonise it fully so that all parts sing it together
- Give it to a duet (or, more rarely, trio) as a kind of halfway house
- Have all parts singing, but in a reduced harmonic texture (unison or duet)
The first question to ask is why you might wish to reduce the texture at all. If we’re working in a predominantly homophonic close-harmony world, why are we contemplating leaving these notes out of the harmonisation in the first place? It seems an odd question to ask, given that the practice is well established, but it’s worth articulating the answers, as there are more than one:
- Weight: the anacrusis is a light gesture that lifts the melody over the barline into the phrase. Having fewer than four parts can help give this sense of lift.
- Harmony: Sometimes the notes of an anacrusis belong more naturally with the chord that follows the barline than the one that precedes it (e.g. a phrase that ends on V7 being followed by an anacrusis that starts on the tonic). In these cases, harmonising the pick-up risks bringing the new chord in too early for the prevailing harmonic rhythm, whereas leaving it as a solo or duet keeps the preceding chord in the ear for its full length.
Flow: if all parts sing the anacrusis together, all parts have to breathe together before it. Sometimes this is a useful effect to draw attention to a particular moment in a song; other times we might want the parts to cover each other’s breathing to allow more continuity from phrase to phrase.
So, that’s why we’re even considering it, and already there are some principles articulated to help decide when. Other factors to consider include:
- Development: solo pick-ups in the early stage of a song giving way to duets then fully-harmonised ones later gives a sense of growth or progression to the arrangement.
- Sense: sometimes the lyrics in an anacrusis can be omitted and the words still make sense; other times (especially where words are split over the bar-line) missing out the anacrusis makes nonsense of the words. In these cases, it is better to harmonise, as you get a more expressive performance if the line that each singer has is lyrically intelligible.
- Message: most songs have a particular line that nails its message. It may be the line that states the title, or it may offer a twist on what has gone before, or act as the culmination/denouement of the story. However it comes, it’s the big pay-off that the rest of the song has been setting up. This moment needs to be clear to the audience, and will usually have all parts singing together (see also the point about flow above). Either that, or they have the melody alone not just for the pick-up but right through until the cadence, turning it into a more personal statement. In any case, the choices about texture need to make it clear that this is the key moment in the message. | <urn:uuid:68073115-2ec7-4ac1-bf41-8b19d590751a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.helpingyouharmonise.com/comment/add/905 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942391 | 801 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Portland Congressman Earl Blumenauer has found a somewhat novel way to try to whip up support for a recently introduced bill that would repeal the law prohibiting federal recognition of gay marriages.
He sent out press releases and wrote a piece for the Huffington Post flagellating himself for casting a really terrible vote back in the 1996 for the same Defense of Marriage Act that he now wants to repeal.
Elected officials tend to glide more carefully over their changes of heart. But the Democratic congressman really lets himself have it:
While I've made other mistakes, this was different: it was a deliberate vote that I knew to be poor public policy and was against my values. I've been a strong champion of civil rights and protections based on sexual orientation since I chaired the first legislative hearing on anti-discrimination legislation in 1973. Even worse, this vote was cast after careful consideration.
Blumenauer says he thought voting for DOMA would end the firestorm over gay marriage and allow folks like himself to work on "smaller steps for equality."
As he acknowledged, that didn't happen. Social conservatives pressed state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage (including in Oregon) and it turned out to be a great issue for energizing the GOP base, at least when it came to George W. Bush's reelection in 2004.
At the same time, Blumenauer angered many of his own supporters. "Friends gay and straight were perplexed, confused, and hurt," he wrote.
What Blumenauer doesn't say is that, given his solidly Democratic district, he could have cast a symbolic vote against DOMA since it passed by a strong bipartisan majority anyway. That's what Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., did, and he's in a somewhat less solid D district.
In any case, Blumenauer might get just enough attention to at least let many of his friends know that he's now back helping lead the fight for gay rights. | <urn:uuid:42148167-c52d-45c8-80d3-6b5b22b0af9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2009/09/blumenauer_shines_light_on_his.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981284 | 397 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Government De Jure
Government De Jure
Preserved in law by our ancestors.
Perfecting itself for our descendents.
“Whereas the Kingdom of Hawai’i, having been in exile for one-hundred seven years due to an unlawful overthrow of its government de jure, has exercised perfect right to reestablish its proper station as an independent nation within the community of nations.” – The Preamble of the Hawaiian Constitution of 2000.
Revising the Constitution
On January 15, 2000, the elected legislature of the Kingdom of Hawai’i convened for the first time in 107 years in Anahola, a community on the island of Kaua’i. The legislators of the temporary government vacated their offices and witnessed the swearing-in of their elected successors.
The objective of this convention was to retrieve the nation’s constitution from suspension and update it for the twenty-first century. Last amended in 1887, the Hawaiian Kingdom Constitution consisted of eighty-two articles which described the functions and powers of the monarch, the parliament and the courts of record; as well as the natural, political and civil laws enjoyed by the citizenry. Consolidating the 82 articles into ten articles of related subject matter, a draft constitution was adopted. The legislators were responsible for distributing copies of the draft to the citizens for their review and input. Before recessing, the legislature agreed to reconvene at a constitutional convention on March 10, 11 & 12, 2000 in Waimea, a town on the big island of Hawai’i.
In preparing for this constitutional convention, a protocol was followed that allowed the individual citizen to submit draft legislation for consideration at three successive levels: first, review within the district; then, review amongst all districts of the island; and finally, review by the entire legislature. A deadline for submitting amendments was set, copies of the amendments from those islands that met the deadline were made, and each legislator received their copies upon arriving at the convention.
The legislature spent the entire convention examining and re-examining the draft constitution and every submitted amendment. After much debate, a constitution with language satisfactory to the legislature was agreed upon. Among the features introduced into the constitution were:
- Making the Office of the Monarch ceremonial, with the monarch serving as a national symbol
- Establishing an Office of the Prime Minister
- Allowing the citizens — rather than the legislature — to elect the Prime Minister
- Inserting direct democracy into the legislative procedure of passing laws of the land
- Extending the right to vote to women
- Extending the right to vote to individual citizens who are not landowners
- Removing the monarch’s Privy Council, but retaining the Executive Cabinet Ministers
- Reserving the right to retrieve the Kingdom’s public laws placed into suspension 107 years ago
- Formally naming the legislature the Mana Kau Kanawai (“the body empowered to make laws”)
- Referring to the nation as “Hawai’i”
- Reserving the ability to introduce and ratify additional amendments to the constitution
Copies of this final draft were supplied to each legislator for distribution to the citizens. The ratification of this constitution would not be done solely by the Legislature. It was agreed that the Amended Hawaiian Constitution of 2000 would be ratified by the citizens in a plebescite vote. On Saturday, April 29, 2000, the Ratification Vote of 2000 was held in every district of the Hawaiian Islands.
A winning majority needs two-thirds of the total number of voting districts. That would currently require no less than sixteen districts.
The Amended Hawaiian Constitution of 2000 was passed with a majority of twenty districts in favor of ratification and four districts against. With an approved constitution, the people of the nation known as Hawai’i are now in the process of fulfilling the laws within it. The first priority was to complete the other two branches of government.
Applications to the Office of the Prime Minister were considered. All applicants to the office were required to appear before a review committee established by the legislature to determine if they met the necessary qualifications. One person emerged with the confidence of the committee. The findings of the committee were forwarded to the full legislature.
On June 17, 2000, the legislature declared the uncontested winner and swore him in as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. On July 23, 2000, the Prime Minister appointed individuals to his Executive Cabinet.
The process of fulfilling the laws of the Hawaiian Constitution continues. | <urn:uuid:97e12c6d-40d7-4596-afaf-42b2848443ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hawaii-gov.net/information/media-kit/government-de-jure/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961894 | 933 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Chinese Consul, Mr. Mao and Chinese in Kolkata celebrating the “Bathing Buddha” at Pei May Chinese School organised by the Buddha’s Light International Association, Kolkata Chapter.
Every Year on May 11th, Buddhist communities around the world cerebrate Buddha’s birthday by holding a Bathing Buddha Ceremony. Showering the Buddha with clean water symbolizes the purification of our own greed, anger, and ignorance that are often manifested through body, speech and mind. When our own mind is purified, we will inevitably influence the people and environment around us. Eventually, we will have a purified, peaceful world – the true meaning of the Bathing Buddha Ceremony. | <urn:uuid:1c87a0a2-faa6-4465-9bd8-4fb93b69a1d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhapa.com/buddha-light-international-association-kolkata/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929227 | 146 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Have You Tried: Coconut Milk? by Dana Angelo White in Have You Tried, October 21, 2012
- Comments (1,130)
What is Coconut Milk?
Coconut milk is made from the pulverized flesh of coconut, blended with water. Shoppers can most commonly find it in the Asian, Indian or international section of the grocery store, packaged in 13.5 ounce cans.
Coconut is naturally high in fat, with an overwhelming majority (91%) coming from saturated fat, so keeping portions modest is a good idea. The good news is that, unlike many other foods that are high in saturated fat, coconut contains no cholesterol. It’s also filled with important minerals like iron, potassium, magnesium, copper and manganese.
With high fat comes high calories; one third of a cup contains 120 calories and more than 10 grams of fat. A smartest choice is opting for light coconut milk – you’ll cut the fat and calories by 50 to 60%.
5 Ways to Love
- Combine with water and use as cooking liquid for rice.
- Make a tasty and satisfying Coconut Soup With Noodles and Mushrooms.
- Flavor up a smoothie, bowl of oatmeal or peanut butter dipping sauce.
- Simmer fresh fish in a spicy coconut broth.
- Use coconut milk to make dairy-free ice cream.
Tell Us: Have you tried coconut milk? | <urn:uuid:2bf7a0d3-0517-44ff-903f-ffce2dd0404f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2012/10/21/have-you-tried-coconut-milk/comment-page-8/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914442 | 295 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Life in Christian County, Kentucky... Life In Missouri... Another Trip Down Memory Lane...
From late spring until soil temperatures finally cool again in the fall, it's chigger season in Kentucky.
The chigger is the parasitic larva form of a tiny mite. Chiggers are so tiny they can't be seen without a magnifying glass. They live in damp shady areas and when a host (such as a human) pauses there for a moment, they climb on and search for a place to attach themselves.
If you bathe with hot water and plenty of soap soon enough, you may wash them off before they hook into your skin. But if you don't, the chigger will find a place where the clothing is tight (such as the waistline) or where the skin is thin (such as the ankles) or wrinkled (such as the folds behind the knee). Then it will pierce the skin with its mouthpart and inject some enzyme-laden saliva to liquify the skin so it can be sucked out.
Not surprisingly, the area where the chigger is at work becomes inflamed and itchy within a few hours. If the chigger is not killed with soap and hot water (recommended treatment) or knocked off by scratching (not recommended!) it will feed for several days. Then it will detach itself and drop back to the ground where it will become a nymph and finally an adult.
A few careless hours spent in a chigger-infested area can put you into a hell of unimaginable itching for a couple of weeks. The first time I ever got chiggers, I fished all afternoon in a Missouri farmpond. I had never heard of chiggers before, so I sat for hours on the big rocks along the water's edge. The next day, I was in agony with dozens of itchy welts -- and I suffered for many days thereafter. Welcome to Missouri!
And then there's the interesting combination of chiggers and poison ivy. I've had that all over my feet and ankles. I did that here in Kentucky, fishing again! I've learned to be very dilligent about using insect repellant and showering promptly, but even a single chigger bite can itch like crazy.
It's amazing to me that when my sister and I were little girls in northern Nebraska, we played in the tall grass (chigger heaven) all the time and we never got chiggers. We didn't get ticks either. (Ticks are another parasite we have in Kentucky.)
On summer afternoons, we made "houses" by mashing down circles in the tall grass under the trees in the shelter belts. We played for hours there, sitting and lying on the ground in the shade.
If there had been chiggers in the grass, we'd have been eaten up by them. There simply weren't any. After living in chigger territory for much of my adult life, it's so hard to imagine that! | <urn:uuid:bf60120f-2028-4637-99cf-11bda95cf9d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prairiebluestem.blogspot.com/2007/01/chigger-territory.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96918 | 618 | 1.804688 | 2 |
For Immediate Release: December 1, 1999
Contact: Amy Ridenour 202/543-4110 x110 or [email protected]
Protesters disrupting the WTO meeting in Seattle are in part protesting programs that could be of great benefit to poor people in developing countries, says the National Center for Public Policy Research.
One of the issues cited by protesters as a cause for violence is that of biotechnology, or genetically-modified food. Although there is no evidence that such food is unsafe, European groups and many American environmentalists oppose it on the grounds that genetically-modifying food tinkers with nature.
If the activists have their way, however, over the next two decades thousands if not millions of people in the developing world could starve to death or suffer serious and often permanent disability due to malnutrition. These are people who could be helped or saved through biotechnology.
One of the benefits of biotechnology is that it can substantially increase agricultural productivity in the developing world by making it possible to grow crops in areas that cannot currently sustain them. For example, a crop that cannot naturally grow under wet conditions can be altered so it thrives in such circumstances. Crops that are very vulnerable to drought to can be altered to be more drought-resistant.
Over the next 20 years, world population is expected to increase by 75 million persons a year, mostly in the developing world. To meet the demand for food, these nations will need to increase their own agricultural output and increase food imports by an estimated $500 million cubic tons. 60% of the increased food exports will probably need to come from the United States. Biotechnology can also help increase U.S. crop yields, making it possible for U.S. farmers to meet this new demand for crops.
"Most of the protesters opposing biotechnology probably have no idea that they are risking the lives of poor people in the developing world," said Amy Ridenour, president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. "But there is no excuse for their ignorance. These activists have decided to try to shut down an important international conference, risk injury to others and damage the property of innocent persons to draw attention to their views. At the very least, they have an obligation to know all the repercussions of what they are advocating."
The National Center For Public Policy Research is a non-partisan, non-profit
educational foundation based in Washington, D.C. Contact Amy Ridenour at
202-543-4110 x110 or [email protected].
|Return to The National Center
for Public Policy Research Home Page|
Return to Hot Topics Index | <urn:uuid:6aad858b-79e5-4bc2-abf8-9d311d31df47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nationalcenter.org/PRBiotech1299.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952824 | 533 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Green Living Means Leaving the Rat Race Behind
Google “green living,” and you’ll get something like 64,000,000 hits (as of this post). There’s more advice on the Internet about environmentalism than any single person could possibly read in a lifetime. And it’s growing exponentially. At Blue Planet Green Living, we do our best to add value to the proposition of living a green lifestyle. Sometimes that means we point the way to another website that that has a unique perspective on the topic.
As I was reviewing comments for approval the other day, I came across a lengthy one from Patty Zevallos, who challenges readers to rethink the rat race and engage in true “Green Living” — which is, not surprisingly, the name of her blog. I was intrigued by what I read in her comment, and followed the link to Zevallos’s website.
Zevallos’s Green Living home page opens with the following:
Maybe you already want to live more simply and responsibly but get confused by all the advice and “green” claims for products.
That’s because someone is pulling your leg. You can’t suddenly be kinder to the planet by buying lightbulbs and throwing a few bottles in the recycle bin.
You need to change how you live and how you think. Fortunately, this is fun.
Find out exactly how a family of four can live on 40 hours of work or less. Enjoy more, work less, and be much kinder to the environment. Learn step-by-step how to do it, including something really important—how to manage your money. This site also looks at what no one talks about—how such a lifestyle changes our society, and what a green economy looks like.
Tools You Can Use
The tone is engaging and easily draws readers in to learn more about the author’s vision of the green life. What I especially like is that Zevallos not only espouses simple living, she also provides tools that can make it achievable for the average person.
If you’re an old hand at doing your family’s accounting, then you won’t really need Zevallos’s advice. But if you find that there’s more month left than money, this site has a wealth of information you won’t want to miss. In fact, it seems perfect for a young person in high school, college, or starting out on their own — or for the family that suddenly finds their income cut due to a layoff, illness, or some other crisis.
Take budgeting, for example. In Making a budget, Zevallos provides a simple (customizable) budget form for readers to enter their monthly and quarterly (on another form) expenses.
In Tracking transactions, Zevallos explains how to set up a binder with all the information needed to track checking, savings, credit cards, special expenses, and upcoming expenses.
Her suggestions are much more radical — and interesting — than the traditional “cut the daily latte” advice you can find just about anywhere. Here’s a perspective that caused me — hardly someone who’s “starting out on their own” — to pay close attention. She starts by talking about the hidden costs in all the taxes we pay, suggesting that there are quite legal ways to get by paying far less.
Look at the tomato. When you buy one at the store for a dollar, you have also paid 48 cents in income and payroll taxes to get the dollar you paid for the tomato. This is based on 15% federal income tax rate, 9.7% average state/local income tax rate, 6.2% social security tax rate, and 1.45% medicare tax rate. This totals 32.35%, which I then subtracted from 100%.
$1.48 (earned) x 67.65% (amount after taxes) = $1.00
On top of that, you pay a sales tax on the tomato, and a bit of gasoline tax for the transportation to go get the tomato. Even more invisible, and hard to measure, is that the base price the store is charging for the tomato includes the income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, and utility taxes that the store is paying, and needs to make up for by charging you for them.
One expensive tomato.
So, what’s the solution? We all have to pay taxes, don’t we? Not necessarily, she says — at least not for everything. She goes on:
But if you grow the tomato, presuming you do it organically, start from seed indoors, etc. for little or no cost, there is no transaction. No income taxes, no payroll taxes, no property taxes, no fuel taxes, no utility taxes.
Now look around. How much of your life can you run like this?
Good question. And one that bears thinking about from many different angles.
Creating A Better Life
There’s much more to Zevallos’s Green Living website than advice on simplifying your financial life. Other sections include Growing food, Using alternative energy, and Keeping healthy. Each section is filled with practical tips and thoughtful commentary about making this life the best life possible.
As Zevallos says,
Although many forces are at work to make you into a giant ameba instead of a human being, you don’t have to let them run your life. Only you decide what you eat. Only you decide what physical activity you do.
There is nothing you are in charge of more than this.
And what about retirement? In Rethinking retirement, the writer suggests that working for a living the old fashioned way — spending 40+ hours a week in an unsatisfying job only to retire and then die — isn’t really living. She proposes alternatives, helping readers think through ways to redesign their lives in much more rewarding ways.
As someone who left the rat race behind, I couldn’t agree with her more.
Living a creative and healthy green life would be so much easier if the world (or at least the country I live in) were more friendly to alternative choices, organic foods, green energy, and more. In What to fight for, she writes about urbanism, alternative energy, stopping exploitation in the manufacturing process, and other issues.
“Most of Green Living we do as individuals,” Zevallos says. “But on some issues, we cannot act alone.” Zevallos urges readers to take action on issues that matter to them — issues that make the difference in the quality of life for all of us.
I invite you to check out Zevallos’s Green Living website. But be prepared: You’ll be exposed to ideas that may cause you to rethink your life. | <urn:uuid:7a6b61a9-bd2b-4ccf-ac50-df1ea77a14be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blueplanetgreenliving.com/2010/02/26/green-living-means-leaving-the-rat-race-behind/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948074 | 1,450 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Reed Gold Mine is the site of the first documented gold find in the United States. From this discovery, gold mining spread gradually to nearby counties and eventually into other southern states. During its peak years gold mining was second only to farming in the number of North Carolinians it employed. The estimated value of gold recovered reached over one million dollars a year. North Carolina led the nation in gold production until 1848, when it was eclipsed by the great rush to California. Continued
Reed Gold Mine
9621 Reed Mine Rd.
Midland, N.C. 28107
Phone: (704) 721-GOLD (4653)
Fax: (704) 721-4657
Tuesday - Saturday--9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Closed Sundays, Mondays, and most major holidays.
No fee is charged for admission or tours of the mine. Gold panning is available seasonally, weather permitting. The fee is $3 per pan. A group rate of $2 per pan is available, call for details. | <urn:uuid:e8af5c67-26cb-48fb-a9a4-4222ac9ec423> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nchistoricsites.org/Reed/reed.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940167 | 219 | 2.015625 | 2 |
"If books are to be judged on the effect that they have on the thought processes of the reader Professor Holden's book is outstanding. This book will provide both a valuable theoretical underpinning and many insights that will move the study of cross-cultural management and knowledge management into the age of the knowledge economy - an achievement that will pay dividends both to researchers and practitioners for many years to come."
Prof Anthony Wensley, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Toronto
"By positing that cross-cultural management is a form of knowledge management, he broadens and reinvigorates the entire subject area at a stroke. Researchers, practitioners and consultants are supplied with an array of new concepts, models and insights and , to some extent, a new language - all of which have been long overdue. For the foreseeable future this will be the leading book on cross-cultural management."
Prof Dr Gerhard Fink, Director of the REsearch Institute for European Affairs and Chairman of the Faculty of Business at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
"Holden's book is a milestone in the development of cross-cultural management. It represents a conceptual shift in the field, one that many have been waiting for, redesigning cross-cultural management as a knowledge domain. These new concepts will become references for practitioners as well as for researchers and trainers. In the academic world, where cross-cultural management is more and more to the forefront, no-one can afford not to have read this book."
Marie-Therese Claes, ICHEC Brussels, Business School and Catholic University of Louvain
Cross-Cultural Management: A Knowledge Management Perspective forges a break with the concept of culture that has dominated management thinking, education, and research for several decades. Culture, rather than being presented as a source of difference and antagonism, is presented as a form of organisational knowledge that can be converted into a resource for underpinning core competence. FEATURES and BENEFITS: " Focuses on 'cross-cultural interdependence' rather than tradititional views of comparative differences and similarities between cultures thereby suggesting new boundaries and directions for cross-cultural management education, research and practice for students and managers for years to come.
- Key to the text are four case studies of global companies which analyse rarely observed, yet everyday issues for organisations within the global economy- cross-cultural communication behaviour.
- " Supplies models and a glossary of terms to clarify the new concepts which ally cross-cultural management with knowledge management, providing an accessible, learning-oriented student and manager resource.
Nigel Holden holds visiting professorships at the Vienna School of Economics and Business Administration, the Leiden University School of Management and the Kassel International Management School. He was formerly Professor of Cross-Cultural Management at Copenhagen Business School. He has wide international experience as a management educator, researcher and consultant and has been a keynote speaker at academic and business conferences in the UK, various EU countries and the USA. | <urn:uuid:56de3a35-54cb-41d4-b133-11db49cb4c51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pearson.ch/1471/9780273646808/Cross-Cultural-Management-A.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941163 | 610 | 1.710938 | 2 |
In a previous blog post I commented on the spring publication of Focus on Niles for 2011, with reference to a Free Bus ridership count for the months of April, May and June of that year, i.e., over 146,000 riders. I questioned the accuracy of that count. The Focus On Niles for 2012, reported that a ridership count was conducted for the period of April 1 through June 30th, 2012, i.e., 78,477 riders.
78,477 divided by 3 months equils 26,159 riders per month; 26,159 divided by 30 days equils 872 riders per day; 872 divided by 9.5 hours of daily service equils 92 riders per hour; 92 divided by 4 routes equals 23 riders per hour. Based on the Village's report the average ridership per route every hour between 8:45 AM and 6:00 PM, is 23 passengers. I have seldom seen more than five riders on these buses and on many occasions no riders.
This service is costing Niles taxpayers over $600,000, per year along with Pace's contribution. I believe it's time to do a legitimate ridership analysis. | <urn:uuid:96fc90e0-bb06-4373-8807-87efca48160d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://niles.patch.com/blog_posts/niles-ethics-committee-should-look-into-niles-free-bus-ridership?logout=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954748 | 240 | 1.867188 | 2 |
The ageing Commissaire with the “far away look” made his debut in Le Sang des Atrides (The Blood of the Atrides, 1976), in which he solves a series of slingshot murders. It earned Magnan the Prix du Quai des Orfèvres for crime fiction and launched a successful series honed in the prose tradition of Georges Simenon and Sebastian Japrisot. His fictional France was a gothic playground for the malevolent in which truffle recipes and the bracing mistral winds were as significant as the culprit.
Magnan’s most celebrated novel outside of the Laviolette mysteries was La Maison Assassinée (The Murdered House, 1988), which condensed his signature theme of rural vengeance into a sinister puzzle. Its protagonist, Seraphim Monge, is hungry for retribution as he returns from the Great War to the isolated house where his family was massacred.
Paris Match judged it “the most breathtaking novel of the season” and it won both the Prix RTL Grand Public and the Prix Mystère de la Critique.
Magnan lived most of his life in the hill town of Forcalquier, between the Lure and Luberon mountains, less than 10 miles from his birthplace. He seldom left the region, setting up home in a three-story pigeonnier that was so narrow he had to whittle down the number of books he could house. A stocky, muscular man with a wild mop of silver hair, he was a well-known local figure. His informal approach was highlighted by an open invitation for readers to come and talk to him on market days at Café Bourguet in Forcalquier’s main square.
Pierre Magnan was born on September 19 1922 in Manosque in the heartland of the Alpes de Haute-Provence. At that time the department was a deeply isolated environment that demanded a rugged existence lived at the whim of the seasons. This pact with the elements shaped many of Magnan’s tales, as did the ever-present echoes of the past.
He left school at 12, and for eight years worked as a typographer with a local printing press. During this time he met Jean Giono, author of The Man Who Planted Trees, who was to become his friend and mentor. He later explained that, in discovering a love for literature, he had been “hit for the first time by an unknown emotion”. Magnan was the last living link to the Contadourians, a group of pacifists led by Giono who met annually at the hamlet from which they took their name. However, as war approached their utopian message fell out of fashion and the fellowship disbanded in 1939.
Magnan rejected the service du travail obligatoire, the Vichy administration’s requisition of young men for the German war machine, and went into hiding with the Maquis in the Isère. It was there that he fell under the gaze of the feminist author Thyde Monnier. They became lovers. He was 18; she was 53 and married.
Following the Liberation he supported Giono, who was briefly and unjustly imprisoned on charges of collaboration, and Magnan used his knowledge of the Resistance for his first novel, L’aube insolite (Unusual Dawn, 1946). It sold modestly and in 1951, shortly after his split with Monnier, he was dropped by his publisher, René Juillard. “You will write good books when you are 60,” Juillard told him. For more than two decades Magnan supported himself working for a refrigeration company, continuing to write but remaining unpublished.
Being made redundant in the mid-Seventies gave him the time to attempt detective fiction, with which he found his métier. Juillard’s hunch had proved accurate. Magnan’s autumnal years were prolific; he wrote more than 30 books and saw his novels adapted for French television and cinema. He was never afraid to experiment and shifted easily to non-fiction, writing, amongst other publications, a gentle portrait of Giono (Pour Saluer Giono, 1990), a study of Provençal novels (Les Romans de ma Provence, 1998) and two volumes of memoirs. In The Essence of Provence (1998) he followed the story of L’Occitane from roadside soap stand to globally known brand. “La Provence was present in all his books,” noted Marie-Laure Goumet, his editor at Robert Laffont.
His later novels included Un Grison d’Arcadie (Innocence, 1999), which hinted at his affair with Monnier, and Chronique d’un Château Hanté (Chronicle of a Haunted Castle, 2008), spanning six centuries from the Black Death to the present day. However, for his final book, Elegie pour Laviolette (2010), he resurrected his Commissaire, whom he had previously killed off. “I wanted to play at being Agatha Christie,” he said, “and create a posthumous firework.”
Five of his novels were published in Britain by Harvill, the most recent being The Messengers of Death (2007). Magnan appreciated his English-speaking audience and the epic lengths to which his translator went to capture the Provençal idioms and pastoral details.
He remained outspoken well into old age, maintaining an online diary of “the permanently indignant” in which he despaired of modern life. Yet he was modest and charming about his talent. In an interview for RTL radio he typically brushed off claims of greatness, saying: “When I compare my poor writing to those of Stendhal, Proust or Saint-Simon, I’m on the ground floor when they are on the 20th.”
He is survived by his second wife, Françoise, whom he married in 2004, and three stepchildren. His first wife, Louise, died in 2002.
Pierre Magnan, born September 19 1922, died April 28 2012 | <urn:uuid:d29604f1-336d-4a62-a3d1-f303a9d89fdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9290893/Pierre-Magnan.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980529 | 1,302 | 1.5625 | 2 |
English 208. Anglo-Saxon Literature
Students in this class will learn Anglo-Saxon, the earliest form of English. We will mix the study of language with the study of literature and by the end of the semester students will be able to translate Anglo-Saxon poetry. Readings will include famous and beloved poems such as Beowulf, The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer and The Seafarer as well as prose texts and less well-known poems. The course uses King Alfred, an experimental computerized learning assistant. | <urn:uuid:35a2768e-db87-497f-bedb-3e86162b49bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wheatoncollege.edu/catalog/eng_208/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936308 | 110 | 2.421875 | 2 |
During Victoria’s reign, the Court Drawing Rooms were held in Buckingham Palace at four stated periods every year–two before Easter and two after. Levées, hosted by the Prince of Wales for the presentation of gentlemen, were held at intervals during the like season in St. James’s Palace. Though of lessening distinction as the Victorian period wore on, the delicious prospect of being presented to the Queen or Prince of Wales continued to be a beacon to ambitious social climbers.
When the date of a drawing room was announced, letters poured into the Lord Chamberlain, suggesting names of ladies for presentation. Everyone who had kissed the Queen’s hand was able to nominate another for presentation. But it wasn’t guaranteed that any name submitted was accepted. The list underwent careful scrutiny by both the Lord Chamberlain and the Queen, Her Majesty only receiving those who “wore the white flower of a blameless life.”
There were only three qualifications for admittance to the throne room:
- The lady wishing to be presented should be of good moral and social character.
- Presentation had to be made by someone who had already been presented.
- The status of the actual presentee. The most obvious candidates, the wives and daughters of the aristocracy, had the privilege of being kissed by Queen Victoria (though no kisses were received if the Princess of Wales were acting as stand-in, and the practice was dropped entirely in the Edwardian era), then came the ranks of those candidates whose presentation would be sealed by the action of kissing the Queen’s hand. These included the daughters and wives of the country gentry and Town gentry, of the clergy, of naval and military officers, of professional men such as physicians and barristers, of merchants, bankers and members of the Stock Exchange, and “persons engaged in commerce on a large scale.”
Summonses were sent out three weeks in advance, allowing ample time for the excited debutante or newly married lady, to practice the complicated court curtsy and order the regulated costume demanded for presentation, as laid out, via the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, in Lady Colin Campbell’s Manners and Rules of Good Society, 1911 edition:
Full Court Dress: low bodice, short sleeves, and train to dress not less than three yards in length from the shoulders. Whether the train is cut round or square is a matter of inclination or fashion. The width at the end should be 54 inches. It is also imperative that a presentation dress should be white if the person presented be an unmarried lady and it is also the fashion for married ladies to wear white on their presentation unless their age rendered their doing so unsuitable The white dresses worn by either debutante or married ladies may be trimmed with either colored or white flowers according to individual taste.
High Court Dress: dress of silk satin or velvet may be worn at Their Majesties Courts and on other State occasions by ladies to whom from illness infirmity or advancing age the present low Court dress is inappropriate. Bodices in front cut square or heart shaped which may be filled in with white only either transparent or lined at the back high or cut down three quarters height. Sleeves to elbow either thick or transparent. Trains, gloves, and feathers as usual. It is necessary for ladies who wish to appear in High Court Dress to obtain Royal permission through the Lord Chamberlain. This regulation does not apply to ladies who have already received permission to wear high dress.
White gloves only should be worn excepting in case of mourning when black or grey gloves are admissible. As a lady on presentation does not now kiss the Queen’s hand as formerly she did she is not required to remove the right hand glove before entering the Presence Chamber. This order therefore is no longer in force and a lady wearing elbow gloves and bracelets will find it a great convenience not to be to take off her glove.
It was compulsory for both Married and Unmarried Ladies to Wear Plumes. The married lady’s Court plume consisted of three white feathers. An unmarried lady’s of two white feathers. The three white feathers should be mounted as a Prince of Wales plume and worn towards the left hand side of the head. Colored feathers may not be worn. In deep mourning, white feathers must be worn, black feathers are inadmissible.
White veils or lace lappets must be worn with the feathers. The veils should not be longer than 45 inches.
Bouquets are not included in the dress regulations issued by the Lord Chamberlain although they are invariably carried by both married and unmarried ladies. It is thus optional to carry a bouquet or not, and some elderly ladies carry much smaller bouquets than do younger ladies. A fan and a lace pocket handkerchief are also carried by a lady on presentation or on attending a Court but these two items are also altogether optional.
Armed with the proper arsenal, the young lady or new wife was ready to take London by storm. Queen Victoria held her presentations in the afternoon at 3 o’clock, which caused a traffic snarl of monumental proportions. It was common for the débutante to queue up in her carriage for hours down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, boxed in on both sides by other equipages and the throng of curious onlookers. Then, once she alighted from her carriage, there was another long wait in the close, sweltering palace antechambers, where neither refreshments nor relief were available.
The young lady who persevered to the end, however, got her rewards. Carrying her train over her left arm, she made her way through the groups of attendants to the anteroom or corridor where one of the lords-in-waiting, with his wand, spread out her train she’d let down, and walked forward to the Throne Room.
Her name was announced as she curtsied before the Queen, so low as to almost kneel, and while doing such, she kissed the royal hand extended to her, underneath which she placed her own ungloved right hand. The peeress or daughter of a peer received a kiss from Queen Victoria. When the Princess of Wales stood in for Her Majesty, the lady being presented curtsied only and did not kiss the Princess’s hand. After passing Her Majesty, the débutante curtsied to any of the Princesses near her and retired backwards in what may be called a succession of curtsies until she reached the threshold of the doorway. The official in attendance replaced her train upon her arm and the presentation was complete!
As was stated above, the reception of a kiss on the cheek from the Queen or the gift of one upon her hand was tossed out when Edward VII came to the throne. Other, more important changes were made to the presentation ceremony. Things were sped up by his reign, the drawing rooms and levees switched to the evening and held in June; the telephone used to summon a débutante’s transport, thus easing the traffic; buffet supper, served from tables laid with gold plate helped to revive waiting ladies; and the court photographers were allotted a room for speedy snapshots of the women.
Levées were conducted somewhat on the same plan as that of the Drawing room but were confined exclusively to men who wear uniform or Court dress. Hosted by the Prince of Wales, later the King, those entitled to be presented to H.R.H./H.M. were members of the aristocracy and gentry, the members of the diplomatic courts, the Cabinet and all leading Government officials, Members of Parliament, leading members of the legal profession, the naval and military professions, the leading members of the clerical profession, the leading members of the medical and artistic professions, the leading bankers merchants and members of the Stock Exchange, and persons engaged in commerce on a large scale. An exception to the rule as regards retail trade was made in favor of any person receiving Knighthood ,or when holding the office of Mayor, or being made a Justice of the Peace, or on receiving a Commission in the Territorial forces.
The workings of the levee were similar to those of the drawing rooms: dates announced and names submitted, and specific court dress required:
The Dress to be worn at Courts State Functions and Levees: Full dress uniform is invariably worn by all gentlemen entitled to wear it. All officers Scottish kilted corps should wear the kilt irrespective their being mounted officers or not. Gentlemen who do not wear uniform may wear either velvet Court dress new style; velvet Court dress old style; cloth Court dress.
The new style velvet Court dress is of black silk velvet. The body of the coat lined with white silk and the skirt with black silk. Steel buttons. Waistcoat of white satin or black silk velvet. Breeches of black silk velvet, black silk hose, patent leather shoes, steel buckled, white bow necktie, white gloves, sword, black beaver or silk cocked hat.
The velvet Court dress old style is very similar to the foregoing with the addition of a black silk wig bag at the back of the neck and lace frills and ruffles.
The cloth Court dress consists of a coat of dark mulberry claret or green cloth with black silk linings, gold embroidery on collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps, gilt buttons with Imperial Crown, waistcoat of white corded silk or white Marcella, breeches of cloth color of coat, black silk hose, patent leather shoes, sword, white bow necktie, white gloves, black beaver or silk cocked hat.
On certain days of the year, the so-called Collar days, high diplomatic and distinguished personages wear the collars and badges of the Garter, Thistle, St Patrick, Bath, and other Orders of Knighthood.
The rules and regulations for being presented at a drawing room or levee were strictly adhered to, but the practically “open sesame” granted towards those who wished to enter society (with a little “s”), the air of exclusiveness granted court circles in the early decades of the Victorian era had nearly dissipated. Under the aegis of the convivial and bon vivant Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, anyone who could entertain and be entertained was welcome in his circles. It was a trend that, if not the numbers of middle-class men entering Parliament, the self-made millionaires being ennobled or knighted, or the hordes of Americans and Continental aristocrats flooding British shores for the season, hunting, shooting, racing, and other amusements–and vice versa–sorely tried the aristocratic and royal prerogatives that kept social climbers firmly out. By the 1880s, American writers cynically shared that “in time it became possible to achieve a Court introduction without the intercession of the American Envoy, simply by arousing, through means it would not be discreet to name, the interest of some English noblewoman whose exchequer was at a low ebb.” However that may be, this brief brush with royalty continued to be considered a stamp of social approval by nouveaux riches and foreign nobodies until its demise in 1958. | <urn:uuid:9abcc95d-81e5-4ead-b023-6968b4dbec38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edwardianpromenade.com/etiquette/the-court-presentation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962996 | 2,328 | 2.796875 | 3 |