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SENATOR JESSE HELMS burst onto the public scene in 1960 as a hard-hitting, hard-right television commentator, and his recent verbal thunderbolts show that he has changed little. The North Carolina Republican's attacks last week on President Clinton were hardly more vitriolic than those he has made on other favorite targets: homosexuals, Communists, Martin Luther King, leftists in Congress, bureaucrats and diplomats. While slashing his foes during his 21 years in the Senate, Mr. Helms has also used his rhetoric to champion values he holds dear.
The Senator, 73 years old, will no doubt get more attention now that he is in line to become chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He is already off to a Helmsian, if not a diplomatic, start. First, he said that President Clinton is not up to the job of Commander in Chief; then -- in a remark he later called a mistake -- he said the President is so unpopular that he "better have a bodyguard" if he visits North Carolina.
Helms aides say he plans to tone down his rhetoric, but judging from a sampling from the past that won't be easy. STEVEN GREENHOUSE VALUES
"If America is to survive, there must be an American reawakening. We cannot continue down this destructive path or we will duplicate the fall of Rome and all other beaten civilizations in history. Before it is too late, we must have the courage and the decency to stand up for life, the family and all other principles that made this nation great." -- The News & Observer of Raleigh, Jan. 22, 1993
"This Senator is not a goody-goody two shoes. I've lived a long time, but every Christian ethic cries out for me to do something. I call a spade a spade, a perverted human being a perverted human being." -- The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 1987
Mr. Helms said voters "sent me to Washington to vote no against excessive Federal spending, against forced busing of little schoolchildren, and to vote no against the forces who have driven God out of the classroom." -- News & Observer, June 26, 1983
"I've always been a man who played principle over politics, and if I lose, let them say about me, 'Jesse -- he never gave an inch.' " -- Life magazine, December 1983
"Doodle." -- The Senator's epithet of choice, according to Ernest B. Ferguson's 1986 book "Hard Right"
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
"What is really at stake is whether or not America will allow the cultural high ground in this nation to sink slowly into an abyss of slime to placate people who clearly seek or are willing to destroy the Judaic-Christian foundations of this republic." -- Oct. 24, 1990, comments on financing for the arts
This Mapplethorpe fellow was an acknowledged homosexual. He's dead now, but the homosexual theme goes throughout his work. . . .If someone wants to write ugly nasty things on the men's room wall, the taxpayers do not provide the crayon." -- On the art of the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, The New York Times, July 28, 1989
"Think about it. Homosexuals and lesbians, disgusting people marching in our streets demanding all sorts of things, including the right to marry each other. How do you like them apples?" -- Campaign speech, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1990.
On an AIDS prevention comic book:
"The subject matter is so obscene, so revolting, it's difficult for me to stand here and talk about it. I may throw up." -- The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 1987
On a a $600 million bill to fight AIDS: | <urn:uuid:b0469c16-c501-4b0d-b5b3-99e222cef85b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/27/weekinreview/word-for-word-jesse-helms-north-carolinian-has-enemies-but-no-one-calls-him.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958229 | 784 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The venomous Red-Bellied Black Snake grows to lengths of up to two metres long, and has striking colouration. With stunning red edges to its belly scales and a shiny black back, this snake surely ranks amongst Australia's most stunning venomous snakes. The Red-Bellied Black snake is most active during the day, although they may also be seen on hotter evenings.
The Red-Bellied Black Snake can be found inhabiting most forest types near permanent watercourses or swamps in eastern and south-east Australia.
The Red-Bellied Black Snake's diet consists of frogs, other reptiles and mammals. Usually seen around cool, wet areas the Red-Bellied Black Snake is particularly fond of frogs, making the Cane Toad a big problem. If they even bite a Cane Toad its all over. It's hard to believe that this beautiful snake could suffer so badly as the result of the introduction of one alien species.
Mating occurs in spring with combat between rival males occurring in this period. During combat, the snakes bodies are intertwined with their heads raised. They do this in attempt to place their head higher than that of their opponent. When pregnant, female Red-Bellied Black snakes are known to aggregate and bask in the sun together. January to March is when between five and forty young are born in membranous sacs from which they emerge from shortly after birth.
Local populations were almost driven to extinction by the introduction of the Cane Toad. If a snake tries to consume a toad, they will fall victim to the toad’s poisonous gland secretions. It does however appear now that some of these snakes are finally learning to avoid the Cane Toad and their numbers are beginning to recover.
Red-bellied Black Snake Profiles
Rossco is one of our amazing Red-Bellies on display and between him and his flat mate Reggie, they get up to a lot of mischief and always keep you on your toes at feeding time. The introduction of cane toads has proven to be a problem for many Red-belly populations as the toad's toxic venom spells death to an unsuspecting snake. Some isolated populations have even been thought to have died out! Fortunately for Rossco and Reggie they will never have to worry about that. | <urn:uuid:825307ad-6d76-4f3e-87f6-587bc744e800> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/amazing-animals/reptiles/?reptile=venomous%20snakes&animal=red-bellied_black_snake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972051 | 466 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Morse v. Republican Party of Va. - 517 U.S. 186 (1995)
OCTOBER TERM, 1995
MORSE ET AL. v. REPUBLICAN PARTY OF VIRGINIA ET AL.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
No. 94-203. Argued October 2, 1995-Decided March 27,1996
Appellee Republican Party of Virginia (Party) invited all registered Virginia voters willing to declare their support for the Party's nominees at the 1994 general election to become delegates to a convention to nominate the Party's candidate for United States Senator upon payment of a registration fee. Appellants Bartholomew and Enderson desired, and were qualified, to become delegates, but were rejected because they refused to pay the fee; appellant Morse paid the fee with funds advanced by supporters of the eventual nominee. Alleging, inter alia, that the imposition of the fee violated §§ 5 and 10 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, appellants filed a complaint seeking an injunction preventing the Party from imposing the fee and ordering it to return the fee paid by Morse. The three-judge District Court convened to consider the § 5 and § 10 claims granted the Party's motion to dismiss, concluding that the "general rule" that § 5 covers political parties to the extent that they are empowered to conduct primary elections is inapplicable to the selection of nominating convention delegates under a regulation promulgated by the Attorney General of the United States and under this Court's summary decision in Williams v. Democratic Party of Georgia, 409 U. S. 809; and that only the Attorney General has authority to enforce § 10.
Held: The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded. 853 F. Supp. 212, reversed and remanded.
JUSTICE STEVENS, joined by JUSTICE GINSBURG, concluded:
1. The Party's decision to exact the registration fee was subject to § 5, which, among other things, prohibits Virginia and other covered jurisdictions from enacting or enforcing "any voting qualification or prerequisite ... different from that in force ... on" a specified date unless the change has been prec1eared by the Attorney General. Pp. 193-229.
(a) The District Court erred in its application of the Attorney General's regulation, which unambiguously requires § 5 preclearance when a political party makes a change affecting voting if, inter alia, the party is "acting under authority explicitly or implicitly granted by a covered jurisdiction." Because Virginia law provides that the nominees of the
two major political parties shall automatically appear on the general election ballot, without the need to declare their candidacy or to demonstrate their support with a nominating petition, and authorizes the two parties to determine for themselves how they will select their nominees, whether by primary, nominating convention, or some other method, the Party "act[ed] under authority" of Virginia when it picked its candidate at the convention and certified the nominee for automatic placement on the general election ballot. Cf. Smith v. Allwright, 321 U. S. 649, 653, n. 6, 660, 663. Because the conclusion that the Party's activities fall directly within the regulation's scope is not contradicted, but is in fact supported, by this Court's narrow holding in Williams, supra, the District Court also erred when it based its dismissal of appellants' complaint on that case. Pp. 194-203.
(b) The Act's language and structure compel the conclusion that § 5 of its own force covers changes such as the Party's filing fee when the electoral practice at issue is a nominating convention. This Court has consistently construed the Act to require preclearance of any change bearing on the "effectiveness" of a vote cast in a primary, special, or general election, including changes in the composition of the electorate that votes for a particular office. See, e. g., Allen v. State Ed. of Elections, 393 U. S. 544, 570. By limiting the opportunity for voters to participate in the convention, the Party's filing fee undercuts their influence on the field of candidates whose names will appear on the ballot, and thus weakens the "effectiveness" of their votes cast in the general election itself. That § 5 covers nonprimary nomination methods is also supported by Whitley v. Williams, decided with Allen, supra; by the text and legislative history of § 14, which defines the terms "vote" or "voting" to include "all action necessary to make a vote effective in any ... election," including the selection of persons for "party office"; and by the text of § 2, which bans any racially discriminatory voting qualification or prerequisite if "the political processes leading to nomination or election ... are not equally open to ... [protected group] members." (Emphasis added.) Pp. 203-210.
(c) Consideration of the historical background which informed the 89th Congress when it passed the Act-particularly Terry v. Adams, 345 U. S. 461, and the other "White Primary Cases," in which the Court applied the Fifteenth Amendment to strike down a succession of measures by Texas authorities to exclude minority voters from their nomination processes-confirms the conclusion that § 5 applies here. None of the reasons offered to support appellees' contention that the White Primary Cases have no bearing on the Act's proper interpretation-(1) that the Party's convention did not operate in a racially discriminatory manner; (2) that, although the Act was meant to enforce the Fifteenth | <urn:uuid:248f8811-7685-4b37-a4f7-460349bf500b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/186/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943013 | 1,164 | 1.5 | 2 |
With no need to commute to/from school/college combined with less "day to day" expenses could online education become more mainstream?
Is it more environmentally friendly for governments to fund online schools instead of new "Physical" schools?
I would like to hear your comments given the issue of green house gasses, traffic congestion, fuel costs and the economic difficulties faced by most western countries right now.
"Education is the best economic policy".
My Blog: [url=http://www.brainpowermath.com/blog.html]Creating Calculation Based E-learning Assignments[/url] | <urn:uuid:cb76d18f-d7fc-4a43-bc49-4864606f1b4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teacherfocus.com/educational-technology-online-education/online-education-environmental-economic-benefits-7047/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934958 | 124 | 1.601563 | 2 |
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013)|
The largest city in the interior is Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the Tanana Valley. Other towns include North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, Eagle, Tok, Glennallen, Delta Junction, Nenana, Anderson, Healy and Cantwell.
Interior Alaska experiences extreme seasonal temperature variability. Winter temperatures in Fairbanks average −12 °F (−24 °C) and summer temperatures average +62 °F (+17 °C). Temperatures there have been recorded as low as −65 °F (−54 °C) in mid-winter, and as high as +99 °F (+37 °C) in summer. Both the highest and lowest temperature records for the state were set in the Interior, with 100 °F (38 °C) in Fort Yukon and −80 °F (−64 °C) in Prospect Creek. Temperatures within a given winter are highly variable as well; extended cold snaps of forty below zero can be followed by unseasonable warmth with temperatures above freezing due to chinook wind effects.
Summers can be warm and dry for extended periods creating ideal fire weather conditions. Weak thunderstorms produce mostly dry lightning, sparking wildfires that are mostly left to burn themselves out as they are often far from populated areas. The 2004 season set a new record with over 6,600,000 acres (27,000 km2) burned.
The average annual precipitation in Fairbanks is 11.3 inches (28.7 cm). Most of this comes in the form of snow during the winter. Most storms in the interior of Alaska originate in the Gulf of Alaska, south of the state, though these storms often have limited precipitation due to a rain shadow effect caused by the Alaska Range.
On clear winter nights, the aurora borealis can often be seen dancing in the sky. Like all subarctic regions, the months from May to July in the summer have no night, only a twilight during the night hours. The months of November to January have little daylight. Fairbanks receives an average 21 hours of daylight between May 10 and August 2 each summer, and an average of less than four hours of daylight between November 18 and January 24 each winter.
- "State Extremes". Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-03. | <urn:uuid:fe462674-d235-434e-ae1b-689b164c367e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior_Alaska | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94161 | 496 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today called on the organizations that develop building and fire safety codes, standards and practices—and the state and local agencies that adopt them—to make specific changes to improve the safety of tall buildings, their occupants and first responders. The recommendations result from the agency’s investigation of the fires and collapses of New York City’s World Trade Center (WTC) towers following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Based on the findings of the most detailed examination of a building failure ever conducted, NIST is making 30 recommendations. “We believe these recommendations are both realistic and achievable within a reasonable period of time, and should greatly improve the way people design, construct, maintain and use buildings, especially high-rises,†said WTC Lead Investigator Shyam Sunder at a press briefing in New York City. “The recommendations also should lead to safer and more effective building evacuations and emergency responses. However, improvements will only be realized if they are acted upon by the appropriate organizations.â€
The recommendations, contained within 43 draft reports (totaling some 10,000 pages) released today for a six-week public comment period, cover:
- specific improvements to building standards, codes and practices;
- changes to, or the establishment of, evacuation and emergency response procedures; and
- research and other appropriate actions needed to help prevent future building failures.
The recommendations (see the NIST WTC Web site at http://wtc.nist.gov for the complete list) are divided into eight groups: | <urn:uuid:87510aa3-a4f1-4e25-b913-82e3bc5f95e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.securityinfowatch.com/news/10592876/nist-calls-for-standards-improvements-for-high-rise-facilities | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92315 | 348 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Keystone's Long Road
The Keystone XL pipeline has come to symbolize the contrast in energy policy between this administration and the GOP Congress. The Obama administration continues to block this landmark jobs and energy project, putting thousands of jobs and greater American energy security on hold and at risk. With President Obama's rejection of the pipeline's permit, Canada is now looking for new buyers for their rich energy supplies with an eye toward China. Meanwhile, Republicans - and many congressional Democrats as well, bucking the president - have continued to support the project and sought every available opportunity to advance its construction. The latest such opportunity is coming this week.
Legislation introduced by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) to remove the president's authority over the pipeline will be included in House Republicans' transportation extension package as it moves to the House floor this week. Enactment of the measure will finally put an end to the president's delay tactics and create a path forward for this important energy infrastructure project.
The timeline below provides an overview of major actions related to the pipeline's agonizing approval process, which has now lasted over three and a half years.
September 19, 2008 - TransCanada submits an application to the U.S. Department of State to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, an extension of the existing Keystone pipeline.
2009 - Department of State conducts 20 scoping meetings in communities along the pipeline route and consults with federal and state agencies and Indian tribes.
April 16, 2010 - Department of State issues its Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It opens a 45-day comment period, which it later extends.
Summer 2010 - Department of State hosts 21 public comment meetings in communities along the pipeline route. When the public comment period is extended, additional meetings are held. Nearly 1,800 verbal and written comments are received.
October 15, 2010 - Speaking to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is asked about approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and she says, "we are inclined to do so."
October 25, 2010 - The General Presidents of four international unions representing a total of 2.6 million workers send a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging the Department of State to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project.
December 7, 2010 - Department of State hosts a government-to-government meeting for Indian tribes and other consulting parties.
January 2011 - TransCanada agrees to adopt 57 project-specific special conditions for design, construction, and operations of the Keystone XL pipeline. The conditions are developed by the Department of State and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; according to the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, these conditions would give the Keystone XL pipeline "a degree of safety over any other typically constructed domestic oil pipeline," making it a truly state-of-the-art pipeline.
April 15, 2011 - Department of State issues a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement and opens another 45-day comment period. More than 280,000 comments are received.
July 25, 2011 - The Obama administration issues a Statement of Administration Policy calling legislation related to the Keystone XL pipeline unnecessary saying, "the Department of State has been working diligently to complete the permit decision process for the Keystone XL pipeline and has publicly committed to reaching a decision before December 31, 2011."
July 26, 2011 - U.S. House of Representatives approves H.R. 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act. The bill, authored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), requires a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline by November 1, 2011. The bill is approved with a strong bipartisan vote of 279-147.
August 26, 2011 - Department of State issues its Final Environmental Impact Statement and opens up a 90-day review period. The agency continues accepting public comments.
Fall 2011 - Department of State hosts public meetings in states along the pipeline route.
November 10, 2011 - President Obama announces that no decision on the Keystone XL pipeline will be made until after the 2012 election. A decision is expected in early 2013, after the administration identifies a new route for the pipeline.
November 10, 2011 - The president's decision is widely attributed to political pressure exerted by environmentalist groups opposed to the pipeline. A statement from Terry O'Sullivan, General President of the Laborers' International Union of North America, sums up the response: "Environmentalists formed a circle around the White House and within days the Obama Administration chose to inflict a potentially fatal delay to a project that is not just a pipeline, but is a lifeline for thousands of desperate working men and women. The Administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs - job-killers win, American workers lose."
December 23, 2011 - Both the House and Senate unanimously approve - and President Obama signs into law - a bill requiring approval of the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days unless the president determines the project does not serve the national interest.
January 18, 2012 - After over three years of review, President Obama formally rejects the pipeline's Presidential Permit and asks TransCanada to reapply.
February 7, 2012 - The Energy and Commerce Committee approves H.R. 3548, the North American Energy Access Act. The bill, authored by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), removes the president's authority over the pipeline's permit and gives it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
February 16, 2012 - U.S. House of Representatives approves the PIONEERS Act with language from Rep. Terry's bill requiring swift approval of the pipeline.
March 8, 2012 - President Obama personally lobbies the Senate to kill an amendment calling for congressional approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. In spite of the president's efforts, 11 Senate Democrats joined all voting Republicans in favor of the project.
March 22, 2012 - On a visit to Cushing, Oklahoma, President Obama takes undue credit for the southern leg of the pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf Coast, ignoring the fact that he rejected the only Keystone permit that requires his approval because it crosses our national boundary with Canada. | <urn:uuid:5aa8d93a-882f-41ab-ad84-fe6c6e0db8ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://energycommerce.house.gov/brand/keystones-long-road | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933345 | 1,222 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The 23rd Neuropharmacology Conference on The Synaptic Basis of Neurodegenerative Disorders will take place on 7-8 November 2013, in San Diego, USA as a satellite to the 2013 Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. The conference will bring together world experts addressing the very mechanisms of neurodegeneration and the prospects for treatments that such knowledge promises.
There is increasing evidence that neurodegenerative diseases have at their basis dysfunctions in the receptors and ion channels subserving synaptic communication. This would explain the cognitive decline and neurological and motor symptoms associated with a host of chronic disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
Understanding the cellular and molecular events underpinning such synaptic dysfunction is a key goal if we are to halt or even reverse the inexorable deterioration currently observed in these conditions. Accordingly, much insight has already been gleaned on the genetics, protein misfolding, cell death pathways and mitochondrial involvement in chronic neurodegenerative diseases. From this insight has come greater knowledge of the fundamentals of synaptic function, but more so an appreciation of the potential, not only for drug-based therapies, but also biological treatments, for example via stem cells.
Visit: http://www.neuropharmacology-conference.elsevier.com/ for more information | <urn:uuid:620d0a38-75ba-4f16-8225-4c8540176387> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuropharmacology/conferences/23rd-neuropharmacology-conference/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907723 | 270 | 1.921875 | 2 |
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The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 124315, 4 pages
Quality of Life in Patients with Minimal Change Nephrotic Syndrome
1Hirosaki University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 66-1 Hon-cho, Aomori, Hirosaki-shi 036 8564, Japan
2Department of Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine and Nephrology, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Aomori, Hirosaki-shi, 036 8562, Japan
Received 18 January 2013; Accepted 5 February 2013
Academic Editors: A. Bagul and B. R. Di Iorio
Copyright © 2013 Yoshiko Shutto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Aim. The goal of the study was to investigate quality of life (QOL) in adult patients with minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) and to test the relationship of QOL with the level of self-care. Materials and Methods. We distributed two questionnaires to 30 outpatients with MCNS. The MOS 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36v2) was used to examine health-related QOL in comparison with normative data from the general Japanese population and a population with two chronic diseases. SF-36v2 consists of 36 questions classified into 8 subscales. We also used the Self-Care Behavior Scale for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), which consists of 31 questions with 4 subscales. Results. The SF-36v2 social functioning subscale was most impaired and bodily pain was least affected in patients with MCNS. The self-care subscales of information/communication and positive behavior had positive correlations with the QOL subscales of mental health () and vitality (). The correlation between social functioning and information/communication was close to significant (). Conclusion. In MCNS, social functioning was particularly impaired. Our results suggest that better self-care can have a positive impact on QOL in patients with MCNS.
Longer life expectancy and advances in medical care have increased the problems associated with chronic diseases in many countries, including Japan. Chronic diseases have a long duration and generally slow progression, and people with these diseases desire to live longer and to live better. For these reasons, quality of life (QOL) is an increasingly important issue in healthcare for chronic diseases.
We have an interest in studying QOL of patients with renal diseases, as a typical example of chronic disease. The daily life of patients with renal disease is often limited by factors that are common to other chronic diseases, and these factors can easily decrease QOL. Furthermore, the number of patients with renal diseases is increasing worldwide. In 2010, about 297,000 people were receiving hemodialysis in Japan, and globally more than 500 million people have some degree of chronic kidney disease (CKD) .
Previous studies of QOL of patients with renal diseases have mainly focused on dialysis patients. There has been one study of QOL of pediatric patients with nephrotic syndrome and QOL of their parents ; however, to our knowledge, there have been no studies of QOL in adult patients with nephrotic syndrome. The onset of minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) is usually sudden and many patients experience repeated relapses and have to take regular medications that cause various side effects. Also, since kidney function is usually not impaired, medical staff may underestimate the impact of MCNS on the QOL of the patient.
To examine QOL in patients with MCNS, we chose to use the Short Form-36 (SF-36). This is the most widely used health-related QOL scale, and many previous studies have examined QOL of patients with renal diseases using this scale. Several studies have also shown a relationship between self-care and QOL in hemodialysis patients, and other studies have examined the relationship between self-efficacy and QOL [3–7]. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate QOL and the extent of self-care in adult patients with MCNS, with the goals of clarifying the relationship between QOL and self-care and using the results to suggest how to improve QOL in this patient population.
2. Materials and Methods
Questionnaires were distributed to 30 outpatients with MCNS at the Hirosaki University Hospital. The patients (average age years old) included 16 males ( years old) and 14 females ( years old). The study was approved by the Committee for Medical Ethics of Hirosaki University. All patients participated voluntarily on assurance of anonymity, and none refused to complete the questionnaires.
The SF-36v2 (MOS 36-item Short Form Health Survey) and the Self-Care Behavior Scale in CKD were used as questionnaires, with addition of questions on the background of the patients. The SF-36v2 consists of 8 subscales: physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional role, and mental health. All subscales are scored on a scale of 0 to 100 points, with higher values indicating better health-related QOL. The Self-Care Behavior Scale in CKD (Table 1) was developed by Ishikawa and Obata and consists of 31 questions classified into 4 subscales: information/communication (7 questions), positive behavior (6 questions), diet/physical condition management (12 questions), and safety behavior (6 questions). Subjects chose the answer from 5 choices for each question: “I always do it,” “I often do it,” “I sometimes do it,” “I usually do not do so,” and “I do not do it at all”. Points from 1 to 5 were given for each answer, and the total points for each subscale and overall were calculated. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and IBM SPSS Statistics 19 were used for statistical analysis. Data were analyzed using a Student’s -test or Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient test. A value of or was considered to be statistically significant.
Of the 30 patients with MCNS, 27 lived with their family and 2 lived alone; 19 were employed and 9 were homemakers; 22 were taking medication and 7 were not; and 22 had experienced recurrence of MCNS and 5 had not had recurrence.
QOL scores for patients with MCNS compared with Japanese normative data from 2007 for the general population and for patients two or more chronic diseases are shown in Table 2. The SF-36 health-related QOL score was obtained from scores for all 8 subscales (physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional role and mental health), based on a 0- to 100-point scale with higher values indicating better QOL. The physical and mental component scores are calculated as summaries of multiple SF-36 subscales. For comparison, in the normative data for the general Japanese population, each subscale was given an average score of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. In the patients with MCNS, the score for bodily pain () was significantly higher, and those for general health () and social functioning () were significantly lower than the Japanese averages. The scores for physical functioning () and bodily pain () and the physical component summary score () were significantly higher in patients with MCNS compared to the averages for patients with two or more chronic diseases, but the score for social functioning () was significantly lower in patients with MCNS.
On the Self-Care Behavior Scale in CKD, a higher score indicates greater self-care. Correlation coefficients were calculated between each SF-36 QOL subscale and the Self-Care Behavior scores. Positive correlations were found between mental health and information/communication (, ; Figure 1); vitality and information/communication (, ; Figure 2); mental health and positive behavior (, ; Figure 3); and vitality and positive behavior (, ; Figure 4). Social functioning and information/communication showed a trend for a correlation, but this did not reach significance (, ). There were no other correlations between SF-36 QOL subscales and Self-Care Behavior scores.
The results of the study revealed unique changes in QOL in patients with MCNS and a relationship between the levels of QOL and self-care behavior. The patients had lower QOL subscale scores for general health and social functioning compared with the general Japanese population, with a particularly low score for social functioning that was even lower than that in Japanese normative data for patients with two or more chronic diseases. In contrast, the score for bodily pain was higher than that for patients with two or more chronic diseases and for the general Japanese population, showing that MCNS is a disease without pain. QOL for other attributes did not differ significantly for patients with MCNS compared with the general population. Among the self-care subscales, scores for information/communication and positive behavior had positive correlations with the QOL subscales of mental health and vitality.
In the United States, it has been shown that hemodialysis patients have lower QOL scores than CKD patients and that CKD patients have lower QOL scores than the general population for all items except mental health . Rüth et al. found that pediatric patients with nephrotic syndrome had lower scores for social functioning compared with healthy children using another QOL scale . The lower scores for social functioning were significantly related to steroid dependency and cyclophosphamide therapy among illness-related variables and were also related to the number of relapses, although without a significant association .
Tsay and Healstead found a negative correlation of QOL scores with depression and a positive correlation with self-efficacy in CKD patients . Self-care education has been shown to improve laboratory data in several chronic diseases [10, 11]. However, one study in Japanese patients with renal diseases showed that scores for dietary self-assessment did not match with actual data for the serum urea nitrogen/urea creatinine ratio.
Our results suggest that nephrotic syndrome has an impact on social functioning of patients with MCNS, and previous findings suggest that QOL may also be influenced by steroid dependency, method of treatment, and depression. However, MCNS has a benign prognosis, and QOL of patients with MCNS may be better than that of CKD patients. We suggest that healthcare professionals should consider improving self-care not only to improve chronic diseases but also to improve self-efficacy for better QOL in these patients. In conclusion, our findings suggest that patients with MCNS have lower QOL based on low social functioning and that QOL is related to the positive behavior and thoughts of the patients. These results also show that healthcare professionals should be conscious of the QOL of patients with MCNS.
- S. R. Singh and S. X. Hou, “Multipotent stem cells in the Malpighian tubules of adult Drosophila melanogaster,” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 212, no. 3, pp. 413–423, 2009.
- E. M. Rüth, M. A. Landolt, T. J. Neuhaus, and M. J. Kemper, “Health-related quality of life and psychosocial adjustment in steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome,” Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 145, no. 6, pp. 778–783, 2004.
- S. L. Tsay and M. Healstead, “Self-care self-efficacy, depression, and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis in Taiwan,” International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 245–251, 2002.
- S. H. Braz pardijani, I. Mohammadi, and B. Bromand, “The effect of self care education on quality of life and physical problems in hemodialysis patients,” Journal of Kordistan University Medical Science, vol. 10, pp. 69–79, 2005.
- M. Heidarzadeh, S. Atashpeikar, and T. Jalilazar, “Relationship between quality of life and self care ability in patients receiving hemodialysis,” Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 66–71, 2010.
- L. Lev and S. V. Owen, “A measurement of self-care selfefficacy,” Research in Nursing & Health, vol. 19, pp. 421–429, 1996.
- E. L. Lev and S. V. Owen, “A prospective study of adjustment to hemodialysis,” ANNA Journal, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 495–506, 1998.
- Y. Ishikawa and F. Obata, “Development and validation of a scale to assess the practice self-care behaviors for chronic renal disease,” Bulletin of Special Education, vol. 28, pp. 175–185, 2004.
- R. L. Perlman, F. O. Finkelstein, L. Liu et al., “Quality of life in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): a cross-sectional analysis in the Renal Research Institute-CKD study,” American Journal of Kidney Diseases, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 658–666, 2005.
- A. Warsi, P. S. Wang, M. P. LaValley, J. Avorn, and D. H. Solomon, “Self-management education programs in chronic disease: a systematic review and methodological critique of the literature,” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 164, no. 15, pp. 1641–1649, 2004.
- A. Melville, R. Richardson, D. Lister-Sharp, and A. McIntosh, “Complications of diabetes: renal disease and promotion of self-management,” Quality in Health Care, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 257–263, 2000. | <urn:uuid:a0af3055-3d0b-426f-bd7c-08f684a93581> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/124315/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938551 | 3,055 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Wall Street Journal just printed an interesting article by reporter Lucette Lagnado on a controversial Larry Rivers sculpture in Sag Harbor, NY. The sculpture is of two nude legs, female, standing over 16 feet tall and is displayed outside of a private residence for the public to “enjoy”. It has become controversial for several reasons, but the biggest legal issue is whether it must subscribe to local “building” codes. The building codes in that upscale NY town state that structures above 16 feet tall must be permitted and approved by the historic and landmark committees. This work would not likely be approved. So must publicly displayed art subscribe to the building codes??
My view is that building codes per se are meant for habitable structures, like houses, stairways, electrical circuits, foundations, etc and are designed to protect the residents and the public from disasters like fires, earthquakes, storms and the like, as well as shoddy construction, so they require review by engineers for structural integrity. Technically speaking, a sculpture does not fall into the habitable structure category. However, it is very common practice in the genre of art that is displayed in publicly accessible areas to require a structural review by a licensed and certified engineer, to ensure that there is no danger present to a public audience and passersby. So if this Rivers sculpture could fall apart due to weak welds in high winds for example and land on a pedestrian sidewalk, it would be wise to have it evaluated by a structural engineer and certified for its safety and integrity. This also serves to relieve the artist, and/or commissioning agent or owner, of liability should something devastating occur, assuming the work was built to designed engineering requirements.
Alternatively, a “sculpture code” or “public art code” could be adopted by a city that outlines the engineering process and requirements that may be unique to public artwork, but this has not occurred in many cities, if any, to my knowledge. Some arts commissions have adopted across the board structural review guidelines, but they are not code. This seems like a fair solution, since artwork is usually not “lived in” the way a building is inhabited and would demand different criteria for approval. But there may be some issues that will require flexibility on the part of the evaluating engineers, since art is always unique in form and structure, and not always an isolated object but sometimes could be interactive and environmental or even architectural in nature. A thorny issue brought to light….. | <urn:uuid:630bde08-b47f-4ac3-af9c-963184d3f382> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://youcallthatart.net/category/public-art-codes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965358 | 504 | 1.734375 | 2 |
There’s nothing greater than seeing your child discover something for themselves, & sometimes it’s great to just give them some supplies & see what happens!
We all know what baking soda & vinegar will do when combined. Let your child discover this magical chemical reaction for themselves. Make sure you’re somewhere that messes are easy to clean up (I prefer the cul-de-sac in front of our house!).
Choose a small plastic soda bottle, grab a box of baking soda, a jug of vinegar, & a funnel. Put a few drops of dish soap in the bottle ahead of time to make the result more visible. Then throw out the rule book. No measuring. No input from Mom. Just let the kids explore & see what happens!
If they’ve never use a funnel in a functional way before, show them that when you put the funnel into the neck of the bottle, it is easier to pour your powder & liquid into the bottle without spilling.
You can talk together about what is happening. The acid (vinegar) and the base (baking soda) are having a chemical reaction, releasing carbon dioxide gas. The bubbles are visible because the dish soap captured the carbon dioxide.
I like to purchase a 5lb bag of baking soda from Sam’s Club. It’s not too expensive & allows for plenty of experiments. A gallon jug of vinegar is also relatively cheap & then you’ve got plenty of liquid to add to your baking soda for many more repititions!
Because….your child will not be satisfied with one go-round of this! I guarantee they will want to do it again & again! | <urn:uuid:1b788f72-e26e-4064-89f6-218e1a2f5d02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/6398/more-chemical-reactions-let-them-explore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905894 | 345 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Connect With South Carolina Beekeepers....
SC Beekeeper Events are always open to the public. We encourage anyone to attend our events and local association all across South Carolina.
Our State events happen twice a year in the Spring and Summer. We invite top honeybee researchers and scientist in the United States to speak at these conferences. These and other Speakers bring the latest in beekeeping information and developments. Beekeeping Vendors from across the U.S. come to make beekeeping supplies available to all attendees.
Our local associations happen monthly usually on first, second and third Thursday of each month. Please check out our Local Associations Tab
for locations. At these meetings, you will find honey bee and beekeeping information that concern the local area. Also contact your local association for Basic Bee School Classes. | <urn:uuid:c278de7b-08be-4c9e-a703-81c9d8b2aa39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scstatebeekeepers.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1196174&EventViewMode=1&EventListViewMode=2&SelectedDate=1/2/2013&CalendarViewType=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901081 | 163 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Term applied to the work of Giorgio De Chirico and Carlo Carrà before and during World War I and thereafter to the works produced by the Italian artists who grouped around them. Pittura Metafisica was characterized by a recognizable iconography: a fictive space was created in the painting, modelled on illusionistic one-point perspective but deliberately subverted. In de Chirico’s paintings this established disturbingly deep city squares, bordered by receding arcades and distant brick walls; or claustrophobic interiors, with steeply rising floors. Within these spaces classical statues and, most typically, metaphysical mannequins (derived from tailors’ dummies) provided a featureless and expressionless, surrogate human presence. Balls, coloured toys and unidentifiable solids, plaster moulds, geometrical instruments, military regalia and small realistic paintings were juxtaposed on exterior platforms or in crowded interiors and, particularly in Carrà’s work, included alongside the mannequins. In the best paintings these elements were combined to give a disconcerting image of reality and to capture the disquieting nature of the everyday.
The thinking behind this approach derived from the melancholic personalities of de Chirico and his brother, the writer and composer Alberto Savinio. It was encouraged by their reading (c. 1910) of the German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer and Otto Weininger. They became interested in Nietzche’s notion of the eternal return and the circularity of time, which supported their own views about the re-enactment of myth. Their central concern was true reality (where the past recurs), which is hidden behind the reality of appearances and visible only to the ‘clearsighted’ at enigmatic moments. In his paintings de Chirico sought to unmask reality and reveal its mysterious truth. The modification of perspective and depiction of mundane objects provided the appropriate context.
In Paris (1911–15), de Chirico and Savinio became close friends of Guillaume Apollinaire , finding parallels to their understanding of Nietzsche in his conviction that the unifying element in contemporary painting was the idea of ‘surprise’, suggesting the inevitability of fate. It was Apollinaire who first called de Chirico’s painting ‘metaphysical’, referring to works produced in 1910 and 1911 (L’Intransigeant, 30 Oct 1913). De Chirico had been influenced by the work of the Symbolists and by that of Arnold Böcklin. By 1917, in Ferrara, he was painting in a simplified manner, in which crisp areas of colour outlined in black and a clear, dry modelling complement the disturbing subject-matter.
Carrà met de Chirico and Savinio for the first time in Ferrara in February 1917. A leading Futurist, Carrà had begun to withdraw from the movement in 1915 as he became interested in the combination of simplicity and monumentality in the work of Giotto and Paolo Uccello. Paring away superfluous detail in his paintings, he applied the structural lessons of these masters to figures and ordinary objects, attempting to reconcile art and nature. His understanding of Giotto’s use of a perspective subservient to the pictorial structure prepared him for the destabilizing space used by de Chirico. Carrà’s style fluctuated during these investigations, but in the metaphysical style of de Chirico he found a solution. The two painters worked closely for some months in 1917; while theoretical differences remained, their stylistic solution became known as Pittura Metafisica, a term that they were happy to apply to their work.
The Roman periodical Valori plastici appeared for the first time in November 1918 and became the proponent of Arte Metafisica, which had widened its activities in the preceding year. Savinio’s first book, Hermaphrodito, was published in 1918; Carrà held a show in Milan (1917–18), which included his Ferrarese works. De Chirico exhibited in Rome in 1918 (with Carrà) and 1919. During World War I the artists in Ferrara had been in touch with the periodical La raccolta in nearby Bologna. Through this connection Giorgio Morandi absorbed the metaphysical style; for a time c. 1918/19 his works came close to Carrà’s, in the crisp rendering of a limited group of objects. Morandi’s work was illustrated in Valori plastici, and he exhibited with de Chirico and Carrà but soon passed on to other considerations.
In 1919 Carrà published Pittura Metafisica; the book understated de Chirico’s importance in these developments and led to acrimony. A year later Filippo de Pisis, who had been part of the Ferrara group, published his lyrical prose collection about Ferrara, La città dalle 100 meraviglie. Although collages survive from 1916, de Pisis began to paint seriously only in 1919, using a soft impressionistic style for his vaguely metaphysical still-lifes. At this time the sculptor Arturo Martini, although dispensing with the characteristic perspective and mannequins, went some way towards reconciling Carrà’s Giottesque monumentality with the foreboding of de Chirico’s paintings by means of his small, clay figures. Martini’s use of the figure was symptomatic of Valori plastici’s sympathy towards the so-called post-war ‘rappel à l’ordre’. In its years of publication (1918–21), when the theoretical background of Arte Metafisica was being clarified by Savinio, de Chirico and Carrà, the style of both painters shifted radically from the position of 1917 to concentrate on the figure.
Several major artists were attracted by this development: Mario Sironi’s totemic mannequins turned into brooding solitary figures; and Felice Casorati used steep perspectives leading to dark interiors as the settings for his models. In Germany the impact of the two Valori plastici travelling exhibitions (1921 and 1924) was considerable. Featureless mannequins began to appear in the work of George Grosz, Rudolf Schlichter and Oskar Schlemmer. The effect was felt most profoundly, however, by Max Ernst. On his arrival in Paris in 1922, Ernst’s painting reflected the admiration of his poet friends for de Chirico. At that time only one painter, Pierre Roy (a pre-war friend of de Chirico), showed the influence of metaphysical art, but the painters who became Surrealists after Ernst almost all passed through a period of stylistic debt to de Chirico, notably Salvador Dalí and Alberto Giacometti (the leading creators of the Surrealist Object), René Magritte and Paul Delvaux.
These groups—Novecento Italiano in Italy, Magic Realism in Germany and international Surrealism—carried the style into the 1930s. Although Carrà occasionally painted metaphysical works, it was only in the paintings of Savinio and de Chirico that the philosophical background of Pittura Metafisica persisted.
From Grove Art Online
© 2009 Oxford University Press | <urn:uuid:d984a84f-b164-43f6-8fb1-ae4b2a376a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moma.org/collection/theme.php?theme_id=10883&background=black | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952994 | 1,565 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Polar Studies History
On Saturday, April 18th 2009 the Geology department officially inaugurated the Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies. This new Collection and Research facility was funded by the Tawani Foundation with a generous grant of $7.3 million, and included a significant meteorite collection from the Planetary Studies Foundation valued at an additional $3 million.
In attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony and polar panel on April 18 were FM Trustee and former Board Chair Robert Pritzker and Col. James Pritzker, members of Col. Pritzker’s recent Antarctic expedition, representatives of the Tawani Foundation, a representative of Prince Albert of Monaco, and Board Chairman, John Canning.
The generosity of Col. James Pritzker and the Tawani Foundation enable The Field Museum to stay at the forefront of meteorite research, as well as open new avenues of research in the polar regions, including paleontology, biodiversity studies, and climate change.
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- Science Podcasts | <urn:uuid:24c1f8ed-7490-42fb-8f36-da4d777806e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pgaible@fieldmuseum.org/explore/department/geology/polar-studies/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917826 | 231 | 2.515625 | 3 |
with Dr. Susan Canizares and Dr. Heather Wittenberg When it comes to making sure your children are ready for Kindergarten, there is a lot to consider. When is the best time to enroll her? How soon is too soon, and how late is too late? How will I know if she is adjusted socially to [...]
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Is your child ready for Kindergarten? Here’s a quick list of 10 Kindergarten readiness skills and fun tips on how you can boost your child’s learning with the technology you use every day. 1. Hone Fine Motor Skills by Using a Computer Mouse – Using the mouse helps build little muscles in your child’s fingers [...]
Child psychologist Dr. Heather Wittenberg covers her top tips to get your preschooler ready for the big Kindergarten classroom. Find more Kindergarten readiness tips here. What concerns do you have about your child being ready for Kindergarten? Tell us in a comment below.
Is your child ready to start Kindergarten this fall? As a parent, I know it’s difficult to imagine your little one sitting in a “big kid” classroom in just a few months. Believe me, though, you’ll be amazed at the growth your child will experience before then. Here are my ideas for helping your almost-big-kid [...]
Our Private Kindergarten Program introduces a more formal education while continuing to promote the joy and wonder children have about their world. Aligned with national and state standards for Kindergarten, we balance structure and subject focus with exploration and fun. Low student/teacher ratios and smaller class sizes allow our degreed Kindergarten teachers to spend quality [...]
Talking with you –in real time –is the highlight of my work here. In our latest chat, we brainstormed about getting fun summer schedules under control, and the importance of establishing a strong relationship with your child’s teacher even BEFORE school starts. We also shared how saying goodbye on that first day of school is [...]
Our third-born started Kindergarten this year. I figured I’d be a pro by now, after surviving the big day twice before. Kid #3 should be easy. Right? Wrong. On the first day of school, our sweet, soulful 5-year-old hung up his backpack, found his desk and solemnly said good-bye to us as if he were [...]
Will your child be one of the youngest in her Kindergarten class this fall? Or will he be one of the oldest? Whether your child is “early born,” “late born,” or somewhere in between, parents are worrying about finding the “perfect” age to start Kindergarten. The media is full of alarming statistics about supposed benefits [...]
I couldn’t help noticing Mattie and Sophie, adorable 4-year-old twin girls at our preschool. Obviously fraternal, Mattie had stick-straight hair bejeweled with sparkly clips (and the occasional tiara). She wore her tutu to school daily in hopes of an afternoon ballet lesson. Mattie leapt into action with her friends in the classroom without so much [...]
In parenting, many decisions are easy: Don’t run into the street. Take turns with your friends. But many of the most important decisions AREN’T easy, including when to start Kindergarten. Will she be ready? Or is it best to wait? When it comes to tricky parenting dilemmas, there usually isn’t a “perfect” decision. Starting Kindergarten [...] | <urn:uuid:1963eabc-7e77-4949-b675-424af0d1116c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lapetite.com/parent-resources/blog/category/kindergarten-readiness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94247 | 769 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Courtesy Stevenfruitsmaak via Wikimedia CommonsWhen a cancer cell (a tumor) appears in a particular organ or area of a body, it somehow signals the body's immune system to back off and leave it alone. This allows the cancerous tumor to grow and eventually metastasize to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body. It's as if the cancer grants itself a sort of diplomatic immunity against the body's natural antibodies from interfering with its destructive undertakings.
Now, researchers have found a drug that switches off this "don't touch" warning and allows the cancer to be diminished or entirely destroyed. And it works for several types of cancers, including those affecting the brain, liver, colon, breast, ovary and prostate.
A protein called CD47 is present in human blood cells and prevents those cells from being attacked by the body's immune system. The protein attaches to the surface of the blood cells and signals to the immune system that the blood cells are "okay" and shouldn't be destroyed. About ten years ago, biologist Irving Weissman and researchers at Stanford University's School of Medicine noticed higher levels (up to 3x more) of the same "don't touch" protein were present in leukemia cells, a blood disorder. The surprised Weissman realized that the blood cancer was co-opting the body's own defense system to work against itself, thereby stopping any attacks on the cancer. This left the cancer unmolested and able to grow and spread. After further testing, Weissman and his colleagues subsequently discovered that CD47 levels in many other cancers were also higher than levels in normal cells.
"What we've shown is that CD47 isn't just important on leukemias and lymphomas, it's on every single human primary tumor that we tested.“
The Weissman lab has now developed a promising drug that switches off this "don't touch" signal in cancer cells giving the body's immune system the green light to go after them. The drug has been tested in the laboratory using petri dishes containing treated and untreated cancer molecules. Immune cells (macrophages) were present in each sample. In the untreated sample, the macrophages ignored the cancerous molecules, while they readily attacked those treated with the anti-CD47 drug. In later tests, a variety of human cancer tumors were placed into lab mice and left to grow for two weeks. After the tumors grabbed hold, they were treated with the anti-CD47 therapy and the tumors shrunk considerably or disappeared altogether.
"The microenvironment of a real tumor is quite a bit more complicated than the microenvironment of a transplanted tumor," Weissman said, "and it's possible that a real tumor has additional immune suppressing effects."
The biologist is confident that the research will eventually move into human clinical trials within the next two years.
Courtesy Andy Field (Field Offie)Researchers at Virginia Tech are working on several versions of robotic jellyfish that someday could be used by the military, or for mapping the ocean floor, or cleaning up oil spills.
Known affectionately as RoboJelly, the silicone blobs range from the size of a baseball to a giant five-foot floating monster. Each mimics the swimming technique used by jellyfish, those huffing and puffing water-bags that populate the world's oceans.
In nature, most jellyfish propel themselves by the seemingly simple expansion and contraction of their umbrella, using it to push water out like a rocket blast that propels it forward. But the fluid dynamics are a little more complicated than than just expelling out a big blast of water and moving the other way. It's more like when your cigar-smoking uncle would blow smoke rings into the air to impress you. Remember that? I do. These are called vortex rings, and it's the efficiency of the hydromedusean's self-created fluid flow that interest the VT researchers.
Students at VT's College of Engineering use thin layers of silicone - the same material used for swimming masks - to construct the robots. Electric batteries in watertight plexiglass boxes are used to power the mechanical blobs. The researchers are also looking into ways of extracting hydrogen from water to power them.
“Nature has done great job in designing propulsion systems but it is slow and tedious process," said Shashank Priya, associate professor at Virginia Tech, and the project's lead researcher. "On the other hand, current status of technology allows us to create high performance systems in a matter of few months.”
The on-going project involves a number of U.S. universities and industries, and will warrant several additional years of research before any prototypes are released for use. Besides possible military application, RoboJelly could be employed for such things as monitoring ocean currents and conditions, cleaning up oil spills, and studying sea-bottom flora and fauna.
Talk about microcinema - watch this incredibly teeny-tiny movie (the world's smallest) that researchers at IBM created by manipulating single atoms of carbon monoxide molecules in a scanning tunneling microscope. Then watch how it was made. It's an incredible accomplishment considering the atoms used to create the animation had to be magnified 100 million times!
Courtesy Virgin GalacticThis morning high above the Mojave Desert in California, SpaceShipTwo fired its engines in air for the first time, making its first step toward putting a commercial, tourist space craft into space. As opposed to traditional ground-fired rockets, SpaceShipTwo is carried up into the upper atmosphere by a jet plane, cut loose and then fires its engines to boost it toward space. Today's test took the craft up to 45,000 feet with its partner. The blast shoot it up to 55,000 feet for about a 10 minutes. Here is a link to video of the firing. And here is a link to our previous posts about SpaceShipTwo.
Courtesy Fancy Horse (underwater background)The genome of the coelacanth, the world's best known living fossil, has been sequenced by an international team of researchers and is revealing something scientists already suspected: that the primitive-looking fish has evolved more slowly than most other organisms. The coelacanth is related to the lungfish and several extinct Devonian fish species that are considered precursors to land dwelling tetrapods. Kerstin Lindblad-Toh is senior author of the study which appeared recently in the science journal Nature.
"We often talk about how species have changed over time, but there are still a few places on Earth where organisms don't have to change, and this is one of them," Lindblad-Toh said. "Coelacanths are likely very specialized to such a specific, non-changing, extreme environment -- it is ideally suited to the deep sea just the way it is."
Lindblad-Toh is scientific director of the Broad Institute's vertebrate genome biology group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which did the genome research. The institute is linked to both MIT and Harvard.
The genetic map, which involved sequencing some 3 billion letters of DNA, also showed (via RNA content) that tetrapods - four-legged land dwelling animals - though related to both coelacanths and lungfish, are more closely related to lungfish and followed that line rather than that of the coelacanth. We humans also branched off that same line. The genome of a lungfish is composed of over 100 billion DNA letters, making it a much more difficult task to sequence, so for the time being, the coelacanth's DNA makes for a reasonable alternative for study.
"This is just the beginning of many analyses on what the coelacanth can teach us about the emergence of land vertebrates, including humans, and, combined with modern empirical approaches, can lend insights into the mechanisms that have contributed to major evolutionary innovations," said professor Chris Amemiya at the University of Washington, and the paper's co-author.
Courtesy photo by Haplochromis via Wikipedia Creative CommonsWhen Louis Agassiz named the first fossil coelacanth back in 1836, the Swiss paleontologist probably never imagined that a nearly identical descendent of the primitively constructed Devonian-aged fish would one day be found still inhabiting the world's oceans. The coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct along with the non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. None have been found in the fossil record after that time, but two extant species are known today. The first specimen Latimeria chalumnae was netted off the coast of South Africa in 1938, near the Chalumnae river and retrieved by East London Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer who discovered what she called "the most beautiful fish I'd ever seen" in the catch of local fisherman, Henrik Goosen. Since then several more coelacanths have been caught, including the Indonesian species, Latimeria menadoensis, from the Indian Ocean.
The remarkable prehistoric throw-back, sometimes referred to as "old four legs" because of its leg-like fins, hasn't changed much in its 350 million year history. A member of the clade of lobe-finned fishes called Sarcopterygii, coelacanths retain primitive characteristics such a notochord, a hollow fluid-filled tube made of cartilage that underlies the spine over the length of its body. In all other vertebrates, the notochord is an anatomical structure that appears briefly only during the embryonic stage but not in adults. Not so with the coelacanth. It also possesses, primitive shark-like intestines, a linear heart, and tightly-woven armor-like scales (known as cosmoid) that are only found on extinct species of fish. The coelacanth's brain case contains only 1.5 percent gray matter - the other 98.5 percent of space is filled with fat. The other end of the coelacanth body begins to taper before expanding into a strange, three-lobed tail. Its most notable features are its lobed pectoral and pelvic fins that are structured with bones that look like toes, and move in an alternating tetrapod manner. An electroreceptive rostal organ located in its snout is used to detect prey, and the coelacanth is the only living animal that can unhinge a section of the its cranium to increase the gape of its mouth, enabling it to consume larger prey.
The blue or brown, white-speckled coelacanths prefer deep-water environments, and can reach six and a half feet in length and weigh upwards to 175 pounds. For some reason no living coelacanth has managed to survive more than a single day in captivity. With a dwindling population estimated at only 500-1000 individuals, the coelacanth was declared an endangered species in 1989.
SOURCE and LINKS
Unlike US air travelers, sequestration doesn't seem to be causing any problems for buzzing honey bees. Check out this cool Bee in ultra slow motion video from Joris Schaap on Vimeo.The ultra slow-motion clip came to my attention via EarhSky.org. Here's what the site had to say about it:
Scientists say that the secret of honeybee flight is a combination of short, choppy wing strokes, a rapid rotation of the wing as it flops over and reverses direction, and a very fast wing-beat frequency. Wing-beat frequency normally increases as body size decreases, but as the bee’s wing beat covers such a small arc, it flaps approximately 230 times per second, faster than a fruitfly (200 times per second) which is 80 times smaller.
The video was shot at 3000 frames per second (!) and is part of something called Flightartist Project, which you can take part in if you're so inclined. Check out the project site for further information (you'll need to speak Dutch or somehow translate it).
Courtesy MashableLaw enforcement authorities aren't giving out specific information, but robotic experts are chiming in with their thoughts on how robots played a role in capturing the Boston Marathon bombers. Here's a pretty interesting online article theorizing the use of robots in the case. The link includes a video that shows how these robots do their jobs. While TV reports Friday night said that a robotic arm was used to pull the tarp off the boat where the second suspect was hiding, those reports, have now been called incorrect.
What do you think about using robots to handle dangerous tasks involving terrorism and crime?
I feel like there should be some whacky music or pun-filled intro a la America's Funniest Videos, but we'll let this video just stand on its own.
People from all walks of life are fascinated by weather and make routine measurements. The “Cooperative Network” operated by the National Weather Service (or NWS) is a network of several thousand volunteers from across the country that routinely make and report weather observations. This Coop has operated continuously since 1890. The group includes about 9,000 weather observes who systematically measure high and low temperatures, rainfall and snow accumulation every day. These observations are archived at the National Climatic Data Center and are a large part of the historical weather record of the country.
Another group, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow networks, or CoCoRaHS, includes 15,000 volunteers who help measure and report precipitation type and amounts every day. Observations of precipitation by a large group of volunteers are critical to understanding storms as precipitation varies widely from place to place even in a single storm. Such observations are useful for assessing flooding hazards and rapid snow melting. You can join CoCoRaHS at http://www.cocorahs.org.
There are also tens of thousands of citizens that serve as NWS severe weather spotters. The NWS relies on these storm spotters, along with radars, satellites and other data to supply observations that help in NWS’ decision making process of issuing and verifying severe weather warnings. The NWS is always looking for volunteers to help get the word out about severe storms. You can find out more about this group and sign up for classes and become a trained spotter at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=spotters. It is a good class to take as we approach severe weather season.
So, if you enjoy making weather observations, join one of these groups and be one of the nation's weather observers!
Courtesy VictorgrigasStart talking about giant cloning projects, and the conversation is going to quickly turn to Jurassic Park, the film that "what iffed" the cloning of dinosaurs. It was all for fun, if beyond hypothetical.
But giants of another kind, trees, are being cloned in an effort to help turn the balance of deteriorating conditions here on Earth. California's iconic, and incredibly tall, redwood trees are getting the cloning treatment. You can read the full details about the project here. And today, Earth Day 2013, the project is going global as clones of these redwoods are being planted in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany and the U.S.
Why clone just behemoth trees? The guys running the project surmise where better to find the strongest, hardiest genetic codes to withstand the coming climate pressures than in these huge redwoods, many which have lived for over 4,000 years.
The current crop of plantings come from the DNA of giant trees cut down about a century ago. Even though the bulk of the trees are just stumps today, those stumps are very much alive. They have live shoots emerging from the stumps, which the researchers can extract DNA from to serve as the basis for their cloning work.
The new plantings have a long way to go. They're only about 18 inches tall right now. The big challenge, the researchers say, is to find people and resources to nurture this little trees into viable, independent growers.
Redwoods are considered best suited to absorb massive volumes of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas primarily responsible for climate change.
What do you think? Is this a good application for cloning? Can these huge trees make a difference with climate change over the long haul? Should we be tinkering around with this kind of science? | <urn:uuid:228c0d0b-75a6-4368-80e3-f880c9ebe9bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954575 | 3,382 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Has your child been diagnosed with food allergies? If so, help is here! Colette Martin has been there too: When her son Patrick was diagnosed with multiple food allergies in 2001, she had to learn all-new ways to feed him—and especially to make baked goods that he both could and would eat.
Learning to Bake Allergen-Free is the book Colette Martin wishes she had back then. She ingeniously presents a dozen manageable lessons that will arm parents to prepare allergen-free baked goods the entire family can enjoy together. The book features:
• More than 70 recipes (including variations) sure to become family staples—for muffins, rolls, breads, cookies, bars, scones, cakes, tarts, pizza, and pies— starting with the easiest techniques and adding new skills along the way
• Clear explanations of the most common allergens and gluten, with all the details you need on which substitutions work, and why
• Hundreds of simple tips for adapting recipes and troubleshooting as you go
• Detailed guidelines and more than 15 recipes for making allergen-free treats from packaged gluten-free baking mixes
• Special crash courses focused on key ingredients and techniques, including sweetening options, decorating a cake simply but superbly, kicking everyday recipes up a notch, and much more!
Whether you already love to bake or are a kitchen novice, Learning to Bake Allergen-Free will give you the knowledge, skills, recipes, and confidence to make food that your family can safely eat—and that they’ll love! | <urn:uuid:675f1a24-348a-4768-99fe-5cfb995e6e0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/learning-to-bake-allergen-free/colette-martin/9781615190539 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955224 | 325 | 2.140625 | 2 |
- — Recycling is one thing, but a composting toilet? That's when you know you're taking the going-green trend to its, um, "natural" conclusion.
While many home owners and builders are beginning to make changes to homes to incorporate eco-friendly products and materials, these are just the bud of the going-green trend. To really get the low-down on what the seriously green-minded homeowners can do to help the cause, we've rounded up a list of fixes that can be done in a house, whether it was built in 1912 or 2012.
You're going to have to change out your standard incandescent bulbs eventually. This year marked the first stage of phasing out 100-watt incandescent bulbs under the CLEAN Energy Act, but 70-, 60- and 40-watt bulbs are next on the chopping block. Switching to compact fluorescent lights (CFL) or LEDs not only conserves significant electricity, but significant savings as well — more than $57 over the life of the CFL, one report found.
One of the simplest ways to upgrade your home in a green way is to purchase an energy-saving appliance. The best bet is to find one that earns the government's "Energy Star" rating. The appliances are designed to reduce greenhouse emissions as well as your energy usage over time. Many products can mean tax rebates for your green efforts. This Alameda home for sale (below) includes all energy-saving appliances in the kitchen.
The simplest place to reuse rain water? In your garden. By installing an affordable rain barrel that catches runoff from your roof or gutters, you can save enough rain to water your lawn or growing spring garden.
Even if your home state is plagued by cold winters or blistering hot summers, did you know that below the frost line the ground stays about the same temperature year-round? By tapping into this, you can cool or heat your home in a very eco-friendly way. This isn't a way to create electricity, but rather reduce the amount of energy you use to maintain your home's temperature. Installing a geothermal system isn't cheap (estimates range from $11,000 to $30,000 for a 2,000-sq ft home), but with tax incentives and significant energy bill reductions, the savings are incredible. If you plan on being in your home for a long time, it could be worth it and perhaps add to your home's re-sale value.
Solar energy has been powering calculators for years, but it's only recently become more common in homes due to a drop in costs of installing a solar energy system. While powering your home using solar energy still isn't cheap, it's one of the few ways a homeowner can "live off the grid" by storing extra energy in batteries. The other option is to continue a connection to the utility grid, buying the power you need and selling the power back when you produce enough on your own.
Ground mount solar panels make this home for sale in Shingle Springs, CA (pictured below) very energy efficient.
The EPA estimates that an average family of four uses 400 gallons of water every day. While not all that water can be reused, gray water, which is water from your sink, laundry, but not contaminated by waste (i.e., not toilet water) can be recycled. While not as common as some other green home features, gray water recycling systems take the water from your morning shower or from yesterday's washing machine cycle and filters it for reuse in your toilet or your garden.
There's green. Then there's really green. Even a home completely "off-the-grid" won't necessarily have a composting toilet, but when installed properly, a composting toilet is the final nod to going green. A composting toilet will break down the waste through natural decomposition -- the only thing needed is the right temperature (about 65 degrees) and enough oxygen. However to keep this environment, some key things need to be monitored, which may be more effort than most people are interested in.
Composting toilet - Flickr user redjar
Ice Rink, Yoga Studio and Disco: Over-the-Top Home Amenities
House of the Week: Seattle's Ballard Big House
Homes for the Price of a Car | <urn:uuid:6ce2aec7-55d0-4cf2-9098-13541ca2e3a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heraldbanner.com/real_estate_news/x192350060/Green-Home-Trends-From-Baby-Steps-to-Extreme-Updates/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949787 | 887 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Do ghostly, imperceptible particles called "sterile neutrinos" wander the universe? The question has given physicists sleepless nights since evidence for the particles emerged a decade ago.
But now a new experiment has poured cold water on the idea, reassuring many scientists that their ideas are on the right track.
"Our results are the culmination of many years of very careful and thorough analysis - scientists everywhere have been eagerly waiting for our results," says Janet Conrad, a spokeswoman for the experiment at Fermilab, near Chicago in Illinois, US. She announced the result at a Fermilab meeting on Wednesday.
Neutrinos are lightweight particles that whiz around the universe, barely interacting with matter. They stream out from nuclear reactions in the Sun and continually flood straight through the Earth.
The particles come in three different types, or "flavours", dubbed electron, muon and tau. And several experiments have proved that neutrinos and their antiparticle counterparts can flip from one flavour to another, or "oscillate", as they travel.
One of these experiments was the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, US, which gathered data from 1993 to 1998. The experiment suggested some muon antineutrinos had flipped into electron antineutrinos after travelling about 30 metres.
However, the results of this experiment did not mesh with other experiments unless at least one extra, fourth neutrino existed, with roughly one-millionth of the mass of the electron. This fourth neutrino would be "sterile", meaning it would not interact with matter at all, except through gravity.
But sterile neutrinos had no place in the standard picture of particle physics, so they would force physicists to radically overhaul their theories. Sterile neutrinos of this mass also conflicted with cosmology, because they would have interfered with the growth of galaxies in the universe.
Butts on the line
"The implications were staggering," says Scott Dodelson at Fermilab. "Cosmologically, we decided there should not be a sterile neutrino, so to some extent, our butts were on the line."
Physicists were therefore keen to double-check the LSND result, so they dismantled the experiment and used the parts to build a more sensitive experiment at Fermilab called MiniBooNE, the first phase of a project called BooNE (Booster Neutrino Experiment).
Now, after analysing data from MiniBooNE gathered between 2002 and 2005, the team say they have resolved the issue, without the need for exotic sterile neutrinos.
MiniBooNE fired a beam of muon neutrinos into a detector 500 m away. None of them flipped into electron neutrinos. This result is consistent with other experiments and the standard three-neutrino picture.
"This kind of confirms what we were saying," says Dodelson. However, he adds that there might be some exotic, convoluted reason why both LSND and MiniBooNE are correct and can be reconciled with new physics - something physicists intend to explore.
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no news in this list.
Harra es-Sawâd volcanoHarra es-Sawâd volcano (also spelled Shuqra) is a volcanic field in southern Yemen. It contains about 100 cones that have produced young lava flows.
There are reports about an eruption in 1253 AD, but it's possible that there were more recent eruptions that went unnoticed.
Background:The Harra es-Sawâd volcanic field contains about a 100 cones that have produced large 45x90 km lava field that overlies faultet basement limestones. It stretches WSW-ENE along the Gulf of Aden east of Shuqra (Shaqra) city. It has produced a large young field of lava flows, which show little signs of erosion. | <urn:uuid:25e37e89-b24e-42e9-bbf0-efdd4054bccb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/sawad.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94276 | 158 | 2.25 | 2 |
Welcome to the new journal Diagnostic Pathology ! This journal will be an open access, online journal encompassing all aspects of surgical pathology, including classic diagnostic pathology, prognosis-related diagnosis and therapy-related findings. There will be a focus on the technological aspects of pathology, including molecular biology techniques, morphometry aspects, communication aspects, electronic education, and quality assurance. Our primary aim, however, is to close the gap between these different specialisations within the field of diagnostic pathology. For this reason we also welcome articles from related fields in medicine and biology.
Why a new pathology journal, and why in a solely electronic presentation?
One reason to start Diagnostic Pathology follows from the statement: We want to publish submitted articles independent of any restrictions arising from the conditions imposed by regular print issues. Traditional print journals need to adjust the number of published articles to the available space. If space is a scarce resource, this may mean rejecting submissions that should be published or result in a long waiting time until publication. Alternatively, if the number of submissions is low, the situation may result in acceptance of articles that do not meet stringent quality criteria. These outcomes are undesirable and amount to non-scientific behavior. As an online journal that publishes articles immediately on acceptance, with no dictates from deadlines, issues and volumes, Diagnostic Pathology is under no pressure to publish any article that does not stand up to fair but strict peer review.
Our second motivation for launching is a response to another basically unscientific practice that colleagues loathe but often find forced to pursue. I am referring to the common practice of submitting to the journal with the highest available impact factor; if the article does not get accepted, the journal with the next lower ranking will be selected, and so on. What gets entirely ignored is the very point of conducting science: the dissemination of knowledge to anyone who is interested, be it as fellow researchers, patients, or in any other capacity. The practice described above more often than not leads to publication in journals that are inaccessible for many, if not the vast majority of people who would like to have access.
Traditional journals offer restricted access to articles. Often only the title, keywords, and abstract are available for free. The download of the full article then requires a payment by the requesting scientist or her/his institution. As a consequence, many researchers read only the abstract of the article they are interested in, rather than the full article. This practice is even worse as several journals restrict the abstract size of their articles to less than 300 words. From the scientific point of view, a far better strategy is to offer all readers unrestricted access to the full articles.
Diagnostic Pathology will accept any publication as long as it is sound science and holds the potential for scientific impact – which, with the exception of a few rare discoveries, is largely unpredictable anyway. We are convinced that a very considerable number of research articles have been rejected by 'high score' journals due to various non-scientific reasons. The embedding of Diagnostic Pathology into the World Wide Web and its free global accessibility offers all published articles the judgment of the interested scientific community. Thus, the scientific value of an article published in Diagnostic Pathology is subject to the evaluation of the scientific community only.
To enable the journal to make all of its content open access, Diagnostic Pathology will levy an article-processing charge for each manuscript accepted after peer review (payable on acceptance). However, there will be an initial period without charges, and many colleagues will find that their institutions or funding agencies will cover the costs for them [2,3].
I can only encourage my colleagues to carefully weigh the scientific and financial arguments and to submit articles to Diagnostic Pathology as a new open access journal. We will certainly do our best to ensure that both sides, authors and the research community, will benefit from this new and exciting scientific initiative.
Funding agencies that explicitly allow direct use of their grants to cover article-processing charges [http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/apcfaq#grants] webcite | <urn:uuid:7b02dbca-6084-491e-a888-624be10302fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diagnosticpathology.org/content/1/1/1?fmt_view=classic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931965 | 833 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Photographs and memories from the Dispatch Library Archives
The Columbus Dispatch - January 27, 2011 02:23 AM
Henry Morgan "Hank" Gowdy, a Columbus native, was the first Major League Baseball player to enlist in World War I and the only one to serve in both world wars. He was a catcher who hit .270 over 16 seasons. The photo above shows him playing in the Army in Sommercourt, France, during WWI.
Gowdy led the 1914 "Miracle Braves" of Boston from last place (on the Fourth of July) to the pennant and a sweep of the World Series against the heavily favored Philadelphia Athletics. He was a star hitter who hit .545 in the Series with five extra-base hits and three RBIs.
He was born in Columbus 121 years ago today, on Aug. 24, 1889. He played football, basketball and baseball at Hubbard Elementary and North High School. Throughout his decades in baseball as a player and coach, he always called Columbus home and resided here in the off season.
His major league debut was as a first baseman for the New York Giants in 1910, and he was traded to Boston the next year. In 1914, he became Boston's regular catcher.
Gowdy signed up in June 1917, was a national hero, and saw action in France with the Ohio National Guard. When he returned in 1919, he got his old job as a catcher back. Four years later, he was traded back to the Giants, where he played in the 1923 and 1924 World Series.
IN A 1999 DISPATCH ARTICLE about the athletes, coaches and sports personalities who helped shape Columbus' sports century, we reported:
Gowdy found himself on the wrong end of World Series attention in one of the most bizarre games in history. In the seventh and final game of the '24 Series between the Giants and the Washington Senators, the teams entered the bottom of the 12th inning with the score tied at 3.
Muddy Ruel of the Senators hit a pop fly near home plate -- seemingly an easy play for Gowdy. The wind shifted the ball's flight though, and when Gowdy took a step toward where the ball would drop he stepped in his catcher's mask, which he had tossed off to chase the fly.
Unable to shake free of the mask -- "It held me like a bear trap," he would later say -- Gowdy watched the ball drop in foul territory.
Given new life, Ruel hit a double and scored moments later when a ground ball hopped over the head of Giants third baseman Fred Lindstrom, giving the Senators a 4-3 win and their only world title.
In 1925, the Giants released him. He was manager of the old Columbus Senators in 1926. He later made a comeback with the Braves, but with limited playing time. He then became a coach with the Giants, Braves and Reds.
When the United States entered World War II, Gowdy enlisted again at age 53 and was promoted to major. In 1944, he returned to Fort Benning, Ga., where he served as Chief Athletic Officer. (The baseball field at Fort Benning is named "Gowdy Field.") He returned to coaching in 1946 with the Reds. By 1948, he had retired from baseball.
The Dispatch has reported that Gowdy came back to Columbus in 1950. He headed up the Columbus Youth Foundation, and his trademark was a big cigar in his mouth.
Hank Gowdy died in Columbus at age 76 and is buried in Union Cemetery.
In this 1957 photo, Hank Gowdy, in charge of tryout sessions at Jet Stadium (later known as Cooper Stadium), discusses a few pointers with (left) Stan Ebert of Grove City, Tom Miller of Dublin and (right) Roger Remlinger of Prospect.
About Columbus' Gowdy Field
On the site of Gowdy Field -- a 25-acre parcel named to honor Hank -- sit two flashy new buildings, the Time Warner regional headquarters and Ohio State University's Eye and Ear Institute. These can be seen on the west side of 315 North as you leave Downtown.
The JamesCare Comprehensive Breast Health Center is also being built on the site.
Decades ago, the Godman Guild used it as a community garden to provide food to approximately 250 poor families before and after the Great Depression.
From the mid-1940s, the site, known as Goodale Field, featured more than 20 baseball diamonds.
In 1952, the Columbus City Council renamed it Gowdy Field, and in 1964, passed a resolution allowing the city’s service department to use the site as a landfill. It was then filled with construction debris and trash for about two decades. It was later covered in dirt and became a neglected weedlot, sitting vacant until 2005.
The 1964 resolution allowing dumping on the ball diamonds required that the playing fields be restored once the garbage had piled up high enough to meet the road level, but no new ballfields materialized.
The City of Columbus determined that the best use for Gowdy Field would not be as a recreational site, but as commercial office space with tax-generating jobs.
Its renewal is recognized nationally as a cutting-edge landfill redevelopment project.
In addition, Fire Station 25 on W. 3rd Avenue in Columbus is known as the Henry "Hank" Gowdy Fire Station.
Hank Gowdy with his trademark cigar, circa 1938
Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, accepted the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic this week from Italian Ambassador to the United States Claudio Bisogniero.
Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Pat Tiberi are renewing their push to give golfer Jack Nicklaus the Congressional Gold Medal.
As it turns out, we're a bit confused about understanding what is covered in our homeowner's insurance policy.
Kroger customers can double their fuel points by shopping on weekends, this summer. The Cincinnati-based grocer will double the points earned with grocery purchases on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays -- for a maximum of $1 off per gallon at the chain's gas stations -- through its 2x Fuel Points Weekends promotion. You also can save up to 10 cents a gallon at participating Shell stations. | <urn:uuid:51b7807c-3c0b-4fb1-ba87-7be8cef507fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/a-look-back/2010/08/happy_birthday_to_hank_gowdy_1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973873 | 1,288 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Mar 27,2009 00:00
It's time to end the diet debate. Stop the nagging comparisons of Atkins vs. South Beach, fat vs. calories, and protein vs. carbohydrates. In a very carefully designed study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers compared the weight loss of obese individuals on four different diets, and the results are quite clear. No matter the diet used, success depends on two important factors: consuming fewer calories and having a strong support network of meetings, weigh-ins and counseling.
In this particular study, participants followed a low-fat, normal-protein diet; a low-fat, high-protein diet; a high-fat, normal-protein diet; or a high-fat, high-protein diet. After one year, all four groups experienced roughly the same amount of weight loss, approximately 13.2 pounds. By year two, most dieters had regained some weight, but they were all still about 6.6 pounds lighter than they were before the study started.
In addition to pounds lost, researchers also examined quality of life, including how hungry the dieters were, their levels of satiety after eating, and satisfaction with the diet plans. In this area, all four groups had the same results. In every case, weight loss led to quantitative improvements in health, including reduced cholesterol levels and decreased "insulin resistance."
There are several important messages from this study. First, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, join a research study. Results are invariably better in research subjects than in average dieters. These dieters were monitored closely and were engaged constantly in the dieting process. For the average American dieter, the statistics are not encouraging. More than 95 percent of dieters tend to regain any lost weight, often becoming fatter than they were before beginning to diet.
Just as alcoholics and gamblers benefit from having sponsors and attending meetings, so, too, do overweight people need help if their diets are to succeed. So if you plan to diet, make sure you identify a counselor (usually a dietitian or nutritionist) and a support group that you can meet with frequently. Continued reinforcement, encouragement and weigh-ins are the best way to reach a target weight and keep it there.
Second, the most important predictor of weight gain or weight loss is not what you eat, but how much. Metabolically, when taking in fewer calories, the body must turn to its own fat and muscle for energy, which ultimately results in weight loss. It has been suggested that dieters who consume high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets develop satiety more rapidly and may experience decreased appetites because of accumulations of ketones. However, this study shows that satiety is equal regardless of the diet. Researchers directly correlated the amount of weight loss with the amount of food taken in — more food, more weight; less food, less weight.
This information simply strengthens my belief that the best diet is the Don't Diet! I like Michael Pollan's mantra: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Simplify your relationship with food, and work on creating the healthiest meal plan possible, always paying attention to portion sizes. Be prudent.
Reduce calorie intake by avoiding fatty foods and starches. For proteins, try to choose lean meat and fatty fish. For carbohydrates, seek the starches that are complex and rich in fiber.
Snack on fruits and vegetables. And always try to consume monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids instead of saturated fats or the highly processed trans fats. If eating out, skip the appetizer or take half your meal home. Eat slowly. That optimizes your chances of becoming satisfied and keeps you from overeating.
Finally, any healthy diet must be accompanied by exercise. Just go! The more exercise the better. Walk; raise your heart rate; and do not forget the importance of balance, stretching and resistance training.
Take some time to re-evaluate your diet plan; it's never too late to make healthier choices. Remember: Fewer calories plus more support equals less weight.
Dr. David Lipschitz is the author of the book "Breaking the Rules of Aging."Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate, Inc. | <urn:uuid:b1b0401f-4a47-4c03-964e-9559146b8009> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bendweekly.com/print/16914.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955975 | 875 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Nerval's Lobster writes "All your Tweets are belong to us... with a court order. Twitter's second transparency report reinforces what many already know: governments want online user data, and to yank select content from the Internet. Twitter's first two transparency reports cover the entirety of 2012, so there's not a deep historical record to mine for insight. Nonetheless, that year's worth of data shows all types of government inquiry—information requests, removal requests, and copyright notices—either on the increase or holding relatively steady. Governments requested user information from Twitter some 1,009 times in the second half of 2012, up slightly from 849 requests in the first half of that year. Content-removal requests spiked from 6 in the first half of 2012 to 42 in the second. Meanwhile, copyright notices declined a bit, from 3378 in the first half of 2012 to 3268 in the second." | <urn:uuid:d2b78b38-2b05-4760-8d75-001b669df042> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/28/2027200/twitters-new-transparency-report-governments-still-want-your-data | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920835 | 184 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Only 13 months from now, New York City chooses a new mayor, and on the line is the issue of how we manage our public schools. You may have thought this issue was put to bed when Mayor Michael Bloomberg reached agreements with administrators over who gets to steer education policy, but perhaps education professionals are only waiting out these 13 months to get to a new agreement.
In the Mayor’s Management Report there was apparently evidence that parents have not been as involved in the process of taking over failing schools and setting priorities. If parents are unhappy with having less involvement, they have a right to feel that way. Every parent wants what they slowly and certainly lose: some semblance of control.
The problem with a public school system (any system) that is so large and diverse is that there needs to be some centrality to the process. Community boards, committees, and parent groups matter in this process. The control of the system being centralized with City Hall, however, matters more.
The next mayor will appoint a schools chancellor to oversee the all-important task of managing failing schools. Those of us who are right-of-center on these issues have been calling for decentralization for years. We wanted to take the power away from the government and give it back to the parents. but we were wrong when it came to a large public behemoth like the New York City school system. Accountability, if it is shared by thousands of parents, means that nobody is really accountable.
Some parent groups are unhappy that they have been relegated to making decisions on homework and little else. Well, making sure your child does his or her assignments is a big deal. It would be a mistake to think that communities, especially where schools are in trouble and failing, are better prepared to steer education policy than the schools chancellor.
Community groups, boards, and parents are well within their rights to have their criticisms voiced and heard. It would be a mistake to not allow such input. There is also great hope in the idea that parents want to be involved.
But the time for parents to take an active role in public education policy is in the next 13 months. Mayoral candidates from now until next November need to be clear about who they want to steer our education system. They cannot be allowed to punt that ball into the post-election season. If parents want involvement, it starts right now with the next mayor.
Argo Gets It Right Argo, starring Ben Affleck, has had two successful weekends at the box office. The story is loosely based on an effort by the CIA to smuggle hostages out of Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the following hostage crisis.
Surprisingly, there are not only a great deal of Americans who never heard of this operation to rescue these hostages, but many were unsure what this event was – and whether it was real. It was only 32 years ago, which in a historical sense is practically yesterday.
A woman in line behind me, and not much younger, asked her gentleman friend what happened in the hostage crisis. He told her the basics. “Well,” she replied “you follow that stuff.” Much to his credit, he responded by telling her that regardless of what he follows, this was a national story for 444 days.
Americans have never had the desire to make history a priority, but this is easy history – there was television and actual footage. Argo is a good movie, and to my complete surprise, it portrayed the extremists as extremists.
They showed how people were publicly hanged. They showed the ugliness of a revolution that pushed out an unfair regime only to adopt a dysfunctional autocratic philosophy.
Hollywood usually gets two subjects wrong: sports and politics. In the event that anyone is doubting how true to form Argo is, it looks a lot like what it looked like every night on the news in 1979. And it was real. | <urn:uuid:2e8032d6-2cfb-4acb-bf59-c2c26dd36c5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.queensledger.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Voters+will+pick+the+next+head+of+school+system%20&id=20667436 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981286 | 797 | 1.75 | 2 |
It was a match made in chook and duck heaven.
Last week a suburban Gisborne hen sitting on an empty nest was gifted a clutch of orphaned eggs to look after. After a little patience, she became a proud mum - to a family of ducklings.
The unusual match-up arose from the road death of the ducklings' mother outside a rural property.
It took just a quick phone call from a nearby resident who knew the duck had been nesting, and a city friend's clucky hen with warm feathers was immediately recruited.
The eggs, by then rapidly cooling off, were placed under the adoptive mum and a six-day wait began. From nine eggs, there were eight live births and the "family" are now happily getting to know each other.
The ducklings will have a pretty domestic, sheltered and well-fed start to their lives, but are lucky enough that their temporary digs are right on the banks of the city river system.
When they are ready, probably in eight to 10 weeks, they can learn to swim and return to the wild at their pleasure.
Meanwhile, there is one surprised and contented mum on a Gisborne riverbank. | <urn:uuid:ab4a34fd-e573-4765-a064-180c3847f79d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/print.cfm?objectid=10841101 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984543 | 245 | 1.78125 | 2 |
More on the Higgs boson-like particle (yes, I’m still going on about that), how we cooperated to find it, and what the implications are, in particular for astrobiology.
I have a new favorite word: “Coopetition.”
Adi also makes a few more interesting points here:
The fact that the Higgs boson (probably) exists strengthens the idea that chemistry is the same everywhere. That makes it a lot easier to search for life as we know it, and a little easier to search for life as we don’t know it, provided we truly understand the environmental conditions on other worlds.
As scientists, we should consider releasing the hard scientific data first (even before publication), and then having press conferences before the general public. The arsenic life story, for example, would have played out much differently if this had happened. This will only work, however, if scientists continue to be ethical (and I believe that most are) when encountering others’ preliminary work, and if those with the discoveries are willing to take an unbiased look at their own work and respond appropriately to criticism. | <urn:uuid:dfa0c899-43b8-45b5-a4a5-cb02a6ab30e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://the-mighty-ribozyme.tumblr.com/post/27049949202/could-higgs-help-us-find-life-elsewhere-paleblueblog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951985 | 237 | 2.25 | 2 |
Healing With Your Hands by William S. Eidelman, M.D.
Can you be a healer? Can you use your hands to transmit healing energy to someone needing help to make them feel better, to help them function better? Can you increase your family’s health and lower your family medical bills using this healing power? If you are a health professional, can you increase your effectiveness in helping patients with this method?
After exploring the healing powers of touch for thirty-five years, all over the world, I emphatically say “Yes! You can learn to be an effective healer. Many people like you have already learned.”
Science has proven the validity of bio-electromagnetism and has given a scientific basis to spiritual healing as a form of bio-energy therapy. It really can work!
It is time for hands-on healing to come out of the closet.
It is time for us to awaken the healer within.
Each of us has the innate capacity, through the use of an ancient breathing technique, to generate a powerful healing resonance, or energy vibration, from the hands. When applied therapeutically this resonance catalyzes the healing process in injury and in many diseases. It also brings about deep relaxation and a feeling of well being.
Everyone has healing energy. Most everyone is capable of generating or transmitting a potent healing energy. I am offering, on this website, to give you, in writing, the essentials of Resonance Balancing, a form of hands-on healing, or bio-energy therapy. It is a remarkably effective method for using your hands to help other people (and yourself) feel better physically and mentally.
This method will turn you into an effective hands-on healer / bio-energy therapist almost immediately. It is easy to learn and easy to practice. Simply follow the instructions! Dramatic success in catalyzing the natural healing process is common. This therapy also promotes deeper relaxation, increased awareness, and a more positive outlook on life, both for the person giving and the person receiving.
After you learn this technique, and practice it, you will be able to help people who are suffering from various types of pain, illness, injury, and stress. It can be used in acute or chronic conditions. Often, results are more dramatic with a more serious condition (be it from injury, illness, or post-surgical), so practitioners of this therapy should never be afraid to try it out, no matter how drastic the circumstances. Although you can’t expect miracles every time, the results are frequently astounding.
Whether you are a professional in the healing arts, working in a hospital or a doctor’s office, or whether you are simply a caring human being who would like to help other people, you can use this revolutionary approach with great success.
An Ancient Breathing Meditation
Hands-on healing has an ancient history on this planet. It has been used for thousands of years by tribal medicine people on every continent, and has been a part of every religious tradition. In main-stream western society, hands-on healing has been treated either as a myth or as a mysterious talent given only to a special few.
However, there is a simple method which turns on healing energy in nearly everyone who tries it — the Resonance Balancing Meditation.
The Resonance Balancing Meditation is an ancient breathing rhythm which influences the body’s electromagnetic field in measurable ways (using the latest computerized spectrum-analysis of brain waves). While breathing in the this rhythm, the energy flowing through the hands has greatly amplified healing qualities. Passing the Resonance Balancing energy, it is possible to stimulate powerful healings, to melt pain and to evaporate stress.
The booklet and the videos teach the basic essentials of how to practice the technique. The booklet contains a series of case histories, so that you can see some of the scope and depth of the possibilities this beautiful method can offer. And if you come back and visit us here on the Internet, we’ll have testimonials and case histories that are fresh and alive!
We’ve designed this video and booklet to teach what you need to begin practicing right away. Today. Tomorrow. Whenever you decide.
The Body Heals Itself
Although people will think of you as a healer if you practice what you learn from the video, it is more accurate to think of yourself as a Bio-Energy Therapist. You don’t really heal other people.
The body heals itself. On the first day of medical school, this fact is taught. Whether you give medicines, perform surgery, or use any kind of medical therapy, you only support the body to heal itself. The same is true with Bio-Energy Therapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs, or any other wholistic modality.
The ability for self-healing is an inherent part of all life. The body is constantly renewing itself, getting rid of old and diseased tissues. We are not aware that this is always happening, because the body rids itself of disease so fast it appears we are remaining healthy.
On the occasions when the ongoing self-healing process doesn’t work, then it becomes necessary to get help from the outside. Traditionally, throughout the past five thousand years, our species has used foods and herbs for healing. We have also used the healing powers of touch.
If you practice what is taught here, your touch will be a transmission of bio-energy, a form of bio-energy therapy. The bio-energy which flows from your hands will melt pain, evaporate stress, and catalyze the healing process. You and many people you work on will be simply amazed!!
Breaking The Taboo Against Healing
The biggest barrier to success in practicing this method is not giving it a try. We may not use Resonance Balancing for a variety of reasons. In my experience of teaching many people how to be bio-energy therapists, some are afraid that they will fail, that their application of the energy will not work, and they will look stupid or worse. It feels as if they are breaking some social taboo. In fact, we are breaking a taboo, but it is a taboo which deserves to be broken.
Why is transmitting healing energy taboo? First, our cultural mind set has believed for almost two hundred years that such energy has been scientifically proven not to exist. This idea is practically institutionalized! Our collective unconscious believes that hands-on healing / bio-energy therapy has been scientifically disproven. This cultural belief operates from the same brain centers as religious beliefs (and scientific “heretics” are sometimes subjected to the same treatment as religoius heretics have been).
However, new evidence shows that the body is indeed highly electromagnetic, full of all kinds of energy patterns and configurations of great significance (even though they may be small in size). This evidence has not yet become sufficiently well known to break the cultural taboo against healing. But, your becoming aware of this revolution in the new bio-electromagnetic paradigm in biology, and your practicing Resonance Balancing, will hasten the breaking of this taboo.
Breaking taboos, by the way, isn’t easy. If the potential healee believes in the taboo too strongly, even successful therapeutic outcomes can be ignored or dismissed by the person who has just been healed. A strong belief in the taboo can even block the healing process — although I don’t recommend that healers use that as an excuse for failure of treatment. In some cases, we can be ridiculed just for believing what we know to be the truth. This is a price to pay for being a revolutionary!
Fear Of Intimacy
Another reason we are afraid to pass healing energy is this: When you apply healing energy through your hands, gently touching another person, it is a form of intimacy. We are often afraid of showing this kind of intimacy, either for fear of stimulating repressed sexual feelings or for fear of rejection (or from whatever form the fear conjures). Indeed, our failure to be intimate may feed the roots of many of our physical and emotional problems. So, my advice is: don’t be afraid to share what are beautiful moments of innocent closeness, of psychic intimacy. It will be healing for you, for the other, and for our collective consciousness. | <urn:uuid:d6f367fd-cfd3-4eb5-aa39-ab12a87d06ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dreidelman.org/Health/bio-healing/resonance-balancing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949322 | 1,718 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Satellite Spies Severe Weather Brewing
In this GOES East satellite image taken at 10:15 a.m. ET on Jan. 29, 2013, severe weather can be seeing brewing over the central portions of the United States.
After an Arctic blast left much of the United States out in the cold, a new system is bringing the threat of severe weather to the central portions of the country this evening and through the night. A satellite snapped an image of the system earlier this morning (Jan. 29).
The National Weather Service's (NWS) Storm Prediction Center, located in Norman, Okla., has forecast severe thunderstorms, with damaging winds and hail — and possibly even tornadoes — for the lower Ohio Valley, the mid-South and the lower Mississippi Valley. The SPC says the threat will increase through the night, with squall lines (or long lines of thunderstorms) and individual storms rolling through along with a cold front.
Nighttime storms and tornadoes can be particularly deadly, as people tend to be in bed and unaware of warnings and the storms are harder to see as they bear down. A 2008 study in the American Meteorological Society's journal Weather and Forecasting found that nighttime tornadoes were 2.5 times as likely to cause a death as those that occurred in the daytime. The threat of deadly nighttime tornadoes is exacerbated in the winter with the season's shorter daylight hours. [5 Deadliest Tornado Years in U.S. History]
Tennessee leads the nation in the proportion of nighttime tornadoes it sees, with nearly half of the twisters in its borders striking after dark. Western Tennessee is one of the places that could see severe weather in this latest bout, along with most of Arkansas, and parts of Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service has issued several tornado watches and severe storm warnings and alerted residents to the possibility of large hail and high winds, as well as lightning strikes. The Weather Channel reported on its Twitter account that as of 2 p.m. ET, 24 severe weather reports, 10 severe wind reports, 14 hail reports and no tornado reports had been made. It also reported unconfirmed reports of a funnel cloud to the west of Jefferson City, Mo.
The GOES East satellite (run by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent organization of the NWS), snapped an image of the cold front and accompanying stormy conditions at 10:15 a.m. ET.
The cold front will sweep eastward on Wednesday and could bring severe weather to parts of the East Coast, from the Gulf Coast northward. By Wednesday evening, it could impact Washington, D.C., and New York City.
MORE FROM LiveScience.com | <urn:uuid:cfc08c80-172d-4a63-bc35-2a3811746290> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livescience.com/26684-severe-weather-satellite-image.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945878 | 565 | 3.25 | 3 |
At 4 p.m. on World AIDS Day, our friends and neighbors will come together to mark this important date at The Western New England University School of Law, 1215 Wilbraham Road in Springfield, MA. The evening of celebration and remembrance will feature a presentation from the organization’s AIDS kNOw More Project—a group of middle school, high school, and college-age youth trained as peer health educators in HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health—as well as an open mic, candlelight vigil, special guest performers, and refreshments.
The gathering is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (413) 301-0955, email firstname.lastname@example.org, or visit www.aidsfoundationwm.org. The event can be found on Facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/aj78v2x
The AIDS Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Inc. (AFWM) is a non-profit public organization dedicated to assisting people who are living with HIV and AIDS in Hampden and Hampshire counties. We are an independent organization that supplements the existing network of direct and indirect AIDS service organizations. Our goal is to provide practical and enlightened support to regional residents who are in need of financial, social, and emotional help.
[From a press release]
Filed Under: Western NE News | <urn:uuid:9d170b41-1440-4fb3-a59c-bd62ea9d99f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.therainbowtimesmass.com/2012/11/09/aids-foundation-of-western-mass-to-mark-world-aids-day-with-community-gathering/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904145 | 292 | 1.742188 | 2 |
One of the most important taxonomic humps that anyone starting to learn about dinosaurs must overcome is that “bird-hipped” doesn’t mean “ancestral to birds.” In what seems like a great evolutionary joke, dinosaurs like Triceratops, Iguanodon, Polacanthus, and Stegosaurus, dinosaurs that are certainly not ancestral to birds, have hips that appear to very superficially resemble those of living birds. Because of this resemblance, in 1887 paleontologist Harry Seeley regarded dinosaurs with such hips as Ornithischians (“bird-hipped”) and others like Allosaurus and Diplodocus as Saurischians (“lizard-hipped”). I can only imagine how scientific history would have been different if Seeley had some of the Cretaceous dinosaurs like Sinosauropteryx or Deinonychus at his disposal, but despite the oddly reversed names, Seeley’s system has held up. Indeed, today the evolution of birds from relatively small theropod dinosaurs has been well-established, but that doesn’t mean our friends the ornithischians can’t still surprise us.
Skull of Psittacosaurus, from Osborn. “Two Lower Cretaceous Dinosaurs of Mongolia,” American Museum Novitiates, October 19, 1923.
In 2002, a paper in the journal Naturwissenschaften turned a lot of heads. While known to the public as a 2nd-class dinosaur, a re-examination of old material and new fossils of the Mongolian ceratopsian Psittacosaurus* began to give scientists a closer look at the paleobiology of this genus, and the researchers Mayr, Peters, Plodowski, and Vogel reported finding long “filamentous integumentary structures” on the tail of an especially well-preserved specimen. At that time such “integumentary” structures were only known from theropod dinosaurs like Sinosauropteryx, so there would be no reason to expect them in ornithischians, dinosaurs that had been evolving in their own way for hundreds of millions of years. Still, the “bristles” were clearly on the slab, and (according to the study) they may have been made out of the same material as the rest of the skin, which appeared to be similar to skin impressions found from other ornithischian dinosaurs. Indeed, it’s likely that the bristles were modified scales, but modified for what purpose, we can’t be sure.
A reconstruction of the bristled Psittacosaurus by Pavel Riha.
One of the questions brought up by the presence of bristles in Psittacosaurus is how many other ornithischians had such structures. Other famous specimens of ornithischians preserving skin impressions show no sign of having such bristles or “integuments”, and given the split with saurischian dinosaurs long before ceratopsians even began to evolve, the structures are probably not homologous. If more specimens like the one reported in Naturwissenschaften could be found, however, it might give us some clues as to what the structures were used for and how they evolved. I don’t mean to use this hypothesis as a catch-all, but whenever I see such an eye-catching structure I think “sexual selection,” and I wonder if sexual dimorphism can be correlated with the presence/absence (or prominence) of the bristles as is suggested in Riha’s painting. More fossils will be needed to figure out whether such an idea has any weight behind it, but it is interesting to ponder if other ceratopsians had bristles as well and what such structures could have been used for.
Type skeleton of Psittacosaurus mongoliensis. H.F. Osoborn, in his initial descriptions, hypothesized that Psittacosaurus was ancestral to some kind of ankylosaur. From Osborn. “Psittacosaurus and Protiguanadon: Two Lower Cretaceous Iguanodonts From Mongolia.” American Museum Novitiates, Sept. 4, 1924
What we’ve been able to learn about Psittacosaurus doesn’t begin and end with bristles, however, as in recent years we’ve been able to get a better idea about what the life of this dinosaur was like based upon some wonderful clues left for us through taphonomy. As reported in Nature by Meng, Liu, Varricchio, Huang, and Gao in 2004, an adult Psittacosaurus was found, articulated in an upright position, over the skeletons of at least 34 juveniles. This is strong evidence for parental care in these dinosaurs, especially if the young exhibited slow growth rates that have been reported for small ornithischian dinosaurs like Orodromeus. Parents would have good reason to mind their offspring as well, as another Nature article from 2005 reported a new dog-sized mammal named Repenomamus giganticus, found with the remains of a juvenile Psittacosaurus in its stomach contents. As the authors note in their abstract, this fossil runs counter to the view that all mammals were small insectivores during the Mesozoic, and I think there were likely more complex relationships between dinosaurs and mammals than we now understand.
Articulated skeleton of “Protiguanodon” (=Psittacosaurus), which contained evidence of gastroliths (“stomach stones”). From From Osborn. “Psittacosaurus and Protiguanadon: Two Lower Cretaceous Iguanodonts From Mongolia.” American Museum Novitiates, Sept. 4, 1924
While perhaps not as “sexy” as the feathered Cretaceous theropods, there is a lot to say for further study of Psittacosaurus. Not only does the presence of bristles open up new questions about convergent evolution and sexual selection, but the depositional environments in which this dinosaur is found preserve fossils so well that we are able to reconstruct far more of its lifestyle than is possible for many other dinosaurs. I would love to see a reconstruction of the ecology that Psittacosaurus found itself in, from what it was eating to what dangers faced its young. Much could be learned from such a study, and while representations of this dinosaur in popular books are rather plain, they have quickly become some of the most interesting and surprising dinosaurs available to scientists for study.
*This was one of the hardest dinosaurs names for me to learn to pronounce, and I still trip over it sometimes. I actually didn’t get it until I heard a paleontologist pronounce it Ce-tack-o-sore-us (although I will defer to Zach’s “Si-TAK-o-SORE-us” due to my status as a greenhorn ), although the first syllable still sometimes jumbles in my mouth when I try to say the word.
[A much belated hat-tip to Dr. Thomas Holtz for brining up this topic in a personal communication many months ago] | <urn:uuid:4795078f-f964-46f2-8edd-e6d98b364c37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/the-bird-hipped-dinosaurs-finally-get-feathers-or-not/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957779 | 1,520 | 3.125 | 3 |
If your leadership style was a painting, could it be sold on the market?
This might seem like an odd question, but Drs. Michael O’Malley and William Baker see leadership literally as an art, in a different medium. Leaders have a highly critical audience that they display their work to on a daily basis. Like a painter, it’s difficult to create a masterpiece everyday, but practice and dedication will help. And like the art world, those who observe art on a regular basis don’t translate into artists themselves. In either case, one has to do the work. This concept and it’s metaphor are thoroughly explored in their book, Every Leader is an Artist: How the World’s Greatest Artists Can Make You a More Creative Leader.
There are elementary skills to be perfected if one is to have any chance at success at leading others. We would say that it starts with a love of the constituent materials and an appreciation for what they are capable of producing. In leadership, that means people. It is possible to get a batch of bad clay; and people, too, may disappoint. But at heart, if leaders don’t have affection for the people who depend upon them, we do not see how they can ever excel. Great leaders don’t curse the resourceful variability of people. Rather, they embrace the infinite possibilities, the nuances, the personalities, and, at times, the miraculous. A predicate of leadership achievement is a foundational love of people and their individual aspirations.
While there are definitely comparisons and examinations of artist’s techniques and approaches, the book is clearly about business leadership. And because it’s written intelligently within a unique context, readers will think differently about leadership, their own skills, and how they guide and influence people. And it’s not an overly long book, making it full of interesting and useful information all the way through the last page.
And think about that question at the start of this post – how valuable are your leadership skills? How much would someone pay for them? It’s a worthy consideration for anyone managing people and business. | <urn:uuid:35c18ba4-13dc-459c-8efd-45cc6efcb402> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.800ceoread.com/2012/07/03/every-leader-is-an-artist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955536 | 439 | 2.015625 | 2 |
"I'm a writer every day, but I don't write every day. Every day I'm looking for those ducks to land on the water, or something to nudge me toward the page. But I don't really have any compositional habits. I'm afraid it's still kind of a romantic view of writing. I have to wait for something to startle me rather than just hacking it out every day. But it doesn't take much to startle me. My stepdaughter, who was 16 a couple of years go, was doing all these drawings of princesses and fairy tale castles and fantasy stuff. Fair enough. But one day she came in with a little drawing of a scallion o a plate and I wrote a poem about it because I thought she was moving from one phase to another. She was moving out of fantasy into the simplicity of real things." Billy Collins
Monday, March 19, 2012
How freeing to read that Billy Collins doesn't write every day. If you're not one of those writers who writes every day (and hard as I try I'm really not)--you can feel guilty, like you're failing, not doing it right, not living up to your potential. You name it.
But perhaps that's too limited a view of what it means to be a writer. What if it's not about the typing or your desk or word counts or pages? What if it's actually about showing up. Whatever that means that day. Whether that means you're at your desk or out watching children in a playground--whatever you're doing--the point is you're showing up and being one on whom nothing is lost.
"I'm a writer every day but I don't write every day."
All I can say is, if Billy Collins can write the way he does and not write every day, then that's good enough for me. | <urn:uuid:2403b97b-86ce-4d2f-b804-def3fa83a159> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sallylloyd-jones.blogspot.com/2012_03_18_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986705 | 381 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Perkins loans are low-interest loans for both graduate and undergraduate students, funded by the federal government and administered by Stanford. Your eligibility is determined using your financial aid application.
The federal Direct loan is the most widely-used loan for college students and is available to both graduate and undergraduate students. There are two types of federal Direct loans and your eligibility for both is determined using your financial aid application.
The federal Direct PLUS program is a popular financing option for graduate students, and parents of undergraduate students.
There are several other educational loan programs that can provide supplementary funding for students.
Learn more about loan consolidation, loan forgiveness, and defaulting on student loans. | <urn:uuid:683562a9-cf8f-491d-bbb5-5e7017008f2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stanford.edu/dept/finaid/loans/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967733 | 135 | 2.171875 | 2 |
How to Increase Metabolism
The speed of your metabolism is due to
your genes. Some people have a fast metabolism, most have an average metabolism,
some have a slow metabolism.
But you can still increase the rate of
your metabolism - usually by up to 15-20 per cent - by increasing your
level of exercise.
Exercise Helps You to Lose Weight, too
Let's say you eat a 3oz jelly donut (approx
- If you jump rope, you can burn off all
these calories in about 26 minutes.
- If you walk at 3mph, you can burn off
these calories in about 57 minutes.
- In addition, exercise helps to lower
your fat-muscle ratio and raise your metabolic rate, which makes it
easier to lose weight.
- Finally, exercise also helps you to
lose weight by boosting your motivation to stick to your weight loss
Note: all calorie-burn
figures are approximate. They are based on a 150 pound woman. If you weigh
more, you'll burn more calories. If you weigh less, you'll burn less calories.
A Brilliant Diet Plan to Help You
If you really want to reduce weight,
order Weight Loss Diet Program.
It contains a delicious range of food, great diet motivation tips
and it's unbeatable value. To read more click Weight
© 2000-2012 Anne
Collins. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:493eb43b-f04b-42b0-b2e5-b28c606dc8de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.annecollins.com/burn-calories/increase-metabolism.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908865 | 300 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Thursday, April 19, 2012
A LIFE IN MANGA
the cartoonist’s 800-page-plus autobiography of his career in manga
from its beginnings to the signing of the 1960 Treaty of Mutual
Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. For
all my interest in manga, I had no idea of the early history of the
art form and industry and, because of that, this book fascinated me
from start to finish.
Hiroshi is Tatsumi’s counterpart in A Drifting Life. He grows up
in a family suffering from Japan’s World War II aggression and from
more internal problems. His divorced parents still live together
in an attempt to ease the family’s financial burdens. His brother
is sickly, given to irrational fits of anger and jealousy directed
toward Hiroshi. Knowing something of sibling jealousy myself, such
scenes rang very true to me.
The manga industry shown in this book is completely different from
the industry we know today. Hiroshi’s first sales are four-panel
strips. Somewhat longer works were created for the rental market.
Short story magazines become popular and a steady source of income,
even as Hiroshi longs to create longer stories that expand manga’s
possibilities. He is encouraged, inspired, and sometimes brought
to despair by the comics he reads and the movies he views. There
are bad and good decisions to be made and pitfalls to be suffered.
Despite the length of this book, it offers but the merest glance at
the complicated manga industry from 1945 to 1960. When I finished
it, I wanted more...more manga history and more of Tatsumi’s life
I don’t hesitate to declare A Drifting Life to be a masterpiece and
must reading for comics historians and manga fans alike, though I
suspect it will not suit those with a more casual interest in manga
and manga history. On my end, it has me wondering if someone has
written that great book on manga history that answers the questions
Tatsumi left me with. Suggestions are welcome.
In private e-mails, my readers keep expecting me to be down on 1001
Comics You Must Read Before You Die [Universe; $36.95], which those
readers perceive as eating my 1000 Comic Books You Must Read lunch.
The only similarity I see is in the names of the books. I focused
on the history of the American comic book as seen from my personal
history and perspectives while general editor Paul Gravett and his
many writers took a more international approach. I think my book
is more personable and fun to read, but that hardly negates what I
see as the considerable value of the Gravett book.
I’m reading Gravett’s book at a pace of around five pages per day.
I’m getting exactly what I expected and wanted from it, suggestions
of great comics from a global perspective. Because of entries in
this book, I’ve read and enjoyed a number of comics works. Which
is why I bought it. Well, that and the amusement whenever I read
fans complaining about some favorite comic that’s not in the book.
I feel your pain, brother Gravett.
My reading of A Drifting Life came about as a direct result of the
Gravett book, which, while it doesn’t include A Drifting Life among
its entries, does include Tatsumi’s Black Blizzard, a comparatively
short thriller about convicts on the run, bound to one another by
handcuffs. The entry in the Gravett book includes a short list of
other Tatsumi works and, having enjoyed Black Blizzard, I requested
A Drifting Life from my library system.
Just as some comic books will please some readers more than others,
some books on comics will please some readers more than others. As
I’m finding the Gravett book enjoyable and informative, it makes me
uneasy that anyone finds it offensive on my account. I’m as good
as good can be with the book.
Speaking of manga...
I am amused by the similarities between two manga series currently
on my reading pile. Ken Akamatsu’s Love Hina is about a struggling
student (Keitaro Urashima) trying to get into Tokyo University and
working as the landlord of an all-girls dorm. Hilarity ensues in
this romantic comedy that involves much accidental viewing and even
groping of attractive female tenants.
Then there’s Kouji Seo’s Suzuka, named for a beautiful track-and-
field star who has transferred to a Tokyo school. The hero of this
series is struggling student Yamato who is living in the all-girl
housing complex owned and operated by his aunt and where he earns
his keep by doing some landlord duties. Hilarity of a moderately
more explicit nature ensues in this romantic comedy that involves
much accidental viewing and groping of attractive female tenants.
The similarity became even more amusing to me when both Keitaro and
Yamato came down with debilitating colds at the same time. It was
in the second volume of Love Hina and the first of Suzuka, which,
as coincidence would have it, I read back to back.
Love Hina came first by several years. Suzuka has far more alcohol
consumption and nudity. I’m enjoying both series. I wouldn’t rank
them among the great manga works, but they are fun. And sometimes
that’s all I need from comics.
VAOS (Vast Accumulation of Stuff) NEWS
Bumps in the road that is my life often interfere with my reaching
my desired destinations. This has become the case with my garage
and online sales.
I had hoped to start my summer-long garage sale this month. That
will likely not happen until the first weekend in May. My plan is
still what it was: at least two open garage sales per month while
allowing fans and retailers to make appointments to shop whenever
it’s convenient for both me and them.
My online sales start today. Here’s how they will work:
Those who signed up for my mailing list will get the first crack at
the items on each week’s list. They will have received the first
list this morning.
Come Monday, unsold items will be listed here, on my message board
and on my Facebook page. Anything that doesn’t sell by the end of
the week will go up on eBay or into my garage sales.
Don’t expect garage sale prices on online sale items. These online
sales require more work than selling stuff out of my garage. The
prices will be good, but not insane. If you want insane, you will
need to come to my garage sales. Either way, your patronage will
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella | <urn:uuid:9c73fbd1-7a63-4517-9414-a9948e72179a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tonyisabella.blogspot.com/2012/04/life-in-manga.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931156 | 1,502 | 1.59375 | 2 |
9/11 bill passes committee
The 9/11 health bill cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when a House of Representatives panel passed it overwhelmingly with bipartisan support.
The Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee voted 25 to 8 to support the $11 billion bill, which would provide medical monitoring to first responders, residents, students and office workers who were exposed to toxic chemicals and dust on 9/11 and treatment to those who were injured or have become sick as a result. Last summer, the House’s Judiciary Committee approved the other piece of the bill, which would reopen the victims’ compensation fund.
During Tuesday’s debate, the members of the Health Subcommittee amended the act to place a cap on how much money can be spent. The federal government will spend no more than $5.1 billion over the next 10 years on healthcare and monitoring and $700 million a year thereafter, according to the amended version. The federal government has estimated that the other piece, the victims’ compensation fund, will cost about $6 billion, but it is still uncapped.
The next step is for the full Energy and Commerce Committee to take up the bill, which is named for James Zadroga, an N.Y.P.D. detective who died of pulmonary fibrosis after working at ground zero.
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced a companion bill in the Senate last year.
Even if the bill passes both the House and the Senate, President Obama has not pledged to support it. Although an Obama spokesperson said during the 2008 campaign that Obama backed a previous version of the bill, his administration criticized the bill’s open-ended spending mechanism earlier this year.
— Julie Shapiro | <urn:uuid:e9984b44-b8fb-4fcf-a8c9-dd7bfa56c445> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_360/911bill.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963099 | 352 | 1.640625 | 2 |
In other words, you might be able to use lies to gain things in life (items, power, status), but you can't take lies back and that makes them dangerous. Telling the truth is ideally the best choice, but once you've made a bad decision, it may not seem that way and that's why it's so important to make good decisions to begin with.
One [oversimplified] way to decide if a decision is good, is to see if you answer yes to more than 5 of the following tests:
Am I really willing to deal with any negative consequences?
Am I prepared to take responsibility?
Would it be good for me?
Would it be good for other people it effects?
Is it lawful?
Is it moral?
Is it ethical?
If you can only answer yes to 3 of these things, it's likely not a good decision.
consequences: Can be good and bad. They're the result or effects of some other action or decision. If you drop a rock on your foot, the consequences will likely be an injury, time lost dealing with the injury, medical expenses, time lost while healing, etc... On the other hand, making a good decision can have good consequences. For example if you choose to save money and invest it well, you'll earn more money and that would be a positive consequence.
responsibility: Most simply put, "the ability to respond". Here in the US though, that's not how much people see it. For example, if you're walking down the street and see a man who is starving and you have enough food (or money to buy food) to spare, you have the ability to respond by giving him food. That sounds very simple, but as you get older, you'll find more and more reasons it isn't. On the other end of the spectrum you'll find people saying, "that starving man isn't my responsibility" because his situation isn't a consequence of my choices or actions (assuming that's true of course). I think we need to have a well conditioned "sense of responsibility" where we can find somewhere in between. Where we will respond when we have the ability, but we don't become overwhelmed by the world around us either. | <urn:uuid:465f642c-3e94-4930-ba07-2a423f174925> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rainabba.blogspot.com/2010/11/message-to-my-son-about-lying.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970993 | 463 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The County Atlas pilot project was started in July 1998. It originally comprised ten atlases. There have been two additional phases of the project and it now contains forty-three atlases, covering the entire Ontario map. This is a project of McGill University Libraries.
Click on the County Atlases tab to learn detailed information about the atlases in the collection, the publisher, and what is included in them. Click on the Primary Sources and Other Sources tabs on the County Atlases page to read the list of atlases and other sources used in the project.
The County Atlas Digital Project contains a searchable database of the property owners' names, which appear on the township maps in the county atlases. The township maps have been scanned and uploaded to the site. There are links from the maps to the property owners' names in the database. Click on the Search tab on the homepage to open the main search page. There are two search options for this collection: People and Maps.
Click on the People tab to access the search boxes. With this option you may search the database by name and narrow your search by county, township, town, birthplace, and occupation. The data fields in the results returned include last name, first name, county, township, town, occupation, and birthplace. There is also a link to the full record. Click on the word GO to open the detailed record page. Additional data included here are year settled, post office, township, county, and atlas date, as well as concession and lot information. In addition, the Locate on Map links to the maps show the concessions and lots owned by the person.
Click on the Maps tab to open a new page with the 1880 map of Ontario counties. You can choose a county, township, and/or town from the dropdown lists and click on the ‘Get Map’ button to access the map of your choice. Click on the county image to open a new page with a map of the entire county. Click on a township to view the map. A link below the map generates an index of the property owners in the county. The results returned have the same data fields as noted above. Copies of the maps may be ordered from the library. | <urn:uuid:62903e96-dc10-44e6-90d1-59a5395d7b01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanancestors.org/Blogs.aspx?blogmonth=10&blogday=6&blogyear=2010&blogid=112 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94022 | 460 | 2.34375 | 2 |
I found that different people have different definitions of honesty. Even dictionaries do. One states the act of being honest - basic enough. Others I’ve found - truthfulness, frankness, freedom from deceit or fraud – I really like that one. From my friends I heard just the facts, realism, nothing more nothing less and not lying or telling selective truths. Now that one I really, really like. Also honesty is synonymous with honor.
I want honesty. I need honesty. What do you do when someone isn’t honest? And at what degree? If someone asks if their new orange hair looks good, you can still be honest, just with a little tact, maybe saying that it’s very different for her. No harm, no foul. But when someone is dishonest by omission – forget about it.
I find more and more people say they are honest, but cannot look you in your eyes. Look me in my eyes, if you don’t agree with me then tell me. I can take it. That’s what all of us are all about. We are all different and have different opinions and points of view. My priorities may not be yours. I may not agree with yours, but I accept them.
I have lost friends due to being honest and have more friends for most of my lifetime because we all appreciate honesty. The friends I’ve lost I don’t think were much of friends. The ones I have – both old and new – I treasure. If you have one friend that you can be honest with you are truly blessed. I am blessed multiple times.
I think I’ve found my definition of honesty – Freedom of deceit, not telling only selective truths. I think that covers it. | <urn:uuid:fdac6e18-f4ae-4453-bf4f-da7e302a2597> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://open.salon.com/blog/maria18940/2012/09/10/my_definition_of_honesty | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972312 | 364 | 2.09375 | 2 |
The judicial branch of government in Kansas applies the laws passed by the state legislature. The state judiciary exists to protect the stipulations in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, specifically Amendments Four through Eight, which guarantee no unreasonable searches or seizures by police, the right to a grand jury indictment, a speedy trial by jury, no excessive bail, and protections for civil cases. Therefore, the state constitution established a state supreme court, and state district courts. Since 1861 much in the state judiciary has been amended and streamlined as circumstances have required. For example, the state district courts have grown in scope of their operations to include smaller courts such as probate courts and the court of common pleas, which deals with civil cases. Local municipal courts have been established as towns and cities have been incorporated.
The state is divided into 31 court districts. Each judicial district has a number of district court judges that are elected to a term of four years. The district courts hear all criminal and civil cases tried by jury, in addition to numerous other functions such as cases relating to minors, and the mentally disabled or infirm. If there is a dispute following a criminal case where the verdict may have been compromised due to a judge’s or attorney’s actions, the case goes before the Kansas Court of Appeals. The court of appeals has the ability to overturn or uphold a verdict or conviction based on the evidence presented.
The court of appeals was not originally founded in the Kansas Constitution. It was established by a temporary legislative act in 1895, and ended in 1901. In 1977 the court of appeals was reinstated, and it now is served by 13 justices. These justices do not hear jury trials. Instead they make rulings based on trial transcripts, written briefs by attorneys, and arguments made by attorneys in their court. Typically, only a three person panel of the justices is required to make any such ruling. If the judgment is still contested, the appeal can be taken to the state supreme court. Like supreme court justices, the justices of the appeals court are appointed by the governor by the recommendation of the supreme court nominating commission, and if approved by the senate, thereafter keep office by popular vote.
The state supreme court is the highest court in Kansas, and is the final authority in cases brought before it. Originally there were three supreme court justices who were elected to six year terms; today there are seven justices who are selected by the supreme court nominating commission, and, the governor selects a nominee to appoint to the court. The justices still serve six-year terms, but their initial appointment is decided by the governor and the senate in much the same way as the president does for the U.S. Supreme Court. The state’s high court may hear appeals from the court of appeals and the most important criminal and civil cases from the district courts. It also has original jurisdiction over matters that involve state agencies and powers not properly exercised, or powers exercised beyond the legality of a certain office. The supreme court can rule on the constitutionality of a state law, and either uphold it or strike it from the law codes. The supreme court justices make their rulings by interpreting the law not by creating or amending laws. Their decisions require four justices to overrule a lower court decision. The chief justice is appointed by seniority, and he or she is responsible for setting the rules and regulations for all of the courts in Kansas, as well as overseeing all of the attorneys of the state bar. Each of the remaining justices is in charge of one of six state judicial departments.
Entry: Judicial Branch
Author: Mandi Barnard
Date Created: July 2012
Date Modified: July 2012
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content. | <urn:uuid:5e170efc-71a6-4cd1-a3e1-763e7d00f5c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/judicial-branch/17842 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971588 | 755 | 3.78125 | 4 |
The Stations of September 11
All photos © Drunell Levinson. All rights reserved.
Materials and Techniques:
Photo transfer on fabric. Image of Christ by anonymous 17th century artist. Cotton and velvet. Machine stitched.
In the Catholic Church, the Stations of the Cross are a popular devotion that commemorates the pain and suffering of Jesus Christ from his condemnation to his crucifixion. Each of the fourteen stations is artistically rendered onto a plaque and the plaques are mounted along the side walls of the church. A person making the Stations will go to each plaque to pray and meditate.
The Stations of September 11 commemorate the pain and suffering of the victims of September 11, the pain and suffering of the families of the victims of September 11, and the pain and suffering of all America affected by this horror.
For each Station, I offer this Irish prayer:
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
to gallery guide to home page | <urn:uuid:497f8bba-6ef4-4a5b-af94-006973182ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.september11quilts.org/field.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948735 | 247 | 2.75 | 3 |
On a recent summer day, it came to my attention that my children were bored. This alert was not a subtle one; these are not subtle kids. The two syllables of "I'm bored" came out in the droning, whining tone of one of those French police sirens: "I'mmm bored … I'mmm bored."
Because the temperature was creeping up toward 100 degrees, I packed up my two daughters and took them to the coolest place I could think of: the public library. Once there, I filled out enough paperwork to either get them their very first library cards or to buy a whole other child.
The proud girls were handed their new cards to sign on the back, and then each stared at the shiny rectangle of plastic as if wondering how to turn it on and download something. I told them that with those cards they could take any book in that building home with them.
And that they could now drive a motor vehicle within the city limits. "Really?" they said, wide-eyed and expectant. No, that's fiction.
Is there anything we can give our children that is more exciting, more educational, more free than a library card? It is Alice's rabbit hole, Dorothy's yellow brick road, a winged Pegasus. That little piece of plastic can teach them how and where to satiate their curiosity, the responsibility of keeping up with the card and borrowed books, and that if they sound the alarm "I'm bored" within earshot of me, that they will be forced to better themselves.
Through the colorful forest of trees, we went into the children's section of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, that gleaming glass and steel lodge of literature. The girls perused titles, pulled out some books to get a sense of them, put some back and found a few to take home. My youngest, Genevieve, leaned toward oversize picture books with their tales of tigers, bugs, little boys and girls, and fables from far away. Nine-year-old Somerset focused on her folded-up summer reading list from Richland Elementary School.
During summer breaks when I was a child, my mother would stop by the main library when it was at the corner of McLean and Peabody to pick up a stack of books recommended for a boy my age. It was like a 100-degree Christmas for me. I would make my way through the pile, and she would then return them for another. I don't remember my first library card, but it must have been like being given a license to the world.
Watching my daughters and their growing excitement was especially heartening in today's world of the Internet, Google and the immediacy of knowledge — some good, some bad.
As they walked among the rows of books, their heads crooked slightly to read the spines, it was like the slowest web browser imaginable. Yet it was a great way for me to learn of their interests and to see where their curiosity, if unleashed in a room full of history, science and stories, might take them.
Will there be other milestones as exciting? Sure. They will both one day receive a driver's license, be accepted into college and get married. Those will be days of triumph and of excitement, days when boredom will be as forgotten as that overdue library book underneath Genevieve's bed.
Richard J. Alley is the father of two boys and two girls. Read more from him at uurrff.blogspot.com. Become a fan of "Because I Said So" on Facebook: facebook.com/alleygreenberg. | <urn:uuid:32aff590-152e-40ab-b4e9-a1063ae8dae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jul/05/because-i-said-so-dad-sees-library-card-as-to/?CID=happeningnow | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977655 | 744 | 1.65625 | 2 |
KDTWflyer From United States of America, joined Jun 2004, 807 posts, RR: 1 Posted (2 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 6924 times:
I searched the forums to see if this had already been covered and didn't find it so forgive me if its already been posted. But on this past 9/11 some genius at NASA decided to orbit a WB-57 at FL490 over Houston. Apparently it freaked some people out.
NASCARAirforce From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 3099 posts, RR: 5 Reply 6, posted (2 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 days ago) and read 5095 times:
Quoting oly720man (Reply 1): Were "some people" in no way disturbed by the very many aircraft that fly every day to HOU? And yet a contrail that's not a straight line is a source of panic.
Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 3): It was at 49,000 feet. They could not even see the plane - just some contrails.
Remember just after 9-11 when commercial flights were grounded you could look up in the air and see the strange contrails that were going in circles of F-16s/F-15s etc patrolling the air as well as the occassional KC-135 up there to refuel them. | <urn:uuid:e3075f48-ffba-4de3-a211-0b5f11a36fa1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/military/read.main/126636/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967981 | 285 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Weed Business
Killing weeds is big business. How to get turf to thicken up and be weed free are the most common questions I get. Weeds bother people more than any other pest it seems. As the late Charles Walters said, “weeds affect our psyche”. It’s ironic but weeds have great value. Mother Nature uses them in spots where other plants won’t grow and improve the soil to allow for higher successional, plants to grow. Weed seeds are all over the place, in all soils and can live in the soil for years and years just waiting for a chance to germinate. When they do start to grow, it is for a reason—usually to cover bare soil. Therefore, the primary control of weeds is to eliminate the conditions which create the need for weeds.
Weeds rarely invade a high-quality lawn. All the money in the world can be spent on weed-controlling products and techniques, but if the lawn is not maintained properly, the weeds will return. Once a weed is growing it must be removed either mechanically by digging or by spraying. The underground parts of some weeds are capable of growing new plants so the rhizomes (underground stems) of those plants must be removed. That’s the case with Bermuda and other grasses. Annual weeds do not have the reproductive laterally ground stems.
The “chemical users” say the rule of thumb is that the weed must be actively growing for it to be controlled. Also, the younger a weed is, the easier it is to control. Old weeds are much tougher to kill but the organic sprays work whether the weeds are vigorously growing or not.
Commonly available weed controls are divided into two groups--those that kill the weed seed as it germinates (pre-emergent herbicides) and those that kill the weed after it germinates (post-emergent herbicides). There are toxic products and natural organic products available on the market. In the toxic chemical category there are herbicides like broadleaf herbicides like 2-4, D and Roundup. They are toxic to soil, animals and people and harmful to the environment. Recommended natural organic products include 10% pickling vinegar, Nature’s Avenger, Matran EC, Syche, Enhanced Vinegar and Maestro Gro Blackjack Twenty one. They are made mostly of vinegar, citrus and fatty acid.
Even though it is in the process of being taken off the market, some idiots still recommend MSMA, especially for the control of dallisgrass. It’s embarrassing that anyone was ever foolish enough to use and recommend this product. The “A” in the name refers to arsenic.
Pre-Emergent Weed Control
With pre-emergent weed controls, a product is applied evenly over the lawn and forms a barrier at the soil surface. The synthetic products such as Scott’s Bonus S use harsh chemicals. As you will notice right on the label, it contains a herbicide called atrazine that is damaging to your shrubs and trees.
Quotes from the Bonus S package instructions: see newsletter
"Do not use under trees, shrubs, bedding plants or garden plants."
"Do not apply on or under the branch spread (rootzone) of trees, shrubs, bedding plants, flowers or garden plants."
"Do not apply by hand or hand-held rotary devices."
"Do not apply this product in a way that will contact any person either directly or through drift."
"Runoff and drift from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas."
"This product is toxic to aquatic invertebrates."
Post-Emergent Weed Control
Post-emergent chemicals are used to kill weeds after they come up. These weeds, are divided into two groups – grasses and broadleaf.
Grassy Weed Control
These are the hardest of the weeds to control because there just aren't many non-toxic chemicals or organic products available that can selectively remove a grassy weed from among the desirable turfgrass plants. One of the few select organic weed controls is the crabgrass killer from Garden Weasel Crabgrass Killer. It is a potassium bicarbonate and cinnamon product that works well when applied per label instructions. It is effective on crabgrass, basket grass, chickweed, clover and other weeds.
Broadleaf Weed Control
There are several toxic chemicals that are recommended for controlling broadleaf weeds in any lawn. These chemicals are usually mixtures of several chemicals. They are very toxic, dangerous and should not be used. The organic contact killing herbicides will work but are non-selective. Care must be taken to avoid spraying desired plants. The grassy weed control products mentioned above can also be used on broad leaf weeds.
Not a grass or broadleaf weed, nutgrass (technically nutsedge) is one of our most troublesome weeds. We used to say that there's no good organic or toxic chemical solution for nutgrass. On the toxic chemical side, that’s true. The commonly recommended chemicals are Image and Manage. Most everyone in the landscape industry agrees with me that Image doesn't work on one of the most common species. Manage works better but will severly damage or kill your trees.
I have had luck and others have reported success killing nutgrass with kindness. Mow, clip or pull as often as you can and apply a heavier than normal application of dry molasses. Use about 20 lbs per 1000 sq ft and repeat in two weeks. The mixed products that contain molasses, and cornmeal will also help. The idea here is to stimulate a furious level of biological activity aimed at rotting the crowns of the undesired plants.. Nutgrass (nutsedge) likes moist, anaerobic soil. As a result, improving drainage and having aerobic soil helps, but the complete cure is molasses.
I have had luck and others have reported success killing nutgrass with kindness. Mow, clip or pull as often as you can and apply a heavier than normal application of dry molasses. Use about 20 – 30 lbs per 1000 sq ft and repeat in two weeks. The idea here is to stimulate a furious level of biological activity aimed at rotting the crowns of the undesired plants. It works. Liquid molasses also works. Drench problem spots with liquid horticultural molasses at ¼ to ½ cup per gallon of water. Start with about a gallon of drench per 9 – 10 sq. ft. This simple technique fires up the microbes in the soil and the nutgrass simple fades away.
Other remedies include: Remove the weed physically with mechanical devices. For turf, overseed problem areas with ryegrass in the fall. Applying corn gluten meal in the spring at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet prior to seed germination is also helpful. An important point to remember is that nutgrass (nutsedge) grows primarily in wet anaerobic soil. Applying hydrogen peroxide, the kind at the drug store, full strength to the problem areas can help. Also let the area dry out better between watering, improve soil health, improve drainage and help the soil to drain better.
Weed Control in Beds
This is the easy part. The best program is to start with clean beds, mulch them properly and hand pull any weeds that pop up.
There are some specific controls that work in certain conditions. Weeds in beds can be killed by removing the tops and then covering the problem area with 1/2" of compost followed about 5 layers of newspaper or cardboard. Wet it all down and cover the paper with 2-4" of shredded mulch. Spot spray any weeds that manage to come through with the vinegar herbicide. | <urn:uuid:97961fde-55f7-4feb-8561-e898d0439789> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Weed-Control-Business_vq2941.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939941 | 1,606 | 2.03125 | 2 |
As my readers probably noticed, I don’t post music videos often, but Andrew’s Sister take on The Sabre Dance by the great Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian is practically begging to be blogged:
Why, I didn’t know Sabre Dance had lyrics! Granted, this is not the best lyrics in the history of popular music, but they’ll do.
I have a soft spot for artists that take a music piece out of context and make it work within a completely different aesthetic — just like the video above. Khachaturian’s piece is rhythmic and has a lot of character, so I suppose it lends itself easily to a pop cover. And while in theory any catchy upbeat 4/4 beat can be made into a swell swing number, and it takes a band of Andrews Sisters caliber to do it right. The video is a bit goofy with the ladies obviously lip-syncing, but I love the choreography.
Andrews Sisters recorded their version of The Sabre Dance in 1947, at the tail end of the Swing era. Their harmonies are beautiful, voices serene and it’s curious note that the Khachaturian’s score, if we are to remain faithful to his aesthetic, calls for a much noisier performance. Here is an undated nameless version I found on Youtube:
It was a part of Gayaneh ballet, and I suspect the performance was recorded in the Soviet days. It’s amazing to see how much more abstract the [probably] Soviet version feels. DH likes to say that pop music is several decades behind classical. Gayaneh was composed 1939-41, and in the Soviet Union of all places. It took your average Western consumer of pop culture half a century to catch up.
1. The Khachaturian ballet recording that I judged to be from the Soviet days is actually a 2010 Vaganova Ballet School graduation performance.
2. DH is known to say that rock-n-roll, not pop culture is several decades behind classical. Shame on me for misquoting my own husband. | <urn:uuid:4116678a-4f02-46bf-a1a0-7a68334fae99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edgeofthesandbox.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/the-sabre-dance-swing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957783 | 440 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The event, which sees participants take on either a 6 or 15 mile route through the streets of London on the night of Friday 21 September 2012, will raise vital funds to help prevent sight loss and treat eye disease.
Chris Holmes, who lost his sight at the age of 14 and went on to become Britain’s most successful individual Paralympic swimmer, said: “Finding ways to reduce sight loss in adults and children is a cause that’s particularly close to my heart, and I hope as many people as possible can join me on the start line on Friday 21 September. Together we can raise vital funds to help Fight for Sight dramatically reduce sight loss for all.”
Julian Jackson, Director of Development and Marketing at Fight for Sight, said: “The Fight for Sight Carrots NightWalk is a unique event bringing together individuals and professionals who are passionate about bringing hope to people living without sight – and Chris Holmes is an invaluable addition to our team! Our 2011 Carrots NightWalk raised over £58,000 for eye research, and this year we’re calling on our walkers to go the extra mile to support our work.”
For more information on how to take part in the Fight for Sight Carrots NightWalk, please visit www.fightforsight.org.uk/carrots or call 0207 264 3900. | <urn:uuid:bb1417f4-6e79-4cf7-8fd4-c32eda9392af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.looktothestars.org/news/8458-paralympic-gold-medallist-urges-people-to-fight-for-sight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928845 | 282 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Last February, NIDA held its first "Covering Addiction" Roundtable discussion for college journalists. Fifteen students from universities around Washington, D.C. picked the brains of NIDA scientists and professional health reporters, asking them about careers in science and health journalism. The student journalists got tips from pros who have worked for ABC News, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post on how to write about sensitive health topics like drug abuse and addiction.
Overall, students said they got a lot out of the experience, but some said they would have liked more time for questions about addiction and the health effects of drugs. So to follow up, here are some answers to common questions about drug use in college.
-Is everyone using illegal drugs in college?
No. Many college students drink alcohol, but most of them are not using other drugs.
-How common is drug use in college?
It really depends on the drug. The most common drug used in college is alcohol (yes, it's a drug). A survey asking college students about their past-month drug use found that about 2 out of 3 drink alcohol, and about 1 in 5 students smoke cigarettes. Marijuana comes in third, with about 1 in 6 students smoking it in college. (Interesting fact: full-time college students actually use less tobacco and marijuana on a regular basis than people of the same age who don't go to college.) As for other illegal drugs, very few college students are using them. For example, fewer than 1 in 100 college students have ever used heroin or steroids.
-How do you know?
NIDA's Monitoring the Future Survey asks middle school students, high school students and high school graduates about drug use. If you want to see the real data for yourself, you can go to the Monitoring the Future website and look at all the 2007 results for college students (PDF, 2.13MB).
If you're studying for a journalism career in college, or planning to study journalism when you go, stay tuned! We'll announce the next college journalist roundtable here at the Sara Bellum Blog. | <urn:uuid:1d041e09-04cc-4d70-9da7-4dd12d0a7b1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teens.drugabuse.gov/comment/8723 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960625 | 427 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Top 10 Gun Safety Tips
10. Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction, such as a hippy or a communist.
9. Dumb children may get a hold of your guns and shoot each other.
If your children are dumb, put them up for adoption to protect your guns.
8. No matter how responsible he seems, never give your gun to a monkey.
7. If guns make you nervous, drink a bottle of whiskey before heading to the range.
6. When unholstering your weapon, it’s customary to say “Excuse me while I whip this out.”
5. Don’t load your gun unless you are ready to shoot something or are just feeling generally angry.
4. If your gun misfires, never look down the barrel to inspect it. Have someone else do that for you.
3. Never use your gun to pistol whip someone. That could mar the finish.
2. No matter how excited you are about buying your first gun, do not run
around yelling “I have a gun! I have a gun!”
1. And the most important rule of gun safety: Don’t piss me off! | <urn:uuid:56136992-2e0f-4d46-bfbb-11823462eff3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vintagearmsillinois.com/?page_id=98 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922901 | 253 | 1.703125 | 2 |
How to Drill Hard Steel
Drilling steel or metal is a quick way to dull your drill bits if you do it the wrong way. This AsktheBuilder.com video shows you how to drill holes using the correct bits and oil to drill through steel and sheet metal.
Hot clip from Mashooka - Megna Naidu Extreme Closeup
Hot clip from Mashooka - Megna Naidu Extreme Closeup More videos at mfv4u.blogspot.com
Nerves of Steel
A rally car comes within inches of smoking this guy and he doesn't even flinch!
Balls of Steel
No cups were used in the making of this video...
Cop Hides From Hungry Wolves
A Russian cop jumps into the car he just pulled over after a pack of wolves came storming his way. I bet he still gave him the ticket!
Hot Loops at Steel Plant
Some really cool footage from inside a steel plant. Check out these hot loops taken during preparation.
women wrestling from the 80's
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Sheikh Hamad Carves his name In Sand that's Visible From Space!!
Arab Sheikh Hamad Carves Name Two-Miles-Long In Sand Until Its Visible From Space!!
insane train surfing
amazing jump from top of a train in to cold water
Snake On a Car
A snake decides to take a joyride on the windshield of this car on a Tennessee highway. Now that's one distraction you don't see everyday!
Awesome Driving Skill Video
Some video evidence of the 'Awesome Driving Skill' picture recently posted. Check out this driver cruise over a huge line up of bottles.
best penalty ever and forever
best penalty shot from the day they invented something called ball
best K.O. in history of MMA
this should be baned from tv and from sport | <urn:uuid:2bfcc9c1-219d-4907-96c6-cec5d2316607> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jokeroo.com/videos/extreme/cop-made-from-steel.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932583 | 387 | 1.617188 | 2 |
August 15th, 2011
I’m Lennie Bazira and as the Kenya Country Director, I oversee all of AMREF’s health development programs in Kenya. Last week, I accompanied AMREF Director General Dr. Teguest Guerma on a visit to one of the many areas of Kenya in which we work: the Turkana district. Located in northwestern Kenya, Turkana is a remote, heat-stricken region and one of the areas most affected by the drought.
Above, watch a newscast from NTV in Nairobi about the situation in Turkana
The Turkana people are nomadic pastoralists. Livestock is their primary source of food and income. With a lack of rain for successive years, rivers have dried up and there is hardly any grass anywhere.
AMREF has been working in Kenya for more than 50 years, seeking long-term solutions to local health challenges. During this crisis, AMREF, together with partners, is also providing immediate assistance to ravaged communities, with one clear goal: to save lives.
In Turkana, AMREF has established camps along the migratory routes, providing food and water in addition to medical care. The medical camp that Dr. Guerma and I visited that day was visited by hundreds of people, their faces and bodies telling stories of hardship and hunger.
Dr. Bazira distributing nutritional supplements
We joined AMREF staff and volunteers in giving out micronutrient-rich food to the weakest community members - children, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly. AMREF health workers screened and provided treatment for water-borne disease. Countless water treatment tablets were handed out and short demonstrations in basic hygiene were conducted. Ensuring even basic hygiene under these conditions is essential to prevent the further increase in eye infections and the outbreak of diarrheal disease such as cholera.
In the past 50 plus years, AMREF has helped transform lives in many parts of Kenya by providing clean and sustainable sources of water, which have greatly reduced diseases and have sustained livelihoods built on agriculture and livestock breeding. Dr. Guerma promised that AMREF would not only “do all it can” to reduce the current suffering of people in Turkana, but also to develop similar “long-term solutions here so that people will not find themselves in such a dire situation again.”
To follow through on this promise, AMREF has sent one of our specialized outreach teams to address some of the medical complications such as kwashiorkor caused by severe malnutrition. Together with partners, we are continuing to support the distribution of water, food, and nutritional supplements in the affected areas, and have intensified our personal hygiene and sanitation work. As a first step towards determining a longer-term solution for the water shortage, we will commission a hydrological survey of the region.
More than four million Kenyans are threatened by starvation. Across the region, 13 millions lives are at risk. We at AMREF have ramped up our activities to mitigate the immediate and medium-term effects of the drought on ravaged communities. In Kenya alone, we work in 18 affected areas - from the refugee camps on our border with Somalia and the remote northwestern districts to the hard-hit coastal region and suffering slums around Nairobi. We need your support to be able to continue these urgent, life-saving efforts. I urge you to make a donation today.
It will be a long and hard journey but we know that, with your help, we will be able put smiles on the suffering communities of Turkana and Kenya. My team and I are grateful to all of you for your generous support during this crisis.
Country Director Kenya, AMREF | <urn:uuid:fa83e31a-cd7a-48c1-b035-226b111cb205> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amrefusa.org/news-from-the-field/drought-update-from-turkana-kenya-by-dr-lennie-bazira-director-of-amref-kenya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96057 | 760 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Friday, August 7, 2009: 10:10 AM
Grand Pavillion I, Hyatt
The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo defines the entire US-Mexico border in the Texas-Chihuahua/Coahuila region. The combined influences of over-allocation of river water, river impoundment, contamination, invasion of non-native species, and the potential overarching affects of climate change have altered streamflow, channel morphology, and significantly reduced the diversity, extent, and distribution of native species throughout much of this reach of the Rio Grande. Although the Rio Grande as a border
receives attention, it is only recently that attention has been paid to the Rio Grande as a river. Over the last eight years, the World Wildlife Fund, Big Bend National Park, Comisión Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and over twenty other agencies, institutions, and organizations from both sides of the US-Mexico border have been conducting a variety of activities to improve ecological conditions along the Big Bend portion of this river for native flora and fauna and the well-being of riverside citizens. Conservation efforts to date have focused on collecting data to better understand current ecological conditions, understanding climatic trends, developing hydrologic models, conducting on-the-ground rehabilitation efforts to remove non-native plants and reestablish pre-dam channel morphologic conditions, establishing environmental flow, and monitoring ecological change.
Results/Conclusions: Implementing these activities over the last eight years has provided a strong foundation for gauging the effectiveness of these efforts, lessons learned, and how to best apply these lessons to the future. Some of the main lessons include the importance of: i) binational collaboration and the participation of divergent disciplines, ii) developing long-term rehabilitation goals that are supported by a diverse binational team and strong science, iii) preproject planning that is based on a sound understanding of current ecological conditions, iv) prioritization strategies that allow effective focus of meager resources, v) monitoring to evaluate how well project objectives are being achieved, and v) involving riverside human communities in conservation activities. Our presentation will review the bi-national Big Bend effort and the lessons learned thus far, with emphasis on the challenges of involving riverside citizens and how to design conservation efforts in a manner that draws a direct link between ecology and the well-being of riverside human communities. Along this reach of the Rio Grande, where economic conditions have deteriorated significantly (e.g., close of border tourism resulting in loss of revenue), any involvement of riverside citizens requires attention to how conservation efforts relate directly to their economic well-being. | <urn:uuid:e45a1c84-0f76-4aee-ab24-8026179e472d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eco.confex.com/eco/2009/webprogram/Paper20373.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917894 | 542 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Omaha has been hosting the College World Series for more than 60 years, but the CWS didn't get it's start here.
The event was first played in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 1947. It was also held there in 1948, but moved to Wichita, Kan. the next year. Former President George H.W. Bush competed as the captain of the Yale University baseball team that year.
The College World Series had its debut in Omaha in 1950. Officials said 17,805 people attended the series that year. That's less than most single game attendance figures these days.
The CWS lost money for 10 of the first 12 years in Omaha. Business leaders, city officials and volunteers put out an extraordinary effort to make the series what it is today.
Over the years, hundreds of players have ended their baseball careers at the College World Series, and hundreds more went on the make waves in Major League Baseball | <urn:uuid:6170e1a2-ebc6-45ff-bd69-ccc191d507d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ketv.com/college-world-series-extended-coverage/History-of-College-World-Series/-/13479344/10142706/-/j68xm6z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986436 | 189 | 1.578125 | 2 |
God and the people encouraged Joshua. The biggest encouragement for anyone is confirmation from God and the people around him.
Pray that your sponsored child would find strength and courage in the Lord for whatever they face each day.
Joshua is told to be strong and courageous as he prepares to lead the people of Israel through a season of change. A season where they are transformed from a wandering people into a possessing people.
“When you are young, and when you experience hard times, you grow up with lessons in courage and perseverance. You realize that you will make it and that God will provide.” — Ana Morales
Our ministry takes place in some of the toughest, grittiest places on the planet, but we face these hard realities with an adventuresome spirit.
In the midst of this chaotic world, we do not waiver and we do not blink, as we pursue our single-minded strategy of “Christian holistic development of children in poverty through… | <urn:uuid:b959efd5-3583-4867-b7d9-2579c176db22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.compassion.com/tag/courage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954748 | 197 | 1.898438 | 2 |
It's been fall for over a week now. The outside air is refreshing. We can still open our windows in the daytime as long as we shut them at night. It's now safe to once again bring your dog with you in your car when you go shopping and do errands -- not! According to www.mydogiscool.com, "When it is 72 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can reach 116 degrees within an hour, even with windows cracked."
Hold on, it gets worse. We are still getting some hot days. "When it is 85 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can climb to 102 degrees in 10 minutes and 120 degrees in 30 minutes." Still not convinced? "A dog's normal body temperature ranges from 101 to 102.5 degrees. Dogs can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time before they experience brain and nerve damage, heart problems -- and even death."
I know you won't do this. But someone who parks next to or near you will. The person who parked next to my car while I was shopping on Saturday afternoon did this. When I returned to my car, it was 77 degrees outside. To see what happens inside a car with the windows cracked at just that temperature, go to YouTube and type "Is your dog cool?" into the search. The video posted by RedRoverOrg is eye-opening. As noted on the video and as confirmed by a local Animal Control Officer, call the police when this happens. The local dispatch number will do. | <urn:uuid:51b0a262-28df-4396-a821-05a44dc91017> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailycamera.com/letters/ci_21673512/nina-endler-still-too-hot-dogs-cars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965007 | 316 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Through blogs and comments, patients and experts explore what it takes to find good health care and make the most of it.
Guest Blog: Getting Engaged
Elaine Waples | September 24, 2012
We hear inspiring things about patient engagement. The very concept has a hearty, spirited, 'do-right' sound to it.
I spent many years in human resources. I remember the conversations we had around employee engagement as we searched for a practical approach. We realized that it is the employees' belief that the company is moving in the right direction; that the work they do is meaningful and that they are committed to it; that the trust index of respect, credibility and fairness is high; and that employees are willing to work hard to help it get there.
After two years of cancer treatment, I think patient engagement should mirror those fundamental principles.
- Engaged patients should believe the treatment they are getting is right.
- They should feel a strong commitment and trust in the doctor(s) and treatment centers where they receive care.
- They should believe that what they are doing is meaningful.
- And they should be willing to do whatever it takes to get better or survive.
All these ideas resonated with me.
So with happy I read about patient engagement. Like Alice, I quickly found myself falling down the rabbit hole. The amount of information, research data, survey results, and input from different stakeholders was mind-boggling. Definitions from every level of health care ecosystem reflect the need for health literacy, shared decision making, quality improvement, electronic health records, disease management, and a host of other approaches.
Everything I read was critically important. There should be an expectation of quality, safety, skill and ethics, supported by efficient, effective systems and tools. To complicate matters, patient populations, like employee populations, are diverse and cover a huge range of care. There are also issues of compliance, financial resources, privacy, and inexperience in finding tools and information.
Suddenly, I felt like a tiny piece in a huge jigsaw puzzle that still doesn't have all the border pieces. But just like in real life, there were a few little things that brought me from 30,000 feet to ground zero. It started with a visit to my oncologist's office yesterday.
As I approached the entrance I read the sign that asks visitors to refrain from wearing perfume because many patients are sensitive to fragrances. I smiled. If you've ever been a chemo patient trapped in an elevator with a cologne-drenched, three-cheese pizza delivery person, you would understand. Small move but, oh boy, was this sign patient-centered.
As I entered the infusion room, I said cheerfully to the nurse, 'We may have an issue today.' I was referring to a recent problem with one of my medications. My primary care doctor had adjusted the dose through his practice's call-the-nurse process, and I worried that the cancer practice hadn't been informed. But alerting the chemo nurse wasn't necessary. She had read my chart the day before and knew exactly what was going on. My record was up to date and my doctors were in sync.
During my session, a patient arrived in pain. The nurse gently reassured her that all would be fine and then explained to her companion how to help.
I met another patient, there with her husband, who was facing an unpleasant hospital visit. The doctor had asked them to come in to talk about it before she was admitted. It reminded me of a Sunday afternoon two years ago when the doctor called me at home to detail what might happen in my surgery the next day. For a few moments in time, I understood what it was to be patient-centered.
When I left my oncologist's office yesterday, I had a printed schedule of my lab work, my next treatment dates, an imaging appointment, and my follow up. My PET/CT was coordinated with the hospital outpatient facility and I knew that my insurance coverage had been verified. And if I happen to forget the prep instructions (which I often do) I know where I can find them on-line. My lab tests are sent electronically and I can schedule appointments on my iPad.
To developers of patient engagement systems, these things may seem like basic no-brainers. But to the patient, especially with a long term illness, they are not. They are critical to the patient's ability to manage his care. They give us confidence that our care is on the right track; that we must be willing to do our part, including discretionary efforts; that we have a reason to be committed to the doctors and clinical professionals who help us through it; and it is meaningful for us to do it.
Not everyone has good health coverage, open-minded doctors, and a network of 'go-to' professionals. I pity the person who does not, because it would make a difficult situation all but impossible. Fortunately, I do have those things and I still get tangled up sometimes.
The challenges for the developers of 'patient-centered' engagement programs include the enormous financial issues associated with being sick, making easily understandable information accessible, finding practical methods of patient buy-in, and getting doctors, hospitals, health plans and technology to seamlessly collaborate. Or said another way, when a patient walks through the door, will he have some answers to that old tried and true question, 'what's in it for me?'
Alice said it well. 'It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change.'
More Blog Posts by Elaine Waples
Elaine Waples underwent major abdominal surgery in 2010 for stage 3 primary peritoneal (ovarian) cancer that had metastasized to several organs. Since then she has undergone years of a robust treatment regimen including 8 rounds of chemotherapy. Her journey is chronicled on the online health care magazine Care and Costs, edited by her husband, Brian Klepper.
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Doctor-Patient Relationship Influences Patient Engagement | <urn:uuid:0236edcf-6047-497e-a479-b2dd764decac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.preparedpatientforum.org/blog/2012/09/guest-blog-getting-engaged/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970732 | 1,304 | 1.757813 | 2 |
ProsThe overriding positive of S.1348, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, is that it provides an earned path to legal residency for the 12 to 15 million immigrants illegally present in the in U.S. before 2007.
(See quick-reading summary of major provisions of S.1348, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, at page one of this article.)
Poverty-stricken immigrants and their families were lured by illegal jobs at U.S. corporations and in the agricultural industry. In their home countries, they were usually unemployed and destitute.
And undocumented workers, grateful for any job, have worked for below-market wages, minimal or no benefits and under poor working conditions, therefore enabling employers to make higher business profits.
The Clinton and Bush administrations turned a blind political eye to illegal immigration practices as a means to support corporate America. (For more info, see Why the U.S. Allows Illegal Immigration.)
Undocumented workers and their families live in constant fear of apprehension, mistreatment and imprisonment, which affects every aspect of their lives, from housing and medical care to education, transportation and even grocery shopping.
Freedom from Fear and Mistreatment
S.1348 would set these immigrants free from fear, to emerge from the back alleys and shoddiest housing in America and beyond the reach of smugglers, blackmailers, human traffickers and harassers.
Like the African-origin slaves set free by Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, this heavily Latino underclass of unskilled, poorly-paid U.S. workers would be freed from the shackles of unequal treatment as a human beings.
And that is what America’s noble ideals of freedom and equality are all about.
On May 17, 2007, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) proudly proclaimed of this bill, "Politics is the art of the possible, and the agreement we just reached is the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders, and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America."
Problem is... the negatives of S.1348, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, are so numerous and so virulent, that they may cause Congress to fail to pass this legislation.
ConsBelow are a few of the most egregious negatives of S.1348 .
Guest Worker Program
S.1348 sets a guest worker program for low-skilled labor that creates a separate class of workers with few protections granted to other U.S. workers and little hope for permanent residency.
The New York Times dubs S.1348's guest worker program as "massive indentured servitude."
And the guest worker program includes provisions that are overly onerous to fulfill. One is a mandate that between the 3 renewable 2-year visa periods, the worker must return for a year to his home country where he may have neither job nor home.
Another is the severe limitation on workers' ability to bring spouses or minor childen with them while they labor in the U.S.
An amendment sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingman (D-NM) was passed to reduce to reduce the annual cap on workers from 600,000 to 200,000. An amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to strip it from S.1348 was defeated by a vote of 64-31.
Retention and Internment Facilities
S.1348 provides “resources” for the daily detention of 27,500 illegal immigrants.
Internment centers are privatized warehouses for immigrants awaiting wrongful detention appeals or pending deportation proceedings. Like the hotel industry, the corporations running the centers make profits by keeping the centers at full occupancy.
While in internment centers, immigrants have virtually no rights. Like slaves in pre-civil War days, detainees are usually unable to communicate with children and spouses. Identification is often stripped from their possession.
Reports abound of denials of medical care, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, lost ID documents, lack of access to info, and callous treatment. (For more info, read Lost in Detention published by The New Mexican on May 20, 2007.)
Impossible Path to Citizenship
S.1348 creates an unachievable path to citizenship for the majority of formerly illegal immigrants, resulting in millions of low-wage earning U.S residents without voting rights.
The legislation requires upfront payment of $5,000 in fines plus $2,000 in “processing fees,” unthinkable sums for poverty-level earners. It requires the head of household (usually the wage earner) to return to their home country, and then reenter the U.S. Few could afford to return to their home countries, and, if they did, they would likely lose their jobs.
And even if all these and other conditions are met, the waiting period is estimated to be 8 to 14 years.
Where It StandsIn early June 2007, S.1348 is mired in U.S. Senate backroom negotiations, and the bill hotly debated in the media and public forums.
No one knows whether or not S.1348 will pass both houses of Congress, despite the urgings of President Bush and a determined bipartisan band of senators led by Sen. Kennedy and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Another vital area of contention that must be resolved is the proposed new U.S. approach to selecting future immigrants.
Past Immigration Goal: Family Unification
In the past, America immigration policy was tied to the humanitarian goal of family unification.
The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868 in reaction to the abolition of slavery and its abuse of families, declared all children born in this country of illegal immigrants to be U.S. citizens. This was reconfirmed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. As a result, parents of children who are U.S. citizens often stay in this country as legal residents (i.e. green cards holders).
Currently, there is no limit on the number of green cards that can be issued to foreign spouses and children of workers holding U.S. work visas, or for foreign-born parents of minor children.
S.1348 Immigration Goal: Support Corporations, Not Families
S.1348 radically shifts U.S. immigration to skills-based from family-based goals, and places a cap on all permanent residency green cards issued annually.
Objecting to this change, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) wryly commented to the media, “For those who often speak about family values, this is your opportunity to match your rhetoric with your action.“
Briefly, the cap for H-1B visas, used by corporations and universities to import higher wage-earning scientists, computer specialists and the like, will be raised from 65,000 to as much as 180,000 annually.
The remainder of green cards would be issued based on a point system that places highest values on graduate and post-graduate education; achievement in technology, science and math; areas of high labor demand; and English language proficiency.
Family ties would be given scant consideration, and then, mainly for spouses and minor children. Under S.1348, even U.S. citizens would encounter difficulties bringing elderly, foreign-born parents into the country.
At this writing, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) have introduced an amendment to eliminate limits on the number of green cards for spouses and minor children of legal immigrants. | <urn:uuid:39931ff6-d965-4736-9c14-fb5da41540ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usliberals.about.com/od/immigration/i/BushImmiReform_2.htm | 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 | 0.954559 | 1,550 | 2.546875 | 3 |
"Religion followed by a witless will
To torture self, or come at power to hurt
Another - 'tis of Tamas, dark and ill."
The Book of Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith
I cannot accept a role or countenance an act that removes thought from the world. First, this is not legal in the American system of government. Note the court decision that allowed the American National Socialists to march in Skokie, Illinois in 1978. Even the speech of hate and the repulsive image of the Swastika are allowed. Second, it is not possible to erase thought. Even the best brainwashing techniques of the Cold War showed that given time and separation from the controlled environment in which this kind of programming is attempted, the individual returns eventually back to their normal habits of thought.
It isn't right and it won't work.
However, what can be changed is the unwarranted use of force. I hope that we are not fighting in the Middle East to change their culture or attempting to make them adopt ours. Yes, there are things about that culture that I find distasteful, particularly the treatment of women and children, just as there are aspects of the Western culture that some Islamists find revolting, but these are not going to change by the use of force. What we should look at critically is precisely the use of force to attempt to modify behavior, because this is precisely a behavior itself. This can be changed.
Should we kill to stop the killing? I am afraid we must. Will they kill us in return? They have.
And so it will go on, act after hateful act as it has gone on for as long as we have human memory to relate. Yet as Gandhi noted, Love always wins and the tyrants fall. So we must find and share reasons to love. This is not soft, but the hardest and the boldest action. We must find what we share. Golda Meir said, 'the violence will stop when we love our children more than we hate each other.' There are mothers today in Bagdhad, in New York and Lahore who love their children and wish only to see them do well in life. As said in the Middle East, God willing, another should live as well as I desire to live. As said in the Bible, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Islam is a religion of truth and mercy and beauty. It cannot perish because these are values it shares with all true religions and these are eternal values. No belief with these as core shall perish. That some believe they can make one religion master of all truth and all believers is deeply hurtful to these beliefs. A Christian who takes this path takes the sword in their own hand and plunges it into the side of the Christ. The Muslim who takes this path tars his own children in pig's blood. The Hindu who takes this path accepts the gift of Tamas that does not bless.
We must step back from the feast of rottenness, and we must accept our differences as the joyful expressions of God at play, and learn to hear the voice of Creation singing to us in our wakeful dream. I know it cannot be a perfect world, or a peaceful world, but it can be a world where our children play free of fear of one another based simply on the color of skin, dress, or how, when, and where we go to pray. This, I believe is the world the God of Abraham and Mohammed and Arjuna earnestly waits for us to create. God sees through our eyes but with infinite mercy, does not control every act of our hands or hearts. God watches and waits for the time when we ourselves undertake acts of mercy, compassion, and tolerance, and in these, knows joy.
There is much darkness in our hearts but there is infinite light in our souls. Pray in whatever tongue with whatever gifts you have, that this light overcomes that darkness soon, today, in this moment before another car bomb takes more lives, before more helicopters rain down death on the innocent, before we once again sully Creation in the eyes of God.
For the sake of our children, for the sake of our world, for the love of God, pray for this earnestly. God willing, let this be done; God providing, let us do this. | <urn:uuid:475fe2b2-f622-4c09-9f50-e5d66da84161> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lamammals.blogspot.com/2004/08/gift-of-tamas.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959702 | 895 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Looking for one national statistic not climbing steadily alongside the obesity rate? How about instances of weight counseling initiated by primary care physicians.
Penn State College of Medicine researchers say weight counseling for patients classified as overweight or obese has dropped 46 percent in 10 years.
"We were surprised by these results ourselves," said Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski, assistant professor of medicine. "Obesity and overweight affects two out of every three Americans, so you would think that this would be more of a forefront issue."
Kraschnewski said a team of researches analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care survey for the years 1995-96 and 2007-08, because of the continuity of how studies in each year were conducted.
"This survey samples outpatient primary care services," she said. "We used it in order to get an idea of how physicians were doing in terms of counseling their patients."
The research uncovered startling results, Kraschnewski said. Obesity rates climbed more than 10 percent from 1996 to 2008 to a rate of 63.3 percent. Meanwhile, weight-counseling rates plummeted with only 6.2 percent of patients receiving the service from their primary-care physicians in 2008.
Kraschnewski offered several possible reasons for the aversion to weight counseling in outpatient facilities, including an increase in chronic diseases, limited training for lifestyle coaching and a pessimistic attitude toward patients' willingness to change.
"Nowadays, clinic visits include a lot more time spent caring for chronic conditions," she said. "Doctors don't get a lot of training in order to learn how to provide lifestyle counseling on weight control. Some physicians have weight problems themselves and don't feel capable of providing counseling."
But Kraschnewski said the commercial and Internet markets provide a wealth of weight-counseling resources for patients to use in the absence of a physician's guidance.
"If people aren't interested in going to their doctors, there are a lot of weight programs and online programs for weight control," she said. "Things like Weight Watchers or Livestrong.com."
Kraschnewski said the passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act also will prompt doctors to address weight control with their patients more frequently. "Its now required (that) insurers pay for these services," she said. "So we are going to have to figure out how to do this."
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Best viewed with Firefox | <urn:uuid:3d00c69d-45e5-417e-b558-368ac874642d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=2236&poll=272&vote=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957917 | 187 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Botnets are fulfilling law enforcement fears that online casinos could prove fertile ground for money laundering, according to a recent, little-noticed report by risk compliance firm Fortent. Some are engaging in variations of an old casino scam, in which preprogrammed-to-lose bots transfer dirty money - obtained through stolen …
Not good news for poker!
I'm a regular online poker player at fulltilt and though collusion (in a form of cheating) obviously takes place in small doses, the recent news article of bot nets connecting in performing attacks is increasingly worrying!
After all, a botnet would mean the users have different IP Addresses etc and so much harder to detect. To know that fulltilt failed to discover this as it happened means I'm more inclined to leave.. or maybe to give online poker a break until this is secured again!
USA today? A quote in dollars?
I thought online gambling in the land of the "free" was punishable by death now, naughty journos.
So thats about £1.5mil a year? A nanoscopic drop in the ocean. Wouldn't even keep Kerry Packer in socks for a year.
Odds are against it
No offense to other posters here but how gullible and naive do you have to believe that anything in an online "poker" game is random. Some of them don't even call it gambling but rather online entertainment. You have no real way of knowing if your opponent is a person or a bot and if they are making decisions by looking at your hand or if they are even real. The best you could hope for is something like a slot machine where the randomness is in the payout and not the play.
How gullible and naiive are you to think it's rigged :)
Studies show that in the Bot v Player race, the player wins in the long run as the Bot makes the same decisions in the same places so can easily be played against. In depth scientific studies with the most advanced bots in the world showed this. It was even an article here on the register. So even if one bot is sat at the table, you'll only lose if you're bad player (in which you'd lose anyway....)
As for "random". The sites are Governed and ensured that the algorithms indeed are completely random. There is no way anyone can disagree with that comment. A lot of people have a bad run at a site and think its purposly rigged, but what would the Poker Room's have to gain from that? They take money in the form of a rake so they want it nice and fair of course... Use some logic and try not call other people naiive just because you don't understand it!
As for slot machines... That is a pure random luck game. Poker (Especially texas hold'em) has much more skill due to the reading of betting patterns and the mathematics of the game including equity, pot odds, implied odds, etc.... Once again if you don't know what these mean, you can't really argue about it...
Online Poker has always been a fair and fun way of getting on the tables, on the internet... The ONLY danger is collusion. Methods such as monitoring IP Addresses help to get around collusion, but with a whole botnet doing it, that's the worrying thing. However, I'm still rather sure that this is an incredibly rare occurance.
"The sites are Governed and ensured that the algorithms indeed are completely random"
I'm going to presume you meant "pseudo-random" there. Unless the poker industry knows something most Computer Scientists/Mathematicians don't, of course.
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- FLABBER-JASTED: It's 'jif', NOT '.gif', says man who should know | <urn:uuid:6874864b-4da2-42c9-b358-e693765e542f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2007/10/09/online_money_laundering/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96383 | 852 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Tampa, FL- January 13, 2013
Retail gas prices are still on an upswing and will likely increase throughout the end of the month. Since January 1, the national average has increased 2 cents, while gas prices in the Southeast have jumped an average of 8 cents.
While pump prices have increased since the start of 2013, both the national average and state averages in the Southeast are less than they were this time last year. Annually, retail gas prices are forecast to be less than they were in 2012. The annual average for a gallon of regular gas in 2012 was $3.60. This year, the annual average is forecast to be $3.44, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
"Gas prices are expected to average less this year because of lower demand and increased domestic oil production," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman, The Auto Club Group. "While gas is forecast to cost less this year, motorists will see prices inch up in the short term, before they stabilize and/or retreat."
A barrel of oil closed Friday at $93.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange—47 cents more than the week prior.
The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.31, 1 cent more than last week. Florida’s average of $3.44 increased 5 cents from last week, Georgia’s average of $3.33 rose 1 cent, and Tennessee’s average of $3.20 increased 2 cents from last week, respectively. Visit AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report to find national, state, and local metro market retail gasoline prices. | <urn:uuid:adad4e34-5bc7-4f3b-8712-4b53852190a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Gas-Prices-Increase-but-Remain-Below-Year-Ago-Levels--186723881.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966005 | 338 | 1.648438 | 2 |
I was surprised that some games use extra models called collision-boxes for collision. What is the benefit of doing so? Can't we calculate collisions between the vertices of any game model? Is this possible? Are there performance reasons?
Calculating collisions by using the geometry of the game-model can be really costly in terms of CPU usage (performance). Even more so when you're dealing with detailed polygon models.
To speed calculations up, collision detection is usually done in two phases:
So yes, there are definitely performance reasons. It's always a good idea to have a broad- and narrow-phase, unless you only have to deal with very few and simple objects.
The same procedure also applies for 2D. In the broad-phase you can use bounding circles or axis-aligned rectangles. In the narrow phase you can then check the actual outlines of your sprite, for example by using SAT or pixel-perfect collision detection.
Performance reasons are a very important reason, but it's not the only one. If you handled collisions based on the actual models, this is vastly more precise than you actually want, for various reasons. Obviously, you don't have the same level of control over a game character as you do over your own body in real life.
In real life, your standing pose is wider than your running animation, but that doesn't mean you clip into the walls of a narrow corridor resulting in weird physics glitches when you stop moving, because you bunch yourself up to fit. Having a game character do that would require not just a lot more time spent on collisions, but an approach to character animation which takes feedback from physics and environmental cues (which would probably discount pure mo-cap).
Even if it's doable, it's not desirable to have whether or not your character makes the jump dependent on what point in its animation cycle it is. The control you have is an abstraction: the game underneath should also function as an abstraction. The level of that abstraction is different for different kinds of games:
Many times you want the character collision mesh to be a constant capsule. For a fighting game you may want the collision mesh to use some crude representation of your bone structure (although Street Fighter still uses 2D hitboxes defined with frame data). For a first-person shooter, you may want to use different types of hitbox (for example, capsule for movement, and a collection of bone-related shapes for shot resolution).
But you pretty much always want an abstraction: poly-perfect (or pixel-perfect, in the case of 2D) collisions, whether tractable or not, are very rarely conducive to good gameplay. | <urn:uuid:40f6b677-0666-4498-a482-c8587ad469d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/32881/whats-the-reason-behind-collision-boxes/32888 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948982 | 543 | 2.359375 | 2 |
GEORGE III SILVER LEMON STRAINER
Charles Aldridge & Henry Green, London, 1771
Of heavy gauge, the circular bowl with simply pierced concentric flowerhead design within a gadrooned rim,
the two open C-scroll and beaded handles centering pierced shell terminals; the bowl shoulders
engraved in conjoined script IAA among flourishes;
bowl marked with lion passant, date and London mark, bowl mark's mark pierced through and rubbed;
each handle marked with lion passant and maker's mark
Condition : Excellent; bowl maker's mark pierced through and rubbed; handles marks clear to partially rubbed;
there are no breaks or repairs
Lemon strainers (also known as punch or orange strainers) were introduced in the 18th century, probably in
conjunction with punch drinking and punch bowls. Punch was a very popular drink in early 18th century
Great Britain, prior to the popularity of wine. The word "punch "is said to have derived from the Hindu word
"panch", for five. It was introduced in the mid 17th century, and consisted of five ingredients - basically being
sweet, sour, bitter, weak, and alcoholic. There were several recipes - some involving tea or milk. The most usual
combination included water, sugar, limes, lemons or oranges, spices and spirits. It could be served warmed or chilled.
4-1/4" Wide (Bowl), 8-7/8" Wide Over Handles / 4 oz.
pRICE : Please Inquire
For related items, please click below:
We welcome and encourage all inquiries. We will make every attempt to answer any questions you might have.
For information, call (901) 761-1163 or (901) 827-4668 or email email@example.com
American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Discover accepted | <urn:uuid:3c20a957-af83-4c77-9fea-fb10aa397bf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mfordcreech.com/George_III_Silver_Lemon_Strainer_Aldridge_Green.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922548 | 403 | 2.265625 | 2 |
In the past decade, Mexico's tech industry has flourished, growing three times faster than the global average. Most of that growth has been fueled by demand from the United States. But as Mexico's startups strive to make it in foreign markets, they say they need more engineers and ways to finance their growth.
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Twice during today's FIFA World Cup match between Brazil and Croatia, the commentators described star player Ronaldo Nazário de Lima as appearing "disinterested".
"Disinterested" means that he stood to gain or lose nothing from the situation and was therefore impartial and unbiased, which, for an international player representing his country live on TV around the world, seems unlikely. What they probably meant was that he appeared, to them, rather unenthusiastic, and that his attention seemed elsewhere.
Once you look it up, however, you find a more complex history. In the seventeenth century, disinterested used to mean not interested: that is, the same as uninterested. Then it developed its distinct meaning as impartial, which held for two hundred years, only faltering in the early twentieth century as people, perhaps appropriately, decided they weren't really bothered what it meant. Now it still officially means impartial, but it is so widely used in the sense of uninterested that most people probably expect that meaning, which I feel is a shame. A word for without a stake in the outcome and therefore impartial, though not a word you might need every day, is one that might occasionally be useful. Two words for not bothered are surely less useful. If you care about these things, that is. | <urn:uuid:ec521672-c860-4f29-b7fe-45dd944701bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phantomnitpicker.blogspot.com/2006/06/world-cup-fever_13.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9853 | 264 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Astrue's term was marked by increasingly dire warnings about the long-term financial health of the massive retirement and disability program. Astrue worked to reduce backlogs of people applying for disability claims, despite a big surge in applications since the recession.
The trustees who oversee Social Security project that the program's trust funds will run dry in 2033. At that point, Social Security will collect only enough in taxes to pay 75 percent of benefits. As commissioner, Astrue is also a trustee.
Astrue has urged Congress to shore up the program's finances but has not publicly endorsed any solutions.
Astrue, 56, said he plans to return to his home state of Massachusetts. He did not elaborate on future plans.
"I consider it a great privilege to have led this remarkable agency for six years," Astrue said in a statement.
Social Security commissioners serve six-year terms. Astrue was nominated in 2007 by former President George W. Bush. The term of Obama's nominee would last beyond his presidency, if the person serves a full term. There was no word Monday on Obama's choice.
Astrue has a long history of public service. He previously worked as counselor to the | <urn:uuid:1a7b6882-e869-493f-b470-0ec1dfb7c67f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_22467252/social-security-commissioner-leave-february | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976078 | 251 | 1.625 | 2 |
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” Confucius
Wishing You 歲歲平安 Suìsuì-píng’ān – everylasting peace, year after year!
2013 is the Year of the Snake; the Black Water Snake. “Water Snakes are lucky with finances, they always seem to have money flowing their way. They are adventurous spirits and love to take risks. They are also very intelligent and often a wellspring of creative ideas. Water Snakes love to socialize and meet new friends.They are proud of their achievements, and also very thoughtful and considerate of others.
The colour of the 2013 year of Snake is Black. Black color is the Space, Arctic night, darkness on the Abyss, this is a color of deep waters. The Black Snake will bring people unexpected changes, instability, and changeability. That is why it is important in the year of Snake to plan everything beforehand.” via Hanban.com
新年快樂 Xīnniánkuàilè – Happy New Year of the Black Water Snake! Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái. Gōng hè xīn xǐ! Happy celebrating to everyone! Each New Year brings its own set of blessings, reminding us to remember our gifts and dreams for the year, Last year, my Happy Chinese New Year blog post shared ten auspicious, good luck blessings that people shower on each other during the Chinese New Year celebrations. This year, I’m adding twelve good luck blessings and twelve important celebration tips to help us pay attention to details around us and make steady progress towards our goals.
To achieve our goals in the Year of the Snake, which runs from February 10, 2013 to January 30 2014, we must be Focused and Disciplined. The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, and is considered the “enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs.” Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen.” Enjoy the twelve blessings and important tips/facts on this special day. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
“When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.” Confucius
恭喜發財; pinyin: Gōngxǐfācái – Congratulations and be prosperous
Twelve Blessings/Sayings to Help You Celebrate Chinese New Year
金玉滿堂Jīnyùmǎntáng – “May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall”
大展鴻圖Dàzhǎnhóngtú – “May you realize your ambitions”
迎春接福Yíngchúnjiēfú – “Greet the New Year and encounter happiness“
萬事如意Wànshìrúyì – “May all your wishes be fulfilled”
吉慶有餘Jíqìngyǒuyú – “May your happiness be without limit”
竹報平安Zhúbàopíng’ān – “May you hear [in a letter] that all is well”
一本萬利Yīběnwànlì – “May a small investment bring ten-thousandfold profits”
福壽雙全Fúshòushuāngquán – “May your happiness and longevity be complete”
招財進寶Zhāocáijìnbǎo – “When wealth is acquired, precious objects follow”
歲歲平安 Suìsuì-píng’ān – “everlasting peace year after year”
新年快樂 Xīnniánkuàile – “Happy new year“
恭喜發財 Gōngxǐfācái – “Congratulations and be prosperous”.
The Chinese New Year is the most important celebration to start off a year of good deeds and fortune. The snake brings lucky qualities in the form of Colors: Yellow, Red; Day: Monday; Directions: Southwest, Northeast; and Numbers: 2, 4, 7, and 9. In addition to honoring the lucky qualities of the designated animal for each year, people look for popular and auspicious blessings/sayings to share. Above are twelve of the most popular auspicious greetings and sayings. They consist of four Chinese characters and special blessings. Below are twelve celebration tips to make your year a phenomenal one. More below! | <urn:uuid:68a1ad3e-67c0-474c-840d-83c78d3966b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mirthandmotivation.com/tag/2013-year-of-the-snake/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915415 | 1,118 | 2.140625 | 2 |
About USThe Biosyntrx mantra: "Good Enough is the Enemy of Excellence"
Biosyntrx, in concert with ophthalmologists, optometrists, biochemists, molecular biologists, and nutrition educators has been developing science-based and peer-reviewed nutritional formulations for the past eight years that support optimal health - specifically the exquisitely engineered functions of the eyes, which reveal some of the earliest signs of degeneration affecting the entire body. Biosyntrx state-of-the-art formulations are designed to address the micronutrient needs of the dry eye, cataract, macula degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy patient. Biosyntrx formulations are redesigned as appropriate science dictates.
Nutrients, which have been proven to be good for the eyes, have also been proven good for the entire body. | <urn:uuid:8665dc85-5c8e-46dc-8627-dcba39548dd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biosyntrx.com/content.php?page_id=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933625 | 178 | 1.546875 | 2 |
One of the main features that almost all the latest browser like IE 8 , Chrome etc have in common is the “Private” browsing mode or the “Porn” mode. However, Firefox 3 was missing this feature and Firefox 3.1 beta 2 which will be released for the general public soon will have this feature.
Posts Tagged ‘technology’
Google is ready to extend there Adsense programs to include video games. It will soon be launching “Adsense in Games”, a technology which has been designed to show advertisements in web based video games. This way, advertisers can get a new way to reach there customers.
The details about long awaited HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1, the Google Android powered phone is finally revealed. It has a 3-inch touch screen along with QWERTY keypad and Internet navigation buttons. The home screen of the phone does look like an iPhone screen. One of its main features is multitasking, now you can receive [...]
Adobe has released the beta version of there Adobe AIR for Linux. AIR is a cross platform runtime using which developers can create rich Internet applications which just sit on your desktop.
WinZip is one of the first and most popular archiving utilities available though now many have started using WinRar or 7-Zip. The new version 12 of the popular comes with some new compression features and enhancements. It now lets you compress JPEG images which were difficult to compress before as they are already compressed. | <urn:uuid:6e74591d-629d-472f-bc9e-99f3730418b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whoismadhur.com/tag/technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956429 | 306 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Steve Lopez and others have exploited the tragedy in Connecticut to get gun control laws added to the many we already have.
Anyone who wants a gun will get it. The idea that we can make our country safe by writing a law on paper doesn't acknowledge reality. There are too many people who overlook those laws. Violence cannot be completely avoided.
A separate article on Saturday sheds light on the reality. It reported that a knife-wielding attacker in China slashed 22 children in a school. The article noted, "China has strict gun laws, so knives are the weapon of choice in violent crimes."
I don't think it can be stated any clearer than that. There are violent individuals among our species.
Lopez's column made an interesting if unplanned point.
A gun shopper is quoted as saying, "You can legislate all you want and it's not going to stop the bad guys."
Instead of the rather bland term "bad guys," how about referring to "mass killers"? Makes it seem somewhat more important to really do something, doesn't it?
Against the tragedy in Connecticut, we have "other news" — an attacker slashed 22 kids at a school in China, and it looks as if those kids will live. This seems like a case for gun control. In fact, China has strict gun laws.
China also has strict information laws. In the United States, many would be willing to defend to the death our right to freedom of expression. The Chinese government can rest easy knowing that the civilian population is armed only with knives.
What we'd really like to do is outlaw the insanity that resulted in these two attacks. Because we can't do that, we should be careful in demanding that the government do something. | <urn:uuid:b3c64fda-daa0-4c00-981b-3029dfc1f5d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kansascw.com/kscw/la-le-1219-wednesday-gun-control-20121219,0,2950291.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972736 | 356 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Prototype for Empathy...
Prototypes don’t have to be oriented toward your solution. Put a prototype in your user’s hands to help direct the conversation.
WHY prototype for empathy
- It is common practice to test prototypes with users to evaluate solutions, but you can also gain empathy through prototyping, exposing different information than simple interviewing and observation might. Of course, whenever you test with a user you should consider both what you can learn about your solution and what you can learn about the person – you can always use more empathetic understanding.
But you can also develop prototypes or create situations specifically designed to gain empathy, without testing a solution at all (or even having a solution in mind).
- This is sometimes called “active empathy” because you are not an outside observer, you are creating conditions to bring out new information. In the same way a solution prototype helps you gain understanding about your concept, an empathy prototype helps you gain understanding about the design space and people’s mindsets about certain issues.
HOW to prototype for empathy
- Empathy prototypes are often best used when you have done some work to understand the design space, and want to dig deeper into a certain area or probe an insight you are developing. Think about what aspect of the challenge you want to learn more about. Then discuss or brainstorm ways you might investigate that subject.
- You can create prototypes for empathy to test with users or with your design team.
- Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Have your user draw something (for example, draw how you think about spending money, or draw how you get to work) and then talk about it afterward.
- Create a game that probes issues you want to explore (for example, you could make a simple card game which forces users to make choices related to your design challenge).
- Simulate an aspect of what users are going through to better understand it yourself (for example, if your users plant seeds while carrying a baby, get a sling and carry ten pounds while planting seeds). | <urn:uuid:4a65b210-4971-4272-803d-6d7e37ee7a31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dbootleg.org/2012/12/07/prototype-for-empathy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919379 | 424 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Mobile Development with Google's Android
Since I'm looking at other ways of developing apps for mobile devices and since I'm still undecided about Android (see previous blog entry), I've now decided to take a look at NSBasic/CE if for no other reason than that you can supposedly create apps *on the device* using their IDE....with a nifty little feature like that I've got to at least try it. More to come on that and an eventual side-by-side-by-side of Compact Framework, Android, and NSBasic/CE with a test app.
So I put together a dev box for Android last night and spent some time earlier today getting the Java SDK, Android SDK and Eclipse installed. Went ahead and installed the Eclipse plugin for Android as well - and after all that...well so far I haven't been impressed. Part of it may be because I was used to NetBeans for Java development, or maybe there's something else....in either case I'm not ready to give up yet...perhaps I'll try it with NetBeans later today. I can certainly say that even when ...... | <urn:uuid:7fef9c85-b521-4c65-890d-738b95794a45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://geekswithblogs.net/lvega/category/7372.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966879 | 228 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The Parable of Only Kosher Delis
Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, gave his ”Parable of the Kosher Deli” during his Feb. 16th testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The parable brilliantly demonstrates the absurdity and unconstitutionality of the HHS contraception mandate and the importance of religious liberty. While I have complete respect for Bishop Lori, and for the U.S. Bishops in general, I continue to be discouraged by some bishops’ advocacy for “universal health care.” My discouragement stems not from what I know their goal to be: health care that is available to all in need. Rather, my discouragement stems from what seems to be a misunderstanding of how universal health care is enacted in practice. If you ask anyone on the street who would provide “universal health care,” they would ultimately say “the government.” And so, with apologies to Bishop Lori…
I would like to tell a story. Let’s call it The Parable of Only Kosher Delis. Once upon a time, a new law is proposed, so that restaurants and grocery stores may no longer be privately owned. Like buying stamps or getting your driver’s license, if you want to buy food you would have to get it from a government-run kosher deli. You want Chinese food? I don’t think they serve that at kosher delis.
Those who support the “Kosherization” argue, “The cost of food keeps rising, and many people starve each night from malnutrition.” Other supporters say, “Food is too much of a necessity to be left to greedy restaurateurs and grocers.” Still others say, “God commands us to follow kosher laws in the Old Testament, so we have a religious obligation to pass this law.”
The leadership of a major religious group in the U.S. praises the intent of the nationalization of the retail food industry because “It will guarantee that all people have access to free food,” but object to specific language in this particular Kosherization law because it doesn’t provide adequate conscience protections. Dissident groups within this religion lend their full backing to the Kosherization law; not surprisingly since these groups recognize that the law ostensibly achieves what the leadership has advocated for decades.
But in our hypothetical, those arguments fail in the public debate, because people widely (well, maybe not) recognize the following:
- The cost of food keeps rising because (as discussed previously) employer-provided “food insurance” provides an incentive for people to buy more food than they need, pushing up demand and therefore price. Since employees do not buy food directly, but rather have regular contributions withheld from their paychecks that go to a “food insurance company” who then pays the grocer or restaurant when the employee buys food, the employee has no incentive at all to pay attention to price since “insurance is paying for it.” If you don’t know the price, you tend to overbuy. Overbuying pushes up the price.
- Many people may indeed starve, and this is a tragedy. But many others who would otherwise starve are helped by the charitable efforts of others. Unfortunately, the Kosherization will diminish the presumed need for soup kitchens. Further, some people may appear to starve but are simply choosing to not eat for a meal or two. Some other people may not want to visit restaurants or grocery stores at all, preferring instead to grow their own food.
- God does command us to care for those in need, and we do have a religious obligation to help them. The methods by which we help them, however, can be in greater or lesser accord with good policy, sound reason, and basic economics. Just because we have a religious obligation to feed the poor does not mean that every conceivable plan that results in the poor receiving food is laudable.
Does the fact that large majorities in society want Kosherization (i.e., like the prospect of getting something for nothing) make it permissible for the government to take over every restaurant and grocery store in the nation? In a nation committed to economic liberty and diversity, the answer, of course, is: No.
“Foodies” and others who enjoy a variety of food options express outrage at the blatant government nationalization of one-sixth of our economy that reduces their restaurant and grocery options to one: kosher. They are joined by economists who note that “free” Kosher food for all creates a huge excess demand, where those wanting food dramatically exceeds the ability of the (state-owned) grocers and restaurants to provide it. The zero price encourages more consumption of food while it discourages people from wanting to produce food. The state is forced to ration food to those it deems need it most; if you’re fat, go to the back of the line. Even if you’re not fat you still have to wait behind all those people who drove to the deli and got in line before you.
In frustration, the people at the back of the line go home and attempt to make food themselves. Since Kosherization required the confiscation of all food-preparation utensils, these people have to make do with tools or whatever else they can find, often injuring themselves in the process of making dinner.
This story has a happy ending: The government recognized that it is absurd for it to nationalize an industry that would provide better and cheaper products if not for the excessive regulation and convoluted tax issues that it imposes.
Will our nation continue to be one committed to economic liberty and diversity? Will the bishops who are vocal in supporting the law mandating “universal health care” recognize that it may not mean in practice what they think it means in theory?
I urge, in the strongest possible terms, that the answer must be: Yes. Thank you for your attention. | <urn:uuid:c20176c9-f3e9-4032-b19d-c9afa23ca984> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://truthandcharity.net/the-parable-of-only-kosher-delis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96177 | 1,259 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Four Strategies for Teachers and Parents to Pass on to Kids who Witness Bullying
Parents and teachers are sometimes unsure of what to say when a child or youth asks, “What should I do if I see someone being bullied?” Kids often want to do the right thing but are unsure of what they can do that might help instead of making the situation worse. This article will present research findings that point to four concrete strategies you can pass onto children and youth.
Stop! You’re Bullying!
Most bullies stop bullying within 10 seconds, when someone tells the bully to stop (1). A child or youth who witnesses bullying is very likely to make a positive difference simply by saying something like, “What you’re doing is bullying and it isn’t fair!” or “If you don’t stop I am going to report you!” It is important, however, that the witness keeps his/her own safety in mind too.
- If your child feels unsafe approaching the bully, then one of the other strategies would be more appropriate.
- Keep in mind that a child who witnesses bullying may feel more comfortable finding a friend or two and confronting the bullying together.
- Witnesses should be cautioned that if they do decide to say something to the bully, it is very important to be assertive and not aggressive. · Acting aggressively towards the bully will often make matters worse.
Support the Victim
If the witness feels uncomfortable saying something to the bully, then they may choose to focus on supporting the victim instead.
- Having good friends can help protect children from being bullied at school (2).
- A witness could say something like “Come and play basketball with us over there” to the child who is being bullied. This may help to get the victim out of the immediate bullying situation, and help them make friends.
- Encourage witnesses to comfort the child who was victimized and make it known that the bullying was not fair or deserved.
Reduce Attention to the Bully
Research indicates that bullies need an audience, and that passively watching, which may seem harmless, actually encourages the bullying to continue. If the witness feels uncomfortable intervening in a bullying episode, then they can help by just walking away.
- Research conducted within school playgrounds has shown that bullying episodes tend to last longer when there are more students watching (3).
- Tell children that they can be part of the solution by walking away and refusing to give bullies the audience they desire. The Concerned Children’s Advertisers have a short commercial entitled “Walk Away” that illustrates how silly bullies actually look when they don’t have an audience. You can download this clip and its lesson plan at http://cca-kids.ca/tvandme/english/educators/intermed_bully.html. This is a great resource for educators and parents.
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- First Grade Sight Words List | <urn:uuid:053d9dbe-1b81-44ce-bb4d-9dc80d40f179> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/reference/article/strategies-kids-witness-bullying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940161 | 711 | 3.546875 | 4 |
|Birth: ||Sep. 19, 1839|
|Death: ||Oct. 24, 1922|
Businessman, Social Reformer. Cocoa and chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist, son of a Quaker grocer, Cadbury worked for a time in Joseph Rowntree's grocery store. They both became world-wide competitors as chocolate manufacturers. In 1861, together with his brother, Richard, he took over the family buisness and in 1878, acquired land for a new factory three miles south of Birmingham. Cadbury Ltd. prospered well because of humanitarian working conditions. Cadbury founded the town of Bourneville as a village trust in 1900 to ensure the new factory location he had selected would not became surrounded by slums as workers were attracted to the area. The brothers cared for their employees. Both spoke up for more social rights and hence they installed canteens, washing facilities and sports grounds. They believed if they provided a happy home life for their employees, they would remain loyal to Cadbury Ltd. Later they even provided low-cost houses to their staff. He taught in the Adult School movement and, later, acquired several Birmingham newspapers to ensure that his liberal views were represented. (bio by: s.canning)
Search Amazon for George Cadbury
Friends Meeting House Burial Ground
Plot: Ashes in urn.
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: s.canning
Record added: Jan 23, 2006
Find A Grave Memorial# 13104879
|Photos may be scaled.|
Click on image for full size.
Do you have a photo to add? Click here | <urn:uuid:f5eb70e1-69f9-4670-bf40-1e99f6056732> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13104879 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975193 | 341 | 2.25 | 2 |
Center for Heart & Vascular Health
Women and Heart Disease
Half of all women die from cardiovascular disease.
"Most women don't realize that since 1984, more females than males have died of heart disease," says Kathleen W. McNicholas, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at Christiana Care. "And African-American women have a higher mortality rate than others."
Dr. McNicholas gives frequent talks in the community about women and heart disease. When she urges people to increase their knowledge about one of the leading causes of death for women, she speaks with the authority of both a doctor and a patient. When she was in her mid-50s, Dr. McNicholas underwent open-heart surgery herself at Christiana Hospital. But even she was not quick to diagnose heart disease in herself. She coughed all night, felt some vague chest pain and generally felt bad, as if she'd aged rapidly.
"Two thirds of women and one third of doctors don't recognize the symptoms of heart attack in females," she warns. "These symptoms are often more subtle than the classic 'elephant sitting on your chest.' The universal sign of a heart attack—clutching your chest—often doesn't apply to women."
Instead, women having heart attacks often experience one or more of these symptoms:
- Flu-like symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, weakness or dizziness.
- Pain in the upper back, shoulders, neck or jaw.
McNicholas' advice to women: "Don't take chances. Get familiar with the symptoms of heart disease in women and recognize them as standard but different. And understand that your own perception of heart disease may be your biggest risk factor."
If you suspect that you could be having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Don't take chances. Remember that the care you want to give to others depends first on the care that you give yourself.
At the forefront in combating heart disease among women
Because women experience the symptoms of heart disease differently from men, and because decades of public misperception have led many people to overlook the warning signs of heart disease in women, Christiana Care is working hard to raise awareness of this significant public-health issue. Through community education and lectures, and through targeted programs that are teaching women to recognize the risk factors for heart disease in themselves and others, we hope to reduce the incidence of heart disease among women in our community.
Our women's heart-health programs include:
- No Heart Left Behind: A school-based program that encourages teens and moms to partner for better heart health.
- Celebrating Women's Health Lecture Series: Free lectures by experts from Christiana Care on heart health and a range of other important and interesting health topics.
Christiana Care Center for Heart & Vascular Health
4755 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, DE 19718 directions | <urn:uuid:9be27871-9303-4485-b1e8-bbbd6ffbab12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianacare.org/womenandheartdisease | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952133 | 597 | 2.796875 | 3 |
And you thought Mission: Impossible was just fantasy. In the new documentary The Cove, a hand-picked team slips out from under the watchful eye of Japanese police surveillance and carries out a daring nighttime raid on a heavily guarded cove in Taiji. The team’s gray-haired leader is Ric O’Barry, the dolphin trainer who made Flipper possible, and its goal is to alert the world to the abuse and consumption of dolphins.
O’Barry blames himself for the rise of dolphin shows at marine parks, so his driving, redemptive goal in life is to put an end to dolphin exploitation. “I spent ten years building that industry up, and the last 35 years trying to tear it down,” says O’Barry, whose years of globe-trotting activism have led him to designate the sleepy port village of Taiji as ground zero for dolphin destruction. There, a team of fishermen use torturous methods to drive dolphins into the cove for the purpose of selling them into captivity at marine parks and swim-with-dolphin programs, or slaughtering them for their meat.
Director Louie Psihoyos (a National Geographic vet) and O’Barry hatch a plan to plant high-definition cameras inside the cove to let the world see what Japan doesn’t want getting out. Enter the highly-skilled covert team, including a couple of world-class free divers, an avionics engineer, and a production manager used to moving and setting up large-scale concert events. There’s no hiding their large complement of luggage when they check into a Taiji hotel, but it matters little: whenever Barry hits town, he’s automatically interrogated by local police sure he’s up to no good.
To get the coveted footage of the Taiji fisherman at work, the team will have to evade police tails and get into the closely watched cove. Psihoyos’ film is informative, exciting, and surprisingly emotional; the only thing that could improve it would be more step-by-step detail of the mission itself. But Psihoyos and O’Barry have bigger people to fry: the corrupted International Whaling Commission, which is used and abused by the Teflon-slick Japanese delegate Joji Morishita. So as not to demonize Japan, Psihoyos crucially gives a complete picture revealing how the bad guys are the ones who know exactly what’s going on and enable it, while most of the population is kept in the dark.
The Cove is filled with secrets and lies and sneaking around, but according to O’Barry, “the dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception.” As for his goal of making us look at dolphins in a different way, mission accomplished.
[This review first appeared in Palo Alto Weekly.] | <urn:uuid:8b16b8fe-5330-4a4c-aab2-cc5a9b25e4e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3515 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950899 | 597 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Arguments in philosophy rarely achieve the status of full proofs, arguments that begin from premises known to be true and advancing by impeccable logic to a philosophically significant conclusion. Anyone familiar with my book on the argument from reason realizes that I do not make that kind of a claim on behalf of my own arguments against naturalism. Most of us think that it is a good day's work for a philosopher to provide a cumulative-case role-player, something that might "break the tie" if someone is on the fence between two positions, and in combination with other reasons, might provide a good reason for, say, believing in God or not believing in God.
The argument from evil seems to have a different status, at least in many minds. Many advocates of the argument from evil suppose that that argument, unlike your typical theistic on atheistic argument, really can stand on its own as a disproof of the existence of God, showing that all who believe in God are just being irrational. Plantinga is widely credited by both theists and atheists with showing that the argument does not achieve this goal.
Yet, I get the impression from some people that they really think that the argument from evil is something more than a cumulative case role-player, and I do not think that this claim is defensible. I am unsure as to whether the argument from evil can successfully play a role as a cumulative-case role-player, but I do not think it can do more than this.
At least what is known is the logical argument from evil (as opposed to the evidential argument from evil) was supposed to do.
Would anyone like to argue that it really is stronger than your average cumulative-case role player? That, virtually alone of all philosophical arguments, and regardless of all other considerations both pro and con, really provides beyond a reasonable doubt that God does not exist. | <urn:uuid:ea51ac3d-dcdd-44bd-b832-f1ab4c46dcda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2006/10/plantinga-and-logical-problem-of-evil.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965063 | 382 | 1.703125 | 2 |
ALLIANCE FOR TEACHING
In 2007, the Joint Venture board established K-12 public education as one of its priorities and launched a multi-faceted effort focused exclusively on teaching, since teacher quality is known to be the number-one determinant of student achievement.
We were fortunate to receive two full years of seed funding from the Morgan Family Foundation, which we used to establish the Silicon Valley Alliance for Teaching, and to hire an executive director. We selected Colleen Wilcox to head the initiative.
The Alliance promptly established a strong advisory board, recruited members to serve on committees and task forces, raised money, and led work in four project areas, as follows:
1. RAFT. The Alliance was instrumental in establishing a San Mateo county satellite site for the popular Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) program.
2. Hats Off to Teachers. Launched in 2008, the “Hats Off” program provides retail discounts to public school teachers. More than 250 merchants in San Mateo and Santa Clara County are participating in the program.
3. Math Matters. The Alliance established “Math Matters,” an intensive, summertime training program modeling best practices and utilizing curriculum pioneered at the nation’s leading laboratories for teacher development (University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Intel Math Institute). The Alliance raised $200,000, secured and trained master teachers, and enrolled Silicon Valley’s first crop of teachers in the program in August of 2010.
4. National Board Certification for Teachers. Motivated by scholarship showing clear linkages between NBCT and student achievement, the Alliance engaged a team of public policy master’s degree students from Stanford University to study ways Silicon Valley could increase the number of NBCTs in the teacher pool. The Alliance worked across the region to enact those recommendations, with continuing support from the Stanford Graduate School of Education and from the National Center for Board Certification.
Having exhausted the seed funds for the Alliance for Teaching, in June 2010 we recommended, and the board approved, the following steps for the future of the initiative in June 2010:
1. RAFT remains a freestanding operation, flourishing in the confines of the San Mateo County Office of Education.
2. Hats Off to Teachers continues as a Joint Venture program, maintained and expanded by Joint Venture’s core staff.
3. Math Matters: The day-to-day administration of the program is now under the auspices of the San Mateo County Office of Education.
4. National Board Certification for Teachers: We migrated the day-to-day operations of NBCT to the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
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Discount Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5.5 for Mac | <urn:uuid:bb9d9710-c79f-46ba-80e3-9713b5e0e37e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jointventure.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=418&Itemid=30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924437 | 578 | 1.882813 | 2 |
HERNDON, Va., March 12 (UPI) -- A deadly bacteria superbug has been plaguing U.S. health facilities. The seriousness of this "nightmare bacteria" has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue an alarm. America's best medical minds will determine how to deal with the problem.
A devastating superbug also has been plaguing Venezuela. But the reality of its effects will only be fully understood by its people in the aftermath of Hugo Chavez's death as a new president faces the massive economic and social ills the populist president leaves behind.
The socialism Chavez championed during 14 years of rule has proven to be a superbug of devastation. Unfortunately, many of the best Venezuelan minds needed to deal with these problems have left the country.
When he took office in 1999, Chavez promised change. He promised to redistribute Venezuela's oil-generated wealth. He promised to fix corruption. He promised to give power to the people. He promised to destroy a government foundation built on capitalism, cutting economic and political ties to the United States.
Today, Venezuela suffers one of the world's highest murder rates, double-digit inflation, water and food shortages, a serious downturn in foreign investment, rampant corruption, etc.
Ironically, the only recent economic upturn experienced was in April 2012 after a journalist claimed Chavez was dead. Stock values skyrocketed, only to fall when the claim was found to be untrue.
As a young army officer, Chavez wanted to abolish the country's two-party political system. In 1992, he tried stealing power by leading a failed coup. Imprisoned for two years, he came to realize to steal power, he had to do it legally, working within the country's democratic framework.
Elected in a 1999 landslide, "the man who would be king" immediately sought to become one, chipping away at the country's constitution, vesting himself with monarchial powers.
Appealing to the uneducated poor, using state assets to buy their votes, curtailing criticism by limiting free speech and taking control of the air waves, either arresting opposition members or running them out of the country, Chavez was able to get a number of resolutions passed that effectively put him and his cronies in control of all three government branches.
To gain control over the country's economy, Chavez began nationalizing foreign-owned industries. While gaining popularity with Venezuela's poor, it discouraged foreign investment, further contributing to a downward spiraling economy. Adding to it was the subsequent exodus of Venezuelan businessmen to more favorable economic environments.
Chavez's foreign policy was based on Venezuela's oil, using it to bind together a group of anti-U.S. dictators or dictator wannabes. To his hero Cuba's Fidel Castro, he provided 100,000 barrels a day at subsidized rates. The irony of Cuba's own failed socialist program was lost on Venezuelans who continued to support Chavez's socialist policies. Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador also benefitted from Chavez's oil largess -- all at his people's expense.
To his credit, Chavez contributed to one oil company's economic boom. In 2002, after Venezuelan state oil workers protested against him, Chavez fired 20,000 executives, engineers, geologists and workers. Those 20,000 were eventually replaced by 100,000 inexperienced Chavez supporters. With a fivefold increase on the payroll and oil industry knowledge in short supply, production in Venezuela plunged. Only increased oil prices helped deaden the full financial sting that resulted.
Meanwhile, fired Venezuelan oil workers found an open job market next door in Colombia, triggering that state oil company's subsequent boom.
Much like Egyptian President Abdel Nasser envisioned himself leading an alliance of unified Arab states during the mid-20th century, Chavez envisioned himself atop a Latin American alliance. While both failed (although Chavez made headway), they succeeded in promoting anti-U.S. sentiment. Chavez repeatedly claimed all of Latin America's problems were due to the United States.
Chavez also embraced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, providing his terrorist group Hezbollah, now operating a base there, access. Embracing Iran meant criticizing Israel, so Chavez suddenly became a Palestinian supporter. He claimed their treatment by Israel was evidence of a "new Holocaust." (Since Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust occurred, apparently Chavez's "new" reference escaped Ahmadinejad's scrutiny.)
Chavez was a demagogue who sought to establish himself as the highest authority. While healthy, he criticized the Catholic Church, calling officials "devils in vestments."
Yet later, fighting a losing battle against cancer, he tearfully pleaded for life at a pre-Easter church service.
Reportedly, Chavez's last words were: "I don't want to die. Please don't let me die." Supporters claimed it was out of love for country. The truth is, it was out of love for power.
(Continuing its anti-American policy, the interim government suggested Chavez's cancer was the result of U.S. foul play.)
Socialism is a "nightmare bacteria" that has taken a heavy economic and social toll in both Cuba and Venezuela. The Cubans understand this; soon, so too will the Venezuelans.
Like the cancer that ravaged Chavez, socialism has ravaged Venezuela. Hopefully, the prognosis for Venezuela will prove more optimistic than it did for Chavez. But major surgery by a new leader vested with the best interests of the Venezuelan people in mind will be required to heal the patient.
The man who would be king has left the kingdom in ruins.
(James G. Zumwalt, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and infantry officer, served in the Vietnam war, the U.S. invasion of Panama and the first Persian Gulf war. He is the author of "Bare Feet, Iron Will--Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields," "Living the Juche Lie: North Korea's Kim Dynasty" and "Doomsday: Iran--The Clock is Ticking." He frequently writes on foreign policy and defense issues.)
(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.) | <urn:uuid:da438b09-d628-4904-ae37-b1295fed3c58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Outside-View/2013/03/12/Outside-View-Chavez-the-man-who-would-be-king/UPI-84441363060980/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962734 | 1,298 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Disney was the very first company I ever boycotted. I think I was 10 when the idea came to me.
Realizing Disney had never once in all those years produced a story that featured a female hero (heroine, whatever), I decided to avoid spending money on anything from which they might draw a profit. They featured females, all right, so long as said females were comatose or destitute, and in need of rescue by a man. Eventually, The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas came along, and I think a very young cousin did eventually rope me into seeing The Little Mermaid, but honestly, by that point I was so soured on the whole idea of Disney that I don’t remember the movie at all. People assured me that those two were different.
Color me underwhelmed.
I had gained more reasons for boycotting Disney over the years. One was that I felt their marketing was designed to pit kids against parents, with the kids guilting the parents into buying them everything. After all, you can’t just have the Disney stuff you want. Disney pretty much invented the whole “Collect All 6,512 Pieces” craze, partnering themselves with other mega-gloma-corporate entities, assaulting us all with a consumerism that rivaled that of Christmas.
Disney presented a very narrow view of the world. There are two genders, girls and boys. Girls strive to be lovely, inside and out. Boys strive to be strong, inside and out. Girls like dresses and parties. Boys like sports and fighting. Girls fantasize about their weddings, and finding true love. Boys fantasize about slaying dragons and rescuing people.
Did Disney invent this world view? I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer, since it all started before my time and history is written by the people in charge of the present. Was the world always so narrow minded? I don’t get the impression it was, when I read about the Romantics, or about cultures throughout history in which women have been trained for battle as well as cooking. Humanity has always had a tendency to define gender roles, to be sure; but at many points, we seem to have recognized that a society is stronger if it takes advantage of whatever an individual has to give, whether it fits a predefined construct for them or not.
The twentieth century was not one of those points, and Disney played a role in that by laying the stereotypes on thick – always the same relentless message, like some nightmarish scene out of 1984. The chant just keeps on, monotonous, drumming the ideas into society’s skull. There’s a reason repetitious chants are used in brainwashing prisoners of war. And as a kid, I was very angry and very vocal about what I perceived as wrong with these messages: I didn’t realize it then, but I was counter-chanting my own message, trying to keep myself from falling under the spell.
Kids look for messages from society on who they’re supposed to be. People get very excited about the message a shoot-em-up movie sends, but what about Snow White, where the lead female’s stepmother keeps trying to murder her out of jealousy over her beauty? Just what kind of a message do people think that sends?
Well, once Disney got done wrapping it in Technicolor and choreographsed musical numbers, all most people seem to remember is the message someday my prince will come. But I think we’re internalizing a lot more of the message than that. | <urn:uuid:051dc89f-3187-4f9f-a60c-193f26f1a401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thehathorlegacy.com/i-blame-disney/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97503 | 745 | 1.992188 | 2 |
When grains are subjected to heat and liquid, the membrane, or covering, of the grain becomes porous so water can enter the grain. Then the membrane of starch granules inside the grain breaks down. The starch then absorbs water and forms a gel, so the grains become softer and are more palatable. Grains also have protein, but are mostly incomplete proteins; that is, they don't have all of the amino acid molecules human beings need to use protein in the body. Combining grains can make complete proteins; many vegetarian recipes include grains and beans, or pasta and beans, or peanut butter on wheat bread. Quinoa is the only grain that IS a complete protein. Rice is also a grain; for info on rice, see Rice Science.
To cook grains properly, first rinse them, then follow package directions. Generally, use twice as much liquid as grains. Bring to a boil, then cover the pan tightly, reduce heat, and simmer until the grains are tender. Drain if necessary, then return grains to heat and shake for a few seconds over low heat to remove excess liquid and to fluff the grains. Then the pan can sit, covered, off the heat for a few minutes or the grains can be served immediately.
There are many different types of grains; here's a brief overview.
Amaranth is a seed that is mostly gluten-free. It is very rich in iron and fiber, and has twice the calcium of milk. Amaranth flour is used in gluten-free recipes. The seed can be steamed and eaten as a pilaf or cereal, or popped like popcorn.
Barley is one of the oldest grains known to man. Whole barley includes the bran, and takes longer to cook. Pearled barley has the brain removed and has been steamed and polished. I like to add barley to soups instead of pasta; simmer for the length of time specified on the package.
Buckwheat is a seed of a fruit, similar to wheat, but it is not wheat. It's a three-cornered tan colored seed. Buckwheat groats are the hulled kernels, with a lighter color. Kasha is roasted buckwheat. Buckwheat can also be purchased as flour or grits. It is steamed or boiled in liquid to eat as a pilaf or as cereal. Groats are usually coated with egg and toasted before cooking to retain the grain consistency and texture.
Bulgur is made from whole wheat grains that have been cleaned, parboiled, dried, ground into particles, and separated into different sizes to cook quickly. It makes an excellent pilaf, and is the base for the Middle Eastern salad Tabbouleh.
Corn is a grain, although many people think of it as a vegetable. It is very high in Vitamin A and beta-carotene. It is best cooked as soon as possible after harvesting, because the sugars in the grain begin to turn to starch immediately after harvest. Popcorn is a different variety of corn that is mostly starch, so it pops, or explodes, when exposed to dry heat.
Cornmeal is dry, ground corn kernels. You can cook cornmeal and eat it as a cereal, use it in baked products to add flavor, nutrition, and crunch, or make polenta out of it. Cook's Illustrated says that medium grain cornmeal makes the best polenta.
Hominy is dried corn with the hull and germ removed. And grits are made from ground hominy.
Oatmeal is a very good source of soluble fiber, which has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol. Steel cut oats are actually oat groats (part of the oat kernel) which have been cut into only a few pieces. Instant oats have been precooked and dried, and are simply rehydrated before eating. Rolled oats have been steamed, cooked, and flaked so their membranes are broken down and absorb water and liquids easily. And quick oats are thinner than rolled oats, so they cook more quickly.
Quinoa is yet another grain-like food that is really a seed. It contains all of the amino acids, or proteins, necessary for human life. Quinoa has been cultivated for thousands of years, mostly in Peru and South America. Quinoa has a high oil content, so it should be purchased in small quantities and stored in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place. Rinse it thoroughly to remove the sticky coating. This coating has a bitter flavor from saponsins, which protect the seed from being eaten by birds. Cook it according to package directions. | <urn:uuid:17bc6bbe-d4bc-48e9-ac89-31baa3dff5c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://busycooks.about.com/od/howtocook/a/grainscience.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965295 | 945 | 3.25 | 3 |
Dr. Donald Kaberuka, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), who was recently in Uganda, made a presentation on the subject: From Economic Growth to Economic Transformation. This is an abridged version of his speech.
Economic transformation is characterized by at least three key features. First, the structure of the economy changes depicting an increase in the share of manufacturing coupled with a sustained decline in the share of agriculture. Second, the share of agriculture employment falls while the share of total labor force in other sectors of the economy increases. Third, economic activity shifts from rural areas to the cities leading to an increase in the degree of urbanization.
Therefore, economic transformation is a comprehensive change that encompasses the modernization of a country's economy, society and institutions. In countries where economic transformation has taken place, the middle class has become larger, changes have happened in the way politics works, with emphasis on market-friendly policies and government has become more effective. Experience shows that transformation processes are not uniform. The points of departure matter as much as the leadership and the politics. The process can reveal weaknesses and contradictions in each country that have to be dealt with. In all cases where economic transformation has succeeded, the articulation of a national vision to motivate the people has been crucial. There is no doubt that since independence, African countries have struggled to free the continent from ignorance, poverty and disease.
Despite the setbacks, progress is underway, but beyond that narrower objective. Slow growth made it impossible to go to the next step which is to transform Africa.
While you can have growth without economic transformation, you can never have economic transformation without growth.
The quality of Africa's growth during the past ten years has not been inclusive, with too few jobs created especially for the young people in the booming economies.
Youth unemployment was 20% in 2011, twice the average global rate. The events of the Arab Spring have shown us the paradox of high growth and rising inequality and unemployment requires all of us to reflect seriously on the causes.
In the African Economic Conference 2012 that I have just attended in Kigali, Rwanda, the issue of economic transformation was key. The challenge for Africa's policymakers is to ensure that this time growth leads to economic transformation. A survey of international experiences such as Brazil, Korea, India and China shows that there are no cultural or geographical obstacles to economic transformation.
Rather, they show that there are multiple paths to economic transformation and progress. Indeed, there are "many roads to Damascus."
Comparisons are inherently deceptive, but there is something compelling about the case of Uganda and South Korea. As you will recall, South Korea and Uganda were poor countries at the beginning of the 1960's with per capita GDP of around $100. Today, Uganda's GDP per capita is about $500 and that of South Korea about 60 times more. The gap is largely explained by what was not happening in Uganda. Several well-known bottlenecks impeded Uganda from emulating South Korea's development: low skills development; a weak private sector; poor infrastructure; small internal markets; internal strife, and slow development in agriculture.
It is now almost a truism that economic transformation begins with reforms in agriculture to raise productivity. This was the experience of South Korea in the 1950s and early 1960s and China in the late 1970s.
Along the way, labor moves from low to high productivity sectors. In Asia, governments actively encouraged rural-urban migration to provide cheap labor to the nascent manufacturing sector. The prominent economist Schultz has noted that productivity-led agricultural growth is more important for economic transformation than merely sending "surplus" labor to urban industry. Smallholders are capable of adopting new technologies but need support to overcome external shocks and other impediments.
However, African governments spend much less on agricultural research and development and outreach than their counterparts in Asia and Latin America. It is also significant that only 4% of food crops in Africa are irrigated compared to 30% in Asia.
However, countries that transformed their economies also put emphasis on basic education. There is broad agreement that the best way to end the transmission of poverty from one generation to the other is quality education to the children of the poor.
Research indicates that smallholders with some education are more willing to adopt new agricultural technologies, such as use of fertilizers, and command higher incomes.
Another imperative is linking the economy to the global value-chain. This requires improvements in product design, marketing, and logistics.
The "embedded" technology and know-how that comes with foreign direct investment also raises efficiency and productivity.
Of late, there has been significant debate vis-à-vis the so called "Development State."
The state's role in formulating policies and promoting the private sector is acknowledged. However, that developmental state must be accountable, ensure stability, policy coherence, mobilize the population around a common development agenda, and ensure that resources are set aside to achieve national goals.
However, the risk of the state picking winners and obstructing the market is real. It is therefore important to ensure that state interventions are temporary and that the regulatory framework does not hinder the private sector.
Above all, a developmental state puts emphasis on raising the technical capacity of the country in all relevant areas, including innovation. It uses its convening power to set national goals that are supported by the private sector and civil society. I applaud Uganda's commitment to address constraints to economic transformation. Indeed, imperatives such as private sector development; quality education; infrastructure and institutions that can deliver, are clean and accountable, will allow Uganda to bridge the current development gap with its economic peers.
The Lagos Plan of Action of 1980 envisaged that trade and regional integration would be key to Africa's economic transformation, bringing scale economies in the drive toward industrialization. Regional integration also enables countries to take part in production sharing.
Regional integration is already helping countries in East and Southern Africa to develop robust service industries, including transport and telecommunications, by expanding markets, logistics and supply chains.
The recent Tripartite Free Trade Area agreement between COMESA, EAC and SADC is a good example. It brings together 26 countries, nearly 600 million people, 57% of Africa's population, and a GDP of $700 billion, 58% of Africa's GDP.
For the first time, Africa has a coherent blue-print for the transformation of the continent's infrastructure - the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which was approved by the African Heads of State and Government at their 18th Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012.
According to PIDA, Africa will require $360 billion in infrastructure investments in the next 30 years. Using an average GDP growth rate of 6.2% per year, PIDA has estimated that Africa's energy demand will grow six fold to 700 GW, traffic through the major maritime ports by 6 - 8 times to 2 billion tonnes, and demand for ICT services to grow 20-fold.
A total of 51 priority regional infrastructure projects (worth $67.9 billion) in energy, transport, ICT and trans-boundary water constitute the PIDA Priority Action Plan to be implemented by the year 2020.
The public sector alone cannot provide the financing and human resources required to modernize Africa's infrastructure. There is therefore scope for innovative financing involving the private sector.
Infrastructure Bonds have become important for the mobilization of infrastructure financing and the development of domestic capital markets.
Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and most recently Zambia, have issued Eurobonds to partly finance infrastructure.
In the case of Zambia, the issue was oversubscribed to the tune of $12 billion, although it only sought $750 million.
The yield, at 5.625%, was better than for distressed economies in Southern Europe.
East Africa is the world's newest oil and gas frontier with oil in Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan and Kenya and gas in Tanzania and Mozambique.
If managed well, with broad cooperation on technologies, pipelines and policies, natural resource wealth could help accelerate economic transformation in the region.
In the past several months, I have presented the Africa Infrastructure Bond project at a number of fora, including the African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa, and to African Governors of the AfDB in Tokyo.
Today, African Central Banks have accumulated up to half a trillion US dollars in reserves. These are held is safe assets, such as US treasuries, but at historically low yields, around 1%.
We have estimated that if only 5% of these reserves are invested with the African Development Bank, a triple A rated institution, to invest in infrastructure, it would amount to $22 billion.
Countries would receive a higher return on their investment, and they would be contributing directly to Africa's development. The Bank recognizes that there are technical, legal, safety and soundness issues, and fiduciary responsibilities relating to these pools of capital and many other considerations related to investment guidelines.
But I do not see insurmountable obstacles. I continue to see this as part of the big push that Africa needs to get on the path to economic transformation.
Economic transformation has been the hope and ambition of many African leaders. Today, that challenge remains as valid as ever. The examples I have shared indicate that economic transformation is possible across a diversity of countries including in Africa.
In addition to the key imperatives such as quality education, improving efficiency and productivity, infrastructure development and regional integration, ensuring that economic transformation is inclusive is equally important.
Economic transformation cannot be achieved in the absence of dedicated and visionary leadership. Many African countries have adopted Vision Statements to guide them toward middle income status. I gather that Uganda is shooting for first World in the next 50 years. None of these ambitions are misplaced. Africa has the resources and the manpower to achieve most of its goals.
The new technologies will make the process easier in some respects, enabling Africa to leapfrog. However, economic transformation is a process and not a goal in itself. The goal is to eradicate poverty.
Success requires that the whole country is carried along, and no one is left behind. It also requires that policy makers are able to resolve the many difficulties and contradictions that accompany the process of transformation. AfDB will do whatever is possible to help our countries undertake this process of economic transformation. Like many others, we believe that the '21st Century is the African Century.' | <urn:uuid:ff55f7bb-51bc-42e9-ad71-e6faa4306c26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201211180210.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951749 | 2,131 | 2.265625 | 2 |
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NFL Owner Art Modell Dies; He Was 'Vilified' In Cleveland, A Hero In Baltimore
The news that Art Modell died earlier today in Baltimore at the age of 87 has produced very different ledes from newspapers in the two cities where the former NFL owner was a major presence.
"Art Modell, an entrepreneurial owner who restored an NFL franchise to Baltimore in 1996 and delivered a Super Bowl championship four years later, died Thursday of natural causes at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 87, according to the team and his son, David."
"Arthur B. Modell, who went from a high school dropout to majority owner of the Cleveland Browns and National Football League kingpin, and who was forever vilified in Cleveland after moving the storied franchise to Baltimore in 1996, died early today Baltimore, according to the Associated Press."
The Plain Dealer adds that "Modell is probably best remembered by Browns fans for his controversial decision to move the team to Baltimore in 1996 and rename them the Ravens. The period remains one of the darkest chapters in the city's sports history. Cleveland was without pro football for three seasons until the Browns returned as an expansion franchise in 1999 under the ownership of Alfred Lerner."
The Sun, though, notes that "Modell was a visionary in the NFL's boom years. Yet, even as the league he helped create grew into a billion-dollar industry, he was forced to relocate Cleveland's legendary Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season to avoid bankruptcy and losing the team."
Modell sold his controlling interest in the Ravens in 2004. | <urn:uuid:8d453368-ae03-40e4-bb2b-c3903f11524c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wunc.org/post/nfl-owner-art-modell-dies-he-was-vilified-cleveland-hero-baltimore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959733 | 415 | 1.976563 | 2 |
|| Old Engineering Building 312
|Undergraduate Program Director
||Old Engineering Building 308
||Old Engineering Building 314
||B.E. in Engineering Science
||B.E/M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers the Bachelor of Engineering degree program in Engineering Science and several interdisciplinary undergraduate programs in conjunction with other science and engineering departments on campus. The joint programs provide basic training for graduates to enter a wide range of industries or to proceed to graduate studies in engineering fields. They are aimed at the materials aspect of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, and chemistry.
Engineering Science students can choose to specialize in biomedical engineering, mechanical and manufacturing engineering, electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, civil and environmental engineering, nanoscale engineering, and engineering management.
Reflecting the breadth and variety of topics falling within the domain of engineering science, the Department also offers several minors that afford undergraduate students the opportunity to
enhance their engineering or science studies with knowledge in a specific area.
The Engineering Chemistry major combines work in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry and leads to the Bachelor of Science degree, awarded through the College of Arts and Sciences. See the Chemistry Department for additional information.
Physics of Materials
Physics majors may wish to pursue a career in engineering physics, particularly in the application of solid-state physics to materials science and engineering. After taking five courses in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the student may become eligible for the master’s degree program. See the Physics Department for additional information.
In addition to the minor in Materials Science, the Department offers minors in Biomaterials; Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Materials; Manufacturing Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Physical Metallurgy; and Nanotechnology Studies.
The program mission is aimed toward providing an engineering education which thoroughly covers fundamental aspects of engineering design, physical and chemical sciences, mathematics, and materials science and engineering, while also providing flexibility so that students can create a program tailored to their particular academic and career interests in a traditional or emerging discipline.
The program is designed to provide core competency and skills in communication, design, and research while preparing students to participate in a rapidly evolving high-technology environment.
Bachelor of Engineering Degree/ Master of Science Degree Program
An engineering science student may apply at the beginning of the junior year for admission to this special program, which leads to a Bachelor of Engineering degree at the end of the fourth year and a Master of Science degree at the end of the fifth year. In the junior year, the student takes ESM 350, which is normally taken in the senior year, instead of ESM 335. In the senior year, a student takes ESM 513, to use in lieu of ESM 335, in the fall and another graduate course in the spring. In the fifth year, the student takes 24 credits. The advantage of this program over the regular M.S. program is that a student may start his or her M.S. in the senior year, and that he or she needs only 24 credits in the fifth year as opposed to 30 credits for a regular M.S. student. For details of the M.S. degree requirements, see 5-year BE/MS program.
For more information on the Engineering Science undergraduate program, you can visit www.stonybrook.edu/ugbulletin
For a course schedule of days and times, see F11 Schedule.
For a list of electronic resources specifically for materials science engineers, see MatSciGuide. | <urn:uuid:49872897-5114-47d2-910a-472e7b0f56fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.matscieng.sunysb.edu/undergraduate.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919609 | 733 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Japan on Thursday logged a record trade deficit for 2012 as exports were hit by a bitter diplomatic spat with its biggest market China and plunging demand in debt-wracked Europe.
The gloomy numbers spell more bad news for the world's third-largest economy as it struggles to cement a recovery after the 2011 quake-tsunami -- the worst nuclear crisis in a generation -- and the impact of an export-sapping strong yen.
They also underscore the size of the task ahead for the new government of Shinzo Abe, who won last month's election on a pledge to boost the economy with big public spending and by pressuring the central bank for a more aggressive monetary policy.
Official figures from the finance ministry showed Japan's trade shortfall last year totalled 6.92 trillion yen ($78 billion), with the deficit in December alone standing at a higher-than-expected 641.5 billion yen.
The data marked a second consecutive annual trade deficit for the export-reliant economy.
Last year, exports totalled 63.7 trillion yen against imports of 70.7 trillion yen, with post-Fukushima energy imports of expensive fossil fuels surging as all but two of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors remain closed.
But analysts said the 2012 figures may mark a low point for Japan's trade picture as the global economy stages a recovery with China and other Asian economies leading the pack, while the US economy also improves.
"The figures will likely be better in 2013 as overseas economies improve," said Masahiko Hashimoto, an economist at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo, adding that the impact of a territorial feud with China would probably fade.
"The European economy may continue to worsen until the middle of the year but China and other Asian economies are likely to lead the global economy."
However, he said the deficit would likely remain for the short term as a weakening yen makes overseas energy imports pricier, Hashimoto said.
"But I believe exports will eventually pick up. (The weaker yen) will be a positive for the economy in the long term," he added.
While Japan ran a 2012 trade surplus with the United States, it recorded an annual deficit of 139.7 billion yen with the European Union, its first as the continent's sovereign debt crisis crippled demand for everything from Japanese televisions to cars.
The deficit with Beijing doubled to a record 3.52 trillion yen, as a feud over a set of islands in the East China Sea spurred a consumer boycott of Japanese goods in China.
The dispute flared in September after Tokyo nationalised the Senkakus, which Beijing refers to as the Diaoyu islands.
On Tuesday, the Bank of Japan, following government pressure, adopted a two percent inflation target to beat the deflation that has haunted the economy for years and also set out plans for indefinite monetary easing.
Markets have cheered Abe's strong stand. The Nikkei 225 stock index has soared in the past couple of months, while speculation of monetary easing has sent the yen falling.
That is good news for Japan's exporters, who have complained about the unit's soaring value since it hit a record around the 75-level against the dollar in late 2011. A high yen makes Japanese products less competitive overseas.
The dollar bought 89.32 yen in Tokyo forex trade Thursday.
Japan's economy contracted in the July-September quarter and slipped slightly in the previous three months, meeting the technical definition of a recession. | <urn:uuid:e4e44260-f5c0-4b84-9654-0663da932257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sg.news.yahoo.com/japan-logs-record-trade-deficit-2012-001258150--finance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944002 | 704 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Although partisan views dominate much of what has been said about the lives of the 1.6 million people in the Gaza Strip, a recent pair of conflicting reports have a degree of truth to them.
The report published last week by the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) calling for urgent action to improve health, education and infrastructure in Gaza seems to contain a great deal of reliable and worrying data. UNRWA's plea is warranted and certainly within the agency's mandate.
On the other hand, a recent report in the Economist detailed the building of around 550 tower blocks and multi-million dollar investments pouring in from the Gulf states and Turkey.
These two viewpoints are not irreconcilable. Although Israel still does not allow Gazans to sell their produce in West Bank markets, over the past two years, restrictions on Gaza's borders have been eased, allowing more goods through and a relative freedom of travel for Gazans through Egypt.
Add to this a new Hamas-friendly administration in Cairo, greater efforts by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other Sunni states to counteract Iranian influence and silent co-operation by Israel with Hamas, through intermediaries, and you have the ingredients of an economic revival.
Even human rights groups have admitted that it is wrong to talk of a "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, using the phrase "food insecurity" instead.
Ultimately, long-term planning for Gaza is next to impossible while Hamas and Israel do not recognise each other, Hamas's relationship with the PA is stormy and rival Palestinian factions are constantly challenging it. A revival may be happening but it could prove extremely temporary. | <urn:uuid:34b9d2e7-679c-4887-95cc-41f8db831da7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thejc.com/print/80621 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954546 | 329 | 2 | 2 |
Ternary fission is a comparatively rare (0.2 to 0.4% of events) type of nuclear fission in which three charged products are produced rather than two. As in other nuclear fission processes, other uncharged particles such as multiple neutrons and gamma rays are produced in ternary fission.
Ternary fission may happen during neutron-induced fission or in spontaneous fission (the type of radioactive decay). About 25% more ternary fission happens in spontaneous fission compared to the same fissioning system formed after thermal neutron capture, illustrating that these processes remain physically slightly different, even after the absorption of the neutron, possibly because of the extra energy present in the nuclear reaction system of thermal neutron-induced fission.
The most common nuclear fission process is "binary fission." It produces two charged asymmetrical fission products with maximally probable charged product at 95±15 and 135±15 u atomic mass. However, in this conventional fission of large nuclei, the binary process happens merely because it is the most energetically probable.
In anywhere from 2 to 4 fissions per 1000 in a nuclear reactor, the alternative ternary fission process produces three positively charged fragments (plus neutrons, which are not charged and not counted in this reckoning). The smallest of the charged products may range from so small a charge and mass as a single proton (Z=1), up to as large a fragment as the nucleus of argon (Z=18).
Although particles as large as argon nuclei may be produced as the smaller (third) charged product in the usual ternary fusion, the most common small fragments from ternary fission are helium-4 nuclei, which make up about 90% of the small fragment products. This high incidence is related to the stability (high binding energy) of the alpha particle, which makes more energy available to the reaction. The second-most common particles produced in ternary fission are tritons (the nuclei of tritium), which make up 7% of the total small fragments, and the third-most are helium-6 nuclei (which decay in about 0.8 seconds to lithium-6). Protons and larger nuclei are in the small fraction (< 2%) which make up the remainder of the small charged products. The two larger charged particles from ternary fission, particularly when alphas are produced, are quite similar in size distribution to those produced in binary fission.
Product energies
The energy of the third much-smaller product usually ranges between 10 and 20 MeV. In keeping with their origin, alpha particles produced by ternary fission typically have mean energies of about ~ 16 MeV (energies this great are never seen in alpha decay). Since these typically have significantly more energy than the ~ 5 MeV alpha particles from alpha decay, they are accordingly called "long range alphas" (referring to their longer range in air or other media).
The other two larger fragments carry away, in their kinetic energies, the remainder of the fission kinetic energy (typically totalling ~ 170 MeV in heavy element fission) that does not appear as the 10 to 20 MeV kinetic energy carried away by the third smaller product. Thus, the larger fragments in ternary fission are each less energetic, by a typical 5 to 10 MeV, than they are seen to be in binary fission.
Although the ternary fission process is less common than the binary process, it still produces significant helium-4 and tritium gas buildup in the fuel rods of modern nuclear reactors.
True ternary fission
A very rare type of ternary fission process is sometimes called "true ternary fission." It produces three nearly equal-sized charged fragments (Z ~ 30) but only happens in about 1 in 100 million fission events. In this type of fission, the product nuclei split the fission energy in three nearly equal parts and have kinetic energies of ~ 60 MeV.
- http://www-linux.gsi.de/~wolle/FISSION/ternary/node1.html Fraction ternary fission as a function of different Z and A in fissile isotopes.
- Comparative study of the ternary particle emission in 243-Cm (nth,f) and 244-Cm(SF). S. Vermote, et. al. in Dynamical aspects of nuclear fission: proceedings of the 6th International Conference. Ed. J. Kliman, M. G. Itkis, S. Gmuca. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. Singapore. (2008) | <urn:uuid:3e3e3c07-f4e3-4bef-b3b1-68e3372dcd29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_alpha | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931356 | 990 | 4.4375 | 4 |
In a highly symbolic gesture, the Federal Communications Commission published the executive summary of its “National Broadband Plan” in one of the most opaque formats going: It’s a PDF scan of a printed document.
This means you can’t cut and paste the bullet point that says:
“Increase civic engagement by making government more open and transparent, creating a robust public media ecosystem and modernizing the democratic process.”
Can an agency that publishes documents in inaccessible formats be relied on to deliver transparency? Did you know that this is Sunshine Week?! Let’s segue from symbolism to substance …
That bullet and the many that accompany it explode the FCC’s proper authority and propose an industrial policy fit for . . . well, the industrial age—not that industrial policies were any good then.
The executive summary is 56 bullets broken into four sections, and six “goals” carefully crafted to avoid measurement with nebulous concepts like “affordable.” (We all want it, but affordability is subjective. Nothing is universally “affordable” while it bears a price tag.)
The one goal that is measurable is telling in its own way:
“Goal No. 6: To ensure that America leads in the clean energy economy, every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.”
(Why should it take broadband to monitor your energy consumption? Does the FCC plan to send out scanned PDFs of photos of your electric meter?)
Whether we should have a network-managed energy system or not, note how the Federal Communications Commission’s “broadband” plan would make it a player in the energy business. It would also be a player in health care. And education. And “economic opportunity.”
As to the latter, maybe the FCC has a leg to stand on. Expanding the current “universal service” tax-and-subsidy scheme would provide economic opportunity of a sort to the better lobbied firms in the telecommunications industry.
As I wrote before, in an even more summary way, “The Federal Communications Commission should be shuttered.” That’s still the gist of what I have to say about the “National Broadband Plan.” | <urn:uuid:406b1a32-c369-468e-8b94-f36fcb265a76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/blog/tags/national-broadband-plan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936075 | 480 | 1.625 | 2 |
Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus) - Wiki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[Photo] Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus) by Taragui.
|Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".|
The Giant Cowbird
, Molothrus oryzivorus
, is a large passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae
. It breeds from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It may have relatively recently colonised the latter island.
It is associated with open woodland and cultivation with large trees, but is also the only cowbird
that is found in deep forest. It is a quiet bird, particularly for an icterid
, but the male has an unpleasant screeched whistle, shweeaa-tpic-tpic. The call is a sharp chek-chik. They are also very adept mimics.
Like other cowbird
s, it is a brood parasite
, laying its eggs in the nests of oropendola
s and cacique
s. The eggs are of two types, either whitish and unspotted, or pale blue or green with dark spots and blotches. The host’s eggs and chicks are not destroyed, but there is considerable doubt about the theory that the young Giant Cowbird
s benefit the host’s chick by removing and eating parasitic flies.
hosts breed colonially, and defend their nests vigorously, so even a large, bold and aggressive species like the Giant Cowbird
has to cover an extensive territory to find sufficient egg-laying opportunities. Several Giant Cowbird
eggs may be laid in one host nest.
The male Giant Cowbird
is 36 cm long, weighs 180 g and is iridescent black, with a long tail, long bill, small head, and a neck ruff
which is expanded in display. The female is 28 cm long and weighs 135 g. She is less iridescent than the male, and the absence of the neck ruff
makes her look less small-headed. Juvenile males are similar to the adult male, but browner, and with a pale, not black, bill.
This gregarious bird feeds mainly on insects and some seeds, including rice, and forages on the ground or in trees. It rarely perches on cattle
, unlike some of its relatives, but in Brazil it will ride on Capybara
s as it removes horse flies
|The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.| | <urn:uuid:f7031805-212d-4a7a-b3cb-fe0d4eb5f7fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://animal.memozee.com/view.php?tid=3&did=26827&lang=kr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92542 | 650 | 2.8125 | 3 |
HAMPTON — Brian Mastracci's eyes never left the sleek blue boat slicing the waters of the pond behind Bass Pro Shops. Thumbs on the twin toggles of a remote control console, the York High School junior guided the trim vessel around the pond's fountain and into a race lane lined with white floats next to a wood deck overlooking the pond.
As the Falcon's low bow passed the first float, a horn sounded. The boat moved forward, a foamy white wake spreading behind it.
"Go, baby, go!" a voice shouted from the crowd behind Mastracci. His York High teammates leaned forward, craning to watch the boat slip through the floats on the first of three runs.
At stake was the championship of the first high school boat design competition sponsored by the Apprentice School of Northrop Grumman Newport News and the school's chapter of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
The competition was the brainchild of Richard Boutwell, a professor with the Apprentice School and the adviser of its society. He came up with the idea two years ago as a way to spark high school students' interest in marine engineering and ship design.
More than 240 high school students from 10 schools submitted designs for the competition. Ten semifinalists made the first cut. They were winnowed to two: the York High team and the Virginia Beach Advanced Technology Center team.
York's design featured a long, low racing boat built for speed. The Virginia Beach team designed a square-shaped catamaran-style boat, built to turn on a dime.
York High technology teacher John Hammons told his third-year comprehensive design students about the project in October.
The idea caught fire. Mastracci said he and his classmates were used to designing gearboxes and other shapes with three-dimensional software but hadn't worked on designs that would be built.
"They know how to do plans and drawings," Hammons said. "It was a matter (of) what are we going to draw."
And it was a matter of math. Ship design is based on calculations, and Hammons said the calculations involved were daunting.
To help the students master the math, he called on two volunteers: naval architect Don Blount and his son, Douglas Blount. Don Blount owns a yacht design and engineering business.
"We design custom boats," he said.
He and his son explained the ancient and evolving art of naval architecture to the York High students, helping them grasp concepts usually taught at the college level, Don Blount said.
Mastracci and his fellow team members said the math was vital.
From November to January, they spent at least an hour a day on the project, honing their design.
They first considered a trimaran, or three-hulled vessel, but opted instead for a long, narrow, shallow craft similar to racing sculls.
Mastracci said the slim length would provide speed but would cost them in maneuverability.
Teams of architects from the Apprentice School reviewed early designs from the competing schools and offered suggestions and feedback.
The students were elated when their design was chosen for construction.
"These guys are competitive. They want to win," Hammons said.
Even after construction, the students fretted. Mastracci said they launched their boat, the Falcon, for the first time Wednesday, running practice races and getting used to the remote controls.
The Falcon and Virginia Beach's red "Sink Oar Swim" weighed more than 530 pounds each but had to hold 200 pounds of sand during Saturday's races.
Both boats were powered with identical trawling motors.
Before Saturday's competition, the two boats went through another maritime ritual.
Each was christened with sparkling grape juice poured from streamer-festooned bottles.
Heather Blount, a York High junior and Douglas Blount's daughter, handled the christening honors for the Falcon.
Then it was all competition.
The two boats were weighed and then judged on seven criteria: construction, payload testing, stability, speed, turning radius, calculations and judges' preferences.
Mastracci figured that the Falcon was in good shape for speed but would get dinged for its turning radius.
The stubbier Sink Oar Swim required much less space and time to turn and head back to the race lines for each of its three timed runs.
In the end, the short, nimble Virginia Beach boat won the competition.
The York team was disappointed, but Hammons said the experience was valuable.
"It's very rare for kids to see something they design get built," Hammons said. | <urn:uuid:7be4e8a0-9325-47f7-95ed-804f9db30303> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.dailypress.com/2008-03-16/news/0803150140_1_high-school-students-design-boat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977544 | 964 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Our friend Lucianne credits Paul Mirengoff with the quote of the day from his post below: “The Washington Post inquires about the well-being of the Bush administration’s senior staff. This strikes me as a bit like Leopold and Loeb asking about the well-being of one’s child.”
Does anyone under age 50 know anything about Leopold and Loeb? As a teenager I studied their story with fascination because of their representation by Clarence Darrow, but was then drawn in by the boys’ precocity combined with their cold-blooded atrocity. Meyer Levin’s Compulsion is a fictionalized account of the story; Orson Welles plays Darrow in the film of the book, sonorously spouting the advanced liberal pieties. Attorney for the Damned: Clarence Darrow in the Courtroom includes a long excerpt of Darrow’s plea to the judge to spare the boys’ lives. Irving Stone’s Clarence Darrow for the Defense devotes one chapter to the case. Darrow himself devotes two chapters to the case in The Story of My Life.
The Leopold and Loeb case has had a long tail on stage and in film. Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Rope,” Tom Kalin’s film “Swoon,” and John Logan’s play “Never the Sinner” all take off from the Leopold and Loeb story.
After the success of Compulsion in 1956, Nathan Leopold published Life Plus 99 Years, an autobiographical book that unfortunately avoids discussion of the murder. Why else read anything that Leopold has to say than to try to understand why he and his friend did what they did? The only nonfiction book devoted to the story that I am aware of is Hal Higdon’s 1975 Crime of the Century: The Leopold and Loeb Case. If you want to know what happened, Higdon’s is the go-to book.
UPDATE: Ventura County Deputy District Attorney (and former submarine driver) Michael Lief is the co-editor of Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: Greatest Closing Arguments in Modern Law (available via the site linked to his name). He writes regarding Darrow’s closing argument on sentencing: “It is a great close, maybe the best anti-death penalty argument I’ve seen.” He also provides a few paragraphs from Darrow’s 12-hour closing argument:
I sometimes wonder if I am dreaming. If in the first quarter of the twentieth century there has come back into the hearts of men the hate and feeling and the lust for blood which possesses the primitive savage of barbarous lands…
I would say something about the death penalty that, for some mysterious reason, the state wants in this case. Why do they want it? To vindicate the law? Oh, no. The law can be vindicated without killing anyone else. It might shock the fine sensibilities of the state’s counsel that this boy was put into a culvert and left after he was dead, but, Your Honor, I can think of a scene that makes this pale into insignificance. I can think, and only think, Your Honor, of taking two boys, one eighteen and the other nineteen, irresponsible, weak, diseased, penning them in a cell, checking off the days and the hours and the minutes, until they will be taken out and hanged. Wouldn’t it be a glorious day for Chicago? Wouldn’t it be a glorious triumph for the state’s attorney? Wouldn’t it be a great triumph for justice in this land? Wouldn’t it be a glorious illustration of Christianity and kindness and charity?
Your Honor, if these boys hang, you must do it…It must be by your deliberate, cool, premeditated act, without a change to shift responsibility…[Y]ou know that I would have been untrue to my clients if I had not concluded to take this chance before this court, instead of submitting it to a poisoned jury in the city of Chicago. I did it knowing that it would be an unheard of thing for any court…to sentence these boys to death.
Now, I must say a word more and then I will leave this with you where I should have left it long ago. None of us are unmindful of the public; courts are not, and juries are not. We placed our fate in the hands of a trained court, thinking that he would be more mindful and considerate than a jury. I cannot say how people feel. I have stood here for three months as one might stand at the ocean trying to sweep back the tide. I hope the seas are subsiding and the wind is falling, and I believe they are, but I wish to make no false pretenses to this court. The easy thing and the popular thing to do is hang my clients. I know it. Men and women who do not think will applaud. The cruel and the thoughtless will approve. It will be easy today; but in Chicago, and reaching out over the length and breadth of the land, more and more fathers and mothers, the humane, the kind, and the hopeful, who are gaining an understanding and asking questions not only about these poor boys but about their own, these will join in no acclaim at the deaths of my clients.
I know your Honor stands between the future and the past. I know the future is with me, and what I stand for here; not merely for the lives of these two unfortunate lads, but for all boys and for all girls; for all of the young, and as far as possible, for all of the old. I am pleading for life, understanding, charity, kindness, and the infinite mercy that considers all. I am pleading that we overcome cruelty with kindness and hatred with love. I know the future is on my side. Your Honor stands between the past and the future. You may hang these boys; you may hang them by the neck until they are dead. But in doing it you will turn your face toward the past. In doing it you are making it harder for every other boy who in ignorance and darkness must grope his way through the mazes which only childhood knows…I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by judgement and understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and that mercy is the highest attribute of man.
Mr. Lief adds: “By the way, there’s another close by Darrow in the book, one he delivered on his own behalf when he was tried for jury tampering, arising from the trial of the men charged with blowing up the L.A. Times building. Darrow’s two-day summation left many jurors — and the judge! — in tears. As a prosecutor, I’d hate to see that during one of my trials.”
In most accounts of the case, the homosexual relationship between Leopold and Loeb plays a significant role. Jim Taylor writes:
My mother covered the trial for Hearst’s Chicago American. Her byline was Mildred Keogh. I was attending the University of Illinois when Leopold was released. She was extremely annoyed that he was let out, because the only reason he escaped electrocution was that it was certain that he would never see the outside again. So much for life without parole.
His partner in crime was killed in prison in 1936 by another prisoner [James Day] who didn’t appreciate his romantic attention. According to my father, the headline on the story was, “English major ends sentence with a proposition.” I don’t know if that ever saw print, or if it was just irresistable to the newsroom folks.
Scott Lucado writes: “I have to wonder if many readers today would appreciate a pun like that, or even have a clue what it means to end a sentence with a preposition.” | <urn:uuid:df29e2a3-248f-4cfd-8bd6-5b4dc96ef8a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2006/03/crime-of-the-century-take-1.php?tsize=large&tsize=large&tsize=large | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963194 | 1,685 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Tales with Tails | Kevin Strauss
Resource type: Speaker - Performance/Art - Resource Person - Teacher Training
Author, storyteller, and naturalist Kevin Strauss weaves nature stories and folktales from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Native America. His stories educate and entertain people of all ages while teaching them about plants and animals of the upper Midwest. Energetic and dynamic, Kevin tells stories that grab his audiences and help them look at the world in a new way. He uses animal skins, skulls, and other artifacts to bring the natural world to life for listeners. Kevin's performances include school and public assemblies, classroom presentations, library programs, and conference workshops. Storytelling programs can be combined with hands-on naturalist programs and environmental education activities.
Privacy Statement | SEEK is a program of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency | <urn:uuid:7b341746-9f07-4b59-9565-ae03db8cfd65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seek.state.mn.us/compact2.cfm?ItemId=1139 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904575 | 173 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Social media has become an important part of internet marketing because it helps to find new customers out of expected range.
RST specializes in developing internet marketing strategies for small to big business via Social Media through consulting and management. It's known fact that employing social media intelligently will be one of the most important factors in online business. Social media can drive much more traffic to your site than your expectations if you're concerned just about search engine optimization.
Social media strategy mostly involves long-term commitment where establishing and nurturing mutually. Online relationships will help you improve your trade, build up your reputation and drive traffic to your site.
RST will help you here if you have a business and you don't understand how to use social media.
Why RST for Social Media
- It is cost effective
- Website Traffic
- Make an effort to create Brand Awareness
- Begin to participate in and contribute to a variety social networking communities intelligently, creatively, generously, and honestly.
- Establish or upgrade a blog that is associated with your company's website and use it to strengthen your site's position as a trusted authority.
- Will make use of your blog to let your customers collaborate with you and expand your business.
- Make use your contributions including the comments and suggestions they add to your blog postings.
- Can give you value as well as cash as they become part of a community that you establish.
- Weekly Email Reporting
- Instant quality service and
- Support to client at anytime. | <urn:uuid:aa9e02d6-8640-4f1f-a6d0-4011abed4184> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rstwebsolutions.com/smo-packages.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947799 | 306 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Freedom Riders Park groundbreaking slated
Published: Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 15, 2012 at 2:39 p.m.
Groundbreaking ceremonies will be at 9 a.m. Thursday for The Freedom Riders Park near Anniston that commemorates the spot where a bus carrying civil rights activists was burned on May 14, 1961.
“This will be a place for education, contemplation and reflection that shows how a bad event triggered good things, unity and wonderful partnerships,” said Bill Harbour, Freedom Riders Park Committee co-chair.
State Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston, has worked for the park's creation for more than a decade.
“So many partners have come together to help make this happen,” Boyd said. “For example, the Alabama Department of Transportation transferred the land to ... Calhoun County and soon the road department will scrape off some land and help us all to see the future of this park.”
Jacksonville State University has been helping with the project through its Environmental Policy and Information Center. JSU's McClellan Center will be the location for the second event related to the park. Anniston native K.B. Solomon will present his nationally acclaimed Paul Robeson tribute “Speak of Me as I Am.” He will be accompanied by pianist Dr. Anthony Nevala. The program begins at 6 p.m.
According to an article from the Anniston Star, the area for the park is an open area near Alabama Highway 202 and County Road 109, just east of the bus-burning historical marker on Old Highway 202 in Wellborn.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:0ac2e512-4f2a-4fa8-a081-8db676a9d81d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20121014/NEWS/121019880/1196/ENT | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945986 | 382 | 1.65625 | 2 |
There was a pretty good turnout for Sept. 11 memorial observances Tuesday noon at Iowa Lakes Community College.
Let's make that a great turnout.
Students and staff knew why they were there - to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the soldiers who have fallen since then in the War on Terror - as well as those who continue to serve.
It doesn't seem like 11 years since that first attack came 8:46 a.m. on a Tuesday morning with blue crystalline skies in Manhattan - as well as Iowa. Like Sept. 11, 2001, the observance yesterday was on a Tuesday as well.
It's good that the students were there to remember that day. Yes, they still remember it.
When you ask younger kids, though, those who were too young to remember the attacks, they don't all remember - if they ever knew.
This is an important piece of our history. The reason it's important is that children need to understand the impact on our nation and people. They also need to understand the sacrifices our men and women in uniform continue to make to this day in the War on Terror.
At this moment, that war continues. Yes, Osama bin Laden is dead. However, our troops remain in Afghanistan, training Afghan soldiers who shoot at them - in fact, this is a source of a major percentage of American casualties.
Understanding these attacks and how we responded to them is important for every American. If the events of Sept. 11, 2001, aren't taught in school, then they should be taught in the home.
This is something that's very important to our history. And it's something that can never be forgotten. | <urn:uuid:b2150dd8-ea66-4239-9bb4-224243a3d214> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://esthervilledailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/516488/Sept--11-observances-moving--necessary.html?nav=5061 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985646 | 347 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Don't Be Another Golden Staph, MRSA or Superbug Statistic!
"If the Antibiotics Aren't Working, Here's How to Help Kill Off Staph Infections, MRSA and Superbug Bacteria Using Four Proven Natural Methods!"
Re: A New Guide that Tells How to Kill Off Stubborn Staph and Antibiotic
A Staph infection, especially an MRSA Staphylococcus infection, can be a dangerous thing.
At best it's a nuisance causing mild discomfort. At worst, it can be life threatening.
Boils, abscesses, pimples, carbuncles, sties and puss filled wounds that won't heal are the result of Staph, and people are having troubles getting rid of ALL OF THEM.
Antibiotics are no longer working against Staph infections as effectively as they once did years ago. Twenty five years ago, only 2% of Staph infections were immune to antibiotics. Now Staph is resistant to antibiotics nearly 50% of the time.
The problem is that the resistant strains of golden Staph are spreading into the general population. No longer are infections turning up just in nursing homes and hospices but now in college environments and on high school wrestling teams, football teams and in other contact sports.
Perfectly healthy kids are getting it.
And the hospitals? You go in without an infection and come out with one! No one wants to enter a hospital anymore ... The hospitals have become dangerous places.
About 20% of people are walking around with an infection, often which resides in their nose so that they end up spreading it to others.
The nasty part of the whole thing is getting rid of Staph and cleaning your environment to eliminate any possible sources re-infection. People are crying out for help because ordinary antibiotics have lost their effectiveness and intravenous antibiotics are fast losing the battle as well.
As a nutritionist and naturopath, for years I've been working on a manual on antibiotic alternatives for doctors and their patients because I knew this problem would arise and antibiotics would eventually become worthless. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a priority national health concern, so I've been workingmy tail off investigating all the alternative techniques that DO WORK in helping you to beat nasty infections where antibiotics fail.
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The information and advice published in or made available through http://www.TheSkepticalNutritionist.com and Top Shape Publishing, LLC as well as any printed, video or audio material you download or receive from us through some other medium is for informational purposes to heighten awareness of potential health care alternatives and is not intended to replace the attention, advice or services of a trained health professional. It should not be taken as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians and should not be considered as medical advice. Anyone who wishes to embark on any dietary, drug, exercise, supplement or lifestyle change to prevent or treat a specific condition should first consult with and seek clearance from a qualified health practitioner. The user should consult a physician in all matters relating to his or her health, and particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. You should not use the information herein for diagnosing or treating a disease. Top Shape Publishing, LLC and this website make no representations or warranties with respect to any information offered or provided on or through http://www.TheSkepticalNutritionist.com regarding treatment, action, or application of medication, exercise, diet, life style changes or health supplementation. Top Shape Publishing, LLC will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising there from. All materials provided on this site and through its publications must be considered "dated" and the publisher disclaims responsibility if the material has been supplanted. Various protocols and health information raise issues that are subject to change as new information appears. None of our reports, regimes, articles or information can guarantee a cure for diseases. The statements and information provided on this website and through its products have not been evaluated by the FDA. Additional Disclaimer and Terms Privacy | <urn:uuid:4e080550-8023-403c-aeae-bedc58bd3ee8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theskepticalnutritionist.com/Staph.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925588 | 2,090 | 1.9375 | 2 |
"Now in its second year, the Network Construction Alliance is working towards being an example of best practice; combining skills, knowledge and experience from both Alliance partner organisations"
Colin Merrick, Network Construction Alliance General Manager, United Utilities
The water and waste water network in the region requires significant investment to meet future demands for improved usage, quality and security, and to mitigate against the possible future impact of climate change.
Formed in 2010, the Network Construction Alliance is a strategic partnership between United Utilities and Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions created to deliver complex clean water and waste water network improvements such as large diameter trunk main cleaning and flood alleviation schemes including large flood detention tanks. The wide range of projects are diverse in both technical complexity and value, and range from delivering improvements in river water quality as part of the Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UID’s) sub programme area, to supplying potable water to outlying rural communities through our concessionary supplies programme.
Work conducted by the Network Construction Alliance is part of a £2.4b investment by United Utilities into the water and wastewater infrastructure in the North West. This substantial investment comes with a major efficiency challenge of 10% for the alliance. Meeting this challenge is a key objective for the integrated alliance team which works closely to drive improvements in processes and the supply chain.
Delivering approximately £350m of the projected £500m turnover for AMP 5, the supply chain has been recognised as being key to overcoming this challenge. A series of Dragon’s Den style events have been used to generate novel ideas, which have to date included a prefabrication process for the installation of booster pump buildings, cutting time on site from 55 days to 21. This has helped in minimising environmental and community impact and reducing overall project costs by up to 10%.
Throughout the project, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions has also leveraged the capabilities of its sister companies, including Parsons Brinckerhoff and Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering. Together, these companies hold a wealth of knowledge and best practise experience from across the infrastructure lifecycle, much of which has been vital in helping to innovate and reduce costs.
The ever-changing climate means that the work carried out by Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions as part of the Network Construction Alliance will be a major factor in removing the risk of flooding from thousands of homes and businesses in the North West over the years to come.
Key facts and figures
Investment by United Utilities into water infrastructure
Efficiency challenge faced by the team
People supplied by United Utilities for water and wastewater services
Case studies in this sector | <urn:uuid:42f9f9c5-af52-4563-904e-db10625a3a4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbusl.com/case-study/network-construction-alliance/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945821 | 539 | 1.96875 | 2 |
[GSDI Technical] Free online seminar 25th November 2008 - Geospatial Data Quality
Steven.Ramage at 1spatial.com
Thu Nov 13 03:33:54 EST 2008
OGC Data Quality Working Group
Seb Lessware from 1Spatial is Chair of the Open Geospatial Consortium's (OGC) Data Quality Working Group. He will be hosting a free, 30-minute, online seminar on 25th November 2008. This is open to anyone (OGC and non-OGC members) with an interest in geospatial data quality.
The seminar will also involve Athina Trakas from OGC Europe who will provide an overview of the OGC, its work and specifically the goals of the Data Quality Working Group and how to get involved in this collaborative industry effort.
The Data Quality Working Group recently commissioned and distributed a global survey on data quality; the results are available from the OGC website. http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/groups/dqwg
The seminar will be held at 3pm GMT (4pm CET, 7am PST, 8am MST, 9am CST, 10am EST). You can register for it here: http://www.1spatial.com/news_events/events/webex.php
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail from your system. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of 1Spatial Group Limited, its subsidiaries or associated companies, except where the author specifically states them to be the views of 1Spatial Group Limited, its subsidiaries or associated companies.
1Spatial Group Limited, its subsidiaries and associated companies will not be held liable for any legally binding obligations that are not the subject of an official 1Spatial purchase order or as part of a contract signed by a director of one of the aforementioned companies.
Although the company has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email, the company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this email or attachments. You should understand and accept that, when communicating with us by e-mail, it is not a totally secure communications medium.
More information about the Technical | <urn:uuid:a48bd564-3e5c-4ed5-a47a-9e8ea55ba975> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/technical/2008-November/000249.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927291 | 509 | 1.585938 | 2 |